i3 i5 i7

[Bizman]

ok what am I looking for when I look at motherboards? im not really sure what in supposed to be looking at when I review specs on them.
 

So now you know you're planning a computer around a LGA1151 processor. As you've noticed there's several chipsets available. The most important thing to know is that only the Z170 allows for overclocking. If you don't plan to ever overclock your processor, you have more choices. More on the subject: http://www.xtremegaminerd.com/best-intel-lga-1151-motherboards-for-gaming/ and https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z170-H170-H110-B170-Q150-Q170---What-is-the-Difference-635/

Another thing to look for is the amount of RAM slots and the maximum RAM the motherboard can take. I suggest choosing one that can take up to four sticks and at least 32 GB.

And yet another thing is the amount of PCI-e 16x slots for video cards. If you think you'll never use more than one card, one slot is fine. As for now, in AH one high end card is a better performer than two mid-class ones.

As for the form, there's many sizes. Depending on the above, even a mini-ATX might do. However, if your case allows, a full size ATX has more space around the components which allows for better cooling. As you know, cool pretty much equals to longevity.

Yet a small detail: If the motherboard you choose has several sub-models, their performance is still similar. The more expensive variations have extra features like which often are unnecessary for basic use or gaming like ports for fancy and rare external storage devices or support for RAID or wireless networking etc. If you don't plan using them, don't pay for them. For example the Gigabyte GA-Z170-hd3 has three variations, one of which supports DDR3 instead of the newer DDR4. Such backwards compatibility would only pay if you already had a handful of the fastest DDR3 RAM sticks laying around.

[bortas1]

So now you know you're planning a computer around a LGA1151 processor. As you've noticed there's several chipsets available. The most important thing to know is that only the Z170 allows for overclocking. If you don't plan to ever overclock your processor, you have more choices. More on the subject: http://www.xtremegaminerd.com/best-intel-lga-1151-motherboards-for-gaming/ and https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Z170-H170-H110-B170-Q150-Q170---What-is-the-Difference-635/

Another thing to look for is the amount of RAM slots and the maximum RAM the motherboard can take. I suggest choosing one that can take up to four sticks and at least 32 GB.

And yet another thing is the amount of PCI-e 16x slots for video cards. If you think you'll never use more than one card, one slot is fine. As for now, in AH one high end card is a better performer than two mid-class ones.

As for the form, there's many sizes. Depending on the above, even a mini-ATX might do. However, if your case allows, a full size ATX has more space around the components which allows for better cooling. As you know, cool pretty much equals to longevity.

Yet a small detail: If the motherboard you choose has several sub-models, their performance is still similar. The more expensive variations have extra features like which often are unnecessary for basic use or gaming like ports for fancy and rare external storage devices or support for RAID or wireless networking etc. If you don't plan using them, don't pay for them. For example the Gigabyte GA-Z170-hd3 has three variations, one of which supports DDR3 instead of the newer DDR4. Such backwards compatibility would only pay if you already had a handful of the fastest DDR3 RAM sticks laying around.

that  helps a lot thank you good reads too. one thing  on ram sticks im not sure on. does the number determen how fast a  ram speed is? I have seen  2400 and up. does the lower the number makes the ram faster?

[bortas1]

  how do you find out your fram rates on any computer?

[Bizman]

The higher the GHz number the faster the RAM, basically. Think about it as the diameter of a tube: The bigger the tube the more water can go through it in a given time.

I said basically, because there's other factors affecting speed. Latency has already been mentioned here. Usually a faster type of RAM has a higher latency, the thing is to find a compromise where the higher latency slows the memory down less than the higher GHz speeds it. Continuing with the tubes, latency can be thought as the time you need to fill the tube to fully use its transporting capacity.

Frame rates are program specific as well as computer specific. As with any speed related value you need a program to run in several different computers to get a comparable value. That's what benchmarking is all about, running various tests and putting the results in a table. As you probably know you can see the current frame rate in AH by pressing Ctrl + i. Based on comments by HiTech, Skuzzy and other players we've been able to get an idea about how various computer layouts would perform in AH. Some of that information can be extrapolated to other games. Of course that works the other way round, too.

[bortas1]

The higher the GHz number the faster the RAM, basically. Think about it as the diameter of a tube: The bigger the tube the more water can go through it in a given time.

I said basically, because there's other factors affecting speed. Latency has already been mentioned here. Usually a faster type of RAM has a higher latency, the thing is to find a compromise where the higher latency slows the memory down less than the higher GHz speeds it. Continuing with the tubes, latency can be thought as the time you need to fill the tube to fully use its transporting capacity.

Frame rates are program specific as well as computer specific. As with any speed related value you need a program to run in several different computers to get a comparable value. That's what benchmarking is all about, running various tests and putting the results in a table. As you probably know you can see the current frame rate in AH by pressing Ctrl + i. Based on comments by HiTech, Skuzzy and other players we've been able to get an idea about how various computer layouts would perform in AH. Some of that information can be extrapolated to other games. Of course that works the other way round, too.

that helps thank you. I was leaning towards the 17 6600k(me thinks) but further reading(mostly opinions ) alot of folks lean to the i5 6600k.
the 17 is  4.0ghz and i5 is 3.5ghz.  well im still reading on all this mess so  im still learning. mostly peoples opinions on  all this stuff and the folks selling the stuff. hopefully I will  eventually understand this stuff someday lol

[Bizman]

Wanting to learn is a good thing.

However, building a decent computer for gaming or any other purpose isn't rocket science. If the components are compatible they usually work as expected and as I've previously said, a regular Joe won't notice minor differences in nominal speeds.

There's a bunch of questions one should answer while planning a new rig: What will be the toughest application to be run? What are the requirements for said application? Are there any known issues with some component running that application? What is your budget? If the answer to the first one is AH3, the second will be a multi core processor higher than 3 GHz plus a midrange to high end video card, the third is being suspicious about AMD processors because some models only can use one core for AH. Your budget is what forces you to make compromises, more or less. For $10,000 you can get a rig that can run anything at max, for $1,000 you can get a good balance between looks and speed, for $500 you'll have to lower your expectations a lot.

[bortas1]

Wanting to learn is a good thing.

However, building a decent computer for gaming or any other purpose isn't rocket science. If the components are compatible they usually work as expected and as I've previously said, a regular Joe won't notice minor differences in nominal speeds.

There's a bunch of questions one should answer while planning a new rig: What will be the toughest application to be run? What are the requirements for said application? Are there any known issues with some component running that application? What is your budget? If the answer to the first one is AH3, the second will be a multi core processor higher than 3 GHz plus a midrange to high end video card, the third is being suspicious about AMD processors because some models only can use one core for AH. Your budget is what forces you to make compromises, more or less. For $10,000 you can get a rig that can run anything at max, for $1,000 you can get a good balance between looks and speed, for $500 you'll have to lower your expectations a lot.

well im not trying to be a rocket scientist, just  trying to make the best decision possible for me. just don't want to jump into anything that I may regret later. trying to see all my options. and there are a lot.
anyhow thank you all for the help. your my best source for what is out  there. and I trust  your knowledge and opinions.
 

[bortas1]

  ok I decided not to build it myself. im going with an outfit that builds the computers and have great warranties. I have a few to chose from so I will let yall know which one I go with.
again thank you for your input it means a lot to me.
 

[bortas1]

  looks like I'm may go with ether maingear or digital storm I like there warrenties and other things they are offering.
 

[Bizman]

looks like I'm may go with ether maingear or digital storm I like there warrenties and other things they are offering.
 

Letting someone else build your computer is a very good alternative as long as you can say which brand and flavour of each component you want to have. And as long as their price is worth the easiness both in warranty and effort.