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New killer rig time :-) Ideas and suggestions on specs.

Smilax

Junior Member
Apologies this is a bit long.

So long time back, about 5 years ago or so, I built a killer rig that I've been using ever since and I've been saving up recently and thought it would be fun to build another. I tend to overdo my systems but that part of the fun for me. However this time although I'm going to be spending a lot I figured I'd try to be a bit more reasonable, not about the cost, but about where I spend the money and what I'm going to get out of it as last time I built a killer rig that was sweet but way overkill in terms of how much of it I ended up using.

That being said this is still overkill of course but it's spread out more reasonably I think than in the past. The key thing here is I'm building a gaming PC, AND getting a 2 bay NAS for streaming video because over time I've found that I'm now using my rig a LOT as a media dLNA media server for my apartment.

I've been out of the loop for quite a few years though, I used to sell hardware and build rigs but it's been a while. So suggestions would be VERY welcome (constructive ones).

Anyway to cut the crap here is my OLD rig:

OLD rig specs:

Case: Corsair Obsidian 800D (REUSING)
CPU: Intel i7 970 (I got this for a deal because I worked for a retailer that sold intel products at the time)
Mobo: Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R
RAM: 18GB DDR3
GPU: Gigabyte AMD 5970 ( this guy died on me shortly after the warranty was up :'-(, never going single card SLI/Crossfire again) Some time later I just put in a $50 video card which I'm using still. (want to get back into gaming though)
HDD: 2 x 2TB WD Green in RAID 1 (I have other drives in here from other machines that were added but this is the main storage)
SSD: Kingston 120GB Hyper X, Samsung 840 750GB Evo (this was added much latter) (I might keep this)
Power: Corsair HX750
HSF: noctua nh-d14
Monitor: Dell 30 3007wfp (this was not part of the original build but was added on not too long after, I'm sort of including this in the cost I mention bellow) (REUSING)

Rough cost estimate: $3000-4000+? (Canadian) (with the monitor which wasn't part of the original build)

NEW RIG specs:

Case: See above
CPU: Intel i7 6700K
Mobo: GIGABYTE Z170X-UD
RAM: 32GB DDR4 (2 x 16)
GPU: EVGA 1070
HDD: WD 2TB Red
SSD: Samsung 950 Pro 512GB M.2 2280 NVMe PCIe (not sure if I will use the 840 above in any capacity)
Power: Corsair AX860
HSF: Corsair H100I
Monitor: See above

AND Along side this (to serve as a media a file server which I now realise I'm using my main rig a LOT for)

NAS: Synology DS216PLAY 2BAY **THIS is where I need the most help as I'm in the dark on NASs!**
HDD: 2 x WD 6TB Red (RAID 1)

Cost: ~$3500 Canadian

Now a few notes:
*I'm going from a 6 core E processor to a 4 core mainstream one but I think the extra processing power I have now is wasted anyway. I do high res photo editing (as a photographer), gaming, etc but no HD video editing so I don't think I'd need the extra cores.

*32GB of RAM might seem like overkill and I suppose it is but in the scope of the cost of the system it doesn't seem like a real savings to get less.

*I technically could get a 1080 instead of a 1070 but that would push the cost above what I've saved. I'm thinking the 1070 is more than good enough. The MAIN thing is that it needs to be able to game at the native res of my monitor 2560x1600
 
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Looks fine to me, but if you are not overclocking then I would go with a non K CPU and use the stock HSF. Use the money saved on a bigger SSD or something.
 
Looks fine to me, but if you are not overclocking then I would go with a non K CPU and use the stock HSF. Use the money saved on a bigger SSD or something.

Good idea, thanks. Or maybe I'll just try to reuse my noctua nh-d14. A quick google actually shows that Noctua offers a FREE mounting bracket upgrade kit.
 
One piece advice I will give is since you haven't built a rig in some time is to watch a few build videos and look up instructions before you start putting together the new system. This may prevent you from making costly mistakes.
 
Smilax here the OP, posting under Locut0s because I couldn't access this account before.

I just realised I had 32 GB of DDR4 in a dual channel configuration when DDR4 only sees it's full benefit in quad channel. Does anyone know if all mobos that support DDR4 should support it in full quad channel mode? If so I guess I should switch this to 4x8GB.
 
Quad channel DDR4 is only supported by X99 chipset and the 2011-3 socket. 6700/k is socket 1150 and Z170/H170 which only supports dual channel DDR4, so 2x16GB is fine if you want to leave room for another 2x16GB later.

X99 would mean 5820k or 6800k which are 6 core unlike the 6700/k which is a quad core.
 
Thanks. Yeah I thought that might be the case. I thought of going X99 and Broadwell-E but thought that would be overkill for my needs. Even if I'm spending a lot. What do you think?
 
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