1. #1

    Help with new Desktop

    So long story short, my 5 and a half year old pc crapped on me, and after hundreds of hours of troubleshooting I decided maybe its time to upgrade.

    Budget $300-$500

    My old PC:

    CPU: Intel I7 860
    Motherboard: Gigabyte P55A-UD3
    Memory: G Skill 8GB x2 - DDR3-1600 / PC3-12800
    GPU: GeForce GTX 670
    Audio: Sound Blaster X-Fi Xtreme Audio
    PSU: 850 Watt -- XFX Black Edition Power Supply
    SSD: Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250 GB / Kingston SH103S3240G (240GB)

    I've upgraded everything except the motherboard and cpu over the years, and either they or the PSU is the problem (ill find out for sure later today). Either way I do plan on purchasing a new cpu/motherboard for sure. The PSU might be a must depending on if it is the problem.

    Looking through TomsHardware reviews i'm eyeballing the following:

    Intel core i5-6500: 200.00 from amazon
    Gigabyte z170-hd3: 105.27 from amazon
    Labor to install the stuff: 75-100....i don't plan on doing this just fyi.

    I've read reviews on the motherboard and some are saying its causing problems. I guess my questions are whether or not these two would be good for the rest of the hardware above, and if there are other recommendations out there that may be less hassle or be extremely good upgrades for a cheap price. Obviously a different motherboard might be a good idea considering the reviews.

    Thanks.
    Last edited by Drakey; 2015-11-27 at 01:37 PM.

  2. #2
    Deleted
    Ehmm, you need ddr4 too with that. Do it yourself, will take you like an hour and unless you make more per hour then... Just be sure your pc case can handle 160mm tall cpu coolers.

    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

    CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($254.99 @ Amazon)
    CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($49.90 @ Newegg)
    Motherboard: Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($114.99 @ Newegg)
    Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($52.99 @ Newegg)
    Total: $472.87
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
    Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-27 12:01 EST-0500

  3. #3
    Is the difference between the 6600k and the 6500 big enough to warrant the $50? I'm extremely unfamiliar with hardware these days, but i thought I read somewhere that DDR 3 can work with the Gigabyte motherboard (Not sure on the asus one).

    EDIT: That cooler isn't showing up with the right price on the newegg page...is there something else i need to do besides clicking the link?

  4. #4
    Deleted
    There are some H170 mobo's that use ddr3 instead of ddr4 but its not officially supported by intel. Intel says only ddr3L (low voltage ones). You are right about the cooler, dunno why the link says 49.99, NCIXUS tho works fine at 59.99. You can get the Be quiet!Pure rock if you want a cheap one. Its just at that price the dark rock 3 was a bargain.

    As for the i5 6500 and 6600k comparison. 6500 is a locked psu and is clocked at 3.2 with turbo at 3.6. The 6600 is 3.5 with turbo at 3.9, while its unlocked. Which means with the cooler and mobo i linked you can overclock it for further performance. You may not want to do it now and its fine but say in 3-4years you need the extra cpu boost you will have the ability to do so. Basically you can keep your cpu as powerful or more than the next gen cpus. Each new gen till now gives 5-10% performance over the previous one of the same series. So say in 4-5years, 2gens over, you will have a 15-20% performance boost over this one. You overclocking it, say at 4.5Ghz you get that.

  5. #5
    Gotcha, makes sense.

    Theres a newegg combo that has the following:
    GIGABYTE GA-Z170XP-SLI (rev. 1.0) LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
    1x Intel Core i5-6600 6M Skylake Quad-Core 3.3 GHz
    334.98 with a rebate.

    Do you think this will be better than the cpu/mobo you listed price/performance-wise? I realize its about $30 cheaper, but im wondering if performance for 30 will be worth it. If that 6600k is more future proof id rather drop 30 more for it if thats the case.

    Trying to get a list made to order before the end of the business day today. I think I'm going to go with that Memory you linked as I have never come close to using over 8gb at this point in gaming and ordering more later wont be a big deal. Still unsure on cpu cooling right now.

    - - - Updated - - -

    One last question. Will my case be ok for these motherboards? Again, not too familiar with all this these days.

    Thanks for the help.

  6. #6
    Deleted
    The Asus Z170-A is a little better mobo, so for that plus an unlocked cpu, yes personally i would pay the extra 30bucks just to have the ability to overclock later even say at worst case scenario i never do. Up to you really depends how much 30bucks is worth for you.

    As for the case you didn't mention which model you got so i wouldn't know. As long as its an atx or full atx the mobo fits fine. Also as i mentioned at my #2 post, if your case supports at least 160mm cpu coolers, the cooler will also fit and its all good.

  7. #7
    I could of swore I posted the case...oh well.

    Think i got what i plan on buying, thanks for the help Kostattoo!

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