[jr2]

• I want to OC a non-K 6100 for now (supposedly it's still possible on this board).
• I'm aware the CPU cooler and video card might have problems fitting in the case.  I have other cases around or perhaps I can modify this one (I have a Dremel) or buy another case.
• My plan is to OC for now, perhaps wait on the GPU until the RX 480 comes out, and then upgrade in a couple of years with a higher-end -K series and GPU, and overclock then as well.

Is the PSU still overkill considering my future plans?   

Any advise / you can get 90% of that performance for 70% of the price if you swap x component / you can get 140% of that performance for 110% of the price if you swap y component?   

General comments?   

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel Core i3-6100 3.7GHz Dual-Core Processor	$110.99 @ SuperBiiz
CPU Cooler	Noctua NH-D15S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler	$78.88 @ OutletPC
Motherboard	MSI Z170M Mortar Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$118.99 @ SuperBiiz
Memory	G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory	$74.89 @ OutletPC
Storage	Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	{already own} $0.00
Storage	Western Digital Caviar Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive	{already own} $0.00
Video Card	EVGA GeForce GTX 960 2GB SuperSC ACX 2.0+ Video Card	$163.98 @ Newegg
Case	Rosewill FBM-05 MicroATX Mini Tower Case	{already own} $0.00
Power Supply	EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply	$48.99 @ NCIX US
Monitor	AOC e2752Vh 60Hz 27.0" Monitor	$149.99 @ Best Buy
Other	Sabrent 2.5" -> 3.5" HDD Mounting Kit (BK-HDDH)	$6.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$803.70
	Mail-in rebates	-$50.00
	Total	$753.70
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-06-01 06:41 EDT-0400

[The E]

You can easily delete the CPU cooler from the list and go for a build like this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8q9Ycc
That will give you a much better CPU for about the same price, but you will have to live with the stock Intel cooler for a while. Really, the CPU the only weakness your build has right now; a native quad-core is much better suited to the demands of a modern game than a hyperthreaded dual core.

Also, the 480s are supposed to be available at the end of June. Might want to wait a bit to see how much they're going to cost in the real world (AMD wants to sell them for 199 USD).

EDIT to add: If you do want to use an aftermarket cooler, I would recommend this one: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/scythe-cpu-cooler-scmg4000
I am using a variant of it that comes with a second fan. Either way, it's very good at its job and really quiet, while also costing only about half the price of your chosen one.

EDIT FOR THE EDIT GOD:
Come to think of it, a 750 Watt PSU is massively oversized for your current and probable future needs. You can easily look for something in the 500 Watt range instead, or even a bit lower than that.

[jr2]

You can easily delete the CPU cooler from the list and go for a build like this: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/8q9Ycc
That will give you a much better CPU for about the same price, but you will have to live with the stock Intel cooler for a while. Really, the CPU the only weakness your build has right now; a native quad-core is much better suited to the demands of a modern game than a hyperthreaded dual core.

Hmm.  Is this factoring in the overclock, though?  However, probably makes more sense to spring for a full-fledged 4 cores, and overclock that when I get the chance. 

Also, the 480s are supposed to be available at the end of June. Might want to wait a bit to see how much they're going to cost in the real world (AMD wants to sell them for 199 USD).

Yeah, thinking of just using the iGPU for a bit until then.

EDIT to add: If you do want to use an aftermarket cooler, I would recommend this one: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/scythe-cpu-cooler-scmg4000
I am using a variant of it that comes with a second fan. Either way, it's very good at its job and really quiet, while also costing only about half the price of your chosen one.

Was researching, found this: (but still makes no difference if I'm not immediately overclocking)




EDIT FOR THE EDIT GOD:
Come to think of it, a 750 Watt PSU is massively oversized for your current and probable future needs. You can easily look for something in the 500 Watt range instead, or even a bit lower than that.

Reason for that being it's $50 after rebate, and semi-modular.  Dropping down to a Corsair 430w (the cheapest one that's still semi-modular) only saves ~$10.

So, for now, stock i5 + iGPU until after 480 is released, not sure if it's worth saving $10 to drop to a 430w PSU as that will put approx load at 50-60% of PSU capacity when under load vs a minuscule ~30% for the 750w, and that's before any future components {say, a year or 2 or 3 later, with an i7 -K series OC'ed + better GPU comes down in price}

What's your take on that?

[The E]

My take on that is simple: A higher-wattage PSU is still probably unnecessary. Note that both the 6600k i5 and the 6700k i7 have the same TDP, and that the incoming GPUs have lower power requirements across the board, unless you're going for 4k or 8k gaming, it is highly unlikely that power use will jump upward. I am using a Seasonic MII-520 in my PC, and it has served me well so far.

Also, take note that Intel has severely locked down the overclocking potential of their non-k CPUs.

[WeatherOp]

Wow 750 watts for a personal computer. That is insane that some can reach that level.

[Klaustrophobia]

It's not TOO difficult to find highly rated quality power supplies for not much more than an equal quality but lower wattage unit.  Therefore I went the route of overkill on the ever so slight off chance I might do something like SLI/Crossfire or amass a stupid number of drives and/or fans.  Also I wouldn't count on the lower power consumption trend continuing forever.  Not that I've tracked it that closely, but it seems like every few generations there's something of a jump that slowly creeps back down over the next few, but never fully returns.  The overall long-term trend is up.

I ended up sale-sniping a 850W gold efficiency rated supply for my build that's coming up on 5 years old.  I'll have no problem with juice until it actually dies.

[The E]

Wow 750 watts for a personal computer. That is insane that some can reach that level.

Let me tell you a story about an insane little chip called the Radeon R9-295X2, which eats a massive 500 Watts all by itself.

Also, jr2, as far as I am aware, most PSUs hit their best efficiency when they operate between 40 and 80 % of their rated max load. Putting something in that is only ever going to operate at 30% or less will likely result in more energy being wasted.

Here's a handy calculator for PSU wattages. For my build, it spits out a total combined power draw of around 480 Watts; your build as posted tops out at around 330 Watts.

As to the cooler temperature chart: My system (using an i5-6600k overclocked to 4.2 GHz) idles at about 10 degrees above room temperature and hits a peak of around 60 degrees when in use, or just about what that chart shows for your chosen kit.

It's not TOO difficult to find highly rated quality power supplies for not much more than an equal quality but lower wattage unit.  Therefore I went the route of overkill on the ever so slight off chance I might do something like SLI/Crossfire or amass a stupid number of drives and/or fans.  Also I wouldn't count on the lower power consumption trend continuing forever.  Not that I've tracked it that closely, but it seems like every few generations there's something of a jump that slowly creeps back down over the next few, but never fully returns.  The overall long-term trend is up.

I ended up sale-sniping a 850W gold efficiency rated supply for my build that's coming up on 5 years old.  I'll have no problem with juice until it actually dies.

Which is fair enough, you can absolutely argue it that way. Personally, I am not looking to build a system that does crazy VR or drives 4k displays or something like that, so the usual mid-range GPUs are what I will buy for the foreseeable future, and it would really surprise me if those are ever going to hit 200 Watts of power draw again.

[jr2]

I ended up going with a non-modular 80+ Bronze EVGA 500W.    Nabbed an i5-6500 from eBay for $178 (new pull from systems being outfitted with i7s, crazy customers lol).  But then, inspired by the money I saved, and needing a cooler for the CPU as it didn't come with one, I nabbed a Silverstone TD-03E, which kind of killed any savings.    At least, if I succeed in overclocking, I don't think heat will be the limiting factor in my performance envelope.  Held off on the vid card until the 480 comes out, will use iGPU until then (Intel HD Graphics 530).

Thanks for the advise everyone.    (And especially to The E for explaining stuff.)

[Herra Tohtori]

Wow 750 watts for a personal computer. That is insane that some can reach that level.

I'm using a Seasonic 860W Platinum PSU, I got it some years ago and haven't regretted it for a single moment. Rock solid, with great efficiency even at lower power demand.

Getting a PSU just above the peak power consumption of the system will definitely work, but having a higher rated PSU is a sort of guarantee that you have all the upgrade room you might need down the road. For example, I'm currently using a single GTX 970, but when the new generation arrives on the stores I might very well find another 970 on a discount...

Also, if the PSU is running near its peak output capacity all the time, it's more likely to prematurely wear out components (especially in cheaper units) which may or may not cause the working smoke to be expelled from one or all other components in your build - or less seriously the unit may end up developing annoyances like coil whine.

[WeatherOp]

Wow 750 watts for a personal computer. That is insane that some can reach that level.

I'm using a Seasonic 860W Platinum PSU, I got it some years ago and haven't regretted it for a single moment. Rock solid, with great efficiency even at lower power demand.

Getting a PSU just above the peak power consumption of the system will definitely work, but having a higher rated PSU is a sort of guarantee that you have all the upgrade room you might need down the road. For example, I'm currently using a single GTX 970, but when the new generation arrives on the stores I might very well find another 970 on a discount...

Also, if the PSU is running near its peak output capacity all the time, it's more likely to prematurely wear out components (especially in cheaper units) which may or may not cause the working smoke to be expelled from one or all other components in your build - or less seriously the unit may end up developing annoyances like coil whine.

That is capable of about twice the wattage of every light in my house on. Amazing that you can build a computer needing more than 1 horse power of electrical energy. I've really fell out of the loop regarding computers in the past few years. I bet those computers make my old core2duo look old as dirt.

[Herra Tohtori]

My PC was (at its core) built in 2011: Asus P8Z68-V motherboard, Intel i5 2500K (multiplier overclocked to 4.5 GHz), and 2x4GB Kingston RAM running at 1.6 GHz (dual channel), and (at the time) I was using a GTX 560OC. Interestingly enough the core components (motheboard, memory and CPU) are still chooching along at a sufficient rate for pretty much any game I want to play, and I don't actually foresee the need to upgrade for at least another year. The i5 2500K was like the GeForce 8800GT of processors - incredible value at awesome price point that retained its relevance far beyond it had any business to.


Since then, I switched to GTX 660Ti and at about the same time upgraded the PSU to the Seasonic 860W. And of course after that, the 660Ti had a fan bearing failure while it was still in warranty so the store replaced that with a GTX 970...

Funnily enough, the GPU upgrades have slightly reduced the power consumption compared to the original. Combined power draw of the system itself is actually about 400W (including peripherals) and the recommended PSU rating by calculators is about 540W, so the Seasonic is technically overkill - but I'm still quite happy to have some extra oomph in reserve for, say, possible SLI upgrade in the future.


And of course the Seasonic offers really good voltage stability and therefore good system stability as well... and you can just feel the quality oozing out of that thing whenever you open the PC case.

[The E]

Yeah, if there's one thing to keep in mind when building a new PC it's that you should never, ever skimp on the PSU. A good PSU will last forever and not fry your various electronics; while you can technically build a PC using a cheap chinese knock-off PSU, you will pay for it later. EVGA, SeaSonic, Corsair or Antec are generally safe buys.

[jr2]

Yeah, if there's one thing to keep in mind when building a new PC it's that you should never, ever skimp on the PSU. A good PSU will last forever and not fry your various electronics; while you can technically build a PC using a cheap chinese knock-off PSU, you will pay for it later. EVGA, SeaSonic, Corsair or Antec are generally safe buys.

Yeah that's one thing I definitely learned when doing PC repair work.  Cheap power supplies don't always just fail out and get replaced, they can create phantom issues all through the setup (random BSODs, filesystem corruption, failure to POST, random restarts), and that's hoping you don't get unlucky, cause then the problems experienced aren't so phantom and persist after the culprit is replaced.      Lost (1) high-powered computational unit, aquired: (1) Boat anchor