I want a new gaming rig

[viper37]

What's the best cooling option for an upper-upper middle class gaming PC? Is liquid cooling any good? What do the cool kids use these days?

You do not need to go with liquid cooling (unless you want to for coolness or esthetics or whatever - I'm not here to judge).

As I mentioned in talking with Syt, mobile has been driving computers for the last several years.  That means energy efficiency has been a big focus for Intel and the like, which means cooler components.

Unless you want to overclock your system to within an inch of it's life, you can get by just fine with air cooling.

the newest AMD cards use liquid cooling by default.  I'm guessing we'll see more&more of this in newer computers in the future, even if they are energy efficient.

[The Brain]

What's the best cooling option for an upper-upper middle class gaming PC? Is liquid cooling any good? What do the cool kids use these days?

You do not need to go with liquid cooling (unless you want to for coolness or esthetics or whatever - I'm not here to judge).

As I mentioned in talking with Syt, mobile has been driving computers for the last several years.  That means energy efficiency has been a big focus for Intel and the like, which means cooler components.

Unless you want to overclock your system to within an inch of it's life, you can get by just fine with air cooling.

My experience with air cooling is that it's pretty bad. I'm sure it CAN be good, but I'd rather have something that I know will be good.

[crazy canuck]

The advice I got from the guy at NCIX is that unless I wanted to be aggressive at overclocking going with air cooling was the better choice.  He reasoning was that air cooled systems are less of a hassle - no chance of leaking etc.

[Tamas]

So, considering the games I play, I think the most crucial aspect is CPU power on a single core. I am planning on near-maxing out on that one while keeping everything else acceptalbe. Especially the graphics card.

What would you recommend? Dual core should be enough I assume but within those?

[viper37]

So, considering the games I play, I think the most crucial aspect is CPU power on a single core. I am planning on near-maxing out on that one while keeping everything else acceptalbe. Especially the graphics card.

What would you recommend? Dual core should be enough I assume but within those?

DX 9 games = CPU power on a single core.
DX 11,12 and Vulkan games = CPU power on multiple cores + GPU(s) for the two last APIs.

Right now, Intel is the king, because they have less cores but they are faster than AMDs.
With DX 12, things could change for the better, since AMD have higher core count, but generally slower.

If you are on a budget, an i5 4670k would be sufficient.  If you have the means, push for one of the new i7 6700k.
If you can wait, wait one more year until AMD releases all of its new CPUs, the Zen line.  It could drive prices down.

[Tamas]

Thanks! My current laptop has a  i7-4700, looking at a comparison of statistics it looks like it is well worth buying the i7-6700 even if I have to wait for finances to accumulate.

I take that, SSD drives at least for the OS are pretty much a given choice in this day and age?

[viper37]

I take that, SSD drives at least for the OS are pretty much a given choice in this day and age?

yes, 512gb is nice, 256 the minimum.  With 512, you have room for the OS, and you can shift games around as you play them.

[Tamas]

Damn this is going to be more expensive than I thought it would. But you are right.

[Barrister]

Thanks! My current laptop has a  i7-4700, looking at a comparison of statistics it looks like it is well worth buying the i7-6700 even if I have to wait for finances to accumulate.

I take that, SSD drives at least for the OS are pretty much a given choice in this day and age?

I don't think it is worthwhile to upgrade from Haswell to Skylake at all.  You'd only notice a 5-10% improvement from my reading.

Now if you're buying a new laptop for other reasons you should get the newest processor.

Yes, you'll definitely want a SSD for a laptop.

[Tamas]

I have a laptop now but I want to replace it with a desktop.

[Tamas]

I am also looking at an i5-4690K CPU.

I must say, for somebody like me who stayed away from hardware buying for several years, it is next to impossible to make sense of these CPU designations.

Especially as I am mostly interested in single core performance.

[viper37]

I am also looking at an i5-4690K CPU.

I must say, for somebody like me who stayed away from hardware buying for several years, it is next to impossible to make sense of these CPU designations.

Especially as I am mostly interested in single core performance.

that's a good CPU choice.  I have the same, planning on upgrading toward the summer for an i7 as it's beginning to be on the lower end of gaming requirements.
It's still a very fast CPU, excellent for any DX 9,10,11 game.  A bit weak for the future though, but it really depends on what you'll play.  If you play games that require only a single core, it's perfect.

[Tamas]

Well I guess then a i7-6700K is still the better choice, considering I am building this system from absolute scratch. I wouldn't mind some future-proofing.

Thanks again!

[viper37]

I don't know the price differences, but an i5 6500t could be a good entry point.  You could later upgrade to an i7 of the same series.

[Norgy]

I am also looking at an i5-4690K CPU.

I must say, for somebody like me who stayed away from hardware buying for several years, it is next to impossible to make sense of these CPU designations.

Especially as I am mostly interested in single core performance.

It's a more than adequate processor for games.