Skylake Build

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steveak

Weaksauce
Joined
Feb 2, 2006
Messages
90
Hi,

Getting ready to build so am figuring out what's available. Possible parts list is below.

1) What will you be doing with this PC?
Primarily workstation, but some occasional and light games. I'm a tech writer so will often have Word, Acrobat, Photoshop and more in use. The usual Internet and email, etc.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Trying to keep it $1200 but that could go up a little bit. Taxes and shipping are extra, but I'll look for deals with free shipping, and vendors who don't charge sales taxes, when possible.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
San Jose, CA.

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
CPU, CPU cooler, motherboard, RAM, SSD, hard drive, power supply, OS

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing?
Silverstone TJ09 case. Right now will be reusing a GTX 650 video card. Will possibly upgrade that in the future, but that's not necessary at the moment.

6) Will you be overclocking?
Possibly a slight OC, but that's not vital.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
24-inch, 1280x resolution

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Sometime in October. No huge rush, so will buy when good sales pop up.

9) What features do you need in a motherboard?
Standard components are OK. No RAID.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license?
No. Will be purchasing Windows 10.

I'm sold on the Gigabyte UD3 Z170 board and an i7 6700K when it becomes more readily available. Yes, I know this is more than a bit of overkill for my needs. I am looking for long-term stability and use, and will hope to get 5+ years out of this computer. (I'm still running an IP35 board, after all.)

PC Hound list below:
PC Hound Part List - Hound-O-Matic (Alpha) Results

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M ($369.9 @ B&H)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-UD3 (rev. 1.0) ($0 - Owned)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) Ballistix Sport ($112.49 @ B&H)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W X Series X650 Gold ((SS-650KM Active PFC F3)) ($115.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: SAMSUNG 256GB 850 Pro Series MZ-7KE256BW ($139.99 @ TigerDirect)
Storage #2: SAMSUNG 128GB SM951 ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage #3: WD 2TB BLACK SERIES WD2003FZEX ($129.99 @ TigerDirect)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S ($67.99 @ Mwave)
Total: $1,066.33
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound

I keep going back and forth regarding the SSD. I can see pros and cons of the Samsung SM951 compared with the 850 Pro. What are the reasons to choose one over the other?

As far as the HDD, I'm definitely open for suggestions here. A 2TB drive should work, so the WD Black seems like a good choice.

For RAM, I'll probably stick with 2x8 of Crucial, but am open to Corsair or something else.

The Noctua NH-U14S seems like an excellent mid-range cooler, but I'm open to suggestion on that. I'll stick with air-cooling because I don't see a need to water-cool given my usage.

I'm also pretty sold on Seasonic power supplies, and think this 650-watt unit is more than enough for what I'll need. Still, am open to suggestions here.

Thanks for any help!
 
Your monitor is 1280x720? You should consider upgrading to at least 1080P or higher.

Why would you go with two SSDs? Just get one single large SSD and be done with it. Something in the 500+GB range.

Those Black drives are worthless. Since this is a storage drive anyway speed isn't an issue and even if it was those Black drives are all marketing anyway. For $130 you could get a 3TB drive for that price.

At the price of that CPU cooler you could get the Coolermaster AIO water cooler. It's cheaper at $50.
 
Thanks.

Was working from memory because I'm not at home. Am sure my monitor is 1080P now that I think about it. The two SSDs listed were because those are what I'm trying to decide between.

It would be one or the other, not both. The SSD would be for the OS, so the smaller SM951 would suffice. However the 850 Pro is roughly the same price, so I keep going back and forth in deciding the best solution. Is there an advantage in going with a smaller M2 drive? I cannot see going up to a single 500GB drive due to cost.
 
Cost? Then here:

$180 - SAMSUNG 850 EVO 2.5" 500GB
$70 - 2TB Western Digital WD Green

Total: $249

Cheaper than either of your options. Green drive is designed exactly for storage in your scenario.

Be sure to use promo code 0915TXTBK50 on the hard drive to knock off $9.

Also here is the Coolermaster AIO I was talking about:

$50 - Cooler Master Seidon 120V
 
Skillz said:
Cost? Then here:

$180 - SAMSUNG 850 EVO 2.5" 500GB
$70 - 2TB Western Digital WD Green

Total: $249

Cheaper than either of your options. Green drive is designed exactly for storage in your scenario.

Be sure to use promo code 0915TXTBK50 on the hard drive to knock off $9.

Also here is the Coolermaster AIO I was talking about:

$50 - Cooler Master Seidon 120V
Click to expand...

Perfect, thanks!
 
PC Hound Part List - Hound-O-Matic (Alpha) Results

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M ($369.9 @ B&H)
Motherboard: GIGABYTE GA-Z170X-UD3 (rev. 1.0) ($0 - Owned)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) Ballistix Elite ($135.95 @ B&H)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W X Series X650 Gold ((SS-650KM Active PFC F3)) ($145.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: SAMSUNG 500GB 850 EVO MZ-75E500B/AM ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Storage #2: TOSHIBA 2TB PH3200U-1I72 ($76.96 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Seidon 120V RL-S12V-24PK-R3 ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $928.77
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound

I'll need to do some research regarding the Seidon water cooler, because I'm not familiar with those. If installation looks easy enough, I'll probably go with that.

I chose the Toshiba HDD rather than the WD Green because of the faster spin. Price is virtually identical so that's no issue.

Amazon actually has an even better price for the RAM, buying two 8GB sticks rather than one 16GB package, so that'll come down a bit more.

And yeah, I'll be adding some kinda DVD writer. Still deciding whether to go with a BluRay writer or regular DVD. I'll also probably get two new case fans, just because the ones I'm now using are 6 years old. Might as well change them out while I'm doing all this.
 
AIO coolers are IMHO easier to install that tower coolers. No need to worry about a big bulky piece sitting on top of the CPU getting in the way of the mounting mechanism during install nor do you have to worry about installing the fans after you've mounted it in awkward positions.

Mount the CPU block on top of the CPU then take the radiator, attach the fan in a push or pull configuration and mount it to the rear where the 120mm fan would normally go. I have mine setup to push air through the radiator and out the back of the case. In fact, I didn't even remove the 120mm fan that was already installed on the rear. I just attached it directly to that in a push/pull configuration.

Additionally, it makes troubleshooting or removing/installing RAM and pretty much doing anything inside the case 1000x easier since you don't have this big bulky cooler taking up most of the room.
 
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