Time for a Skylake build

[Ken g6]

OK, let's try [thread=2324420]this[/thread] again...

After six and a half years with Core 2, it's about time for a new build.

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Lots of things:
- Programming. It's been mostly web stuff lately, but I'd like to get back to C, and someday CUDA and OpenCL.
- Virtual machines. I plan to have at least two, one to run Windows under Linux, and another (also Linux) to do most of my telecommuting work from. Probably just one thread each in VirtualBox.
- Video encoding. Frequent, but I'm not sure I care about performance here that much. Plus, some may be with AviSynth, which is not good at multi-threading. My main limitation here currently is not CPU, but RAM, as I can't do both VM work and video encoding in 4GB.
- Light gaming. (UT2004, anyone?) iGPU will be fine.
- Distributed computing. It'll take all the CPU I can give it, although PrimeGrid in particular needs lots of RAM bandwidth and not so much hyper-threading. This doesn't seem as important as it used to.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
I can afford what I need, but I don't want to over-spend. I'm looking at a ~$600 build. If it turns out to not be enough for what I need, I might build another, bigger machine later.

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
USA!

4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.
I don't want to drive to the Denver Micro Center. Newegg, Amazon, maybe NCIX, maybe Micro Center by mail, though their shipping is outrageous and I'd get taxed too. I'd avoid most other stores.

One more thing: No mail-in rebates, please. I can't get them with my PO box-only mailing address.

5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
Well, I want Intel Haswell or better to develop for AVX2. Linux likes Nvidia video cards, but I'll probably wait on getting a new one for a little while. I'm also an efficiency fanboy - Skylake and gold PSU, please. ()

6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Potential parts, that I don't expect to use:
- Seasonic 520W modular PSU.
- GT430 (for CUDA)
- There's a couple 750GB drives floating around too. And I have other 4-5TB storage drives available

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Probably not, but I'd like to keep the option somewhat open.

8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
1080p60

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Ordering tonight!

X. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?
No.

So, parts I'm looking at:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: *Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor ($130.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte GA-Z170N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: *Patriot Viper 4 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2800 Memory ($88.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($157.17 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Elite 110 Mini ITX Tower Case ($48.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: *SeaSonic 360W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($63.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $635.09
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-03 13:28 EST-0500

I'm not sure how that or any other PSU will fit in the case. I might swap that for the 4-year-old Seasonic 520 in my current machine.

Oh, and I need a new mouse. Something simple, but sturdy enough to last a few years. I got a Logitech G100s for $20, but its left button became unreliable after a few months.

 

[Erithan13]

Are you definitely going to need the 500GB SSD if you have other storage drives available? If you could live with 250GB you may be able to stretch to the i5-6500 which would be a bit better at the CPU heavy things (although from what I've seen the i3 ain't a slouch either).

 

[nsafreak]

Video encoding and virtual machines, two memory intensive applications for sure. As cheap as RAM is currently I would consider getting a 32GB kit instead since I know when I encode video it eats up a ton of RAM and I'm not running any VMs. Granted I do my rendering in Premier but it's still something to consider. Other than that the build looks solid and should work fine for your intended use cases.

 

[Ken g6]

Are you definitely going to need the 500GB SSD if you have other storage drives available? If you could live with 250GB you may be able to stretch to the i5-6500 which would be a bit better at the CPU heavy things (although from what I've seen the i3 ain't a slouch either).

Spending more isn't out of the question at all - if it's worthwhile. Like I said, the CPU isn't what's restricting me right now. And I like the lower 47W TDP for the small case. There's a good chance that, in a few years when prices come down, and once I see how much space there is in the case, I might upgrade to an i7 Cannonlake or something.

As cheap as RAM is currently I would consider getting a 32GB kit instead

Interesting suggestion. A 32GB kit is more than twice as expensive, and a little slower. Do you really think it's worth that much more?

 

[nsafreak]

Spending more isn't out of the question at all - if it's worthwhile. Like I said, the CPU isn't what's restricting me right now. And I like the lower 47W TDP for the small case. There's a good chance that, in a few years when prices come down, and once I see how much space there is in the case, I might upgrade to an i7 Cannonlake or something.


Interesting suggestion. A 32GB kit is more than twice as expensive, and a little slower. Do you really think it's worth that much more?

I guess it depends on what you're encoding. On average when I'm encoding 1080p videos in Premier it uses around 8 GB of RAM. Having not used Avisynth I'm not sure what its RAM usage is, it could be less I suppose though. Have you considered using a small micro ATX case like an Aerocool DS-Cube? It's not much bigger than the currently selected case and would allow for more options with your motherboard which is a bit of a limiting option when it comes to RAM since you only have two slots available.

 

[Ken g6]

Have you considered using a small micro ATX case like an Aerocool DS-Cube?

If I was going mATX, I'd be looking at an LGA 2011 processor, Rosewill Line-M case (why can't I get those nowadays?) or similar, and Scythe Kotetsu cooler. But that's not what I'm looking at today.

You might be interested in [thread=2452419]my Cases & Cooling thread[/thread].

Edit: I should mention most of my encoding is with Handbrake. AviSynth is a preprocessor; I'm not sure how it works with Handbrake offhand. Haven't actually used it in years, although I'd like to.

 

[fourdegrees11]

You could definitely do better with micro atx vs mini itx, and also using a WiFi adapter. Some of the micro cases are actually fairly small like the one I have here. Reusing your old psu would give you a lot more leeway as well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6500 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($199.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170M Pro4S Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($79.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill NT Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.88 @ OutletPC)
Case: Silverstone PS08B (Black) MicroATX Mid Tower Case ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Fractal Design Edison M 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WN822N 802.11b/g/n USB 2.0 Wi-Fi Adapter ($15.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $605.71
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-03 17:19 EST-0500

 

[vailr]

ASRock Z170M Extreme4 LGA 1151 mATX - $124.99 (currently o.o.s.)
Includes Intel i219-v LAN, Realtek ALC1150 audio
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157675

Intel Core i5-6600 6M Skylake Quad-Core 3.3 GHz LGA 1151 65W BX80662I56600 Desktop Processor
Search for "Intel 6600" at jet.com.
$232.98 (less 20% off, to maximum $50 discount coupon=~$184.40)
Note: can't link directly, due to embedded referral links.
There's several jet.com discount coupons that can be found at SlickDeals.net and other deal sites.

 

[Ken g6]

Power Supply: Fractal Design Edison M 450W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($49.99 @ Newegg)

That's a good call. I hadn't see an Fractal Design PSU before, but it looks good.

I really do want an mini ITX, though. A WiFi adapter would be fine. I tend toward wanting an M.2 slot over the alternative. But I don't want the main SSD to be M.2, so that I can pull it out of this box if something goes wrong and use it in another box without interruption to my work. (Linux tends to work that way. ) So I'm not sure whether an M.2 drive will ever be useful with that attitude?

So many things are appearing with Newegg as the best price, but I have an Amazon gift card. I think I'll go ahead and order the i3 from Amazon now, and sort out the rest later. :hmm:

 

[fourdegrees11]

Seasonic is the OEM for that series of PSU. Seems pretty solid for the price, semi modular should help a bit in a tiny case.

 

[bbhaag]

I don't have any real input but I'm watching this thread.
I've got the bug to upgrade my PII to a Skylake setup and I'm on a similar budget as Ken.

 

[Ken g6]

I'm making progress, slowly. I bought the 32gb ram today. Would have bought the Gigabyte mobo too, but Newegg was out of stock. I still have not decided whether the M.2 slot is worth the price.

 

[piasabird]

I think that being able to use M.2 with its speed and no cable clutter is a plus.