Question about overall performance between two CPU/GPU combinations

[Phil9943]

So I'm trying to build the most "bang for the buck" pc that totals out to be $800. I'm considering two different builds. One with a powerhouse gpu and mediocre other specs, or one with a respectable processor to avoid mostly all potential bottlenecks.

 

Build one (GPU centered build):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor  ($117.64 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($78.17 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($50.79 @ Newegg) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($41.21 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Mini ITX OC Video Card  ($408.07 @ B&H) 
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($26.48 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($32.21 @ OutletPC) 
Wireless Network Adapter: Edimax EW-7811UTC USB 2.0 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter  ($15.84 @ B&H) 
Total: $770.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-08 07:20 EST-0500

 

Build two (all around build): 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($206.58 @ OutletPC) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper TX3 54.8 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($20.12 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($78.17 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($95.38 @ Newegg) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($41.21 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($46.11 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 3GB 3GB Windforce OC Video Card  ($211.98 @ B&H) 
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($26.48 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: EVGA 430W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply  ($32.21 @ OutletPC) 
Wireless Network Adapter: Edimax EW-7811UTC USB 2.0 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter  ($15.84 @ B&H) 
Total: $774.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-08 07:17 EST-0500

 

Notes (in no particular order):

-I don't know any good air coolers that fit in micro ATX cases. If you know any better ones, please tell me in a reply

-I will be using stock cooling in the 1070 build

-I will be using these cards for at least 2 and a half years before I will consider upgrading, although the 1070 should be able to play the most demanding games at max settings for the next 5 years

-I'm looking to game at 1080 60fps without any frame dips below that number. I have a 60hz monitor so I don't really care about the fps count beyond 60

-I don't mind turning down details to high instead of max but I'd like to keep settings above medium if at all possible

-I'm not purchasing a hard drive in the 1070 build to save some money, I'll just use the current one from my laptop until I can afford an upgrade

-I don't really give a shit about power consumption/efficiency because I don't pay power bills lol

-I'm extremely concerned about the i3 bottlenecking the 1070, but maybe I could get an i5-6500 in a year or two provided I make some extra money

-It's also been shown in most benchmarks that the 3gb 1060 performs almost as good as the 6gb, most of the benchmarks show a difference of only 5ish fps at the max

-The SSD is a major want but I'm willing to live without it

 

If anyone has any suggestions on things to swap out, please say so in replies, although I'd like to stay under a $850 budget at the max.

 

Thanks for reading this text wall.

[Simon771]

i3 and GTX 1070? That's a huge bottleneck.

 

I would go with i5 6500 and GTX 1060. More than enough for 1080p gaming.

[DiceAtlas]

I would move towards the I5, it will give you more room to move tin 1-2yrs time upgrading around the graphics and ram, maybe just run with 8bg RAM and see if the older GPU are suitable ( or available)  - this said im running and older R9 280X and 1080P is fine with good frame rates at 100mhz,  so and take into consideration the monitor if it is older then getting the 100fms might not really be worth it - think of it as a two step upgrade - 8gb ram, ( save $20),  i5 6500,( this sets the infrastructure) -   then back off to a good / yet older GPU for the 1080p ( ave the $200 on a new line GPU).

 

this may leave some room for another 8gb ram as needed ( for what i see most game 8 at the moment seems to be the spot) then 1070 as the wallet permits.

 

its kind of a half way, but i think the CPU and mother board are the start, the GPUs seem to change every 6mths.......

 

[SLAYR]

Why not both?

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/4YyF4C

 

EDIT: the evga psu is quite crap, there are cheaper 1070s, and you are buying expensive ram, and motherboard, also for the first build 120Gb isn't even enough for windows and 5-6 games you will need some sort of mass storage.

[SteveGrabowski0]

Buying an aftermarket cooler for an i5-6500 makes no sense, it's a 65W chip that doesn't need the kind of cooler you'd need for overclocking. I would absolutely pay the extra $50 for the 1060 6GB based on how badly the 960 2GB aged vs the 960 4GB.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($194.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B150M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($73.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory  ($84.00 @ B&H) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($38.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($43.50 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB WINDFORCE OC 6G Video Card  ($244.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: EVGA 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($39.88 @ OutletPC) 
Wireless Network Adapter: Edimax EW-7811UTC USB 2.0 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter  ($14.95 @ B&H) 
Total: $760.06
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-08 08:28 EST-0500

[Mello]

PCPartPicker this would be more than enough for a 1080p with 750 EVO SSD.

Don't recommend USB wifi adapter,

I put a TP-link that I use myself it's very great just plug and play.

[Kinda Bottlenecked]

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/6bsKcc
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/6bsKcc/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Asus H110M-A/M.2 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($46.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Avexir Core Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($36.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($38.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windforce OC Video Card  ($379.99 @ B&H) 
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($52.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND PCI-Express x1 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter  ($11.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $816.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-08 08:46 EST-0500

 

-Skylake i5

-Flashy Ram LED

-1070

-Non crappy PSU

 

[Phil9943]

 

 

1 hour ago, SLAYR said:

Why not both?

http://pcpartpicker.com/list/4YyF4C

 

EDIT: the evga psu is quite crap, there are cheaper 1070s, and you are buying expensive ram, and motherboard, also for the first build 120Gb isn't even enough for windows and 5-6 games you will need some sort of mass storage.

What makes the PSU crap? I'm no power supply expert but I don't really care how efficient it is (my parents pay for the energy and not me) and as long as it has enough watts to make sure my computer doesn't just shut off randomly, isn't it fine? Also I've read reviews and I'm pretty sure it's okay if it's non modular as well. I don't really care if it's ugly cause I don't even think my case has a window lol. Also I think my motherboard is cheap than the one you recommended, and yours only uses PCI-e 2.0 (cause H110). You're right about the SSD though.

[Quaker]

2 hours ago, Phil9943 said:

-I don't know any good air coolers that fit in micro ATX cases. If you know any better ones, please tell me in a reply

-I'm looking to game at 1080 60fps without any frame dips below that number. I have a 60hz monitor so I don't really care about the fps count beyond 60

 

- The GTX-1070 is aimed towards 1440p or ultra wide 1080p gaming. If you are using a standard 1920x1080 monitor, the GTX-1060 is more suitable. So I'd suggest going with the i5 plus GTX-1060. The i5 will also be much better in CPU intensive game such as GTA V and MMOs.

 

- since you're not overclocking, the TX3 is an excellent choice for a cooler.

 

[SLAYR]

18 minutes ago, Phil9943 said:

 

 

What makes the PSU crap? I'm no power supply expert but I don't really care how efficient it is (my parents pay for the energy and not me) and as long as it has enough watts to make sure my computer doesn't just shut off randomly, isn't it fine? Also I've read reviews and I'm pretty sure it's okay if it's non modular as well. I don't really care if it's ugly cause I don't even think my case has a window lol. Also I think my motherboard is cheap than the one you recommended, and yours only uses PCI-e 2.0 (cause H110). You're right about the SSD though.

It is very low quality, because it uses low quality components, it will not be very reliable, psu failures are also never pretty, and can take a cpu/gpu, or motherboard down with them.

 

I would recommend any tier 1-3 psu, 4-5 are decent for average computers like for web browsing and light usage, anything tier 6-7 you should try to avoid.

 

 

No gpu currently even saturates a pcie 2.0  x16 slot, and wven a 1070 will not see a performance hit running at pcie 2.0x8.

[YoloSwag]

Dude a good CPU would last you like 5 years (Sandy Bridge i5s & i7s)

 

A good GPU would generally last you like at least 2 years (to keep up with max settings at 1080p in 60FPS or beyond)

 

I'd go with at least the i5 or if you could, an i7.

 

GPU - RX 480s are about to come down on prices this Holiday Season. I'd wait for that if I were you.

[Phil9943]

11 hours ago, SLAYR said:

It is very low quality, because it uses low quality components, it will not be very reliable, psu failures are also never pretty, and can take a cpu/gpu, or motherboard down with them.

 

I would recommend any tier 1-3 psu, 4-5 are decent for average computers like for web browsing and light usage, anything tier 6-7 you should try to avoid.

 

 

No gpu currently even saturates a pcie 2.0  x16 slot, and wven a 1070 will not see a performance hit running at pcie 2.0x8.

Would you consider a EVGA 500W 80+ Gold to be a good PSU? I see the benefit of getting a "good" PSU, but I don't wanna pay for wattage I'll frankly never use.

[MMKing]

11 hours ago, SLAYR said:

It is very low quality, because it uses low quality components, it will not be very reliable, psu failures are also never pretty, and can take a cpu/gpu, or motherboard down with them.

 

I would recommend any tier 1-3 psu, 4-5 are decent for average computers like for web browsing and light usage, anything tier 6-7 you should try to avoid.

 

 

No gpu currently even saturates a pcie 2.0  x16 slot, and wven a 1070 will not see a performance hit running at pcie 2.0x8.

I would not personally use it, because i have the budget and i can afford 80+ platinum PSUs, which i run at 60% maximum. Because my system is expensive.

 

However, according to Johnnyguru.

His review: http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.php?name=NDReviews&op=Story&reid=431

 

''But if I wasn't a power supply reviewer and still on welfare? You bet I'd do one of these.''

 

If money is really tight, and you cannot possibly get anything better. This PSU will not damage your system at anything bellow 90% load.

[SLAYR]

40 minutes ago, Phil9943 said:

Would you consider a EVGA 500W 80+ Gold to be a good PSU? I see the benefit of getting a "good" PSU, but I don't wanna pay for wattage I'll frankly never use.

It would depend on the series, I linked a 350W seasonic PSU in my pcpartpicker list. Should be more then enough for the i5, and gtx 1070.

9 minutes ago, MMKing said:

If money is really tight, and you cannot possibly get anything better. This PSU will not damage your system at anything bellow 90% load.

We're talking i5s, and gtx 1070s definitely not a "budget" build.

[Festive]

14 hours ago, Pohernori said:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/6bsKcc
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/6bsKcc/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i5-6400 2.7GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($174.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Motherboard: Asus H110M-A/M.2 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($46.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Avexir Core Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($36.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($38.88 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windforce OC Video Card  ($379.99 @ B&H) 
Case: Fractal Design Core 1000 USB 3.0 MicroATX Mid Tower Case  ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($52.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND PCI-Express x1 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter  ($11.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $816.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-08 08:46 EST-0500

 

-Skylake i5

-Flashy Ram LED

-1070

-Non crappy PSU

 

@Phil9943 Buy this. It is the best build and only $16 over budget. Good CPU Very good GPU and a Great PSU. This is really all you should be looking at.