Midrange, futureproof Skylake build for gaming?

[mightlife]

Hi folks, I have settled on a new build after many years of making my E6420 and GTX 8800 do a lot of work for me.

 

My requirements are -

Occasional gaming @1080p (higher quality would better) - Star Citizen, Source 2 games & mods, maybe GTA5, Dying Light, Some other decent FPS that doesn't have micro-transactions and maybe Source 3 games when they come out,

Some 1080p video editing and rendering (but honestly not much),

Future-proof to at least a certain degree.

 

My build is the following - http://es.pcpartpicker.com/p/gWhhQ7

For starters I'll be going with -

i5 6600k (for some OCing goodness when required)

Asus170M Plus (I'd like to keep it a small form factor PC)

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB)

DDR4-2133 Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB (OS, programs and most important games, already have HDD for other files)

Noctua NT-H1 3.5g Thermal Paste

Corsair VS 650W PSU

Xigmatek Aquila MicroATX case or Thermaltake V21 (MATX) case.

 

Later I'll upgrade the GPU to a Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Vapor-X or equivalent.

 

--- Questions -

1. Will the build be sufficient for the games/ types of games I have mentioned and at which settings? (with the exception of Source 3 games as they are only really speculation at this point, and I hate unnecessary speculation),

2. Will the build be somewhat futureproof? For how long in your estimation?

3. Should I go higher with the base clock of the RAM? Why?/ why not?

4. Will the PSU be enough once I have the GPU of choice, or should I be thinking of drawing more power.

5. Will this build make me l33t? Pwnr etc, etc?

 

Caveats - I am in Barcelona, Catalunya/ Spain, so I am paying in Euro.

 

Any help, advice or suggestions are much appreciated. G

[bloader]

It's never possible to fully futureproof something..

[Philcat101]

It's never possible to fully futureproof something..

Yeah, Linus hates that term

[Oberon.Smite]

It's never possible to fully futureproof something..

Overstated fact that doesn't help OP. OP just wants something future proof enough so that it will last him a while before he needs an upgrade.

[Philcat101]

Hi folks, I have settled on a new build after many years of making my E6420 and GTX 8800 do a lot of work for me.

 

My requirements are -

Occasional gaming @1080p (higher quality would better) - Star Citizen, Source 2 games & mods, maybe GTA5, Dying Light, Some other decent FPS that doesn't have micro-transactions and maybe Source 3 games when they come out,

Some 1080p video editing and rendering (but honestly not much),

Future-proof to at least a certain degree.

 

My build is the following - http://es.pcpartpicker.com/p/gWhhQ7

For starters I'll be going with -

i5 6600k (for some OCing goodness when required)

Asus170M Plus (I'd like to keep it a small form factor PC)

Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (1 x 8GB)

DDR4-2133 Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB (OS, programs and most important games, already have HDD for other files)

Noctua NT-H1 3.5g Thermal Paste

Corsair VS 650W PSU

Xigmatek Aquila MicroATX case or Thermaltake V21 (MATX) case.

 

Later I'll upgrade the GPU to a Sapphire Radeon R9 290 4GB Vapor-X or equivalent.

 

--- Questions -

1. Will the build be sufficient for the games/ types of games I have mentioned and at which settings? (with the exception of Source 3 games as they are only really speculation at this point, and I hate unnecessary speculation),

2. Will the build be somewhat futureproof? For how long in your estimation?

3. Should I go higher with the base clock of the RAM? Why?/ why not?

4. Will the PSU be enough once I have the GPU of choice, or should I be thinking of drawing more power.

5. Will this build make me l33t? Pwnr etc, etc?

 

Caveats - I am in Barcelona, Catalunya/ Spain, so I am paying in Euro.

 

Any help, advice or suggestions are much appreciated. G

A GTX 970 might be a better option, as the CUDA cores will help your project export WAY faster. I recommend it!

[Philcat101]

Overstated fact that doesn't help OP. OP just wants something future proof enough so that it will last him a while before he needs an upgrade.

@bloader ^^

[bloader]

Overstated fact that doesn't help OP. OP just wants something future proof enough so that it will last him a while before he needs an upgrade.

I know lol, that's what you guys are for!

[FairladyZ]

It will be very sufficient for any gaming at 1080p max settings.

 

An R9 290 (even non-X) paired with a good processor is capable of maxing 1080p titles.

 

My R9 380 4GB (Windforce) is able to run 1080p games maxed, and my CPU sucks. So I would imagine a card that performs better, paired with a better CPU and more RAM, would do just fine.

[Fictionvl]

Good stuff, but that PSU though /:

Get a Seasonic or a v series PSU from cm instead of the vs

I would recommend an R9 390 instead of the 290x as it has 8 gigs of vram

I would recommend a 2x4 dimms for dual channel memory if you have the room.

[pckid]

Midrange?

[dizmo]

• I'd see if you can squeeze 16GB of RAM into the budget.
• 650w is more than enough for a 1 GPU system.
• I'd consider getting an R9 390. Not for the extra VRAM, it's simply a great card. Most anything will run 1080p @ 60hz though.

 

@bloader ^^

As if your post was much better :rolleyes:

[Philcat101]

 

• I'd see if you can squeeze 16GB of RAM into the budget.
• 650w is more than enough for a 1 GPU system.
• I'd consider getting an R9 390. Not for the extra VRAM, it's simply a great card. Most anything will run 1080p @ 60hz though.

 

As if your post was much better :rolleyes:

 

I know how Linus hates the word because of what it implies, but I agree we should go according to the general use of the word.

[mightlife]

First of all, thanks so much for all the constructive replies folks!

Everything Mr. S says about this place is justified! (going to apply to join the LTT SC guild forthwith!)

 

One thing I neglected to mention was my budget. I am touching the limits of it already with these decisions, which is why I have decided to purchase a better GPU later. If there is a good enough reason, I can delay thing a little more, but you know how it is when you have money burning a hole in your pocket  

 

Please allow me to deal with some of the responses in order to better explain my requirements/ choices:

 

Overstated fact that doesn't help OP. OP just wants something future proof enough so that it will last him a while before he needs an upgrade.

This.

 

It will be very sufficient for any gaming at 1080p max settings.

 

An R9 290 (even non-X) paired with a good processor is capable of maxing 1080p titles.

 

My R9 380 4GB (Windforce) is able to run 1080p games maxed, and my CPU sucks. So I would imagine a card that performs better, paired with a better CPU and more RAM, would do just fine.

Thanks for the input.

That is great news, my only issue is 'for how long?' As was discussed, it isn't realistic to future-proof completely, why would anyone realistically think so in the first place? However, I have had my GTX 8800 setup since 2009 (when I believe the card was among the better ones available); if the new GPU can last me as long, I'll be very happy.

 

Good stuff, but that PSU though /:
Get a Seasonic or a v series PSU from cm instead of the vs
I would recommend an R9 390 instead of the 290x as it has 8 gigs of vram
I would recommend a 2x4 dimms for dual channel memory if you have the room.

Thanks for the response.

I'll look into another PSU then, TBH I haven't been too clear on which one to go with, although as @dizmo says, if the wattage is sufficient, that's cool.

Yea, the 390 would be preferable, but the price difference is too much for me ATM.

Could you (or anyone else) go into the benefits of dual channel (as may be relevant to my set up)? 

 

Midrange?

Yea?

 

 

• I'd see if you can squeeze 16GB of RAM into the budget.
• 650w is more than enough for a 1 GPU system.
• I'd consider getting an R9 390. Not for the extra VRAM, it's simply a great card. Most anything will run 1080p @ 60hz though.

Thanks for the help!
16Gb would be ideal, but given the benefits that it shows over 8Gb (and the associated diminishing returns according to Jay), for my current budget I would prefer to stick with 8 at the beginning. Perhaps, maybe, possibly if I could find the right pairing, I could push the boat out and get 16, but it would depend on price performance value of the sticks involved.

 

You're all so helpful, let me buy you a drink (it's Friday night in Barcelona). My card is behind the bar, what are you having?

[pckid]

Yea?

More like high end.

[dizmo]

First of all, thanks so much for all the constructive replies folks!

Everything Mr. S says about this place is justified! (going to apply to join the LTT SC guild forthwith!)

 

One thing I neglected to mention was my budget. I am touching the limits of it already with these decisions, which is why I have decided to purchase a better GPU later. If there is a good enough reason, I can delay thing a little more, but you know how it is when you have money burning a hole in your pocket

 

Please allow me to deal with some of the responses in order to better explain my requirements/ choices:

 

This.

 

Thanks for the input.

That is great news, my only issue is 'for how long?' As was discussed, it isn't realistic to future-proof completely, why would anyone realistically think so in the first place? However, I have had my GTX 8800 setup since 2009 (when I believe the card was among the better ones available); if the new GPU can last me as long, I'll be very happy.

 

Thanks for the response.

I'll look into another PSU then, TBH I haven't been too clear on which one to go with, although as @dizmo says, if the wattage is sufficient, that's cool.

Yea, the 390 would be preferable, but the price difference is too much for me ATM.

Could you (or anyone else) go into the benefits of dual channel (as may be relevant to my set up)? 

 

Yea?

 

Thanks for the help!

16Gb would be ideal, but given the benefits that it shows over 8Gb (and the associated diminishing returns according to Jay), for my current budget I would prefer to stick with 8 at the beginning. Perhaps, maybe, possibly if I could find the right pairing, I could push the boat out and get 16, but it would depend on price performance value of the sticks involved.

 

You're all so helpful, let me buy you a drink (it's Friday night in Barcelona). My card is behind the bar, what are you having?

You wanted a system that will last a long time, and 16GB of RAM will accomplish that.

Depends on your use, and programs I suppose. I max out 4GB easily, and 8GB depending on the time of the month.

 

Long Island Iced Tea please!

[mightlife]

More like high end.

Wow, you think so? That's great; if a high end system is within my budget, that lakker! (sorry, I'm watching Neil Bloomkamp films ATM hehe)

It's just that I see these mental four digit budgets on certain YT channels and get a bit underwhelmed when I think of my build/ e-peen.

 

You wanted a system that will last a long time, and 16GB of RAM will accomplish that.

Depends on your use, and programs I suppose. I max out 4GB easily, and 8GB depending on the time of the month.

 

Long Island Iced Tea please!

Hmmm, I'll have to re-consider the RAM-ount I get (yea, pun intended...)

(I'm going to ignore the low hanging fruit with 'end of the month' in case it offends)

 

Coming right up!

[Fictionvl]

Who're wattage in a PSU isn't always good enough, i.e. CX 750w PSU on a gaming rig would just melt your PC because of its low quality components, so go with something from Seasonic, Antec or XFX

Isn't the R9 390 cheaper than the 970?

Dual channel is theoretically faster than single channel, but you won't notice it in gaming, in some applications? Yes you will, but not most of the time.

[mightlife]

Ok, so I've taken the plunge on the majority of the components, but will have to wait until next month to get the CPU, PSU and perhaps get a worthy keyboard (unless I can successfully snipe something special I'm watching on evilBay).

 

Oh, and I'll have to finally buy Windows.

I went with the Thermaltake V21 μATX case, so I'll be hanging around asking for suggestions for airflow configuration

 

Thanks for the help so far people!

[Fictionvl]

Ok, so I've taken the plunge on the majority of the components, but will have to wait until next month to get the CPU, PSU and perhaps get a worthy keyboard (unless I can successfully snipe something special I'm watching on evilBay).

 

Oh, and I'll have to finally buy Windows.

I went with the Thermaltake V21 μATX case, so I'll be hanging around asking for suggestions for airflow configuration

 

Thanks for the help so far people!

Look at Reddit for Windows, you could get some really cheap keys there