Best build for $1,800

[weberdarren97]

Hello all, it's me again.

I know it's late today, but my brother just decided that he wants to spend his Black Friday money on a new computer. Aesthetics are a big thing with him, he wants a white and black build and he wants good cooling. He'll be upgrading on his birthday in February and will be including a full custom water cooling loop.

Wish list:
1) i5 or better (needs to be overclockable)
2) GTX 1060 or better
3) Black and white theme
4) Silent
5) No darn cube cases
6) White power supply for when he adds the white cable kit from CableMod in February. This means that the selected PSU must have cables available for config via CableMod.

Uses:
1) Simultaneous gaming and streaming
2) Video editing at 1080p with Adobe Premiere Pro (no intention of raising the resolution)
3) Doing a metric crap ton of basic things all at once

Here's my build:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($219.99 @ NCIX US)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($69.99 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING 3X ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($119.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($157.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($118.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB FTW Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card ($644.99 @ NCIX US)
Case: Fractal Design Define S w/Window ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: SeaSonic Snow Silent 750W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($149.99 @ B&H)
Total: $1676.91
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-25 17:12 EST-0500

 

[Wolfshadw]

Was there a question here?

My only comment would be to skip Black Friday deals and purchase the entire system on his birthday when he has the full budget.

-Wolf sends

 

[weberdarren97]

The question was to see what you guys could come up with, and maybe to criticize my build.

Also, I should have been more clear when I said upgrading. He won't be upgrading the components themselves, but rather he'll be buying white individually sleeved cables and we'll work together on a full custom loop for the CPU and GPU.

IDK... Is it worth including the MOSFETs into a water cooling loop? I mean, this board already looks to have pretty good cooling for them.

 

[0451]

If you want to build a custom water loop, decide now before you buy anything.

If so:

Get the cheapest air cooler to use in the mean time.

Get a GTX 1080 with a reference PCB so you can get a water block later.

Take a look at other builds for inspiration. The Facebook group "Watercooled PC" is a good place to start.

 

[weberdarren97]

If you want to build a custom water loop, decide now before you buy anything.

If so:

Get the cheapest air cooler to use in the mean time.

Get a GTX 1080 with a reference PCB so you can get a water block later.

Take a look at other builds for inspiration. The Facebook group "Watercooled PC" is a good place to start.

Thanks for the advice. However, I've been watercooling for years. I think I know how to handle this.

Anyways, he wants it to be silent now even though he won't be upgrading to water cooling until February, so I was looking at the Dark Rock Pro 3 for now.

 

[jmsellars1]

With the custom loop I'd just include the CPU and GPU, nothing else in the system needs water cooling.

Your build looks pretty good but 16GB RAM is going to be plenty for anything you can throw at it. I'd go for 16GB on a board with 4 slots so you have the option of 32GB if you need it.

If you're staying at 1080P / 60Hz I think the GTX 1080 is a waste of money. Even a GTX 1060 would max anything at that resolution so I'd go for a 1070. (1070 runs cooler as well which is good for a silent build.)

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($299.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler ($56.00 @ NCIX US)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING 3X ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($119.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($249.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 8GB FTW Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card ($409.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Corsair Carbide 400C ATX Mid Tower Case ($97.49 @ Jet)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 650W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($103.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case Fan: be quiet! SilentWings 3 pwm 59.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($20.69 @ SuperBiiz)
Case Fan: be quiet! SilentWings 3 pwm 59.5 CFM 140mm Fan ($20.69 @ SuperBiiz)
Case Fan: be quiet! SilentWings 3 PWM 50.5 CFM 120mm Fan ($17.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $1551.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-11-26 08:07 EST-0500


- Downgrade to a 1070 but still more than enough power for 1080 / 60Hz, I'm using it for 1440P / 165Hz and it has been awesome.
- 16GB is plenty of RAM but 32GB is in budget.
- This build would be quieter as well, that PSU is more efficient, the GPU is more efficient, no vibrations from the hard drive, much better case fans with rubber mounts and a single CPU fan.
- The i7 is definitely worth it at your budget, particularly for the heavy multitasking/work stuff.