I am torn...

[Batmaz_The_Unsinkable]

Ok. So here is my build thus far with what I have purchased.

 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/HZBmhM

 

So there are a couple of things that I am worried about and a couple of things that I am certain of. 

 

I am going to be buying an AX1500i, no matter how unnecessary it is, and I will also be buying the Blu Ray drive because I need one. I am half way set on the 980 ti because it is 350 dollars less than the Titan X, which was what I was originally going to buy, and I plan to buy the new monitor that Asus is releasing with G Sync compatibility, 1440p, and ips. And I will certainly be buying the 4 tb HDD.

 

What I am torn on is a couple of things. 

I have been reading through multiple forums and am split on whether I should buy X99 or wait for the Broadwell E series to buy. My current computer is a 5 year old HP DV-6 2190us laptop on a cooling mat with a 128gb 840 pro inside and the original HDD being used as a USB 2.0 external HDD. The battery is dead and it overheats as if it is a space heater. Thus, I would like to purchase now. If Broadwell E is only going to be a 10-15% increase over Haswell E, then I personally don't think the wait will be worth it. Therefore, if I buy X99, I will be buying the 5960X, because I buy the best of what is available at the time. That is just the way my family and I work. My main purpose for this rig will be gaming, spreadsheets, and running code, and I know that the 8 core is completely unnecessary, but that's besides the point. Also, do you think I should wait and see if X99 boards get an upgrade to USB C? If it could possibly be coming out in the next 1-2 months, then I will wait, but if it is not likely to happen, then I guess is it Rampage V Extreme. 

 

As for my other concern, I do not know if the Xonar Essence STX 2 is the best or if it is even worth it. I don't want to have an external DAC, because I don't want it to be on my desk. I have a pair of KRK RP5s and would like to get better sound out of them than what I get though a cheap laptop sound card. What recommendations would you guys give me. I don't know too much about the audio world...

 

As for the 900D and water cooling, That is to come. I just don't have anymore funding allocated to watercool this thing. It would cost me 500-600 dollars for quality parts, so I will save and buy later.  i will also later either upgrade to Pascal, which is supposedly going to be 10 times better than Maxwell, or just add a second 980ti. Also, what fans would you guys recommend for the H100i or any radiator in general. The industrial NFF12s are good but they are just so expensive...

 

I will upload a picture of my set up right now.

[Tazman192]

I am going to be buying an AX1500i, no matter how unnecessary it is

 

Why exactly?

[Batmaz_The_Unsinkable]

Why exactly?

You see I can't answer that directly. It just appeals to me. Therefore I will buy it. It is $100 more than the Ax1200i, but it has more power. I don't think I iwll ever use that much power, but I am going to get it nonetheless.

[Tazman192]

You see I can't answer that directly. It just appeals to me. Therefore I will buy it. It is $100 more than the Ax1200i, but it has more power. I don't think I iwll ever use that much power, but I am going to get it nonetheless.

 

"More power" that I highly doubt you'd have use for, but its your build so your choice.

[ImBleu]

Worst case scenario, you appear to be in the budget to buy a cheapo USB-C PCI card.

 

And yes, you buy the "best you can get", but anything over the 5930k is a waste, and the AX1500i is 100% unneeded. You'll be losing out in more ways than just financially. You want your build to be close to your limit for it to run at full efficiency. Which is why you generally dont go past 100-150w above your build's recommended TDP. 

 

A 1500i powering a single GTX980Ti will be pulling nowhere near anything above 800w with a 5930k/5960x.

[Ertman]

For the CPU, I wouldn't bother waiting. I am sure there will be some improvements, but since there isn't expected to be much improvement going to broadwell in general, I would think that the e-series would also be the same. Feel free to wait for more opinions.

 

 

Why exactly?

I haven't seen a need listed, so I am guessing the OP just likes throwing money away. strange since they want to water cool and need to save for the additional expense, but they need to throw away hundreds of dollars on a PSU they don't need.

[dragosudeki]

snip

Pascal is going to be 10 times better than Maxwell when recent generation jumps aren't closing to reaching 100%? Also the power supply will be worse off if you don't use it's most of its power. I'm pretty sure the 1500i is overkill for the 1 card now (and still overkill for the possible SLI upgrade). CPU generations don't jump much in performance either so you don't have to wait if you don't want to. 

[Batmaz_The_Unsinkable]

Worst case scenario, you appear to be in the budget to buy a cheapo USB-C PCI card.

 

And yes, you buy the "best you can get", but anything over the 5930k is a waste, and the AX1500i is 100% unneeded. You'll be losing out in more ways than just financially. You want your build to be close to your limit for it to run at full efficiency. Which is why you generally dont go past 100-150w above your build's recommended TDP. 

 

A 1500i powering a single GTX980Ti will be pulling nowhere near anything above 800w with a 5930k/5960x.

 

 

Pascal is going to be 10 times better than Maxwell when recent generation jumps aren't closing to reaching 100%? Also the power supply will be worse off if you don't use it's most of its power. I'm pretty sure the 1500i is overkill for the 1 card now (and still overkill for the possible SLI upgrade).

 

So you would suggest the 1200i?

[Batmaz_The_Unsinkable]

Pascal is going to be 10 times better than Maxwell when recent generation jumps aren't closing to reaching 100%? Also the power supply will be worse off if you don't use it's most of its power. I'm pretty sure the 1500i is overkill for the 1 card now (and still overkill for the possible SLI upgrade). CPU generations don't jump much in performance either so you don't have to wait if you don't want to. 

What about Skylake. It is supposed to release in the next few months and is supposed to implement unidimm and PCIE 4.0. I don't think the mainstream processors will be better than the X99 platform, but if they release that soon, when will the enthusiast platform be released?

[Batmaz_The_Unsinkable]

What about sound card? Any recommendations there or is that card fine?

[dragosudeki]

What about Skylake. It is supposed to release in the next few months and is supposed to implement unidimm and PCIE 4.0. I don't think the mainstream processors will be better than the X99 platform, but if they release that soon, when will the enthusiast platform be released?

If unidimm is just compatability between DDR3 and DDR4 then it won't matter because you can just wait and buy DDR4 memory at that time. Even with PCIE 4.0, does that mean you're going to wait for a graphics card to use it? Is this a build that is going to be done in the future or a build that is going to be done soon? If you're going to wait for future products, you'll always be constantly waiting because the next generation will also implement new features and what not. If you're going to wait for future products, then delay your entire plan/build because there will always be other better stuff when that future product does come out. If you're building for soon, then you should plan with what is out right now.