Z170 vs X99

[Sham_gabz]

Z170 vs X99 for a gaming rig.

[HKZeroFive]

X99 for two-way SLI or more.

 

Z170 for a single GPU.

[wildgg]

Z170

[Sham_gabz]

1 minute ago, HKZeroFive said:

X99 for two-way SLI or more.

 

Z170 for a single GPU.

So I can't use SLI on a Z170 motherboard?

[HKZeroFive]

1 minute ago, Sham_gabz said:

So I can't use SLI on a Z170 motherboard?

No, you can. But you'll just yield better performance if you're SLI'ing on the X99 platform.

[Sham_gabz]

Just now, HKZeroFive said:

No, you can. But you'll just yield better performance if you're SLI'ing.

Thx  

[pinksnowmanshandle]

 

Just now, HKZeroFive said:

No, you can. But you'll just yield better performance if you're SLI'ing.

You beat me to it.... 

 

Though as I was going to say, Z170 CPUs don't have as many PCIe lanes so a two way Crossfire or SLI set up will run at a slower speed than they would on an X99 CPU.

[Sham_gabz]

1 minute ago, wcreek said:

 

You beat me to it.... 

 

Though as I was going to say, Z170 CPUs don't have as many PCIe lanes so a two way Crossfire or SLI set up will run at a slower speed than they would on an X99 CPU.

Can I use a X99 cpu on a Z170 motherboard?

[HKZeroFive]

1 minute ago, Sham_gabz said:

Can I use a X99 cpu on a Z170 motherboard?

No, you cannot. Skylake CPUs (i5 6600K, i7 6700K) can only be used on a Z170 motherboard.

[Sham_gabz]

Just now, HKZeroFive said:

No, you cannot. Skylake CPUs (i5 6600K, i7 6700K) can only be used on a Z170 motherboard.

What are the advantages on the X99 cpu and on the Z170 cpu?

[Minsekt]

1 minute ago, Sham_gabz said:

What are the advantages on the X99 cpu and on the Z170 cpu?

at least 50% more cores and twice as much cpu pcie lanes.

[Sham_gabz]

Just now, Minsekt said:

at least 50% more cores and twice as much cpu pcie lanes.

On which chipset?

[Minsekt]

Just now, Sham_gabz said:

On which chipset?

on the x99 chipset.

[Sham_gabz]

1 minute ago, Minsekt said:

on the x99 chipset.

So the Z170 chipset has no advantages what so ever?

[HKZeroFive]

Just now, Sham_gabz said:

What are the advantages on the X99 cpu and on the Z170 cpu?

Z170:

Higher IPC

Better overclocker (theoretically - depends on the silicon lottery)

Cheaper when factoring cost of motherboard

 

X99:

More PCIe lanes

More cores and threads

 

[Minsekt]

3 minutes ago, Sham_gabz said:

So the Z170 chipset has no advantages what so ever?

z170 cpus are running at a higher frequency, so in theory better overclocking. but its depending on the silicon lottery, my x99 cpu does 4.8ghz fine too... so for me theres absolutely no reason for Z170

[lafa91]

X99 better performance

[SnoopyThePilot]

6 hours ago, Sham_gabz said:

What are the advantages on the X99 cpu and on the Z170 cpu?

 

As others already stated, X99 potentially runs SLI faster than Z170. However, not all X99 CPUs handle SLI better if I remember correctly i.e. only 5930K and up offer SLI in 16x/16x. Also, X99 CPUs generally are hexa-cores whereas Z170 are quad-cores. X99 is definitely better for crunching numbers, but Z170 can beat it when it comes to everyday things and gaming. Z170 is also cheaper and offers the latest tech like M.2 SSD and USB 3.1, though I heard some X99 mobos now do that too?

 

I was debating about the two myself, went with the Z170 in the end

 

[gt403cyl]

56 minutes ago, SnoopyThePilot said:

 

As others already stated, X99 potentially runs SLI faster than Z170. However, not all X99 CPUs handle SLI better if I remember correctly i.e. only 5930K and up offer SLI in 16x/16x. Also, X99 CPUs generally are hexa-cores whereas Z170 are quad-cores. X99 is definitely better for crunching numbers, but Z170 can beat it when it comes to everyday things and gaming. Z170 is also cheaper and offers the latest tech like M.2 SSD and USB 3.1, though I heard some X99 mobos now do that too?

 

I was debating about the two myself, went with the Z170 in the end

 

Same here, I was looking between the 5820k and 6700k, I went 6700k.
I just don't have the need for more cores and extra PCI lanes.

 

I mostly game so the Z170 is plenty for me.

[typographie]

7 hours ago, huilun02 said:

Or can someone tell me if a GPU can bottleneck on PCIEX8 3.0

I don't really see where people are getting the idea that two-way SLI will perform better on X99. It's been shown over and over that 8x/8x performs within a frame or two of 16x/16x. And since the i7-5820K still only has 28 lanes, you're going to need at least the $579 i7-5930K to make 16x/16x possible anyway. You need X99 to do three-way or four-way SLI/Crossfire, but for a variety of reasons those configurations are difficult to recommend.

In my opinion the only good reason to buy X99 is if you're doing something that actually scales aggressively with 12-16 threads, and that's not gaming. I don't believe we're even at a point where the i7-6700K's eight threads actually matter on a consistent basis.

[SnoopyThePilot]

2 minutes ago, typographie said:

I don't really see where people are getting the idea that two-way SLI will perform better on X99. It's been shown over and over that 8x/8x performs within a frame or two of 16x/16x, and since the i7-5820K still only has 28 lanes, you're going to need at least the $579 i7-5930K to make 16x/16x possible anyway. You need X99 to do three-way or four-way SLI/Crossfire, but for a variety of reasons those configurations are difficult to recommend.

In my opinion the only good reason to buy X99 is if you're doing something that actually scales aggressively with 12-16 threads, and that's not gaming.

Perhaps not for gaming, but if you want to run 16x/16x for whatever reason, X99 (+ 5930K) is the only way to go.

[shawn finkenstead]

Z170 is also more user friendly for those still new to building Pc. X99 can be a pain to get setup and get all the bugs out of it.

[turkey3_scratch]

1 hour ago, shawn finkenstead said:

Z170 is also more user friendly for those still new to building Pc. X99 can be a pain to get setup and get all the bugs out of it.

Elaborate on these "bugs". There is too much anti-X99 bias I see going around on forums. With DX12 coming up and games promising to utilize more cores, the 5820K or the upcoming 6800K seem like much better options than the 6700K anyway, especially considering they can be overclocked to a solid 4.0Ghz or higher to nearly match the single-core performance.

[shawn finkenstead]

48 minutes ago, turkey3_scratch said:

Elaborate on these "bugs". There is too much anti-X99 bias I see going around on forums. With DX12 coming up and games promising to utilize more cores, the 5820K or the upcoming 6800K seem like much better options than the 6700K anyway, especially considering they can be overclocked to a solid 4.0Ghz or higher to nearly match the single-core performance.

I'm referring to cold boot issues. You can setup everything the way you seen it set in videos or flat out done before and the System won't be happy in regards to memory. Not all systems but it seems more common on the X99 side than on Z97 or Z170 put together. Even when using Memory from the QVL.

 

Edit: With this said I wouldn't get rid of my setup. Just know what to expect going in. To get rid of my memory boot issues I had to turn memory training all the off.

[turkey3_scratch]

1 hour ago, shawn finkenstead said:

I'm referring to cold boot issues. You can setup everything the way you seen it set in videos or flat out done before and the System won't be happy in regards to memory. Not all systems but it seems more common on the X99 side than on Z97 or Z170 put together. Even when using Memory from the QVL.

 

Edit: With this said I wouldn't get rid of my setup. Just know what to expect going in. To get rid of my memory boot issues I had to turn memory training all the off.

Show me positive proof of what you claim. Of these issues.