Building $1200(ish) PC

[Dysphemism]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($254.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($128.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: GeIL SUPER LUCE 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Kingston Predator 240GB PCI-E Solid State Drive ($185.00)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.88 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB Video Card ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: NZXT S340 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $0.00)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($74.88 @ Amazon)
Total: $1238.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-16 16:19 EST-0500

How does this look? I want to play Witcher 3 and MKX at 1080p. The S340 is a thin case so I don't want to do an aircooler that will be really close to the side panel. I want the build to be all white because it looks sweet. I went with a PCI SSD because even though it's more expensive, they're significantly faster and I would like this build to last me a while. I may go SLI in the future so I went with a 650w power supply and I plan on going with white sleeved cables in the future so I have a modular PSU.

 

[Swinginking]

You seriously don't need a PCI-e SSD for a gaming machine, you also don't need 2400 Mhz Ram, in my opinion, downgrade those to a normal SSD, and a 1333 or 1866 Ram, OR, from the saving get a 980 card or 980 Ti if you really want it to last a while.

Lastly, are you getting that NZXT cooler for the ease of water-cooling? Since I recommend going completely custom with that if your gonna water cool (if your comfortable with that.)

If not you are not comfortable, go fully Air cooled, you can get some nice corsair fans with white LED's and a Noctua Nh-d14 or d15 for your CPU Cooling. you will save a lot of $$ to go towards your GPU and also you will only lose roughly 2 degrees in cooling terms.

EDITED : You pretty much said that it will look ugly with air cooling the CPU: So...if not the noctua, look at this cooler Raijintek Pallas, It will go REALLY well with your theme.

 

[Dysphemism]

I'm going with that RAM because it's not a bad price for 16 GB of DDR4 RAM and also it's white. I do some minor 3D modeling and rendering and photoshop, so I figured I'd load 3DS max, zbrush and photoshop onto the ssd.

The watercooler is for a few reasons. I am comfortable building my own loop, but for the price I'm not ready to do that. Maybe in the future. The NZXT case has 2 white fans already and the 240mm radiator would fit in the front which then will fill every slot for fans on my case. Also if I'm only paying 30-40 dollars more for the kraken, I'm getting slightly better performance and significantly better aesthetics for a huge case window, but also those coolers have almost no clearance with my side window which scratches easily. So I'd like to go with the watercooler just because it looks better but also because it is a lot more space efficient.

 

[Swinginking]

I'm going with that RAM because it's not a bad price for 16 GB of DDR4 RAM and also it's white. I do some minor 3D modeling and rendering and photoshop, so I figured I'd load 3DS max, zbrush and photoshop onto the ssd.

The watercooler is for a few reasons. I am comfortable building my own loop, but for the price I'm not ready to do that. Maybe in the future. The NZXT case has 2 white fans already and the 240mm radiator would fit in the front which then will fill every slot for fans on my case. Also if I'm only paying 30-40 dollars more for the kraken, I'm getting slightly better performance and significantly better aesthetics for a huge case window, but also those coolers have almost no clearance with my side window which scratches easily. So I'd like to go with the watercooler just because it looks better but also because it is a lot more space efficient.

Totally understand your point, but do have a look at the Rajintek Pallas, also, the reason to shave off a few bucks here or there is to raise more of a budget for a 980 since you want it to last quite a bit.

My 970 was struggling already playing witcher on max, so I've already had to SLI it quite recently, and I agree with the Ram then if your gonna use it for 3d modelling
So, yeah, my recommendation is just trying to get a 980 instead

 

[Dysphemism]

Also, sorry for not mentioning photoshop and modeling

 

[Swinginking]

Also, sorry for not mentioning photoshop and modeling

All good, also, look at a Rajintek Triton water-cooling, its semi customisable unlike the Kraken (correct me if I'm wrong) and I think it looks MUCH better for roughly the same price if your gonna go with that

 

[Dysphemism]

I was debating getting this if I'm going with aircooler Phanteks PH-TC12DX 120mm PWM CPU Cooler. It's pretty nice looking for a white build if I go with an aircooler. I was also thinking about building it and sticking with my 650 for a while and then mid 2016 when new GPUs come out pick up one of those because I'll have more money to upgrade and they should be pretty solid or at least there'll be price drops on the 900 series and I can get some on craigslist from people upgrading.

 

[Dysphemism]

Kraken isn't customizable but I really like the RGB LED NZXT lighting on it which goes well with my NZXT case. I'll definitely look into the raijintek AIO cooler though. Not huge on the fans aesthetics but they'll be hidden and the fact that you can add colorant is pretty nice.

 

[Dysphemism]

And it can be expanded which is pretty awesome

 

[Swinginking]

I was debating getting this if I'm going with aircooler Phanteks PH-TC12DX 120mm PWM CPU Cooler. It's pretty nice looking for a white build if I go with an aircooler. I was also thinking about building it and sticking with my 650 for a while and then mid 2016 when new GPUs come out pick up one of those because I'll have more money to upgrade and they should be pretty solid or at least there'll be price drops on the 900 series and I can get some on craigslist from people upgrading.

Na, I wouldn't go for that particular one if I'm honest, thats just a personal opinion,
I agree with you there, keep with what you have and then grab it later when its cheap or when the new one comes out, I really can't recommend a Single 970 anymore from personal experience
and then maybe pair it with a Kraken G10 - white Gpu cooler. That will look so sexy.

 

[Dysphemism]

I was really strongly debating going with 2 krakens and a g10 for a really sexy white build. But if I'm spending 250 on WCing, might as well do a custom loop. From reviews that I just read, the only real problem with the raijintek is that it's very loud. My PC sits about 2 feet from my face on my desk so I don't want anything that's too loud.

 

[Swinginking]

I was really strongly debating going with 2 krakens and a g10 for a really sexy white build. But if I'm spending 250 on WCing, might as well do a custom loop. From reviews that I just read, the only real problem with the raijintek is that it's very loud. My PC sits about 2 feet from my face on my desk so I don't want anything that's too loud.

That is wrong, I have the Rajintek Triton too, its not loud at all, with a 4690k Overclocked to 4.4 Ghz, my temps never go above 65c even after 4 hours of gaming.

It has a manual speed control thing you twist, which keeps the fans speed ( = noise) to a certain level.
I keep mine at around 25% speed for those results, I can't hear it for the life of me.

If i crank it up to 80%+ speed it is VERY noticeable then though

It may be a factor, I have the quiet case H440 NZXT though.

 

[Dysphemism]

I have the S340 which is a louder case, but I saw a quick mod for AIO coolers where you can take white tubing, you slit it on one side and just wrap it around the tube and you can't tell that it's not white tubing. So that looks pretty sweet for really cheap

 

[Swinginking]

Yeah, you can also get these wraps for them anyway, like a wire coil which goes around them, people usually put them on to prevent kinks in the tube.

Keep in mind, if you do double tube it, its gonna affect temps. (not by much, but it will be higher)

 

[Dysphemism]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqo_0kSqyNk

 

[Dysphemism]

Or I might plastidip them

 

[Swinginking]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tqo_0kSqyNk

Ah yeah, I understand what you mean thats genius, but it will still be insulating it though
Here is what I was talking about:

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/6622/tsl-28/PrimoChill_Anti-Kink_Coils_-_58_OD_Tubing_-_UV_Red.html?tl=g30c289s716&id=DraZbE75


LOL DO NOT Plasti-dip them for the love of good! hahaha! I actually did that a while ago, and trust me, you don't want that shit anywhere near your computer with that heat haha!

 

[Dysphemism]

Haha, I saw a mod log of someone plastidipping an H100i and it looked really freaking sweet. I know it'll be insulating, but I doubt the insulation from double tubing will heavily affect the temperatures too much. It seems like with the distance from the CPU to the radiator, the air on the outside of the tube probably doesn't cool it too much

 

[Swinginking]

I had the same idea haha, but mine was with plasti dipped, inside of case with some RGB lightening, it started peeling and flaking like...shit. and yeah not by much though. You could go Rajintek Triton and just put some white colouring in there haha

 

[Dysphemism]

Okay, well I'll do some more research on the triton. I'm partial to the kraken just because the RGB lighting is nice and also the nzxt goes with my case

 

[Dysphemism]

I'm seeing a lot of people who've had problems with cracking and leaks with it :/

 

[Gamer1985]

Do not buy the Rajintek Triton, theyre crap. Most people end up with a leak from the cracks and there goes your video card and everything else it leaks on. Its a nice concept but not quality whatsoever. If you want to go open loop, then make a custom watercooling solution. Or just go closed loop liquid cooling. The corsair h100i GTX also has RGB lighting. The Kraken is nice also

 

[g-unit1111]

I'm going with that RAM because it's not a bad price for 16 GB of DDR4 RAM and also it's white. I do some minor 3D modeling and rendering and photoshop, so I figured I'd load 3DS max, zbrush and photoshop onto the ssd.

The watercooler is for a few reasons. I am comfortable building my own loop, but for the price I'm not ready to do that. Maybe in the future. The NZXT case has 2 white fans already and the 240mm radiator would fit in the front which then will fill every slot for fans on my case. Also if I'm only paying 30-40 dollars more for the kraken, I'm getting slightly better performance and significantly better aesthetics for a huge case window, but also those coolers have almost no clearance with my side window which scratches easily. So I'd like to go with the watercooler just because it looks better but also because it is a lot more space efficient.

Don't buy an NZXT Kraken X61 either - pretty much all closed liquid loops are based on the same radiator design and most are pretty terrible. You're better off going with air cooling. Water cooling looks better but just about every single closed loop is known for the same problems. You won't have that buying a Cryorig R1 or a Noctua D15.

 

[Swinginking]

I'm going with that RAM because it's not a bad price for 16 GB of DDR4 RAM and also it's white. I do some minor 3D modeling and rendering and photoshop, so I figured I'd load 3DS max, zbrush and photoshop onto the ssd.

The watercooler is for a few reasons. I am comfortable building my own loop, but for the price I'm not ready to do that. Maybe in the future. The NZXT case has 2 white fans already and the 240mm radiator would fit in the front which then will fill every slot for fans on my case. Also if I'm only paying 30-40 dollars more for the kraken, I'm getting slightly better performance and significantly better aesthetics for a huge case window, but also those coolers have almost no clearance with my side window which scratches easily. So I'd like to go with the watercooler just because it looks better but also because it is a lot more space efficient.

Don't buy an NZXT Kraken X61 either - pretty much all closed liquid loops are based on the same radiator design and most are pretty terrible. You're better off going with air cooling. Water cooling looks better but just about every single closed loop is known for the same problems. You won't have that buying a Cryorig R1 or a Noctua D15.

I concur, like I said before and gave you an example of an air cooler with 'good aesthetics', it won't be hard finding a air cooler to suit your build style