Review, recommendations please

[aeongray]

Hello Linus Tech Tips community,

 

1. Budget & Location

Budget is ranging from ~$1600 to $2000, location is United States

2. Aim / 5. Why are you upgrading

Currently using a PS4 as main gaming console, but I want the new 4K gaming/VR fancy toys for a bunch of the new games coming out soon.

Alternatively, also intending on running statistics software that could potentially benefit from the i7 / hyperthreading (depends though - not a lot of programs I've used so far do not take advantage of hyperthreading yet so this was an impulse decision. I initially was leaning towards getting the i5-6600K instead and moving the ~100 bucks towards a 4K monitor).

3. Monitors

Currently asking for recommendations for 4K monitor (I'm guessing I'll throw at least $400 on this and $1600 on the pc parts)

4. Peripherals

Currently already have a Blackwidow keyboard.

Not sure on fans.... I do know Noctua is the favorite brand so far, but I'm not very convinced of the price per performance yet. This would be nice to have but I'm not so sure on how hot this setup would run.

Also not sure on the case, it is a bit small so I am concerned about airflow.

 

Here is what I've been able to look at so far. 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/H8DFFT

 

Please let me know if you have any suggestions!

 

Thank you very much.

 

 

 

[JoePro87]

5 minutes ago, aeongray said:

 

Here is what I've been able to look at so far. 

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/H8DFFT

 

Please let me know if you have any suggestions!

 

Thank you very much.

 

 

 

My recommendation, if you want to do VR, get a different graphics card. You'll want to look on the AMD side for that. LiquidVR is the way to go. Get the R9 390, and save yourself $40. Do you NEED the 6700k? Maybe downgrade it to the 4790k, and save a little more money. I mean, not that there is anything WRONG with the parts you're wanting, but you don't have to spend that much to get a good rig. Also, you're spending $100 on a water cooler for the CPU. Yeah, water cooling is cool and all (get it? ), but I would also look into a less expensive system than that, personally. Heck, I have an AMD FX-8300 CPU (space heater), and it runs just fine on air cooling. Just a few thoughts.

[aeongray]

Hi JoePro87, I'm looking into the 4790K and it appears I'll need to change the motherboard and ram for that. 

 

Also swapped the graphics card with the Sapphire Radeon R9 390 (didn't seem the 390X was worth the additional $80-$100): http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-100382ntoc2l

 

I saw the water cooler and yes I thought it was cool (lols) and swapped that out /w an air cooler.

 

Here's a second take at it: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LHdc3C

 

(first one /w OS and mouse taken out to compare: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kxwZgs)

 

 

I shaved off $202.08 from the PC parts, but downgraded the ram/cpu/mb for the previous generation. How does the second take look now? Is the graphics card beefy enough?

 

Thanks again.

 

 

 

[JoePro87]

1 minute ago, aeongray said:

Hi JoePro87, I'm looking into the 4790K and it appears I'll need to change the motherboard and ram for that. 

 

Also swapped the graphics card with the Sapphire Radeon R9 390 (didn't seem the 390X was worth the additional $80-$100): http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-100382ntoc2l

 

I saw the water cooler and yes I thought it was cool (lols) and swapped that out /w an air cooler.

 

Here's a second take at it: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LHdc3C

 

(first one /w OS and mouse taken out to compare: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kxwZgs)

 

 

I shaved off $202.08 from the PC parts, but downgraded the ram/cpu/mb for the previous generation. How does the second take look now? Is the graphics card beefy enough?

 

Thanks again.

 

 

 

Yeah man, I actually have that exact graphics card, and I love it. It has great overclocking potential, the Sapphire edition stays nice and cool, and with 8GB of GDDR5, will be ready for AAA titles for years to come. Personally, I think that build is just about perfect. And yeah man, that $80 you saved on the cooler will get you quite a few games on the next Steam sale! Love it!

[Starelementpoke]

32 minutes ago, aeongray said:

Hi JoePro87, I'm looking into the 4790K and it appears I'll need to change the motherboard and ram for that. 

 

Also swapped the graphics card with the Sapphire Radeon R9 390 (didn't seem the 390X was worth the additional $80-$100): http://pcpartpicker.com/part/sapphire-video-card-100382ntoc2l

 

I saw the water cooler and yes I thought it was cool (lols) and swapped that out /w an air cooler.

 

Here's a second take at it: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/LHdc3C

 

(first one /w OS and mouse taken out to compare: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/kxwZgs)

 

 

I shaved off $202.08 from the PC parts, but downgraded the ram/cpu/mb for the previous generation. How does the second take look now? Is the graphics card beefy enough?

 

Thanks again.

 

 

 

Looks fine. However, if you truly want to be VR ready, might be a wiser choice for Pascal and Polaris to drop. Might be worth just getting a place holder card for now, then getting one of the new ones as it drops. Also, this is more of a personal qualm than anything, but I´d get a little beefier psu. You can get a 650 watt GQ for about $10, just a recommendation.