Mid range skylake gaming build review

[MontagGG]

I would appreciate comments and insights.

Gaming PC
Target $1500, < $1600 with tax and shipping (includes OS)
United States
Sources - NewEgg and local Frys
No specific brand loyalties
Build from scratch
Overclock possible in future
Current resolution 1680 x 1050, but will go to 1080P
Planning on building prior to Thanksgiving
Will not be doing SLI or X-fire

Question - any benefit on memory to do 4 x 4 GB versus 2 x 8 GB DIMMS?
On video - figured could spend ~ $200 a couple of years from now to get same premium performance of today.
Recognize could do i5-6600K with GTX970 for same money

Processor	     i7-6700K	                                         $360 
CPU cooler	     Zalman CNPS10X Optima 120 mm	                 $30 
Motherboard          Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI	                         $148 
Power supply         Corsair CX series CX600M 600W	                 $70 
Memory               G Skill Ripjaw 5 4 x 4	                         $129 
SSD	             Crucial MX200 M.2 Type 2280SS 250GB	         $100 
HD	             Raid 5 Qty (3) WD Blue WD10EZEX 1 TB 7200	         $159 
Case	             Corsair Carbide Series 300R	                 $80 
Video	             MSI Radeon R9 380 Gaming 4 GB	                 $230 
Case Fans	     couple 120 mm fans	                                 $25 
OS	             Windows 10 home complete	                         $120 
	             SATA Optical	                                 $20 
	             Total	                                         $1,471

 

[Ken g6]

Question - any benefit on memory to do 4 x 4 GB versus 2 x 8 GB DIMMS?

Not unless you go LGA2011. Which, I suppose, is an option at your price range. :hmm: What kind of games are you planning to play?

On video - figured could spend ~ $200 a couple of years from now to get same premium performance of today.
Recognize could do i5-6600K with GTX970 for same money

Video card prices have absolutely gone up. The sweet spot is now $300. And that's more likely to increase than decrease. :\ But if you're aiming for just 1080P, you may not need more than a GTX970 for a long time.

But why not both?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($359.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Zalman CNPS10X OPTIMA CPU Cooler ($25.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte GA-Z170XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($139.89 @ OutletPC)
Memory: *GeIL Dragon RAM 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: *Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($38.90 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($38.90 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($38.90 @ Amazon)
Video Card: *EVGA GeForce GTX 970 4GB SSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card ($304.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Corsair Carbide Series 300R Windowed ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: *XFX Core Edition 750W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: *LG GH24NSC0 DVD/CD Writer ($13.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: *Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 OEM (64-bit) ($86.75 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1378.06
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-10-08 10:10 EDT-0400

RAID stands for Redundant Array of Inexpensive Disks. Why not make them cheap when you have backups?

An M.2 SSD doesn't get you anything unless it's designed to run faster than SATA3 speeds. The one you picked isn't.

Win7 is cheap now, and you can immediately upgrade to Win10.

 

[MontagGG]

I appreciate the input. I am jumping from a Wolfdale to Skylake - so I am looking for a long life. Games wise, looking forward to Fallout 4, new Kerbal Space Program on Unity 5 engine so it will handle multithread and 64 bit, some RTS stuff.

I believe I will work it to get the GTX970.