Help me review my PC! ~4000AUD

[RozenDawn]

So after 5 years with my PC i've decided that it is time for an upgrade. Only, its been quite a while since i've looked at new parts and i'm not so sure anymore on what is good. I've done some research and am fairly confident that this build is pretty good.

http://au.pcpartpicker.com/p/cDJG99.

I'm not entirely sure if i want to add in a liquid cooler for my CPU or if the CM Hyper 212 EVO is good enough. i hope to be adding another 144hz screen, possibly an ACER XB270HU?Thanks for reading! If you think i should change anything i do not mind the overall price increasing ~400AUD or so.

 

[Joe Gallo]

3 things I see that could change to save you some money. the ram its pointless your looking at an extra 2 frames in some games for how ever more your paying then 1866, or 2400mhz. Also cas come into effect so you could get tridentx's at 2133 with a cas of 8 over clock them to 2400mhz and they'll be fast for example. The second thing the motherboard unless you're buying it for esthetics, bragging rights, or because of features a much cheaper z1-- series board will get the job done just as well. And finally those hyper 212's are fine, water cooling is over rated in my opinion.

 

[RozenDawn]

3 things I see that could change to save you some money. the ram its pointless your looking at an extra 2 frames in some games for how ever more your paying then 1866, or 2400mhz. Also cas come into effect so you could get tridentx's at 2133 with a cas of 8 over clock them to 2400mhz and they'll be fast for example. The second thing the motherboard unless you're buying it for esthetics, bragging rights, or because of features a much cheaper z1-- series board will get the job done just as well. And finally those hyper 212's are fine, water cooling is over rated in my opinion.

I couldn;t find the tridentx's unless i unchecked the compatibility filter, and i was looking at the MSI and Asus z1 boards but the reviews i looked seemed to suggest the krait was better. possibly http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/msi-motherboard-z170agamingm7?

 

[rhysiam]

Looks good to me.

You don't have an OS, that on purpose?
Cheap Air is fine unless you want to squeeze the OC as much as possible, then big air or big CLCs are the way to go (I don't think small 120mm CLCs ever make sense outside of mITX builds).
I can see why you went that RAM, with the absolute budget 2x8GB DDR4 kits starting at $135, and any decent kit in the high 140s anyway. I don't think that's a bad choice given the prices.

Just out of curiosity, why would you get another 144hz monitor? There's hardly any games that work well on 2 screens (3 or 5 is good when it works, but with 2 you get a bezel right in the middle of your view so it almost never works). So if it's just for a second screen (which is super-handy) don't spend up on a 144hz one. Otherwise you're paying a lot of money to get a really smooth mouse pointer.

If you can save money on the motherboard, I agree you should. I assume with your 850W PSU that you're leaving the door open to adding a second 980ti in future? If so, make sure you get an SLI motherboard. If you're not, a good 550W-650W PSU is enough for one card.

Nice build though.

 

[RozenDawn]

Looks good to me.

You don't have an OS, that on purpose?
Cheap Air is fine unless you want to squeeze the OC as much as possible, then big air or big CLCs are the way to go (I don't think small 120mm CLCs ever make sense outside of mITX builds).
I can see why you went that RAM, with the absolute budget 2x8GB DDR4 kits starting at $135, and any decent kit in the high 140s anyway. I don't think that's a bad choice given the prices.

Just out of curiosity, why would you get another 144hz monitor? There's hardly any games that work well on 2 screens (3 or 5 is good when it works, but with 2 you get a bezel right in the middle of your view so it almost never works). So if it's just for a second screen (which is super-handy) don't spend up on a 144hz one. Otherwise you're paying a lot of money to get a really smooth mouse pointer.

If you can save money on the motherboard, I agree you should. I assume with your 850W PSU that you're leaving the door open to adding a second 980ti in future? If so, make sure you get an SLI motherboard. If you're not, a good 550W-650W PSU is enough for one card.

Nice build though.

Thanks! Yeah i agree getting a 144hz monitor for a second screen is dumb, ill just use my current primary as a secondary, and yep im leaving room for another 980ti, is the krait not SLI compatible?

 

[Joe Gallo]

Were you talking as in reliability or overclock ability when talking about the motherboard? And this is the ram in talking about, incompatible with your board tho. http://m.newegg.ca/Product/index?itemnumber=20-231-623

Prices shown are in Canadian dollars and they actually mean 149 dollars for you.

 

[Joe Gallo]

This is what ram I would recommend for a z170 board a bit cheaper and a smaller cas(which is better) http://m.newegg.ca/Product/index?itemnumber=20-104-606

 

[Joe Gallo]

Also I believe that board supports up to 3 way sli

 

[RozenDawn]

Also I believe that board supports up to 3 way sli

Thanks for your suggestions! ill add the mobo and ram to my list of backups incase i can't get the others.

 

[Joe Gallo]

No problem man

 

[rhysiam]

Just for the record, the AUD is slightly lower value to the Canadian, so those prices aren't great. And that's even before they've been shipped which is sure to cost a bomb and take ages. If you're going to shop out-of-area go with US Newegg, though it's usually easy to shop locally.

FYI that board you chose is 2 way SLI, NOT 3 way. SLI requires at least 8 PCIe lanes per slot, and Z170 only has 16 lanes to split between graphics cards. So unless you get a super expensive motherboard with a PLX switch, you're limited to 2 way SLI for Z170... not that that's really a problem because 3 way is rarely a good idea anyway.

OP - that board does support SLI, I was merely pointing that out so that if you want to save money on a cheaper motherboard (which is a good place to start if you're looking to trim the budget), you should make sure whatever you pick supports SLI, that's all I was saying.

 

[Joe Gallo]

His board is this one it has 3 x16 slots. It supports 3 way crossfire, 2 way sli http://ca.msi.com/product/motherboard/Z170-KRAIT-GAMING.html#hero-specification

As for the ram the one I showed. It costs 145 AUD, his ram he picked was 150 aud. Picking my ram is saving him 5$ as wells as getting a latency of 12 at 2400mhz, instead of a cas of 15 at 2400mhz. My ram is the better choice. I was just showing the ram I was talking about he can go to any retailer he likes. Point.case.period.

 

[rhysiam]

His board is this one it has 3 x16 slots. It supports 3 way crossfire, 2 way sli http://ca.msi.com/product/motherboard/Z170-KRAIT-GAMING.html#hero-specification

Which is why I pointed out that it's limited to two way SLI -> not that it really matters of course. Three way is almost always a terrible idea.

As for the ram the one I showed. It costs 145 AUD, his ram he picked was 150 aud. Picking my ram is saving him 5$ as wells as getting a latency of 12 at 2400mhz, instead of a cas of 15 at 2400mhz. My ram is the better choice. I was just showing the ram I was talking about he can go to any retailer he likes. Point.case.period.

But it's only the better choice, as you say, if you can get it at that price in Australia... and you can't. I don't even know if Newegg CA ships to Australia, but if they do you can bet that shipping will cost a heap and ruin that as a value option.
If he chooses your RAM and goes to an Australian Retailer as you suggest he's looking at $215: http://au.pcpartpicker.com/part/kingston-memory-hx424c12sbk216
A full $65 over the kit OP chose.

I'm in Australia myself and unfortunately the prices here are often much higher than elsewhere, particularly North America. It's great that you want to help, but prices vary so much around the world it's important that suggestions are in line with what's available and well-priced in people's regions. Showing people how much cheaper things would be if they lived in a different country isn't exactly helpful, that's all.

 

[Joe Gallo]

I apologize for the aggressiveness of my posts.

 

[rhysiam]

I apologize for the aggressiveness of my posts.

I didn't think you were, it's no worries at all. These forums work because people get involved and make suggestions/share ideas... keep at it!