Help: Upgrade Guide and Planning

[HunterSailor]

Greetings reader,

 

I'm planning on upgrading or in other words replacing parts of my rig because i just damaged my MOBO(Gigabyte*something*) and CPU(AMD Phenom II X6 Processor).

I was using the CM 690 II case with Cooler Master GX650 power supply and Corsair H100 for CPU cooler and i want to continue using them.

I don't plan on changing my HDD, Optical drive, case fans or other little things.

Before we begin i need you, the reader to know that :-

*I always prefer Intel over AMD and Nvidia over ATI. I don't want to start a war, it's just my preference.BTW, i was using the above mentioned AMD processor and ATI 6850 before so i'm not being biased or anything.

*I don't plan on overclocking.

1. For CPU i was thinking of going with the new Skylake processor 6600 or 6600K. I'm not sure which one to go for.

2. For MOBO i was thinking of going with Gigabyte Z170 D3H because my senior colleague advised me to go for Gigabyte's 'Ultra Durable' motherboards. I want to stick around $200 or so and i'm also open for other suggestions.

-I will need 16GB DDR4 or may be more for the upgrade. But 16GB is a good start.

-In the future,not the near future, i plan on using a Nvidia Quadro card too along with a GTX for rendering purposes as i'm an architect and i also work on 3Ds and graphics. So that means i need two PCI ex slots. Not one of the strong requirements but yea, i would like that.

-I will need the motherboard to be strong and reliable for the long run.

-I'm willing to spend $200-$250 or so for the MOBO.

3. For GPU i'm confused between GTX 760 2GB and GTX 960 4GB. GTX970 or above goes above my budget. As mentioned above along with playing games i would i also like to render and work on 2D and 3D applications even before instaling the Quadro(later future add-on).

 

I would really appreciate you someone can help me out in my quest.

[Endrius]

If u dont plan to OC, then stick with non K processor. Also Z170 chipset is for OC, so u can buy cheaper board with no OC support

[SeanAngelo]

Greetings reader,

 

I'm planning on upgrading or in other words replacing parts of my rig because i just damaged my MOBO(Gigabyte*something*) and CPU(AMD Phenom II X6 Processor).

I was using the CM 690 II case with Cooler Master GX650 power supply and Corsair H100 for CPU cooler and i want to continue using them.

I don't plan on changing my HDD, Optical drive, case fans or other little things.

Before we begin i need you, the reader to know that :-

*I always prefer Intel over AMD and Nvidia over ATI. I don't want to start a war, it's just my preference.BTW, i was using the above mentioned AMD processor and ATI 6850 before so i'm not being biased or anything.

*I don't plan on overclocking.

1. For CPU i was thinking of going with the new Skylake processor 6600 or 6600K. I'm not sure which one to go for.

2. For MOBO i was thinking of going with Gigabyte Z170 D3H because my senior colleague advised me to go for Gigabyte's 'Ultra Durable' motherboards. I want to stick around $200 or so and i'm also open for other suggestions.

-I will need 16GB DDR4 or may be more for the upgrade. But 16GB is a good start.

-In the future,not the near future, i plan on using a Nvidia Quadro card too along with a GTX for rendering purposes as i'm an architect and i also work on 3Ds and graphics. So that means i need two PCI ex slots. Not one of the strong requirements but yea, i would like that.

-I will need the motherboard to be strong and reliable for the long run.

-I'm willing to spend $200-$250 or so for the MOBO.

3. For GPU i'm confused between GTX 760 2GB and GTX 960 4GB. GTX970 or above goes above my budget. As mentioned above along with playing games i would i also like to render and work on 2D and 3D applications even before instaling the Quadro(later future add-on).

 

I would really appreciate you someone can help me out in my quest.

i5 6600 with a Z170 motherboard.

GTX 960 is a good start.

[HunterSailor]

If u dont plan to OC, then stick with non K processor. Also Z170 chipset is for OC, so u can buy cheaper board with no OC support

What about other feature and are their any other board with 2 PCIex slots and the board being reliable for the long run.

[HunterSailor]

i5 6600 with a Z170 motherboard.

GTX 960 is a good start.

Any other suggestions for the parts?

[Domifi]

I would go for a beefier GPU and spend less on the mobo (maybe something like Gigabyte B150M-D3H). You don't need a Z170 chipset if you don't plan on overckocking anyways.

[Goat]

1. The 6600k is an overclocking processor as it has the " K " behind its name. Go for the 6600 since you are not overclocking.

 

2. The Z170 motherboard supports overclocking. Note that the " Z " in intel motherboards represents overclocking. Go with a H170 motherboard since you are not overclocking. If, however, you think that you will change your mind and overclock, go with the Z170 motherboard, so you only need to change the cpu to overclock.

 

3. Since you are doing heavy workloads with the pc, stick to 16gb of ram for now.

 

4. Go with the GTX 960. The 760 is getting dated.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kqVDGX

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kqVDGX/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($216.95 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($153.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($218.98 @ Newegg) 

Total: $689.91

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-13 08:03 EST-0500

 

All the parts here are compatible with the cpu cooler, case and power supply.

 

Asus makes great motherboards so you should give them a shot, though the final decision is up to you.

[HKZeroFive]

1 + 2. Agree with you on the Intel CPU. Sounds like you should go for a i5 6600 (non-K) and the Gigabyte mobo you suggested.

 

3. I know how you prefer NVIDIA over AMD, but at this price point, AMD beats NVIDIA by a solid margin with their R9 380. I'd advise you look at the benchmarks between the GTX 960 and R9 380 before making your decision.

[Endrius]

What about other feature and are their any other board with 2 PCIex slots and the board being reliable for the long run.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z170-H170-H110-B170-Q150-Q170---What-is-the-Difference-635/

[19_blackie_73]

1 + 2. Agree with you on the Intel CPU. Sounds like you should go for a i5 6600 (non-K) and the Gigabyte mobo you suggested.

 

3. I know how you prefer NVIDIA over AMD, but at this price point, AMD beats NVIDIA by a solid margin with their R9 380. I'd advise you look at the benchmarks between the GTX 960 and R9 380 before making your decision.

I dunno how it behaves with 3ds when going with amd so.. most programs perform better on CUDA than via openCL/AMD. On a gaming point, i'd go with the 380.

I'd go with the 960

[HunterSailor]

I would go for a beefier GPU and spend less on the mobo (maybe something like Gigabyte B150M-D3H). You don't need a Z170 chipset if you don't plan on overckocking anyways.

I really feel like i should go for a reliable MOBO...

[HunterSailor]

1. The 6600k is an overclocking processor as it has the " K " behind its name. Go for the 6600 since you are not overclocking.

 

2. The Z170 motherboard supports overclocking. Note that the " Z " in intel motherboards represents overclocking. Go with a H170 motherboard since you are not overclocking. If, however, you think that you will change your mind and overclock, go with the Z170 motherboard, so you only need to change the cpu to overclock.

 

3. Since you are doing heavy workloads with the pc, stick to 16gb of ram for now.

 

4. Go with the GTX 960. The 760 is getting dated.

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kqVDGX

Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kqVDGX/by_merchant/

 

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($216.95 @ SuperBiiz) 

Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($153.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 960 4GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card  ($218.98 @ Newegg) 

Total: $689.91

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-13 08:03 EST-0500

 

All the parts here are compatible with the cpu cooler, case and power supply.

 

Asus makes great motherboards so you should give them a shot, though the final decision is up to you.

Thanks for the detailed suggestion.

[HunterSailor]

1 + 2. Agree with you on the Intel CPU. Sounds like you should go for a i5 6600 (non-K) and the Gigabyte mobo you suggested.

 

3. I know how you prefer NVIDIA over AMD, but at this price point, AMD beats NVIDIA by a solid margin with their R9 380. I'd advise you look at the benchmarks between the GTX 960 and R9 380 before making your decision.

Thanks a lot. I will look it up. How about their heat output. Keeping in mind i live in a hot climate.

[HunterSailor]

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z170-H170-H110-B170-Q150-Q170---What-is-the-Difference-635/

Thanks man!

[HunterSailor]

I dunno how it behaves with 3ds when going with amd so.. most programs perform better on CUDA than via openCL/AMD. On a gaming point, i'd go with the 380.

I'd go with the 960

Exactly my point i can live with playing games in mid to mid/high settings but i would keep my work as my first priority. So yea...   960 is good for rendering and all, right?

[HKZeroFive]

Thanks a lot. I will look it up. How about their heat output. Keeping in mind i live in a hot climate.

 

Heat output difference is very little (about 5 degrees max).

[HunterSailor]

Heat output difference is very little (about 5 degrees max).

Alright, thanks.

[Domifi]

I really feel like i should go for a reliable MOBO...

 

It's also an ultra durable board from Gigabyte

http://www.gigabyte.de/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5491#ov