Gaming build help requested ~ 2000 Euro.

Dave_The_Sheep

Hi all,

With your help I picked my last and got it build by Hardwareversand, but this time around I'm going to try actually building it myself (helps that Hardwareversand aren't going anymore).

Budget is approx 2000 euro, and it's aimed at making a high end gaming machine, or as much as one can get for that budget. Before anyone says it, I know I can get something very very good for about 1000-1200, but this is something I've been saving towards and been meaning to do a while. Rather than wait for the new AMD/Nvidia cards, going to go all out on a 980Ti as part of it.

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/p/83xZgs

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£288.32 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9B SE2 37.9 CFM CPU Cooler (£57.23 @ More Computers)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII HERO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£175.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£67.98 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£39.95 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card (£632.21 @ More Computers)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Primo ATX Full Tower Case (£189.95 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£119.99 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer
Sound Card: Asus Xonar DSX 24-bit 192 KHz Sound Card (£44.90 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £1616.51, which in euro runs to just over 2000.

A few things to note:
- I don't need monitors, keyboards, mice, etc.
- I have two 250Gb SSDs already waiting to go into a new build, no need for those either or I'd have included them.
- I have two monitors at the moment, I do intend eventually getting another one to make the set of three. They're BenQ XL2420Ts, if that matters.
- Sound card isn't essential, I stuck it in for the craic. If it comes out that's grand, I can pick on up at a later point.

Any suggestions on where to buy would be very much appreciated, or suggestions on parts to improve / get better value / avoid.

When doing a build first time out - any other gear that I'd need that I wouldn't automatically know about? Static wristbands or whatnot, extra cables, I don't know.

I'm checking out Mindfactory to see if similar prices are available there.

Serephucus

I know you said you don't want to, but it's looking like new cards from both camps are less than a month from being announced. With a build this high-end, I'd really suggest waiting. If you must buy before then, get an EVGA card. At least then you can pay the difference and Step-Up to something faster.

Dave_The_Sheep

Serephucus wrote: »

If you must buy before then, get an EVGA card. At least then you can pay the difference and Step-Up to something faster.

I'm not sure I follow you here. Can you elaborate?

On the other point, realistically, I may not buy until the end of the month/mid way through next month. So I may hold off until the news at least comes out. Then it'd be a question of how much the new sets of cards would be costing (in or around 800 euro is fine by me).

Serephucus

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

I'm not sure I follow you here. Can you elaborate?

On the other point, realistically, I may not buy until the end of the month/mid way through next month. So I may hold off until the news at least comes out. Then it'd be a question of how much the new sets of cards would be costing (in or around 800 euro is fine by me).

Oh, sorry. EVGA has a Step-Up program. As long as you're registered for an extended warranty (around €10 or something), within 90 days after buying your card, you can upgrade to something else by paying the difference. You send your card in, they send you the new one. Handy for situations like this.

Dave_The_Sheep

That is a handy little option, I will definitely bear that in mind, nice one.

ED E

Personally can't say I'm a fan of the case :pac:

Dave_The_Sheep

For cosmetic or functional reasons?

Serephucus

Pretty sure it's aesthetic. It can do quite a lot (though for the size, it'd want to).

The Evolv though... Damn nice case.

ED E

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

For cosmetic or functional reasons?

Purely aesthetic.

I like inverted ATX though.

FAILSAFE 00

I have the asus maximus hero vii motherboard and the inbuilt sound is incredible.

I thought I'd need a dedicated sound card but I was wrong. Something to consider if you'd like to save some €

Eoinmc97

Not too bad; Quick question though;
Why not go with an X99 system (when you spend that much on a motherboard like the ASUS Maximus series) that will be more future-proof and offer more cores and PCIE-Lanes?
Not to mention how the Broadwell E series is coming out, so you could always jump to them when they arrive in July.
Other than that, it looks solid. I find it hard to recommend the 980Ti/Fury X over one another, purely because in some games, the gains are minimal, and in others some cards trounce the others. So I guess just look up benchmarks for games that you play, and if a lot of them are going to be DX12 games, get the Fury X.

Dave_The_Sheep

Eoinmc97 wrote: »

Why not go with an X99 system (when you spend that much on a motherboard like the ASUS Maximus series) that will be more future-proof and offer more cores and PCIE-Lanes?

Any particular one you'd recommend?

Dave_The_Sheep

Switched to X99 as suggested, new CPU as a result, and dropped the CPU cooler a small bit price wise. Went with an EVGA card. Rest is more or less the same.

I'm open to suggestions on case, the one I picked was recommended by a work colleague who is into building PCs. Second opinions welcome - aesthetically though, it's grand for me and reviews seem decent. PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor (£329.99 @ Novatech)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-L12 37.8 CFM CPU Cooler (£38.99 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard (£186.44 @ More Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£67.98 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.97 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB HYBRID Video Card (£617.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Primo ATX Full Tower Case (£173.20 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£119.99 @ Novatech)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer
Total: £1572.55
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-04-20 12:32 BST+0100

Cuddlesworth

uk or Ireland?

Dave_The_Sheep

I'm in Ireland.

Cuddlesworth

Dave_The_Sheep wrote: »

I'm in Ireland.

ebuyer don't deliver to Ireland, don't like delivering to Parcel Motel and are a pain to deal with if you have to RMA something. Pc part picker in general is not very good for Ireland, its why most users here recommend Germany or Amazon.

Dave_The_Sheep

Appreciate the advice.

Luck100

I'd go with the 6700k personally. X99 systems are generally worse for gaming unless you do a massive job overclocking them. All those extra PCIE lanes don't really help much in practice for gaming, and the performance per thread is worse due to much lower clockspeeds. There are very few games that can fully load more than 4 cores.

In either case you should bump up the cooler (but especially if you go with the X99). The NH-L12 is what I have on my HTPC, it's definitely not up to cooling an overclocked X99.

And you'd be crazy to put in an order for a 980ti before they officially announce the next-gen cards in early May.