New build as a reward for myself, and for showing off and bragging rights!

[iamgenius]

Hi to all. Okay, this might be little different from your regular new builds threads, but here I go. It is been 2012 since my last build. It is the build you see in my sig. Frankly speaking, the build has been running smoothly with no major problems and it is able to run anything I throw at it. It is a very powerful machine. BUT, it is the upgrade bug kicking in again. Building computers is my joy. I'm about to finish my Master's so it will be like a reward also. One main reason is overclocking fun. I know it is not like before but we can still overclock. I should be buying in one month. It is bad that I missed black Friday.

To answer the questions:


1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Web browsing, word processing, little image/video editiing, little gaming, watching videos. Probably the most demanding task will be running virtual machines with Vmware. I run up to 10 machines some times for testing and trial purposes. I build virtual networks for scanning, monitoring and pen testing.
2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
Money isn't really an issue. I'm willing to pay. Let's say up to 3000 USD (It can get high with server processors and extreme cooling solutions)
3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
USA: Mainly Ebay, Amazon, tigerdirect.
4. IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
We can't be expected to scour the internet on your behalf, chasing down deals in your specific country... Again, help us, help YOU.
The other place I can buy from is probably souq.com
5. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
I go with the best always. So it is not hard. CPU: Intel of course. GPU: Nvidia or AMD. Mobo: ASUS or Gigabyte. SSD: Samsung of course. HDD: WD or seagate is fine or even others.
6. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
NA
7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Of course overclocking....It is one of the main reasons.
8. What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
Most probably: 1920 x 1200 . I still love the dell monitor in my sig. I have a spare one.
9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Note that it is usually not cost or time effective to choose your build more than a month before you actually plan to be using it.
In about a month time
10. Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?

No, I will use windows 8. No windows 10 stuff please.

It might not be actually hard to choose and buy, but I can't pull the trigger before asking anandtech.com.

After quick thinking:
ASUS latest ROG Mobo
i7 6700K or go Xeon !!!!?
64 GB RAM from popular brand
512GB Samsung 850 Pro
4TB WD data drive
1000 Watts PSU from a respected brand
Dell U2412M 24" Monitor
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 ^_^ But I don't really need that ! I really don't know as I'm not sure whether I'll really have time for real gaming and my monitor isn't big.
Edit: For the case I want a full tower ATX of course.
Anyways, help me show off ! And thanks.

Latest edit: up to 3000 USD. 8000 USD Before (What was I thinking?) I was thinking in my country's currency ! Sorry

 

[whm1974]

Get a 1440p display and the GTX 1070 and you will be set.

 

[mnewsham]

1000w PSU is overkill. A single GTX 1080 and a 6700k would struggle to use 500w, let alone 1000w.

Also if you have the patience to wait a month Z270 and the 7700k release in January.

 

[iamgenius]

Get a 1440p display and the GTX 1070 and you will be set.

I have always been reading that higher resolution monitor is the best upgrade. I once used a 27" Dell monitor. My problem with bigger monitors is that icons and other stuff in your desktop get really small with the higher resolution. And it is meaningless to use less resolution as you need to use the native resolution. Yes, you have more real state, but I don't like this aspect of it. Am I utterly wrong? Yes, you can change the DPI or whatever that's called but it didn't really help me.

 

[iamgenius]

1000w PSU is overkill. A single GTX 1080 and a 6700k would struggle to use 500w, let alone 1000w.

Also if you have the patience to wait a month Z270 and the 7700k release in January.

You never know, I might add more gpus and I like to decorate my system with so many fans


Good point about Z270 and 7700k. I saw that in another post. Will they be shipping on January? or released in January and shipping some time later. The upgrade bug is itching.

 

[whm1974]

I have always been reading that higher resolution monitor is the best upgrade. I once used a 27" Dell monitor. My problem with bigger monitors is that icons and other stuff in your desktop get really small with the higher resolution. And it is meaningless to use less resolution as you need to use the native resolution. Yes, you have more real state, but I don't like this aspect of it. Am I utterly wrong? Yes, you can change the DPI or whatever that's called but it didn't really help me.

When I replaced my old rig with my current system, I went from a 1280x1024 19" display to a 30" 2560x1600 one. Yes I had to play around with the DPI a bit, but other using zoom on some websites, I have gotten quite used to it.

 

[VirtualLarry]

I went from a 1280x1024 19" display to a 30" 2560x1600 one.

Very nice! That's quite the leap, in both display size, and resolution.

 

[whm1974]

Very nice! That's quite the leap, in both display size, and resolution.

Yes indeed it is. It works will well for gaming.

 

[mnewsham]

You never know, I might add more gpus and I like to decorate my system with so many fans


Good point about Z270 and 7700k. I saw that in another post. Will they be shipping on January? or released in January and shipping some time later. The upgrade bug is itching.

You could add 75+ fans with the excess power you will have, you could run 3-4 GTX 1080 on 1000w

 

[iamgenius]

You could add 75+ fans with the excess power you will have, you could run 3-4 GTX 1080 on 1000w

Do xeon mobos and cpus require significantly more power?

I think I can go for 700 watts then. Thanks for your input mate.

 

[mnewsham]

Do xeon mobos and cpus require significantly more power?

I think I can go for 700 watts then. Thanks for your input mate.

Nope, in fact Xeons generally use less power because they can't (generally speaking) be overclocked like the consumer K series CPUs can. The highest TDP Xeon is 165w (24 cores/48 threads @ 2.2GHz).

About the most you can expect from a CPU, even OC'd is gonna be about 200W without some exotic cooling. Add a GTX 1080 ~200w, and then motherboard, RAM, fans, cooler, HDD, SSD, etc, is likely another 50-100w depending on specifics.

So you're at ~500w there with a single GPU and single CPU. add another GTX 1080 and that's ~700w TDP.

And keep in mind, most games do not stress your system to 100% CPU and GPU at the same time, meaning it is unlikely you will hit your max possible TDP during normal usage.


TLDR; a 750-800w PSU is more than enough for any single CPU and GPU, and even has room to add another GPU if you want.

 

[RaistlinZ]

At this point you may want to wait and see how well Zen performs before building a new rig.

And there's no point getting a Samsung 850 Pro when the 960 Pro/EVO's are going to be released in a month and perform substantially better.

 

[iamgenius]

At this point you may want to wait and see how well Zen performs before building a new rig.

And there's no point getting a Samsung 850 Pro when the 960 Pro/EVO's are going to be released in a month and perform substantially better.

Oh, I wasn't aware Samsung 960 pro are already there. Thanks.

Any specific recommendation for the case? Most needed is good airflow and badass looks.

 

[John Connor]

EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 ^_^

Hope it don't catch fire... *giggle*

And no m.2? Noob.

 

[iamgenius]

Hope it don't catch fire... *giggle*

And no m.2? Noob.

That's the small form factor for laptops. Why would I need one? Or maybe the ones that come with PCI express cards are M.2 and some of them are faster than regular ones?

 

[whm1974]

That's the small form factor for laptops. Why would I need one? Or maybe the ones that come with PCI express cards are M.2 and some of them are faster than regular ones?

That is pretty much the only reason. However realistically in most cases you won't notice that much difference.

 

[John Connor]

m.2 is on board the motherboard and has way more bandwidth then SATA III. Will you notice a difference? Perhaps not. It depends on the application.

 

[iamgenius]

That is pretty much the only reason. However realistically in most cases you won't notice that much difference.

m.2 is on board the motherboard and has way more bandwidth then SATA III. Will you notice a difference? Perhaps not. It depends on the application.

I will not notice a difference for sure. But it will certainly look good in benchmarks ^_^ . I'll go for it . What's the fastest? It is Samsung's top of the line 960 Pro M.2 PCIe SSD then. But, how will that differ in regards to initially installing windows? Will the drive be detected right away by the BIOS without the need for special drivers? And you can of course select the PCIe drive as a boot drive just like you do with SATA drives? Any concerns here?

I also forgot to mention that I'm willing to use water cooling, open loop. It has been said before, once you go water cooling, you will never go back to air cooling. I'll go look for the best water cooling kits....

Thanks.

 

[iamgenius]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-960...916637?hash=item1ebc39b21d:g:mI0AAOSwyLlXoRqB


http://www.ebay.com/itm/Samsung-960...862965?hash=item211ac25075:g:mI0AAOSwyLlXoRqB


Looks like a very good price when compared to other stores (specially the 512GB). I used pricegrabber.com. Should I pull the trigger? Or prices will go lower?

 

[whm1974]

I will not notice a difference for sure. But it will certainly look good in benchmarks ^_^ . I'll go for it . What's the fastest? It is Samsung's top of the line 960 Pro M.2 PCIe SSD then. But, how will that differ in regards to initially installing windows? Will the drive be detected right away by the BIOS without the need for special drivers? And you can of course select the PCIe drive as a boot drive just like you do with SATA drives? Any concerns here?

PCIe M.2 drives cost quite a bit more then SATA ones do. IMHO I think one is better just getting a larger SATA SSD instead of a smaller but faster one where you may not notice the speed increase anyway.

 

[iamgenius]

PCIe M.2 drives cost quite a bit more then SATA ones do. IMHO I think one is better just getting a larger SATA SSD instead of a smaller but faster one where you may not notice the speed increase anyway.

You are right, but it is tempting!

 

[iamgenius]

I did this just for fun:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/jM76pb

 

[iamgenius]

Are there still good reasons to go for a custom water cooling open loop instead of getting one of the closed ones with very good reviews like the thermaltake water 3.0 for example (other than fun of course) ?

I can see that closed loops water cooling kits improved a lot.

Thanks.

 

[iamgenius]

One more question: Are there trusted places where I can cherry picked and delidded CPU's for a good price?

 

[UsandThem]

One more question: Are there trusted places where I can cherry picked and delidded CPU's for a good price?

https://siliconlottery.com/