New Build Suggestions - First Build in 5 Years

[lucas122478]

I’m looking to finally start a new build in the next couple of months. I would prefer to wait until Cannonlake is released but I don’t think my main rig will last that long. I don’t really have a budget in mind. Most important to me is longevity, performance and lastly appearance.

I’ve been looking over parts for the better part of a month and I’m just lost on what I should get – there’s so many options available and of course quite a few things right over the horizon coming out as well that will be out by the time I’m ready to put it together in July.

I’ll be using this computer for graphic design, video editing, gaming, (VR Gaming?), and media storage which will be accessed by multiple cellphones, Playstation, TV, etc.
I’d like to go over what I have picked out and why I picked it out and I’d like some feedback from the community on rather it is a good choice and / or if there is something better that I should pick out or if I am spending too much for something I do not need.

Computer Case

I originally had picked out an NZXT 820 but then leaned more towards the Corsair Graphite 780T now I’m eyeballing the Cooler Master Cosmos II.

I need big as it stands right now because:

A.) I’ll be running lots of HDs for media storage
B.) Water cooling for both the CPU and the video Card
C.) I want the option to have plenty of breathing room in the case for future add-ons IF I choose to.

As it stands now I will only be using 1 video card. I do not plan on doing SLI or QUAD. But I do not want to rule it out completely in the future. I don’t care about extreme overclocking. I do want to get good performance out of the build so is it even feasible for water cooling over good air cooling? I’ve read many comments stating that air cooling cools just as good as water cooling on the 6th gen intel chipsets and water cooling isn’t really worth it.

If I overclock the video card and CPU will it lower its lifecycle? I knew years back this used to be a thing but with the industry pushing a lot of hardware to overclockers nowadays is this even an issue anymore? If so, am I better off NOT overclocking since longevity is my #1 priority and performance is #2.

So, if the consensus with the community is that I should not be overclocking and if so – no reason to do water cooling – then I do not need a massive case such as the Cosmos II. I do however want plenty of room for my media storage. But I can get much smaller cases that will do the same I suspect if we rule out the need for water cooling. Money really isn’t an issue but I would like to be practical with what I really need as there are plenty of other things I would like to be buying as well besides computer hardware.

PSU

I’m not even sure where to begin on the PSU. It seems the majority of consumers at least on Newegg go with Corsair’s line up. Should I go with bronze, gold, platinum, titanium Energy-efficency? ATX12V – EPS12V .. What is EPS12V? Real world crunching is the savings even that significant when compared to price and efficiency? With the same as the case with wanting space; I will want breathing room on the PSU as well for potential future add-ons even if I do not get them. One thing that I am almost certain of; I’ll never get more than 2 video cards – just 1 for now but I may be open for a 2nd one later in the future. Would 750 be enough? 860? What would you guys suggest?

Case Fans

I run a 1.5HP window unit aircon almost 24/7 and I also have a large floor fan and ceiling fan that circulates the cool air throughout the room. I suspect sound isn’t going to be an issue as I already have to deal with the hum from the window unit and the buzzing from the floor flan that sounds like an army of bumble bees. My ears are already used to those noises.

Is Noctua’s still the reigning champion? They’re still ugly. But I noticed they also have black versions and grey versions out now as well. But it seems the grey versions are getting pretty bad reviews. In my current machine I’m using cougars (6) and they’ve been running 24/7 for 5 years now and I haven’t had a single one fail yet. It looks like the real world differences in fans aren’t that significant so should I go with whatever looks the best or …. ?

CPU

By the time I put the build together Kaby Lake will be released so I will be looking to get the i7 equivalent I suspect? So i7 7700K? With the purpose of the build covering pretty much every aspect is the i7 the correct choice or will an i5 suffice?

CPU Cooler

Water cooling or Air cooling? Should I overclock or not? Longevity once again being the number one priority and performance coming below that. If the consensus is air cooling then a Noctua? Or…. Something more lightweight? I’ve read that people are breaking the 6600/6700s because their thinner than their predecessors and if I end up not overclocking then a heavy heatsink should not even be required?

RAM

DDR4 are still in their infancy? Some reviews I’ve read said just pick up cheap DDR4 for now and wait till they are more optimized before picking up a good set. So should I just go with cheap DDR4 RAM for now until better timings and the likes are out in the market? Also with the Kaby Lake requiring 200-series motherboards there’s also something else I can’t recall that will be changing with RAM which would be another reason to hold out on dropping a load for a good set now and just wait till later?

Motherboard

I’ve originally planned to just wait for the 200-series motherboards since by the time I start piecing this together then Kaby Lake and 200-series mobos should be out in the market. I’ve also wanted to hold back for the 200-series – just in case I want to upgrade the CPU again when Cannonlake comes out in 2017. I know it has not been confirmed yet if Cannonlake will still be using the 1151 socket – but the consensus in the community seems to lean more so towards it sticking with 1151. Since It will be 2 months from now before I start putting it together – should I just get the 200-series or just go ahead and get a Z170 board? If the consensus here is to wait for the 200-series chipset then I know this can’t be answered yet but if I should just go ahead and pick up an i7-6700K and a Z170 – then what board should I be looking at? I’m at a real loss here. If I do end up getting the Cosmos then the guts don’t matter since there’s no windows to see the inside of the computer – so I could care less if the board is purple with pink pok-a-dots. Longevity and quality matter most with the board.

Also, connections matter since I will be using this as media storage as well. The more SATA the better. Should I be using M.2?

Hard Drives

Functions: (#) Media storage drives, O/S drive, 1 or 2 Gaming Drives, 1 or 2 – Graphic Design / Video Editing Drives.

Should I just go with a Samsung EVO or PRO SSD for the O/S drive or use M.2 for the OS? Should my graphic design and video editing software be on the same O/S drive or should I open these programs from whatever drives are designated for Graphic Design / Video editing?

I read from a couple of reviews to just stick with an EVO drive if you plan on using it mainly for the O/S as the PRO is for its writing performance?
I’ve always used Seagates. But it seems the majority of people seem to go with Western Digital nowadays. Honestly every HD in my computer right now is Seagate and I haven’t had any fail yet. I did buy 1 WD 1TB drive years back and it crashed within a year. But all of the Seagates in my current system have been running for 5 years without a problem so far. *Knock on wood*

I do not want to go crazy spending money on Hard drives since this will end up being the most expensive part due to the amount needed. I’m willing to go SSD / M.2 for the operating system. I’d rather continue using mechanical for the remainder. I may pick up a second SSD for Graphic Design / Video editing if it’s worth it?
Recommendation for the O/S Drive? Programs – MS Office, Windows, Video editing / graphic design software?

Recommendation for Media Storage Drives? The content in the drives are 1080P blu-ray mostly. I currently serve the movies through the Playstation to the tv with Cat6. What drives would you guys recommend for media storage?

Recommendation for Gaming Drives and then recommendation for video editing / graphic design drives?

Video Card

Leaning towards one 1080GT - may go for two later on.

Sound Card

Is it really worth getting a stand-alone sound card nowadays? I like great sound but I would not call myself an audiophile.

Speakers

A good pair of Logitech – not looking to dump $500+ on speakers. Just a good bang for my buck will suffice on this. In the past I’ve always bought Logitech.
Mice & Keyboard & Headphones

Doesn’t matter to me – I always buy cheap. I almost always end up having these all broken within a years’ time anyhow. (3 kids)

Monitor

I almost forgot about this. I’d prefer to use 4K – is 4K viable on a single monitor set-up? Say 32” in size? What size should I be going for and what monitor? I do not want to use multiple monitors until they actually come out with SEAMLESS monitors lol.

Summary:
Case: Cooler Master Cosmos II
PSU: Corsair Series
Case Fans: ???
CPU Cooler: Air or Water? Which?
CPU: i7 7700K Kaby Lake
Mobo: 200-series chipset
RAM: Cheap DDR4 for now
Video Card: 1080GT or two
Sound Card: Needed?
HD - O/S – M.2 or Samsung EVO/Pro?
HD - Video Editing / Graphic Design - ??
HD - Media Storage - ??
HD - Gaming Drives – WD Black?
Speakers: Logitech?
Mouse/Keyboard/Headphones – Inapplicable
Monitor : 32”? Brand? Model?

This is nearing 2,000 words now and I’m going to cut it short for now. If you actually read all of this I appreciate your patience in going through this and any of your recommendations you may have in steering me in the right practical direction I should be going and any other advice you may have.

 

[Erithan13]

Based on your planned usage I'd strongly suggest skipping Kabylake entirely and looking at the X99 platform. At the moment the 5820k is still a fantastic CPU for video editing and the like, and Broadwell-E will be available as a future upgrade path. The 5820k ideally needs a mild overclock to bring the single thread performance up a bit but this is easily done with a decent air cooler. You're practically guaranteed to get the 5820k to 4ghz without a lot of effort.

If you were to stick with a quadcore I wouldn't bother waiting around for Kabylake either, it's going to be literally +5% or so above the 6700k and probably more expensive to boot. 6700k + Z170 prices are good at the moment.

DDR4 is fairly mature by now and it's way cheaper than it was when Skylake first dropped. I don't know how well the 5820 responds to faster memory so someone else with better experience could maybe chime in and offer a recommendation. If you opt for the 6700k look at 3000mhz ram since Skylake really benefits from the higher speed.

For storage, the 850 evo is a very solid choice and there really isn't much to be gained by spending more. I think you're overthinking your storage requirements and you'd be best served by a single SSD for the OS and programs and then however many HDDs you need to store everything else. You don't want to split things across multiple drives if you don't need to so I wouldn't bother having a separate drive just for video programs or whatever, the speed benefits if any are going to be minimal, while every extra drive is more money and more potential for failure.

Sound card: Opinion tends to be divided on this, for me if you are going to be investing in decent headphones/speakers then the onboard sound will probably disappoint you. Recently I was able to compare onboard sound to my ancient soundblaster card and there was no competition; the card was superior. I don't demand earsplitting volume but the onboard was really quite pathetic over headphones and the audio quality was definitely worse. You could always buy a soundcard and compare to the onboard for yourself to see what you think, worst case sell the card if you think it's not enough of an improvement.

 

[giantpandaman2]

4k or not 4k is a pretty big question. Given that you want to do graphics editing, you'll probably want something like the Dell UP3216Q if you go 4k. You'll want the extended color gamut. As good as the monitor is in color, however, it doesn't have the best brightness uniformity...so probably not good enough for high end professional work.

The other problem is that 4k will bring any video card, including the 1080, to its knees. There is no single card available or even soon to be available that can handle 4k @ 60 fps with graphics maxed.

At 2560x1440 resolution there are a lot of good monitors. Again, for high end professional work it's going to cost a lot more because of color and uniformity requirements. (An EIZO goes for $2k+.)