New workstation / gaming build

Ruha

New member
Hi guys

This is my first time posting on this forum, so if I'm not totally following the rules please bear with me and politely inform me :)

So I'm an semi-experienced builder (not modder/overclocker) and for my next build I'd like to make a combined workstation/gaming/silent build.

I'm expecting to use the pc for content creation (Illustrator, Premiere Pro, Lightroom, Blender, Maya, Mudbox and so on - and also some audio editing on a non-professional level) - besides that, I want it to handle present and future games in at least 2K on high settings. I should add that I want to use a multi-monitor setup for workstation purposes but not for gaming!

My idea for a build on Z170 (thinking I will utilize some/many of the features with Skylake):

- MSI Z170A Gaming M7

- Core i7 6700K or i5 6600K (I am planning on OC'ing)

- Kingstong HyperX Fury 4x4

- nVidia GTX 970 (maybe 'ti')

- Samsung 850 EVO MZ-75E250 250 GB

- Seagate Desktop SSHD 2 TB

- Corsair HX750i

- Corsair Hydro Series H110i

or go with a X99 build such as this:

- Core i7 5930K

- ASrock X99 Extreme 4 (I know of ASUS X99 Deluxe and ASUS X99-E WS, but not sure if any of them are worth it?)

- Corsair Vengeance LPX 2 x 8 GB (Not sure if quad channel chipsets are able to run in dual channel effectively/efficiently?)

And then the remaining parts would be the same as above.

I'd love to hear your thoughts on my choices so far? In terms of accessories such as keyboard, mouse, monitor - casing and so on, that's for another time!

Thanks a lot!
 
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You can also go with a middle approach by getting X99, but with a 5820k. You still get two extra cores (4 extra threads) over the 6700k and it costs about the same as a decent Skylake set-up.
 
Thanks Rick.

Appreciate it. What are your thoughts otherwise on my set-up in terms of the aim of a workstation/gaming rig?

/Rune
 
I don't see a Case in that build? I mean that's just a little important;)

If you want to run high settings at 1440p, I'd probably say get a 980 over the 970. But depending on your software using OpenCL, I'd suggest a 390 over a 970 and a 390x over a 980. If most of them don't benefit from OpenCL then they most likely benefit from Cuda so the 970/980 is the choice to get.
 
Hi Ruha welcome to the forums, I'm inclined to agree with Feronix on the 5820K coming from an i5 to an i7 myself the difference in Adobe software is night and day so much more productive and responsive, as for Blender and Maya it's all about those CUDA cores ;) with the GTX 970 packing 1664 cores it's plenty strong enough, paired with a strong i7 will also add to that massively, I'm not all that familiar with Mudbox so can't help there.

Alternatively if you can stretch to one the GTX 980 which carry 2048 CUDAs.
 
Couple of other points as well:

- If you're going X99, get a quad channel RAM kit! I don't really understand why you've selected a 4 DIMM kit for a dual channel platform and a 2 DIMM kit for the quad channel platform.

- Personally I wouldn't go for a Seagate drive. Myself and a lot of other people have had horrible experiences with them dying and the ever so small cache of that SSHD is not really going to help you out considering you've already got a proper SSD. Personally, I'd pick up a WD Caviar Blue.
 
Seagate's SSHDs aren't all that reliable unless you fork out for the very expensive ones. Their normal drives are as likely to die as other consumer spec HDDs from other manufacturers (especially if they're used improperly). If the data stored on your PC is very important then obviously factor in some sort of backup into the cost.

X99 all the way.
 
Well I have about six Seagate Pipeline 500gb drives and they've been going for years. Granted they are Pipelines and thus more robust than standard desktop models but yeah, no issues whatsoever.
 
Could be worth keeping an eye on overclockers.co.uk to see if they do another x99 bundle offer
I got a good one as a black friday deal
 
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