Looking for a motherboard for either i5 6600 or 6600k

valrog · Aug 3, 2016

Im looking for a good one for about $120? I know the 6600k needs a z170 board. Ive seen some boards float around that price but im not sure if they are good or not. ive read mixed reviews. I plan to oc (if i do get the 6600k). but if i do get the 6600, can u guys recommend a good one for that price?

I plan on getting 2 rx 480. so looking for a motherboard that supports that too.

RedJaron · Aug 3, 2016

Let me ask you first what you plan to do with the system ( 480 in CF suggests gaming, but I want to make sure ). If you are gaming, what games and what resolution is your monitor? Second, why do you want to OC the CPU? It doesn't add any appreciable benefit to gaming titles at high graphics, so it's often not worth the extra money it costs.

If you can answer those questions, I can help you find the right board, and system build, for your particular needs and budget.

valrog · Aug 3, 2016

Gaming mostly yes. Well i was gonna go for 6600. but realized that its jus about 25$ for the 6600k. so i thought that i can just get that. and oc it to get a better performance.

edit: resolutions. def not 4k. i dont have a 4k monitor.

Zerk2012 · Aug 3, 2016

For the K processor I would look at the Z170 board keep in mind that CPU has no cooler so you need to add one.
I would look at a Asus Z170 A or Gigabyte Z170 gaming 5.
For Xfire 480's I would pass and buy a single GTX 1070 in the same price range as 2 of those cards.

valrog · Aug 3, 2016

well i thought that first too. but my plan was buying 1 480 for now. and prob another one by next year. .my budget only allows cpu/mobo/gpu for now. and a cpu cooler.

Zerk2012 · Aug 3, 2016

It will be the same next year sell your 480 and buy the best new model card released that's in your budget.

RedJaron · Aug 3, 2016

So gaming at 1080p. Got it.

Once you hit the i5 level, CPU speed makes very little difference in gaming performance at higher graphic details because the GPU is the limiting factor. ( see here and here for examples ) Being able to OC your CPU usually costs $100+ extra ( more expensive CPU and mboard, + aftermarket cooler ). Spending $100 extra for a couple extra fps is generally not seen as worth it.

If you play a lot of simpler games like WoW or LoL, then the CPU comes into play more since the graphical load is lighter. However, if you're already pushing 100+ fps with maxed details, getting 110+ fps probably isn't a big deal. So unless you're regularly going to run tasks that use the entire CPU, like heavy video editing, file compression, or professional apps, you won't get much value return on OCing the CPU. If you want serious game performance, you'll see better returns by spending that extra $100 into a stronger GPU. If you know this and still want a K CPU, hey, more power to you.

I also agree with Zerk that getting SLI/CF "down the road" is usually not a great option, especially with mid-range cards like the 480. By the time you get the second card ( let's face it, computer upgrades usually get delayed longer than we expect ) your GPU is a generation or two behind. At that point, I would rather have a newer card with better tech instead of doubling down on an older card. And thankfully with the massive gains we've seen in these new gen GPUs, you can max out 1080p and 1440p with single cards cheaper than you can with multi-GPU setups. Again, if you still want to, that's your call. Just giving you some facts and recommendations.

So, with that out of the way, are there any mboard features you particularly want that you haven't listed? Built-in WiFi? M.2 slot? I really like ASRock and MSI right now. Asus has great boards too, but you tend to pay extra for them. ASRock's Pro4 ( not Pro4S ) and Extreme4 lines tend to be feature-rich for a good price, so start there. If you want to OC, then you'll need a Z170. Otherwise, look at B150 and H170 boards as well.

valrog · Aug 3, 2016

RedJaron :

So gaming at 1080p. Got it.

Once you hit the i5 level, CPU speed makes very little difference in gaming performance at higher graphic details because the GPU is the limiting factor. ( see here and here for examples ) Being able to OC your CPU usually costs $100+ extra ( more expensive CPU and mboard, + aftermarket cooler ). Spending $100 extra for a couple extra fps is generally not seen as worth it.

If you play a lot of simpler games like WoW or LoL, then the CPU comes into play more since the graphical load is lighter. However, if you're already pushing 100+ fps with maxed details, getting 110+ fps probably isn't a big deal. So unless you're regularly going to run tasks that use the entire CPU, like heavy video editing, file compression, or professional apps, you won't get much value return on OCing the CPU. If you want serious game performance, you'll see better returns by spending that extra $100 into a stronger GPU. If you know this and still want a K CPU, hey, more power to you.

I also agree with Zerk that getting SLI/CF "down the road" is usually not a great option, especially with mid-range cards like the 480. By the time you get the second card ( let's face it, computer upgrades usually get delayed longer than we expect ) your GPU is a generation or two behind. At that point, I would rather have a newer card with better tech instead of doubling down on an older card. And thankfully with the massive gains we've seen in these new gen GPUs, you can max out 1080p and 1440p with single cards cheaper than you can with multi-GPU setups. Again, if you still want to, that's your call. Just giving you some facts and recommendations.

So, with that out of the way, are there any mboard features you particularly want that you haven't listed? Built-in WiFi? M.2 slot? I really like ASRock and MSI right now. Asus has great boards too, but you tend to pay extra for them. ASRock's Pro4 ( not Pro4S ) and Extreme4 lines tend to be feature-rich for a good price, so start there. If you want to OC, then you'll need a Z170. Otherwise, look at B150 and H170 boards as well.

Oh. That was really helpful. Well, i think ill just go for the 6600 then. Or 6500 if the performance gap isnt that big between to two. And ill prob settle for just a 480 and prob buy the newer cards when i plan on changing. And for motherboard specs, havin wifi is nice but dnt rly need tbh. I guess what im lookin for is jus something thats in my budget and has room for future upgrades.
So with that, any specific motherboards that u can recommend?

Zerk2012 · Aug 3, 2016

I woild keep the ability to overclock the processor even if your not going to now for a bit extra now your PC can last longer before needing to buy new again.
A few years down the road when your CPU is no longer up to par instead of buying new again you just overclock the CPU and your performance is right back up their.

RedJaron · Aug 3, 2016

We're almost talking full system build list, so let's tackle that. Have you already purchased any parts? Do you have any parts from an older system you can reuse ( case, PSU, and HDD are the most likely )? Do you need to buy an operating system? Are you looking to get any peripherals right now ( mouse, keyboard, monitor )? And where are you buying this ( we have a lot of international users, so I can't assume USA ). Finally, what's the whole budget you're willing to spend ( and remember, you don't need to spend all of it ).

So, assuming you don't have any carry-over parts and you're purchasing in the USA, here's a basis of what I would start looking for if you're talking i5 and RX 480.

PCPartPicker part list

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($198.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: ASRock H170M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: A-Data Premier SP550 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.94 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($47.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB GAMING Video Card ($249.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Core 2500 ATX Mid Tower Case ($55.99 @ Directron)
Power Supply: XFX XT 500W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($53.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $786.36

If you're not OCing the CPU, Newegg has the H170M Pro4 on sale right now for $80. That's a great deal. I know you said 480, PCPP listed a 1060 for the same price and it does slightly outperform the 480. However, prices and stock on both 480 and 1060 cards are kinda volatile right now, so get whatever you can find the better deal.

All of this of course can go up. If you want a little extra oomph on the CPU, the 6600 isn't much more. You can go with more premium RAM, though that may not be a big deal. Or maybe you want to step up to a 1070 for about $400 and not worry about gaming framerates for a long time. You tell me where you want to go from here.

Zerk2012 :

A few extra hundred MHz no longer make a big difference in most games. Look at those links I posted. Witcher 3 shows no performance difference with an i7 whether it's at 2.5 GHz or 4.0 GHz. The Division only loses 1 - 2 fps every 500 MHz block. OCing your CPU will not suddenly bring a game from stuttering to playable anymore. If you've got other tasks that saturate the threads, then it makes a notable difference.

Isokolon · Aug 3, 2016

the XFX XT series is not really recommended. looks rather cheap from the tests I saw and is not comparable to the other series (it's even labeled wrong)
a pro series / TS PSU by XFX is usually only 10-15 bucks more

RedJaron · Aug 3, 2016

Hmmm, just read up on that. Didn't know the XT was outsourced. Still, even though it's not made quite as well as the others, this article suggests it's not likely as bad as some may think. Sounds like it's on par with Corsair's CX line. Not something you'd put in a high demand PC, but perfectly adequate for a basic locked CPU and mid-range GPU.

And of course, this was just a quick cobbled up list as an almost bare minimum, not a final list. A higher quality PSU is always appreciated and usually worth the extra $10.

Zerk2012 · Aug 3, 2016

RedJaron :

That's not really true, as of right now yes to a extent. As games change then that will also change. Thinking back to my I5 2500K when it was new their were no overclocking required then about 4 years later if no longer performed they way I wished in newer games and after overclocking from stock to 4.6 the performance was right back to the level as if I bought a new processor.
And yes the TX is a rather bad power supply and certainly not worth 53 bucks when for 5 more bucks you can buy a Seasonic 520.

Isokolon · Aug 3, 2016

Zerk2012 :

OCing a 6600k to 4,5GHz shows a fps increase of 2%. that won't suddenly turn into 12% a few years down the road. overall, in the future it will be more about cores than MHz probably.
so I personally think, it won't make much of a difference with the skylake-i5s

KAG123 · Aug 3, 2016

Just want to say this a great thread for a noob lurking as I piece together items for my son's birthday computer we are going to build together.

valrog · Aug 3, 2016

Actually i alrdy have a pc built. But im replacing my motherboard cpu and gpu and giving it to my brother. I hav a fx 8350 and a r9 270. My psu is a.... i believe a 650w corsair, gskill snipers 8gb. Motherboard sry i cant remember,im in vacation right now so i cant check. Its a gigabyte board tho.
Basically the my budget is 400$ max for cpu and motherboard. And 250 for gpu. Which is a 480 or 1060.

Karadjgne · Aug 3, 2016

Not to throw a wrench into the works but couple of things. Xfire 480s is pointless on 1080p. The 480/1060 is perfectly happy maxing out just about every single game at 1080p ultra settings. The only games you start running into trouble is games like gta:V after heavy mods and lots of high settings in which even a gtx1080 can run into trouble there.
Then there's the i3-6100. Even in Witcher 3 it runs within 2-3fps of a i5-6500, so if considering the 6500, this would be a decent option. But thats minimums. If you are looking for expandability for the future, you will want a Z170 board. They have the m.2 native, best audio, best lan, best power phases, option for OC if wanted, most fan/data/USB headers etc. The H170 have options for most of that, B150 slightly less etc. What you don't want to do is skimp on the mobo, it sucks replacing it later, can play hell with Windows activation, means totally tearing apart everything etc. Best bet is to get the best you would ever need. Swapping cpu is easy, gpu easy, ram easy etc. Hate swapping mobo's.

I'd say get a good z170, i3-6100 and a single 480/1060 and go from there. Can alway upgrade the cpu and sell the i3 if you decide on a i5 6600k or even need an i7 6700k, but at least on the Z board you'll have the ability. The Z board also will make sli/cf an option if that's wanted.

valrog · Aug 3, 2016

Karadjgne :

Hmmm. thanks for that. I agree with u that having to change mobo really does suck. so im lookin for something that has alot of room for upgrades later on. i been looking at some z boards as well. Im looking into the asrock z170 pro4. but in newegg it has mixed reviews. so im kinda not sure if its a good mobo or not. cuz i have a couple friends telling me that its a good one..

KAG123 · Aug 3, 2016

Not my thread but it really helped with base components for our Battle Field 4 build.

Purchased from Newegg:

i5-6500 chip

Gigabyte GA-H170 gaming 3

16gb Ripjaws V DDR4 memory

total: $343 shipped

Thanks for letting me lurk....now on to a GPU (probably an 8gb RX480)

Karadjgne · Aug 3, 2016

The pro4 has always been one of asrock lower grade boards. But it's still an asrock. You'll get the OC ability, but barely. It's not that good for higher levels of OC due to minimal power phases heatsinks etc. It also comes up on the short list of what options are available on a Z board. It's really not much better than a B150 with OC ability. This'll explain most of those negative reviews since it's expandability is pretty limited.

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-UD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($112.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170MX-Gaming 5 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($134.99 @ NCIX US)
These would be better choices, and are sli capable if you chose the gtx1060, whereas the pro4 isn't, its only CF capable.

RedJaron · Aug 3, 2016

Hmm, the idea of an i3 with something like a 1070 is intriguing. I did similar in the SBM last year and proved it games superbly. However, I'm not sure I would recommend that outside of the lab. Games like Dragon Age: Inquisition will not run on an i3 at all. It wouldn't surprise me if more games start requiring true quad cores. And I've never been a fan of building a PC with the idea of upgrading the CPU.

Yes, Z boards tend to have more features. The question is whether those features are a big deal to a given end user. With the 100-series chipsets, H170 and B150 now have PCIe 3.0 capable chipsets, meaning you can find 3.0 x4 M.2 slots without stealing lanes from the CPU ( the H170M Pro4 I recommended before has one ). You might have marginally better audio circuitry on premium boards, but so you have a speaker system or headset that will let you hear the difference? Z, H, and B boards usually have an Intel I218 or I219 gigabit controller now ( a few have Broadcom ), so that's a wash. If you really like Killer controllers, or dual Ethernet ports, then yes, Z would be the way to go. Extra power phases only matter when drawing more power in overclocking, so the smaller/fewer VRMs on H and B boards is meaningless. Very few people use more than six SATA ports, especially if we're talking about using the M.2 in PCIe mode, so there's little worry in using a non-Z board unless you intend to build a large drive array. USB ports is indeed something Z boards tend to have more ( many have a least eight on the back and very few have less than six, while many lower-half H and B boards only have four ).

In all, I much agree that swapping a mboard is a pain since it usually requires you to completely reassemble the system. However, with the main exception of overclocking and multiple GPUs, you can get a feature-rich H170 board that can do most everything a Z board can for less money.

So $650 total for CPU, mboard, and GPU. You'll need to include RAM in there as well, as I would recommend highly against getting a new mboard that's not DDR4. That drops the rest to about $600 at best. Not enough to fit a 1070 in. That means the best you can do is a 480 or 1060. Since you can get one of those for $250, leaving $350, I see no reason not to get the i5 at the start. That's enough for a 6600K and basic Z170 board ( or better board should you find a deal ). If you cold stretch the budget a bit, you could ensure a better mboard. Then again, there's no need to spend that much, and you could go with a 6500 or 6600 and a good H170 board for about $300. This route would leave just about enough to get a 240GB SSD, if you don't already have one. I recommend the Adata SP550.

jay_rogers · Aug 4, 2016

I think asus h170 or z170 pro gaming motherboard would be better for you.

frank_hnd · Aug 4, 2016

I have the Gigabyte Z170 gaming 5 with i5-6600K.
if you are planning to CF the RX 480 go for an unlocked processor. the motherboad is great and everything works perfectly. have plenty of options.
I would recommend a CPU cooler like Cryorig H7, Cooler Master hyper 212, or a single AIO cooler from NZXT or Corsair.

valrog · Aug 4, 2016

Thank you alot for all the help. So far my plan right now is.
i5 6600.
then either this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132571 or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128863&cm_re=h170-_-13-128-863-_-Product
And i am planning on buying ram too. so thast about 50-60$.
as for the gpu. I might hold on for it. maybe save a little and my birthday is coming up next month so i might be able to save up and get myself a 1070/80.
And yes i alreayd have a ssd. I believe i have an 240gb intel ssd. And i have a cooler master hyper 212 cooler (altho the fan is broken, so if you guys know a good replacement fan for mayb 20$ i'd appreciate it. i was thinking of buying noctua).
So, between the 2 mobos, which one is better for me. Or if theres a better one in that price range please let me know. Thanks!

Decends · Aug 4, 2016

valrog :

Thank you alot for all the help. So far my plan right now is.
i5 6600.
then either this http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132571 or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128863&cm_re=h170-_-13-128-863-_-Product
And i am planning on buying ram too. so thast about 50-60$.
as for the gpu. I might hold on for it. maybe save a little and my birthday is coming up next month so i might be able to save up and get myself a 1070/80.
And yes i alreayd have a ssd. I believe i have an 240gb intel ssd. And i have a cooler master hyper 212 cooler (altho the fan is broken, so if you guys know a good replacement fan for mayb 20$ i'd appreciate it. i was thinking of buying noctua).
So, between the 2 mobos, which one is better for me. Or if theres a better one in that price range please let me know. Thanks!

One question? Is GTA V one of the games you play? If you answer yes, get the 6600k and overclock it.

Looking for a motherboard for either i5 6600 or 6600k

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