Twig Posted June 23, 2016 I was gonna say whyyyyyyyyy did you get a 960 when 1070/1080 just came out, but then I saw you got it used and for cheap so nevermind!!! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dartmonkey Posted January 15, 2017 Greetings all. I'm absolutely fed up of my hulking great Cosmos S pc case so I'm going to downsize while upgrading. I've ummed and ahhed about whether to just get a half decent laptop or some sort of Mac Mini thing, but after much research I've decided to recycle my old PSU, CPU cooler and gtx960 in a smaller, trimmer case with a new motherboard, cpu and ram. For 500-600 euros I can get: i5-6600K CPU MSI H170I Pro AC motherboard (Mini ITX) 2x8GB DDR4 2133 RAM BitFenix Pro300 case I think that'll handle Firewatch but I really don't need it for anything more taxing than that. Discreetness and reliability is more important. At some point I'll put an SSD in it. I'll pull the trigger on this set-up when I can, but are there any glaring errors in my thinking or my choices? It's a bloody minefield out there... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Beasteh Posted January 15, 2017 An SSD would make such a huge improvement in day-to-day performance, you'd be wise to get one. It doesn't sound like you are going to overclock (H170 doesn't support anyway), so the "K" edition Intel probably isn't necessary. Might be something to think about if you're looking to save a few bucks. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cakedotavi Posted January 15, 2017 Anyone heard anything about the upcoming 10nm CPUs? I think it's Canonlake that brings 10nm to mobile and laptop CPUs, but they couldn't get desktop CPUs running at 10nm yet if I remember the Intel rumor mill correctly. Has anyone heard when, or I guess if, Intel expects to launch 10nm on Desktop? My OC'ed 2500k is getting up there, and it seems like a bit of a waste to get a 1070/1080 with such an old CPU. I'm trying to wait for "the next big jump" in CPUs, but I've got a 1400p/144hz display that I really want to get the most out of! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Latrine Posted January 15, 2017 I second the SSD, it makes a big difference on load times and prices on SATA III SSDs are pretty reasonable now. You can always keep the HDD for large media and fit most things on a 256 or 512 GB SSD. See here: http://www.hardware-revolution.com/best-sdd-solid-state-drive-january-2017/#BestValue I also agree that you can probably save money on the CPU. Most modern games are not very CPU intensive. Also the 7XXX series of CPUs just came out so you'll get slightly better price/performance with the newer generation. Since you're downsizing you should double check that your old CPU cooler and graphics card will fit together. I haven't tried building a mini system but also keep in mind that you may have to be more careful about cable management. It would help if your old PSU has modular cables that you can remove if you don't use them all. cakedotavi: Not sure about 10nm, the 7th Gen Kaby Lake is 14nm and reports are that it isn't much of an upgrade from the 6th gen, it's the "tock" in Intel's "tick tock" release cycle. Like I said above, games aren't super CPU intensive and there hasn't been much difference you can feel over the past 5 years in CPUs. I'm still using a 3770K and haven't felt a need to make a big jump yet there either. I think that unless you're making the jump to VR or HDR 4K gaming then an upgrade isn't really needed and it may be better to wait for the next generation to make that jump. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badfinger Posted January 16, 2017 21 hours ago, dartmonkey said: Greetings all. I'm absolutely fed up of my hulking great Cosmos S pc case so I'm going to downsize while upgrading. I've ummed and ahhed about whether to just get a half decent laptop or some sort of Mac Mini thing, but after much research I've decided to recycle my old PSU, CPU cooler and gtx960 in a smaller, trimmer case with a new motherboard, cpu and ram. For 500-600 euros I can get: i5-6600K CPU MSI H170I Pro AC motherboard (Mini ITX) 2x8GB DDR4 2133 RAM BitFenix Pro300 case I think that'll handle Firewatch but I really don't need it for anything more taxing than that. Discreetness and reliability is more important. At some point I'll put an SSD in it. I'll pull the trigger on this set-up when I can, but are there any glaring errors in my thinking or my choices? It's a bloody minefield out there... Echoing Beasteh, If you DO want to overclock, get a Z170 motherboard that fits your budget and is well supported/reviewed. If you DON'T want to overclock save the money and don't get a 6600K chip, get the non-K version. An SSD is an amazing upgrade you didn't realize you needed before you had it. 19 hours ago, cakedotavi said: Anyone heard anything about the upcoming 10nm CPUs? I think it's Canonlake that brings 10nm to mobile and laptop CPUs, but they couldn't get desktop CPUs running at 10nm yet if I remember the Intel rumor mill correctly. Has anyone heard when, or I guess if, Intel expects to launch 10nm on Desktop? My OC'ed 2500k is getting up there, and it seems like a bit of a waste to get a 1070/1080 with such an old CPU. I'm trying to wait for "the next big jump" in CPUs, but I've got a 1400p/144hz display that I really want to get the most out of! I got the sense that they would be faster of course but not a crazy technological leap forward so amazing it would be worth waiting for them to release vs buying now (at least when I researched it last July). The sentiment might have changed now that it's a new calendar year. Can't give you more up to date info than that I'm afraid. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cakedotavi Posted January 16, 2017 45 minutes ago, Badfinger said: I got the sense that they would be faster of course but not a crazy technological leap forward so amazing it would be worth waiting for them to release vs buying now (at least when I researched it last July). The sentiment might have changed now that it's a new calendar year. Can't give you more up to date info than that I'm afraid. Hmm, thanks - good food for thought. I'm mostly just *so* happy with how my 2500k has aged that I'm looking for something comparably long-term, and was thinking 10nm might be my best shot at that kind of longevity. Perhaps I'm giving it too much credit though; I'll read up on the purported performance gains a bit more. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Badfinger Posted January 16, 2017 One thing I learned, about a year ago, 5 years too late to make a difference for my 2500K is that people thought RAM speed didn't matter with regard to stretching the life of your CPU. But they only thought that because people were testing new hardware in a way that their test setups were never CPU limited where that could make a difference. So I bought the fastest RAM anyone ever thought made a difference in 2011 or whenever it was, and I could have possibly stretched a few more months out of it if we'd all known better. This time around I bought faster RAM because people know it matters, so in theory faster RAM will actually help push the life of the CPU down the road. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
cakedotavi Posted January 17, 2017 Strange! Thanks for the info; I wasn't aware of that. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
