Need help for new PC build

[Axphyxiate]

Hey everyone, I'm looking to upgrade my PC as my current one is getting old.

Budget: ideally around $2000-$2500
Resolution: 1080p, will probably buy a 1440p monitor in the future but not at the moment
Games / Settings Desired: WoW and Ark: Survival Evolved predominantly
Any other intensive software or special things you do (Frequent video encoding, 3D modeling, etc): Streaming and a small amount of video editing and some work with virtual machines. I don't have great upload speed so I'm after a solid cpu to do some of the work to compensate.
Country: Australia
Parts that can be reused: Only peripherals.
Do you need an OS?: Yes
Do you need peripherals (e.g. monitor, mouse, keyboard, speakers, etc)?: No

I put a list together but I'm not sure if the brands/parts have cheaper or better alternatives etc.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($515.00 @ CPL Online)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($65.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($199.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Crucial BX100 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($135.00 @ Umart)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($98.00 @ Centre Com)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card ($519.00 @ CPL Online)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($139.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: EVGA 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($196.00 @ PLE Computers)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($17.00 @ IJK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)
Other: MSI Z170A Gaming M5 ($329.00)
Total: $2212.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-08 02:43 AEST+1000

I'm planning on getting a gtx 970 GPU and then running it in SLI in the future but just using 1 for now. 16gb of RAM, I believe it needs to be DDR4 for the new z170 mobos. I'm looking at the i7-6700k CPU, I know it doesn't provide gaming performance increases but I'd like the extra power for streaming. Other than that I don't really have any preferences.

Thanks in advance for your help,

Axphyxiate.

[Pterodactylus]

I'd get the Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($115.00 @ IJK) over the 212, too bad you can't get the Dark Rock. If you are going for an SSD, you should look for something that goes in that fancy M.2 slot on your Z170 board. If it were me, I'd get an ASUS mobo and the Strix, but I am an ASUS fanboi (converted from an MSI fanboi though).

[Axphyxiate]

Would it be necessary to get a $115 CPU cooler? I'll probably overclock a bit but nothing extreme, id rather save money and buy a cheaper cpu cooler unless its necessary for whatever reason.
Which ASUS Mobo in particular would you suggest? And I had a look at the M.2 SSDs and my plan is to buy one in the future because at the moment theyre 2.5x the cost of a normal SSD for 1/2 the space!

[Pterodactylus]

Would it be necessary to get a $115 CPU cooler? I'll probably overclock a bit but nothing extreme, id rather save money and buy a cheaper cpu cooler unless its necessary for whatever reason.
Which ASUS Mobo in particular would you suggest? And I had a look at the M.2 SSDs and my plan is to buy one in the future because at the moment theyre 2.5x the cost of a normal SSD for 1/2 the space!

Feel sorry you Aussies with respect to computer component buying. You need some free trade agreements or something to open up some selection available to you! You and I are in the same boat with an SSD for that m.2 slot, but your selection is worse and more expensive. Will be a nice future upgrade for you, perhaps when you drop in that 2nd GPU. I can only imagine with these Z170 boards becoming the main boards being sold, that the m.2 SSDs will have to come down in price as more and more of them come on to the market. As for the CPU cooler, the 212 will likely work just fine, but you get what you pay for. If I had a budget like yours, I'd make the leap to water cooling.

Anyway, here is what I made for a build:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($515.00 @ CPL Online)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($157.00 @ CPL Online)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($279.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($199.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($150.00 @ Centre Com)
Storage: Western Digital BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($169.00 @ Centre Com)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($498.00 @ Centre Com)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($139.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($148.00 @ IJK)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($17.00 @ IJK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM (64-bit)
Total: $2271.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-08 23:16 AEST+1000

The board I would pick for you is the ASUS Z170-A, their main stream, entry board - but I can't seem to find it for sale in Australia. That being said, teh Pro-gaming has some advanced features and will suit you well, and gives you some of the red/black color scheme, offers the same features as the MSI board you listed, and is cheaper. Switched you into a AIO water cooler, got you a better HHD and SSD, switched to the Strix for your 970 and dropped 100 watts off you PSU. Even if you drop in a second GPU, you have no shortage of Juice.

- - - Updated - - -

Do you need an optical drive? I am not much of a fan of that Phantom 410 case. I really like the NZXT S340 case. It doesn't have any of the bay drives so it's nice and open on the inside for better airflow. It also has a nice PSU shroud and makes cable management a breeze. Plus, if you need a DVD drive, you can also have an external one.

NZXT S340 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($97.00 @ CPL Online)

[Deleted]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($515.00 @ CPL Online)
CPU Cooler: Phanteks PH-TC12DX_BK 68.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($55.00 @ CPL Online)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($279.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($199.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Corsair Force LS 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($140.98 @ Mwave Australia)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ Centre Com)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($699.00 @ Centre Com)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case ($129.00 @ Scorptec)
Power Supply: SeaSonic G 550W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($122.00 @ CPL Online)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSB0 DVD/CD Writer ($17.00 @ IJK)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 OEM (64-bit) ($135.00 @ CPL Online)
Total: $2359.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-10 18:55 AEST+1000

[Axphyxiate]

Firstly, thanks a lot for both of your replies!

- I don't need an optical drive, I'll probably save myself the $20 and just pull out the one in my current pc, only ever used it for OS install
- I found out I can get Windows 8 or Windows 10 for free through my university so I don't need an OS either!
- I decided to splurge a bit and go for a 500gb SSD, still in the Western Digital 850 EVO series. I'm pretty sure this series of SSDs has a good reputation but correct me if I'm wrong, or if there's a cheaper alternative that is of equal quality
- Will a 550W PSU be enough for overclocking as well? What about if I decide to run SLI 980s in the future? I'm even tempted to stick with the EVGA 750W PSU purely because its modular >.< I really want a clean build this time with good cable management, I did a bad job of that in my last build!
- Not really sure what case I want to go with. I really like the look of the NZXT phantom 410 but for the 980 to fit in that case I'd have to sacrifice the middle drive bay, which isn't the end of the world but it's not ideal either. I guess I'll do some more research but I really like the look of most of the NZXT cases.
- Is the Nepton 240M water cooler overkill for this build? I would like to be able to OC my CPU a reasonable amount but I'm not planning on going crazy. I am liking the idea of watercooling this build though.

So what do you think? Any comments or suggestions?

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($515.00 @ CPL Online)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 240M 76.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($133.00 @ IJK)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($279.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($199.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($262.00 @ Centre Com)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ Centre Com)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 980 4GB WINDFORCE 3X Video Card ($699.00 @ Centre Com)
Case: NZXT Phantom 410 (Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($139.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($148.00 @ IJK)
Total: $2443.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-11 01:56 AEST+1000

[Pterodactylus]

- Will a 550W PSU be enough for overclocking as well? What about if I decide to run SLI 980s in the future? I'm even tempted to stick with the EVGA 750W PSU purely because its modular >.< I really want a clean build this time with good cable management, I did a bad job of that in my last build!

Well if you add another 980 pcpartpicker says the estimated wattage will be 542W. You may want to get a bit more juice because another 980 is likely not the only thing you will add in the future. The EVGA 750W is a great PSU. It delivers efficiently, cools well, has a silent "eco" mode that runs fanless at low loads, has more than enough juice for whatever you will add in the future, is fully modular and carries a 10 year warranty. It's a solid PSU. Here is a review of it.

- Not really sure what case I want to go with. I really like the look of the NZXT phantom 410 but for the 980 to fit in that case I'd have to sacrifice the middle drive bay, which isn't the end of the world but it's not ideal either. I guess I'll do some more research but I really like the look of most of the NZXT cases.

I like the S340. I think its a great budget case and has a lot of nice features that make cable management a snap; mainly the PSU shroud but cut outs in the right places and the lack of drive bays help too. There are, however, two bay drives for a 3.5" HHD in the front under the PSU shroud, two 2.5" brackets for SSDs on top of the PSU shroud and you can install an third SSD behind the motherboard. Not to mention you'll have an m.2 slot on the MoBo so you have no shortage of storage options even though you don't have those front bays. No bays means no optical drive but that gives a nice monolithic look in the front. It also gives nice air flow inside the case too. And who uses an optical drive? That being said, choosing a case is a bit more of personal decision and the look of the case should reflect your tastes (while meeting the needs of the build!). I like the S340 because its sleek and plain - you may like angular and jagged.

- Is the Nepton 240M water cooler overkill for this build? I would like to be able to OC my CPU a reasonable amount but I'm not planning on going crazy. I am liking the idea of watercooling this build though.

If you want to go water cooling, you should look into the Kraken X61 from NZXT, especially if you are going to get a NZXT case. I did 2 builds in a NZXT S340 and the 2nd one was with the Kraken. It's really easy to install and looks pretty good too. You can tell it's well built and doesn't fell fragile in your hands. Of course, this 2nd computer was a local friend of mine - I use a 212 and it's my biggest regret on my build. It cools fine, but is fucking ugly. So - a pretty petty reason, but meh. Do you need to do water cooling? No, not at all. Air cooling will serve you well but water cooling is sexier.

If you follow this link here, that will take you completed builds on the PC part picker site that have: 1) an S340 case, 2) the NZXT Kraken and 3) and GTX 980 card. It will give you a sense of what your computer could look like if you were to use those parts. Some people take better pictures than others, some people are better with cables than others, but you get the gist.

As for your build, I switched you to the Kraken from the Nepton for the CPU Cooler, switched you from the EVGA windforce to the ASUS Strix and switched teh case to the S340. Your build is fine too, but as you noted, you have to make room for the long 980 card. I like the strix because it's passive cooling is simply the best in the 980 line - so effective that the fans seldom need to run which means it's quiet.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($515.00 @ CPL Online)
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X61 106.1 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($175.00 @ CPL Online)
Motherboard: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($279.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory ($199.00 @ CPL Online)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($262.00 @ Centre Com)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ Centre Com)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 980 4GB STRIX Video Card ($739.00 @ IJK)
Case: NZXT S340 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case ($97.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($148.00 @ IJK)
Total: $2483.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

[Axphyxiate]

So today I started wondering whether it would be worth going with an i7-4790k build instead? I put a quick build together and its $125 cheaper than the i7-6700k build. Looking at these performance reviews, both CPUs seem to be very similar in performance. Does it just come down to whether or not I want to spend the $125 for a small performance boost? Or are there any other positives and/or negatives to going with either cpu?

(sticking with the Nepton 240M over the Kraken x61 because its cheaper, still a solid cooler and the build is starting to push the higher end of the budget and I don't think its necessary)

For reference, this is the build, same components except for the CPU, Mobo and RAM:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-4790K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($485.00 @ Centre Com)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Nepton 240M 76.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($133.00 @ IJK)
Motherboard: MSI Z97-GAMING 5 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($249.00 @ CPL Online)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Red 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3-1866 Memory ($135.00 @ Centre Com)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($262.00 @ Centre Com)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($69.00 @ Centre Com)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 980 4GB Twin Frozr Video Card ($739.00 @ Centre Com)
Case: NZXT Noctis 450 ATX Mid Tower Case ($199.00 @ CPL Online)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($148.00 @ IJK)
Total: $2419.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2015-08-11 23:14 AEST+1000

[Pterodactylus]

So today I started wondering whether it would be worth going with an i7-4790k build instead? I put a quick build together and its $125 cheaper than the i7-6700k build. Looking at these performance reviews, both CPUs seem to be very similar in performance. Does it just come down to whether or not I want to spend the $125 for a small performance boost? Or are there any other positives and/or negatives to going with either cpu?

You are right, there is not much of a performance boost with the skylake chips. It's not just the CPU though, because with the skylake CPUs you get the Z170 mobos which have a bit more going for them than the z97 successors(more PCIe lanes, more USB 3.0 support, DDR4 RAM, etc). So you may want to look long and hard about that and consider what kind of future you envision with your rig in terms of upgrading, number of drives, SLI, etc. That being said, I'd imagine the z97 setup above will be more than enough and serve your needs well now and going into the future.

Cheers.