Potential Build

ajcollins80

ajcollins80

ajcollins80

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6 Oct 2015
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34
Afternoon All,

I currently have two laptops (office & gaming), which I am looking to pass on around Christmas time. As I no longer need to be as mobile I am thinking about going back to a desktop, but it has been about 10-15yrs since I last built one.

As you can imagine a lot has changed in that time and the more I read on everything from cases, motherboards, memory etc the more I get myself confused. I have tried putting something together but I am not sure if all the components are compatible. Or getting the better value for money.

It will be for both office & gaming. I play things like ESO, Skyrim, Thief and would like to get into the Assassin's Creed saga. I play on a 32" TV usually on high/mid (20-30fps).

My thoughts are:

Case: m-ITX or m-ATX, is on display in a white room so plan & simple. If windowed would like components to be aesthetically matching. Phantek seem nice & have a separate chamber for PSU. Or Corsair Carbide 240.

MB: no real idea I use to use an Abit NFSv2, MSI is what I know from the past, was never a fan of Gigabyte in the past.

PSU: Has enough power for everything with maybe 25% spare for expansion.

CPU: Either Skylake maybe 6600k or a 5th gen. Would like the build to last about 5yrs. £900-£1000 build or £200 a great.

CPU Cooler: I have read the Skylake is 91W so maybe a 140AIO. Quiet in office mode.

Memory: Not sure. Looking as some MB they say 3600 (of), so would go for 3600. But not sure if you can get 3400 and push to 3600.

GPU: I was thinking maybe GTX970, seems to be a mid ranged card.

GPU Cooler: GPU power is around 160W so maybe a 280AIO.

HD1: I already have a Samsung 840 Pro 120Gb, which I was thinking of using for OS.

HD2: I am thinking of maybe a 1Tb hybrid to use for game files and temporary data storage. I have separate external storage already for backup/duplication.

I am not sure about an optical drive. I think yes as I still have games on disk and backups. Although I have seen the move away from having one. Other peripherals I have already so is just the base unit and no OS needed.

As always I appreciate your help, feedback and advice.

Kind regards,

Andy.
 
Evening All,

I have been working on the potential below build but am not sure if all the parts will work together. I know it is not white, so would have to use it in another room. I would be interested in your thoughts. Also on a build for my OP.

Corsair Carbide 300R Mid Tower Case - Black (CC-9011014-WW)
EVGA SuperNova G1 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply (120-G1-0650-XR)
Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 7 Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
Intel Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail
NZXT KRAKEN X41 140mm Complete Water Cooling
Corsair 2x 8GB 2666MHz LPX DDR4 Red
Zotac GeForce GTX 970 AMP! Extreme Core Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (ZT-90107-10P)
NZXT KRAKEN G10 GPU Cooling Adapter - Black
NZXT KRAKEN X61 280mm AIO Water Cooling Unit
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 2.5"" SATA 6Gb/s SSHD - (WD10J31X)

Comes out at around £1050.

Kind regards,

Andy.
 
What about something like this if you want to get the amp 970 then swap it back but you can overclock the 970 anyway.

Also dont get the evga g1 psu get the g2.

YOUR BASKET
1 x MSI Z170A Gaming Pro - Skylake Core i5 6600K Bundle **20 Saving** £329.98
1 x Zotac GeForce GTX 970 Gaming Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (ZT-90101-10P) £239.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-21300C16 2666MHz Dual Channel Kit - Red (CMK16GX4M2A2666C16R) £99.95
1 x NZXT H440 Mid Tower Case - Black / Red £89.99
1 x EVGA Supernova G2 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £74.99
1 x Raijintek Triton AIO Water Cooling Solution £69.95
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache HDD - OEM (WD10EZEX) £41.99
1 x NZXT KRAKEN G10 GPU Cooling Adapter - Red £19.99
Total : £983.32 (includes shipping : £13.75 Ex.VAT).

 
Morning Micky,

Thanks for getting back to me.

I double checked PSU and it was a typo my side. The price I had was for a G2. I appreciate what you are saying with regards the GPU so have made the necessary changes. I did look at the MSI Gaming Pro MB on the MSI website, it seemed to me to be a MB that bridged the gap between the older Z99 period to the newer Z170. What did confuse me was the DX function. The more expensive MB stated DX11 with the Gaming Pro being DX 12. But I assume this is to do with using the integrated graphics.

With regards cooling I don't think the Raijintek is compatible with the NZXT G10. The reason for my choice of NZXT is I read it was good cooling for the money.

http://uk.hardware.info/comparisont...092-211597-247638-247661-247662-193562-198585

Once again, thanks for the feedback.

Kind regards,

A.
 
Evening All,

After doing some more reading I came across X99 chipset. My worry about it over the Z170 is that it wasn't as future proof (5th Gen over 6th Gen). However I think the extra 2 cores, 128Gb of memory (max) & the ability to have 3 or 4 graphic cards would mean that if I found it lacking I could potentially add more memory and another graphics card.

I am still not sure if the components will fit into the case. I did go through the case gallery thread and there are some very nice builds. I only saw 2 NZXT 340's but no real shots of the inside. I did see quite a few NZXT 440, but as they were close-ups I could not judge the scale. If I went for the X99 I probably wouldn't get the X41 & G10 as a way to drop the cost on par with the Z170 build. But I can always do it later if needed.

Also not sure about Gfx. It seems to me that the R9 390 has the same clock speed, 1000mhz less memory speed, but twice the volume and more cores (6100*8=48800 compared to 7000*4=28000). So on paper makes it a better card on paper.

Also I could see no difference between the MSI X99 SLI or MSI X99 Krait Gaming (£20 more) except it had more white.

I appreciate all your help, feedback & advice.

Z170
NZXT Source 340 Midi-Tower Case - White Window
EVGA Supernova G2 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply
Gigabyte Z170X-Gaming 7 Intel Socket 1151
Intel Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail
NZXT KRAKEN X41 140mm Complete Water Cooling
Corsair 2x 8GB 2666MHz LPX DDR4 Red
Zotac GeForce GTX 970 AMP! Omega Core Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express
Or
MSI Radeon R9 390 Gaming Edition 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express
NZXT KRAKEN G10 GPU Cooling Adapter - White
NZXT Kraken RL-KRX61-01 X61 280mm Variable Speed Liquid Cooler
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 2.5"" SATA 6Gb/s SSHD

X99
NZXT Source 340 Midi-Tower Case - White Window
EVGA Supernova G2 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply
MSI X99A SLI Plus Intel X99 (Socket 2011-3) ATX
Intel i7-5820K 3.30GHz (Haswell-E) Socket LGA2011-V3 Processor
NZXT KRAKEN X41 140mm Complete Water Cooling
Avexir Core White Series 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Quad Channel Kit
Zotac GeForce GTX 970 AMP! Omega Core Edition 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express
Or
MSI Radeon R9 390 Gaming Edition 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express
NZXT KRAKEN G10 GPU Cooling Adapter - White
NZXT Kraken RL-KRX61-01 X61 280mm Variable Speed Liquid Cooler
Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 2.5"" SATA 6Gb/s SSHD
 
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You dont need x99 for gaming, and I hightly doubt you'll need to worry about multi-card; single card solutions are fine for 1080p.

For your budget, I'd be looking to get a better GPU rather than all those crappy AIOs (Iv'e used an AIO in the past, wasn't very impressed. High-end air is just as good and often quieter)

Fast memory is too expensive, and it really won't make that much of a difference to your daily use; certainly nothing that you would notice except in very specific scenarios. Also of note, 8gb is fine for gaming, but if you need more, just add an extra kit of the one I specced.

I'd be looking at something like this myself, presuming you're overclocking. If not, then you could save a couple of quid by going for a non-k processor, ditching the aftermarket cooling (provided the 6600 comes with a stock heatsink... not sure if it does or if it's just the k i5/i7s that no longer ship with an intel HSF), and a h170 board instead.


And 980ti because 980ti :D


YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 980Ti "Infin8 Black Edition" 6144MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £479.99
1 x Intel Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - OEM £199.99
1 x Gigabyte GA-Z170M-D3H Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard £99.95
1 x BitFenix Phenom MATX Cube Case - Arctic White £64.99
1 x EVGA 500W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (100-B1-0500-KR) £43.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (TPKD48GM2400HC16DC01) £39.95
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache HDD - OEM (DT01ACA100) £35.99
Total : £978.95 (includes shipping : £11.75 Ex.VAT).

 
Afternoon,

Thanks for the feedback Implosive.

Looking at the MB it does not support SLI, so going for a GTX980ti would not allow me to expand in the future, without having to upgrading more parts (MB, PSU).

Looking at the numbers:

GTX980Ti CPU 1100mhz, 6Gb 7000mhz, Stream 2560 = ~£530
R390x CPU 1060mhz, 8Gb 6000mhz, Stream 2560 = ~£330

I think I would rather have a middle or the road build oppose to a cheap majority, with a really expensive gfx (50% of the build cost).
 
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Evening,

Thanks for the comparison link William, certainly handy. I wonder if the games are programed to work with Nvida cards, which is why they perform better. I remember playing some games years ago and you would always get a Nvidia or ATI logo on startup. As the game was tuned for a specific gfx card.

I guess as I am wanting to start playing the Assassin's Creed saga would be best to go with Nvidia. I was looking at the 970. It seemed a good mid level card and fine for 1080. If I needed more power then I could get another 970 for running in SLI.

Hi Stulid, I did indeed see that and though it was nice. The one in my list is the Gigabyte Gaming 7 with an 8Gb stick. Both the 5 & 7 seem both a future proof MB. Do you have any thoughts of X99 or Z170?
 
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A single 980ti is as fast as 2-card 970 SLI (more or less), is cheaper, uses less energy, generates less heat, less noise and performance and image quality won't suffer when there's no SLI profile for a game, or buggy profiles.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u4RyNNlKbJw

Considering that your computer's most stressful task, from the looks of things, will be gaming, I don't see why you wouldn't want the single fastest GPU around if your budget allows it. Especially if it only means going for a slightly less bling motherboard, and missing out on some gimmicky features that you probably wouldn't make the most of anyway, and the cheaper board does the same job, only cheaper - it's a no brainer if you ask me, since gaming performance is most heavily influenced by your GPU.

There's no point in putting extra money onto a fancier stuff that won't benefit performance.

Did I mention it's cheaper? Buying one card now and another later will nearly always result in more money being spent overall. (*EDIT* voice of experience!) Why spend more for less performance over a period of time when you can have better performance now for less money?
 
Evening,

Thanks is for the feedback Implosive. You make a good point. Before I started reading and getting bogged down in all the options, I was looking for a small m-itx type build. Then the more I read the bigger the case got and the bigger the budget got.

I think the original MB I liked was the MSI Z170i Gaming Pro AC, with a i5 6600k. Maybe I should build something around those and the 980ti and see what it comes out at.

As always I appreciate the help, feedback & advice.
 
I couldn't find the board you listed, but here's an alternative.

You're not limited to that case, pick any itx case that takes your fancy, just make sure you have clearance for your CPU cooler; If not, choose a different cooler or case; or just post up here on the forums if you feel a bit lost.


YOUR BASKET
1 x KFA2 GeForce GTX 980Ti "Infin8 Black Edition" 6144MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card £479.99
1 x Intel Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - OEM £199.99
1 x Gigabyte GA-Z170N-WIFI Intel Z170 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Mini ITX Motherboard £109.99
1 x BitFenix Prodigy Mini-ITX Cube Case - Arctic White £54.95
1 x EVGA 500W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (100-B1-0500-KR) £43.99
1 x TeamGroup Elite 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (TPKD48GM2400HC16DC01) £39.95
1 x Toshiba (7K1000.D) 1TB SATA 6GB/s 32MB Cache HDD - OEM (DT01ACA100) £35.99
1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler £29.99
Total : £1,009.84 (includes shipping : £12.50 Ex.VAT).

 
Thanks Implosive.

Unfortunately OC do not stock that particular MB but I have managed to source it. I based the below build on the build pointers you gave me, so I appreciate all the help.

I have come up with the below, can you see any issues with it? As I wasn't sure about Cooler height I went for the lower one (was also £30 cheaper while still being 140mm).

MB: Phanteks Enthoo Evolv ITX Mini-ITX Chassis with Window - Special Edition
PSU: be quiet! Pure Power L8 500W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply - With 120mm Silent Wing Fan Built in
MB: MSI Z170I GAMING PRO AC Intel Socket 1151
CPU: Intel Core i5 6600K 3.5GHz Quad Core (Socket 1151)
Case: Phanteks PH-TC14CS CPU Cooler - Red
Memory: Avexir Core Red Series 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C16 2400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Red Light
Gfx: MSI GeForce GTX 980Ti Gaming 6144MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card (GTX 980 Ti Gaming 6G)

It comes to £1070 inc delivery.
 
Thanks for that.

I quite agree, there is something about it. I have only seen one or two of them in the case gallery, but plenty of the bigger ones were in there.

Once again, thanks for all the help. Once I get all the bits, I will post a pic. Not sure when it will be, I might wait till Black Friday and see what comes up. Or just get bits as I see them (on special).
 
I would just like to tke this opportunty to thank all those that helped me with all advise & feedback. Over the last few days I have finally bitten the bullet and ordered items to build my desktop. With items coming through the post it is like Christmas has come early.

Below is a list of items I have finally bought.

Case: Parvum System S2.0 in Black & White.
PSU: SuperFlower Leadex GOLD 1000W Fully Modular "80 Plus Gold" Power Supply - Black
Motherboard: ASRock Fatality X99M Killer 3.1
CPU: Intel i7 5930K CPU Processor (3.50GHz, 15MB Cache, 140W, Socket 2011-V3)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (4x 4 GB) DDR4 3000 MHz CL15 XMP 2.0 High Performance Desktop Memory Kit - Red
GPU: Zotac Geforce GTX 980 TI AMP! 6144 MB
Cooler: EK Water Blocks EK-Supremacy WAEK-827 X240 Kit Included Water Cooling Clean, Stream XTX EK-Cool RAD Radiator 240, (1600 RPM Until) EK-FAN, EK-RES X3 1

As I found the watercooling the hardest part to piece together I decided to buy the Extreme kit, which would contain all the basics. Then I could add, chop or change as I wished.

I am sure I have missed a few things, but I will get those bits over the next few weeks and hopefully after a 10-15yr break I will be back to having a watercooled desktop.

Once again, thanks to everyone that helped make it possible.

Kind regards,

Andy.
 
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