Help and Advice on a $2,000 Gaming PC build.

[j3ster]

Hi guys I would like to ask for advises and help regarding a new Pc build that im planning.

but I also aim to future proof my build this time with as many possible upgrade paths along the way.


I am aiming for a x99 chipset build and if possible get a GTX 1080 in the mix. but im open to suggestions and help regarding my build. thanks 😀

 

[Gnuffi]

I also aim to future proof my build this time with as many possible upgrade paths along the way.

this is a dangerous idea to have 😉
since there is pretty much no such thing as "future proof" within hardware, and upgrade paths cant be guaranteed
Intel might plan to ditch the x99 after Broadwell-E, and then you would be "stuck" there in teh sense, you would have to switch platform next time anyway
you need to realign your goals with, what there is now/near future, and what your needs are
since if you already plan to spend top dollar on your system, you are already in the likelihood the next upgrade "needed" would be so far of in teh future you would be forced to platform switch anyway,
so all you can make possible, is you get the top hardware there is in the moment, and accept when upgrade time is due long from now, it might not just 1 item, but the entire platform.

on that note, unless you plan on any heavy workloads that benefit from the x99 (6/8/10 cores) then you dont really need anything like that, and z170 is perfect for gaming
, drop in an i7 to "future proof" a little for those naughty games that do use more than 2 cores, and you are golden,
and dropping the same water cooling on the z170 +i7, that you would "have to" on x99, and you can overclock the z170+i7 higher than the x99 which would again help more in gaming vs the +cores difference

and since there is no telling what Intel plan to ditch when and where, x99 and z170 might be equally limited in terms of "future upgrading path" anyway too

 

[j3ster]

I also aim to future proof my build this time with as many possible upgrade paths along the way.

this is a dangerous idea to have 😉
since there is pretty much no such thing as "future proof" within hardware, and upgrade paths cant be guaranteed
Intel might plan to ditch the x99 after Broadwell-E, and then you would be "stuck" there in teh sense, you would have to switch platform next time anyway
you need to realign your goals with, what there is now/near future, and what your needs are
since if you already plan to spend top dollar on your system, you are already in the likelihood the next upgrade "needed" would be so far of in teh future you would be forced to platform switch anyway,
so all you can make possible, is you get the top hardware there is in the moment, and accept when upgrade time is due long from now, it might not just 1 item, but the entire platform.

on that note, unless you plan on any heavy workloads that benefit from the x99 (6/8/10 cores) then you dont really need anything like that, and z170 is perfect for gaming
, drop in an i7 to "future proof" a little for those naughty games that do use more than 2 cores, and you are golden,
and dropping the same water cooling on the z170 +i7, that you would "have to" on x99, and you can overclock the z170+i7 higher than the x99 which would again help more in gaming vs the +cores difference

and since there is no telling what Intel plan to ditch when and where, x99 and z170 might be equally limited in terms of "future upgrading path" anyway too

I shouldve been more precise on what I mean, I really do know that theres no real way to future proof pc hardware but I do plan on upgrading after 2 years. so i really want to hit a mark that I dont fall behind since my old system, an i7 3820 on an Asus p9x79 board 16 Gb of ram with a R9 270x. really did fall behind lately xD so yea. need to upgrade

and most of the time the pc im planning to build will be for gaming. so do you have any recommendations? but im really set to get a GTX 1080 or a GTX 1070 then get the 1080 Ti later this year. im not entirely on a rush but im just trying to get some expert idea on my upcoming build. also Thanks 😀

 

[Gnuffi]

Since broadwell-E comes out this year that is a possibility for the x99 platform, but again not much gain for pure gaming, its more for rendering, encoding, programming, modelling, professional work task as such
and Intel might very well abandon the platform once broadwell-e is out, and aim for the "New" thing, which mean if you wanted to upgrade in 2 years you would still need an entire platform change,,
however, going with current z170 x99 or the upcoming later this year, there is just no way you would "need" to upgrade within the next 4 years
so just like your current system is 4 years old, and need to switch platform because of upgrade, you should expect the same next time, since with 4years its highly unlikely Intel/AMD sticks with either current platforms

all that in mind, i still recommend the z170 for gaming, and an i7 if you want to future proof a tiny bit
and the possibility of future Cannonlake compatibility might be there too on z170,

also overclocking helps with longevity to in terms of "proofing", people with old unlocked CPU's find them still running great even today, simply because they add an overclcock that helps bring some boost in order to keep up, and OC also helps going from a GPU that was a bottlenecked before, to now not so

so getting an unlocked i7 cpu for z170 i reckon would be far the best choice for straight up gaming,
not only would it beat current x99 platform in games because most games dont benefit from the extra cores, but games do benefit from teh higher clock speeds of teh z170,
but im betting despite broadwell-e improvements, z170 will still beat it in most games,

so since cannonlake is far from out and no z180 boards either,
i suggest a z170board, with an i7 6700k, that you overclock to 4.6-4.8GHz
and if you have the money to waste a gtx 1080 (not founders edition wait for partner boards) of be "strong" and wait for the 1080ti 😉
(depending on resolution ofc, since it would be a waste on 1080p )
16GB of 3200MHz Cas 14 ram, (16gb is plenty, you can go nuts and go for 32gb but its not "needed" yet)

it would be cheaper than x99, and im confident more powerful for pure gaming
if you have/do any of those other tasks mentioned, ofc the x99 might suddenly be worth considering, in which case i would actually wait a few months since Broadwell-E is right around the corner, and looks intriguing even tho Haswell-E is ofc solid

 

[j3ster]

thank you. ill take note of that. ill go ahead and try to get an i7 6700k, and im not in a hurry like ive said im just canvasing for parts to get my build by this year. and i do really want to get a good single GPU which the GTX 1080/1080Ti seems to be my best bet.

 

[Gnuffi]

yea, i know what you mean, im currently waiting to see what (if any) AMD brings to teh table, otherwise im holding out for teh 1080Ti, unless the 970 turns out to be amazing value/money/performance
so far was sorta slightly disappointed by 1080, not enough to make me giddy,, hoping the 1070 or atleast 1080Ti will make that happen, i miss having a beastly card

 

[j3ster]

yea true. like ive said i might even go for the 1070 if its really good at its price. and then save up for a GPU upgrade later this year. that is if ever AMD releases a good card for its price to compete with the 1070 or 1080, or if the 1080 Ti is really a worthy upgrade over a 1070, if not i might just run a SLI config with 2x 1070s. but again not in a rush, holding on my money to get the best value out of this for this year ^_^