The Big 4k Editing / Gaming Rig Upgrade (feat. X99)

[ShortRouter]

So I figured out it may be the time to upgrade from my 4 year old build as my overclocked 2600k and/or Asus board are producing some big problems. Also the current build is not quite sufficient for 4k editing in Premiere/AE.

 

Here is my current build:

 

Asus P8P67 LE

i7 2600k @ 4,3 GHz

Noctua NH-U9B SE2
Corsair XMS3 1600 16 GB (4x4GB)

Asus GTX 780 DirectCU2
Samsung SSD 840 Pro 250 GB --> OS

Samsung SSD 840 Evo 250 GB --> Cache for Premiere/AE/...

WD Black 3TB --> Render Outputs, games

Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 1 TB --> internal backup

3 LG optical drives
Xilence 800 W PSU

MS-TechCrow x3 Case (big tower)

 

I am planning to upgrade: CPU, mobo and RAM (X99 obviously^^). Also the PSU. As a starting point, I took Linus awesome "Ultimate Silent Workstation Build" and stripped it down to an affordable/more bang-for-the-buck value. To me, complete silence isn't that critical so I can live with some low noise fans. I need your advice on the core parts so let me explain my thoughts and choices so far:

 

1) CPU choice: i7 5820k (ca. 350 €)

So I have the choice between the 5820k, 5930k and the 5960x 8-core beast. The latter I can't afford and the 5930k being the nonsence in-between option, I decided to go with the 5820k as I see no real advantages of the 5930k besides from 40 PCI-E lanes I don't need. Good choice?

 

2) RAM choice: Crucial Ballistix 1600 32 GB kit (4x8 GB) (ca. 350 €)

For video editing I need loads of RAM as Adobe Premiere is VERY RAM-hungry. So I stick with the cheapest 32 GB kit out here. 16 GB would be enough for right now but I really wanna take advantage of the Quad-Channel capabilities of the X99 plattform which will speed up my editing workflow.

 

3) CPU cooling solution

I narrowed down my choices to Noctua NH-D14, BeQuiet Dark Rock Pro 3 (Linus original build) or an inexpensive AiO Water cooling solution. The BeQuiet cooler looks really great and is silent but the mounting difficulties may be too much hassle for me. Noctua is easy to mount, has more cooling potential and is very quiet too. Do you guys think an AiO water cooler like the CoolerMaster Eisberg Prestige 240L is worth it? Something like the Corsair H110 would be cool but it's too expensive imo. I really like the good looks of some AiO water coolers but I don't like the price...

 

4) Motherboard choice (max. 350 €)

And here is my biggest struggle. There are lots of X99 boards out there. After reading lots of reviews and watching many videos I gravitate towards the Asus X99 Pro board. Other choices could be the cheap(er) MSI SLI Plus, Gigabyte GA-X99 Gaming 5 and the more expensive Asus X99 Deluxe. The Gigabyte UD3 or UD4 would color match the orange Silent Base 800 really well but they strip down too much on features for me. Also the on board audio is bad. The MSI SLI Plus is great entry-board but not really high quality built. The Gigabyte GA-X99 Gaming 5 is a good midrange board with cool lighting effects (+ illuminated rear IO) but it appears to have bad fan control and no Bluetooth/WLAN. The Asus X99-A is affordable but has poor voltage transducer cooling which is not good for overclocking. So the costly Asus X99 Pro/Deluxe seems to be the best option. Loaded with all the features and stable with overclock, has great onboard sound and BT/Wifi. Is the Deluxe worth it over the Pro? Would you pay a premium to get the USB 3.1 version?

Any other recomendations? Do you guys have a favourite X99 board? Is the Gigabyte Gaming 5 Board worth a try anyway? (perfect color match in red+black ). I am looking for a good match for the 5820k so I obviously can't go with Linus' choice, the Asus WS board which costs more than the CPU... It has to run stable as I definitely wanna do some OC to reach 5960X stock speeds. I am aiming for a 4.0 GHz 24/7 overclock.

 

5) PSU choice: Corsair AX860 (already there)

No more ugly cable mess! A modular PSU is calling. I was struggling between the Corsair RM850 and the AX860. After reading about some BAD overheating issues with the RM series I decided that this PSU would be completely in the wrong place in a case with very little airflow. The risk of the cheap capacitors to blow up is too high in this scenario. So I payed the extra premium price and went with the best of the best: The AX series 860W PSU (which I have right now in my system). By the way it is awesome!! (esp. the switchable hybrid mode).

 

6) Case Upgrade [not sure]

If the budget still allows I will move my system to a new home: The SilentBase 800 from BeQuiet. Appears to be a nice silent case with all the features I need. This is the exact same case from the silent build guide. I like the awesome quality fans already buit in that case and it looks fantastic too. (although there is no side window).

 

 

I appreciate any thoughts and advice about this config so feel free to join the discussion guys! Maybe I will do a build log on this system for you. (on YouTube)

 

Alex

[ShortRouter]

No additions? so everything's fine with this build? B)