Hi Guys,

With the help of a friend, I've started spec'ing out a new computer.

 

I thought I'd post what we've figure out so far, and see what you all thought.

 

Let me know if I've missed anything, keeping in mind that I'd also be picking up Win10, a new case, and eventually a 27 inch monitor.

 

Thanks in advance for your thoughts!

 

. . .

 

CPU: Intel Core i7 6700K 4.00 GHz 

 

Motherboard: ASUS ROG MAXIMUS VIII HERO LGA1151 DDR4 M.2 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 Type A Type C Intel Z170 ATX Motherboard

 

RAM: G.SKILL 16GB (2 x 8GB) Ripjaws V Series DDR4 PC4-19200 2400MHz Desktop Memory Model F4-2400C15D-16GVS

 

Video Card (GPU): EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW DT GAMING ACX 3.0, 8GB GDDR5X, RGB LED, 10CM FAN, 10 Power Phases, Double BIOS, DX12 OSD Support (PXOC) Graphics Card 08G-P4-6284-KR

 

Powersupply: EVGA SuperNOVA 850 G2, 80+ GOLD 850W

 

OS Hard Drive: SAMSUNG 950 PRO M.2 256GB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-V5P256BW

 

Data Hard Drive: Seagate 6TB Desktop HDD SATA 

 

Liquid-Cooled CPU Fan: Corsair Hydro Series H100i v2 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

 

Optical Drive: LG Internal UH12NS30 BD-ROM Blu-ray Optical Drive

 

 

S!

 

Dream machine 

Memory: for 16 GB, assuming this is a 4-channel MB, it would be better to have 4 x 4 GB DIMMs, to take advantage of the 4-channel feature

 

Optical drive... think we've already discussed this...guess you have your reasons. Money better spent elsewhere, such as:

 

Bigger size of the Samsung 950, 512 is great, 1 GB even better if they make one. Be really careful reading the specs on how the M.2 slot works on this MB, see what it takes to make it run full speed, what limitations that imposes on the rest of the slots, if any. See if you can find reviews from people who've used it on that MB.

 

Magnetic drive, you wouldn't need one if you got a bigger SSD, but if you must, an external one offers better immunity to viruses, etc.

Oh yeah, I have that CPU cooler, too. See those voltage regulator heat sink covers at the top edge of the MB? Depending on your case, those can interfere with the cooler fans. If you get a large case, it wouldn't likely be an issue; but a medium sized case or smaller it might be, depending on the design. Use caution if you don't want to be cutting/filing/grinding on stuff.

Thanks for your thoughts Luft!

 

I'm a sucker for an Optical Drive.  I still use discs.

 

Good question about the RAM.  I'll check up on that.

 

I've been considering getting a bigger OS SSD.  Let me think about that.

 

Regarding a case, I was thinking about getting the MasterCase Maker 5 Mid-Tower Case:

 

https://www.amazon.com/MasterCase-Mid-Tower-FreeForm-Upgraded-Supression/dp/B01ER4898Y/ref=sr_1_2?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1475784787&sr=1-2&keywords=Master+Case

What's "cooling bracket"? If it offers more space at the top, that would be a good thing.

 

Honestly, unless you're going to over-clock, the H100i is really over-kill. That USB interface that it comes with and connects to a 2.0 pin header can be buggy and cause problems too. Luckily you don't have to use it but it's throwing away most of what makes it more expensive than other models, if you end up not using it.

Also try to find out if your processor supports 28 or 40 PCIe lanes. Since the M.2 slot uses PCIe, that could have an effect on the speed certain PCIe slots could run (x8, x16, etc), and you might have limitations on what slot your video card can be used in.

 

D/L the MB manual and study it closely before you buy.

That's a nice rig.  I see the vid card is cheaper on Newegg:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA57X4R70609

So, regarding the RAM, my friend referred me to this PC World article:

 

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2982965/components/quad-channel-ram-vs-dual-channel-ram-the-shocking-truth-about-their-performance.html

 

The MB I'm currently thinking of going with is dual channel.

That's a nice rig.  I see the vid card is cheaper on Newegg:  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA57X4R70609

 

Thanks!

Kal,

 

Check out this guy on youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmbkRUS_4Efdt5UIhwNqtcw

he has really good info on pc builds and why it happens. I guess I'm a big geek....

 

Anyway buy 2 video cards and send me one. I have been looking at the EVGA 1060 as I can't afford a $650 card and I even push 3 monitors on my old cheap  660 Ti, but if you can build it

 

S!

Very cool!  I'll check the video out!

 

 

 

Anyway buy 2 video cards and send me one.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132565

 

Looks like the MB is cheaper on NewEgg, too.

Awesome! Thanks!

S!

 

I bought this case and was really impressed for the features at this price.   The optical drive slides in and locks in place. Push a button and it slides out. The disk drives mount on trays that slide in and out.  The top has 2 mounts for cooling fans. One fan mount on the bottom.bottom.   Case   

S!

 

I bought this case and was really impressed for the features at this price.   The optical drive slides in and locks in place. Push a button and it slides out. The disk drives mount on trays that slide in and out.  The top has 2 mounts for cooling fans. One fan mount on the bottom.bottom.   Case   

 

Looks like it would support everything he listed, at a great price.

I have a different Thermaltake case and I absolutely love it!  So I'm backing the brand. 

https://youtu.be/I52Cs-IpGG8

 

More help??

Cool, I'll definitely watch this.

Here is another help video: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCmbkRUS_4Efdt5UIhwNqtcw

For my next upgrade I will use the Master CM 690 III Black case because of the fan possibilities. Water in an PC feels terrible wrong.

Water in an PC feels terrible wrong.

 

Well in the case of the CPU coolers, they're completely sealed units that never need any kind of servicing. I agree that the cooling capacity provided is over-kill in many cases, and probably only really useful if you're going to overclock your CPU pretty severely.  But they do make smaller single-fan units, or lesser dual fan ones.  The thing I like about them is that the heatsink/pump unit that actually sits on the CPU is smaller and more compact than a decent air cooler.  Besides the space issue you mentioned, the larger air coolers are tall enough and top-heavy enough to exert a lot of uneven pressure through leverage on the CPU because they want to sag when sticking out sideways from the vertically mounted motherboard (some new case designs eliminate this by mounting the motherboard horizontally).

 

Still a good air cooler can be just fine for about anything you're going to do with it, and is a lot less expensive too.  The Cooler Master Hyper 212 is a good example of this, and they've been around for a long time.

 

S!

I've been on water cooling for the last four years on two different rigs and they're awesome. 

Is this upgrade going down this weekend or next?

Klai, either one of these look more interesting than the other to you? NOTE: updates have been made.