yet another building a new PC thread.....

timdf911 · 20 Jun 2016 at 13:17

Decided to upgrade from my 2009 i7 860 to a new / faster PC.

Not used for gaming - I do more high end CAD, video processing and FFT's.

Not into overclocking and high frame rates etc - just want stable raw processing power

Thinking about a Z170 Asus motherboard and a Skylake 6700 processor combined with 32GB memory - not sure about speed and number of modules (2x16GB or 4 x 8GB) ??

Also want to drive a couple of high resolution 30" or 32" (2560 x 1440) screens - so not sure about what video card option to go for ??

Two SSD's one for data and one for OS - probably 960GB and 500GB respectively

I think a stock cooler would be ok - but it seems they don't come with the processor these days ??

Guess PSU size would be determined largely by video card adapter needs ?

Got £2000 including VAT to play with - more if needed.

Any thoughts / suggestions ?

Benjamham · 20 Jun 2016 at 16:27

Go for x99 over z170 if you aren't doing gaming. The prices are pretty close and you get a lot more processing power. You would have to overclock to see the real benefit though.

If you are spending so much on a pc, it would be a cardinal sin to use the stock cpu cooler!

timdf911 · 20 Jun 2016 at 18:15

Thanks for the reply - so what's the difference between X99 and Z170 ? Thought the Z170 was newer and what's wrong with the stock cooler ?

Maybe I should do a bit of googling :-)

Cern · 20 Jun 2016 at 18:25

timdf911 said:
Thanks for the reply - so what's the difference between X99 and Z170 ? Thought the Z170 was newer and what's wrong with the stock cooler ?

Maybe I should do a bit of googling

The main difference between X99 and Z170 is the processors they support (and more specifically the amount of cores).

Z170 supports LGA1151 CPUs and the most cores available in that line is quad core. It's highly likely there will never be more than quad cores released for Z170.

X99 supports socket 2011-V3 CPUs, which range from 6 core to 8 and 10 core.

For CAD, 3D and video processing the more cores the better (usually).

As for stock coolers, it's a moot point as most of the top end CPUs on both Z170 and X99 don't come with a stock cooler anyway, even the retail versions.

timdf911 · 20 Jun 2016 at 18:40

ok I'm showing ignorance big time here - so if I go for an X99 what choice type of processor for say 8 chores which when hyper thread presumably gives 16 ?

I had thought the latest skylake would be the latest and greatest but maybe that's not the case for raw power ?

Cern · 20 Jun 2016 at 19:06

timdf911 said:
ok I'm showing ignorance big time here - so if I go for an X99 what choice type of processor for say 8 chores which when hyper thread presumably gives 16 ?

I had thought the latest skylake would be the latest and greatest but maybe that's not the case for raw power ?

Here's a quick comparison of what's currently available:

Skylake (Z170)
i3, dual core, no hyperthreading
i5, quad core, no hyperthreading
i7, quad core, hyperthreading

Haswell-E / Broadwell-E (X99)
i7, 6, 8 or 10 core, hyperthreading

Skylake's top current CPU (i7-6700K) clocks faster than any of the X99 CPUs, although overclocking clouds this somewhat. So in applications and games that don't utilise multiple cores well Skylake will pull ahead. But where all cores can be brought into use, X99 (Haswell-E or Broadwell-E) pulls ahead.

So when you say "raw power" it all depends if you're talking maximum single (or up to quad) core performance (in which case Skylake) or maximum overall performance if all cores can be utilised (in which case X99).

Benjamham · 20 Jun 2016 at 19:19

The X99 platform actually has a newer lot of CPUs the broadwell-e, but they aren't considerably different to the haswell-e CPUs (from initial benchmarks)

as Cern mentioned, the X99 platform offers processors with a higher core count. The cheapest ones have 6 cores/12 threads, the next teir have 8 cores/16 threads and the new 6950x has 10 core/20 threads but is crazy expensive.

As for the stock cooler question:
The 6700k would exceed the TDP rating of the stock cooler, and hence would get very loud and or cause heat issues. The X99 chips definately will require a form of aftermarket cooler as they are real powerhouse chips.

timdf911 · 20 Jun 2016 at 20:03

How's this looking ?

Already have a LiAn LI case and suitable psu.

Not sure if the CPU matches the motherboard and the amount type speed of memory???

Hope the links work...

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...iquid-cpu-cooler-cw-9060007-ww-hs-006-cs.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/inte...-processor-oem-cm8064801548435-cp-545-in.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...cket-2011-ddr4-atx-motherboard-mb-689-as.html

4 pairs of these memory sticks https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...l-kit-black-txd48g3866hc18adc0-my-067-tg.html

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus...aphics-card-20-pounds-cashback-gx-352-as.html has two outputs one for each montior

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/inte...id-state-drive-ssdsc2bw480h601-hd-083-in.html operating system

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cruc...lid-state-drive-ct960bx200ssd1-hd-061-cr.html data storage

two of these https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aoc-...m-bezel-flicker-free-monitor-b-mo-032-ao.html these seem good value and resolution

Reckon this might do the job ?