Some questions about high end builds in regards to cooling, what is and isn't necessary, and peripherals

ramjr13

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Feb 14, 2012
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Hi there!

TL;DR Built 2 lower end pcs before and have some questions about higher end pcs, peripherals, cooling, and cases. Questions and example build below.

Recently I've been looking into building a new pc, primarily for gaming but I may end up doing some developing on it as well. In terms of gaming I like to mod heavily where I can and play multiplayer games at a high level of competition. I have built 2 pc's in the past however the first one was very entry level, I tried to save as much money as possible and purchased low end parts. The 2nd was a bit beefier but I did try to save money where I could. Both of these had 4GB of RAM and 1 to 2 GB of VRAM in the GPU. My goal during these was to buy in cheaply and upgrade as I go. However this actually seemed less cost effective. The longer time went on the more likely upgrades I could buy would be incompatible with parts I was already using. Because of this I go curious and decided to look at (what I believe to be :) ) very high end parts. Now I'm not fully committed to building a very expensive pc just yet especially since I some questions about things I never really invested in for previous builds.

Here's an example build I put together:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor ($394.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-X99-UD3 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($177.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 4 series 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($242.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 Pro Series 128GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX Titan X 12GB Video Card ($999.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Asus ROG SWIFT PG278Q 144Hz 27.0" Monitor ($778.25 @ Amazon)
Total: $2659.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-04-06 12:37 EDT-0400

You may notice somethings missing. I already own a 600W Power supply and a CPU fan that came with a previous processor. I also do have a keyboard, mouse, and a monitor but all of these are ones that are either very cheap or very old since they were just things my family was getting rid of.

Also I already have a 7200rpm hard drive that I'll likely be installing along side of a SSD for increased storage of things I don't need super high performance with and to use as a separate drive for page files.


Here are my questions:

    How important is cooling? In general and for this example build?

    What's the value in using water cooling vs non water cooling? (I have never used water cooling before)

    How much of this example build is superfluous? I suspect the RAM selection is especially not needed because of the capacity but it was the lowest capacity quad kit I could find. Also I'm not sure about how much band with and latency will impact performance.

    How future proof are peripherals (keyboard, mouse, headset, monitor, microphone, etc.)?

    What to look for in peripherals?

    Lastly a question I always ask since I don't feel it's worth spending hundreds on but I'd like to be more informed. How much to invest in a case?


Thanks in advance for any and all responses!
 
Solution
For gaming the 4690K will do fine. But, as you said, for some development work, the six core 5820K would be good. The 5820 has four RAM channels so it will be way too fast for any game. Just get slower RAM, you don't need the speed except for massive simulations or other professional uses.

I'd recommend 2 GTX 980's for maximum performance if you really need it. The Titan X is a real luxury. The upcoming AMD 390X should be faster still.

Josese

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Oct 31, 2013
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Air cooling advantages:
-Cheaper
-Need less maintenance
-Better performance/price
Water cooling advantages:
-Significantly better cooling if it is a good water cooling loop
-Less noisy in some cases
-Looks incredible
Air cooling disadvantages:
-Noisy
-Doesn´t look so cool
-Less heat dissipation
Water cooling disadvantages:
-More expensive
-Less performance/price
If you have the money go for water cooling.
I recommend you a better power supply
The build is nice!!!
I recommend you the case Corsair Obsidian 800D or 900D they look pretty awesome
Update:
If you want to work, render with this pc you should go for the i7 5820k
And it's true what babernet_1 said that you should wait for the 390x that is going to be faster
 
For gaming the 4690K will do fine. But, as you said, for some development work, the six core 5820K would be good. The 5820 has four RAM channels so it will be way too fast for any game. Just get slower RAM, you don't need the speed except for massive simulations or other professional uses.

I'd recommend 2 GTX 980's for maximum performance if you really need it. The Titan X is a real luxury. The upcoming AMD 390X should be faster still.
 
Solution

ramjr13

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Feb 14, 2012
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Thanks a bunch! Going with the two GPU option seems like a great idea, I wish I had thought of it sooner. And I didn't know about the 390X I guess my minimal research was just that so thanks for that info as well.
 
About your case cooling. Just make sure you have more intake fans/size then exhaust fans. This will make the air in your computer case higher in pressure so it will cool better and stop dust from entering through the various cracks in the case.