Do-all System Build for Photoshop, Web Design, CAD and light gaming?

I do like Xeon processors - one of my PCs was a Dell Workstation with Dual CPUs. I've found, though, that nearly all of what I do is single-threaded work and I don't need a 2nd CPU. Additionally, most of my software requirement sheets state that CPU speed is key, so I'm most interested in the i7-6700K or i7-4790K processors since they run at 4GHz and can even be overclocked. Since I don't do rendering, I don't really need a ton of SSD hard drive space.

Cool article. I did a ton of reading and researching and still didn't come across this one before. That said, it does seem to state that the AMD7xxx FirePro series would be able to handle basic gaming...and better than the Quadro cards.

Nearly all are CPU first, GPU second.

I did some more reading and research and have changed my build. It would appear that the AMD FirePro card is overkill for the CAD that I am doing. So, to err on the side of Photoshop and gaming, I'm going with the GTX 980 - which apparently does work well with the software I am using.

I also made some other changes:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/J6WR23

Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
Asus Z170-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Samsung 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive
Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
EVGA GeForce GTX 980 4GB Superclocked ACX 2.0 Video Card
Thermaltake Level 10 GT Snow Edition ATX Full Tower Case
Corsair RM 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer
BenQ BL3200PT 60Hz 32.0" Monitor


Looking at multiple sources for testing, running, benchmarking, future-proofing....it just makes more sense to me to go with a Z170 mobo and the best processor for that is the i7-6700K right now. Also gives me USB3.1 and DDR4. I did some virtual benchmarks against a similarly built system with a i7-5930K, i7-5820K and i5-6600K. While solid builds, they don't take best advantage of what I need most which is CPU speed for single-threaded performance.

Since I no longer am trying to run a 4k card, I downgraded my display to the 2K version to save some money. I won't be able to take advantage of it's 10-bit/channel color with the GTX 980, but it should still run great for 1080p and 1440.

I added the M.2 256GB SSD just for Win10, with the 500GB SSD for programs and the 3TB 7200rpm for Storage. Funny how the smallest drive is the most expensive...largest, the cheapest.

Total is roughly $2600 so I'm still under budget with a little room for peripherals.


I've noticed that there aren't a lot of Workstation/Gaming Rig builds that are written up, so if all goes well with this one, I'm hoping to do a full write-up on it. It's certainly not my first pony ride...I've learned a bunch along the way. I just think that perhaps there is a lot of misunderstanding about workstation graphics needs and certainly there are lots of other people out there who are gaming with systems that also do CAD, Photoshop, etc.

With any luck I'll have the components here with a week or so and can get started. Any last minute "red flags"?

Thanks for any/all help!

m.2 is completely new to me. I am looking at the Samsung 950 Pro. Am I going to get the gains I am thinking of?
I want to run OS as well as progs all on the m.2 SSD - will that work well? Or better to have a separate SSD? There is room in my budget for the 512gb version actually.

Can you point me to a good x4 PCIe SSD?
I read that the 950 Pro was the best right now.