i5 6400 and gtx 1070, acceptable gaming combination?

[Rapthorne]

My aim here is 1080p gaming at minimum 60fps on high/ultra for current/near future release titles and MMORPG's such as Guild Wars 2, Final fantasy XIV, Elder Scrolls Online, etc

 

Will the i5 6400 be acceptable for gaming when coupled with a GTX 1070? If so, what is the minimum wattage psu I can use (just for now, to upgrade later due to budget restrictions).

 

My other question is do I really "need" a high end motherboard for simple gaming? or can I cheap out and save myself a little by going for a b150 board instead of a z170? Will this impact game performance?

[MewTwoXFM]

Please don't

[Matu20]

Yes, a great combo, but the 6500 would be better (higher clocks).

 

No, you don't need a high end mobo (higher end models are compatible with higher freq RAM and allow overclocking).

 

500W-550W PSU would be the most efficient since the whole system wouldn't exceed 300W.

[Rapthorne]

1 minute ago, MewTwoXFM said:

Please don't

I have a strict budget, I need to cheap out somewhere, and for gaming I know the cpu isn't as big a factor (for now) when it comes to gaming performance

[Peter Eric]

Yes of course! i5 6400 can be even paired with the gtx 1080, Gaming motherboards can have some cool features like Killer Ethernet but other than that, Zero difference between a normal motherboard and a gaming one.

[DarkBlade2117]

2 hours ago, Rapthorne said:

I have a strict budget, I need to cheap out somewhere, and for gaming I know the cpu isn't as big a factor (for now) when it comes to gaming performance

AFAIK the CPU is becoming more and more of a factor in gaming. Especially in games like GTA V and other newer games. Overwatch is another that I know also.

There have been reports of the 1080 bottlenecking a i7-6700k in some games.

[Matu20]

1 minute ago, DarkBlade2117 said:

AFAIK the CPU is becoming more and more of a factor in gaming. Especially in games like GTA V and other newer games. Overwatch is another that I know also.

There have been reports of the 1080 bottlenecking a i7-6700k in some games.

The bottlenecking becomes a factor only in high refresh scenarions such as with 120/144hz. 60Hz gaming is just fine with the newest Skylake locked CPUs.

[MewTwoXFM]

Just now, Matu20 said:

The bottlenecking becomes a factor only in high refresh scenarions such as with 120/144hz. 60Hz gaming is just fine with the newest Skylake locked CPUs.

i5 6600k @4.5 GTX 1070 1080p in GTA 5 bottlenecks by 10-15%,i can't imagine the i5 6400 + if he ever upgrades to a higher refresh rate monitor he will need to change the CPU to get the best performance as a i5 6400 will cut down ALLOT of performance

[Stevoisboss]

5 minutes ago, Rapthorne said:

My aim here is 1080p gaming at minimum 60fps on high/ultra for current/near future release titles and MMORPG's such as Guild Wars 2, Final fantasy XIV, Elder Scrolls Online, etc

 

Will the i5 6400 be acceptable for gaming when coupled with a GTX 1070? If so, what is the minimum wattage psu I can use (just for now, to upgrade later due to budget restrictions).

 

My other question is do I really "need" a high end motherboard for simple gaming? or can I cheap out and save myself a little by going for a b150 board instead of a z170? Will this impact game performance?

You are gonna get around a 20% bottleneck if you don't get something like an i7-6700(k) on that gpu. For the power supply 550-650 is fine. You only need a high end motherboard for storage like m.2 or for the ability to overclock, more usb 3.0 or usb type c. It has nothing to do with performance just features. Also 1080p is too easy for a 1070. Go for a 1440p monior.

[ARikozuM]

Why not go with the 1060 6GB (which is perfect for 1080@60) and a 6600K?

 

Any chance you can PM me your PC partpicker build?

[Gaged]

6 minutes ago, Rapthorne said:

I have a strict budget, I need to cheap out somewhere, and for gaming I know the cpu isn't as big a factor (for now) when it comes to gaming performance

Cheap out on memory, case, storage, or motherboard 

[Matu20]

1 minute ago, MewTwoXFM said:

i5 6600k @4.5 GTX 1070 1080p in GTA 5 bottlenecks by 10-15%,i can't imagine the i5 6400 + if he ever upgrades to a higher refresh rate monitor he will need to change the CPU to get the best performance as a i5 6400 will cut down ALLOT of performance

Stop spreading bullshit. 

 

http://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/intel-core-i7-6700k-i5-6600k-skylake-cpu-review/8/

[Rapthorne]

60 fps is all I want. Anything I get at this point will be an upgrade.

 

My current pathetic excuse for a system: AMD Athlon x4 740, 8gb DDR3 ram, R7 240 GPU. (had no job at the time I bought it and was far more ignorant about hardware components than I am now)

 

This thing barely hits the 20 fps mark in anything even remotely nice looking.

 

I'm not looking for extreme performance, just a massive upgrade to what I currently have. 60fps 1080p gaming is my ideal, I don't need or want anything particularly fancy or extreme

[Matu20]

1 minute ago, Rapthorne said:

60 fps is all I want. Anything I get at this point will be an upgrade.

 

My current pathetic excuse for a system: AMD Athlon x4 740, 8gb DDR3 ram, R7 240 GPU. (had no job at the time I bought it and was far more ignorant about hardware components than I am now)

 

This thing barely hits the 20 fps mark in anything even remotely nice looking.

 

I'm not looking for extreme performance, just a massive upgrade to what I currently have. 60fps 1080p gaming is my ideal, I don't need or want anything particularly fancy or extreme

I'll say it again.

 

Yes, a great combo, but the 6500 would be better (higher clocks).

 

No, you don't need a high end mobo (higher end models are compatible with higher freq RAM and allow overclocking).

 

500W-550W PSU would be the most efficient since the whole system wouldn't exceed 300W.

 

 

People here saying that 6600k and 6700k will make a big difference are lying and don't have any source to back it up. And as a member suggested, why not a GTX 1060 as it is meant for that exact purpose 1080p60.

[MewTwoXFM]

4 minutes ago, Matu20 said:

Stop spreading bullshit. 

 

http://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/luke-hill/intel-core-i7-6700k-i5-6600k-skylake-cpu-review/8/

Now that's not nice

 

 

[ARikozuM]

I don't know how you guys are getting on this "bottlenecking" train of yours. My 4690K is playing triple 1080@60 with the GTX 1080. There just isn't enough work at 1920x1080 for the GPU to do anything else. Why would a bodybuilder go 100% on 1/3 of what he can lift normally?

[Matu20]

1 minute ago, MewTwoXFM said:

Now that's not nice

 

 

A trusted website, or a guy named Jeff Jeff, hmmmm ... a very tough choice.

[ARikozuM]

3 minutes ago, MewTwoXFM said:

Now that's not nice

 

 

CPU at 90% and GPU at 90%... Definitely a bottleneck... The bottleneck being that dude's driving!

[Swndlr]

You will be fine with the 6400 and 1070  The 1070 will murder any game at 1080p, Id even use DSR just to use it to its full potential.

For a motherboard it comes down to whether you wanna get a 6600k or 6700k in the future (I dont even think a 6400 to 6600k upgrade is worth it), if yes, then get a mid range Z170 board, if youre gonna stick with the 6400 until a new platform comes out, then get any H170 board. A motherboard wont affect your FPS.

[TheHoijf]

Looks like a mismatch to me.

i5 6600k + gtx 970

Why?

For FPS gaming you rarely need good processors. I am thinking of games like Crysis, CS and Battlefield. These are generally easy on the processor and heavy on the GPU.

For MMOs the game is often CPU bound, you mention GW2 and ESO. Both GW2 and ESO have VERY large scale fights involving many opponents, explosions etc.. For some reason (probably lazy coding) this is CPU heavy for both of the titles.

 

If you get an i5 6400 you will be bottlenecked in the MMOs, if you get a 970 you won't be bottlenecked in the FPS titles. So get a better processor and take the 970.

[MewTwoXFM]

2 minutes ago, ARikozuM said:

CPU at 90% and GPU at 90%... Definitely a bottleneck... The bottleneck being that dude's driving!

So what are you exactly saying?

[Matu20]

Just now, MewTwoXFM said:

So what are you exactly saying?

There is no bottleneck.

[MewTwoXFM]

1 minute ago, Matu20 said:

There is no bottleneck.

CPU reaches %100 there is no bottleneck?

[Rapthorne]

1 minute ago, MewTwoXFM said:

CPU reaches %100 there is no bottleneck?

Won't the screen being directly recorded have a high impact on the cpu usage anyway? I'd imagine in an actual use case (no recording) the cpu usage would be much lower would it not?

[MewTwoXFM]

Just now, Rapthorne said:

Won't the screen being directly recorded have a high impact on the cpu usage anyway? I'd imagine in an actual use case (no recording) the cpu usage would be much lower would it not?

No,since he uses MSI Afterburner and that is not at all that demanding