Please critique skylake build

[steve wilson]

Hi,
I'm building a new skylake system and was wondering what people think or if anyone has better suggestions.

This is what I'm buying
http://imgur.com/yE5L7cg

I already have
NH-U14S Noctua CPU COOLER
MSI Gtx 770 twin frozer
650W CM EXTREME GX 80+ PSU
Fractal design refine r3

The system will be mostly used for gaming. I'm aware that a graphics card increase would net me a bigger upgrade for cheaper, but I'm going to do the graphics card when I buy which ever VR headset I end up getting. I'm gaming at 1080p.

 

[lehtv]

Are you sure you need a dedicated sound card, let alone an 'audiophile' one? The integrated sound on that board is quite good.

Also check out Z170 Pro Gaming, there are few meaningful differences between that and the more expensive Ranger.

3600MHz memory is quite... extreme. What does it cost? 2666-3000Mhz should be the sweet spot in price/perf, you won't notice any real world benefit from over 3000mhz RAM.

Sandisk Ultra II is ok, it really depends on cost. If BX100, 850 EVO or MX200 is significantly cheaper, buy one of those instead.

Also, with such a budget, replace the GX power supply with some high quality Gold unit. E.g. EVGA 650 G2.

 

[steve wilson]

The PSU is just the one I have and it's worked fine, so I thought I would save some money by just keep using it.

The Pro gaming isn't in stock, it's the one I originally planned to get, maybe I'll wait for it.

Most benchmarks I've seen the CPU really stretches its legs with better RAM, maybe I'll go for a cheaper set at 3000mhz. Is it worth getting 16GB for an average gamer, or will 8GB be OK?

My head set is a Seinnheiser 350 and it has the stupid big 6.5mm jacks (I should of looked into them more when I bought them). I've had adapters for them that eventually bend and then team mates get annoyed with me for breaking their ear drums. So I'm getting the sound card as I love my head set and although I'm an audophile the slightly improved sounds is nice.

Edit: The SSD was the cheapest out of the 3 you mentioned and that is why I picked it. Was going to wait and get an NVMe Samsung one, but I don't think it's going to make that big a difference to me...not worth the extra money at this time.

 

[lehtv]

That it's worked fine in you limited use scenario doesn't prove anything about its quality. HardOCP's review was pretty scathing...

The Cooler Master GX 650W is a mediocre power supply for couple of years ago, and an outright failure today. The Build Quality of the unit is nothing to write home about (unless it is a warning), the topology is old and outdated, and the exterior is flash over substance. Coupled with this we have mediocre voltage, poor by today's standards efficiency, and out of specification DC Output Quality. One upping this poor showing is that fact that the unit was completely unable to complete our load tests at 100v AC input. That makes the GX 650W not just a failure by our standards, but rather a double failure and an ugly one at that.

My emphasis.

Is it worth getting 16GB for an average gamer, or will 8GB be OK?

8GB is OK. In the same vein, 6600K is more than fine for the average gamer. 6700K is the sort of purchase you make when you've already made sure everything else in the PC is up to date and good quality, and you still have money left to spend. In this case, I would rather have 6600K with a quality PSU than 6700K with the GX series PSU, if it came to having to choose between those two.

My head set is a Seinnheiser 350 and it has the stupid big 6.5mm jacks (I should of looked into them more when I bought them)

Sennheiser PC-350 has normal 3.5mm plugs. Is it not PC-350 ?

 

[DigDog]

+1 no need for that soundcard.
also, you can get a jack-to-minijack (you probably had it in the box) for your sennheiser.

EVGA sells some outstanding PSUs for very reasonable money.

 

[steve wilson]

+1 no need for that soundcard.
also, you can get a jack-to-minijack (you probably had it in the box) for your sennheiser.

EVGA sells some outstanding PSUs for very reasonable money.

That is worrying about the DC output, while I have had a moderate 4.3Ghz OC on my 2500k and I've never had a problem, I don't want to be frying my new parts when I attempt to OC it. Thanks for the heads up.

The headset was bought from Ebay and I think it was packaged with a sound card, so that might be why it has 6.5mm jacks.

Edit: This was supposed to be a reply to lehtv

 

[steve wilson]

+1 no need for that soundcard.
also, you can get a jack-to-minijack (you probably had it in the box) for your sennheiser.

EVGA sells some outstanding PSUs for very reasonable money.

I have adapters at the moment and after a time they bend and make my mic make crazy annoying static noises. It's very annoying for team mates, so I have decided to get a new sound card or a new head set. I love my head set, it's the best I've ever had and I don't want to change it, so I'm getting the sound card.

 

[steve wilson]

Thanks for the advice, I've bit the bullet and bought it.