Support NeoGAF

[Haxxor]

None. Don't do it. Sound cards are only useful for headphone use.

Hmmm, so there is no added sound fidelity?

But then my next question is, how good of a soundcard do you need?

If the mother board has built in mic, will that do? (and then use the reciever for headphones)?

 

[ISee]

My budget is 800 dollars and yes, I plan on buying everything from there since we lack a clear competitor in Switzerland.

The comparison is interesting, thank you. I thought the AMD CPU could hold its own against the Intel offerings around the same price range but it looks like I was wrong.

CPU: Intel Pentium G3258 (LGA 1150, 3.20GHz, Unlocked) ($78.00 @ Digitec)
CPU Cooler: -
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H97N-WIFI (LGA 1150, H97, Mini ITX) ($119.00 @ Digitec)
Memory: HyperX Fury Black (2x, 4GB, DDR3-1600, DIMM 240) ($48.40 @ Digitec)
SSD: Crucial MX200 (250GB, 2.5") ($99.00 @ Digitec)
Video Card: MSI R9 380 OC 2GD5T (2GB) ($201.50 @ Digitec)
Case: Fractal Node 202 (HTPC, Schwarz) ($99.20 @ Digitec)
Power Supply: Silverstone SST-ST45SF (450W) ($74.30 @ Digitec)
Optical Drive: -
Case Fan: -
Total: $715.20

Thanks for the tip ! That helped me raise the performance with no effect on the price.

May I suggest this for your 800 bugs budget

I know it's a tiny bit over it, but overall perfromance wise it is a step up. Hyperthreading and faster core clock will definitely help you and the new skylake i3 is generally a beefy entry level cpu. Also 4gb of video ram is a must have, imo.
If you can exchange the 960 gtx with a 380x (4gb) (should cost nearly the same).

 

[kennah]

Hmmm, so there is no added sound fidelity?

But then my next question is, how good of a soundcard do you need?

If the mother board has built in mic, will that do? (and then use the reciever for headphones)?

I'm not quite understanding your question. Are you still talking about the receiver? Or are you talking about a headset with mic? For most purposes the motherboard sound is fine for everyone. But if you have some high end head phones, they work a lot better with an amp and/or a better sound card. There's lots of options, but really you should try the onboard before spending money you might not have to.

 

[Accoun]

Maybe I should have waited for the 2016 thread, but I'm in market for a new PC. I've been out of the loop with stationary PCs for years now, and had an old laptop I did browsing/movies/played old games on.

Budget: 2500 PLN, which is like $600-700, I think.
Main Use: Mostly gaming and "general usage", some 3ds MAX stuff.
Monitor Resolution: for now 1400x1050 IIRC.
Looking to reuse any parts?: Maybe the DVD drive. Maybe.
Will you be overclocking?: Maybe.

So yeah I'm looking for a new PC. The catch is, I have a CRT monitor I'd be using for now. I would update in the future (probably to a high refresh screen), preferably keeping the current one as a second monitor. Does that limit me a lot when choosing a card (I know some cards don't have DVI these days, but don't know how much of them)?
Similar with my keyboard: I have an Model M that I have used basically almost my whole life with computers and I don't really want to switch. How's PS/2 on today's motherboards?

 

[Haxxor]

I'm not quite understanding your question. Are you still talking about the receiver? Or are you talking about a headset with mic?

Sorry for not explaining better, i'm planing to use the reciever for the sound output.

But i'm not certain if i also need a dedicated sound card for using heaphones (with a mic).

I already have quite good headphones without mics.

So i need to decide which option is best.

If there is no real added benefit to buying a sound card, then maybe i should just buy a mic and use the motherboards mic input.

Or maybe buy heaphones with built in soundcard to get surround headphones?

So many options, but i'm having a hard time deciding the best option.

Any suggestions?

EDIT - is there an added benefit for the mic in? Im guessing better sound quality? Comoression?

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

I feel like the 970 hasn't decreased in price significantly since its launch. Do GPU's have a typical price decline over time or what? I don't research them often enough to have a good sense of it.

I'm focused on an EVGA model (for size reasons) if that matters.

 

[opticalmace]

I feel like the 970 hasn't decreased in price significantly since its launch. Do GPU's have a typical price decline over time or what? I don't research them often enough to have a good sense of it.

I'm focused on an EVGA model (for size reasons) if that matters.

You're right, it hasn't dropped much. If you hold out a week or so there will be a bundle with Rise of the Tomb Raider. Otherwise you could maybe hold out till Pascal if you're not in need of an upgrade very soon.

 

[vanguardian1]

Anyone here have any clue why the standard R9 380 models jumped so much pricewise in the last week or so? You can get a 380x cheaper than them now... 0.o

 

[Kenzodielocke]

I feel like the 970 hasn't decreased in price significantly since its launch. Do GPU's have a typical price decline over time or what? I don't research them often enough to have a good sense of it.

I'm focused on an EVGA model (for size reasons) if that matters.

It hasn't. Because AMD is shit.

 

[hey_it's_that_dog]

You're right, it hasn't dropped much. If you hold out a week or so there will be a bundle with Rise of the Tomb Raider. Otherwise you could maybe hold out till Pascal if you're not in need of an upgrade very soon.

Yeah, the Tomb Raider bundle is what sparked my interest in the price trend. I was going to wait until April but why bother?

I game at 1080p on a TV, so I don't know if I need what Pascal is offering. I guess when it's released the 970/980/etc will finally drop in price?

It hasn't. Because AMD is shit.

I guess that makes sense.

 

[e90Mark]

I feel the need to rant.

Been having issues with my Skylake build too. Just built it last week, and I was chasing a problem where the computer wouldn't boot in dual channel. Did a lot of troubleshooting, including getting new RAM, and just ended up RMA'ing the board for a new one. Gigabyte Z170MX Gaming 5.

In the midst of all this, I was ready to jump ship to an Asus board, which I found funny reading your post because it's vice versa.

Gigabyte BIOS looks archaic versus Asus/MSI, but it works. I'm hoping more BIOS updates steadily come out, because the next issue I'm having is the XMP profile for my RAM just blue screens the computer randomly. It is on the QVL, but shrug. I don't feel like wasting any more money shipping things/restocking things to try and get a new set that "might" work the way it's supposed to. I think I will wait for BIOS updates to fix this, hopefully.

ALSO, does anybody have a custom fan curve for their EVGA 980ti with ACX 2.0 they would like to share? Tolerable until about 40-50% fan speed, then it just sounds like my Air 240 has a jet engine inside at the default auto setting.

 

[hamster3 3]

Is there a difference (£10 difference) between the cheaper Sandisk Ultra II and Samsung Evo 850?

Both 120gb for windows.

 

[drhankmccoyphd]

How often do 970s show up on EVGA's B stock site?

edit:
My old gaming PC from 2010 died a few months ago and I've been dragging my feet on a rebuild. Hopefully I should have a decent tax return coming my way so I thought I'd start pricing out a build.

What country are you in? USA
What are you using the system for? Gaming exclusively, maybe some media streaming
What's your budget? We usually specify for just the computer itself (plus Windows), but if you also need monitor/mouse/whatever, just say so. $1k
Holdover hardware from previous build EVGA Supernova 850 G2 PSU. Bought in 2013, barely used. Fractal Design R4 case, DVD drive, Mouse/keyboard/wifi/bluetooth etc. Hyper 212+ cooler (I'm told this will fit most sockets, but unsure) Windows 7 license.
If you’re doing professional work, what software do you need to use? What’s your typical project size and complexity? If you use multiple pieces of software, what’s your workflow? None
If you're gaming, what is your monitor resolution? How fancy do you want your graphics, from “it runs” to “Ultra preset as fast as possible”? 720p/1080p at high/ultra for now. Probably going to buy a 4k TV in the new year, though. Main games: Witcher 3, GTA 5.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($259.95 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI Z170 Krait Gaming ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($147.98 @ B&H)
Memory: Avexir Core Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($81.61 @ Amazon)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 4GB WINDFORCE Video Card ($333.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $919.39

I went with the 970 and an SLI mobo so that I have some options when Pascal is released. Ultimately I want to be able to game at 4k so I figure depending on how things shake out in 2016 I can either sell the 970 and get a Pascal, or grab another 970 and be ok on the Mobo and PSU side. I'm debating whether to go with skylake or not, but the only thing I'd really use if for is Wii emulation.

 

[RayStorm]

My budget is 800 dollars and yes, I plan on buying everything from there since we lack a clear competitor in Switzerland.

And buying elsewhere in Europe is no option for you?

May I suggest this for your 800 bugs budget

The thing is, ohyouagain wanted a "low profile". And going by the original idea of a Node 202, that is of a slim tower shape and not a cube shape I wonder if a core 500 would be the right thing. But if ohyouagain was to go for a cube shaped case I would recommend actually buying full sized ATX PSU and not a SFX PSU. Should save a bit of money and perhaps be less noisy. But granted, my experience with noisy SFX PSUs may play a part in that dislike. Oh how I suffered from the grinding noises the fan produced.

 

[Unknown Soldier]

It hasn't. Because AMD is shit.

Maybe if AMD could actually make a product people want. Instead they are just sending their fanboys to every forum to scream about 3.5 GB in the hopes it will do something on much the same way the Republicans scream about Benghazi to no effect whatsoever.

 

[soulassssns]

What graphics card is good for 1080/60 with high or ultra settings?

 

[Kenzodielocke]

Maybe if AMD could actually make a product people want. Instead they are just sending their fanboys to every forum to scream about 3.5 GB in the hopes it will do something on much the same way the Republicans scream about Benghazi to no effect whatsoever.

That is what I am saying, AMD is shit. There are no competition and Intel and Nvidia just can sit on their asses and take that easy money by only making minor improvements.

What graphics card is good for 1080/60 with high or ultra settings?

GTX 970.

 

[darthbob]

What graphics card is good for 1080/60 with high or ultra settings?

An R9 380X, GTX 960, R9 390, or GTX 970 are all pretty good.

 

[exmachina64]

Sorry for not explaining better, i'm planing to use the reciever for the sound output.

But i'm not certain if i also need a dedicated sound card for using heaphones (with a mic).

I already have quite good headphones without mics.

So i need to decide which option is best.

If there is no real added benefit to buying a sound card, then maybe i should just buy a mic and use the motherboards mic input.

Or maybe buy heaphones with built in soundcard to get surround headphones?

So many options, but i'm having a hard time deciding the best option.

Any suggestions?

EDIT - is there an added benefit for the mic in? Im guessing better sound quality? Comoression?

You're buying this for your home theater? If that's the case, you plug an HDMI cable from your GPU to your audio receiver and from the audio receiver to your TV; obviously, you then plug your speakers and headphones into the receiver.

That would result in the best sound quality for whatever audio set-up you have.

Higher quality mic sound comes from using a higher quality mic, not a mic built into a headset. Purchasing a higher quality mic will improve your overall voice quality, but the application you use, say a game or Skype, will still use compression and neither a sound car nor an audio receiver are going to "fix" that.

I feel like the 970 hasn't decreased in price significantly since its launch. Do GPU's have a typical price decline over time or what? I don't research them often enough to have a good sense of it.

I'm focused on an EVGA model (for size reasons) if that matters.

It hasn't. Because AMD is shit.

I don't remember GPU prices falling much even when there was strong competition, merely lower prices overall. Maybe someone can chime in with a historical price comparison with respect to the passage of time.

 

[Haxxor]

Higher quality mic sound comes from using a higher quality mic, not a mic built into a headset. Purchasing a higher quality mic will improve your overall voice quality, but the application you use, say a game or Skype, will still use compression and neither a sound car nor an audio receiver are going to "fix" that.

Thanx for all the info!

 

[Joco]

So it seems once my EVGA 970 gets under load, every couple of minutes it makes a very faint clicking noise for about 5 seconds and then goes away until it comes back again a couple minutes later. I probably wouldn't even notice it if my PC wasn't on my desk with my monitor. Is this somewhat normal? It's mildly annoying but not the worst.

 

[opticalmace]

So it seems once my EVGA 970 gets under load, every couple of minutes it makes a very faint clicking noise for about 5 seconds and then goes away until it comes back again a couple minutes later. I probably wouldn't even notice it if my PC wasn't on my desk with my monitor. Is this somewhat normal? It's mildly annoying but not the worst.

Sounds weird. I would open up the case and try to identify where the noise is coming from, i.e. are you positive it's from the video card?

 

[ohyouagain]

May I suggest this for your 800 bugs budget


I know it's a tiny bit over it, but overall perfromance wise it is a step up. Hyperthreading and faster core clock will definitely help you and the new skylake i3 is generally a beefy entry level cpu. Also 4gb of video ram is a must have, imo.
If you can exchange the 960 gtx with a 380x (4gb) (should cost nearly the same).

Holy hell, I knew this sounded too good to be true. The H170I-PLUS D3 supports only DDR3 RAM and not the expected DDR4 RAM you listed whose price was pure nerdgasm. Schade !

And buying elsewhere in Europe is no option for you?

Well, I guess I could shop in Germany and France but that wouldn't be exactly a bang for my bucks since the prices are not radically different there.

The thing is, ohyouagain wanted a "low profile". And going by the original idea of a Node 202, that is of a slim tower shape and not a cube shape I wonder if a core 500 would be the right thing. But if ohyouagain was to go for a cube shaped case I would recommend actually buying full sized ATX PSU and not a SFX PSU. Should save a bit of money and perhaps be less noisy. But granted, my experience with noisy SFX PSUs may play a part in that dislike. Oh how I suffered from the grinding noises the fan produced.

That's a very good point. If I had to choose, I would keep the low-profile form factor and thus go with the pricy SFX PSU. Since this is a machine for my aunt and my cousin, it must fit in a living room and more precisely under a glass table so I cannot afford something that would appear a bit messy.

With all things now correct, my rig costs about 850 dollars. I guess I could either go with a 1150 socket build or buy a 2GB GTX 960. Regardless, you guys have helped a ton with your suggestions. Thank you wholeheartedly. And happy new year !

 

[Error1355]

What's a good 20-22 inch 1080p monitor out there? I know IPS is the shit apparently but I feel my eyes glassing over when I go look at all the options in Amazon.

I'd go larger but with my current desk any larger would require me to replace my entire desk to make room. >_>

 

[Lactose_Intolerant]

Edit: new plot twist, the PC will boot to OS if the CPU is set to 1.15V. The default voltage of 1.30V doesn't work. I'm still confounded.

Anyone with an i7 6700K overclocked or not wanna share their voltage settings?

I'm doing 4.6 on 1.35v.

I can get 4.7 on 1.4v but I chose to keep the lower clock since I'm not watercooling.

I have one core that is like 10c hotter than the other ones so I don't want to push it too much.

 

[RayStorm]

So it seems once my EVGA 970 gets under load, every couple of minutes it makes a very faint clicking noise for about 5 seconds and then goes away until it comes back again a couple minutes later. I probably wouldn't even notice it if my PC wasn't on my desk with my monitor. Is this somewhat normal? It's mildly annoying but not the worst.

I have a very longshot for you, especially since your description does not match what I would imagine, but: I had a slightly loose sticky tape around one of the wires going from the fan of my graphics card that was making contact with the fins of the fan and creating a quite audibl noise. Now obviously in your case that sounds less likely since it's not a constant noise that you hear but a reoccuring one. But perhaps you have some other part that periodically makes contact with the fans? Or alternatively maybe one of the fans is just slightly noisy on its own.

Holy hell, I knew this sounded too good to be true. The H170I-PLUS D3 supports only DDR3 RAM and not the expected DDR4 RAM you listed whose price was pure nerdgasm. Schade !

Well, there are alternatives...

Well, I guess I could shop in Germany and France but that wouldn't be exactly a bang for my bucks since the prices are not radically different there.

Coming from an Austrian perspective, it can be quite lucrative to compare prices across borders, even with higher shipping costs. But then again, I'm not quite clear if customs or other import duties might apply to you.

That's a very good point. If I had to choose, I would keep the low-profile form factor and thus go with the pricy SFX PSU. Since this is a machine for my aunt and my cousin, it must fit in a living room and more precisely under a glass table so I cannot afford something that would appear a bit messy.

I would consider noise a factor to look out for as well. As such I would recommen a graphics card that turns its fans off when not under load and (this as mentioned) is a critical part: a PSU with a silent fan. Which sometimes (with a similar build as yours concerning form factor at least) does not necessairly work out as well as one might hope.

 

[industrian]

Do we have an estimate when Pascal will be available in gaming-GPUs?

The safest bet is either a release or announcing the release date during Computex (31 May - 4 June 2016). Same with Kaby Lake and Broadwell-E.

 

[Dick Justice]

So I'm assuming the 970 is still considered to be a good value card? The 980 doesn't seem like enough of a jump considering it's £100 more expensive, while the 980ti is very much out of my price range (around £300 more expensive). Not to mention overkill considering I generally play at 1080p/60fps anyway. Currently using a 2GB 770, and it definitely feels like VRAM requirements are catching up to it now.

Also, I originally brought my PC from DinoPC. I asked them about hypothetically installing a 980ti, and they mentioned I'd need a bigger case for airflow (currently have a Corsair Carbide 300R) and a 750w PSU (current PSU is a 650w Corsair TX V2). Good advice, or bullshit?

 

[opticalmace]

The safest bet is either a release or announcing the release date during Computex (31 May - 4 June 2016). Same with Kaby Lake and Broadwell-E.

I agree with broadwell-e but I believe kaby lake is going to be closer to the end of the year.

So I'm assuming the 970 is still considered to be a good value card? The 980 doesn't seem like enough of a jump considering it's £100 more expensive, while the 980ti is very much out of my price range (around £300 more expensive). Not to mention overkill considering I generally play at 1080p/60fps anyway. Currently using a 2GB 770, and it definitely feels like VRAM requirements are catching up to it now.

Also, I originally brought my PC from DinoPC. I asked them about hypothetically installing a 980ti, and they mentioned I'd need a bigger case for airflow (currently have a Corsair Carbide 300R) and a 750w PSU (current PSU is a 650w Corsair TX V2). Good advice, or bullshit?

Yup, the 970 is still a good card. And your current case and PSU are fine.

 

[triplestation]

im just curious

would a noctua NH-D9L be enough to cool an i7 5820?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

im just curious

would a noctua NH-D9L be enough to cool an i7 5820?

At stock? Most likely.

With a hefty overclock? Nope.

 

[triplestation]

At stock? Most likely.

With a hefty overclock? Nope.

Thank you

I'm just gonna go ahead and nh-d15 instead

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Here's to a 2016 full of playing PC games while complaining about shoddy console ports, games crashing, Steam telling the whole world your address + phone number + favorite color + secret fetishes, driver updates which hose Windows, and occasionally a game that works and runs decently on your 8-core quad-SLI supercomputer which you can actually finish.

 

[Finaika]

Here's to a 2016 full of playing PC games while complaining about shoddy console ports, games crashing, Steam telling the whole world your address + phone number + favorite color + secret fetishes, driver updates which hose Windows, and occasionally a game that works and runs decently on your 8-core quad-SLI supercomputer which you can actually finish.

I love PC gaming.

 

[Jin]

Here's to a 2016 full of playing PC games while complaining about shoddy console ports, games crashing, Steam telling the whole world your address + phone number + favorite color + secret fetishes, driver updates which hose Windows, and occasionally a game that works and runs decently on your 8-core quad-SLI supercomputer which you can actually finish.

Happy new year and may most game support SLI.

 

[MoFoJones99]

If you want a more viable cpu for the next 5 years, the 6600K, when overclock, is the better option. That's why the thread title has a 2500K while 2500 is not. And, today, overclocking a 6600K @ 4.5-4.7GHz makes a difference in some games. As time goes by, even more so.

Yeah, I get you. Seems like there is little reason to get the 6700K over the 6600K then if I am mainly going to be gaming.

 

[MoFoJones99]

I've been recommending the Gigabyte Z170XP-SLI because it's at a decent price and has good average user review scores and still has nice features like USB 3.1.

Oh, I think I am just going to go for the Asus Z170-K rather as it does have all the features I need and is much cheaper in my country. Finally, may I please get your opinion on these before I purchase them:

CPU: i5 6600K
Mobo: Asus Z170-K
Cooler: CM Hyper 212x
Memory: 16GB Kingston Hyper-X 2400MHZ DDR4

 

[Vex_]

Here's to a 2016 full of playing PC games while complaining about shoddy console ports, games crashing, Steam telling the whole world your address + phone number + favorite color + secret fetishes, driver updates which hose Windows, and occasionally a game that works and runs decently on your 8-core quad-SLI supercomputer which you can actually finish.

Don't forget about the ps3/vita ports of ps4 games!!!!

GOTTA LOOOOOVE THOSE! Can I get a hell yea?!?!?

We are off to a good start with dragon's dogma, even though the game ain't really a looker. Let's hope these devs keep up the good streak this year.

 

[luffeN]

I agree with broadwell-e but I believe kaby lake is going to be closer to the end of the year.

So as for announcing Kaby Lake and Broadwell-E the announcements will both happen at Computex?

 

[Unknown Soldier]

So as for announcing Kaby Lake and Broadwell-E the announcements will both happen at Computex?

People are guessing Broadwell-E in June/July 2016 but if Broadwell-E doesn't include L4 cache like desktop Broadwell it will have identical performance to Haswell-E.

But hey, that rumored 10-core monster might be just worth waiting for if you are heavy into content creation on your machine. If not, 6 and 8-core Haswell-E will probably be on deep discount fire sale and you won't notice any difference between buying that and Broadwell-E. Both will use X99 for the time being, Skylake-E will bring the new platform.

Kaby Lake will probably be Skylake with "improved" TIM. Good thing HEDT users are going to be soldered forever and not have stupid integrated GPUs on our dies for no reason.

 

[luffeN]

People are guessing Broadwell-E in June/July 2016 but if Broadwell-E doesn't include L4 cache like desktop Broadwell it will have identical performance to Haswell-E.

But hey, that rumored 10-core monster might be just worth waiting for if you are heavy into content creation on your machine. If not, 6 and 8-core Haswell-E will probably be on deep discount fire sale and you won't notice any difference between buying that and Broadwell-E. Both will use X99 for the time being, Skylake-E will bring the new platform.

Kaby Lake will probably be Skylake with "improved" TIM. Good thing HEDT users are going to be soldered forever and not have stupid integrated GPUs on our dies for no reason.

Okay, thank you. So Skylake-E is then sometime next year or even 2018?

 

[ISee]

Holy hell, I knew this sounded too good to be true. The H170I-PLUS D3 supports only DDR3 RAM and not the expected DDR4 RAM you listed whose price was pure nerdgasm. Schade !

Oh, sorry. Didn't even think about checking that. I seriously thought that all skylake motherboards support ddr4...

 

[Unknown Soldier]

Okay, thank you. So Skylake-E is then sometime next year or even 2018?

2017, Intel refreshes HEDT at the same cadence as mainstream but it's 1 generation (year) behind.

 

[RGM79]

I don't have a skylake, but 1.3 shouldn't be anywhere near stock voltage. People usually do ~4.5ghz ocs at 1.3v on skylake, and around 4.7ghz ocs on haswell at 1.3v core. Skylake has higher voltage than haswell because cache(uncore/ringbus) and core voltage are now linked on em and die size, but it shouldn't be that much higher. That 1.15v should be nearer to stock voltage ± 0.05v. Something is messed up, it could be that the psu is defective and not providing clean power. Too much ripple from the psu can cause this or the cpu is defective.
Or it could be something entirely different and unrelated :/ Try borrowing some parts from your friends and trying them out is my suggestion.

Other places that have been doing Skylake reviews have noted their processors having unusually high default voltages. Anandtech said their testing samples had stock voltages as high as 1.32~1.42V, while Corsair noted their stock voltages at ~1.31V. However, it is also mentioned that it is possible to overclock Skylake while running on the same/lower voltage by many sources, so dialing back the voltage to something lower is what I'll probably do for now.

Thanks for the tips. I've swapped out as many parts as I can, the only thing I haven't swapped would be the processor (none of my friends have skylake PCs and I can't justify ordering another processor) the case, and the RAM (doesn't seem likely to be the culprit).

I'm doing 4.6 on 1.35v.

I can get 4.7 on 1.4v but I chose to keep the lower clock since I'm not watercooling.

I have one core that is like 10c hotter than the other ones so I don't want to push it too much.

Thanks for the info. I don't think I'd go for 1.4V either.

Oh, I think I am just going to go for the Asus Z170-K rather as it does have all the features I need and is much cheaper in my country. Finally, may I please get your opinion on these before I purchase them:

CPU: i5 6600K
Mobo: Asus Z170-K
Cooler: CM Hyper 212x
Memory: 16GB Kingston Hyper-X 2400MHZ DDR4

Alright, good luck with that Z170-K. Nothing really wrong with that parts list, but perhaps see how much 2666/2800/3000MHz RAM costs. If it's not that much more, consider going for it.

I don't remember GPU prices falling much even when there was strong competition, merely lower prices overall. Maybe someone can chime in with a historical price comparison with respect to the passage of time.

AMD had a price cut on some of their R9 200 series cards a while back, but it's not common. Nvidia and AMD are more content with bundling game codes with their products than lowering MSRP for consumers.

 

[LilJoka]

How are the temps on skylake while overclocking without delidding and replacing the TIM with CLU? Is it still needed to get ~4.5Ghz?

 

[Jisgsaw]

The safest bet is either a release or announcing the release date during Computex (31 May - 4 June 2016). Same with Kaby Lake and Broadwell-E.

Ok, thanks for the answer. I think I won't be able to hold back for that long :-(

A 530W PSU should be enough for a 970 but not for a 980/Ti, right (CPU is a slightly OC i5 4690K)?

 

[ohyouagain]

Well, there are alternatives...

Coming from an Austrian perspective, it can be quite lucrative to compare prices across borders, even with higher shipping costs. But then again, I'm not quite clear if customs or other import duties might apply to you.

This is a very good comparative website you just linked my friend - this Phoenix motherboard caught my attention -. I'll sure have a look at the price of the components and eventual prices, shipping and taxes included.

I would consider noise a factor to look out for as well. As such I would recommen a graphics card that turns its fans off when not under load and (this as mentioned) is a critical part: a PSU with a silent fan. Which sometimes (with a similar build as yours concerning form factor at least) does not necessairly work out as well as one might hope.

I hope then I can get something that will be low-profile enough - soundwise - as well. This advice will be taken in account specifically because a projector in the same room is also planned.

Oh, sorry. Didn't even think about checking that. I seriously thought that all skylake motherboards support ddr4...

Me too ! What threw me about off was the strange RAM profile. Oh well, no harm done.

 

[Shadowhaxor]

What do you guys think about Zotac? I picked up the Zotac GTX 980 Ti a week ago and while there's no issues with it currently, I'm looking at the long haul. I typically only buy EVGA cards, as their customer service is spot on, I actually had two RMA's last year and they were quick and painless. With Zotac, well I don't know what to expect and looking at their website... yeah.

Really thinking about getting a EVGA GTZX 980 Ti classified. Anyone have any experience with that card? Like it? Hate it?

Let me know!

Ok, thanks for the answer. I think I won't be able to hold back for that long :-(

A 530W PSU should be enough for a 970 but not for a 980/Ti, right (CPU is a slightly OC i5 4690K)?

http://powersupplycalculator.net/

 

[e90Mark]

Ok, thanks for the answer. I think I won't be able to hold back for that long :-(

A 530W PSU should be enough for a 970 but not for a 980/Ti, right (CPU is a slightly OC i5 4690K)?

It will be, if your psu is quality. Nvidia recommends 500 for both 970/980, but 600 for 980ti.

What do you guys think about Zotac? I picked up the Zotac GTX 980 Ti a week ago and while there's no issues with it currently, I'm looking at the long haul. I typically only buy EVGA cards, as their customer service is spot on, I actually had two RMA's last year and they were quick and painless. With Zotac, well I don't know what to expect and looking at their website... yeah.

Really thinking about getting a EVGA GTZX 980 Ti classified. Anyone have any experience with that card? Like it? Hate it?

I have the SC+ from EVGA - 06G-P4-4995-KR. Comparing the cards, I thought the classified was overpriced for marginal gains. You would be better off buying a FTW or even an SC and just overclocking, IMO.

 

[Jisgsaw]

It will be, if your psu is quality. Nvidia recommends 500 for both 970/980, but 600 for 980ti.

It isn't (BeQuiet PurePower L7)... (well, it's not chinaware, but not the best quality)
Should be enough for the 970 according to Shadowhaxor's link.

Thanks to both.