New Build Ideas, need suggestions

[Theocnoob]

The Ex 6 has 12 "ok" phases. The Sabretooth has 8 "good" phases. As others have said, unless you're using LN2, it makes no difference.
The only advantage the Sabretooth has for the average user/ambient overclocker is 2 years of extra warranty. After 3 years, a board is essentially obsolete anyways... but I can understand that some people like to stretch the lifespan of their parts. So it's really up to you. We feel that in terms of feature set and usability the Ex 6 is the better board.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

The Ex 6 has 12 "ok" phases. The Sabretooth has 8 "good" phases. As others have said, unless you're using LN2, it makes no difference.
The only advantage the Sabretooth has for the average user/ambient overclocker is 2 years of extra warranty. After 3 years, a board is essentially obsolete anyways... but I can understand that some people like to stretch the lifespan of their parts. So it's really up to you. We feel that in terms of feature set and usability the Ex 6 is the better board.

12 "ok" phases? Tell that to the 5GHz+ club over here. On a 4770K that takes 1.6V+ for that?
Yeah.... I'd say much better than "ok" for this:

http://hwbot.org/submission/2674869_atminside_hwbot_prime_core_i7_4770k_6400.8_pps

 

[Theocnoob]

12 "ok" phases? Tell that to the 5GHz+ club over here. On a 4770K that takes 1.6V+ for that?
Yeah.... I'd say much better than "ok" for this:

http://hwbot.org/submission/2674869_atminside_hwbot_prime_core_i7_4770k_6400.8_pps

There are only so many descriptive words in the English languate .

It uses slightly inferior Mos/chokes vs the Sabretooth. I don't know how else to word it.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

There are only so many descriptive words in the English languate .

It uses slightly inferior Mos/chokes vs the Sabretooth. I don't know how else to word it.

What makes it inferior?
They both have alloy chokes, they both have low RDS MOSFETs...
The Extreme6 actually has 12K caps where the Sabertooth has 10K caps.

 

[Theocnoob]

What makes it inferior?
They both have alloy chokes, they both have low RDS MOSFETs...
The Extreme6 actually has 12K caps where the Sabertooth has 10K caps.

The chokes on the Sabretooth have little triangular bumps on them, whereas the ones on the Ex6 do not.
They are also chunkier.

Therefore, if we follow candy bar logic, wherein a larger candy bar=more chocolate=good and bumps=peanuts=good, then the Sabretooth has better VRM components.

No, but seriously though, I read that somewhere.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

The chokes on the Sabretooth have little triangular bumps on them, whereas the ones on the Ex6 do not.
They are also chunkier.

Therefore, if we follow candy bar logic, wherein a larger candy bar=more chocolate=good and bumps=peanuts=good, then the Sabretooth has better VRM components.

No, but seriously though, I read that somewhere.

I venture to say that the extra "chunk" is simply from the outside layer they put on for "cooling".
The Sabertooth chokes are out of direct airflow more-so than the Extreme6 ones, that's probably why they need the "little triangular bumps".

If those chokes were so awesome on the Sabertooth, the MVIIE would be using them

 

[Theocnoob]

I venture to say that the extra "chunk" is simply from the outside layer they put on for "cooling".
The Sabertooth chokes are out of direct airflow more-so than the Extreme6 ones, that's probably why they need the "little triangular bumps".

If those chokes were so awesome on the Sabertooth, the MVIIE would be using them

 

[Tech Tweaker]

AMD AM3+ Build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/RhgJQ7

Intel i7 Build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hD277P
Intel i5 Build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/wLJbHx

NOTE: power supply I currently have isn't actually the 80+ Gold one, mine is Silver. The correct one just wasn't listed on the site. It's this one: http://www.corsair.com/en-us/professional-series-hx750-80-plus-silver-certified-modular-power-supply

 

[Brandensbeast]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147373
Good deal right now^

 

[ATMINSIDE]

Get this:

Intel i7 Build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hD277P

But get the board at MicroCenter when you pick up the CPU.

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Get this:


But get the board at MicroCenter when you pick up the CPU.

This is so weird, pcpartpicker doesn't even show Micro Center as selling the ASRock Z97 Extreme 6, but yet if I go to Micro Center's website it shows they sell two different models of Z97 Extreme 6 and have both in stock.

That's the main reason I didn't even consider getting the board at MC along with the CPU, since the site I was using didn't show them as having any in that model.

I'm somewhat concerned about getting the ASRock Z97 Extreme 6 now since I just noticed that it only has a 1-year warranty whereas most other boards have at least a 2-3 year warranty. Not sure why the warranty period is so short for the board when it's new in box and not a refurb or open-box item.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

That board is 3yr, not 1yr. MC's site must be incorrect.

 

[EarthDog]

That board is 3yr, not 1yr. MC's site must be incorrect.

+1. Always go to the horse's mouth for that stuff. Never trust an e-tailor's information explicitly!

 

[Dlaw]

Yep, 3 years.

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Well, it seems as if at this point it's not worthwhile to go with a Skylake build based upon the performance per dollar and overall cost to build the rig.

i7 4790K Haswell build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/hD277P : $1001.94

i5 4690K Haswell build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/wLJbHx : $921.94

i5 6600K Skylake build: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/DwkdVn : $1088.94

Skylake i5 in my current build specs would cost $167.00 more than my Haswell i5 build specs, which is approximately 16% more, but would only net an estimated ~10% more performance (and some applications still perform better under Haswell and would have no performance gain. And it's possible to make an i7 build with Haswell for less than it would cost to make an i5 build with Skylake, and probably much less than it would cost to for an i7 build under Skylake (though at this point I don't know the cost of the i7 6700K).

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Well, this build decision lead to a problem.

As it turns out (and as I didn't notice before purchasing), the ASRock Z97 Extreme6 has no USB 2.0 ports on the rear I/O panel, every one of them is USB 3.0. So, my keyboard and mouse were not recognized when I was attempting to go through setup while installing a test OS (installing test OS on test drive to test the system out before I install the permanent OS, yeah I'm weird like that), which caused a significant setback as the OS I'm using doesn't have USB 3.0 drivers built in to the OS. Fortunately, after a couple of minutes I came up with a possible solution when I remembered I had some USB 2.0 adapters that you normally plug into the onboard USB 2.0 headers and then attach to a slot at the rear of the case.

Plugged my keyboard and mouse into that after attaching it to the USB 2.0 port on the board, and thankfully I had success and was able to get the keyboard and mouse working.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

What OS were you using?

 

[Tech Tweaker]

Sorry, forgot to mention that, Windows 7.

 

[ATMINSIDE]

I would just slipstream the driver in before installing it permanently

 

[Tech Tweaker]

I would just slipstream the driver in before installing it permanently

You might find this surprising, but I actually don't know how to do that.

Never messed with making custom OS loads for drivers and such.