Upgrading for VR Later this year/Early Next

[crowy]

PC Upgrade Build

- Budget: ~$3000 AUD
- Zip Code or Location: Brisbane, QLD, AUS
- Specific Use: Upgrading for VR
- Any preferred components?: When Selecting if there is 2 items available at similar price with otherwise same specs, pick the one with a longer warranty
- Any spare parts you can re-use?: This is an upgrade however wanting to build 2 PCs (1 for the VR gaming and 1 for a Media PC attached to the existing TV)
- Overclocking your processor?: Typically not
- Need an Operating System?: Yes
- Need a Monitor? / Mouse? / Keyboard?: No
- Need a Wireless Card or Adapter? No
- Need Another Component? (Specify): No

Other Useful Info

- Preferred Case Features (Ex: Color, Side Window, Flashy): Most Likely using existing case for VR Gaming Rig, getting a new one for the Media PC
- Number of Monitors: None required for this upgrade, currently using 4x 24"
- Other Info?:

PC Upgrades / Replacements

** You must post your current system specs.  The easiest way is to download Speccy, install it, run it, and post a screenshot of the results. **
Current System:

Operating System
    Windows 10 Pro 64-bit (going to Media PC)
CPU
    Intel Core i7 920 @ 2.67GHz    46 °C (going to Media PC)
    Bloomfield 45nm Technology
RAM
    12.0GB Triple-Channel DDR3 @ 534MHz (8-8-8-20) (going to Media PC)
Motherboard
    ASUSTeK Computer INC. P6T (LGA1366)    50 °C (going to Media PC)
Graphics
    VS248 (1920x1080@60Hz) (going to VR Gaming PC)
    VS248 (1920x1080@60Hz) (going to VR Gaming PC)
    VS248 (1920x1080@60Hz) (going to VR Gaming PC)
    VS248 (1920x1080@60Hz) (going to VR Gaming PC)
    2048MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (Gigabyte)    54 °C (going to VR Gaming PC)
    2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 (Leadtek)    44 °C (going to VR Gaming PC)
    ForceWare version: 375.70
    SLI Disabled
Storage
    1863GB Intel Raid 0 Volume (RAID) (going to Media PC) 2x Seagate 1TB Hybrid HDD OS Drive
    1863GB Intel Raid 1 Volume (RAID) (going to VR Gaming PC) 2x Seagate 2TB HDD, Data Drive
Optical Drives
    TSSTcorp CD/DVDW SH-S182D ATA Device (going to Media PC)
Audio
    Realtek High Definition Audio (onboard)

Antec 750W (going to Media PC)

CoolerMaster HAFx nVidia Edition Case (going to VR Gaming PC)

 

 

 

Current Thoughts for Purchase

Antec 1300W High Current Pro Power Supply, 80 PLUS Platinum (going to VR Gaming PC)

CoolerMaster RC-902XB-KKN2 HAF902 EVO LAN Box (going to Media PC)

ASUS X99-DELUXE USB 3.1 Intel LGA 2011-3 ATX Motherboard (going to VR Gaming PC)

2x Corsair 16GB (2x8GB) CMK16GX4M2A2400C14 DDR4 2400MHz Vengeance LPX DIMM Black (going to VR Gaming PC)

Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 32bit/64bit USB Flash Drive (going to VR Gaming PC)

Corsair Hydro Series H100i v2 Extreme Performance Liquid CPU Cooler (going to VR Gaming PC)

Gigabyte GeForce GT 710 Silent Low Profile 2GB Video Card (going to Media PC)

Intel Core i7 6850K Six Core LGA 2011-3 3.6GHz Unlocked CPU Processor (going to VR Gaming PC)

2x Seagate ST2000DX002 FireCuda Desktop SSHD, 3.5", 1TB, SATA 6Gb/s, 8G NAND (in RAID0 for VR Gaming PC OS Drive)

 

Current Price at Umart $2983 AUD

 

[stconquest]

There are problems with your plan.

 

1.  You will not need anywhere near 1300W.  You will barely need a 750W PSU for dual 1080s, and you do not have the budget for TitanX(P)s.

 

2.  If you are not overclocking, why spend so much on a AiO liquid cooler?  A decent air cooler will be more than enough and could perform very close to a H100i.

 

3.  Why are you looking at the 6850K and not the 6800K?  PCI lanes are not worth the bump in price for any gaming rigs.  You won't use the lanes.  In fact, the 6700K/Z170 will outperform the X99 platform in every game on the current market.

 

4.  A SSHD is not a good choice next to any available SSD. 

 

5.  Fast RAM is cheap.  Your motherboard will support 3000+ MHz RAM.  Why are you not making use of it?

 

6.  X99 supports quad channel memory.  You have a 2x8GB kit.  If you plan to add two more later, that's fine.  If you do not plan to go to 32GB, 4x4GB will perform much better than 2x8GB.

[stconquest]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($458.00 @ Shopping Express)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($69.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Motherboard: ASRock Z170 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($182.70 @ Skycomp Technology)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($125.40 @ Newegg Australia)
Storage: Crucial MX300 750GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($267.88 @ RamCity)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case  ($139.00 @ PCCaseGear)
Power Supply: XFX XTR 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($149.00 @ CPL Online)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($129.00 @ IJK)
Total: $1519.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-03 20:29 AEDT+1100

[SCHISCHKA]

that new list looks better, now you have change to buy the vive or oculus

If you really dont want to overclock you could save some money by not buying the K model but I would get the 6700K anyway because you might change your mind.

You dont want to get a m2 SSD? in NZ they are around the same price but faster. Its also much easier to mount on the motherboard than run cables.

Im waiting a year before investing in VR myself.

[crowy]

 

1 hour ago, SCHISCHKA said:

that new list looks better, now you have change to buy the vive or oculus

If you really dont want to overclock you could save some money by not buying the K model but I would get the 6700K anyway because you might change your mind.

You dont want to get a m2 SSD? in NZ they are around the same price but faster. Its also much easier to mount on the motherboard than run cables.

Im waiting a year before investing in VR myself.

I already have an Oculus Headset, its the additional processing power required for the additional 3 sensors (one with the touch controllers and 2 additional) that I've ordered that I'm a tad worried about performance on, hence the upgrade.

 

I did say typically not, so basically leaving the opportunity to overclock when closer to the end of the life when I'm beginning to notice the limitations of the system in a few years time.

 

2 hours ago, stconquest said:

There are problems with your plan.

 

1.  You will not need anywhere near 1300W.  You will barely need a 750W PSU for dual 1080s, and you do not have the budget for TitanX(P)s.

 

2.  If you are not overclocking, why spend so much on a AiO liquid cooler?  A decent air cooler will be more than enough and could perform very close to a H100i.

 

3.  Why are you looking at the 6850K and not the 6800K?  PCI lanes are not worth the bump in price for any gaming rigs.  You won't use the lanes.  In fact, the 6700K/Z170 will outperform the X99 platform in every game on the current market.

 

4.  A SSHD is not a good choice next to any available SSD. 

 

5.  Fast RAM is cheap.  Your motherboard will support 3000+ MHz RAM.  Why are you not making use of it?

 

6.  X99 supports quad channel memory.  You have a 2x8GB kit.  If you plan to add two more later, that's fine.  If you do not plan to go to 32GB, 4x4GB will perform much better than 2x8GB.

1. You're probably right on that part.

2. It's not that much more expensive and I don't know where you live but in Brisbane it gets very hot in summer, and the HAFx Case with the Raditor in the top exhausting the heat straight out of the case improved the ambient temp in the case by about 15C in summer when I upgraded to it on my i7 920.

3. I typically choose the newer socket type for future upgrade availabilities (which I didn't use on the current rig but previous gaming rigs have gone through 2 or 3 chips).

4. I've found that the performance of a RAID 0 of 2 x SSHDs has been approx equal to any single SSD of same capacity and typically cheaper.

5. You're probably right on this part, I'll upgrade here with the money saved on the PSU

6. Have another look I had a "2x" at the beginning of the line, so 2 twin kits.

[stconquest]

12 minutes ago, crowy said:

 

I already have an Oculus Headset, its the additional processing power required for the additional 3 sensors (one with the touch controllers and 2 additional) that I've ordered that I'm a tad worried about performance on, hence the upgrade.

 

I did say typically not, so basically leaving the opportunity to overclock when closer to the end of the life when I'm beginning to notice the limitations of the system in a few years time.

 

1. You're probably right on that part.

2. It's not that much more expensive and I don't know where you live but in Brisbane it gets very hot in summer, and the HAFx Case with the Raditor in the top exhausting the heat straight out of the case improved the ambient temp in the case by about 15C in summer when I upgraded to it on my i7 920.

3. I typically choose the newer socket type for future upgrade availabilities (which I didn't use on the current rig but previous gaming rigs have gone through 2 or 3 chips).

4. I've found that the performance of a RAID 0 of 2 x SSHDs has been approx equal to any single SSD of same capacity and typically cheaper.

5. You're probably right on this part, I'll upgrade here with the money saved on the PSU

6. Have another look I had a "2x" at the beginning of the line, so 2 twin kits.

2011-V3 is the enthusiast platform,  1151 is mainstream.  Z170 is newer than X99.

 

Why would you want to mess with a Raid 0 setup when an SSD will outperform it?  Speed, noise, heat and reliability... all favor an SSD solution.  Two drives equals twice the chance that you data will be lost.

[crowy]

2 hours ago, stconquest said:

Why would you want to mess with a Raid 0 setup when an SSD will outperform it?  Speed, noise, heat and reliability... all favor an SSD solution.  Two drives equals twice the chance that you data will be lost.

The RAID0 of SSHDs is for the OS/Games/Applications only (all easily re-installed from disc or brought down from steam/web again) not Data that I care about, all of the data that I care about is on the RAID1(which is then also backed up to my FileServer).

 

The Biggest issue with SSDs is that they are hideously expensive per GB compared to other drive types.

Cheapest 1TB SSD on umart was $405AUD

a 1TB regular HDD was $65AUD

and the 1TB SSHD was $129AUD

[stconquest]

1 hour ago, crowy said:

The RAID0 of SSHDs is for the OS/Games/Applications only (all easily re-installed from disc or brought down from steam/web again) not Data that I care about, all of the data that I care about is on the RAID1(which is then also backed up to my FileServer).

 

The Biggest issue with SSDs is that they are hideously expensive per GB compared to other drive types.

Cheapest 1TB SSD on umart was $405AUD

a 1TB regular HDD was $65AUD

and the 1TB SSHD was $129AUD

750GB MX300 is roughly $0.35 per GB at:  https://www.ramcity.com.au/buy/crucial-mx300-750gb-2.5-inch-7mm-ssd/CT750MX300SSD1

 

I guess it is a personal thing.  I would rather have a 500GB SSD in my PC than a 1TB RAID solution.  More speed, quieter and less heat.  Hell, I have been using a single 240GB SSD in my PC for over three years now.  I have no need to have 1 TB of storage in my PC.

[crowy]

8 hours ago, stconquest said:

750GB MX300 is roughly $0.35 per GB at:  https://www.ramcity.com.au/buy/crucial-mx300-750gb-2.5-inch-7mm-ssd/CT750MX300SSD1

 

I guess it is a personal thing.  I would rather have a 500GB SSD in my PC than a 1TB RAID solution.  More speed, quieter and less heat.  Hell, I have been using a single 240GB SSD in my PC for over three years now.  I have no need to have 1 TB of storage in my PC.

I'm currently using about 1.2TB(out of the 2TB of space) on my OS/Apps/Games Drive, My Steam collection alone is bigger than the drive that you are currently using, lol

[stconquest]

2 minutes ago, crowy said:

I'm currently using about 1.2TB(out of the 2TB of space) on my OS/Apps/Games Drive, My Steam collection alone is bigger than the drive that you are currently using, lol

When I finish a game, I uninstall it =D.