Recommended MOBO for i7-6700 (non-K)

[coolnitman]

I'm planning to build a Desktop hackintosh. Everywhere in buyer's guide I have seen Z170 mobo is recommended but as I don't need Overclocking then it makes no sense in buying a z170mobo which adds up extra cost.
Please recommended a good mobo which is completely compatible with i7-6700

 

[Stork]

Well, we need to know your system requirements for the motherboard.

1. Do you need more than two memory slots?
2. Are you going to use a graphics card?
3. Any other PCIe cards?
4. Do you want to use the new M.2 slots for SSD blades?

You know, the usual "stuff". BTW, any of the non Z motherboards listed in the tonymacx86 Buyer's Guide should work as their audio and Ethernet chipsets have drivers in MultiBeast.

 

[coolnitman]

Well, we need to know your system requirements for the motherboard.

1. Do you need more than two memory slots?
2. Are you going to use a graphics card?
3. Any other PCIe cards?
4. Do you want to use the new M.2 slots for SSD blades?

You know, the usual "stuff". BTW, any of the non Z motherboards listed in the tonymacx86 Buyer's Guide should work as their audio and Ethernet chipsets have drivers in MultiBeast.

1. Do you need more than two memory slots? Yes.
2. Are you going to use a graphics card? As of now NO. But in future I may add.
3. Any other PCIe cards? Yes.
4. Do you want to use the new M.2 slots for SSD blades? Yes.

I'll be using Hackintosh for iOS Development.

 

[Going Bald]

http://www.gigabyte.us/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5585#sp looks like a good candidate depending on the PCI slots and what your cards require. Since you did not specify it is impossible to say for sure.

 

[kiiroaka]

... I have seen Z170 mobo is recommended but as I don't need Overclocking then it makes no sense in buying a z170mobo which adds up extra cost.

IMO, the reason to get a Z board is not to over clock the CPU but rather to be able to use faster RAM. DDR4 2133 is slower then faster speed DDR3 RAM. At a minimum you may want DDR4-2400 or DDR4-2666 RAM. To be able to use that you will need a Z board. If you're going to game on built-video then faster RAM should give you higher minimum FPS, so hopefully stuttering may be minimized.

Likewise, why go with a 3.4GHZ CPU for $305 when you can get a 4.0GHZ i7 for $327? (Newegg's price is $340.) Pricewatch prices are $298 and $327. You also have to consider shipping charges, though...

One good reason, of course, is power consumption, the 3.4 using 65W and the 4.0 "K" using 91W.

 

[coolnitman]

For first I thought buying i5-6600K with cooler then decided to go with i7-6700 which does not need any additional cooler so cost of the both is almost same. And I won't be OCing CPU. So now the 4.0 i7 model which you are saying is a "K" model AFAIK and it requires additional cooler $.

About motherboard, yeah now it makes much more sense to go for Z board.
Planning to buy Asus Z170 PRO GAMING. Good choice ? Or any other recommended ?

 

[kristof.petho]

For first I thought buying i5-6600K with cooler then decided to go with i7-6700 which does not need any additional cooler so cost of the both is almost same. And I won't be OCing CPU. So now the 4.0 i7 model which you are saying is a "K" model AFAIK and it requires additional cooler $.

About motherboard, yeah now it makes much more sense to go for Z board.
Planning to buy Asus Z170 PRO GAMING. Good choice ? Or any other recommended ?

I have the ASUS Z170 Pro Gaming, works flawlessly. USB's, USB layout, sound, everything. I can highly recommend it.

 

[loiphin]

Yep, +1 here too! I am running an Asus Z170 Pro Gaming with an i7-6700 (non K) on latest El Capitan and its solid!

 

[kiiroaka]

[At] first I thought [about] buying [an] i5-6600K with [the] cooler, then decided to go with [an] i7-6700 which does not need any additional cooler, so cost of the both is almost same. And I won't be OC'ing CPU. So now the 4.0 i7 model, which you are saying is a "K" model AFAIK .... requires additional cooler $.

I had to think about that for a second. Please excuse my editing, it was just to try to clarify your thoughts. Please correct my revisions if you see that I assume incorrectly.

The only reason to go with an i7 6700K is because its base clock is 4.0GHZ, which means that it's memory controller and caches will run at 4.0GHZ, which is faster than any i5. Realistically an overclock to 4.2GHZ is not unreasonable; more with a much better cooler (probably to 4.6GHZ), best probably with water cooling (probably to 4.9GHZ). I just don't see a reason to overclock it, myself. For me that would be good enough. The reason to get the fastest is so that you know that you can't upgrade, you're at the max.

Yes, Intel coolers are great coolers. Their main problem is how delicate, or chintzy, depending on your point of view, the cooler is and feels. To me, they are a pain to install, remove and re-install. Obviously, ymmv. Having serviced many HP desktop PCs I have come to appreciate how easy, robust and superior, the HP mounting system is. Basically they won't allow over tightening of the heatsink - there's very little chance that you can crack a CPU. (And Skylake had cracking problems, which I attribute directly to the coolers being used.) It's why I went with a Noctua heatsink - they have great mounting systems on their better parts.

Since the Intel cooler isn't very large you may hear the fans running at very high speeds. Water cooler fans do the same thing. Once a fan starts to run beyond 1500RPM, and I'm being generous as I would prefer 1200RPM as an upper limit, they will become audible. At work when I hear the fans starting to turn faster I know it's time to blow out the PC because there is dust on the heatsink, which causes over heating.

If you're a gamer, the CPU to get is an i5; if you're into audio and video rendering and encoding, the i7 is the CPU to get. A gamer can go with 16GB of Single Sided RAM and the AV'er should go with max RAM, preferably Double Sided, for max memory bandwidth. (The big dogs will probably go with X99 and XEONS so that they can get 80MB/s bandwidth instead of 20-30 MB/s on Skylake and Haswell.) If either use a Skylake (or XEON), though, they should be careful installing a heatsink because they can crack the thinner Skylake (or XEON) wafer. I suggest a Noctua or Cryorig heatsink since they have superior mounting systems. I wouldn't suggest a $25 cooler, though. ymmv.

An i5 will probably cost you around the $225 mark, an i7 around the $325 mark, with the "K" models needing another $75 for a Noctua cooler. If it's an i5 "K" and an i7 "K" then you'd be looking at $300 and $400, respectfully. Some consider that a lot of money. But if you're the type that will later on upgrade to a faster CPU then it makes sense to buy it from the very beginning.

So, i7-6700 for $305 or an i5-6600K + heatsink? i7 is a non-brainer to me.

Is there a big difference between a $240 (Newegg prices are being mentioned throughout) i5-6600K 3.5GHZ CPU and an i5-6600 $230 3.3GHZ? Probably not, especially when you also consider the price of the Noctua heatsink. Is there a difference between a $305 3.4GHZ i7-6600 and a $230 3.3GHZ i5-6600? It may depend on the application. Is there a difference between a $340 4.0GHZ i7-6700K and a $230 3.3GHZ i5-6600? Definitely. But it's probably something that has to actually be experienced since a second here or half a minute there may make a difference, depending on application. http://cpuboss.com/cpus/Intel-Core-i7-6700K-vs-Intel-Core-i5-6600 pretty much says there's little difference. It tells me what I already knew, that the i7 4790K, especially when paired with faster RAM, is better than an i7 6700K, especially if it is using slow DDR 2133 RAM. But Skylake does have an advantage - 64GB RAM instead of 32GB.

For general usage I'd probably go with a 3.2GHZ i5-6500 with DDR4 2400, since, depending on the motherboard, the faster RAM could be cheaper than the slower RAM. If DDR4-2666 is even cheaper than 2133 (which it probably won't be) why go with the slower RAM? I always go with the fastest processor the max RAM. Realistically price does come into play, and if I had to choose between more slow RAM and less fast RAM I'll take the "more" every time, since it can be upgraded later on. Upgrading the processor will be a little more complicated since it involves the removal of the heatsink and the re-application of fresh thermal paste.

RAM is a complicated subject, though, and many times the numbers rely on applications that may be limited. What should be obvious, though, is how much smoother more RAM makes. Anyone who has ever experienced a slow system due to disk thrashing knows that adding more RAM, and increasing the Swap Space, makes a notable improvement; the more RAM the less swapping occurs, therefore the system seems more responsive. Double Sided RAM typically will run a little slower than Single SIded RAM dues to the "Ranks," or how efficiently the CPU mem controller accesses memory, so again, it makes sense to go with one speed greater RAM to get the desired speed.

I like how Tigerwild thinks in the comments section of http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/adata-xpg-z1-crucial-ddr4-x99,4007-5.html The article itself is technical, since it involves OC'ing RAM, which, again, I do not recommend.

I'll be using Hackintosh for iOS Development.

Then you'll probably want the i7-6700, as you said, and 32GB of RAM. Look at your mobo, download the memory QVL, select the lowest first and last numbers in xx-xx-xx-xx timings, CAS14 being fastest, CAS15 being nominal, CAS16 being slow, CAS17 beings slowest, etc., compare prices of 2133, 2400, 2666, 2800, 3000, 3200 and choose a comparable (balanced) single kit of RAM, say 4x8GB sticks all made on the same day, from the same lot (hopefully they will have sequential serial numbers). That should ensure stability. Me, with a $305 CPU I'd be looking at about the same amount for RAM. ymmv. I would expect 4x8GB to cost about $155. What RAM can you get for that price?

For example here's a CAS11 DDR4-2400 4x8GB kit for $175,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104643

Is it worth paying $40 - $50 more than the CAS15 or CAS16 parts? I would do it in a heartbeat, but it may not make sense to you. Since I paid $240 for 32GB of DDR3-2400, I see it as a bargain. You may see the $125 RAM as a better value. In which case I would tell you to get 64GB instead.

 

[coolnitman]

Thanks for the suggestion. Bought i7-6700, Asus Z170 Pro Gaming (Mobo), 1x16gb 2400 Corsair Ram.
Read your reply today after buying But apart from RAM, I don't think I made any mistake. And for ram, I was about to but 2x8GB 2400 RAM but it was not available so I had to go for 1x16GB ram stick. In future I may upgrade the ram. BTW in future if I buy 1x16GB 2400 RAM would it be fine or I have to sell my current RAM and then get 2x16gb to make 32gb RAM. ?