i7 CPU & Motherboard Combo Advice

wowmaeriel · Nov 9, 2015

Hi,

My computer recently was stolen and I'd really appreciate any help I could get working out a new build. I use my PC mostly for playing games, live streaming, programming & running astrophysics analysis software.

I'm planning on getting a 980 graphics card. I'd like an i7 and a decent motherboard. I've got about £300 for the CPU & MOBO. I won't be overclocking it and I'm unlikely to need SLI/Crossfire (although if it is not much extra to get that support then I'll go for it just in case I need it in the future!) Also thinking of getting a full sized NZXT Phantom case, if that makes any difference.

So atm I'm mostly wondering: what MOBO/CPU combination would you recommend for £300?

Thank you for any help you can give!

Cheers,

Jess

DonkeyOatie · Nov 9, 2015

DEcent budget choice.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£196.12 @ More Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock H97M PRO4 Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£67.90 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £264.02
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-09 21:29 GMT+0000

Four cores, hyperthreading, decent speed, TurboBoost. An i7 without overclocking in not cost effective against this CPU.

In case you want to overclock memory and SLI

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£196.12 @ More Computers)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£86.94 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £283.06
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-09 21:31 GMT+0000

Spending all your money.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£219.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97M Killer Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£86.52 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £305.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-09 21:34 GMT+0000

wowmaeriel · Nov 9, 2015

Thanks for the fast reply DonkeyOatie

So is an i7 basically pointless unless it's being overclocked? If it's not worth getting an i7 unless I overclock it, is overclocking difficult to do...is it something you'd recommend doing?

A friend suggested the i7-6700 and an Asus H170-PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard. Is the 3rd option you listed above better?

Would the recommendations change at all if I got a 970 instead of a 980 - currently undecided as to which I'm getting.

DonkeyOatie · Nov 9, 2015

No. When I checked that combination, with GST, is seemed to cost more than your budget. Nothing wrong with it other than cost.

Lets start with a different question. Why? An i7 has a place, but you need to need it.

wowmaeriel · Nov 9, 2015

Honestly I'm not too sure what I need. I use the PC mostly for streaming whilst gaming and for astrophysics analysis/research. I think my friend suggested the i7 so I don't need to upgrade again for longer, and because I was told I'd need a good processor to do the astrophysics work from home - but I'm not sure how good it needs to be...I don't know much about hardware to be honest

DonkeyOatie · Nov 9, 2015

I'm am Organic Chemist.

A system is more than just a motherboard and CPU. Do you have a budget?

From what you have said, an i7 seems to be the right choice. The Xeon I suggested is a server processor from the previous generation. The Skylake Xeons have yet to appear.

Here's the sort of system I'd be looking at today, for your system. Good gaming and excellent 'processing' with six strong cores and six Hyperthreads.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor (£306.94 @ CCL Computers)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C14S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£67.69 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock X99M Extreme4 Micro ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard (£166.55 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£89.21 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£58.72 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.08 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£255.54 @ Aria PC)
Case: Cooler Master N400 ATX Mid Tower Case (£43.20 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£58.26 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-118CB/BEBE DVD/CD Drive (£7.98 @ Ebuyer)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home Full (32/64-bit) (£86.56 @ More Computers)
Total: £1179.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-09 23:53 GMT+0000

How much do we have to cut this back?

lodders · Nov 9, 2015

An Intel i5 can do 4 things at once. An i7 can do 8 things at once (known as threads). Most applications and games do not benefit from an i7. Video editing and 3D rendering are examples of things which do benefit from an i7. Check how many threads your analysis program can utilize.
You don't necessarily need an expensive motherboard to go with a powerful processor - mine was £40 and it works great. Depends more on features and connectivity
most people don't need to overclock - stock performance is usually plenty.
A powerful PC like mine should be good for 5 years at least.

wowmaeriel · Nov 10, 2015

Thank you both for the replies. I have a budget of £1000 but I don't need an operating system . I'll find out if the astrophysics software uses more than 4 threads and then post up again when I know.

DonkeyOatie, I really like the look of that build you made, thank you. Only thing I'd really like to change is the case - I'd really like the NZXT Phantom case in black/orange (also my friend has experience building in that case so he's going to show me how to do it).

DonkeyOatie · Nov 10, 2015

You money, your choice. If that is the correct case (maybe you meant the 410) it costs a bit much. You are spending over 9% of your limited budget on a case. Just saying.

Here's where we are now.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor (£306.94 @ CCL Computers)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C14S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£67.69 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock X99M Extreme4 Micro ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard (£170.11 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£89.21 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£58.38 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.12 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£255.54 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case (£94.15 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£58.26 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-118CB/BEBE DVD/CD Drive (£7.98 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1147.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-10 12:53 GMT+0000

Still too high, but I can tune it a bit, but I won't be able to get it below 1000 pounds. This system can be overclocked to over 4.0Ghz and can handle 12 threads at once. Although Haswell-E, it is still 'current'

The rest of these builds can all handle 8 threads at once.
As overclockable Skylake

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£349.99 @ Dabs)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C14S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£67.69 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Extreme4+ ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£121.32 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£89.21 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£58.38 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.12 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£255.54 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case (£94.15 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£58.26 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-118CB/BEBE DVD/CD Drive (£7.98 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1141.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-10 12:58 GMT+0000

As fixed Skylake

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£209.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: RAIJINTEK PALLAS 56.5 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler (£45.09 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock H170 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£86.75 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (£89.21 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£58.38 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.12 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£255.54 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case (£94.15 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£58.26 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-118CB/BEBE DVD/CD Drive (£7.98 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £943.48
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-10 13:01 GMT+0000

As overclockable Haswell

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£242.95 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-C14S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (£67.69 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£112.64 @ More Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory (£94.39 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£58.28 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.12 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£255.54 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case (£94.15 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£58.26 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-118CB/BEBE DVD/CD Drive (£7.98 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £1031.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-10 13:04 GMT+0000

Fast memory Xeon

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£196.12 @ More Computers)
Motherboard: MSI Z97S SLI Krait Edition ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£86.94 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-2400 Memory (£94.39 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£58.28 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.12 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£255.54 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case (£94.15 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£58.26 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-118CB/BEBE DVD/CD Drive (£7.98 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £890.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-10 13:05 GMT+0000

Budget Xeon

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Xeon E3-1231 V3 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor (£196.12 @ More Computers)
Motherboard: ASRock H97 PRO4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard (£79.55 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1600 Memory (£70.34 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£58.28 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.12 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card (£255.54 @ Aria PC)
Case: NZXT Phantom (Black/Orange) ATX Full Tower Case (£94.15 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: XFX TS 650W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply (£58.26 @ CCL Computers)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-118CB/BEBE DVD/CD Drive (£7.98 @ Ebuyer)
Total: £859.34
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-11-10 13:07 GMT+0000

If it matters to your software, the Xeon systems could be reconfigured at additional cost to use ECC (Error Correcting) Memory.

wowmaeriel · Nov 10, 2015

Firstly want to say thank you so so much for all the help DonkieOatie

I think it's between the first three options, if I can't get one in-budget I might just wait a bit before ordering everything, so I can up my budget a bit.

So to help choose between the three: Is the first option only worth it if I need 12 threads? Is there much difference between the overclockable skylake and the fixed skylake? I'm thinking of going for the "Fixable Skylake" option, but I don't know if I'm missing out on a lot by not taking the overclockable version.

DonkeyOatie · Nov 10, 2015

I can't answer those questions because it depends on what your software can do.

For gaming, I'd go with the Fast Memory Xeon (I use that chip on this computer and the fast memory on my school research machine, but it doesn't mean what you think in might. I teach at an Intermediate School, where I get a chance to make scientists rather than merely mould them

Here's what we do. http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/id-2625445/build-log-consolidated-middle-school-builds.html

When I was doing molecular modelling, speed was good, so you have to ask yourself, what is 20% faster worth? (For your science stuff, not gaming)

10 secs to 8 secs is often not worth it. However 10 hrs to 8hrs, or 10 days to 8 days usually IS worth it, and 5 hrs to 4 hrs can allow for three runs a day (including the one you set up as you walk out of the door)

wowmaeriel · Nov 10, 2015

Ahh okay, that all sounds very interesting by the way

The astrophysics stuff is a University research project that I've been involved in before, it's grown, and I've now got some spare time so looking to get involved again. I think I'll save the links to your build and find out how intensive the software is then decide. Thank you again for all your help!

DonkeyOatie · Nov 10, 2015

Re-activate the thread, or PM me if you need more help. Don't get 'locked in'. Advice changes as the market changes. The best answer might be different tomorrow.

wowmaeriel · Nov 10, 2015

Thank you DonkeyOatie, I appreciate it

wowmaeriel · Nov 11, 2015

Got another question already (sorry!) The power supply linked returns a "The page cannot be found." page on CCL. I've tried to find similar ones (see below), but not sure which is best. I'm guessing the £65 one from CCL is my best bet?

XFX TS 650W Gold £78.27 - Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00I64OYM2/?tag=pcp0f-21

XFX XTR 650W Gold £80.27 - CCL
http://www.cclonline.com/product/179365/P1-650B-BEFX/Power-Supplies/XFX-XTR-Series-650W-Easy-Rail-Plus-Power-Supply-Unit-with-Full-Modular-Cables-80-Plus-Gold-/PSU0841/

XFX TS 750W Gold £65.41 - CCL
http://www.cclonline.com/product/179363/P1-750G-TS3X/Power-Supplies/XFX-TS-Series-P1-750G-TS3X-750W-Power-Supply-Unit-Easy-Rail-Plus-with-Full-Wired-Cables/PSU0839/

Relevant only if other options are recommended: I get an extra 5% discount on most things at Amazon + free next day delivery on prime eligible items.

DonkeyOatie · Nov 11, 2015

Yes. The 750W PSU will give you more power than you need and it's cheap, and really good

wowmaeriel · Nov 11, 2015

Thank you!

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