Opinion on new Skylake build

[squidoverlord]

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming and photoshop for personal use
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
800 USD before tax
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
CA, San Jose
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, Motherboard, CPU Cooler, RAM, Case
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Storage: 1TB Samsung 850 EVO
PSU: Seasonic SS-660XP2
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes. Hoping for 4.5G.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
24" 1920 X 1080
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In 1-2 weeks
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
USB 3.0. Will not SLI definitely. Sata 6gps. Waiting on Pascal for GPU, Must have Intel NIC. Sufficient clearance for the CPU cooler.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Yes, 64Bit Win 7

PC Part picker: Intel Core i7-6700K, Fractal Design Define S - System Build - PCPartPicker

I am not so sure on Motherboard. I am considering the following. Please advise if I am going overboard for my requirements.
Asus Z170 A (as mentioned in part list)
Gigabyte UD5
Gigabyte UD3

Thanks in advance
SO

[profJim]

Re: Opinion on new Skylake build

Welcome to the forum.

Almost $700 for a Skylake 6700K cpu? That is way too expensive.
A web search for a 6700K cpu shows an average price in the $460 - $500 price range and a couple of sites have prices close to $360.

The memory kit that you buy must be compatible with the motherboard model that you choose.
Memory manufacturers usually have an online memory finder feature that will provide a list of their compatible memory kits for each motherboard model.
Motherboard manufactures have a list of compatible memory kits for each of their motherboard models.
If you buy a memory kit that is not listed in either of the above lists, you run the risk of the memory kits being unstable and/or your motherboard might not be able to boot.

You will probably want to buy a high end, all in one cpu cooler kit if you plan on overclocking your cpu for maximum performance.

Check out Adobe's memory recommendations, you might want to install 32GB of memory when using Photoshop:

• https://helpx.adobe.com/photoshop/kb...rformance.html
• https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/ar...tion-182/page4
• How to tune Photoshop CS6 for peak performance says:

Recommendations
In general, you should buy as much memory as you can afford and your system can support, since adding more RAM is one of the simplest ways to improve overall Photoshop performance. But remember that only 64-bit systems can effectively address more than 4GB of RAM.

If you are using a high end version of Photoshop, you will probably get better overall performance if you use a video card similar to the models that Adobe recommends.

Even though a $150 motherboard might have all the features that you need, buying a motherboard in the low $200 price range will probably have higher quality motherboard components than the lower price boards. You asked about two Gigabyte motherboard models, here is a list of Z7170 full sized Gigabyte motherboards and current prices at Newegg, sorted by price, lowest to highest:

Components, Motherboards, Intel Motherboards, GIGABYTE, $100 - $200, $200 - $300, LGA 1151, ATX - Newegg.com