First upgrade since 2007 - Spec Check Please!

Credo

Credo

Credo

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14 May 2003
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Worcestershire
Now Skylake seems to be no big performance jump, I'm thinking the 5820K will be my next long overdue upgrade. My usage is Photoshop and Lightroom for RAW photo processing, a bit of gaming and desktop use. Not likely to go multi-GPU. I'm a long time Asus Mobo fan, but can be persuaded otherwise if there is better for less... Chose the RAM over the cheaper TeamGroup Elite as it has the XMP feature.

I'm learning on the fly a bit here - what do you think?

Asus X99-S - Intel Core i7 5820K Six Core CPU & Motherboard Bundle ***£30 Saving*** - £488.98

Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU) - £149.99

Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C14 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M4A2400C14) - £129.95

Corsair Hydro H75 Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060015-WW) - £66.95

Total : £845.46
 
Credo said:
Now Skylake seems to be no big performance jump, I'm thinking the 5820K will be my next long overdue upgrade. My usage is Photoshop and Lightroom for RAW photo processing, a bit of gaming and desktop use. Not likely to go multi-GPU. I'm a long time Asus Mobo fan, but can be persuaded otherwise if there is better for less... Chose the RAM over the cheaper TeamGroup Elite as it has the XMP feature.

I'm learning on the fly a bit here - what do you think?

Asus X99-S - Intel Core i7 5820K Six Core CPU & Motherboard Bundle ***£30 Saving*** - £488.98

Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU) - £149.99

Corsair Vengeance 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C14 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M4A2400C14) - £129.95

Corsair Hydro H75 Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060015-WW) - £66.95

Total : £845.46
Click to expand...

Do you prefer liquid to air cooling? I use a rather large but very effective CPU heatsink called the Akasa Venom, 35£ iirc got it off here keeps my temps below 65 on stres tests at 4.5ghz on my i7 4790k
 
Thanks for the replies...

Stulid - The Gigabyte board is a nice find. I avoided the TeamGroup Elite RAM as it doesn't have the XMP auto-overclock feature, although I have no idea how this affects things. I do plan to overclock, does the lack of XMP cause complications?

mxoagentjohnson - I just fancied a first dip into watercooling, I have an old Coolermaster Stacker which is big enough to take pretty much anything though...
 
stulid said:
XMP just makes setting the memory ratio+timings etc a one click operation.
Click to expand...
OK, so with the non-XMP RAM, what needs to be done, just set the memory parameters manually? Is this only when overclocking?

By the way - daft question - how do you copy-paste a basket into a post as you did, with the neat formatting?
 
Do you need 4 or 5 way sli ? just get a cheaper x99 board and the 5820k, i'd also second getting some kingston ram it's far more careful with the ram it sends out so is more rock solid.
 
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No SLI planned at the moment, but who knows for the future, my builds seem to last me a very long time! Thanks for the Kingston RAM advice, it looks pretty reasonably priced...
 
Just a thought. My PSU is one of these, bought from OCUK back in 2010:

XFX 650W XXX Edition Modular '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply

+12V is 52A.

Graphics are to remain the 2Gb 7850 for the moment.

Is this worth keeping for my new build given it's age and specs?
 
Right then. After much investigation and consideration, my final purchases for my upgrade are as below. I'd appreciate a sanity check before I pull the trigger.

Some notes on the below:
1. The Gigabyte X99-SLI looks to be compatible with the Noctua NH-D14-2011. Its not listed on Noctua's compatibility page, but the GA-X99-UD4 is and the layout seems identical.
2. My XFX PSU is 5 years old, so I'm replacing it with the EVGA unit as insurance against failure.
3. I've halved the size of the SSD as this will be for OS and Lightroom catalogue only. Gone 'Pro' for longevity.
4. I've gone for the Noctua NH-D14-2011 instead of the Corsair H75 as I'm not happy with some of the H75 backplate stories I've read. It should fit in my old but massive Coolermaster Stacker 810.

Taking advantage of some This Week Only savings too...

So, here it is:

YOUR BASKET
1 x Gigabyte X99-SLI - Intel Core i7 5820K Six Core CPU & Motherboard Bundle ***£50 Saving*** £393.98
1 x Samsung 256GB SSD 850 PRO SATA 6Gbps 3D NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-7KE256BW) £119.99
1 x Kingston Fury Black 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C15 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit - Black (HX424C15FBK4/16) £109.99
1 x EVGA SuperNova G2 750W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £94.99
1 x Noctua NH-D14-2011 Dual Radiator CPU Cooler with PWM Fans £64.99
1 x OcUK 24x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £19.99
1 x Kolink 2.5" to 3.5" SSD or HDD Adaptor plate with screws and rubber mounts £2.99
Total : £816.53 (includes shipping : £8.00 Ex.VAT).



Opinions?
 
I use the Teamgroup stuff for reference , indeed does not include an XMP but the motherboard automatically clocks is to 2400 with correct timings . How without an XMP , god knows but it's does . Asus x99 pro for ref .
 
Go for 2x 8 GB rather than 4x 4 GB. Indeed, as your main usage will be Photoshop and Lightroom, then Kingston's 4x 8GB kit for £179.99 may appeal.

How often do you use an optical drive? You may find it more appropriate to get an external USB drive.

That PSU is cutting it a little fine if you think you may go SLI in the future; it's overkill if you don't.

Do you need a new case?
 
Quartz said:
Go for 2x 8 GB rather than 4x 4 GB. Indeed, as your main usage will be Photoshop and Lightroom, then Kingston's 4x 8GB kit for £179.99 may appeal.

How often do you use an optical drive? You may find it more appropriate to get an external USB drive.

That PSU is cutting it a little fine if you think you may go SLI in the future; it's overkill if you don't.

Do you need a new case?
Click to expand...

Isn't 4 x 4Gb preferable in X99? Can't stretch the budget much more, so will add more RAM as needed... Was considering filling the other 4 slots in the future.

I do burn the odd DVD. Currently got two PATA DVD drives installed, so added the SATA drive in to clear cable clutter, will flog the current drives.

My case is old but still up to the job I think, and is big enough for any cooler. Got 2 x Noctua 120mm fans as input and one for exhaust. Again, a possible upgrade in the future...

So would you go 850w for SLI then? Only another tenner, so worth it I think.

Thanks for your suggestions!
 
Just so you are aware most of the Gigabyte x99 boards don't have the faster speed M.2 slot if you're thinking of using that in the future. (10Gb/s rather than 32Gb/s)

You'd have to use a PCIe card instead of you wanted to get the faster speeds with NVME drives.
 
Grumbledook said:
Just so you are aware most of the Gigabyte x99 boards don't have the faster speed M.2 slot if you're thinking of using that in the future. (10Gb/s rather than 32Gb/s)

You'd have to use a PCIe card instead of you wanted to get the faster speeds with NVME drives.
Click to expand...
Yep, spotted that one. Most folks say there isn't much of a real world difference, and there is always the PCIe card option. I've been an Asus motherboard man so far, but the price of the Gigabyte bundle right now and the fact that Gigabyte has UK RMA has swung it. And to be honest, once it's all set up and working it doesn't matter what's under the hood as long as it's quality stuff. The truth is this will probably do me for another 5 years, and then it's all change again.
 
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