New build advice - i7 - Gaming - 3k(ish) limit - FutureProof - Ready-2-Buy - Any professional advice welcome

[squirpion13]

Hello all. I am building a new Desktop Gaming PC to catch up with the times.

Quick background - I have already built a gaming desktop ~6years ago, but after truly researching each and every part this time, I realized that I knew absolutely nothing when I built my old one. Example: I built it with a 6 core AMD cpu and AMD compatible motherboard, with Nvidia sli compatible graphics card - except motherboard was not sli compatible, only crossfire

Now that that embarrassing fact is out of the way, I have used the unlimited resources of the web to build a machine on PCPartPicker.com - I've changed alot of the parts a few times because I saw alot of pitfalls, i.e. AMD AM3+ socket is a dead socket, no future proof or i7 5820k only having 28 pci-e lanes etc.

Okay, Now I will go through my build piece by piece. What I am looking for is any other hidden pitfalls or just in general tech advice for the pieces, critiques, criticisms, tips, advice, warnings, discussions, why's, and why not's.

Approximate Purchase Date: ASAP - Can be bought today if ready.

Budget Range: ~$3,000 - Give or Take a couple hundred - In the shopping cart price

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Max Settings Video Gaming, (eventually) 4k Gaming, Visual Studio 2012+ Programming, Database/Website Programming

Are you buying a monitor: Yes

Parts to Upgrade: All - Full System Build From Scratch (excluding Mouse/Keyboard)

Do you need to buy OS: Yes - Must be Windows 7 Professional (or better)

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Amazon.com, Newegg.com, pcpartpicker.com list of sites

Location: U.S.A - Delaware

Parts Preferences: ASUS, Intel

Overclocking: Yes

SLI: Yes

Now, For the build - Here is the full build as I have it set on pcpartpicker.com

CPU: - Intel i7 5930k - I chose this over the 5820k because I wanted the 40 pcie lanes for my graphics cards, and I also wanted future proofing for when pci-e sata drives become a little cheaper

Motherboard: ASUS Rampage V Extreme - I know this board is a little extreme for what I plan to do, but I liked some of the extras and the awesome support for overclocking. I went with this over the ASUS x99 Deluxe (I know the Deluxe is very similar to the rampage) because of those extras, and in my mind, among other things, If I bought the deluxe, I would have also gotten a good $100+ sound card. So, I took the sound card off my list and upg to the rampage. I also like the OC control unit that comes with it as well.

To me, the motherboard is a very core component that you never want to skimp on. Its like buying a 3 year old used battery for your car....you just dont do it.

Cooling Unit: Corsair H100i - I have never water cooled a system before. I also plan to overclock my cpu somewhat. I really liked this unit because of the price, the overwhelmingly positive reviews, and the beginner level watercooling of this unit (ease of installation) - Plus I dont plan on pushing my graphics cards or my ram, so I really only need watercooling for the cpu itself

Memory: G.Skills Ripjaws 4 Series: 4x4GB (16GB) - TBH, over the past few years I really have fallen off of the knowledge, even with basic things like RAM selection. I went with this because overall I saw alot of great reviews on it, the numbers looked solid (from my limited point of view) and it was cheap enough to be worth it - Plus, like I said, I dont plan on overclocking much of anything beyond the CPU itself. So, I picked ram with decent speeds. I also figure I can just upgrade to 32gb of ram when the time comes

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB (x2) - I plan on putting both SSD's into a Raid 0 configuration and installing my windows 7 on it. Went with this over the 1TB (w/o Raid 0) because the 1TB uses the old (NAND?) controller for it. I also went with this because the 256GB versions are rated at half the total Read/Writes (75TB vs 150TB)
I also selected a Western Digital 1TB HDD as an extra, basic storage drive to store files and such on.

Video Card(s): MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr ( x2 in SLI) - I chose this over the GTX 980, because to me, it wasnt worth $200 for a minor performance increase.
I also went with this over a CrossFire config because I have experience with GeForce cards and they have never let me down.
I also didnt go the Titan Route because of price, and because I think these 970's can handle anything I throw at it right now

Power Supply Unit: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 - I originally had the 1300w version in my cart, but I realllly doubt I could ever use that much power. As it stands, my build sits at 596w - I plan on doing some overclocking, not extreme stuff. Add a 3rd Graphics Card in SLI, and also eventually 1 or 2 pci-e SSD drives when they become more affordable.
That being said, I was thinking of going with the 850w version of this EVGA PSU -or should I stick with the 1000w? Thoughts?

Case: NZXT Phantom 820 (black) - I went with this case because I really like how it looks, the space inside, the built in filters, the front usb slots, light on the back of the unit etc. I know that the initial review on this site, there were problems, esp in the hard drive installation area. But it looks like NZXT really stepped up and took care of most of it. Another great point that I liked was that many people have successfully installed the Corsair H100i Closed loop watercooler inside the case and had options for placement.

Case Fans: Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition 140mm Fan (x2) - I got these so I could fit at least one fan on the bottom of the case in the slot directly below the PSU, and the 2nd one is either to replace one of the stock fans, or to put it in another of the optional slots. The 2nd is pretty much extra in my mind, Ill just have to see how it goes when I get them.

Optical Drive - Asus DvD Drive - Just a basic dvd drive with the standards. I will also be installing a Blu-Ray drive as well that I already own.

Operating System: Windows 7 Professional SP1 (OEM) - I will never use Windows 8 - Windows 7 is perfect for me. Professional version so It can support more RAM. Are there any advantages to having/not having an OEM version? TBH, I dont think I really understand the difference between OEM and a Regular version...I know its something about Microsoft not supporting OEM versions or something...

Monitor: Asus 144Hz 24" 1ms response - Again, I love Asus products. I understand that this monitor out of the box has washed out colors, but once you get the settings correct, it really shines. I will be running a dual monitor setup with another 24" Monitor from my old machine. Yeah, they def wont look the same as each other, but this monitor will be my main, and the other will be the extra.

I do plan on running a Triple Monitor Setup in the future, and for something like that, I will buy 2 more of the same monitors. Or, I will upg to 4k, all depends on how much the prices drop.

Additional Comments:
-This machine is built with future-proofing in mind. I want to be able to upgrade parts when I need to, I also dont want to replace things in 1-2years. I want it to last a long time. I get that nothing lasts forever, and that the new hotness will be out (permanently "Soon" but I want to do it right this time

-Games I am running - Elite: Dangerous, Skyrim (w/mods), StarCraft 2,
Homeworld (both), Witcher 3, Dragon Age 1,2 and eventually 3

- I would like it to be quiet, but my old Antec case was already extremely loud and I've used it for 5-6 years and got used to it, so some noise doesn't bother me.
I will also be using Visual Studio (any newish versions) and other programming software.

-Not so much Multi-tasking like the hardcore video rendering, but I want those capabilities.


And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: I am upgrading because my gaming laptop is bottlenecking on games, it works, but not as a maxing solution. My desktop is 1 year older than my laptop (6 years) and it was assembled by an idiot (me) who knew absolutely NOTHING about what he was doing. And I did it with no research, went purely on recommendations from other people

What I am Looking For: I am looking for any input, opinions, advice, what I did wrong (with the associated why I did it wrong), what I did right (also with reasons why) , tips, and any criticism. By no means necessary does this mean you have to provide any of this on ALL of the parts. Even if its a critique on a single part in my current config is cool.

Thank you all in advance, I appreciate the awesome resource this website provides.

***I modified the original forum posting guide, found here, to suite my needs. Credit goes to author for setup***

 

[Gamer2886]

IMO you could go with a 5820k to save a couple of hundred. The PCI lanes thing won't really affect performance, there's even a video on LTT about it. If you're worried about it, the 5930k is good.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rctaLgK5stA

Theres a bunch of other good motherboards that are about 150-200$ cheaper ( Tier 1). You can check this link http://www.tomshardware.com/answers/id-2383165/motherboard-tier-list-x99-chipset.html

2 GTX 970s will definitely run any game ultra 1080p 60fps, except maybe at 4k. The memory of the 970s wont stack up, so you might encounter some problems or stuttering when playing at 4k because it will use up more than 3.5gb of fast memory, thus using the 500mb of slow memory.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_6OE1bnAIA

With all the money you could save by changing your CPU and Mobo you could buy a single Titan X instead, which has 12GB of GDDR5 memory and performs close to 970 SLI.

Something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($372.95 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-GAMING 5 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($263.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($207.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($207.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX Titan X 12GB Video Card ($999.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT Phantom 820 (Black) ATX Full Tower Case ($186.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($159.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 (OEM) (64-bit) ($87.79 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor ($249.99 @ Micro Center)
Total: $3054.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-23 14:11 EDT-0400


Thank you for letting me post my ideas on your topic

 

[fport]

It's always nice to build a new computer, to your specs and for your needs.

CPU: - Intel i7 5930k - yes, nice choice, cores and threads that will last forward at least a few years.
PCI-E lanes, yes important - my new build will have 3 cards and I want to go for an M2 type SSD
when the price comes down. Lanes do matter. But then the whole market changes so fast anyway
and everything is coming down to commodity pricing.

ASUS Rampage V Extreme - nice, I put a ROG Hero in my i5 box, a little overkill but wanted the
access to 32GB of RAM and the niceties of a well engineered board. It's not like an old battery
in a new car, it's like a refurbished straightened stock frame instead of a new titanium build for
your racing Mars Rover. The battery thing is a no-no anyway, you're right about that. Is that another
un-researched story?

OC is also nice on the Extreme.

Corsair H100i - another good choice. You seem to be putting money where it is needed and building
a solid and upgrade-able package. Is that radiator going to be sucking cold air into the case over the
radiator or blowing warm case air out over the radiator? I only mention this in smugness over buying
a Raven 03 - http://www.silverstonetek.com/raven/products/index.php?model=rv03&area=en with
airflow from bottom to top across a 90 degree offset motherboard.

G.Skills Ripjaws 4 Series: 4x4GB (16GB) - nice, you are building everything matched to everything else.
Rule of thumb for RAM upgrades, when the RAM is half the price of the original fill the rest of the slots.
Of course that was trashed when SSD upgrades gave you an almost new machine.

Samsung 850 EVO SSD 500GB (x2) - nice, a bit of an indulgence, but I am not one to fault someone
for having extra money. Speed is speed. Even though I think TB type speed is overstated, GB, no?
I have 292GB free of 476GB on a year old machine with all my software on it - there is some 7 TB all
told for the system which also features a front hotswap bay for convenience and immediate recovery.
My backups are drive to drive usually managed by the HD to SSD software that came with my SSD.

A 1TB storage drive seems out of place. 2TB are mainstays and good price point. They also all get
recognized and used properly with Win 7 Pro. Win 7 Pro is also aging, 10 is probably going to be as
happy an event as Win 7 was after Vista. 8 now is 10 when it comes out with FREE upgrade. Just
saying.

MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr ( x2 in SLI) - well now. Well well. I've never been a huge gamer.
I play a little StarCraft to ward off dementia and such. A GTX 660 gives off 162 FPS for that. LOL. Can't
fault someone with the cash to make a solid choice, not my area of expertise.

EVGA SuperNOVA 1000G2 - I'm using an ATX 850, nice solid thing. But next to my new V71 case is a
Seasonic X-1250 Gold for my next machine because of the three graphic card design, no SLI or Cross but
availability of fast CUDA cores with stupid dual 8 connectors for all. Suffice it to say I don't think you will
be overpowered nor will you be underpowered if you upgrade GFX/RAM/Drives and OC harshly. You have
what is called headroom with all your choices.

NZXT Phantom 820 (black) - yes, nice looking case. The HAF is a popular choice too. I went Thermaltake
Core V71 for the future. Whatever makes a good impression. I personally don't look at that stuff, my interface
after I turn the machine on is my triple screen, 1200x1600 - 2560x1600 - 1200x1600 - keyboard and mouse.
But I have no taste or style.

So according to your stated desires you are indeed building a future proof machine in that limited understanding
of how fast things are moving, which is not only fast and powerful right now but should stay that way for at least
two iterations of advancement and possibly accommodating a third with upgrades. That's pretty cool.

Let's just throw a wrench in here and see if this makes sense....


CPU

Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor $326.99
CPU Cooler Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler $ 89.99
Motherboard Asus MAXIMUS VII HERO ATX LGA1150 Motherboard $207.99
Memory Corsair Vengeance Pro 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory $131.77
Storage Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $207.89
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $ 73.89
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $ 73.89
Video Card EVGA GeForce GTX Titan X 12GB Video Card $999.99
Case Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case $53.99
Power Supply
SeaSonic X Series 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular $134.99
Operating System Microsoft Windows 8.1 Pro (OEM) (64-bit) $133.79
Monitor Asus ROG SWIFT PG278Q 144Hz 27.0" Monitor $769.22
Total: $3204.39

 

[squirpion13]

Thanks both of you for the answers, Its given me some things to think about.

Tbh, I had never really considered the Titan X, so in my mind I never realized the fact that 3 SLI GTX 970s would actually cost more than 1 Titan X.

I do realize that the initial price will go way up going with the Titan X, but I have been able to rationalize it as I was already going to buy the 3rd 970 in sli anyways. The only downfall to this idea is that I have to buy "3 gtx 970s" up front (Titan X) instead of buying the 2 970s, wait a few months then buy the 3rd

@fport

Thanks for the step by step, that helped put things in perspective.
I know the motherboard is expensive, really expensive. But, its ROG (nuff said ) and it does have all the bells, whistles, and options for everything. It gives me the most breathing room for expansion possibilities.

Haha no, the battery thing never happened to me fortunately. I had just had an hour long conversation with a friend that consisted of google spreadsheets and numbers showing her why a used battery for a car should never happen lol.

The Corsair, like I said looked like a great beginners water cooling system. I have seen people state that mounting the rad up top with the hot air really only makes a couple degree difference.
But the placement was one of the things that I planned on "seeing how it goes" - Preferably, I would try to mount it down by the cool air, but idk. Any thoughts on what you would do?

For the SSDs - the reason I went straight to the 500gb each, my old system was bought using a ~65gb SSD as the OS drive. I had horrible issues with storage because windows defaults all librarys to the C drive. It wasnt until the thing was mostly filled that I found out how to default everything to the D drive. But you are right, I'll have to look at what I actively have used up on my Laptop for Games/Software and make the decision then.

I thought about the i7 4790k - I really did...but I wanted to go with current gen system with the x99 slot. So if I ever really wanted to upgrade, I wouldnt have to worry about replacing the motherboard either (hence a top model mobo)

As you stated, I want to do this right, with this thing lasting as long as possible for the things I do.

@Gamer2886

Its funny that you mentioned the 5820k - I actually had that in my build for quite a long time. I originally started with the AMD 9590, then went to the 5820k - Until I did some actual research, and the one thing that stopped me was the 28lanes.

I want the ability for PCI-e devices whether drives or cards. And, if I get the Titan X, Ill need the 2 x 16x capability if I ever decided to SLI a second Titan X. Obviously, this would only be required If I wanted to do extreme 4k gaming with a multi-monitor setup lol. But all that would be leaving me with 8 Lanes. 2 PCIe x4 SSDs would use the rest of those lanes.

I know If I were to actually get all this I would have one Monster OP machine, but the capability to do so If/when I want is what I am aiming for -Maybe Ill eventually get to the point where I dont mind buying the latest and greatest every 1-2years - but for now this is more of an all or nothing build to keep me happy for years