$1700 new build (Overkill?) Repurposing parts.

[NoxiousNews]

http://pcpartpicker.com/user/Kleebin/saved/#view=4hq8TW

I'm going to do my first build. Thanks to all of you on here for inspiring me. I have selected the parts above and want to know if I'm overkilling on the components. I don't intend to do this again anytime soon so I'm going for performance and reasonable future proofing. I don't care about looks, just function and safe temps, and noise is not a concern either. I'll be playing ARK: SURVIVAL and the gambit of FPS's. I know some of this is not needed for those, but again, future-proofing. Plus, I'm considering posting some Youtube vids and possibly Twitch streaming.

Questions:

1. I have AT&T Uverse and looked at this Mobo for it's integrated wi-fi. But, I could use an Ethernet plugged directly into the Uverse gateway, correct? If so, I could go with another, cheaper board if it has the same performance. I don't think I'll overclock, but the built in turbo optimization on this one has had favorable reviews. I'd be more comfy doing that at a reported 4.4 Ghz than trying to OC at this stage. Not ruling out for later though.

2. I have a 750 watt max power supply from a 2009 Dell XPS 630i that has been sitting idle for 4 years. Can I reuse this on a modern build or is any of that proprietary and/or has the tech outpaced safely using such an old power supply?

3. Will the same XPS 630i case take modern components or will I run into things not fitting and need the new case?

4. Should I wait for Windows 10 before building, or go with 8.1? It's a free upgrade later, right?

5. I went with one 500GB SSD and no HDD. I have a Seagate 750GB 7200RPM HDD from the XPS, but I think 500GB will do me for a while unless there is some other benefit to having two drives.

6. Is 16GB RAM too much? If 8 is sufficient, is it better to go with one DIMM or 2x4GB?

Thanks for tolerating my newbie questions. Appreciate any constructive feedback.

 

[sadams04]

I wouldn't re-use any of those parts from the pre-built. The case is likely proprietary and the PSU is probably OK at best... Go with all new parts since you have a large budget. Regarding the build below, add a second GTX 980 Ti when / if you need more graphics muscle. Overclock as you please..

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($53.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.95 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($649.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 1050W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($174.99 @ B&H)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($28.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1781.13

 

[Iamsoda]

I wouldn't re-use any of those parts from the pre-built. The case is likely proprietary and the PSU is probably OK at best... Go with all new parts since you have a large budget. Regarding the build below, add a second GTX 980 Ti when / if you need more graphics muscle. Overclock as you please..

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D14 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Mwave)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($129.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($53.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.95 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.49 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB Video Card ($649.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design Define R4 (Black Pearl) ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic X Series 1050W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($174.99 @ B&H)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($18.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($89.99 @ NCIX US)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I 802.11a/b/g/n/ac PCI-Express x1 Wi-Fi Adapter ($28.98 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1781.13

If he really wants wifi I would switch out for a mobo with built in wifi. I personally don't love the idea of having a dumb wifi card in between my SLI cards. ASUS has some very nice MOBO with dual band wifi.

 

[C12Friedman]

Answers:
1) Provided your UVerse modem has ethernet connections, yes, you would be able to plug straight into that
2) Interesting, yes you can and I suspect it'll work. BUT... (you must've seen that coming) there's likely some degradation from age (capacitors do age) that'll affect it's ability to provide the full wattage and suppress noise and ripple - I'd try to use it personally but I will recommend here that it be replaced since you've got some fairly high-end parts in there.
3) The XPS 630i case will accept a full ATX motherboard but I do not know if the holes exist for µ-ATX standoffs so I can't say about µ-ATX fitment.
4) Right now Win 10 is a free upgrade so it doesn't seem to matter either way
5) Other than to minimize clutter on your OS/boot drive (which can keep it "snappier") and the extra storage, no, there isn't any huge benefit (discounting RAID setups)
6) Where 8GB was considered ideal not too long ago, conventional wisdom is now leaning toward 16 as being a good point for ram.

Hope it helps

 

[sadams04]

If he really wants wifi I would switch out for a mobo with built in wifi. I personally don't love the idea of having a dumb wifi card in between my SLI cards. ASUS has some very nice MOBO with dual band wifi.

...IMHO, not worth it when you look at the cost difference between the two options. They will perform the same. Not sure what you mean by dumb wifi. They both are a piece of hardware (WiFi adapter) with drivers...

 

[Iamsoda]

If he really wants wifi I would switch out for a mobo with built in wifi. I personally don't love the idea of having a dumb wifi card in between my SLI cards. ASUS has some very nice MOBO with dual band wifi.

...IMHO, not worth it when you look at the cost difference between the two options. They will perform the same. Not sure what you mean by dumb wifi. They both are a piece of hardware (WiFi adapter) with drivers...

http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-motherboard-z87pro There we go

Where does said PCI wifi sit? And where does one SLI GPU's? I'd rather not have to worry about having a wifi card in between my $500 plus GPU's. That MOBO I posted saves money and you can knock off the wifi adapter.

 

[NoxiousNews]

Thanks for the fast responses. I think I've decided to keep the PC in the living room near the Uverse gateway, so the Wi-Fi on board is not as necessary, but the auto-turbo optimization vs. manual overclocking is a nice feature of the original board I picked. Does your gigabyte replacement offer that optimization feature or is there another that does w/o sacrificing any performance? One review noted the Gigabyte board is smaller than standard and could cause installation headaches. Anything to that?

Curious also about the Ares RAM over the Ripjaws. Did you pick that for it's lower profile due to the size of the Noctua?

Lastly, your build comes in at 452 watts. Any reason you went with such a beast power supply?
Thanks again.

 

[excella1221]

The heat spreaders on RAM sticks are really just gimmicky, but yes you'd have an easier time installing the CPU cooler without them.

I'm guessing the big power supply is for when you decide you want to SLI the GTX 980.

 

[Iamsoda]

The heat spreaders on RAM sticks are really just gimmicky, but yes you'd have an easier time installing the CPU cooler without them.

I'm guessing the big power supply is for when you decide you want to SLI the GTX 980.

Well not if you over clock ram, but I don't even bother with that. The ASUS MOBO's have plenty of room. Yes the larger PSU is for a SLI in the future and it is a really good price.