Need Advice for a full system

[GorGor2015sg]

Hi

I'm upgrading my old AMD Phenom II X4 965 3.4 Ghz as I bought a GTX 970 to replace my burnt out ATI 5970 (after using for 6 years). I'm sure if I upgrade my CPU to Intel i7, my fps will increase further right?
Please help me with my questions. They are marked with ??. Please note that the motherboard recommendations must support M2 drives and need not be overclockable as I'm satisfied with the base clock of the i7-6700K.

Thanks.

If get mini ITX casing,
1. and I want Asus mini ITX motherboard, I’m limited to only Asus Z170i Pro Gaming.
I7-6700k + Asus Z170i Pro Gaming (DDR4) $804

2. Otherwise, can get MSI H170 Gaming M3 motherboard.
I7-6700K + MSI H170 Gaming M3 (DDR4) $728

3. If get mini ITX casing, and want to use cheaper DDR3 RAM with i7-6700K,
Option 1??
Option 2??

4. If get micro ATX casing, and want to re-use old DDR3 RAM with i7-6700K,
I7-6700K + Asus H170M-E D3 (DDR3) $687
2nd Option ??

5. If get micro ATX casing, and want to use DDR4 RAM with i7-6700K,
Option 1 ??
Option 2 ??

 

[monikernemo]

I7 not much improvement for fps side of thingd. I5 would be a wiser choice for your wallet.

If you can spend 800 plus on a cpu + mobo and 600 for gpu, why can't you spend 800 plus on gpu instead and 600 for cpu+gpu. Would benefit your fps to a greater extent..

Sent from Huawei NEXUS 6P using GAGT

 

[Allanlee82]

2. Otherwise, can get MSI H170 Gaming M3 motherboard.
I7-6700K + MSI H170 Gaming M3 (DDR4) $728

if getting H board, just go for i7 6700, no need the K

3. If get mini ITX casing, and want to use cheaper DDR3 RAM with i7-6700K,
Option 1??
Option 2??

if you are using the new 100 series board, most of them are using DDR4. both the board you choose are using DDR4

4. If get micro ATX casing, and want to re-use old DDR3 RAM with i7-6700K,
I7-6700K + Asus H170M-E D3 (DDR3) $687
2nd Option ??

Same issue as question 3, casing has nothing to do with Ram.

5. If get micro ATX casing, and want to use DDR4 RAM with i7-6700K,
Option 1 ??
Option 2 ??

Just get the value ram if you are in a budget or not going to overclock or getting non Z series board, as they normally support up till 2133mhz

 

[Goodshot]

Just buy a haswell i7 and a $100 mobo no need headache, I didn't see the need for good mobo and good ram , gaming only stress ur gfx and sometimes cpu, the rest doesn't really make a diff

 

[GorGor2015sg]

I7 not much improvement for fps side of thingd. I5 would be a wiser choice for your wallet.

If you can spend 800 plus on a cpu + mobo and 600 for gpu, why can't you spend 800 plus on gpu instead and 600 for cpu+gpu. Would benefit your fps to a greater extent..

Sent from Huawei NEXUS 6P using GAGT

I read that some games like Shadow of Mordor can utilize all 8 threads and Im thinking of getting an i7 basically for "Future Proofing" as Im not going to change any CPU for the next 5-6 years. With Virtual Reality (VR) gaining momentum and newer games coming out, I'm not sure if i5 can last for up to the 5th-6th year? Some youtube videos show higher minimum frame rates for i7.

The reason on why I didn't spend 800 on a GPU Is because my ATI 5970 burnt out first. So I'm forced to get an Nvidia GTX. Im an AMD fanboy (nvidia fanboy in the past too) but I went Nvidia route this time due to the lower power consumption of Maxwell (Hope AMD will give Nvidia the much needed competition with its incoming 14nm Polaris cards soon so that all gamers can benefit from increased competition and reduced prices).
I limited my budget initially and even planned to get just a GTX 960 and do a SLI later when GTX 960 prices drop. But a gamer advised me not to go SLI due to complications and so I opted for a GTX 970 (I bought a Palit btw and did not o/c so as to limit heat and temp and its factory o/c out of the box anyway).

Also, I saw the price premium of a GTX 980 over a GTX 970 is quite high. Thus the performance/price ratio is not so attractive. Lastly, I intend to game on a 144 Hz 1080p monitor only. I don't think I will buy G-Sync monitor until the prices drop significantly and Nividia is just a blood sucker when AMD freesync monitors are much more affordable. So I might stick to pure (no g-sync or freesync) 144 Hz monitor to get reduced tearing in games.

Now I have increased my budget a bit so I'm flexible in the range of CPUs and motherboards to choose from.

All are free to continue their discussions as its very interesting.

 

[GorGor2015sg]

Just buy a haswell i7 and a $100 mobo no need headache, I didn't see the need for good mobo and good ram , gaming only stress ur gfx and sometimes cpu, the rest doesn't really make a diff

I'm also considering the Haswell i7-4790K as its performance and power consumption is equivalent to a Skylake i7-6700K. The nice thing about Haswell is the higher clock speed of 4.4 Ghz vs 4.2 Ghz. It makes me look more powerful lol.

But the mobo is the main headache. I want M2 SSD drive support so a cheap motherboard is out. The B series are oriented towards business so no M2 support. For Skylake, only the H170 and Z170 (overclocking) chipsets support M2. For Haswell, only the H97 and Z97 (overclocking) chipsets support M2.

USB 3.1 is less of a consideration. The reason is because if I'm plugging in a USB 3.0 external SSD for backup, its plentiful fast already.

I agree RAM is less of an influence that's why Im considering re-using my Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 4gb x 2 (8gb) sticks. The problem is mini ITX motherboards only have 2 DIM slots. So I cant just slot the old ones in and expect to get 16GB. And that's why I'm also considering Micro ATX boards.

Let's all continue to discuss.

 

[Allanlee82]

go for asus maximus viii gene m-atx board, has all the function you want

 

[avsquare]

The nice thing about Haswell is the higher clock speed of 4.4 Ghz vs 4.2 Ghz. It makes me look more powerful lol.

So you just want to up your e-peen or you got the use for it?

This product will make you look very satki http://siliconlottery.com/products/5960x47g

 

[wkweewee]

I'm also considering the Haswell i7-4790K as its performance and power consumption is equivalent to a Skylake i7-6700K. The nice thing about Haswell is the higher clock speed of 4.4 Ghz vs 4.2 Ghz. It makes me look more powerful lol.

But the mobo is the main headache. I want M2 SSD drive support so a cheap motherboard is out. The B series are oriented towards business so no M2 support. For Skylake, only the H170 and Z170 (overclocking) chipsets support M2. For Haswell, only the H97 and Z97 (overclocking) chipsets support M2.

USB 3.1 is less of a consideration. The reason is because if I'm plugging in a USB 3.0 external SSD for backup, its plentiful fast already.

I agree RAM is less of an influence that's why Im considering re-using my Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 4gb x 2 (8gb) sticks. The problem is mini ITX motherboards only have 2 DIM slots. So I cant just slot the old ones in and expect to get 16GB. And that's why I'm also considering Micro ATX boards.

Let's all continue to discuss.

Lol.. cheap board also can use m2 wad.. just get pcie to m2 adapter card.. roy gor gor got share previously hahaha.

 

[GorGor2015sg]

Allanlee82. Otherwise, can get MSI H170 Gaming M3 motherboard.
I7-6700K + MSI H170 Gaming M3 (DDR4) $728

if getting H board, just go for i7 6700, no need the K

My reply: Sorry for typo. I just discovered MSI H170 Gaming M3 is ATX form. So its out for me.

If getting H board, would it be ok to get i7-6700K but don't overclock it as its base clock is 4.0 Ghz, that's much higher than a pure i7-6700K with base clock at 3.4 Ghz ? Also, I like the figure 4.0 Ghz, looks more awesome lol.



3. If get mini ITX casing, and want to use cheaper DDR3 RAM with i7-6700K,
Option 1??
Option 2??

if you are using the new 100 series board, most of them are using DDR4. both the board you choose are using DDR4.

My reply: Some of them still support DDR3 I think? That's why I'm asking around as its very confusing and tiring to go through so many motherboards. Seems that Asus search filters do not have mini ITX form for H170 DDR3, only micro ATX form has. So Asus is out.
Anyone knows which mini ITX supports DDR3?


4. If get micro ATX casing, and want to re-use old DDR3 RAM with i7-6700K,
I7-6700K + Asus H170M-E D3 (DDR3) $687
2nd Option ??

Same issue as question 3, casing has nothing to do with Ram.

My reply:
Casing does relate to RAM as in which mini ITX or micro ATX form factors support DDR3. For example, the Asus mini ITX boards all do not support DDR3. If want DDR3 support, one has to get their micro ATX boards.
So I found Asus H170M-E micro ATX supports DDR3. I wish to know which other brands (MSI, Gigabyte etc) has micro ATX boards with DDR3 support?



5. If get micro ATX casing, and want to use DDR4 RAM with i7-6700K,
Option 1 ??
Option 2 ??

Just get the value ram if you are in a budget or not going to overclock or getting non Z series board, as they normally support up till 2133mhz


My reply: I read somewhere (either Tomshardware or anandtech) that the minimum recommend DDR4 is 2400, otherwise it will be worse than DDR3 in some situations. So if I'm buying DDR4, I would prefer 2400 Mhz. I'm also not ruling out DDR3 as well. Thus all the many options and combinations.

 

[MoneyFace =p]

Intel Core i5-6500 + Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H @ $455 is all you need to maximise both advantage of your graphics card and motherboard features.

Mothebroard already comes with best Intel Gigabit LAN, highest-end Realtek ALC1150 onboard audio, 1x M.2 slot, 1x SATA Express, DDR4 support

 

[GorGor2015sg]

go for asus maximus viii gene m-atx board, has all the function you want

lol I trying to balance my budget la.

The gene is very ex as I'm saving up to get a 144 hz monitor as well. And I think most of the functions of gene is more like gimmick. Only hardcore gamers who game 20 hrs a day and sleep 4 hrs and/or use nitrogen cooling can notice all the difference in audio and LAN lag IMHO.

So still looking around to see which mobo to pair up with Intel i7. And whether to get Intel Skylake i7 or Haswell i7.

If we tally up the combinations of Skylake i7 + mobo and Haswel i7 + mobo and whether to go mini ITX (for appearance) or micro ATX, that's an awful lot of combo to choose from.

 

[wkweewee]

lol I trying to balance my budget la.

The gene is very ex as I'm saving up to get a 144 hz monitor as well. And I think most of the functions of gene is more like gimmick. Only hardcore gamers who game 20 hrs a day and sleep 4 hrs and/or use nitrogen cooling can notice all the difference in audio and LAN lag IMHO.

So still looking around to see which mobo to pair up with Intel i7. And whether to get Intel Skylake i7 or Haswell i7.

If we tally up the combinations of Skylake i7 + mobo and Haswel i7 + mobo and whether to go mini ITX (for appearance) or micro ATX, that's an awful lot of combo to choose from.

In the end.. you r on a budget and u r still so stuck up abt an i7. Stay on i5 haswell and get a good graphics card instead if u really want fps improvement. Ram wise can use back ddr3 also.. abt m2 I have mentioned it previously alrdy..

Edit: Not sure why u r looking at processor and ram speeds for fps improvement though lol..

 

[Allanlee82]

My reply: I read somewhere (either Tomshardware or anandtech) that the minimum recommend DDR4 is 2400, otherwise it will be worse than DDR3 in some situations. So if I'm buying DDR4, I would prefer 2400 Mhz. I'm also not ruling out DDR3 as well. Thus all the many options and combinations.

The MSI board you choose only allow up to 2133Mhz, even if you buy higher speed also cant utilize. Most of the time only Z Series board will allow higher than 2133Mhz.
If you are looking at DDR3, you will have to look at the 90 series board, although some board in the 100 series are still using DDR3

So the RAM is restrict by the boards, if the board uses DDR4, you cant install a DDR3 on it, vice versa, thus there is not much combinations to look at. If you feel rich, you can always get the higher clock speed Ram even when the board does not fully utilize its speed.

 

[MoneyFace =p]

lol I trying to balance my budget la.

The gene is very ex as I'm saving up to get a 144 hz monitor as well. And I think most of the functions of gene is more like gimmick. Only hardcore gamers who game 20 hrs a day and sleep 4 hrs and/or use nitrogen cooling can notice all the difference in audio and LAN lag IMHO.

So still looking around to see which mobo to pair up with Intel i7. And whether to get Intel Skylake i7 or Haswell i7.

If we tally up the combinations of Skylake i7 + mobo and Haswel i7 + mobo and whether to go mini ITX (for appearance) or micro ATX, that's an awful lot of combo to choose from.

Dude, this is why buying Core i7 is dumb....

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/digitalfoundry-2015-intel-skylake-core-i7-6700k-review

You are paying a whopping $240 more on insignificant gains (and a brand name).

 

[monikernemo]

I read that some games like Shadow of Mordor can utilize all 8 threads and Im thinking of getting an i7 basically for "Future Proofing" as Im not going to change any CPU for the next 5-6 years. With Virtual Reality (VR) gaining momentum and newer games coming out, I'm not sure if i5 can last for up to the 5th-6th year? Some youtube videos show higher minimum frame rates for i7.

The reason on why I didn't spend 800 on a GPU Is because my ATI 5970 burnt out first. So I'm forced to get an Nvidia GTX. Im an AMD fanboy (nvidia fanboy in the past too) but I went Nvidia route this time due to the lower power consumption of Maxwell (Hope AMD will give Nvidia the much needed competition with its incoming 14nm Polaris cards soon so that all gamers can benefit from increased competition and reduced prices).
I limited my budget initially and even planned to get just a GTX 960 and do a SLI later when GTX 960 prices drop. But a gamer advised me not to go SLI due to complications and so I opted for a GTX 970 (I bought a Palit btw and did not o/c so as to limit heat and temp and its factory o/c out of the box anyway).

Also, I saw the price premium of a GTX 980 over a GTX 970 is quite high. Thus the performance/price ratio is not so attractive. Lastly, I intend to game on a 144 Hz 1080p monitor only. I don't think I will buy G-Sync monitor until the prices drop significantly and Nividia is just a blood sucker when AMD freesync monitors are much more affordable. So I might stick to pure (no g-sync or freesync) 144 Hz monitor to get reduced tearing in games.

Now I have increased my budget a bit so I'm flexible in the range of CPUs and motherboards to choose from.

All are free to continue their discussions as its very interesting.

Some games, not all games. 'Future proof' is nonsense. Even if vr is out, bottle neck still with gpu. Spending more on gpu yields better gains than spending more on cpu. While the gpu games moves fast very year, I am sure the current top of the line gpu and still match up to the second inine gpu of next gen. Cpu performance on other hand, is stagnant. No difference with i5 vs i7 in actual games.

So why don't want spend 800 on gpu when you can spend 800 on cpu/mobo? AMD fury is a very attractive option.

960 Sli is not wise because it sits in between 970 and 980 but price can get you a 980. Anw yeah shouldn't sli..

Sent from Huawei NEXUS 6P using GAGT

 

[GorGor2015sg]

Intel Core i5-6500 + Gigabyte GA-B150M-D3H @ $455 is all you need to maximise both advantage of your graphics card and motherboard features.

Mothebroard already comes with best Intel Gigabit LAN, highest-end Realtek ALC1150 onboard audio, 1x M.2 slot, 1x SATA Express, DDR4 support

Thanks for giving me a recommendation. I didn't consider Gigabyte initially is because I'm sick of looking at my AMD gigabyte motherboard for the past 6 years lol.

This motherboard you recommended is indeed interesting. I did a search. http://www.gigabyte.sg/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5491#sp

Let's see.
It's micro ATX. - ok, can consider though I would prefer a mini ITX.

M2 support - didn't know B series support M2. Ok good. But can a Samsung 950 Pro fit in ? I read one of the MSI motherboards M2 only allow 60mm while Samsung 950 Pro needs 80mm clearance while another Asus user cant detect his Samsung 950 Pro after plugging into his Asus mobo.

Skylake i7 support - ok, can plug in an intel i7 here.

4 DDR4 DIMM slots (support to 2133Mhz) - I read that DDR4 2400 is recommended as minimum to fight against DDR3 so how future proof is 2133Mhz?

AMD Crossfire support - lol..I just got an Nvidia GTX 970 even though I'm an AMD fanboy...so...haha...this feature doesn't apply unless I sell my GTX 970 later on and get two AMD Polaris cards and crossfire them to blow Nvidia out of the water lol

Overclocking - since its a B series chipset, I assume overclocking does not apply here?

 

[MoneyFace =p]

Some games, not all games. 'Future proof' is nonsense. Even if vr is out, bottle neck still with gpu. Spending more on gpu yields better gains than spending more on cpu. While the gpu games moves fast very year, I am sure the current top of the line gpu and still match up to the second inine gpu of next gen. Cpu performance on other hand, is stagnant. No difference with i5 vs i7 in actual games.

So why don't want spend 800 on gpu when you can spend 800 on cpu/mobo? AMD fury is a very attractive option.

960 Sli is not wise because it sits in between 970 and 980 but price can get you a 980. Anw yeah shouldn't sli..

Sent from Huawei NEXUS 6P using GAGT

And SLI GTX 960 is gonna choke its 128-bit wide memory to death.

 

[GorGor2015sg]

Some games, not all games. 'Future proof' is nonsense. Even if vr is out, bottle neck still with gpu. Spending more on gpu yields better gains than spending more on cpu. While the gpu games moves fast very year, I am sure the current top of the line gpu and still match up to the second inine gpu of next gen. Cpu performance on other hand, is stagnant. No difference with i5 vs i7 in actual games.

So why don't want spend 800 on gpu when you can spend 800 on cpu/mobo? AMD fury is a very attractive option.

960 Sli is not wise because it sits in between 970 and 980 but price can get you a 980. Anw yeah shouldn't sli..

Sent from Huawei NEXUS 6P using GAGT

ok VR is more on GPU, I will agree.

Some games, not all games support hyperthreading now. But as 2017-2019 approach, Im sure more games will support hyperthreading? And i7 will have an advantage moving forward?

As I have explained, I bought the GTX 970 first before deciding to replace my mobo and AMD CPU, coz I'm not getting optimal framerates with my current old CPU and GTX 970 in Grid 2 for example and that kind of sucks. I have increased my budget but I guess I cant go back in time to get an Nvidia GTX 980 and then get an Intel i5 now...lol that sucks

 

[GorGor2015sg]

And SLI GTX 960 is gonna choke its 128-bit wide memory to death.

I saw on youtube they tested SLI GTX 960 vs some combos of 970 and 980 and the SLI actually handles quite well. They attribute it alot to Nvidia's excellent memory compression technology even though its 128-bit. But they did use 4Gb GTX 960s to test and not 2Gb GTX 960 to test.