New Build: Skylake or Broadwell?

[betelgeuse 41]

I'd be grateful for advice on this proposed rig. I have overclocked before but am inexperienced at it, and extremely nervous. So, I'm aiming for a straight 'fast machine'.

 

I run P3D v3 mostly, but I want the rig to be X-Plane 11 'ready'. 

 

CPU: Skylake or Broadwell?  Or even Haswell?  6700K or 6700?  or what?

 

Motherboard:  Asus Z170-A,  assuming a Skylake CPU.
Memory: DDR4 GSkill Ripjaw V 3200 MHz low latency.
Graphics: GTX 1070 EVGA 8GB - there are several EVGA cards that fit this description, with only marginal differences in speed - is it worth spending more for that? 

Air Cooling:  Noctua NH-D15S.
Power Supply: Existing PS is Corsair GS 800W but is 6 years old. Time to renew, or take a chance?

Case: please advise also on a quiet case - I have plenty of space but don't want a monster.  :wink:

Windows 7 or 10?

 

Apologies for so many questions all at once!

 

Many thanks,

 

John
 

[james_2k 36]

if you dont want to overclock, 6700k, easy

[OneWhoKnocks53 51]

If you can stand waiting a bit longer, the z270 chipset and Kaby lake are right around the corner, and at 4.2ghz, the i7-7700k will be the fastest clock yet. Only info yet is just speculation, but the single thread performance is said to be a nice improvement.

[martin-w 3,234]

I like your choices John.  :smile:

 

In my opinion Skylake all the way. I've just built a Skylake rig, very similar to yours and I'm overjoyed with it. Everyone on Avsim that I've seen has also been overjoyed.

 

6700K is essential if you intend to overclock. 

 

Kaby Lake will be here some time after Christmas, but despite the unsubstantiated claims, don't expect more then a 5 - 10% increase in performance. And it will most likely be more expensive.

 

Motherboard:  Asus Z170-A,  assuming a Skylake CPU.

 

I originally went for the Z170-A, but due to an unfortunate accident, down to my stupidity, ended up in need of a new board. The only thing I don't like about the -A, is that the IO shield is the chepo flimsy variety. You may have come across them before, fiddly to install and not what we expect to be honest. I ended up buying the Z170 Deluxe and am happy with it. It has the edition of WiFi if you need it, seems to be a somewhat thicker PCB and yes, a nice padded IO shield. Not to mention the handy Q-Code feature on the board. Beefier heat sinks too. It's been great, overclock's nicely and zero issues with the latest BIOS.

 

Memory: DDR4 GSkill Ripjaw V 3200 MHz low latency.

 

100% agreement with your choice.

 

Graphics: GTX 1070 EVGA 8GB - there are several EVGA cards that fit this description, with only marginal differences in speed - is it worth spending more for that? 

 

You can overclock the cards yourself of course, with PrecisonX, but worth going for a factory OC card in my opinion. I'd advise the non-reference design with the ACX 3.0 cooler. As you say, they aren't huge overclock's, so for you to decide.

 

Air Cooling:  Noctua NH-D15S.

 

​Have one. Best air cooler on the planet. Love it. Super quiet and handles my 4.6 overclock with ease.

 

Power Supply: Existing PS is Corsair GS 800W but is 6 years old. Time to renew, or take a chance?

 

The one component that I've had fail many times over the years is the PSU's. Might be worth investing in a new PSU if it's 6 years old and you can afford it. Your decision though. It may well keep going for a few more years yet. But in a new system, I'd buy new. The PSU is a vital component.

[Raven9000 272]

if you dont want to overclock, 6700k, easy

Actually, if he doesn't want to overclock, why would he get a K CPU, which is specifically for overclocking..?

[james_2k 36]

choices for the future.

[OneWhoKnocks53 51]

Actually, if he doesn't want to overclock, why would he get a K CPU, which is specifically for overclocking..?

Th k chips have higher base clocks.

[betelgeuse 41]

Thanks for all these replies. Very helpful.

 

On the 'K' thing, I am nervous about o/c but would probably like the option for a day when I feel brave.... :wink:

 

Good advice about the mobo, Martin, will go Z170 DeLuxe, and on the PS, you're right of course.

 

Which brings me to which PS?  Corsair PS have served me well on my FSX rig and non-FS machines.

 

And which case? 

 

And, W7 or 10?  Tough to know what to do.

[martin-w 3,234]

I'm a fan of Enermax PSU's these days, in particular their multi-rail PSU's. In my old Ivy Bridge system my son now has, I have a 1000 watt Platimax single rail. Over the top for wattage, but I was considering SLI at the time. In my Skylake system I have a Platimax 850 multi-rail.

 

Corsair digital "i" series PSU's are rather nice. You can configure them for multi-rail or single rail from within the software.

 

 

The Corsiar 750D Airflow is nice. Not a new case but great airflow and all the features you need.

 

Silverstone have the new Primera PM01 with nice airflow. Cases are not just about airflow though, it's about subjective stuff like asthetics, so hard to advise.

 

 

I went for W10 Pro, but I don't sim these days. I like W10.

[vortex681 806]

Which brings me to which PS?  Corsair PS have served me well on my FSX rig and non-FS machines.

 

And which case? 

 

And, W7 or 10?  Tough to know what to do.

 

I was going to go for a Corsair PSU but, after reading about some problems they had with the RMi models last year, I decided not to risk it. I went for an EVGA SuperNova G2 (850W, in my case) - pretty much silent (most of the time the fan doesn't even run), very well reviewed and with an excellent warranty.

 

Although I'm biased, take a look at the Phanteks Enthoo Pro - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBhmn21ylkc. It's a full tower with great airflow, lots of cooling options and surprisingly inexpensive for such a high quality case. Great to work in and very easy to hide all your cables.

 

+1 for Windows 10. I was a committed Windows 7 fan but decided to try 10 Pro in my new build and haven't looked back. Most of the problems with Windows 10 seem to stem from upgrading the OS from an earlier version.

[martin-w 3,234]

I went for an EVGA SuperNova G2 (850W, in my case)

 

 

 

Great PSU's! And as usual from EVGA, great support.

[Raven9000 272]

Th k chips have higher base clocks.

Ah. It seems there's more difference in these than in previous ones...

 

Ok fair enough.

[martin-w 3,234]

6700K 

 

Base 4.0

Turbo 4.2

 

6700

 

Base 3.4

Turbo 4.0

 

Turbo is what matters, so only 200 MHz. So only 5% which is exceedingly small in terms of the resulting frame rate.

[OneWhoKnocks53 51]

Turbo is what matters, so only 200 MHz. So only 5% which is exceedingly small in terms of the resulting frame rate.

 

True, a very small performance gap. Not sure what the price delta is between them anymore, bit with the k the future option to overclock might be worth it.

[jose88 50]

One thing, if you are going to overclock, then buy a good Z170 MB. Skylake don't have integrated VRM so the MB do the job. If the MB is not top the voltages can cause issues.