Potential New Gaming Rig

S

Sweeney47

Well-known member
Hi All,

My 5.5 year old PCS PC is getting a bit dated so I want to get a brand new machine to do me for the next 5.5 years (pref under/around £2K mark). I'm looking at the spec below and would like some suggestions/tips on it, specifically the following.

1) Mobo - I have no idea about these damn things, is the one I've chosen decent, is it over the top for the rest of the build etc?
2) CPU Cooler - I've currently got the H80i selected but the last sealed cooler I got from PCS leaked and killed the graphics card (cooler manufacturer replaced cooler, card still in warranty so replaced - PCS repaired, all in all just £40 return and a lot of inconvinience). Replacement has been fine for 3 years but I'm still wary about them. So main question, are these reliable? Is it worth it or is the Noctua NH D15-S a "safer" option? I won't be OC'ing or anything.
3) RAM - Given where consoles are at the moment, I'm assuming 16GB of RAM will suffice for a while, I think games are currently pushing 8GB on the recommended side (I have 6, boo!), what do you guys reckon, safe with 16?
4) Graphics - I'm currently on an ATI 5870 - solid card but getting old. I'd like to switch to nVidia though but I'm so behind on understanding where cards are at the moment but I think the 980 Ti is meant to be pretty solid - any alternative recommendations?

Any other observations or recommendations?

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 912 PLUS MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-5820K (3.3GHz) 15MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® SABERTOOTH X99: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6 GB/s
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair Vengeance DDR4 3000MHz X.M.P (4 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 980 Ti - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
480GB HyperX SAVAGE 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB WD BLACK 3.5" WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling
Corsair H80i GT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Apache Black Quiet Fan (fitted to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 10 (64-bit) Home DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Promotional Item
FREE RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER with select GTX 9 Series GPUs!
Quantity
1
 
J

jerpers

Master
Can come in a chunk under your budget. I went for latest gen processor, non k version as not overclocking and a m.2 drive for extra loading speed

Case
COOLERMASTER HAF 912 PLUS MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-6700 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z170-E: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB Kit)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 980 Ti - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
Free Item
FREE RISE OF THE TOMB RAIDER with select GTX 9 Series GPUs!
1st Hard Disk
1TB WD BLACK 3.5" WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG SM951 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2150MB/R, 1260MB/W)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£109)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-D15S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler (£69)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BULLGUARD INTERNET SECURITY - FREE 90 DAY TRIAL
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,696.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-skylake-pc/YL7Mz3a7Fs/
 
S

Sweeney47

Well-known member
Thanks for your feedback jerpers.

Couple of queries - Why the 6700 and not the 6700K? The K version is faster by default whether OC'ing or not or will it just be overkill?
I'm a little out of touch and the m.2 SSD has thrown me somewhat, presumably it's just a regular SSD but connected differently (and clearly delivers better speeds?) Or is it some sort of fluid storage system that "speeds" up your normal hard drive?
 
Last edited:
L

Lez501

Gold Level Poster
The M.2 SSD preforms as a regular SSD, but uses the PCIe interface rather than SATA (hence the BIG increase in speed). Yes, the K cpu has a higher clock speed, but you would never notice the difference in performance (unless you want to get into overclocking that is)

Jerpers has given you a cracking spec - however, as your budget was £2k, I would upgrade the M.2 to 512GB and HDD to a 2TB WD Cav black - comes in at £1,845.
 
S

Sweeney47

Well-known member
Thanks for your input Lez501. I was thinking along the same lines as well with regards to the 512GB M.2.
 
S

Sweeney47

Well-known member
Still fiddling with the build on this a bit. Regarding the case, is it worth investing in the HAF-X over the HAF 912. Just looking at some of the pictures the 912 looks a bit cramped, certainly with some of the bigger graphics cards. With the extra fan capacity of the HAF-X the cooling would be a bit better my room can get quite hot so shifting heat quicker would be ideal.

Alternatively, any other suggestions on a case that have good airflow/cooling?
 
S

Sweeney47

Well-known member
After some tweaking, I think I'm finalising on the following build:

Some changes from previous builds -

RAM I've changed to 2133MHz (from 2666MHz) as from what I've read, that's the max my CPU supports? Correct me if I'm wrong! ("Memory Types DDR4-1866/2133, DDR3L-1333/1600 @ 1.35V")
Increased the Hard Drive sizes as per Lez's suggestion.
Increased Power Supply to cover future SLI configuration.
HAF-X gaming case.

Possibly ordering this weekend so if anyone has any possible suggestions to tweak it that would be much appreciated


Case
COOLERMASTER HAF-X FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-6700 (3.4GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® Z170-E: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX FURY DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 980 Ti - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
2TB WD BLACK 3.5" WD2003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SAMSUNG SM951 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2150MB/R, 1550MB/W)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£139)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-D15S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler (£69)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Apache Black Quiet Fan (fitted to extract from rear/roof) (£25)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£79)
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£69)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,923.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-skylake-pc/z5VqDoYOGJ/
 
L

Lez501

Gold Level Poster
Nice, nice baby....

That's a good spec with plenty of upgrade potential - Enjoy

...that said, you could drop down to the 850W PSU, would still be plenty powerful for more upgrades (I've only got a 750W and it does not struggle at all).
 
J

jerpers

Master
For 2 980ti's, it would probably be best with 1000w, especially if PCS are still doing the 2.5 width and 3 width overclocked zotac cards.
 
S

Sweeney47

Well-known member
Well, the beast has arrived and after some wrestling with power cables to get the side fan working I've got it working. Just wondering, as I ordered with the 980 Ti and the Tomb Raider promotion, where do I get the code for this? Is it hidden somewhere in the paperwork? I've had a quick look and not found anything...

Tragically, as with all new computers, you spend the first day installing everything. Can't wait to play something later this evening though.
 
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