New i5 build for Work and Gaming when the chance occurs

Metric Tensor

Hi all,

I've been lurking around here the past little while as I spec up my new build.

First my requirements:

1. What is your budget? €1800-€2000 - not set in stone

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? CAD with limited 3D, Structural Analysis*, regular PDF manipulation (combining etc.) and file compression (usually with 7zip). Gaming when I get a chance but my games are quite out of date these days - fingers crossed for some time for new ones

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Windows 10 Pro - OEM fine if cheaper

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? No, upgrading from E6600 so nothing can transfer apart from a hard drive or two which have photos, music, etc. on them.

5. Do you need a monitor? Not at the moment - current running dual 22inch (1680x1050) monitors. Would like to upgrade in future but not necessary or within budget at the moment.

5a. If yes, what size do you need. n/a

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] See above

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] Need a new keyboard, mouse and speakers are good. Currently have Logitech G15 keyboard and after 10 years it's beginning to throw wobblers. I need a few programmable buttons on the left and definitely need the full number block on the right. There is 18 programmable keys on the G15 - I don't need anywhere near this number. 6ish would be fine.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? Yes - in my spare time but I need the machine to run fairly well out of the box(es)

8. How can you pay? Most methods but I need VAT receipts.

9. When are you purchasing? Within the week hopefully.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? Confident I can do it myself - have done a few before.

Notes
1. *The structural analysis programme has some aspects that push my E6600 processor beyond it's limits. I cannot tell if they would benefit from hyper-threading or not - realistically it may only take up about 5-10% of my time so although I'd love to see the progress bar fly across with an overclocked 6700K I'm not sure I can justify the expense.

2.I need at least two LAN ports and Wifi hence my mainboard choice was limited but I'm pretty happy with it at any rate.

3.My current case has a door on the front and it looks great when closed but it annoys me having to open it for the optical drive so doors are out. Also full scale towers are two big for under the desk - so they're out. And I need the connections and power buttons at the top ... and I want a window. -> As you can imagine it was a nightmare picking the best case. Would have loved more USB ports but couldn't find a case to fit the bill that had more.





This is the spec I came up with:

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor (£210.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 240M 76.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£83.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Asus Z170-DELUXE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£256.76 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£158.54 @ More Computers)
Storage: Sandisk Ultra II 960GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£160.05 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1070 8GB AMP! Edition Video Card (£402.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case (£129.95 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£176.01 @ BT Shop)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£14.99 @ Novatech)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit
Total: £1593.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-29 15:34 BST+0100


All thoughts and comments welcomed.


Edit: Hoping to put in these case lights: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H34FPZG/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER

justsomebloke

Seems like a pretty imbalanced build. Any reason for that motherboard as it is a lot more expensive then most Z series mother boards? Also any particular reason for the 960GB SSD as oppose to a 500GB one? Also given the monitor resolution the 1070 is wasted in the build.

here is a build someone else put up the other day for similar money, that would be much better for your needs. You could probably drop the 1080 back to a 1070 and up the RAM and get your self a 1440p monitor.

Truthfully if you buy nothing else get yourself at least a 27" 1440p or better monitor. With CAD you will just get tons of extra drawing space and space for tool bars compared to your current monitors and will make work a hell of a lot easier

Metric Tensor

As I said the motherboard is the only Z170 I could find with two lan ports and wifi - I didn't want to have to buy a separate pci card.

The 960 SSD is so that I can fit all my work files on the SSD with nightly backup to the HDD.

It already is a 1070 though - do mean drop back to a 1060?

I was worried about upgrading the size of one monitor - I thought that having a small one alongside a big one might be hard on the eyes. Anyone else have this set up?

Thanks for the comments and links - appreciate it!

BloodBath

A 470 would run that resolution and frame easily. Upgrade your monitor if you're considering anything more powerful.

27" 1440p 144hz is the way to go for both work and play.

I have a 27" and a 23" beside each other and it's fine.

Metric Tensor

Thanks guys - taking it all on board. Keep the comments coming.

Big F-OFF monitor now in my medium term plan - one might fit on Santa's sleigh. Two might kill him

justsomebloke

Sorry missed the part of the 2 network cards and a wifi card. Can I ask what the need for them is?

If you are keeping your monitor a 480x will do fine. I mentioned dropping to a 1070 from the other build in relation to pushing the budget to get a 1440p monitor in, as the extra screen real estate for CAD, could potentially be the single item in the build that increases your productivity the most (given you only play older games a 1060 or 480x at 1440p may well suit either).

justsomebloke

Also don't use the 3.5" drive as your backup. Backup to cloud. From a work perspective having your backup in the same unit as the original files is asking for trouble.

Metric Tensor

Ah right - I see what you mean now re dropping the 1080.

Need to be able to switch between a wired and wireless (hotspot) network and share said network with an IP phone. It's a nightmare scenario caused by living somewhere without wired broadband! Been thinking about it since and I could probably get a dual lan board and a PCI wifi card cheaper than that board.

Mind you I now have a black and white colour theme in my head and don't want to go to red (ie Gigabyte)

Metric Tensor

Sadly can't backup to the cloud due to download and upload limits - my files are fairly big and my network fairly crap!

I have a separate external disk that I backup to once a week - less than ideal but all I can do for now.

K.O.Kiki

How about this?
Managed to fit an i7-6700k in there.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£297.00 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 240M 76.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£83.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£146.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£149.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Storage: Crucial MX300 750GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£168.23 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Red Pro 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£134.92 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1070 8GB AMP! Extreme Video Card (£418.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design Arc Midi R2 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£88.00 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£109.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSD1 DVD/CD Writer (£15.86 @ Amazon UK)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link Archer T9E PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter (£51.71 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1665.66
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-29 16:38 BST+0100

Check if you can buy from Germany, too - prices are better there.

Metric Tensor

Thanks K.O. Kiki - appreciate it.

1. Nicely fitted in a 6700K!

2. The specs for the board are ideal - don't like the colours but may have to suck it up for the saving!

3. Any reason why you rate the Corsair above the G.Skills in terms of the ram? The G.Skills has slightly lower CAS - not that it would make much noticeable difference.

4. I have looked at that Crucial SSD but I thought for £8 less why not get the 1TB. I'd imagine Crucial have a better name in SSD circles though.

5. Not too gone on the case - sticking with the Cooler Master for now.

Thanks a mill!


Edit: Will definitely check Germany. Anybody had issues with VAT invoices from amazon.de?

justsomebloke

Using cheaper crap and dropping to a 500GB SSD and using one of your current HDD and only a 1060 (haven't check the quality of the monitor but was more just to give you an idea)((also check the fan fits the case as it is only a mitx build))

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£293.88 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U9S 46.4 CFM CPU Cooler (£50.47 @ Scan.co.uk)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170N-WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard (£116.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£149.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£128.28 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 6GB SC GAMING Video Card (£237.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo EVOLV ITX Mini ITX Tower Case (£59.99 @ Novatech)
Power Supply: be quiet! Dark Power Pro 11 550W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£116.99 @ Amazon UK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro Full 32/64-bit (£150.99 @ Ebuyer)
Monitor: AOC Q2770PQU 27.0" 60Hz Monitor (£322.77 @ PC World Business)
Total: £1628.34
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-29 16:59 BST+0100

Metric Tensor

Thanks justsomebloke - a lot to be considered.

Wrt the monitor I think I'm going to get a 1070 and treat myself to a new monitor in the near future - but not include it with the current build cost.

Love the case but unfortunately I think I have to put an ignorant looking optical drive in mine! Don't want to have an external one hanging lose around the place. All the other options are definitely in the mix.

K.O.Kiki

3. RAM is RAM tbh, CAS latency won't make more than 1-2fps difference (if even) Swap it if you want though.

4. The MX300 has good-to-decent 4Kb speeds, it's basically mid-end compared to the Ultra II being low-end.
Samsung 850 Evo would be high-end.

5. Case is up to you ofc.

Metric Tensor

Thanks K.O. Kiki - will probably go for the MX300 so.

Considering my mainboard wifi options at the moment - lots to think about.

If it gets the i7 in for the same price it's a no-brainer I suppose!

Metric Tensor

Minor update based on above comments. Saved 59 pounds sterling by putting in a cheaper mobo and separate Wi-Fi card. Then spent 90ish on a 6700K.

Appreciate all the comments and help. Definitely looking into springing for a better monitor once I get this up and running.


CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (£293.88 @ Aria PC)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 240M 76.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (£83.99 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Professional Gaming i7 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£166.54 @ More Computers)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£158.54 @ More Computers)
Storage: Crucial MX300 750GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£168.23 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Hitachi Deskstar 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1070 8GB AMP! Edition Video Card (£402.99 @ Ebuyer)
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case (£129.95 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair 860W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£176.01 @ BT Shop)
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224DB/BEBE DVD/CD Writer (£14.99 @ Novatech)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link Archer T9E PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter (£51.71 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £1646.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-08-29 23:11 BST+0100

brianiac

Hi op and all.
Similar build to what I am looking to build soon. Rather than starting a new thread I might ask a couple of Q's that might be relevant here.....
1- is there a Sig advantage of using the 3000mhz ram vs 2133? Linus tech tips seemed to think not for gaming but then cad etc may be different .
2- I was thinking of using an m.2 256gb card for the os then using a 956 ssd for my other programs...overkill? Might still get a mechanical drive then for storing photos and movies etc
That's all! Generally I was going for almost exactly the same specs...best of luck with it!!!

Metric Tensor

I'm not an expert but based on the reading up I did for my own:

1. It won't make any noticeable difference above 2600 and even below that the benefit is limited and probably not noticeable to you or I! I found a good article where they tested the speeds. If I can dig it up again I will post it here.

2. I don't know enough about SSDs to answer but when I looked into m2 it was too saucy for me price wise!

Good luck with yours too!


Edit: Here's the link: http://www.legitreviews.com/ddr4-memory-scaling-intel-z170-finding-the-best-ddr4-memory-kit-speed_170340

SterlingArcher

Holllllllyyyyyy shhheeettt. The psu. God damn. Thats pricey. The psu is gonna pull off the top about 350 w max. Unless you have your heart set maybe something to reconsider.

As for the zotac gpu. Heads up. I was looking into these awhile back. Great spec card good clocks but alot of reports of the card causing sag due to its ample frame.

Metric Tensor

Thanks Sterling Archer.

I had a 760W version of the same PSU in my original spec and pcpartpicker was telling me the machine would draw about 550W so I was happy enough with the headroom but I got a "talking to" about not skimping on the PSU and to give myself a bit more headroom. That's why I went up to the 860W.

I might revise downwards again.

Thanks a mill for the heads up on the zotac. I am really up in the air about what 1070 card to get:

I know I want a 1070 and I think I'd prefer one that exhausts into the case rather than out the back like the reference/founders design. But after that I'm stumped - I've heard bad reviews of Palit cards so I ruled them out but don't hear much bad about any of the others. My current card is a Gainward and my brother has had two Gainwards (one of which failed) and now has an MSI. The zotac originally got into my spec by being the cheapest but it isn't any longer so I'm open to all advice in this regard.

Xenoronin

Yarr, something like this: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/super-flower-leadex-gold-550w-fully-modular-80-plus-gold-power-supply-black-ca-038-sf.html

Or this: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/evga-supernova-gs-550w-80-plus-gold-modular-power-supply-ca-023-ea.html

Would be more than enough.

If you are planning to go SLI in the future, it may be worth looking at the 650W range and up, but the trend is really starting to go back to single card right now.

Metric Tensor

Thanks Xenoronin

Absolutely no interest in SLI:

Overclocking processor: Definitely when I have time
Overclocking GPU: After I'm done with processor


SLI: No way.

justsomebloke

brianiac wrote: »

Hi op and all.
Similar build to what I am looking to build soon. Rather than starting a new thread I might ask a couple of Q's that might be relevant here.....
1- is there a Sig advantage of using the 3000mhz ram vs 2133? Linus tech tips seemed to think not for gaming but then cad etc may be different .
2- I was thinking of using an m.2 256gb card for the os then using a 956 ssd for my other programs...overkill? Might still get a mechanical drive then for storing photos and movies etc
That's all! Generally I was going for almost exactly the same specs...best of luck with it!!!

Given that there isn't that much in the price difference, I would just go for the 3000 RAM as depending on the workload being thrown at the machine there is potential to make a small difference.

As for the m.2 drive. It all depends. If the budget is there for it and making you not skimp on something else than why not? Given it is only for the OS how much performance increase you would see is another question.

SterlingArcher

The msi armor would be my shout. It's 399 pound on Amazon UK.

Metric Tensor

Right lads.

It's ordered.

I know that there won't be full agreement by everyone on things and some bits are overkill but please don't ruin my buzz by pointing them out.

Here's the spec:

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 240M 76.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus Z170-DELUXE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Storage: Crucial MX300 750GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1070 8GB AMP! Edition Video Card
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair 750W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Optical Drive: Samsung SH-224GB Internal DVD±RW Black - optical disc drive
Keyboard: ROCCAT Ryos MK Wired Gaming Keyboard

Metric Tensor

Sorry forgot to say:

Thanks everyone for the input and opinions. Very much appreciated.

I'll post pictures/benchmarks when she's up and running!

Xenoronin

You are right, it's overkill, but they are all quality parts. Happy you have the leeway in the budget to stretch for them
A future upgrade for this will be to utilise those M.2 ports. Stick in one of those samsung SSD cards in one for an even faster OS drive! Wouldn't be a massive upgrade, but you have plenty of options with this setup

Metric Tensor

Thanks Xenoronin. Next upgrade is a new monitor!

SterlingArcher

Use some wire ties on the zotac card to take any possible strain off.

Goodluck and enjoy your new rig.

Metric Tensor

Believe it or not I had thought exactly that myself SA.

Thanks a mill!

Metric Tensor

Pictures as promised:

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=101121963&postcount=3243