Upgrading my Stationary

[MutedJaguar]

Hi guys!

 

New here to the site, so I hope it's not frowned upon that the first thing I ask for is help with something.  I'm planning on upgrading my quite old computer (AMD Athlon 2x from 2005) with almost everything except the power supply and case. I was initially waiting for definitive system requirements for Star Citizen before upgrading, but my AMD Athlon is too old now for some of the newer games. Here's what I've listed up so far:

 

Motherboard: Asus Z170I Pro Gaming Motherboard (Socket 1151, Intel Z170, DDR4, S-ATA 600, Mini ITX, SupremeFX, Sonic Radar ll)

CPU: Intel Core Skylake Processor i5-6500/3.2 GHz (Turbo Boost 3.6 GHz - 4 Core 6Mo Cache Socket 1151 (BX80662I56500)

RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 2400 Mhz CL14 XMP 2.0 High Performance Desktop Memory Kit - Black

GPU: EVGA Nvidia GeForce GTX 970 Superclocked with ACX 2.0 Cooling 4GB Graphics Card

SSD (For Windows): Samsung 2.5 inch 250 GB 850 EVO Solid State Drive

 

Maybe this cooler?: Cooler Master RL-N24M-24PK-R1 Nepton 240M "Ultra High Performance, Closed Loop Liquid Cooler, 2 Silencio Fan, 240mm Radiator" Black

 

My room-mate bought the Skylake i7 processor, but comparing the price I feel it's not really necessary. I've heard some rumours that the new Skylake processors have had their fair share of issues the past months, but I've only found articles stating it's a little weak if under high pressure (from coolers etc.) and crashing under complex workloads (Something about running a Prime95 test). Unless there are other important issues with these processors, I feel it should be grand for normal use and gaming.

 

I would greatly appreciate any tips or suggestions! 

 

 

 

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There is no point in purchasing a Z170 motherboard, and a AIO watercooler if you're going to be running a locked CPU that cannot be overclocked. I would suggest a 6600K for the extra few $ - other than that everything looks good.

[jcastro_805]

A few things, 

First, I would recommend going with a 390 instead of a 970 because it has more VRAM which is good for games and is just overall more powerful for the money than the 970

Second, I would go with the 6600k instead of the 6500 because of it's overclockability (yes, I know Skylake chips without the K can be overclocked, but it's not as easy and more risky than just buying a K series chip) and even if you are only going to use a stock cooler you can upgrade the cooler in the future and then overclock, giving you more performance without having to buy a new CPU

Also, just for gaming you only need 8GB, so if yo have a tight budget you can use the money you save on RAM to get the 6600K over the 6500.

Last thing, what case and power supply are you planning on using?

[Marziman]

8 minutes ago, Reece Leu said:

There is no point in purchasing a Z170 motherboard, and a AIO watercooler if you're going to be running a locked CPU that cannot be overclocked. I would suggest a 6600K for the extra few $ - other than that everything looks good.

No you're wrong you can OC locked Skylakes on a Z170 board read about it.

 

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3 minutes ago, Marziman said:

No you're wrong you can OC locked Skylakes on a Z170 board read about it.

 

Do you know anything about the process, and really large side effects of overclocking? No temp readouts, no speedstep, lack of overclockability, unsupported, no iGPU, lower memory overclocks. It's not worth it at all, and I would not suggest it at all.

[MutedJaguar]

Thanks guys!

 

Overclocking does sound good, but I've never really done it myself. The price difference is reasonable though, so I might as well go with 6600K as you suggest. I'm not an expert, so I don't know if all the other details are overly important (when comparing other 6600K's). I've picked this one:

 

Intel Core i5 6600K Quad Core CPU Processor (Socket 1151, 3.50 GHz, 6 MB, Skylake, 91 W, Integrated Graphics)

 

So without overclocking my CPU I can live without a cooler? Then I'll wait with that untill I decide to overclock. Compared to my currect computer, this upgrade will be something in the lines of mind blowing, so I doubt I'll complain. Don't have the exact specs with me here, but the AMD Athlon 2x is the main issue.

 

The reason why I'm going for 2x8 RAM is for future upgrades. I know that only 8 GB is needed for gaming, but I've also heard that Star Citizen likely will need around 16 GB. My friend bought 4x4, and if he wants to upgrade he needs to change all of them. I can simply buy the same sticks of 2x8 in the future.

 

@jcastro_805, you're recommending 390 which I asume is AMD? From experience and working in customer support, I preffer Nvidia for ease of use. But perhaps AMD has the same features, just more for "advanced" users? Basically it's much easier to troubleshoot issues on Nvidia than AMD.

 

I'll post my specific case and PSU when I get home. I'm pretty sure it was a 1200 Watt PSU.

 

Thanks again guys

 

 

[Marziman]

1 hour ago, Reece Leu said:

Do you know anything about the process, and really large side effects of overclocking? No temp readouts, no speedstep, lack of overclockability, unsupported, no iGPU, lower memory overclocks. It's not worth it at all, and I would not suggest it at all.

Read how it works, OC ing it via the BCLK(Seeing as it's now independent) allows you to push the "Turbo" multiplier well past 42(Before it was something like 42*100MHz)  This makes it so that you can have a stable OC while not worrying about other components I.E. the PCI-E slot.

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5 hours ago, Marziman said:

Read how it works, OC ing it via the BCLK(Seeing as it's now independent) allows you to push the "Turbo" multiplier well past 42(Before it was something like 42*100MHz)  This makes it so that you can have a stable OC while not worrying about other components I.E. the PCI-E slot.

 

Yes, I've done it before. You shouldn't do it as I mentioned above.

[jcastro_805]

On 2/4/2016 at 2:40 PM, MutedJaguar said:

 

Thanks guys!

 

Overclocking does sound good, but I've never really done it myself. The price difference is reasonable though, so I might as well go with 6600K as you suggest. I'm not an expert, so I don't know if all the other details are overly important (when comparing other 6600K's). I've picked this one:

 

Intel Core i5 6600K Quad Core CPU Processor (Socket 1151, 3.50 GHz, 6 MB, Skylake, 91 W, Integrated Graphics)

 

So without overclocking my CPU I can live without a cooler? Then I'll wait with that untill I decide to overclock. Compared to my currect computer, this upgrade will be something in the lines of mind blowing, so I doubt I'll complain. Don't have the exact specs with me here, but the AMD Athlon 2x is the main issue.

 

The reason why I'm going for 2x8 RAM is for future upgrades. I know that only 8 GB is needed for gaming, but I've also heard that Star Citizen likely will need around 16 GB. My friend bought 4x4, and if he wants to upgrade he needs to change all of them. I can simply buy the same sticks of 2x8 in the future.

 

@jcastro_805, you're recommending 390 which I asume is AMD? From experience and working in customer support, I preffer Nvidia for ease of use. But perhaps AMD has the same features, just more for "advanced" users? Basically it's much easier to troubleshoot issues on Nvidia than AMD.

 

I'll post my specific case and PSU when I get home. I'm pretty sure it was a 1200 Watt PSU.

 

Thanks again guys

 

 

I know you've probably already built this pc, but no, you can't live without a cooler with no overclock, your cpu needs some sort of cooler or your PC won't boot because it will just thermal shutdown. Get the cheapest thing you can and then later on get a nice cooler if you don't have money now and then you could upgrade alter, or just get the cooler you want right now.