Should I finish this build? If so, help me!

[Denkou]

(post is a complete copy/paste of a post I made on another hardware forum I go to, hence the question/answer list I filled out since that's the template they use over there when asking for build help)

So I went out to Fry's to see if they had any good Black Friday deals and I ended up getting an i5-4690K + Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 3 board on sale for $250 after MIR. It was a super impulse buy and it seemed like a good deal so I decided to just buy it. I had been meaning to build a new rig for awhile now so this seemed like a good deal to hop on, but I have a few questions in my mind regarding whether or not it was a good buy.

First question would be, how big of an improvement is Skylake and DDR4 over the combo I just got? The technology is newer, but is it a big enough improvement to the point that I should return the combo that I just got and go for Skylake instead?

Secondly, I don't overclock, nor do I run a multi-GPU setup, so I feel like the K processor and a Z97 board is a little overkill. Now, that said, I am certainly OPEN to the idea of overclocking, although if I do so it'll probably be something modest. I'm more of a guy that likes to have his toys working and in stable condition, I'm not really a min/maxxer who likes to tinker with every little setting until it works. BUT, if a solid and stable overclock can be had without any headaches then I would be down to do that. I don't really build new systems often so I want this computer to last me at least 3-4 years, and I'm afraid OC'ing will reduce its lifespan.

Now that those two disclaimers are out of the way and IF you guys feel like I should just keep the CPU/mobo and finish the build, here's the rest of what I need help with :P

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming, mostly Blizzard games but also BF4, would like to try Star Wars Battlefront and Fallout 4
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$600 before shipping and taxes
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
SoCal California, Fry's and Microcenter both about a 20 minute drive away
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
Case, RAM, graphics card, PSU, OS, MAYBE an SSD if it fits the budget
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Will reuse my 500GB WD Blue HDD as well as an optical drive that's it
6) Will you be overclocking?
Maybe (see above)
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1900x1080, I believe it is 22 or 23"
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
I plan to have it build before Christmas.
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
N/A, already have motherboard
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No OS, I need to buy one.


Thank you for all your help.

- - - Updated - - -

Bump, this is what I'm thinking of getting:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($77.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB Video Card ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.98 @ NCIX US)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($84.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $511.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-29 22:54 EST-0500

[Remilia]

Skylake is about... 4-5% increase in single thread, so not really much especially considering you got the 4690k and MoBo at $250, that's way more than worth it.

The build you have is pretty good.

That particular PSU for that price is very very good o.o

[Jtbrig7390]

--snip--

In my opinion if you can spend a extra $40-$60 I would put a 1TB HD in there as well and use it along with ur 500gig/250gig ssd.

Can't never have too much space But that build is solid. Then again I am the type of guy who rather have a backup now and not need to get one later

[Denkou]

Skylake is about... 4-5% increase in single thread, so not really much especially considering you got the 4690k and MoBo at $250, that's way more than worth it.

The build you have is pretty good.

That particular PSU for that price is very very good o.o

I figure it'll be more of a hassle for me to return the parts and buy new Skylake parts at this point, then. I'm just worried about future performance since I do want to keep this rig for a few years, I don't know how big the gap between DDR3/DDR4 will be or how much any new architecture in Skylake will make a difference in future games and whatnot. The PSU is on sale for a few more days so I'll probably hop on it while it's still that cheap.

In my opinion if you can spend a extra $40-$60 I would put a 1TB HD in there as well and use it along with ur 500gig/250gig ssd.

Can't never have too much space But that build is solid. Then again I am the type of guy who rather have a backup now and not need to get one later

I'm using that 500GB as my only storage drive in my current PC and after 5 years, I've still only used about 350GB. I have literally no need for space, I don't download shows or movies or anything like that so I think I will be fine with the 500GB HDD + 250GB SSD. I have a 1TB external drive that I use with my laptop for traveling and such so I really don't think I'll be starved for space anytime soon.

[Jtbrig7390]

I'm using that 500GB as my only storage drive in my current PC and after 5 years, I've still only used about 350GB. I have literally no need for space, I don't download shows or movies or anything like that so I think I will be fine with the 500GB HDD + 250GB SSD. I have a 1TB external drive that I use with my laptop for traveling and such so I really don't think I'll be starved for space anytime soon.

Cool was just saying is all

That is a solid build.

[Remilia]

I figure it'll be more of a hassle for me to return the parts and buy new Skylake parts at this point, then. I'm just worried about future performance since I do want to keep this rig for a few years, I don't know how big the gap between DDR3/DDR4 will be or how much any new architecture in Skylake will make a difference in future games and whatnot. The PSU is on sale for a few more days so I'll probably hop on it while it's still that cheap.

Not really any huge gap.
DDR3/4 aren't really that big of a difference overall. Skylake itself scales better with faster RAM where as Haswell does not, so it does really have a bit more factor. It also depends entirely on the application on whether RAM speed helps in whatever you're doing.
But for a Skylake set up, it's $255 for a i5-6600k, $30 for a decent entry cooler, $100 for the same priced MoBo, $40 for 2x4GB DDR4 as opposed. Sum difference is going to be about $145.

[Denkou]

Alright, bump...so a few weeks have passed and I've been ordering parts since then. So far this is what my build looks like:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($213.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($32.50 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($104.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($41.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($318.49 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Titanium) ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($94.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit) ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1084.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-20 20:05 EST-0500

I have everything bought already EXCEPT the CPU cooler, RAM, and OS, which I'll order tomorrow. I got most of these parts on sale so I spent around $250 less than what the price shows.

In my opinion if you can spend a extra $40-$60 I would put a 1TB HD in there as well and use it along with ur 500gig/250gig ssd.

Can't never have too much space But that build is solid. Then again I am the type of guy who rather have a backup now and not need to get one later

After thinking about it, I think I'll go ahead and do what you said and get a 1TB drive for storage and stuff. I'll install my OS and games on the SSD and use the HDD for music and movies and such. Does anyone have any suggestions about what brand to go with? I was thinking a Western Digital Blue drive, I have a 500GB WD Blue drive (WD5000AKS) in my current computer and I've never had any problems with it, although I hear Seagate and Toshiba make some really good drives nowadays.

I'll probably also spend the extra $15-20 and get an optical drive to install the OS with and to use some old CDs and such.

I'm aiming to get the rig all put together by next weekend or so. Will share some pics once I do

[Remilia]

I'd go with this RAM stick. Cheaper and no difference.
http://pcpartpicker.com/part/gskill-...12800cl9d8gbxl

Stick with the H7, it's the best entry cooler so far in price/performance and relatively quiet. https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/.../H7_Universal/