discussion Sanity Check, Mate

[crispex]

I'm still alive, if anyone here remembers me. It was a close thing for a while, being a worker zombie and all. My last computer fried again (it was named Dragnipur, may it rest in pieces), and I lost the will to do CPR on it anymore. First place I thought to turn was here.

Alright, so, I need some people that are more down-to-earth and up-to-date than I am to take a look at this. Tell me what you think, and help me out with what you know, if you deem me worthy. (Please :biggrin

First things first:

• It's for gaming at 2560x1600
• Not "playable", I want rock-solid 60hz at max settings at all times
• Mild overclock only; I need the components to last 4+ years
• Loose Budget: $3200 USD ±10%
• I'm a fanboy of EVGA, Corsair, and Intel
• I would really, really like a more "Silent" approach this go-round
• Prefer to keep it mostly on air
• Nothing is set in stone

For CPU I'm flagellating between the 6700k and 5930k. It's been beat to death in forums everywhere, but I wanted to personally ask here.

So, I have two builds. Both require sanity checking/debugging:

1. Dragnipur Reforged
2. ibnwpavoksgvfacesmashblarg

(EDIT: UPS budgeted separately.)

Core: The main reason I can't make up my mind is that I'd like to have an Intel 750 sooner or later, or something very much like it (M.2), and that brings up the fact that the Skylakes are only good for 16 PCIe lanes. I'm not overly concerned about running x8/x8, but the fact that there is no more room after that is what bothers me. Hence the 5930k build.

Mobo: Frankly, I chose the EVGA Classified boards simply because that's what the original Dragnipur had, and I loved it. (Translation: No research occurred.)

Case: This system is not meant for display, so I don't need any color coding. I would greatly prefer silence in as many ways as possible while still maintaining the phenomenal cosmic power to do stuff, and Nanoxia's monolithic "style" suits me perfectly on both points. Again, always open to suggestions, facts, free pancakes, and what have you.

GPU: 980 Ti's are insane. Told myself while building my last computer that I'd build a new one when they came out with 800-series Nvidia cards... but those got skipped so here we are.

RAM: The Dominator RAM is pretty sweet, but the price... yeowch. 2011v3 can run 4 channels, whereas the 1151 can only do 2 channels; another point of contention. Thoughts?

PSU: Corsair again. Prior build's HX1000 was glorious and very quiet, while also being what finally tanked the system. I blame the local power grid at large, with its constant brownouts and micro-blackouts beating the poor thing up over 5 years and change. It was interesting to see the computer keep running during a blackout for a few seconds, I gotta say. If the blackouts were short enough the system didn't even appear to notice. This is why this system will be getting a UPS. Please comment on my choice of UPS if nothing else. I know nothing beyond basic comparison and Newegg reviews.

Storage: Intel 730(s) and some WD Black HDD space. I don't actually need much, I've learned. But... The Intel 750 has me drooling. I want "fast" over "space" and that nails everything down in one card. Bonus: no cable management required.

As you can see, I'm still being fairly abstract and dreamy. Help me step out of Dreamland for a bit, here.

My thanks.

P.S.: Used "flagellate" in a sentence. Now I can finally cross that one off the list. What have you done this year? :bleh:
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[Caldezar]

Couple suggestions...

MB - If you end up looking at Skylake, then I'd recommend a look at the ASUS Hero. The Audio solution alone is worth reading the review. Combined with rock solid OC options... it's a contender.

RAM - For a small upgrade in price, you could go with 3200 RAM to accommodate memory OC's

Case - I would HIGHLY recommend a look at the Fractal R5. It's a great case at a great price, and it's completely paneled in sound dampening material. Plus you can take all the drive cages out, put the SSD in behind the MB try, and grab an adapter to put the data drive in an 5 1/4" bay. Then you've got a nice open space to put your H100i at the front of the case to draw cool air in. It's how I have my system configured and I love it. Plus it's so silent that I get comments on it all the time.

(found a general picture online for reference)

 

[MARSTG]

The Intel 750 has me drooling. I want "fast" over "space" and that nails everything down in one card. Bonus: no cable management required.

Intel 750 is a very expensive piece of hardware for what it does and can easily be beaten by 4 consumer class SSDs when they are put in RAID 0! Yes sure it will be a a bit messier for cable management but cheaper and faster. Let's say, I would choose 4 Kingston HyperX Fury 120GB and throw them in RAID 0. You think in general one SSD is fast? Wait to see 2 in RAID 0! And I can only imagine 4! CPU wise I would go Skylake, because of the best IPC performance. A single 980Ti, maybe the Hybrid from EVGA, should handle the resolution just fine. I find Corsair RAM to be very finicky, I used a lot of G-Skill Ripjaws, Ripjaws X and Ares and never had issues but the Corsair XMS I have now will not work for the death of me with anything else, so I can't say, but if your experience is good, go with what you like. PSU and case you already have very good recommendations, won't cover those.

 

[clshades]

If you are willing to spend 3200 beans on a system then what's another 250 on an apc battery back up? Talking about brownouts like it's a game of roulette and no mention of an apc us like playing Russian roulette with a fully loaded gun. Figure out your power requirements and purchase accordingly. 1500va min.

The hx1000 is actually dual 500's I wouldn't recommend it.

 

[WolfBane]

Wish i had 3200 fun tickets
lol good luck on your build

 

[Shadowarez]

As clshades suggests get a apc with pure sine wave it'll protect you're investment I live in the north and power is dirtier then Christina angular in the song dirty. It's paid for itself already.

I'm considering a buying another battery replacement just incase since this one's been in place nearly 3 years of service and my comp still humming along. Haven't had a component fail yet not even raid 0 Samsung 840 pros. So it must be getting nice clean power.

 

[clshades]

The batteries should be replaced every 2-3 years shadow. You are probably due.

 

[Lysrin]

If you care to save money I would also recommend a single 980Ti for that resolution. There may be occasions when a single 980Ti dips below your 60 fps requirement but for the money difference it might not be worth it. Your call. Since you're a self proclaimed EVGA fan already, I would highly recommend you check out their SuperNova G2 line. Extremely well reviewed (check jonnyguru). I have the 850W one and it is a fantastic power supply. Also, just personal experience with Corsair RAM, but I have had two sets so far, no issues. DDR3 in my Haswell system.

 

[crispex]

Sweet, Sweet Progress

Thank you for pointing out the Fractal R5 and that ASUS Hero MB, Caldezar. Definitely looking at that now. With the Fractal R5 in mind, RAID SSD's is definitely a possibility, but for the config I'm heading towards it would likely be impossible for more than 2 drives in RAID. I think I'll keep the Corsair Dominator RAM.

Tell me more, clshades. What are the differences between UPS...es? I really don't know where to start on that stuff other than "pure sign wave goooood" and such. The HX1000 is two 500's? I thought single-rail meant it was all.... y'know. One.

So, based on you guys and research so far, here's Revision No. 1. If I try to get to Rev. 4, start kicking me in the shins.

As you can see, Skylake has won out. I really couldn't find any real argument to go with the older Haswell core after I finally figured out that the PCI lanes for Skylake are simply on the MB, though I'm still mildly confused as to how they work.

I'll be maintaining my stance on SLI, since very particular games that I want to play at ye olde max extreme settings seem to sit reliably below the 60fps mark with only one 980 Ti. (EDIT: If I were to drop the second 980, it would only be with the next generation GPU's in mind, but seeing how well the 780 Ti's have held up, that doesn't seem like a great idea.)

Questions:

• I want to keep Win7. Am I ruining system potential by going that route?
• Should I expect that the RAM would be overclockable to reasonable levels, or search instead for a kit that starts at a much higher speed?
• How do the Skylake PCIe lanes work? 16 from the core, and then the rest is dependent on the MB, it seems. So what if I were to toss in another x4 card, when the two 980's own the 'real' 16 PCIe?
• Does the answer to the prior question effect the M.2 slot?
• Is there any notable difference between quad-channel and dual-channel RAM? (Curiosity's sake.)
• What am I forgetting?

 

[clshades]

I'd be interested to know the answer to the ram question too. In fact you should post those very questions in the ram section to get better responses.