Can't settle on new build :( Help Deciding?

[Arcaed]

Hello community! This is my first post, I've been following the forum from taptalk, and watching Linus videos (binging really) for the last few months.

 

I'm finally posting because I need help deciding on my build. I will be ordering these parts sometime late in February I have so many conflicting thoughts and a limited budget. Trying to keep it under 2,000 ish (USD). I will also preface by saying this: though I cannot elaborate why, I can get a few parts cheaper - namely graphics cards and peripherals. Do not ask how or why, just note; that's why the price is reduced on certain items.

 

The core of my build is as follows.

 

$265 (CPU) i5 6600k http://tinyurl.com/i56600k

$78   (CPU Cooler) Corsair GTX H100i http://tinyurl.com/gtxh100i

$165 (Mobo) AsRock Fatal1ty K6 http://tinyurl.com/Asrockk6

$110 (RAM) Corsair Vengince LPX 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4 3000 MHz 15 CAS http://tinyurl.com/Vengeancelpx16gb

$100 (Case) Corsair 400C http://tinyurl.com/Corsair400C

$509 (GPU) EVGA FTW 980ti http://tinyurl.com/EVGA980ti

$113 (PSU) EVGA 850w G2 PSU http://tinyurl.com/EVGA850wPSU

$118 (Keyboard) Corsair RGB Strafe (MX Silent) http://tinyurl.com/CorsairRGBStrafe

$31   (Mouse) Corsair Sabre RGB http://tinyurl.com/CorsairRGBSabre

$45   (Mic) Blue Snowball Mic http://tinyurl.com/zojl856

 

That puts me at $1534 before a drive (which I don't have). I'm pretty solid on wanting a Solid State (pun intended) so even if I get, say a 240 it'll run me around 100ish.

 

Then come my dilemmas.

• I have a very strong itch to do a custom loop instead of H100i. Of course that's not cheap, and then comes the question of a GPU block which seem to cost ~150 solo. So I'm guessing at least 200-300 for CPU alone and over 400 for a full loop. This seems excessive and keeping the build under 2,000 would require compromises.
• I currently have a 1080p 60hz non-IPS display. It looks washed out when compared to just about any other screen, and having all that horsepower seems pretty lame on a monitor like this. Now, for Christmas I'm likely going to be able to convince my wife of a 1440p monitor - however that's almost a year from now that I'll be kneecapping my visual experience. I could try to squeeze in a 1080p IPS display for more enjoyment. Then the question is do I compromise say, a few pieces and scrape together enough for a 4k? Don't see much reason to buy a 1440p when it's less than 100 dollars more for a 4k - unless I'm missing something.
• The mic. I would MUCH prefer a headset to a desktop mic - mostly becasue I've never used a desktop mic. The general consensus is that a standalone pair of headphones is bar-none the way to go. I this is only a concern because I sometimes have kids, or my wife, or friends over and don't know that I trust a desktop mic to cancel the sound from these sources. Is my concern merit-less?
• Finally, a desk. My current setup is a costco style table as a desk. Don't ask. But it functions - though a proper desk would be much preferred. Ideas/recommendations on a budget?

Basically I can't sort these desires out in my head. I'd also like little things like a mouse pad and some pressure optimized fans for quiet and for the radiator. And advice or tips would be appreciated.

 

I'm also willing to consider more drastic changes to the build. Like getting a 970 instead of the ti and replacing it next year. I can get a 970 for about $270. Any ideas or comments?

 

[SauronsV]

Keeping a high end gpu for only a year seems like a waste, everything else seems fine, new gpus will come out this year, what games do u plan on playing within 6 months? Maybe it's worth getting a 380 and upgrading next year or u can geta 980ti and be done with it. Tough choice

[batcmatt]

I would recommend cutting back on the CPU cooler and the motherboard a bit, and investing in a desk and monitor. The desk and monitor in my opinion are the things you should spend the most on, mostly because it will be a long time before those have to be upgraded, while computer components, by comparison, get upgraded much more frequently.

[Codymm03]

Keeping a high end gpu for only a year seems like a waste, everything else seems fine, new gpus will come out this year, what games do u plan on playing within 6 months? Maybe it's worth getting a 380 and upgrading next year or u can geta 980ti and be done with it. Tough choice

I would recommend going for a 970 this year and buy the new one in a years

[Arcaed]

Keeping a high end gpu for only a year seems like a waste, everything else seems fine, new gpus will come out this year, what games do u plan on playing within 6 months? Maybe it's worth getting a 380 and upgrading next year or u can geta 980ti and be done with it. Tough choice

 

This was kind of my point with the 970 comment. I could switch to that, spend more right now on other things, saving over 200 bucks, and upgrade next tax season to a 1080 or whatever. Or get the 980ti now and get a better monitor next season.

 

I would recommend cutting back on the CPU cooler and the motherboard a bit, and investing in a desk and monitor. The desk and monitor in my opinion are the things you should spend the most on, mostly because it will be a long time before those have to be upgraded, while computer components, by comparison, get upgraded much more frequently.

 

My only rebuttal is that I'm very astectically driven, and this is the first build I've felt the budget justified having a nice looking rig. Also both the GTX H100i and the Mobo will likely last for 3+ years, so I'm not sure I'd want to cut back on those aspects. The PSU on the other hand, I could cut back on and see only a noise and slight power consumption increase. I definately see your point though. At the end of the day, if my computer looks cool but I'm stuck with a 1080p washed-out display, that's the part I'll be spending the time staring at not the PC itself. Do you have a motherboard in mind that would maybe not look super boring? 

[batcmatt]

This was kind of my point with the 970 comment. I could switch to that, spend more right now on other things, saving over 200 bucks, and upgrade next tax season to a 1080 or whatever. Or get the 980ti now and get a better monitor next season.

 

 

My only rebuttal is that I'm very astectically driven, and this is the first build I've felt the budget justified having a nice looking rig. Also both the GTX H100i and the Mobo will likely last for 3+ years, so I'm not sure I'd want to cut back on those aspects. The PSU on the other hand, I could cut back on and see only a noise and slight power consumption increase. I definately see your point though. At the end of the day, if my computer looks cool but I'm stuck with a 1080p washed-out display, that's the part I'll be spending the time staring at not the PC itself. Do you have a motherboard in mind that would maybe not look super boring? 

Do you have a color scheme in mind?

[Arcaed]

Do you have a color scheme in mind?

Red is easy, however, white, green or yellow would work too, just not feeling blue.

[batcmatt]

Red is easy, however, white, green or yellow would work too, just not feeling blue.

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Motherboard-B150-GAMING-M3/dp/B014YN6732/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1452564292&sr=1-8&keywords=motherboard

 

This is a pretty BA looking board for a red color scheme

[YongKang]

What are you trying to do with this rig? What are your expectations? Because otherwise, I can't help you.

[iaOreo]

I would get a Fury X man. But then again people will slander you and tell you you're a fanboy which sucks. but great build options IMO

[Arcaed]

What are you trying to do with this rig? What are your expectations? Because otherwise, I can't help you.

I want to game, it makes me feel special inside to crank everything I can up on the visuals. And will in the next year or so be playing at 2k or 4k. I don't do any other heavy tasks though I may start streaming.

[Arcaed]

I would get a Fury X man. But then again people will slander you and tell you you're a fanboy which sucks. but great build options IMO

Fury X is fine, but I can't get one for 500 bucks so the 980 ti wins.

[Arcaed]

http://www.amazon.com/MSI-Motherboard-B150-GAMING-M3/dp/B014YN6732/ref=sr_1_8?s=pc&ie=UTF8&qid=1452564292&sr=1-8&keywords=motherboard

This is a pretty BA looking board for a red color scheme

B150 chipset? Don't you skip overclocking with that over a Z170? Overclocking is so much fun though. [emoji24]

[YongKang]

I want to game, it makes me feel special inside to crank everything I can up on the visuals. And will in the next year or so be playing at 2k or 4k. I don't do any other heavy tasks though I may start streaming.

Well I think you can save some bucks with a cheaper cpu cooler. You can switch your 4x4gb RAM kit for a 2x8 gb. ( You don't need that fast RAM speed) You can get a 500gb 850 EVO for 160$ish.

 

For mass storage, I suggest you a WD blue 1TB. It's pretty cheap these days.

[Arcaed]

Well I think you can save some bucks with a cheaper cpu cooler. You can switch your 4x4gb RAM kit for a 2x8 gb. ( You don't need that fast RAM speed) You can get a 500gb 850 EVO for 160$ish.

 

For mass storage, I suggest you a WD blue 1TB. It's pretty cheap these days.

Again with the cheaper CPU cooler, if that's the recommendation what do you recommend? Don't most decent air coolers run 50 bucks anyways? I can get the GTX H100i for 78 bucks, that seems like a pretty good performance to dollar ratio. Is switching to a 2 channel RAM kit going to really save me enough money to justify it? Will it not effect performance at all going with 2 channel vs 4?

[YongKang]

Again with the cheaper CPU cooler, if that's the recommendation what do you recommend? Don't most decent air coolers run 50 bucks anyways? I can get the GTX H100i for 78 bucks, that seems like a pretty good performance to dollar ratio. Is switching to a 2 channel RAM kit going to really save me enough money to justify it? Will it not effect performance at all going with 2 channel vs 4?

Well, on the web, The H100i GTX cost around 110$. The CRYORIG R1 Ultimate is a pretty good choice, there's the Noctua NH-D15 and the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3.

The 3 cost around 89 USD.

On the RAM side, since you're not running Adobe after effect or any sort of those editing program, 2x8 should be fine. ( Personally, I think it's too OP for a gaming rig having 16 gb. That's just my opinion.)

 

[Arcaed]

Well, on the web, The H100i GTX cost around 110$. The CRYORIG R1 Ultimate is a pretty good choice, there's the Noctua NH-D15 and the be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3.

The 3 cost around 89 USD.

On the RAM side, since you're not running Adobe after effect or any sort of those editing program, 2x8 should be fine. ( Personally, I think it's too OP for a gaming rig having 16 gb. That's just my opinion.)

 

Again, I can get a GTX H100i for 78. The prices I posted in the OP are including my discount. So that's not saving me any money. Also looking up the price of 2x8gb vs 4x4 it litterally saves me 10 bucks, so I might just do 4x4 because it looks better for 10 bucks. Neither of these things directly answer my delemas that I mentioned

[YongKang]

If you fill up those RAM slots this early, you'll not have any space to upgrade your RAM unless you take out your RAM and put another kit in there.

H100 GTX for 78$? That's a steal. Just buy it lol.

4K displays are affordable compared to a year ago but with the hardware right now, it's not reaching that magical 60 fps. What I recommend you to do, buy a 1440p display because your 980ti can give you awesome framerate. The980ti would be just wasted if you're planning to play on 1080p unless you want like 200+fps.

[NumLock21]

I see most of your parts is from Newegg, so I configured 2 builds from Newegg.

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($389.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-SLI ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($203.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390X 8GB Tri-X OC Video Card  ($373.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Acrylic ATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($71.50 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Corsair STRAFE RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Mouse: Corsair SABRE RGB Wired Laser Mouse  ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1574.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-12 12:30 EST-0500

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($264.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII RANGER ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($202.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390X 8GB Tri-X OC Video Card  ($373.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Acrylic ATX Mid Tower Case  ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($71.50 @ Newegg)
Keyboard: Corsair STRAFE RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Mouse: Corsair SABRE RGB Wired Laser Mouse  ($54.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1333.39
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-12 12:38 EST-0500

[Arcaed]

I see most of your parts is from Newegg, so I configured 2 builds from Newegg.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($389.99 @ Newegg)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-SLI ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($203.98 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390X 8GB Tri-X OC Video Card ($373.98 @ Newegg)

Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Acrylic ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($71.50 @ Newegg)

Keyboard: Corsair STRAFE RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)

Mouse: Corsair SABRE RGB Wired Laser Mouse ($54.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $1574.38

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-12 12:30 EST-0500

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($264.99 @ Newegg)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII RANGER ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($202.98 @ Newegg)

Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Newegg)

Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R9 390X 8GB Tri-X OC Video Card ($373.98 @ Newegg)

Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Acrylic ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($71.50 @ Newegg)

Keyboard: Corsair STRAFE RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard ($139.99 @ Newegg)

Mouse: Corsair SABRE RGB Wired Laser Mouse ($54.99 @ Newegg)

Total: $1333.39

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-12 12:38 EST-0500

While I'm not opposed to some of your recommendations, if you read my original post, I point out that I can get a 970 for $270, so with your recommendations I'd opt for that over a 390x because there's not much of a difference. Also I can get the keyboard and mouse cheaper (again, OP). Though showing me how much I can really save going with a cheaper card is appreciated.

[NumLock21]

While I'm not opposed to some of your recommendations, if you read my original post, I point out that I can get a 970 for $270, so with your recommendations I'd opt for that over a 390x because there's not much of a difference. Also I can get the keyboard and mouse cheaper (again, OP). Though showing me how much I can really save going with a cheaper card is appreciated.

Not sure where you could get it for cheaper. The mouse link to bb cost $45 not the $31 that's in your post. Cheapest 970 from pcpp is pny at $280. Next up are zotac, msi and asus at $304-$309. Evga is $319

Anyway gtx970 has 4gb (3.5+.5) of vram and 390x has 8gb of vram.