I am in the final stages of building a Skylake PC and am down to motherboard selection.
Current build: http://pcpartpicker.com/list/TMXNGf
My intent on this build is to be my 5-7 year system. Moderate gaming, lots of photo/video editing (resizing/rendering/etc), development/design (Visual Studio, SQL Server, etc), and of course the general web browsing. I would like to do some OCing on the system to get a little more power (this will be my first run at OCing a system) but at this point am not really anticipating pushing any extremes. I use several USB ports on the back and front of the system and prefer to utilize the 3.0 and 3.1 (specifically the type C) interface over the 2.0. At this point I do not have any Thunderbolt devices, but I also understand that the Thunderbolt market is just starting to open up with external devices that will utilize the connection.
I would like to stay at or below the $200ish mark.
The MOBOs that I have identified as being good options are:
*- Gigabyte Z170x Gaming 7 (supports Thunderbolt 3.0)
- Gigabyte Z170x Gaming 6? (doesn't use multi-core enhancement... big deal?)
*- Asus Z170-Pro
*- Asus Maximus VIII Ranger
- Asus Maximus VIII Hero
- MSI Gaming M7? (doesn't seem to support true x32 on both M.2 drives simultaneously)
The boards with the * are really the 3 that I'm looking pretty seriously at, but this is my complete list of options.
Based on my goals/needs/purposes, what is the direction (or alternate suggestions) that you all would give?
Thank you for the help!
+1 for X-99 much much better CPU choices and as a bonus offer tons more PCI lanes dont waste on $z170
I would build something like this personally.
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/KKhJxY
or if you want to go with the newer architecture
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/sWrf7h
Also just as a side note you gpu cost wasn't included in the price just so you know
Wouldn´t X99 be a more viable option for the workloads you are going to use the system for?
As others allready suggested?
Wow, really appreciate all of the responses and am really surprised - it was not the direction that I was expecting!
I think that I would prefer the newer chipset also since I'm not going to be doing any upgrades (most likIly at all). Also the total cost of this system needs to stay around the $1500ish mark. I know the GPU doesn't have a cost yet since the 1070 line is still fresh on the market, and because of that I was going to use the onboard GPU until I was able to snag a card. It seems that isn't a possibility with the X99 board, but I don't know much/anything about the 2011 chipset.
Keep the feedback coming please - it is much appreciated. I will change direction and reconsider the build.
...one question - I thought I read somewhere that the Haswell chipset was going to be phased out at the end of the year and replaced by a newer chipset - is this correct?
Well broadwell E is available so haswell will get cheaper and at some point will be phased out, yes. The improvements from haswell to broadwell to skylake are marginal at best. So it makes no sense to get a 6700K with four cores when you can have a 6800K with 6 cores for not that much more money. Skylake is nice for single thread or lets say poorly multithreaded workloads. Editing and rendering photos and videos will benefit a lot from those two extra cores.
Personally I like stability more than performance so I went for a workstation board and a xeon E5 1650 v3 (six cores, ht, 3.5-3.8GHz). A bit more expensive but that might pay of in the long run. The E5 2670 is dirt cheap right now and I am speculating on similar deals in a few years. So for a long term system X99 is definitely the way to go.
I changed some parts out to bring the price down a bit
http://pcpartpicker.com/list/HyBdCy
FU-edition 1070? Reference cooler for that price? Hmmm, I would not go for that.
Graphics card advice: wait three weeks. 480 is coming, custom 1070s are coming, prices will drop.
Hell, lets see what a 980Ti will cost then...
That's what I was thinking as well - the MSI 1070 Gaming card has my attention, but like you said I will need to wait a few weeks for it to even be available on the market and a few more for price/demand to stabilize.
As I'm looking at the X99 boards, the 2 that stand out to me are the Asus X99-E and the X99-A (II). I haven't yet dug into these 2 boards much to really find the differences.
EDIT:
Here's what I have so far for my X99 configuration. Due to the incrased cost, some extras like a new monitor and an additional SSD will have to wait. That being said, the more I am looking into it the more I am leaning toward the X99 suggestion - I really appreciate the feedback. It will take me longer to get it, but I'm starting to think that the delay would be worth it. http://pcpartpicker.com/list/3bhLkT
Would the Phanteks PE be a better option cooling-wise than the Noctua? Also, will the Noctua even fit on the Asus X99-A(II) board without impacting the 1st PCIe X16 slot?
EDIT 2:
I'm still learning a little bit more about PCIe lanes - the 6700k has 16 and the 6800k has 28. I'm assuming with my current X99 build plans that I would have enough to support what I'm looking at right now. Is this assessment accurate?
- GPU - 16x
- M.2 - 4x
- USB Type C (onboard) - 4x
- Thunderbolt 3 - 4x (http://www.asus.com/Motherboard-Accessories/ThunderboltEX-3/)
Those new Asus X99 refresh boards are pretty much all decent.
The Asus X99-A II would be a very good choice for your needs.
As far as the 5820K vs the 6800K goes, it depends a bit on how big the price diffrence is.
The 6800K has a 100mhz higher clock speed, and a die shrink from 22 to 14nm.
Its slightly faster then the 5820K, but not mindblowing much.
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I would say the OP is better off with the 5820K here. Its a fast chip. Its overall pretty overclockable. It definitely supports all of the latest stuff. I think x99 still has more expandability than any other platform. I dont see broadwell being too worth it at this point. I would be waiting for skylake E or cannonlakeE if you go with Haswell E as a choice because that makes more sense to upgrade every major platform change rather than every increment. If you absolutely must have the newest stuff in your new build then go with the 6800K by all means if price is not a concern. You are paying more for really practically nothing.
As for X99 Motherboards I would also look into ASrock and do some comparisons. Either or are honestly good.