New Gaming Build

[xXDeltaXx]

Hi, looking for some suggestions and parts...

 

My current gaming rig has been showing it's age for years now, but due to some OS / Hard Drive issues (motherboard age, new HDD sizes, etc), the 7 / 8 year old rig needs replacing. But I'm not sure what to replace it with...

 

As I see it, there are 3 options: Z97, X99, Z170.

 

The build will be a gaming rig as primary, but may end up rendering or such like. I want it to last as long as possible, so I'm wondering about X99 / Z170 as I see them having a better chance of lasting longer than Z97.

The current system started off with no OC, then as it started to show its age, it got a healthy OC to keep it going. With Z170, I figure that same process may be viable. With X99, the possibility of going from the 5820k up to the 5930k would be a good future update (or 5930k to 5960k).

 

But I'm open to suggestions...

 

The whole thing is unplanned due to the issues rendering the rig unuseable - so I've not done much research into components... (I shall continue to do so, but I'd appreciate the advice )

 

I'm in the UK, Case / SSD / HDDs / Monitor / Keyboard / mouse, etc (and the budget) have not been set as of yet...

I will be looking to have an SSD / M.2 as the OS drive, plus 2x HDDs in RAID 1.

[BigDay]

dont worry about future proofing as there's no such thing. whatever you get now will last you awhile. i wouldn't worry about it.

 

how much gaming will you be doing and how much rendering will you be doing? which takes priority? how intense will the renders be and how often?

 

what is your budget?

[Captain Matt]

What kind of rendering?
If you're just doing some video rendering for some max 30 minute YouTube videos, X99 would be nice, but I think the money you would spend on an advanced motherboard would stretch you build longer if you focused on a gaming focused rig.
I have an 8350 now and it only takes like... 10-15 minutes to rendering a 10-15 minute video. It's fine.

 

If you're doing CAD stuff and CAD stuff for the long term (Ex: It's your major at your university), then sure go X99. 

[BigDay]

you're going to need x2 extra power connectors for this build. the 6700k will be great for gaming and rendering. x2 980's in sli will perform better than a single 980 ti and will play 1440p games at excellent frame rates; some above 120 fps at ultra settings

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  (£300.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler  (£57.46 @ CCL Computers)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (£111.00 @ More Computers)
Memory: Kingston FURY 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  (£42.96 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£51.93 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 120GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (£51.93 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£34.92 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (£34.92 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 4GB Armor 2X Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (£406.09 @ More Computers)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 4GB Armor 2X Video Card (2-Way SLI)  (£406.09 @ More Computers)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case  (£69.98 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (£72.62 @ CCL Computers)
Monitor: Acer XG270HU 144Hz 27.0" Monitor  (£349.98 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1989.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-09-07 15:46 BST+0100

[xXDeltaXx]

~Snip~

Cheers I'll have a proper look over that.

 

~snip~

 

This is the current status with my rigs and usage (if it changes anything).

 

I've got the parts together to build a dedicated CAD rig for Solidworks (somewhere between a hobby and a profession) - I'd been drawing them up on the gaming rig before it broke down; so it isn't built as of yet...

CPU: Intel i7-4790K, CPU Cooler: CoolerMaster Nepton 240M, Motherboard: ASUS Maximus VII Impact, RAM: Kingston Savage (2x 8GB), Storage: 1x 512GB Samsung 850 Pro & 2x 4TB Western Digital Red Pro, Graphics: PNY Quadro K4200, PSU: BitFenix Fury 550G (hopefully big enough), Case: Corsair 250D, OS: Windows 7.

Solidworks requires a Quadro / FirePro to get the full functionality for rendering etc.

 

The gaming rig is to do everything else...

I don't currently stream or anything, but that is the way things seem to be going & with a more capable gaming rig, I may end up doing that & needing this rig to be able to handle that kind of video rendering (or, I guess, I may be able to hand it off to the CAD rig).

The dream was 3x 1440p screens in surround, but that may have to reduce to a single 1440p for the moment.

My Steam library is massive, so I'm going to need larger than 1TB drives - I was wondering about duplicating the drive setup for the CAD rig...

 

Not sure if that changes anything with the previous suggestion...?

[xXDeltaXx]

you're going to need x2 extra power connectors for this build. the 6700k will be great for gaming and rendering. x2 980's in sli will perform better than a single 980 ti and will play 1440p games at excellent frame rates; some above 120 fps at ultra settings

You think the additional cost for 2x GTX980s over the GTX980ti is worth it for the boost in performance...? I've kind of got worries about the 4GB VRAM on the 980s vs. the 6GB on the 980ti... I do play Skyrim lol

[BigDay]

You think the additional cost for 2x GTX980s over the GTX980ti is worth it for the boost in performance...? I've kind of got worries about the 4GB VRAM on the 980s vs. the 6GB on the 980ti... I do play Skyrim lol

 

get a 980 ti then

 

x2 980's will perform better in most games though

 

yes, you will have an issue with vram as it's only 4 gb

[xXDeltaXx]

~snip~

Hey, just wondering how you chose that MSI motherboard...? I'm looking at a few different ones, but having a bit of a hard time choosing which to go for...

[BigDay]

Hey, just wondering how you chose that MSI motherboard...? I'm looking at a few different ones, but having a bit of a hard time choosing which to go for...

 

do you need crossfire or sli? x99 or z170 or z97?

[xXDeltaXx]

do you need crossfire or sli? x99 or z170 or z97?

Z170, possibly SLI in the future (not quite at the moment), I know that aesthetics shouldn't be number 1 priority, but I kinda want to stay away from a white one (or look at a different 980Ti which would colour match).

 

I'm coming from an old rig, so anything is an upgrade, but it also means that I have some possibly old info stuck in my head. For example - I know ASUS has redesigned their ethernet ports. Also, I know that one manufacture is using Killer, and that used to not always be a good thing.

Additionally, I have experiance with old Creative sound cards - the drivers suck! I presume that they have improved for onboard... but I haven't the experience.

 

Kind of wondering about the ASUS Maximus VII Hero, but I'm not 100% sure.

[BigDay]

Z170, possibly SLI in the future (not quite at the moment), I know that aesthetics shouldn't be number 1 priority, but I kinda want to stay away from a white one (or look at a different 980Ti which would colour match).

 

I'm coming from an old rig, so anything is an upgrade, but it also means that I have some possibly old info stuck in my head. For example - I know ASUS has redesigned their ethernet ports. Also, I know that one manufacture is using Killer, and that used to not always be a good thing.

Additionally, I have experiance with old Creative sound cards - the drivers suck! I presume that they have improved for onboard... but I haven't the experience.

 

Kind of wondering about the ASUS Maximus VII Hero, but I'm not 100% sure.

 

the cheapest sli board from asus in z170 is the Z170 PRO GAMING. check that out. hero just looks like overkill