First Build. MSI Z170A Krait Gaming 3x

[TidgeyPudds]

Hello Jedi's
Through much research over the past 24 hours, i've found out what SLi, bandwidth, M.2 and other terms mean. I've included in my research some components and reading up on em. Out of my depth but enjoying the process.

I have purchased the MSI Z170A Krait Gaming 3x with the idea of being able to throw in some more RAM if i wanted to later or take advantage of the SLi. It seemed like good quality for the £124 i paid.
Because i don't work "fulltime" my income is limited.
My end goal is to have a PC that can play FPS games such as SQUAD and ArmA3 at a level that doesnt make me think to myself "i wish my rig was better" Not space aged but accetable enough to create a pleasant gaming experience.

I'd like to spend between £50 - £150 on each component. Obviously if i can get a perfectly good case/cooling system for less than £50 or whatever then im not going to spend more than i have to. But i really dont want to scrimp on a power supply or a CPU and so on. (the main bits) Although items like M.2 I would love to have for the fact they're newish and a cool thing to have.

I'm going to start of with the questions i have in a list to make it easier for you guys to help, afterwards any advice would be appreciated. 

#1 Is the i5 6600k good enough to create my experience? (Or for a few extra £££'s can i squeeze a better CPU in)

#2 Should i take advantage of the SLi?

#3 keeping in context of the graphics will my motherboard support two GTX 960 4gb cards in SLi and would that be better than one GTX 980 ti. (The reason i ask is because to shell out the money for a 980 ti would be difficult, but i could get one 960 4gb and then another later. Keeping to the limited income) Tbh im not sure about the graphics cards at all, these are just two i've seen. Really baffled by what graphics cards to get or even consider

#4 I really wanna try and keep the black and white kinda groove going on with the motherboard looking so cool, cant find a space aged case. They're all abit iRobot looking. I want jaggy edges and laserbeams lol

#5 M.2 I know what it is and i know i want one.. but i dont know why. Can i get a M.2 and have that as my main drive? with my OS / Main documents on it and basically fill that up before i need to buy a SSD or HDD? Or is it a luxury item that should be running along side other SSD's? Will it effect gaming performance that much? i have no idea. But i'd love to own one. ALSO will my motherboard support the Samsung 950 Pro?

#6 The only things left are Coolers and the power supply. I really want to invest in a 80 gold, platinum or titanium power supply. The quality and reassurance that comes with it is paramount. It's a constant warning im getting from youtube videos and other info. (Am i too paranoid about it?) or is my paranoier warranted? lol ALSO what kind of wattage will i need for 2 gpu's in SLi? for instance will a 650w power everything i'll eventually want? or should i go 1000w?

#7 I have no idea about coolers. I'd rather not have liquid cooling for price and having liquid near my rig doesnt seem like a smart move (my own ignorance is noted) Also keeping in mind i may want to invest in a second GPU in the future what kind of cooling system will i need to buy to make sure im not replacing it to accommodate the second GPU.

 

#8 What kind of RAM will i want to go for? I've heard DDR5 is great.. then i've also heard i can only support DDR4? then therees different speeds.. like 2200mhz? up to 3600 mhz? what does this mean?

 

To summarise. The experience im looking for is my main goal. But i would like to have luxury items too (snazy case, M.2) I'm trying to build that experience but also build for the future. Looking ahead to the SLi days of my hopefully near future. Will i need a bigger PSU and better cooling system ready for when i eventually get to the promise land?

I thank you all for your time and patience. 

Tidgey.

 

 

[WEEEEEE]

1) The 6600k will be just fine.

2) Many games do not have good multi-gpu support (or may lack it outright), and this, combined with the higher powerdraw of your system means that SLI is not recommended. 

3) Keep in mind that nVidia and AMD have both realeased new GPU's this year. This all depends on what resolution you are playing at. If only want to play at 1080p, the RX480 will do just fine. However, if you plan to play at higher resolutions (such as 1440p) then you may want to look into the GTX 1070. Many of the cards you mentioned are now going for much cheaper than they were previously were, look at recent prices on websites such as pcpartpicker.com.

4) Perhaps the Phanteks P400 or the NZXT S340 (both in white) could work. This is really more your personal preference.

5) The effect on gaming performance is minimal, however it will help with overall system snapiness. Considering the high price of the 950 pro, I would rather go with a 256GB M.2 850 EVO (for OS, small applications, ect.), and a 1-2TB HDD (for games, media, ect.), this way trading a little bit speed for a whole lot more storage.

6) Take a look at the PSU tierlist. If you aren't planing on SLI, anything tier 3 and up with anywhere from 500-650W will work just fine.

7) The CM Hyper 212 Evo is the go-to choice. If you want more something a little bit better then you can go with the Cryorig H7.

If you really do want SLI, then you can get a single card now, and SLI later.

I highly recommend pcpartpicker.com if you don't know about it already.

 

[TidgeyPudds]

I'd really like to stick with Nvidia and Intel. I would like to run 1080p graphics, and a nice FPS.
Could i go for a 256gb 950 pro for my OS and other things then run an SSD alongside it? i've heard SSD's are generally better than HDD's?
Is 256gb going to be enough? if so then i'd rather the 950 pro as its performance is faster and its more of a trinket haha
I believe the 950 pro (256gb) is the same price as the 850 evo (500gb)?
What kind of power supply and cooling would i need for SLi? Will SLi help my FPS or smoothness or anything? My thinking is that 2 graphics cards are better than one or 2 graphics cards can amount to the same performance as one. So if i buy a GPU for 150.. i can buy an identical one later and then it will be just as good as having the one with a £300 price tag.

I've edited and included a question about RAM in my original post.