First PC build / Up to 3,000 USD / Gaming / Content Creation

[Cupcakejizz]

Hello everyone! Just joined here on the forums. So I'm getting back into the PC world after 10 years and after watching Linus Tech Tips on youtube, I have a general sense of whats new and good out there. But I need guidance.

 

My goal is to have an intense gaming rig, as well as a work station where content creation and some programming will ensue (thus the i7 choice).

 

My budget is up to 3,000 USD. I'll be using one monitor at 1080p, unless someone convinces me to go 1440-2k, or 4k with my current build idea.

 

Any advice, critique, comments are very much appreciated. Thank you for your time.

 

Edit1: Forgot to mention I will be overclocking for sure

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110i GTX 104.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII HERO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($219.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($147.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($82.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card  ($649.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case  ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($105.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Sound Card: Asus Xonar Essence STX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card  ($148.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Wireless Network Adapter: Asus PCE-AC68 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($85.59 @ SuperBiiz)
Case Fan: Corsair SP140 49.5 CFM 140mm  Fans  ($28.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Corsair SP140 49.5 CFM 140mm  Fans  ($28.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Corsair SP140 49.5 CFM 140mm  Fans  ($28.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($239.99 @ Micro Center)
Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($169.99 @ Micro Center)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M95 Wired Laser Mouse  ($68.50 @ Amazon)
Total: $2411.61
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-17 01:22 EST-0500

[Xenift]

Creative sound booster pcie sound card looks nice and might be worth for you to check out since they have a variant with table volume controls.

Other than that, you havent missed anything, welcome back to the pc world.

[skyress3000]

You should run 1440p if you're getting a 980. I would take out the sound card unless you really need a specific feature of it, and that would give you enough money for even a gsync 1440p monitor, or an ultrawide if you wanted to take that route.

[Cupcakejizz]

Creative sound booster pcie sound card looks nice and might be worth for you to check out since they have a variant with table volume controls.

Other than that, you havent missed anything, welcome back to the pc world.

Thanks for your feedback. I'll be sure to check it out! I honestly wasn't sure if I needed one to begin with..

[Xenift]

Thanks for your feedback. I'll be sure to check it out! I honestly wasn't sure if I needed one to begin with..

Actually not a must, as the motherboard itself came with quite good audio to begin with.

But the sound cards add flavour to your setup so i see no reason why not.

144hz is okay, since even the godly 980ti cannot handle 144hz perfectly well right now.

Witcher 3 144hz? Heck yeah!

[Cupcakejizz]

Alright I definitely want to explore higher resolution as skyress brought up, and I'll need to do some more research on the sound card as far as benefits go. But I understand what you're saying about how it adds more flavor.

[stconquest]

Comparative build:

 

$2470

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor  ($374.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($123.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-UD3P (rev. 1.0) ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($143.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws Series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($147.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Red Pro 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($159.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card  ($649.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Antec HCG M 850W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter  ($29.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Acer G257HU smidpx 60Hz 25.0" Monitor  ($259.99 @ B&H)
Keyboard: Corsair K70 Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($109.99 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Logitech G402 Wired Optical Mouse  ($44.98 @ Amazon)
Total: $2410.52
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-17 01:40 EST-0500

[Cupcakejizz]

stconquest, do you mind explaining why the 5820k?

[Elektroschocker]

i would get rid of that soundcard and WiFi card

and upgrade my mobo so it has onboard wifi

as it was said before the onboard sound nower days is so good you dont need a sound card.

and i would agree to maybe get a 1440p monitor, with that 980 Ti

 

maybe like this?

 

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WRn4Hx
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/WRn4Hx/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110i GTX 104.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-DELUXE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($317.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($147.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($82.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card  ($649.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 750D ATX Full Tower Case  ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($105.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)  ($89.88 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Corsair SP140 49.5 CFM 140mm  Fans  ($28.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Corsair SP140 49.5 CFM 140mm  Fans  ($28.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Corsair SP140 49.5 CFM 140mm  Fans  ($28.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus VG248QE 144Hz 24.0" Monitor  ($239.99 @ Micro Center)
Keyboard: Corsair K70 RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($169.99 @ Micro Center)
Mouse: Corsair Vengeance M95 Wired Laser Mouse  ($68.50 @ Amazon)
Total: $2275.03
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-12-17 01:46 EST-0500

[stconquest]

stconquest, do you mind explaining why the 5820k?

6 cores, 12 threads.

 

@Cupcakejizz

 

Sorry, was involved in a box of assorted chocolates.  I will elaborate:

 

The extra cores of the 5820K will help when working with video content (rendering)  As far as gaming goes, clock for clock, the i7 6700K and the 5820K are both going to do roughly the same job.  The 6700K has slightly better IPC performance, and the 5820K has better multi-threaded performance (usually not that beneficial in games, but that is changing).

[Cupcakejizz]

6 cores, 12 threads.

I see, I see

 

Good point on getting rid of the sound/ wifi cards elektro, never crossed my mind lol.

 

Edit: With a better mobo, and 1440 monitor I'm at just under 2700, which is good  B)

 

 

6 cores, 12 threads.

 

@Cupcakejizz

 

Sorry, was involved in a box of assorted chocolates.  I will elaborate:

 

The extra cores of the 5820K will help when working with video content (rendering)  As far as gaming goes, clock for clock, the i7 6700K and the 5820K are both going to do roughly the same job.  The 6700K has slightly better IPC performance, and the 5820K has better multi-threaded performance (usually not that beneficial in games, but that is changing).

 

Thank you for elaborating. Where's my chocolate?

You're getting into my head by adding that last part "(usually not that beneficial in games, but that is changing)"

 

How long until we start seeing games utilize the multi-thread?

[g4m3cr34tor]

@Cupcakejizz are you sure about running an additional sound card? The Maximus VIII HERO has pretty good onboard audio as it is

[Cupcakejizz]

@Cupcakejizz are you sure about running an additional sound card? The Maximus VIII HERO has pretty good onboard audio as it is

Was never sure about it tbh. Elektro brought up a good point about just getting a mobo with onboard audio/ wifi.

 

Thanks for all your input so far everyone, appreciate it. Actually giving me a direction I'm feeling good about.

[stconquest]

I see, I see

 

Good point on getting rid of the sound/ wifi cards elektro, never crossed my mind lol.

 

Edit: With a better mobo, and 1440 monitor I'm at just under 2700, which is good  B)

 

 

 

Thank you for elaborating. Where's my chocolate?

You're getting into my head by adding that last part "(usually not that beneficial in games, but that is changing)"

 

How long until we start seeing games utilize the multi-thread?

 

Some already do.  I am playing Anno 2205 right now, all my 4 cores are equally being used while I play.

 

...don't do it, chocolate is evil.

 

Even the entry level Z170 motherboards have good audio.  You don't need a sound card for general use.

[ChrisCross]

if you do content creation go with a 5820k and an asus x99-a or deluxe. i would save my money on the soundcard and the fans. 90$ for fans is quite much