New Full Build - its been 7 years!

[Kirk]

Hey Guys,

Firstly I made the mistake of sitting up late last night to do this post and clicking submitt and had taken so long I lost everything, I learnt the hard way!!!

I am new to the forums only been on here a couple of months but have been loving the reviews so far!

Anyway it has been over 7 years since my last build and I am planning aiming for something new spec so I can still have options for upgrades later on. Basically my last build was AMD midrange but at the time latest technology so I had option to upgrade over the years with things like swapping to SSD, increased memory amounts and clock speeds, graphics cards etc… I am aiming for the same with this build.

Let’s get the questionnaire out the way;

· Where are you located? Sydney Australia
· What is your budget? Currently flexible but around $3k with room if needed.
· Will you need a monitor, keyboard, and/or mouse included in that budget? Have all these already monitor set up is dual screen with Asus PB278Q + HP 2330I, Logitech G19 and Razer Naga 2014 Left handed edition.
· Shall you be requiring an OS? Nope have windows 8 and 8.1 to hand.
· What will you be using this rig for? This PC build will be used for all multimedia, gaming and also work station with occasional video encoding etc… Pretty much everything
· If gaming, what resolution will you be playing at? 2560 x 1440 WQHD
· Will you be overclocking? Yes but not to the extreme, I love to fool around a bit with OC.
· Do you need a full build or will you be reusing some old parts? I would prefer a new build but do have some reusable parts such as SSD and Graphics card however would prefer to keep it all new.

I am currently working on the build and budget so expect to purchase all parts Jane/February, here is where I am at so far;

· Antec High Current Pro Platinum 1000W Power Supply – 1000W so I have options for SLI or Crossfire later, , modular connectivity is nice also 7 year warrantee is nice
· Corsair Graphite 780T White or Black – Love this case and the review from TTL, thinking white with what I have planned although im not sure how this would look with my desk and area.
· ASUS X99 Deluxe Motherboard – Basically chose this board as it is latest chipset and covers all the bases in terms of features and expansion options, also like the idea of the OC socket on the Asus boards.Added bonus the white will look nice with what I have planned.
· Intel Core i7 5930K – middle range of the 3 currently available, cannot justify the Extreme Edition cost being pretty much double. Although may actual consider downgrading this to the Intel Core i7 5820K depending on budget, not sure on the performance difference vs cost difference.
· NZXT Kraken X61 280mm AIO Liquid CPU Cooler + two additional 140mm Fan for push pull – Open to suggestions but this did appeal to me and also the lighting is a nice bonus touch.
· Corsair Dominator Platinum CMD16GX4M4A2666C16 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 – Good reviews, white touches will look nice with the motherboard and what I have planned hopefully.
· Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB SSD – again open for suggestions, also looked at the option for a M.2 SSD. As far as storage goes I have NAS setup and also my current SSD for a secondary drive if needed.
· ASUS GeForce GTX 970 or GTX 90 Strix DirectCU II 4GB also looked at EVGA GeForce GTX 970 or GTX 980 Superclocked ACX 2.0 4GB – don’t know much about the EVGA card to be honest but price point is certainly appealing. I have over the years stuck with Radeon and not had a NVidia based card for many years, not sure what way to go with this and am open to suggestions.
· Possibly the Kraken G10 + NZXT Kraken X41 – for better GPU cooling plus the white will fit the overall look.

That’s the main parts out the way, in relation to what I am planning I have never done water cooling and may consider this, although also maintenance sounds like a hassle as I have identical twins that are 2, time is valuable which is why I went with the closed loop options for CPU and GPU. I was thinking due to the white on the mother board, Kraken fans, memory etc. to use white sleeve on all visible cabling or white extension cables and LED High Density UV Flexlight.

Again no done lighting of any discription inside a case/pc build before so open to good ideas, I really want this to look awsome but also clean!

At the moment this is all planning and research and though I would get my thought process out there…….


I am thinking to play with my desk area a little to make the inside of the case visible, also not sure if black case would be the way to go with everything else black or white to make it stand out.

 

[Kirk]

Ok well, I have done a little more reading on some of the builds on here and will stick with the Asus Strix graphics card option, also looked at TTL guild videos on water cooling would like to give water cooling ago. Can anyone help with this side of things? advise on what to get that will easily fit into this case and with the components, also how it should be laid out? Would like to have the option to add an addtional card to loop a bit later on!

Would want it too look clean and awsome!!!!

Any comments on the actual build would be welcome, sugestions etc...

I can add to the budget if need just take a little longer to get everything by which point prices may change in my favour

 

[JR23]

I think January is almost too far away to seriously plan every little detail, or even the big ones, things will happen before then, but i'm sure you realize that. Aesthetically I like where it's heading and everything sounds good so far, although I would make a few tweaks.

Seasonic Snow Silent 1050W - this, I mean it's beautiful and Seasonic did it, the best white PSU i've ever seen.
Corsair 780T white - I wouldn't worry about the white on white, the interior is black and -50% of the exterior is too with the highlights on the motherboard it will work really well.
Asus X99 Deluxe - IF you need the hexacore power great shout, I wouldn't justify it by saying it's more expandable 'in the long run' but right now it has DDR4, uber PCI-E lanes and bonkers CPU support, none of which are likely to help gaming in any way right now or even for a long time. Intel will switch sockets before you know it and there will be no upgrade route. I'd aim lower down and replace the motherboard if you want to stay ahead of the game, but you don't get the number crunching hex/oct power which if you need it you can't live without.
Intel i7-5930k - definitely the S2011-3 chip to go for unless your minted but same as above applies.
Corsair Dominator Platinum 4x4 2666 - yep dom plats, l33t, DDR3 or DDR4 agreed.
GPU(s) - I would be very surprised if there aren't some serious developments before you buy the rig. Personally i'd go the nVidia 980 route with potential for a second right now.

Cooling, right, I don't think nVidia cards run hot enough to warrant mutating them with a Kraken. So it's between stock and all out watercooling, if you do it right then it won't ruin your life but it will certainly ruin your wallet. It won't add significant performance gains, it also won't make your rig a fat lot quieter at idle anyway. But it will look the business, be permanently quiet and as cool as you like. If you invest enough thought into the loop before you purchase parts and during the build process maintenance won't be too hard, clear coolant, high quality tubing and it shouldn't be too problematic. Unless you want it for the looks and the pride it's not worth the expense, it's also a big hindrance to upgrades long term.

I like where it's heading and good luck.

JR

 

[NeverBackDown]

If you are waiting till Jan and Feb you mine as well forget the GPUs. AMD are rumored to release their cards in Feb so at that point you mine as well wait to see what they offer and prices will come down.

 

[Kirk]

I must say I do like the look of the Seasonic Snow Silent and actually contact them today to find out the cable sleeving colour, it would have been nice if that was white but the sleeving use will be black. They did also provide me contact details for the supplier in over here.

Not sure what to do now with the motherboard and CPU, it is a bit overkill but I rarely get to splash out on a full new build and its hard not to get lost in wanting the best/newer and what you actually need. I may rethink it as I have a bit of time, I guess the other options would be a Z97 based mother board and Intel Core I74790K? Open to advice on this?

At the moment that is basically my wish list and open to changes from good advise and/or changes between now and purchasing.

I think I will write off the GPU closed loop if not needed and also water cooling in general as much as I want it to look great I don't think I can be bothered with it all + I could put the cash towards SLI later or something else.

Another question or observation I have had is in relation to the case, from what I can see you can see the ugly hard drive bays? My other thoughts was the white H440, to be honest I wouldn't miss the optical drives as I cant remember the last time I used mine. Also there is a PSU cover so wouldn't need to go down the white PSU route.

 

[Warchild]

I must say I do like the look of the Seasonic Snow Silent and actually contact them today to find out the cable sleeving colour, it would have been nice if that was white but the sleeving use will be black.

Too much white would ruin the looks and appeal.

 

[Kirk]

Thanks for the responses and advise so far, I have half the budget already but going to wait till i have everything and then review the build again.

I think the problem for me Is I watch all the reviews on the latest and greatest products and instantly I want it... I want all the best stuff that I cant actually afford or actually need but hey I think most are guilty of that!

Anyways, still open to advise between now and purchase, will keep and eye on here and post if needed. To be hoenest I pretty exicted, like i said its been 7 years since a full build and that half the budget I have this time.

 

[NeverBackDown]

H440 is a good case. If you really want to watercool a CPU and GPU(s) you will need to find a case that can fit the rad space. Though it's also tough to advise how much rad space you need when we don't know what kind of hardware you will be using.

 

[Kirk]

Yeah most likely I will stick with the original plan and not go down the full water cooling root, going to keep it simple and clean, less maintenance and hassle if changing parts.

I do like the corsair case just think the hard drive bays in view won't look so good, I do like the idea if having the option to water cool later which the Corsair will give me. If I stick with the Corsair I will definitely purchase the Seasonic Snow 1050 Silent

I may have been a bit to hasty posting but I do like to plan things and ahead and get the feed back be before purchase.

To be honest I had pretty much made my mind up of most of the build until I posted and was given options to think about

 

[Kirk]

Hey guys,


Ok its now two weeks away from purchase depending on weather I can get my hands on my choice of CPU cooler and I have increased the budget to just under $5000 so had a complete change of components. Here is the list for what I think will be an awesome build for me.


·Corsair Graphite 780T White Full Tower Case
·NZXT Hue RGB LED Controller
·Seasonic XP-1200 Platinum 1200W Power Supply
·CableMod SE-Series KM3, XP2, XP3 & FL2 Cable Kit Red
·ASUS Rampage V Extreme Motherboard
·Intel Core i7 5960X Extreme Edition
·G.Skill Ripjaws 4 F4-3000C15Q-16GRR 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 Red
·ASUS GeForce GTX 980 Strix DirectCU II 4GB (2nd card for SLI to be purchased later)
·Samsung 850 Pro Series 256GB SSD
·Western Digital WD Black WD2003FZEX 2TB
·Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition High Airflow 140mm Fan
·Corsair Air Series AF120 Quiet Edition Case Fan
·Phobya Y Cable 4Pin PWM to 3x 4Pin PWM 30cm Black



Depending on Availability in Australia


·Fractal Kelvin S36 CPU Water Cooler with additional Corsair Air Series SP120 Performance Edition PWM Case Fan x 3 for push pull


Or


·Corsair Hydro H110I GT with additional Corsair Air Series AF140 Quiet Edition High Airflow 140mm Fan x 2 for push pull.



Also the PSU maybe a little overkill, I do want to be able to add the addtional GTX 980 Strix and also have another already existing OCZ Vertex 4 SSD and a couple of Sata 3 Hard Drives although not sure if I will bother putting them in or not yet as I may just purchase a larger SSD later on down the line.

I am very excited as I haven’t done a full build like these for myself at least for around 7 to 8 years only upgrades.


Not sure if I want to use the NZXT Hue for internal lighting (RGB) or to just change the fans to white LED, I just want to be able to show off the inside.



Other considerations I have had is to get a White PSU and have the outer circles of the Corsair fans in white as the exterior of the case is white and will give me a nice white/red/black theme, any thoughts on this would be welcome as I am struggling to image it in my head at the moment.


Happy to take on any ideas you guys have to help make this build look awesome and also happy to take lots of photos and try do a build log for the forums.


Custom water cooling I have looked into and currently not an option for me as I have exhausted my budget on getting the components I want but maybe a project for a later stage.

 

[jaspervandervalk]

This sounds like a REALLY cool build mate I am uber jealous!

I would say red, black white in my mind would annoy me because I always find red goes with either or on its own. Or black just goes with anything where white is a bit more tricky.

Other than that I am excited to see some pictures man XD

Jasper

 

[JR23]

Well that escalated quickly!

Full octacore and Rampage V holy balls. Just make sure your being excessive in the right areas to benefit your usage. I mean with numbers that big I would be thinking of 4k gaming and nudging Kaapstad to find out which way to go with a mental GPU setup. One 980 is a bit gay for $5k if you don't mind me saying so. I really couldn't part with double the money to have an X on my CPU model number either.

Get bespoke cables made, take a little time over the whole thing. Don't worry about over-thinking every little fan and splitter. Get some parts, test it, fit it and see how it builds up naturally, especially if your current rig is still running and you have that time luxury.

JR

 

[Kirk]

Yeah tell me about it, the problem with me especailly as I dont or wont get the oportunity again to do another full build for a long time it all or nothing. I really have this issue with wanting the best of everything but hey dont we all!!!

You may have seen my dilema with the Graphics card choice which I posted in the appropriate section, I am still in two minds wheather to go for two 970 Strix cards as I would love the SLI and the perfomance difference is marginal. Also I plan on getting a second 2560 x 1440 monitor the same as the Asus PB278 I already have and to replace my HP which 23" 1080

Seriously though would you go for the two 970 in SLI over the single 980? I guess the other option you are hinting at would be to drop the CPU down to the 5930k and have 2 x 980's?

Unfortunaly Australia is just so expnsive!

The other Issue I had is when I did my last build I kicked my self after for not going there extra level with the CPU and it haunted me....

Yes still have the old pc running and once the new build is complete and running I planing on having some fun with that, maybe some case mods and tinkering who knows - something to keep me entertained project wise havent decided yet although the wife wants me to sell it ha ha!

 

[JLR]

Good choice on the case, it looks good in white or black but white is my favourite.

 

[Kirk]

Good choice on the case, it looks good in white or black but white is my favourite.

Yeah do love the case must admit, may have to make an enclosure for the bottom section where the PSU is but Il look at that once its built to see if it needs it. May get my freind involved as he is a sheet metal fabricator.....

 

[JLR]

Yeah do love the case must admit, may have to make an enclosure for the bottom section where the PSU is but Il look at that once its build to see if it needs it. May bed a freind involved as he is a sheet metal fabricator.....

You may bed your friend as he is a sheet metal fabricator??? Lol.

Personally i think it won't need it but it's your project, make it your own.

 

[Kirk]

Ha ha edited that after reading it

 

[Kirk]

Ok I have decided on the 2 x Asus GeForce GTX 970'a in SLI, mainly for the dollar/performance and really I have to draw a line as the budget keeps going up started at around 4 and is now near 5k.

 

[JR23]

I can't believe anyone can highlight SLI 970's are the most cost effective solution while using a 5960X and a Rampage V. I mean your correct but $1349 for a CPU! In the majority of games you wouldn't distinguish it from a $300 i5-4690k. Even if it's a video editing rig the 5960X is still only going to be ~80% better than a 4790k for three times the cost and the priveledge of buying an overpriced motherboard and memory kit. Honestly I really think you have scared yourself into buying a ridiculous CPU, even a 5930K is overkill in most situations unless your computational time really is that valuable, which it isn't otherwise you would have built a new rig already.

Also if your upgrade strategy is keep the core components for 7 years again only adding memory and drives your going to lose out, may as well just spend half your budget and do another build in 3 years rather than doubling it now. Building a ridiculous rig with mental components is great and it will seem amazing for about 6 months but it's not going to get you any more longevity. Aside the graphics power deficit I can't tell my Z97 rig from X79 rig and that's with half the threads, half the memory, half the SSD speed.

I don't see how your monitor strategy affects your GPU choice, despite the added productivity your gaming resolution will still be a single 1440p. 4k isn't far away now and all of the IPS variants are coming down.

JR

 

[Kirk]

I can't believe anyone can highlight SLI 970's are the most cost effective solution while using a 5960X and a Rampage V. I mean your correct but $1349 for a CPU! In the majority of games you wouldn't distinguish it from a $300 i5-4690k. Even if it's a video editing rig the 5960X is still only going to be ~80% better than a 4790k for three times the cost and the priveledge of buying an overpriced motherboard and memory kit. Honestly I really think you have scared yourself into buying a ridiculous CPU, even a 5930K is overkill in most situations unless your computational time really is that valuable, which it isn't otherwise you would have built a new rig already.

Also if your upgrade strategy is keep the core components for 7 years again only adding memory and drives your going to lose out, may as well just spend half your budget and do another build in 3 years rather than doubling it now. Building a ridiculous rig with mental components is great and it will seem amazing for about 6 months but it's not going to get you any more longevity. Aside the graphics power deficit I can't tell my Z97 rig from X79 rig and that's with half the threads, half the memory, half the SSD speed.

I don't see how your monitor strategy affects your GPU choice, despite the added productivity your gaming resolution will still be a single 1440p. 4k isn't far away now and all of the IPS variants are coming down.

JR

Well fair enough!

I did write out a long response explaining my reasoning but quite honestly I don't want to go into my personal finances and have to explain myself. Quite happy to just go back to reading the reviews and what others have to say in the general forums.

In all honesty, how many people are there with excessive/extreme pc builds that will actually get the full benefit out of them, I see its easy to criticize someone for wanting to get the best they can afford but don't actually need but aren't we all guilty of that?