Which is the best CPU for this graphics card?

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AdikRahman

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I'm making a new PC. It's going to be used for gaming and other general stuff. I'm going to buy a Gigabyte GTX 950 Xtreme Edition. It's fits in my budget and I've also seen some good reviews on this. But I'm a little confused on the CPU. First I was gonna buy a Intel Skylake i5 6500, but I read in some places that i5 is too much for a GTX 950. I was told that I should buy a i3 instead. But this is a overclocked and more powerful version of GTX 950, so doesn't it need a good CPU? So I've picked these 3 CPU's, can you tell me which is better?
1. Intel Core i3 6100
2. Intel Core i5 6400
3. Intel Core i5 6500
I don't really care about the price. I want to get the one that will be the best for new PC.
Here is a PCPP list of my new PC:
http://pcpartpicker.com/p/sRTFwP

Thanks for the help.
 
Solution
Ecky
There's no such thing as "too much CPU". It's more a matter of finding a good balance between how much you spend on your CPU vs your GPU - a cheaper CPU leaves more budget free for a faster GPU.

The i3 6100 should provide you with a great experience in games today. The i5 6500 will likely have more longevity, and may be a little better in a handful of games already out.
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Ecky

Ecky

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There's no such thing as "too much CPU". It's more a matter of finding a good balance between how much you spend on your CPU vs your GPU - a cheaper CPU leaves more budget free for a faster GPU.

The i3 6100 should provide you with a great experience in games today. The i5 6500 will likely have more longevity, and may be a little better in a handful of games already out.
 
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AdikRahman

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Thanks for the reply.

What would you say about the i5 6400? A balance between the two?

 
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geofelt

geofelt

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For a balanced gamer, the graphics budget should be about 2x the cpu budget.
By that metric, the i3-6100 would be appropriate.

But, there are other considerations.

If your gaming is multiplayer, then a strong quad is better.
Pick one of the i5's.

If your games are sims, mmo, and strategy types, single thread performance is more important.
The higher clock speed of the i3-6100 might be better.

Since you have a Z170 motherboard, and price is not important, a i5-6600K is as good as you can buy for gaming today.

On your build:

1. Do not make the mistake of buying separate ram sticks.
Ram is sold in kits for a reason.
A motherboard must manage all the ram using the same specs of voltage, cas and speed.
Ram from the same vendor and part number can be made up of differing manufacturing components over time.
Some motherboards can be very sensitive to this.
That is why ram vendors will NOT support ram that is not bought in one kit.
It is safer to get what you need in one kit.
But, it is a bit more expensive because of the added matching of all the sticks to insure compatibility.

2. I will never again build without a ssd for the "C" drive. It makes everything you do much quicker.
120gb is minimum, it will hold the os and a handful of games. If you can go 240gb, you may never need a hard drive.

I would defer on the hard drive unless you need to store large files such as video's.
It is easy to add a hard drive later.
Samsung EVO is a good choice.

3. Excellent quality psu. It can run a future graphics upgrade as good as a GTX980.
 
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AdikRahman

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I'm planing to play single player 3rd or 1st person games, like Tomb Raider, Assassin's Creed, Sniper Elite, Mortal Kombat etc.

And, when I said,"I don't really care about the price" I meant, among the three. No way my budget will go for a i5 6600K.
Same goes for the SDD. I don't simply have the money for it :p

Thanks for the RAM tip. I'll keep it in mind.
 
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geofelt

geofelt

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1. I think a i3-6100 would be cheaper and appropriate.

2. The main reason for a Z170 motherboard is that you have plans for a "K" upgrade or sli in the future.
Otherwise, a cheaper lga1151 motherboard will do the job equally well.

3. Please reconsider the ssd; you will not regret it.
even a 120gb ssd can be a starter. 240gb will hold a fair number of games.
Consider the source:
http://www.samsung.com/global/business/semiconductor/minisite/SSD/global/html/why/forGamer.html
 
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madmatt30

madmatt30

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Spending too much on the board for a locked CPU.

Dropping to a good h170 board will get you a 960 in there , although for another $20 you could do a 4gb 380.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-H170-GAMING 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.98 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card ($173.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Gigabyte GZ-G1SGS ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 520W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($55.98 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN781ND 802.11b/g/n PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($12.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Other: Samsung S22D390H 21.5 Inch LED Monitor
Other: Prolink 650VA
Total: $605.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-06 12:04 EDT-0400
 
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AdikRahman

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Thanks for the motherboard suggestion. It will be very helpful.
But for the RAM, I did not find the kingston RAM in the local shop I'm buying from. But they have TEAM RAM. There are two of them. I'm not sure if they are good. Can you please tell me?
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/team-memory-tlred48g3000hc16adc01
https://pcpartpicker.com/part/team-memory-tpd48gm2400hc16dc01
 
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AdikRahman

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Oh yeah, I didn't see it at first, the TEAM ELITE version says something about U-DIMM. What is that exactly?
The TEAM VULCAN version doesn't say anything like that.
And yes, the ELITE version cheaper. So, if the U-DIMM isn't a problem, then I'm gonna buy the ELITE version.
Thanks for the help.
 
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AdikRahman

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Thank you all for your help. I've decided that I will buy the i5 6500.
Thank you for the other helpful opinions also. Here is my last build:

Processor: Intel Skylake Core i5 6500
Graphics Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 950 XTREME
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI
RAM: Team Elite Plus DDR4 8gb(2x4gb) 2400mhz
Case: Gigabyte GZ-G111BA-CNB
Monitor: Samsung S22D390H 21.5 Inch
Storage: Western Digital WD10EZEX-00RKKA0 1TB
Power Supply: Seasonic SS-520GB Active PFC S12II
UPS: Prolink 650VA

I decided to buy a Z170 motherboard because I plan to SLI the GTX 950 in the future. I couldn't buy the SSD because I couldn't fit it in the budget.
 
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AdikRahman

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Plans changed. Here is my final:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($194.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.Sniper B7 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Team Elite Plus 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.77 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 380X 4GB NITRO Video Card ($238.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake Versa H25 ATX Mid Tower Case ($48.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12II 620W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($59.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Total: $770.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-10 12:47 EDT-0400
 
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madmatt30

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Rock solid mate,much much better chocie of gpu there with the 380x.

 
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