CPU + Motherboard for Titan X

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rinaldo00

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I have not had the fastest GPU on the planet since I bought my twin 4GB GTX 680s (I have the Asus Matrix 980Ti now) and I want to be on top again so I ordered the new Titan X (will work well with my Vive) But now I need CPU advice. Do I go Skylake or Haswell E? I have a new SSD and plan on getting 16 megs of RAM but what CPU and motherboard to get?

I am thinking of the Intel Core i7-5960X Haswell-E and motherboard ASUS ROG Rampage V Extreme X99. Any thoughts?
 
Go Skylake if just for gaming. If for productivity that requires more cores go with a Broadwell-E. If both use cases then BD-E.
 
rinaldo00 said:
I have not had the fastest GPU on the planet since I bought my twin 4GB GTX 680s (I have the Asus Matrix 980Ti now) and I want to be on top again so I ordered the new Titan X (will work well with my Vive) But now I need CPU advice. Do I go Skylake or Haswell E? I have a new SSD and plan on getting 16 megs of RAM but what CPU and motherboard to get?

I am thinking of the Intel Core i7-5960X Haswell-E and motherboard ASUS ROG Rampage V Extreme X99. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...

Do you have a need for x99? If you wanna go best of the best go for it, but if you're asking if you need it, you don't. Skylake is good enough and gives a 6950X a run for its money in DX12, specifically Ashes, and you can move to Krabby Lake next year. Either way you go, get a nice M2 SSD and fastest within reason DDR4 and you are rocking.
 
thesmokingman said:
Do you have a need for x99? If you wanna go best of the best go for it, but if you're asking if you need it, you don't. Skylake is good enough and gives a 6950X a run for its money in DX12, specifically Ashes, and you can move to Krabby Lake next year. Either way you go, get a nice M2 SSD and fastest within reason DDR4 and you are rocking.
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I should have said just for gaming. No, I have no need for x99, but if I spend $1200 on a GPU then I do not want to comprise on anything.








$
 
rinaldo00 said:
I should have said just for gaming. No, I have no need for x99, but if I spend $1200 on a GPU then I do not want to comprise on anything.

$
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If yer not gonna "compromise on anything" then why the thread, just do it already? And you'll want a 6950X as its faster than a 5960X. Though I have to say, it's a lot of cash to throw around for no gaming gain.

6950X Benchmarked - Guru3D.com Forums

Conclusions & Delusions - DX11 vs DX12 Intel 6700K vs 6950X Framerate Scaling
 
The 6850K is as high as I would go for gaming. Some newer games that scale well can take advantage of it. There is no reason at all to go for a 6950X just for gaming, especially at $1,721. 3- and 4-way SLI are also dead with Pascal, so there is no need for the extra PCI-E lanes either. But really, the i5-6600K is probably the sweet spot. In most games the difference between the 6600K and 6850K is going to be negligible. The bandwidth of the memory modules attached to it is going to make a larger impact on performance.
 
thread jack:

If i want to get the new TitanX, should i upgrade my I7-3820 ? i haven't kept any track regarding cpu's

is anything new on the horizon thats worth the wait?
 
thesmokingman said:
If yer not gonna "compromise on anything" then why the thread, just do it already? And you'll want a 6950X as its faster than a 5960X. Though I have to say, it's a lot of cash to throw around for no gaming gain.

6950X Benchmarked - Guru3D.com Forums

Conclusions & Delusions - DX11 vs DX12 Intel 6700K vs 6950X Framerate Scaling
Click to expand...
I was not certain what to buy, I was asking for advice, preferably from people that own high end CPUs. Of course I don't want to waste money. Thanks for the links.
 
Armenius said:
The 6850K is as high as I would go for gaming. Some newer games that scale well can take advantage of it. There is no reason at all to go for a 6950X just for gaming, especially at $1,721. 3- and 4-way SLI are also dead with Pascal, so there is no need for the extra PCI-E lanes either. But really, the i5-6600K is probably the sweet spot. In most games the difference between the 6600K and 6850K is going to be negligible. The bandwidth of the memory modules attached to it is going to make a larger impact on performance.
Click to expand...
Great! Thanks for the info.
 
I wish 12/24 (Core/Thread) processors were more affordable. I use several of these at work and coming back to a 4/8 (Core/Thread) processor at home, no matter that they're clocked double that of the workstations, just makes me feel like I'm going from creamy butter to frozen clumps of butter.
 
The i7 6700K will perform better in games than even the $1700 CPU intel sells. Haswell-E is a complete waste of money if all you care about is gaming.
 
Yes but if he wants 2x titans he's gona need the extra lanes on the x99/2011-3 mbs to keep them at 16/16x. The cheaper route only has 20 lanes and would be limited to 16x for single card or 8/8x for sli.

6700k for single Titan and 6800k/6850k for sli.
 
I also asked the same question for my new 1080 sli and was told to sit on my 4970k system.. would love the freedom the 99x/2011-3 would bring with dual 16x for cards and more lanes for fast drives. Plus let's not forget the quad channel ram..
 
Also funny story from the store salesman at microcenter last time I was there yesterday.

He told me that a guy came in and asked for the fastest cpu to play Diablo. They said that 6950k at $1700 and he didn't care it would be a waste and bought it!! Haha

Though whatever.. it's his money and whatever makes you happy.. more power to you.
 
eclypse said:
Yes but if he wants 2x titans he's gona need the extra lanes on the x99/2011-3 mbs to keep them at 16/16x. The cheaper route only has 20 lanes and would be limited to 16x for single card or 8/8x for sli.

6700k for single Titan and 6800k/6850k for sli.
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Which doesn't even matter with PCIE 3.0....there was a thread about the razor core and someone posted a link proving that it doesn't matter if it's 16x or 8x. Unless there's some new test I missed, I don't think it matters for gaming.
 
-Strelok- said:
Which doesn't even matter with PCIE 3.0....there was a thread about the razor core and someone posted a link proving that it doesn't matter if it's 16x or 8x. Unless there's some new test I missed, I don't think it matters for gaming.
Click to expand...

Figured but thought it may make a couple frame difference. :/ I guess it's like the new HB sli connector that mostly does squat as well.
 
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rinaldo00 said:
Great! Thanks for the info.
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One thing I wanted to add is that games that are highly threaded like DOOM do get a boost from HyperThreading. Whether or not that will be trend going forward is yet to be seen, but it's something to consider if you end up deciding between a 6600K and 6700K.

Expanding on the topic of PCI-E lanes, I don't think we've yet seen any video card be bandwidth starved while running on x8. The only scenario I can think of wanting more than the standard 20 CPU lanes is if you're running more than one PCI-E x4/x8 form factor SSD. M.2 form factor PCI-E SSDs and the like run off of the DMI lanes instead of the CPU as far as I know.
 
Get a 5820K and get it to as close to 4.5GHz as you can. X99 is no longer crazy expensive, and IMO the extra 2 cores will help a lot. Or a 5930k if you plan on SLI-ing the Pitans.

BD-E has a higher IPC, but also higher cost.
 
trandoanhung1991 said:
Get a 5820K and get it to as close to 4.5GHz as you can. X99 is no longer crazy expensive, and IMO the extra 2 cores will help a lot. Or a 5930k if you plan on SLI-ing the Pitans.

BD-E has a higher IPC, but also higher cost.
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I see that IPC term all the time and have even no idea what it stands for?
 
kalston said:
Instructions per cycle
To put it simply, as far as gaming goes, "fps per ghz". An old 4Ghz CPU won't be anything like a recent 4Ghz CPU when it comes to actual performance.
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Thx!

Now what's the difference between x99 and 2011-3? Anything important? I never hear anyone say go 2011-3.. always x99 but I'm thinking there like the same thing
 
trandoanhung1991 said:
Get a 5820K and get it to as close to 4.5GHz as you can. X99 is no longer crazy expensive, and IMO the extra 2 cores will help a lot. Or a 5930k if you plan on SLI-ing the Pitans.

BD-E has a higher IPC, but also higher cost.
Click to expand...

No, it doesn't. The Intel Broadwell-E Review: Core i7-6950X, i7-6900K, i7-6850K and i7-6800K Tested

You'll be able to clock an i7 6700K much higher without dealing with as much heat (power draw). X99 is useless if you only care about gaming.
 
eclypse said:
Thx!

Now what's the difference between x99 and 2011-3? Anything important? I never hear anyone say go 2011-3.. always x99 but I'm thinking there like the same thing
Click to expand...
X99 is the chipset, 2011-3 is the CPU socket. In casual conversation both are interchangeable.
 
X99 Haswell/Broadwell is a little faster on DX11 multi-threaded games like Frostbite, or Crysis that can take advantage of more cores. Also it appears Assassin Creed engine can handle more than 4 cores as well. Most engines aren't designed to handle more than 4 cores though so it really depends. I play a lot of RPGs so for me a 6 core is worth it since big open world games with advanced engines tend to see advantages of more than 4 cores. For someone who just plays shooters or MOBAs a fast quadcore is generally quicker.
 
After everything I have read here and in the links I decided to go with Skylake. Here is my proposed build

PC Hound Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M ($345.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII FORMULA ($369 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8GB) Ripjaws V Series ($81.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: GeForce GTX TITAN X GTXTITANX-12GD5 ($1200)
Power Supply: EVGA 1200W 220-P2-1200-X1 ($215.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Intel 400GB 750 Series SSDPEDMW400G4R5 ($418.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2,656.94
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound
 
If all you care about is gaming 6700K is literally the fastest CPU you can buy no matter how much money you want to spend. IPC is still the single most important CPU factor for maximum performance in gaming.
 
Knil said:
If all you care about is gaming 6700K is literally the fastest CPU you can buy no matter how much money you want to spend. IPC is still the single most important CPU factor for maximum performance in gaming.
Click to expand...

Same for the 4790k or is that new chipset for the 6700k an upgrade?
 
-Strelok- said:
No, it doesn't. The Intel Broadwell-E Review: Core i7-6950X, i7-6900K, i7-6850K and i7-6800K Tested

You'll be able to clock an i7 6700K much higher without dealing with as much heat (power draw). X99 is useless if you only care about gaming.
Click to expand...
I wouldn't call it useless. I have an X99 system that totally holds its own in games. It may not be quite as fast as a 6700K, but it's by no means slow, and it brings an extra two cores to the job for games or other applications that happen to be able to use them.

I agree though, that if the only thing you care about is gaming, a 6700K/Z170 system is a much better deal.

Edit: At least for now. I suspect that eventually, some games will really start to be able to leverage more than four cores. At that point, the six and eight core Broadwell-E/Haswell-E CPUs will probably have at least a modest advantage over the quad core Skylakes.
 
eclypse said:
Same for the 4790k or is that new chipset for the 6700k an upgrade?
Click to expand...

6700K will be slightly faster and allow you to use faster DDR4 ram.

You'd be surprised how important ram speed is in modern games compared to what most people think which is it does nothing.



Now the question is it worth the upgrade from a 4970K? Hard to say really it depends on your budget, waiting one more generation couldn't hurt if you aren't dying for the performance.
 
rinaldo00 said:
After everything I have read here and in the links I decided to go with Skylake. Here is my proposed build

PC Hound Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M ($345.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII FORMULA ($369 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8GB) Ripjaws V Series ($81.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: GeForce GTX TITAN X GTXTITANX-12GD5 ($1200)
Power Supply: EVGA 1200W 220-P2-1200-X1 ($215.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Intel 400GB 750 Series SSDPEDMW400G4R5 ($418.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2,656.94
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound
Click to expand...
The motherboard is pretty overkill. I'd take a look at the specs and consider if you're ever going to use all of them. Take a look at the HERO or GENE instead.
ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII HERO Motherboard

Power supply is also overkill. I'm going to be saying this a lot, but just consider you're leaving power or features on the table you're not going to use. You can go with the 750W version for half the price and still have plenty of room for overclocking.
EVGA 750W SuperNOVA 220-P2-0750-X1 Power Supply

That SSD is overkill for gaming. Since the motherboard has M.2 slots I'd consider the Samsung 950 PRO.
SAMSUNG 512GB 950 PRO MZ-V5P512BW Storage

Those changes would save you $360-$400 to put toward other things you may want to improve (like a shiny new case and/or water cooling). Ultimately, though, it's your money. So I say buy whatever makes you happy. I know I went balls to the wall in my first enthusiast system and was very happy. For 6 years ;).
 
eclypse said:
Also funny story from the store salesman at microcenter last time I was there yesterday.

He told me that a guy came in and asked for the fastest cpu to play Diablo. They said that 6950k at $1700 and he didn't care it would be a waste and bought it!! Haha

Though whatever.. it's his money and whatever makes you happy.. more power to you.
Click to expand...

Those guys will say anything.

rinaldo00 said:
After everything I have read here and in the links I decided to go with Skylake. Here is my proposed build

PC Hound Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M ($345.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII FORMULA ($369 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8GB) Ripjaws V Series ($81.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: GeForce GTX TITAN X GTXTITANX-12GD5 ($1200)
Power Supply: EVGA 1200W 220-P2-1200-X1 ($215.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Intel 400GB 750 Series SSDPEDMW400G4R5 ($418.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 EVO RR-212E-20PK-R2 ($24.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2,656.94
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound
Click to expand...

That is a great board if you are going to go custom watercool, like a full loop. If not go for a cheaper variant, shrugs at this price it doesn't matter keeping your options open.

Memory wise, I would get the fastest sticks you can from 3733 to 4133. I use the 3733 Tridents, were drop in easy to set and use.
DDR4 4133, DDR4 4000, DDR4 3733, 16GB (2 x 8GB), DDR4, G.SKILL, Desktop Memory, Memory, Components - Newegg.com

Storage wise, I told ya, get an M2 Samsung Pro m2 and whatever larger storage to hold games.
SAMSUNG 950 PRO M.2 256GB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-V5P256BW - Newegg.com

It is odd that you went high end on most parts yet skimped on the cooler lol. I'm not current on what is considered best atm for air, but I'd want at least a 240mm all in one watercooler or a massive aircooler like a *NH or something.

The psu is very nice especially if you go dual gpu later with big overclocks. You could go smaller though like the 1kw unit.
 
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-Strelok- said:
No, it doesn't. The Intel Broadwell-E Review: Core i7-6950X, i7-6900K, i7-6850K and i7-6800K Tested

You'll be able to clock an i7 6700K much higher without dealing with as much heat (power draw). X99 is useless if you only care about gaming.
Click to expand...

Overclocking is a crapshoot. You might get a lemon Skylake chip like I did my Haswell-E chip. Mine does [email protected]. I've seen others getting 4.5GHz at 1.2v. I can't even get mine to 4.5GHz without going close to 1.4v, which is not possible with air cooling, obviously.

With 6700K I see the average overclock is around 4.6GHz, maybe 4.7GHz. Not that much higher. There aren't many cases where something that bottlenecks a 5820k won't bottleneck a 6700K, but the other way around is certainly possible, especially as more devs go with more and more threads. Past 4 threads I think the 5820k will win simply because it has 2 extra cores that is much faster than HT cores.

Core i7 Face-Off: which is the fastest gaming CPU?

Worst case is a difference of less than 5% when both CPUs are at the same clock. With the 6700K getting a 5% higher clocks, who knows. Maybe the difference will be around 10%. Certainly won't make or break a game, but a difference of 2 cores 4 threads might, in the very near future.

Tested: How many CPU cores you really need for DirectX 12 gaming

And the future is already here.
 
After taking everyone's advice this should be my final build
PS I decided on Skylake because reviews say it is easier to overclock


PC Hound Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M ($332.79 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII HERO ($217.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8GB) Ripjaws V Series ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W SuperNOVA 220-P2-0750-X1 ($109.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: SAMSUNG 512GB 950 PRO MZ-V5P512BW ($317.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1,132.74
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound
 
RazorWind said:
I wouldn't call it useless. I have an X99 system that totally holds its own in games. It may not be quite as fast as a 6700K, but it's by no means slow, and it brings an extra two cores to the job for games or other applications that happen to be able to use them.

I agree though, that if the only thing you care about is gaming, a 6700K/Z170 system is a much better deal.

Edit: At least for now. I suspect that eventually, some games will really start to be able to leverage more than four cores. At that point, the six and eight core Broadwell-E/Haswell-E CPUs will probably have at least a modest advantage over the quad core Skylakes.
Click to expand...

Also 6 core systems are great for lazy people who don't turn off all their apps before gaming, or have a lot of background apps. A quad will absolutely run into trouble gaming and running enough background apps, whereas the hexcore keeps on trucking.

The thing with reviewer benchmarks is they are only valid from a clean install of windows and a fresh boot straight into gaming. If you run alot of background apps (which a lot of casual people do), it's a hex core can save your gaming experience from stuttering in alot of cases.
 
rinaldo00 said:
After taking everyone's advice this should be my final build
PS I decided on Skylake because reviews say it is easier to overclock


PC Hound Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 8M ($332.79 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII HERO ($217.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8GB) Ripjaws V Series ($114.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W SuperNOVA 220-P2-0750-X1 ($109.99 @ NCIX)
Storage: SAMSUNG 512GB 950 PRO MZ-V5P512BW ($317.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L9i ($38.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1,132.74
Price may include shipping, rebates, promotions, and tax
Generated by PC Hound
Click to expand...
After looking at your list I have to say a very potent top end gaming rig really doesn't cost that much in the end. The GPU maybe a different story though. I am assuming you have a hard drive already that will be used for storage.

Also I recommend getting an M2 Drive for your operating system and some extras, they are not that expensive now and use your 512mb SSD for games.
 
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