New build Skylake + Pascal, need feedback

[Tadashi]

I'm considering building my first Desktop PC. The new pascal architecture encouraged me, bringing huge performance that cheap.

I love how small the Node 202 is. This is basically a copy of someone else's build I found on pcparpicker.

 

I would like to know what others think about this.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler  ($38.94 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming 5 Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($150.44 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($73.39 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($186.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card  ($459.99 @ B&H) 
Case: Fractal Design Node 202 HTPC Case  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair SF 600W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  ($119.99 @ Newegg) 
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM  120mm Fan  ($19.49 @ OutletPC) 
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM  120mm Fan  ($19.49 @ OutletPC) 
Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM  140mm Fan  ($20.94 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: Asus VC279H 27.0" 60Hz Monitor  ($202.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1582.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-24 04:32 EDT-0400

 

1. Budget & Location

Don't want to go above the price of the build above. USA.

2. Aim

Gaming.

3. Monitors

1080p 60Hz.

4. Peripherals

Not looking into spending big money here. Might get a wireless Microsoft keyboard. But I'm considering the Logitech MX Master for the mouse.

5. Why are you upgrading?

First build.

[CardinalHunter]

aint that kind of a waste putting the GTX 1070 in the build when u have only a 1080p 60hz monitor? the GTX 1070 can handle 1440p above 60 fps in most aaa games to this date

[SnowyMus]

30 minutes ago, Tadashi said:

I would like to know what others think about this.

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/hWqLPs

 

1. Budget & Location

Don't want to go above the price of the build above. USA.

2. Aim

Gaming.

3. Monitors

1080p 60Hz.

4. Peripherals

Not looking into spending big money here. Might get a wireless Microsoft keyboard. But I'm considering the Logitech MX Master for the mouse.

5. Why are you upgrading?

First build.

It's a decent build and should work for what you want, but I'm assuming you'll want to save a little money.

 

If you're just doing 1080p 60 FPS, then there's no need for the GTX 1070. Just get a GTX 1060 (6 GB) or RX 480/470, and you're good to go.

 

If you're just gaming, the difference in performance between an i5-6600 and i5-6600K is negligible when at stock speeds. You won't have very much overclocking headroom with that cooler, or really any cooler at that form factor.

 

You could get a cheaper H170, B150, or H110 motherboard and 2133 MHz RAM if you decide you aren't going to overclock. An example of one that still has 802.11ac wireless is the Gigabyte GA-B150N Phoenix-WIFI, and it's $35 cheaper http://pcpartpicker.com/product/Kxs8TW/gigabyte-motherboard-gab150nphoenixwifi

[Mr.Humble]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/Kmybhq
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/Kmybhq/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9S 46.4 CFM CPU Cooler  ($57.94 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170N-Gaming 5 Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($150.44 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($73.39 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($186.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card  ($459.99 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design Node 304 Mini ITX Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Acer XB240H ABPR 24.0" 144Hz Monitor  ($299.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $1596.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-24 04:55 EDT-0400

 

Have a look at the Node 304, it accepts standart ATX PSU where you can save quite a bit of money. Also swapped the monitor for a 1440p G-sync screen and the CPU cooler for something a bit beefier

[Tadashi]

I don't live in USA. I will be buying from USA and shipp everything except the monitor(too expensive to ship) I will buy locally. The rest are fairly reasonable to ship. Bigger cases join monitors in being unreasonable to ship too.

I don't want anything bigger than the Node 202. I just loved it and really want it.

The only reason I have the 6600k instead of the 6600 is because it's only $6 extra. I'm not planning to OC at all.

 

I was originally going to go with the 1060. But after looking at 1080p benchmarks again for the 1060 and the 1070 I noticed the the 1060 while indeed getting 60+ FPS maxed out in current titles, it might age not well. My preferred monitor resolution is 3440x1440, but that's too expensive. I'm thinking to get this and keep it for at least 5 years, where hopefully by then 3440x1440 would be cheaper and hopefully upgrade gpu+monitor or the whole system. The idea of the 1070 is to keep 1080p maxed at 60+FPS until the next upgrade.

I'm not interested in the RX 480.

 

I found the Gigabyte GA-B150N Phoenix-WIFI interesting. It checks all the boxes I want. M.2, enough USB 3.0, USB 3.1, USB-C, USB 3.0 header, WiFi, WiFi antenna with cable and stand. I think I might switch to it. Then I would have to forgo the 4.0GHz OC I was going to try, but I'd rather save some money.

 

Will I have enough PCI-e lanes to run both a GPU and a M.2 SSD at the same time with no bottlenecks or issues using a B150 chipset?

[Mr.Humble]

16 minutes ago, Tadashi said:

I don't live in USA. I will be buying from USA and shipp everything except the monitor(too expensive to ship) I will buy locally. The rest are fairly reasonable to ship. Bigger cases join monitors in being unreasonable to ship too.

I don't want anything bigger than the Node 202. I just loved it and really want it.

The only reason I have the 6600k instead of the 6600 is because it's only $6 extra. I'm not planning to OC at all.

 

I was originally going to go with the 1060. But after looking at 1080p benchmarks again for the 1060 and the 1070 I noticed the the 1060 while indeed getting 60+ FPS maxed out in current titles, it might age well. My preferred monitor resolution is 3440x1440, but that's too expensive. I'm thinking to get this for at least 5 years, where hopefully by then 3440x1440 would be cheaper and maybe upgrade gpu+monitor or the whole system. The idea of the 1070 is to keep 1080p maxed at 60+FPS.

I'm not interested in the RX 480.

 

I found the Gigabyte GA-B150N Phoenix-WIFI interesting. It checks all the boxes I want. M.2, USB 3.1, USB-C, USB 3.0 header, WiFi, WiFi antenna with cable and stand. I think I might switch to it. Then I would have to forgo the 0.1GHz OC I was going to try, but I'd rather save money.

 

If you're not planning to OC, there's no reason at all to go with 6600K, especially since as you pointed out you'd go with the B150 chipset board.

 

Also I think that the 6600K will bottleneck the 1070 at 1080p.

 

You could save a lot of money by going with RX480 and a Freesync Ultrawide monitor.

[Mr.Humble]

For example:

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/3KPmkT
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/3KPmkT/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($198.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler  ($38.94 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150N Phoenix-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($117.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($73.39 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($186.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus Radeon RX 480 8GB ROG STRIX Video Card  ($350.00)
Case: Fractal Design Node 202 HTPC Case w/450W Power Supply  ($124.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: LG 29UC88-B 29.0" Monitor  ($359.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1451.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-24 05:36 EDT-0400

 

The price of the GPU is approximated.

[SnowyMus]

36 minutes ago, Tadashi said:

Will I have enough PCI-e lanes to run both a GPU and a M.2 SSD at the same time with no bottlenecks or issues using a B150 chipset?

Yes. Mainstream Intel CPUs have 16 PCIe lanes that are meant for graphics, so your GPU will not use any of the chipset lanes.

 

10 minutes ago, vojta.pokorny said:

Also I think that the 6600K will bottleneck the 1070 at 1080p.

At a resolution as low as 1080p, the 1070 may even be CPU-bound with the 6700K. It's really a 1440p card.

[SnowyMus]

14 minutes ago, vojta.pokorny said:

For example:

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/3KPmkT
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/3KPmkT/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($198.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler  ($38.94 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150N Phoenix-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($117.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($73.39 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 950 PRO 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($186.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: Asus Radeon RX 480 8GB ROG STRIX Video Card  ($350.00)
Case: Fractal Design Node 202 HTPC Case w/450W Power Supply  ($124.99 @ NCIX US)
Monitor: LG 29UC88-B 29.0" Monitor  ($359.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1451.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-24 05:36 EDT-0400

The price of the GPU is approximated.

If the RX 480 really costs approximately $350, I'd get the GTX 1070 for just $400-$430 even if it is bottlenecked. Holy crap.

[Tadashi]

I would love to get an ultrawide monitor. But Shipping it is too expensive. Also the ones available locally are the super expensive ones. Even 1440p monitors are expensive. I'm already paying whats equivalent to ~$270 for that Asus monitor.

 

Also I'd rather not get an AMD card.

 

Since the 6600k has no cooler it has a smaller box. It ends up being cheaper than the 6600 after shipping. And I don't want the stock cooler, especially in the small Node 202.

 

I based my 1060 vs 1070 comparison on this video

The Witcher 3 shows almost 30FPS improvement with the 1070 over the 1060. The 1060 is barely floating above 60FPS. I was thinking that the 1060 could fall below 60 FPS in future titles.

 

As for CPU bottleneck. Do games utilize 8 threads? The only difference between the i7 and the i5 as far as I could tell are the Hyperthreading and 2MB more L3 cache. For the price I don't think it's worth it to me to get an i7.

[SnowyMus]

6 minutes ago, Tadashi said:

As for CPU bottleneck. Do games utilize 8 threads? The only difference between the i7 and the i5 as far as I could tell are the Hyperthreading and 2MB more L3 cache. For the price I don't think it's worth it to me to get an i7.

Do games utilize 8 threads? Maybe some of them, but it's not as big of a deal as you might think.

 

The word "bottleneck" is way too abused on tech sites. Unless your computer is rendering infinity frames per second, there's something limiting it. If you're getting a decent i5, I wouldn't worry about a "bottleneck" unless it actually makes your framerate sub-60 FPS or stuttery, which it won't.

[Tadashi]

I will stick to the 6600k then. With how shipping works the heaver boxed 6500+stock cooler would end up more expensive than the 6600k probably.

 

 

[Mr.Humble]

8 minutes ago, Kavawuvi said:

If the RX 480 really costs approximately $350, I'd get the GTX 1070 for just $400-$430 even if it is bottlenecked. Holy crap.

I said it's approximated. The MSI RX480 Gaming X 8GB cost the equivalent of 420$ in my country

9 minutes ago, Tadashi said:

Since the 6600k has no cooler it has a smaller box. It ends up being cheaper than the 6600 after shipping.

...

[SnowyMus]

44 minutes ago, vojta.pokorny said:

I said it's approximated. The MSI RX480 Gaming X 8GB cost the equivalent of 420$ in my country

I'm pretty well aware that prices are terrible in many countries which is pretty terrible, as you're paying nearly twice the MSRP.

 

The OP did mention buying from the US and just shipping it, though, which is why I said what I said.

[Mr.Humble]

1 minute ago, Kavawuvi said:

I'm pretty well aware that prices are terrible in many countries which is pretty terrible, as you're paying nearly twice the MSRP.

 

The OP did mention buying from the US and just shipping it, though, which is why I said what I said.

Welcome to Europe I guess. We have VAT and stuff.

 

I know, to me it just seemed more reasonable to extimate the price of the STRIX 8GB edition a bit higher, just in case :).

 

[Tadashi]

I decided to drop the 950 PRO SSD for a bigger 850 EVO 500GB SSD. Is this a good idea?

 

Also since the Asus 1070 is so expensive and since the B150 Gigabyte board has 2 case fan headers. I'm thinking of getting an EVGA 1070 instead, and somehow try to get the 2 120mm fans to a splitter and then to the second case fan somehow. Worth it?

 

The EVGA has 2 bigger fans while the ASUS has 3 smaller, would the EVGA run quiter?

 

This is the modified build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler  ($38.94 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150N Phoenix-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($117.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($73.39 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($156.59 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($429.99 @ B&H) 
Case: Fractal Design Node 202 HTPC Case  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair SF 600W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  ($119.99 @ Newegg) 
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM  120mm Fan  ($19.49 @ OutletPC) 
Case Fan: Noctua NF-F12 PWM 55.0 CFM  120mm Fan  ($19.49 @ OutletPC) 
Case Fan: Noctua NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM  140mm Fan  ($20.94 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1286.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-24 09:54 EDT-0400

[Quaker]

13 minutes ago, Tadashi said:

Memory: Kingston FURY 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($73.39 @ Newegg)

I realize you may be thinking about future upgrades, but 16Gigs of RAM is all you're ever likely to need during the life of this computer.

 

So, get 2x 8gigs of RAM rather than just a single 16Gig stick. (To enable dual-channel RAM access)

 

And where, in that case, do you intend to put all those fans?

[Tadashi]

 

11 hours ago, Quaker said:

I realize you may be thinking about future upgrades, but 16Gigs of RAM is all you're ever likely to need during the life of this computer.

 

So, get 2x 8gigs of RAM rather than just a single 16Gig stick. (To enable dual-channel RAM access)

You are absolutely right.

But I already have 16GB on my laptop and have seen quite frequently a windows warning about low memory. The size of the mobo means 32GB is my max. And since there's a good potential I might need it I want to keep it empty and put a second 16GB later on.

[Quaker]

Well, you must be running some large programs on your laptop. Are you sure you're not running a 32-bit version of Windows (which would limit your RAM to only 4Gigs)?

 

I mean, when I had 8Gigs of RAM I could run SWTOR (MMO), and a voice chat program, a spreadsheet,  and watch a couple of videos or tennis live-streams without any RAM problems. (I now have 16Gigs).

 

Btw, that motherboard has an M.2 slot, so I'd suggest you get a PCIe M.2 SSD (not necessarily NVME).

[Tadashi]

No, it's 64-bit.

Chrome is open all the time with a minimum of 20 tabs, accompanied by other programs. I even had to disable RAPID mode to make it happen less frequently(I got an mSATA 850 EVO on it).

[Tadashi]

I revised the build a little bit.
I decided to change the GPU fans to the Corsair ML120.
As for the CPU cooling solution, I think I will drop the 140mm fan. But I'm searching for all the available coolers, see what's best.

There is something I'm wondering about though. The 6600k, if I run it at stock will it consume the same power as the 6600 which in turn means it will be running at 65W? Since I'm not overclocking it I don't want it to run hotter for no benefit.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($219.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i 33.8 CFM CPU Cooler  ($38.94 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150N Phoenix-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($117.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($61.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill Aegis 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($61.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($157.95 @ Newegg) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($429.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Fractal Design Node 202 HTPC Case  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair SF 600W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular SFX Power Supply  ($119.99 @ Newegg) 
Case Fan: Corsair ML120 Pro LED Blue 75.0 CFM  120mm Fan  ($27.99 @ Newegg) 
Case Fan: Corsair ML120 Pro LED Blue 75.0 CFM  120mm Fan  ($27.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1334.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-25 10:59 EDT-0400