Need some help with a GTX 1070 build

[Akonji]

My current computer is almost three years old and it feels like a good time to upgrade it (or well, once the GTX 1070 is available). I have a bit of knowledge about computer parts, but not enough that I feel confident enough to make my own build, so I hope someone can help me out.
I'll be using the computer mostly for gaming with some schoolwork on the side.

Requirements/preferences:
- 500 GB SSD (was thinking of getting a https://www.alternate.co.uk/Samsung/...8?event=search for this)
- Would prefer a 3 (or 4 if not too expensive) TB HDD
- 16 GB RAM
- A (not too expensive) optical drive
- Will get a GTX 1070 once they are available
- Won't be able to upgrade my computer for a while, so I'd prefer if it was (at least) somewhat futureproof

Questions:
- I read that the 3 TB HDDs tend to be unreliable, so would 4 TB HDD be better?
- Is a Skylake build worth it? (Those builds seem to be more expensive, so I'm not sure if I should go for it or not, but I can stretch the budget up to about 2000 euro if it'd be better)
- Is there a big difference between i5 and i7 cores? I was thinking of getting an i7 core, but someone I occassionally game with said it's not worth the money, so now I'm not sure what to do

Budget: +- 1700 euro (see above)
Resolution: 1920x1080
Games / Settings Desired: (At least) High settings for new games
Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc): None, though a friend sometimes borrows my computer for 3D modeling
Country: The Netherlands
Parts that can be reused: None
Do you need an OS: Yes (Windows 10)
Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc): No

I'll be ordering my parts from https://www.alternate.co.uk/html/con...r/pc/page.html (well, the Dutch version of it) due to positive experiences with their customer service.

If there's any information missing, then please say so and I'll do my best to provide it.

[Miyagie]

Tell us first your old specs, 3 years isnt rly old and CPUs didnt improved alot for gaming.
If you just game you dont need a I7 you can go with a I5.
Oh and wait for RX 480/490 to released maybe the 490 is better.

[Akonji]

CPU: AMD FX-8350 Eight Core Processor @ 4.00 GHz
Video Card: AMD Radeon HD 7800 Series (can't find whether it's the 7850 or 7870)
Memory: 8.00 GB RAM (I can open the case to check the brand if it's needed, but leaving it sealed for now due to the remaining warranty)
Storage: 128 GB SSD (seems to be Kingston)
Storage: 2 TB HDD (seems to be Kingston)
(Not sure if any other specs are important besides the motherboard, but the motherboard wasn't specified in the Command Prompt, so I'd have to open the computer if it's important to know.)

And I'm aware that CPUs haven't improved alot. However, my little brother needs a new computer due to his old one barely even booting.
So, given the fact that he barely uses computers, it seemed better to give him my current computer and buy a new one myself.

[Deleted]

So, given the fact that he barely uses computers, it seemed better to give him my current computer and buy a new one myself.

Hah we all do the same more or less, in my case its the wife instead of brother.
Have a look at the following, just add a gtx1070 when available.

[Deleted]

I would only really change the PSU from Kosts build. I would change it to a Corsair RM550x, is 5 euro's more expensive but you get a fully modular PSU with a more silent fan.

Possibly a different case, but that is more personal

[Akonji]

Thank you for the build, Kostatto. It looks great. As for your idea Zeara, a more silent fan might be nicer (noise is a pain after all).
However, I have two other questions (of which is partly related to my build). I went out to have a drink with my neighbour and we talked a bit about computers.
He intends to upgrade his i7-4790k to an i7-6700k, but isn't sure whether it's worth it for the performance. He asked if I wanted to buy his i7-4790k if he does decide to upgrade to the 6700k. I, however, have no clue if it's worth upgrading in his case (even if the cost wouldn't be a problem for him) and looking and benchmarks didn't really let me get a better understanding for his "problem" either.

So now my first question is, would it be better for him to upgrade his 4790k to a 6700k? And if so, would I be better off buying his 4790k or just going with Kostattoo's suggestion of the i5-6600k? (He hasn't build his new computer yet so the 4790k is still package sealed and he said he'd probably ask around 240 euro it.)

As for my second question, how do you know how much watt your PSU should supply? When I looked at the Corsair RM550X, I saw it was the same price as the Corsair RM650X, so wouldn't it be better to get the 650 watt version then or is there something I'm overlooking?

[Lathais]

Thank you for the build, Kostatto. It looks great. As for your idea Zeara, a more silent fan might be nicer (noise is a pain after all).
However, I have two other questions (of which is partly related to my build). I went out to have a drink with my neighbour and we talked a bit about computers.
He intends to upgrade his i7-4790k to an i7-6700k, but isn't sure whether it's worth it for the performance. He asked if I wanted to buy his i7-4790k if he does decide to upgrade to the 6700k. I, however, have no clue if it's worth upgrading in his case (even if the cost wouldn't be a problem for him) and looking and benchmarks didn't really let me get a better understanding for his "problem" either.

So now my first question is, would it be better for him to upgrade his 4790k to a 6700k? And if so, would I be better off buying his 4790k or just going with Kostattoo's suggestion of the i5-6600k? (He hasn't build his new computer yet so the 4790k is still package sealed and he said he'd probably ask around 240 euro it.)

As for my second question, how do you know how much watt your PSU should supply? When I looked at the Corsair RM550X, I saw it was the same price as the Corsair RM650X, so wouldn't it be better to get the 650 watt version then or is there something I'm overlooking?

Well, if your friend were to upgrade, at the most, he'd see a 5% increase in performance. In fact, if he OCs, because the difference between the 2 is so little, due to silicone lottery, it's possible that he has a good OCing chip and could get a bad OCing chip and end up breaking even or in even worse shape. I would not recommend he upgrade.

As for if you should get it, if you are not doing anything that uses hyperthreading(games don't) then it's really almost the same thing as an i5. So being from last gen, it will be about 5% worse than the 6600k. If you get a good deal on it, not a bad idea though, 5% is not huge. Just keep in mind, you'll need a z97 motherboard and DDR3 RAM instead og the Z107 and DDR4 needed for the 6600k.

[Akonji]

Lathais, thank you for answering my first question. I'll tell him what you said. As for him OC'ing, I doubt that. Although he games a lot, he's happy enough with medium-high settings and generally doesn't bother changing any settings if he can play at that.

If someone has an answer to my second question, I'd appreciate that

[Lathais]

Lathais, thank you for answering my first question. I'll tell him what you said. As for him OC'ing, I doubt that. Although he games a lot, he's happy enough with medium-high settings and generally doesn't bother changing any settings if he can play at that.

If someone has an answer to my second question, I'd appreciate that

Oh, sorry, for what PSU you need, pcpartpicker has a pretty good calculator. Just put all the parts in and it will give you an estimated wattage. Really though, GPUs are the big wattage hog and they are using less and less power with each generation, not more. 550W should be enough for just about anyone, unless you are planning on going with dual graphics cards or something. If the 650 is the same price, why not?

[Akonji]

I suspected so, Lathais, but I wasn't sure whether the 650 might be incompatible. Will remember to check Pcpartpicker before ordering the parts to make sure I get a good enough PSU, but it's good to know that there's no downside to getting the 650 if the price is the same. Thank you again for your time.

@Kostattoo I have four things I'm not clear on after writing down the build you suggested and one (somewhat) unrelated question.
1: Does the brand of the motherboard (and also of the GPU from what I've seen) matter (In this case the ASUS part of the motherboard) or is it just preference (I've heard good things about both ASUS and MSI, but an ex-colleague always kept hammering on about not wanting anything but MSI)?
2: Does the colour/size of the HDD matter? (I saw there were multiple colours with quite some differences in the prices, but browsing the internet I got conflicting answers.) The one you listed (Red), for example, is seemingly made for NAS systems, so wouldn't something along the lines of https://www.alternate.co.uk/Western-...?tk=7&lk=16781 be better? Furthermore, the Western Digital HDDs seem to make a lot of noise according to the comments, is this normal for HDDs or is this brand related (if such a thing even exists)? As for the size part, reports said that the failure rate of 3 TB is a lot higher than that of the 4 TB versions, so would it be safer to get a 4 TB HDD in that case?
3: I'm somewhat undecided about the case (decided to change your suggestion due to a preference for black cases and no see-through parts). I've narrowed it down to https://www.alternate.nl/html/produc...lter_7171=1426 and https://www.alternate.nl/html/produc...2147480559=ATX Now my question is, is one better than the other and would they need more fans? The Fractal seems to have openings, but I'm not sure whether that will actually be of any use or not, nor if more than the two pre-installed fans are required (someone on another forum was talking about needing a fan at the front, back and at the top?).
4: Is there a difference between 1x 16 GB or 2x 8 GB RAM? (https://www.alternate.nl/html/produc...ilter_7171=583 and https://www.alternate.nl/html/produc...ilter_7171=583)
5: I was playing around with the PC-builder and when using https://www.alternate.nl/html/produc...&className=cpu (i7-4790K) as processor the CPU cooler was already listed as being chosen without actually having chosen one. So does that CPU come coupled with a cooler, and if so, would a cooler like the one you listed be better than the one that comes with it? (Playing around with the i7-4790K because someone on another forum recommended skipping Skylake.) And what is the difference between https://www.alternate.nl/html/produc...ilter_7171=583 and https://www.alternate.nl/html/produc...ilter_7171=583 ? I tried reading up on it, but I can't figure out what the difference between the two would be in regards to the i7-4790K.

Finally, what do you think of these two builds I ended up with after playing with the builder (mostly whether or not Skylake is worth it with the price difference in question, though any suggestions are of course more than welcome):

i7-6700K Build:
http://i.imgur.com/iWj69yn.png

i7-4790K Build:
http://i.imgur.com/Nzw1AnK.png

(Used the links instead of the images themselves due to the images being rather large.)

[Deleted]

1. It really comes down to features and the price. My personal preferences are gigabyte and asus on boards in mid to high mobos. ASrock for more lower budget oriented builds. Msi had some issues on haswell with it mobos and i avoid them although they might have fixed their quality issues with current gen. So yeah i am with your colleague i avoid msi mobos since then.

2. In WD's case yes colors mean something. The blue ones are your regular cheap storage solution but they usually are 1tb and the newer ones that got out that are 2tb or more are 5400rpm not 7200 like the 1tb. Purples ones are for video surveillance and black ones the more durable but intended as main drives, o/s etc. Red are better optimised for NAS and greens are supposed to be eco drives but they are rubbish so really are meant for nothing in my book.

Now why i picked red. Blacks are very good but for 3 or more tb they are very expensive and not worth the price imo. Blues as said are slow. I picked 3tb cause they have the best tb/$-€. Their speed is variable and can go up to 6500rpm or something. Reds have lower than black access time so they are not suited as a main drive to have your o/s in it, they are not build for that. But they got lower consumption, made for 24/7 use and have very good sequential and write speeds. I have multiple of those drives, they are quiet, quieter than my WD black and had no problems with them. You have a big ssd as main drive so i see it as why not a red that will sit there being quiet.

3. Case aesthetics are personal. Then there is features and build quality. Corsair 330R simply no, its a little old model and not as good as the one i mentioned or even your second option. If you don't want a window or any leds and prefer a minimalistic look then go with the Fractal Design R5 case, its awesome.

4. I think you linked the same ram kit twice. Either way they should be close to 0 difference in performance, but since its highly unlikely you will ever need more than 16gb i would prefer 2 sticks instead of one. It used to be the case with older ram that dual channel was better, ie 2 sticks or even 3 earlier on, to have a small performance boost. That is not the case anymore and often at time in low budget builds if 1 x8gb stick is cheaper than 2x4gb stick i pick the 1 stick especially on mobo that got 2 ram slots (H110). But with 16 for the average user its more than enough, looks cooler and more importantly its good for troubleshooting. If something goes bad with ram sticks themeselves (very rare) or better yet mobo ram slots, it happens.

5. The 4790k is previous gen cpu, its haswell-refresh the 6600k/6700k are the newest Skylake ones. Different platform. Up untill haswell all cpu's were coming with a stock cooler. The current "k" ones come without. Simply intel thought that most ppl that buy "k" series cpu want to overclock it right? So why include a basic cpu cooler than will find itself in the trash-bin after the chip is out of the box. The difference between intel stock cooler and the one i linked is mindblowing. One has the performance of a small Fiat car the other of a lambo.

The ram stick you have listed, one has "L" on it. So one is the regular DDR3 the other DDR3L, with "L" meaning lower voltage. Bear in mind this is ddr3 and does not work with skylake.

6. Lastly to the two builds you made. Really just don't buy the corsair case instead of the fractal. The R5 is miles ahead. Two i don't see the point going for older gen cpu especially since old ones used different ram, ie ddr3 and not ddr4. Purely cpu performance difference between those 2 will be really small, 5% or so. But the 4790k which is older is also more expensive so it really makes no sense at all in any perspective to buy old stuff. Equally you don't need an i7 either. You will have zero, absolutely zero gaming performance gains from an i7 6700k over an i5 6600k. If anything in some rare occasions, a couple years ago, i7 was worse cause it wouldn't let you overclock as well as an i5 due to ht. So if you are doing nothing that needs an i7 its waste of money. Do you do regular video rendering etc? If not then not worth it. You can still do the rare youtube video on a i5, the difference isn't that much when making just one here and there. The difference would come if it was down to purely productivity but then again if it included some pro work you wouldn't be looking at this platform but X99.


edit: btw the build i made had in mind to be as good as its get as a "gaming rig" according to what you listed you want in it but to save as much as you can for the gtx1070. With an i7 you will be 100euro short. I am not sure 400euro is enough for 1070. I think you are looking at 450-500 for it. So the closer to you are to 1200 for all the rest the better for you, again for the budget you said you got.

[Akonji]

First of all, thank you very much for the detailed answers, Kostattoo.
The case was really just a placeholder to get a rough price indication on my build (since the Fractal was the same price). As for the RAM, one of the links should've been a 1x 16 GB stick and the other link should've been the same but in a 2x 8 GB format, guess I messed up the links due to it being late.

As for the case, the one you suggested supposedly has LEDs on the bottom (according to the store page), and I know from experience that it's better to limit the amount of light coming from it for myself (and thus also the preference of no see-through parts on the case).
Finally thank you for actually explaining the whoel Haswell versus Skylake thing in a good way. Most of the things I could find on the internet involved benchmarking sites or videos and people saying the sources weren't reliable, without actually giving a decent reason to go for one or the other. I'll just decide on the 6600K or 6700K when I once I know what courses I'll be following next year (and if any of them use programs that make extensive use of hyperthreading).

Luckily I'm also able to up the limit of my budget a bit for the GTX (and I save about 60 euro going back to the Red HDD).
Once again, thank you very much for the help, would have been a lot harder if I had tried to figure this out on my own.