Moving to Intel 1151 socket platform + RAID - need advice ASAP

[boki]

Hello guys,

 

currently I own following parts:

 

UserBenchmarks: Game 21%, Desk 45%, Work 27%
CPU: Intel Core i5-750
GPU: AMD HD 5770
SSD: Intel 520 Series 180GB
HDD: WD Blue 1TB (2015)
HDD: WD Black 2TB (2013)
HDD: Seagate Barracuda 7200.10 320GB
RAM: Unknown 8GB
MBD: MSI P55-CD53 (MS-7586)
PSU: 550W

I want to move to socket 1151, so I need new MBO, CPU and RAM. I already have RAM (Patriot Viper4 2x8 GB 2800Mhz CL16), and regarding CPU I am thinking of between i5 6500K or i5 6600K.

My main concern is MBO. This is what I want:

• ATX format
• CHIPSET: Z170 or C236 (or better)
• STORAGE:
  • 1-2 M.2 slot(s) on PCIe lane connector outside the raid for OS (cause I run multiple native OS)
  • 6-8 SATA3 connectors for data storage in RAID 5 or 6 (no software RAID!)
• AUDIO: ALC1150 or better
• RAM: 4 slots, capacity 32GB or more
   

So far, I am thinking about MSI Z170A Gaming M5, but if anyone has a better proposition, please be my guest.


I am kind of in a hurry, so please be quick! (thanx!)
 

 

 

 

 

 

[Dmitriy]

MSI Z170A M5 Good , but it have  Killer E2400 network card (Qualcomm Atheros) just rebranded and when you install driver it has bloatware ...

If Intel or Realtek lan will be on z170a m5 i will take it.

You can look for Asus Z170 PRO GAMING or PRO GAMING/AURA

But I will wait 2017 year for 7 gen cpu's Kaby Lake 

[boki]

MSI Z170A M5 Good , but it have  Killer E2400 network card (Qualcomm Atheros) just rebranded and when you install driver it has bloatware ...

If Intel or Realtek lan will be on z170a m5 i will take it.

You can look for Asus Z170 PRO GAMING or PRO GAMING/AURA

But I will wait 2017 year for 7 gen cpu's Kaby Lake 

Yes, not really happy with it, since I think only Intel makes really good network card (it is possible to install only the driver, without bloatware). But it is also easy to avoid integrated NIC, a good gigabit external NIC is easy to find, and price is fair.

 

Kaby Lake - sure, 2017 is not so far away, but there are few things to note about it.

 

Since 2007, Intel has worked in a 'tick, tock' rhythm of upgrades, where one generation shrinks the die, followed by a generation that alters the architecture. That changed this year. As of 2016, Intel now uses a "Process, Architecture, Optimisation" approach, and Kaby Lake represents that last, frankly least interesting stage.

Kaby Lake will only officially support Windows 10 too, among Windows operating systems.

Source: techradar.com

 

Only real improvement is native USB3.1 and 4k video editing support, neither of importance to me. EDIT: and windows 10 official support only is a deal-breaker for me, as long there are so many people with win7 and 8.1 around

 

The thing is, I will get several new SATA3 HDDs next week and I want to use them in RAID ASAP. There is no point having them laying around for a few months. Besides, new technology is always expensive when it gets out, and not really optimzsed to their fullest potential. I do have RAID on my current MBO, but it is not really efficient to use SATA3 HDDs in RAID on SATA2 controller. Also, I want to move my OS onto M.2 PCIe SSD, outside of RAID and it should double the current SSD performance.

 

[Dmitriy]

Take Core I5 6600K

And Which graphics card you will buy ?

Check this mb's

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z170-PRO-GAMING-AURA/  (Intel Lan , audio Supreme fx)

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z170-PRO/  (ALC1150 and Intel Lan)

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5498#ov  (dual lans Intel + Killer)

But I prefer Asus

[boki]

Take Core I5 6600K

And Which graphics card you will buy ?

Check this mb's

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z170-PRO-GAMING-AURA/  (Intel Lan , audio Supreme fx)

http://www.asus.com/Motherboards/Z170-PRO/  (ALC1150 and Intel Lan)

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5498#ov  (dual lans Intel + Killer)

But I prefer Asus

Great boards, and I would choose Asus as you suggested (I am not really a fan of Gigabyte). But, I have already bought MSI Z170A Gaming M5 today, so this part is solved. I got better price than I expected, regular price is $170, I paid $150. CPU will definitively be i5-6600K, I don't think that i7 is really worth the money. I would probably notice small difference when I run multiple virtual machines, but if I really come to that, i5-6600K will be easy to sell and I can replace it with i7 (I doubt that will happen). Another consideration could be i5-6500 because it spends 65W only, something to consider if the PC runs 24/7 (in average, I shut my PC down maybe 1-2 nights per week). As the PSU calculator shows, I should be fine with my 550W PSU (spending 392W), on limit though.

 

I will not buy any VGA card ATM, don't have the money. With the setup I will soon have, Enemy Territory will run just fine.

[boki]

So, after buying DDR4 RAM and MBO sck 1151, today I ordered i5-6600K (without cooler) - really happy and excited about it! Soon I should get several HDDs and SSHDs, all 2,5" format, 5400rpm.

I am still not sure how to use those drives, there are several options:
 

1. RAID 5 SSHD    - fast, 1,8 TB usable space
2. RAID 5 HDD      - reasonable speed, 3,7TB usable space
3. RAID 10 SSHD  - fastest, 1TB usable space
4. RAID 10 HDD    - fast, 2TB usable space

All listed RAID implementations allow 1 drive to fail without data loss occurrence. The main question here is - more speed or more space? I am pretty sure I will not use RAID 5, a lot of storage specialists don't recommend it. So, my main problem is - will 1TB of space do, or I need 2TB after all? I also have 1x WD Black 2TB 7200rpm and 1x WD Blue 1TB 5400rpm. I plan to use the blue one as external USB3 drive. I want to use WD Black as separate internal drive if possible (if not, then also as external).

Currently, I opt for the following solution:

 

• 1x Intel 520 180 GB SSD for multiple native OS (boot drive)
• RAID 10 SSHD - fast, save only data i really need and use at least once in 2 weeks
• separate internal drive 1x WD Black 2TB for storing media files, ISO files (I have over 200GB of .iso files), data I rarely use
• external 1x WD Blue 1TB 5400rpm drive connected per USB3.0 for backup/archive copy (only most important data)

The MBO has 6 SATA3 ports usable in RAID. Does anyone know if the RAID controller on MBO will allow any drive outside the RAID at the same time RAID is present, or any additional drive will be mounted into RAID automatically by "force"? If I could choose the drives for RAID, that would be awesome.

Any clue? 2nd opinion? Advice?

[boki]

Some additional info, since now I own the board and have everything set up:

 

• It is possible to choose which SATA3 ports will be used in RAID
• All 6 SATA3 are fully usable at the same time + 1 M.2 PCIe (so 7 storage devices)
• I chose RAID10 solution with 4x500 SSHD drives (see attached file for speed stats)

Here are full specs of my renewed rig:

 

UserBenchmarks: Game 24%, Desk 82%, Work 51%
CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K - 94.7%
GPU: AMD HD 5770 - 16%
SSD: Intel Raid 1 Volume 1TB - 23.7%
SSD: Intel 520 Series 180GB - 80%
HDD: WD Black 2TB (2013) - 74.2%
USB: ASMT 2115 1TB - 56.1%
RAM: Unknown 2800 C16 Series 2x8GB - 92.5%
MBD: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 (MS-7977)


As one can see, Intel Raid 1 Volume 1TB is scored only as 23%, but also not correctly recognized - it is not a SSD, but SSHD. It is not RAID1, it is RAID10. For real performance data of my RAID10 volume, see attached picture with RAID10 stats.
RAM is recognized as Unknown, but it is Patriot Viper4 DDR4.