+4 PC of Shinyness & Gaming

[UberMunchkin]

Hi Everyone, so I am starting a new PC Build in January, I have about a £6000 budget am based in the UK and I am aiming to use the machine for a combination of Video Editing and processing, gaming and I might let a friend of mine do some Audio processing on it (he has all the external kit needed for doing so, he just doesn't have a machine with a huge amount of grunt).  I am intending to overclock CPU, RAM and GPUs on this machine.

 

The build is going to be fully from scratch as my previous machine (an ancient Quad Core based system, oveclocked to within an inch of it's life) finally gave up the ghost and died on me.  Now it has been a good 5 or so years since I last built myself a PC so I thought it would be worth posting the spec and some of the reasoning here to see if any of you wonderful folks can offer me any tips based on stuff I may have missed.

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-5960X 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i GTX 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI X99A GODLIKE GAMING EATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 64GB (8 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory
Storage: Intel 750 Series 1.2TB PCI-E Solid State Drive
Storage: Western Digital Green 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive
Storage: Western Digital Green 4TB 3.5" 5900RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB HYBRID Video Card (2-Way SLI)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB HYBRID Video Card (2-Way SLI)
Case: Corsair Air 540 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Sound Card: Creative Labs ZXR 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card
 

Total: Approx £4000.00

 

So, here's my reasoning for this part of the build. I absolutely want the 8 Core CPU, it will be useful across the board, I want to water cool as much as I can in this machine but I don't really have the time to build a custom loop.  A bit of research shows that the Corsair CPU Coolers are quite well regarded so I figured I'd add one of those.

 

I'm not 100% wedded to the motherboard choice, I am also considering the ASUS Rampage V X99 Board.

 

64GB of RAM sounds overkill, until you start loading videos and hour long audio files for processing.  Going with the Dominator RAM as that has a lot of wiggle room for Overclocking.

 

Storage wise, the PCI-E SSD is there for boot up performance and game play.  The two spinning platter HDDs are going to be used for storage.  I also have an external NAS that will be used for backup.

 

GPUs, right.  I really wanted the Titan X but given the cost/performance difference between those and the 980Ti cards I really didn't think it was justified.  Also I want to water cool them for OC purposes but the aftermarket water cooling kits from Corsair don't seem to be available in the UK yet, hence my choice of a card that already has water cooling.  If anyone can make a recommendation here I would be all ears.

 

The case I chose because I love the look of it and I like the idea of the dual chamber design, allowing me to keep my HDDs seperate and giving me lots of options for cable management.

 

PSU, that should be pretty obvious.  I will also be getting the aftermarket braided cables.

 

Sound, I want a decent sound output, I have an existing set of PreSonus ERIS E4.5 Speakers that I will be using for desktop sound and am looking at something like the Razer Tiamat 7.1 headset.  I do have a question on that however, both the Soundblaster and the Tiamat have these quite large control modules that sit on your desk, is it possible to have both connected or will it have to be one or the other?

 

Finally, I have a couple of questions RE: Screen.  I am looking at either 2x 4K G-SYNC Enabled Monitors or a Single Curved Ultrawide (the Acer Predator X34 for preference) but I have no real experience with high end monitor gear like this so would love some opinions.

 

All told, with extra bits of kit like Mouse/Keyboard, screen, headset & additional custom case fans (I'm going for a purple and black theme) I'm expecting to come in around £5000.00 to £6000.00.

 

I would like to stress that this is a serious build, I have the money and will be building this machine in Q1 of 2016.

 

Cheers,

 

Steve

[multifrag]

Watercooling will eat up a good portion of your budget if you don't have the time to do it yourself, but you have enough money left. The only questionable part i see is having two 980ti. If you want to play 4k, sure... but most probably you will only be using one of them as lately games are poorly optimized for sli. Video editing in 4k not gonna use even 20% of one 980ti.

If you will be working with a lot of data, i'd suggest getting a hard drives in raid1/5 to save your projects/footage through out the day

[Starelementpoke]

Wait until January for when you make the part list. Zen and the Fury x2 are around the corner, as well as a whole bunch more.

[Patrickkd]

You could get a couple of these for the gpus as there are pre-filled water-cooled out of the box and would hopefully squeeze into the case

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_980_Ti_Waterforce/

I don't think they are out yet but they might be by the time you order the rest of your PC.

[Patrickkd]

Watercooling will eat up a good portion of your budget if you don't have the time to do it yourself, but you have enough money left. The only questionable part i see is having two 980ti. If you want to play 4k, sure... but most probably you will only be using one of them as lately games are poorly optimized for sli. Video editing in 4k not gonna use even 20% of one 980ti.

If you will be working with a lot of data, i'd suggest getting a hard drives in raid1/5 to save your projects/footage through out the day

I'm assuming thats what the two hard drives are for and he would work from the ssd.

[UberMunchkin]

Watercooling will eat up a good portion of your budget if you don't have the time to do it yourself, but you have enough money left. The only questionable part i see is having two 980ti. If you want to play 4k, sure... but most probably you will only be using one of them as lately games are poorly optimized for sli. Video editing in 4k not gonna use even 20% of one 980ti.

If you will be working with a lot of data, i'd suggest getting a hard driver to save your projects/footage through out the day

 

Thanks for that.  I was going to use the 2x 980Ti for driving some high res gaming and (eventually) want to use them to drive an Occulus Rift for Elite Dangerous purposes.   If that still seems overkill I could replace the 2x 980 Ti with a single Titan X. 

 

I have a NAS that is running 6TB in RAID 5 for backup and external storage. 

[Bl00dgod]

You could get a couple of these for the gpus as there are pre-filled water-cooled out of the box and would hopefully squeeze into the case

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Gigabyte/GTX_980_Ti_Waterforce/

I don't think they are out yet but they might be by the time you order the rest of your PC.

why not the evga 980ti hybrid?

[Liltrekkie]

Oh man, this setup is gold. 

 

For the motherboard, it seems like people liek the ASUS x99 deluxe, if you don't need the ROG features (or want different colors other than red) Might be a better option. 

 

Personally I'd get a single ultra wide monitor, more desktop space without the borders. If you do that though, you should switch to AMD R9 fury-x's as they will give you more performance in games. And you could potentiality opt for freesync if you decide against the ultra wide. (fury x's outperform the 980ti in high resolution gaming)

 

Also make sure you budget for an OS. I didn't see you list or budget one but I could be wrong. 

 

And last, broadwell-e is rumored to launch Q1 2016. So you might want to hold off until then, which you planned on building this monster around that time. 

[multifrag]

I'm assuming thats what the two hard drives are for and he would work from the ssd.

A lot of people don't raid their hard drives... and in professional work flow with a lot of footage you can get burned

[Coaxialgamer]

Wait until January for when you make the part list. Zen and the Fury x2 are around the corner, as well as a whole bunch more.

zen shouldn't be coming out until q4 2016 because of poor 14nm yields.

[multifrag]

Thanks for that.  I was going to use the 2x 980Ti for driving some high res gaming and (eventually) want to use them to drive an Occulus Rift for Elite Dangerous purposes.   If that still seems overkill I could replace the 2x 980 Ti with a single Titan X. 

 

I have a NAS that is running 6TB in RAID 5 for backup and external storage. 

Gaming part is completely your preference, but it's very good that you have backup storage set up 

[Starelementpoke]

zen shouldn't be coming out until q4 2016 because of poor 14nm yields.

Yeah, but hopefully there will be more info on it by then.

[Patrickkd]

why not the evga 980ti hybrid?

I didn't realised it was water-cooled, my bad maybe I should google it next time...

[UberMunchkin]

Wow, thanks for the massive response folks.  It is nice to get some actually useful feedback (I love my housemates but they are technology impaired).

 

So, I went with GE-FORCE cards because of the G-SYNC feature and because I have, in the past, had a lot of problems with drivers for AMD Graphics Cards and a few hardware issues with them.  However that was a while ago so if they have upped their game then I will take another look.

 

As for the storage setup, yes, I intend to work mostly off the PCI-E SSD with the twin 4TB drives for backup.  I should have said that I will probably set them up in RAID 1.  I may even look at adding another non-PCI-E SSD for a sort of mid point between the two.

 

Motherboard wise, I liked the idea of the MSI RAM Disk, that way if I'm not using all that RAM for running things I can use it for ultrafast storage which might help speed up some of the applications I intend to use.  However the Asus board does have 10 USB ports and a similar pretty solid design.  Although I wish you could get colours other than red.

 

Does anyone have any opinions on the Sound Card controller/headsety controller question?

 

Once again, thanks for your help.

[Liltrekkie]

Wow, thanks for the massive response folks.  It is nice to get some actually useful feedback (I love my housemates but they are technology impaired).

 

So, I went with GE-FORCE cards because of the G-SYNC feature and because I have, in the past, had a lot of problems with drivers for AMD Graphics Cards and a few hardware issues with them.  However that was a while ago so if they have upped their game then I will take another look.

 

As for the storage setup, yes, I intend to work mostly off the PCI-E SSD with the twin 4TB drives for backup.  I should have said that I will probably set them up in RAID 1.  I may even look at adding another non-PCI-E SSD for a sort of mid point between the two.

 

Motherboard wise, I liked the idea of the MSI RAM Disk, that way if I'm not using all that RAM for running things I can use it for ultrafast storage which might help speed up some of the applications I intend to use.  However the Asus board does have 10 USB ports and a similar pretty solid design.  Although I wish you could get colours other than red.

 

Does anyone have any opinions on the Sound Card controller/headsety controller question?

 

Once again, thanks for your help.

 

AMD has upped their game. I've had issues with Nvidia in the past but I know there will be issues with both sides at one point or another. Just happens..You'll pay a premium for G-sync monitors, where as freesync certified monitors you won't, this is because of the separate module needed on the monitor for G-sync. The fury-x will out perform the 980ti at anything above 1080p. Not worth the added price for getting a hybrid 980ti if you ask me. 

 

A ramdisk isn't really needed since that Intel PCIE SSD is plenty fast for whatever you'll need. But hey, gloating is nice sometimes. 

 

As far as your sound question, usually it's one or the other unless you use some kind of audio splitter. I don't use that headset, I use the Corsair gaming VOID RGB USB headset. (not the wireless one) But get whatever you like there, it's mostly personal preference anyway.

[Bl00dgod]

AMD has upped their game. I've had issues with Nvidia in the past but I know there will be issues with both sides at one point or another. Just happens..You'll pay a premium for G-sync monitors, where as freesync certified monitors you won't, this is because of the separate module needed on the monitor for G-sync. The fury-x will out perform the 980ti at anything above 1080p. Not worth the added price for getting a hybrid 980ti if you ask me. 

 

A ramdisk isn't really needed since that Intel PCIE SSD is plenty fast for whatever you'll need. But hey, gloating is nice sometimes. 

 

As far as your sound question, usually it's one or the other unless you use some kind of audio splitter. I don't use that headset, I use the Corsair gaming VOID RGB USB headset. (not the wireless one) But get whatever you like there, it's mostly personal preference anyway.

what? fury x outperform the ti hybrid? almost all tests i've seen show that the ti is ahead, and if you get a hybrid the temps are nice too and dont have pump noise problems like the fury

http://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/2008-amd-radeon-r9-fury-x-full-analysis-and-crossfire/Page-2

 

 

Nvidia VS AMD

Enthusiast Options

Price Range: $650-690 OR £510-560

Nvidia - GTX 980Ti AMD - R9 Fury X

Nvidia wins in this price point in terms of performance; however, AMD has advantages in other areas. The 980Ti defeats the Fury X in every game, especially when overclocked. In Battlefield 4, it beats the Fury X by 15 FPS at 1080p Ultra (97 FPS Average VS 113 FPS Average). AMD has other things going for it though. Due to its water cooled deisgn, it is both cooler and quieter than the GTX 980Ti (other than the first production run that had pump whining issues that have now been fixed). The lack of an air cooler allows the GPU to fit into smaller cases with not much room for a huge graphics card.Once AMD unlocks the voltage on the Fury X via a driver update, overclockers should be able to make the Fury X match, if not beat, the 980Ti, due to the headroom from the water cooling (this is speculation, not confirmed).HBM memory on the Fury X allows for MUCH higher bandwidth memory, that will really start to come into play as new games optimize for it, but for now the 980Ti wins on the VRAM side due to its 6GB (non HBM), VS the Fury X's 4GB (HBM).

Currently, the GTX 980Ti is the GPU to get for sure. It offers better performance, doesn't need a radiator taking up a fan mounting slot, and is MUCH better to overclock. If you have a Mini ITX/small Micro ATX system, the Fury X might be the card for you if you have not much room for a long GPU. The performance of the Fury X is likely to be bumped up by a driver update that will unlock card voltages and result in better overclocks, and by games optimizing for HBM memory; however, for now the GTX 980Ti is the GPU to choose.

Bragging Rights Options

Price Range: $1000-1300(Nvidia), $680(AMD) OR £760-830(Nvidia), £540(AMD)

Nvidia - GTX Titan X AMD - R9 295X2

The R9 295X2 wins here in performance, but I would NOT reccomend it, unless you absolutely have to have the best performance. It consumes RIDICULOUS amounts of power (500W), outputs a metric butt ton of heat, and has issues with stuttering, just like an SLI configuration, due to it being a dual-GPU card. The Titan X performs the same as the GTX 980Ti which is half the price, and the doubled VRAM won't matter until the Titan X is too weak a GPU to play the games that need 12GB anyway.

Buy the R9 295X2 if you want to own what is the most powerful Graphics Card. Then regret your decision as your power bill goes through the roof and the room your computer is in turns into a desert. Buy the Titan X if you want to then look down at your wallet and weep, realising you could have gotten the same for almost half the price. Buy either of them if you want to join the ranks of the elite enthusiasts with more money than sense.

Conclusion

In terms of performance, Nvidia wins at the very budget (GTX 750) and enthusiast (GTX 980Ti) levels, while AMD runs away with it for budget to high-end levels. This is quite interesting, as the majority of sales will come from the areas that AMD are winning in; currently, Nvidia owns about 60% of the GPU market, but in my opinion this is set to change so long as the information gets put out there for the general market to see.

By Bob Jim

 

[Liltrekkie]

what? fury x outperform the ti hybrid? almost all tests i've seen show that the ti is ahead, and if you get a hybrid the temps are nice too and dont have pump noise problems like the fury

http://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/2008-amd-radeon-r9-fury-x-full-analysis-and-crossfire/Page-2

 

And is $200 more, and with recent drivers, the fury-x seems to be leaping ahead of the 980ti. 

 

There have been many articles about the fury-x beating the 980ti with the new AMD drivers. I havent found a single benchmark that puts the hybrid against the fury-x using the new drivers.Actually I havent seen too many benchmarks of the hybrid at all. So if you find a benchmark the the hybrid that pits the fury-x against it with the new drivers, ill all for seeing it

[UberMunchkin]

And is $200 more, and with recent drivers, the fury-x seems to be leaping ahead of the 980ti. 

 

There have been many articles about the fury-x beating the 980ti with the new AMD drivers. I havent found a single benchmark that puts the hybrid against the fury-x using the new drivers.Actually I havent seen too many benchmarks of the hybrid at all. So if you find a benchmark the the hybrid that pits the fury-x against it with the new drivers, ill all for seeing it

 

So I've done some looking into this as the new AMD memory architecture seems really interesting but it does look like the 980 TI outperforms the AMD in almost every test/comparison that I have managed to find.

 

Could you link me some of the articles that you mention?  I'd like to do some further reading.

[Liltrekkie]

So I've done some looking into this as the new AMD memory architecture seems really interesting but it does look like the 980 TI outperforms the AMD in almost every test/comparison that I have managed to find.

 

Could you link me some of the articles that you mention?  I'd like to do some further reading.

 

Here is the main article that seems to be quoted a lot: http://wccftech.com/amd-r9-fury-x-performance-ahead-nvidia-980-ti-latest-drivers/

 

And a video of someone who did benchmarks using the latest drivers: 

(long video, but informative to me)

 

Long story short, the new crimson drivers put the fury-x ahead of the 980ti.