College Build for Gaming and Work

[Brian_99]

Hello all,

A friend and I will be attending college shortly as roommates and our interested in building a high end desktop capable of the best possible performance in both gaming and workloads. We have decided on the main components but would like your input on what we might add to improve and/or complete the design. Yes, as I'm sure you'll notice, we have chosen to purchase quite a bit of ram. I'll assure you now that we will indeed need it for the workloads we will be running on the computer, additionally, as the cost is split between us and a third party, it is not altogether unreasonable. Finally we would like a closed loop liquid cooler. Thank you for your help.

Intel Core i7 6700k

Nividia GeForce GTX 1080 FE (x2)

Cooler Master HAF X Case

ASUS Rog Maximus VIII Extreme MOBO

Corsair Dominator Platinum RAM 64GB

 

[claww]

well since you want a high end build and budget doesn't seem to be too much of an issue you choose a good combination of components since they are about as high end as can be at the moment, besides the fact that you can go for an extreme edition processor but i don't recommend that at all since it's really not worth the tiny increase in gaming performance. As for casing the cooler master is a good one but that part kinda depends on you since aesthetic preferences vary. but make sure that it's large enough and has room for cable management and stuff in which case the HAF X seems to be good. ofcource you'll need a PSU for the system so i would recommend that you get something like a Antec High Current Pro. go for either the 750W or 850W ones. they are modular 80+ gold so they are gonna be very reliable and are going to help a lot in cable management. 750W is actually more then enough for 2 1080's but you can go for 850W incase you just want even more headroom or maybe plan on getting power hungry upgrades in the future. both of these power supplies wont break the bank as they cost around 200-250$ but ofcource if you want you just don't care about saving money at all you may go for ridiculously massive PSU's. furthermore you'll need storage in which case i strongly recommend SSD drives. for standard ssd i would recommend the Samsung evos or pro editions. get the storage amount according to your needs. you may also choose to have both an ssd which you can use for OS and frequently used applications and an HDD for cheap mass storage. if you have a lot of money you may want to consider M.2 sata SSD drives

 

[Inkiad]

Will you run two 4K display? If not, exclude one GTX 1080. Get the graphics card from other brands, not founders edition. These cards run cooler and quieter.

You can get better case for the money. Like NZXT H440 or cooler master mastercase 5 pro.

Get windows from somewhere else for cheap. You can get windows 10 key for ~23 - http://cheapdigitaldownload.com/windows-10-professional-digital-download-price-comparison/

Always get a good power supply. Like evga G2, P2 or corsair RMx. These units comes with 7years or more of warranty.

It is highly unlikely you will use that much ram in college work. 64gb is way way overkill. If you insist on more ram, get 32gb. No more. Get an SSD, will improve your overall computing experience.

So my suggestion -
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($344.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110i GTX 104.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII HERO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($159.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($85.00 @ Adorama)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Video Card ($669.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 650W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($85.98 @ Newegg)
Other: Windows 10 Professional ($23.00)
Total: $1933.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-26 15:30 EDT-0400

 

[Brian_99]

Thank you for your responses so far. One further question I have but forgot to ask is do we, in this day an age, need to get an optical drive? Most everything is in the cloud now but thought it is worth consideration. In terms of your current suggestions, I have a few questions and comments. Yes, we will (hopefully) be running two 4k displays so the gpu's are a must, but I will take your advice and forgo the FE. Second, I will use the 850w PSU so that we are set for future upgrades for now at least. As far as storage goes, I think one SSD and 2 HDD will suffice, but how much of a boost does the M.2 in Raid 0 actually provide? Finally, what kind of in increase would an extreme edition CPU provide and at what cost?

Thanks

 

[Inkiad]

You would need ODD only for installing windows from DVD now a days. As you are getting digital key anyway, no need for that. But they are like $15. If you think you want one, then get one.

There is like $15 difference between a good 850w and 1000w. I suggest get the 1000w just for future proofing and peace of mind.

I did not do any RAID 0 in SSDs. But seen benchmarks and videos. They will increase read/write about 1.9 times. HarwareCanucks did a system with 3 SSDs in raid 0. Check the video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3-655bm9N0s .

Give up on extreme edition. They are for enthusiasts and they have price tag to show it. CPU starts from $450(6800K), which have 6 cores. I7 6700K has 4 cores. But you will need special X99 motherboard. Good X99 motherboard starts from about $250 . Very few games and daily life software will use that much power. Unless you do video editing, rendering, animation etc as your full time job, the extra cost for the Extreme edition is not worth it. You would not need such power.

My suggestion would be -
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($344.88 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110i GTX 104.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII HERO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($199.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($144.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($159.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($85.00 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($85.00 @ Adorama)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($669.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($669.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Other: Windows 10 Professional ($23.00)
Total: $2732.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-07-26 16:04 EDT-0400