Building monster PC today, need help with parts

[asianchik]

Hi everyone! Today I am going to be building a new PC. I am struggling with my choice between the 5960x and the 5930k.. I will like to eventually run triple and even quad sli. As for my purpose, I do a bit of gaming and I do a lot of graphic design and soon some video editing..Also do you think the motherboard is too much? Should I settle for something cheaper?

Here is what I have so far for my build.

Motherboard- ASUS X99 RAMPAGE V EXTREME LGA 2011-3
CPU- Intel i7 5960x
Case- Corsair Series 780T Full tower pc case
RAM- Corsair Vengeance series DDR4-3000 8gb sticks (buying two for 16gbs total)
GPU- Asus STRIX 980ti
OS- Windows 7 64-bit professional (Should I buy windows 10 instead?)
SSD- M.2 Samsung 950 PRO SSD 512GB
HDD- 1TB Seagate Battacuda (just for random backup files etc)
PSU- EVGA Super Nova 1600 Watt GOLD (future proofing adding one more in a month)
Watercooling for CPU - Corsair Hydro H100i

Total- $3500

or I could go with
CPU-5930K
Motherboard- ASRock X99 Extreme4

Total replacing it with these two- $2800

is the $700 worth the difference?

 

[LTC8K6]

I don't think I'd pay the extra for the 5960X cpu, and I wouldn't trust the Barracuda drive.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1316?vs=1317

I think Win10 is much better overall than Win7, but others may disagree.

 

[asianchik]

I don't think I'd pay the extra for the 5960X cpu, and I wouldn't trust the Barracuda drive.

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/product/1316?vs=1317

I think Win10 is much better overall than Win7, but others may disagree.

do you think I would see a massive improvement in photoshop and illustrator with the 5960x?

 

[Charlie98]

...and I don't think you are going to need all that 1600w PSU. A 1200w would be more appropriate, even in SLI.

 

[lehtv]

Yeah 1600W is just overkill - as is Tri/Quad SLI. Scaling is pretty bad beyond two GPU's and it adds more negatives than positives - greatly increased noise, heat and power versus a negligible difference in the gaming experience.

I'd much rather have 1200W platinum than 1600W gold for a rig like this.

RAM- Corsair Vengeance series DDR4-3000 8gb sticks (buying two for 16gbs total)

Always buy RAM in a kit, not as separate modules. Especially for X99. For this rig I'd get a 4x8GB kit

OS- Windows 7 64-bit professional (Should I buy windows 10 instead?)

Yes, although if you already own Windows 7, just upgrade it to 10 for free.

Watercooling for CPU - Corsair Hydro H100i

It's either noisy yet high performing, or quiet but not any better performing than an equally quiet but much cheaper air cooler. I would stick to high end air cooling, Noctua D15 for instance. For video/photo editing, the CPU will be doing a lot of work during which you'll prefer to keep it running quiet.

or I could go with
CPU-5930K
Motherboard- ASRock X99 Extreme4

Total replacing it with these two- $2800

is the $700 worth the difference?

5960X is excellent if all you do is encode video, and it greatly matters how quickly you do that. If encoding video takes up only a small portion of your time anyway or encoding speed isn't critically important (i.e. it's not tied to an hourly $ rate), 5930K make a lot more sense to me.

do you think I would see a massive improvement in photoshop and illustrator with the 5960x?

You won't see enough of a difference to even make a dent in your workflow.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-Photoshop-CC-Multi-Core-Performance-625/
"Most actions in Photoshop are either single threaded or lightly threaded."
"Multi-threaded actions hit a point of diminishing returns after around 6 CPU cores"

 

[asianchik]

Yeah 1600W is just overkill - as is Tri/Quad SLI. Scaling is pretty bad beyond two GPU's and it adds more negatives than positives - greatly increased noise, heat and power versus a negligible difference in the gaming experience.

I'd much rather have 1200W platinum than 1600W gold for a rig like this.



Always buy RAM in a kit, not as separate modules. Especially for X99. For this rig I'd get a 4x8GB kit



Yes, although if you already own Windows 7, just upgrade it to 10 for free.



It's either noisy yet high performing, or quiet but not any better performing than an equally quiet but much cheaper air cooler. I would stick to high end air cooling, Noctua D15 for instance. For video/photo editing, the CPU will be doing a lot of work during which you'll prefer to keep it running quiet.



5960X is excellent if all you do is encode video, and it greatly matters how quickly you do that. If encoding video takes up only a small portion of your time anyway or encoding speed isn't critically important (i.e. it's not tied to an hourly $ rate), 5930K make a lot more sense to me.



You won't see enough of a difference to even make a dent in your workflow.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Adobe-Photoshop-CC-Multi-Core-Performance-625/
"Most actions in Photoshop are either single threaded or lightly threaded."
"Multi-threaded actions hit a point of diminishing returns after around 6 CPU cores"

Wow such great information thank you so much, exactly what I was looking for.

 

[DigDog]

lol 1600w.

1000w and you can triple sli on it, easy. not that you should.

i would get a 6700k, midrange mobo, couple of SSDs, a single 980Ti, and a reeeely nice monitor. or three.
unless you plan to drive 3k, or triple monitors, you will not need more than a single GPU.

as said before, if you work with video encoding, get the 5930k. if you just make youtube videos, then get Skylake.

 

[lehtv]

There is another benefit to 5930K though - it allows you to run PCIe 3.0 x16/x16 SLI. Skylake only allows for x8/x8.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

I'd much rather have 1200W platinum than 1600W gold for a rig like this.

With only a single GPU? A good quality 650W* is more then adequate here. Everything 1KW+ is complete overkill, and might even be counter productive, since you loose efficiency at low loads. I seriously doubt this rig will ever pull more then 400W at the wall.

*Perhaps a Seasonic SS-660XP2, if you're aiming for a really nice 80+ platinum PSU.

 

[lehtv]

With only a single GPU?

No, with 980 Ti SLI + OC + 5930K OC

 

[asianchik]

how about the motherboard? Do you think the ASUS X99 RAMPAGE V EXTREME LGA 2011-3 would benefit over the ASRock X99 Extreme4? I can get the rampage motherboard for around $390 and the asrock around 179.99

 

[lehtv]

- how much are you planning to overclock?
- how much do you care about sound quality?
- do you need wifi or bluetooth?

These are the main benefits of RAMPAGE V over Extreme4 - but they're not exclusive to that board, and WLAN as well as sound can be improved with add-on cards as well. RAMPAGE V is overkill in a lot of ways for almost all users, it's basically a board for custom watercooling enthusiasts and overclockers who need features most users don't even think of

 

[asianchik]

- how much are you planning to overclock?
- how much do you care about sound quality?
- do you need wifi or bluetooth?

These are the main benefits of RAMPAGE V over Extreme4 - but they're not exclusive to that board, and WLAN as well as sound can be improved with add-on cards as well. RAMPAGE V is overkill in a lot of ways for almost all users, it's basically a board for custom watercooling enthusiasts and overclockers who need features most users don't even think of

-I may not overclock
-not much
-dont need wifi and bluetooth

 

[lehtv]

Then you'll be fine with Extreme4. More than fine, because that's still a decent board for some overclocking.

I have to say though it'd be a bit of a waste not to OC a 5930K. Unlocked multiplier, plenty of OC headroom, soldered on IHS...

 

[asianchik]

If money was no option would you still recommend the 5930k?

 

[asianchik]

Then you'll be fine with Extreme4. More than fine, because that's still a decent board for some overclocking.

I have to say though it'd be a bit of a waste not to OC a 5930K. Unlocked multiplier, plenty of OC headroom, soldered on IHS...

If money was no option would you still recommend the 5930k?

 

[Insert_Nickname]

No, with 980 Ti SLI + OC + 5930K OC

Makes more sense.

I only see the OP speccing a single 980ti, where did SLI come into the picture?

 

[lehtv]

Makes more sense.

I only see the OP speccing a single 980ti, where did SLI come into the picture?

Hi everyone! Today I am going to be building a new PC. I am struggling with my choice between the 5960x and the 5930k.. I will like to eventually run triple and even quad sli.

Hence his choice of 1600W PSU. My reply to that:

Yeah 1600W is just overkill - as is Tri/Quad SLI. Scaling is pretty bad beyond two GPU's and it adds more negatives than positives - greatly increased noise, heat and power versus a negligible difference in the gaming experience.

I'd much rather have 1200W platinum than 1600W gold for a rig like this.

Implying here that two card SLI still makes sense for a high end rig.

 

[lehtv]

If money was no option would you still recommend the 5930k?

Do you mean if money was no object, i.e. if the cost didn't matter? Yes, 5930K is the highest I'd go for these requirements. Better ways to spend money than waste it on CPU cores you don't actually need

 

[DigDog]

There is another benefit to 5930K though - it allows you to run PCIe 3.0 x16/x16 SLI. Skylake only allows for x8/x8.

can you saturate a 8x slot yet?

 

[lehtv]

can you saturate a 8x slot yet?

In a single GPU config, x16 does result in a 1-2 fps improvement so there's definitely a measurable benefit to it (Techbuyersguru). In SLI, that's at least a 2-4 fps improvement - possibly more because the cards need to be synchronised. Unfortunately I can't find any test where x16/x16 and x8/x8 are compared directly using GTX 980 Ti SLI, but Guru3D found a 3-5% improvement with GTX 980 SLI. Given that GTX 980 Ti is almost 50% faster than GTX 980 at 4K, I would expect at least a 4-7% improvement with GTX 980 Ti SLI.

And it's good to have a platform that will handle future cards at max. bandwidth. 980 Ti will probably be half to 2/3 the speed of whatever GPU is king in 2-3 years, and the performance gap between x16 and x8 will only increase with faster GPUs.

 

[DigDog]

well, that's a loss... but looks like a reasonable loss for the money. we're talking 6700k + Z170 vs 5930k + X99. even with SLI.

i suspect the next Intel mainstream will support double 16x, if not more.

 

[lehtv]

well, that's a loss... but looks like a reasonable loss for the money. we're talking 6700k + Z170 vs 5930k + X99. even with SLI.

Yeah I agree, if we look at just PCIe performance, the extra cost of X99 isn't worth it. It's more of a nice bonus you get atop the hexacore CPU.

i suspect the next Intel mainstream will support double 16x, if not more.

I highly doubt that - even fewer people would buy the enthusiast platform... which would make it even more of a niche product and even more expensive than it currently is. PCIe 4.0 will be out eventually and the mainstream platform will just move to x8/x8 PCIe 4.0