How to cut costs and get right MB for this build?

[Laserzorbo]

I want a build that will last 5+ years, with reliable parts. I don't intend to do much upgrading, except perhaps the GPU and a RAM upgrade should the need arise and I can squeeze out a few more years.

Needs:
*Well cooled, with ability to overclock without any hassle.
*Reliable brands. I have good experience with MSI and Corsair in the past, but I am all ears for new suggestions.
*I rather want to go with the i7 unless there is a compelling reason not to.
*I want this thing to run silent, yet be well ventilated.
*I have absolutely no need for "bling". No need for LEDs etc.
*A functional, well ventilated case that has enough room for several fans to create a decent airflow, but once again, I have no need for "bling". Naturally it also needs to have enough space to fit the cooler should it be large in size.

I will be transferring my MSI GTX 970, SSD and HD from my old build, along with several Noctua fans.

I am situated in Norway, and will be buying from local online stores here. Here is a current list of components I have picked out, and I am primarily looking into cost saving measures. Any potential compatibility issues?

Are some of these parts overkill? Can I buy a cheaper MB and still overclock in the future without a problem? Can I get away with cheaper RAM? Should I go with 1x16 GB or 2x8 GB? Do I need that much power? Can I swap out the cooler for something cheaper? Water cooling perhaps?

http://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/nC838K

Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor
Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler
MSI Z170A GAMING M3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Corsair 200R ATX Mid Tower Case
Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

 

[Isokolon]

how to cut costs:
- go for a Cryorig H7 cooler instead of the NH-D15. you don't need such a monster cooler for a 91W TPD CPU.
If you wanna stay with Noctua, the NH-U12S will do fine.
you can even go as low as a CM 212 Evo
- go with DDR4-3000 or -2800. performance differences aren't big, saves a few dimes. 2x8 GB > 1x16 GB
- downgrade to a 550W PSU. XFX and Seagate make very decent units. a XFX TS Gold for example is an exeptional unit that's usually a bit cheaper than the Corsairs and EVGAs.

thoughts:
- I generally wouldn't go gor MSI boards as they're usually a tier below Gigabyte and Asus qualitywise (especially in terms of quality control). for the cost of the M3 you could get a Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 3 which would also offer SLI support
yes there are cheaper boards however they come at a price. they usually don't oc as well come with cheaper build quality and usually with cheaper onboard chips (audio, network, sometimes sata)
- for a case I suggest one of these
* Fractal Design Define S
* Thermaltake F31 Suppressor
* Fractal Design Define R4 / R5
these come with quality sound dampening material yet have a decent airflow

 

[Laserzorbo]

how to cut costs:
- go for a Cryorig H7 cooler instead of the NH-D15. you don't need such a monster cooler for a 91W TPD CPU.
If you wanna stay with Noctua, the NH-U12S will do fine.
you can even go as low as a CM 212 Evo
- go with DDR4-3000 or -2800. performance differences aren't big, saves a few dimes. 2x8 GB > 1x16 GB
- downgrade to a 550W PSU. XFX and Seagate make very decent units. a XFX TS Gold for example is an exeptional unit that's usually a bit cheaper than the Corsairs and EVGAs.

thoughts:
- I generally wouldn't go gor MSI boards as they're usually a tier below Gigabyte and Asus qualitywise (especially in terms of quality control). for the cost of the M3 you could get a Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 3 which would also offer SLI support
yes there are cheaper boards however they come at a price. they usually don't oc as well come with cheaper build quality and usually with cheaper onboard chips (audio, network, sometimes sata)
- for a case I suggest one of these
* Fractal Design Define S
* Thermaltake F31 Suppressor
* Fractal Design Define R4 / R5
these come with quality sound dampening material yet have a decent airflow

Thanks for the feedback, much appreciated!

I am leaning towards your suggestion of NH-U12S, but how does it stack up to the Cryorig H7?

For the board I see your point about cheap onboard chips, I don't want that. I won't be needing SLI support, so is there some sort of middle ground? Otherwise I might go with your suggestion about that Gigabyte model. What are the comparable MSI and ASUS models?

Great suggestions on cases as well.

Cheers.

 

[veldrane2]

how to cut costs:
- go for a Cryorig H7 cooler instead of the NH-D15. you don't need such a monster cooler for a 91W TPD CPU.
If you wanna stay with Noctua, the NH-U12S will do fine.
you can even go as low as a CM 212 Evo
- go with DDR4-3000 or -2800. performance differences aren't big, saves a few dimes. 2x8 GB > 1x16 GB
- downgrade to a 550W PSU. XFX and Seagate make very decent units. a XFX TS Gold for example is an exeptional unit that's usually a bit cheaper than the Corsairs and EVGAs.

thoughts:
- I generally wouldn't go gor MSI boards as they're usually a tier below Gigabyte and Asus qualitywise (especially in terms of quality control). for the cost of the M3 you could get a Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 3 which would also offer SLI support
yes there are cheaper boards however they come at a price. they usually don't oc as well come with cheaper build quality and usually with cheaper onboard chips (audio, network, sometimes sata)
- for a case I suggest one of these
* Fractal Design Define S
* Thermaltake F31 Suppressor
* Fractal Design Define R4 / R5
these come with quality sound dampening material yet have a decent airflow

Obviously go with Z 170 chipset. I highly recommend Asus and Gigabyte, both make good and reliable boards. I think

Asus has much better XMP then Gigabyte, and the preset OC profiles and auto utilities are absolutely awesome. They surpass Gigabyte in functionality, accuracy, and reliability. I already ran my i5-6600k at around 5GHz just to mess around with it, then reverted it back to stock as I don't really have any need to OC yet.

But, Gigabyte has that dual BIOS which is an absolutely huge feature and a lifesaver. On Asus board, you better make a USB bios as soon as you get your board up and running, before even checking for bios updates, otherwise you may find yourself up the proverbial creek. And I think Gigabyte boards are a bit tougher physically then any Asus. Heaps more reliable then MSI, EVGA, etc. all put together.

For added rock solid reliability, go for boards which use not just the base Z 170, but actually have intel networking and SATA. Those usually tend to be mid priced because of high quality parts, hard to find them on the cheapest end. Don't end up with one of those funky built-in network adapters that have driver and other issues. Go with intel.

For audio, just avoid Creative Labs. The performance and full surround is nice but they have many issues both hardware and software. Just google and you will see.

For cost cutting, look to various places, not just order online. You will be surprised what you can pick up and at what prices at your local electronics stores, double that because holiday sales are coming up. To give you an idea, I picked up one of these http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813132586 at my local Fry's Electronics around labor day for $130ish, and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA8H54BP3573 memory kit for $160ish, instead of paying what online retailers charge + any applicable shipping. So you can really save a lot by going local retail on sales.

Hope that helps

 

[Isokolon]

[
I am leaning towards your suggestion of NH-U12S, but how does it stack up to the Cryorig H7?

For the board I see your point about cheap onboard chips, I don't want that. I won't be needing SLI support, so is there some sort of middle ground? Otherwise I might go with your suggestion about that Gigabyte model. What are the comparable MSI and ASUS models?

Great suggestions on cases as well.

Cheers.

Asus has much better XMP then Gigabyte, and the preset OC profiles and auto utilities are absolutely awesome. They surpass Gigabyte in functionality, accuracy, and reliability. I already ran my i5-6600k at around 5GHz just to mess around with it, then reverted it back to stock as I don't really have any need to OC yet.

But, Gigabyte has that dual BIOS which is an absolutely huge feature and a lifesaver. On Asus board, you better make a USB bios as soon as you get your board up and running, before even checking for bios updates, otherwise you may find yourself up the proverbial creek. And I think Gigabyte boards are a bit tougher physically then any Asus. Heaps more reliable then MSI, EVGA, etc. all put together.

For added rock solid reliability, go for boards which use not just the base Z 170, but actually have intel networking and SATA. Those usually tend to be mid priced because of high quality parts, hard to find them on the cheapest end. Don't end up with one of those funky built-in network adapters that have driver and other issues. Go with intel.

For audio, just avoid Creative Labs. The performance and full surround is nice but they have many issues both hardware and software. Just google and you will see.

it is better than the Cryorig H7. but again you can overclock to 4,8 GHz with a Cryorig without any problems (given your CPU can). it's a fine cooler with usual Noctua quality.

yes ASUS got an idiot-proof bios. as for the utility I can't complain about my Gigabyte board. the new software suite is easy to handle, let's you do all kinds of things and is pretty nice overall.
the ASUS boards are well built by you usually pay 15€ extra because it's ASUS.
while I prefer ASUS & Gigabyte you could take a look at ASROCK. their better Fatal1ty boards are usually very good, if it's not DOA it's pretty good.

as for middle ground, the Gaming 3 is already middle ground. features come in bundles usually. there's no board (to my knowledge at least) that comes with high grade audio and networking, enough phases for a good and stable OC but without SLI support.
the Gaming 3 by Gigabyte is usually the cheapest board for people who wanna cut cost but not cut down on quality and features. Personally, I'd prefer the UD3 but it's often a bit more expensive.
so the alternatives are:
- Gigabyte Z170(x) UD3 --> more phases, rock solid build but more expensive
- Asus Z170-A --> basically the equivalent but with worse Audio chip
- Asus Pro Gaming --> comes with all the features and is maybe a bit better, but also more expensive
- Asus Z170-E --> cheaper but with worse Audio and only 4 phases
- MSI Z170A SLI --> overall nice features but I rarely recommend MSI. also looks a bit cheap from the looks of it.
- ASRock Fatal1ty Z170 Gaming K4 --> basically the same as the Gigabyte UD3 but AsRock and therefore cheaper
as said MSI and AsRock can be just fine. Gigabyte and Asus are usually the more reliable and higher quality brands.


concerning Audio, I got a Creative onboard. now it's not free of issues but I think that's my fault (or the fault of my headphones). unplugging and replugging my headphones usually works and all issues are gone (using an analogue 5.1 system, with simple stereo headphones I had no issue so far). anyway I'd rather have a Creative Soundcore 3d or a Realtek ALC1150 chip than an ALC887/892.
Sadly ASUS uses the ALC887/892 on all boards up to the Z170 Pro Gaming which is around 145€ in EU.