custom build gaming rig - water-cooled

[Mayhem]

Hi everyone,

since my current pc is old and outdated, i want to build a new one. Now i am building pc´s since my days at school, but i´m out of date on what´s working well together. The last time i built one is quite some time ago.

I don´t want to spend more than 2000€ on the hardware if possible, because i need to buy 2 more screens (4 in the end) and the parts for the casing.

It will be used for gaming, streaming and well some rendering of course.

Thanks in advance for taking the time to help me.

[Deleted]

You didn't mention what resolution you are planning to game on so i've placed a R9 390X in there. If its 1440p you have budget room for even a gtx980 ti if you wanted to:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor (€379.21 @ Mindfactory)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (€60.74 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170X-Gaming 3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€151.98 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: Kingston HyperX Fury Black 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (€89.34 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€157.86 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€52.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390X 8GB SOC Video Card (€406.96 @ Mindfactory)
Case: NZXT H440 (Black/Red) ATX Mid Tower Case (€119.90 @ Caseking)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (€108.61 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1527.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-18 10:56 CET+0100

[Mayhem]

Thanks for the fast response, i actually don´t need a case, so there´s that. Also that cpu cooler doesn´t look very water-cooled-esque

[Deleted]

Ermm, i missed the water cooler part . Is there a specific reason you want water cooling solution? I cant really reckon water-rdy solutions lately as they haven't got much over good air coolers. Custom liquid cooling is a different thing, but aio's will be like double/triple price for a few (say 5tops) degrees difference.

[Artorius]

Kos build or

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor (€408.87 @ Mindfactory)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 3 67.8 CFM Fluid Dynamic Bearing CPU Cooler (€67.73 @ Mindfactory)
Motherboard: ASRock X99 Extreme4 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard (€216.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Crucial 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (€81.40 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€157.86 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€52.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Gigabyte Radeon R9 390X 8GB SOC Video Card (€406.96 @ Mindfactory)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply (€108.61 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1501.21
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-01-18 15:46 CET+0100

[Mayhem]

Ermm, i missed the water cooler part . Is there a specific reason you want water cooling solution? I cant really reckon water-rdy solutions lately as they haven't got much over good air coolers. Custom liquid cooling is a different thing, but aio's will be like double/triple price for a few (say 5tops) degrees difference.

Yes, the case will be open.

[Deleted]

What do you mean by open? Cause if you mean open like a testbench or something hagging by the wall then its the same thing. If Anything cleaning an aiao will need more time and what applies to liquid does to air as well, temp wise.

[Mayhem]

What do you mean by open? Cause if you mean open like a testbench or something hagging by the wall then its the same thing. If Anything cleaning an aiao will need more time and what applies to liquid does to air as well, temp wise.

Well i have a few ideas how i want to build it, either it´s going to be wall mounted, built in the desk (that would work with fans as well) or a modded case with added features. In the end it´s going to depend on the price.

[Skroe]

This is what I just built over the Holidays.


CPU: Intel Core i7-5820K 3.3GHz 6-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Corsair H100i 77.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI X99A SLI PLUS ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (I got several of them actually already, not new)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 970 4GB Twin Frozr V Video Card
Case: Corsair Vengeance C70 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case
PSU: Corsair RM 1000W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply



You see lots of people building with Skylake i5s and Z170 Motherboards. I need for work (and wanted the power of) something behind a quad core / 4 threaded CPU, as I was upgrading from a 4 core 8 thread i7 930 I had put through the paces. So I went with the Haswell-E hexcore i7 5820k after a lot of back and forth with a friend of mine over options.

My feeling is, if you want a "economical" powerful computer for PC gaming, just get the i5 6600k +Z170 combo people have been kicking around. You cant go wrong with that. But if you want something more, something special then get the i7-5820k. There is no justifable reason to get the Skylake i7-6700k over the i7-5820k.

As for water cooling, You can't go wrong with the H100i. It's easier, in my opinion, to install then many air coolers (and with an X99 motherboard, you don't need to install a back plate like you do Z170.

That said thermals from the H100i, aren't that much better than some of the best air coolers out there. My rationale is I moded my case to have a solid window and only have the front two input fans (and no side fans or bottom intakes), in order to reduce dust collection in my case (problem where i live). So if you're going to go fan crazy, do air cooling, if not, go with the H100i in my view. Also if you get the 5820k, it doesn't come with a stock fan.

So I'll just make it easy for you since I went through this decision making process last month.

If you want just a powerful gaming computer:
-> Intel Skylake i5-6600k (4 cores, 4 threads)
-> MSI Z170A SLI plus motherboard.

If you want something that is truly best in class and an enthusiast computer:
-> Intel Haswell-E i7-5820k (6 cores, 12 threads)
-> MSI X99A SLI Plus motherboard.

For the motherboard, I did a lot of research into that. I build computers for my guild (they send the parts to me that I suggest, and I build them). Experience has taught me that MSI's are among the best to work with and have a tremendous UEFI and ease of use. But there are MANY MSI models. The ones I listed, the "SLI Plus" family, I'd say are the "smart buy" level. They aren't the crazy $500 motherboards MSI offers, but they're feature packed, and pretty much the only difference between them and everything else MSI offiers is some stuff you probably don't care about (like a built in "streaming gaming co-processor" or something for the very best motherboards), the Gaming brand motherboards is the lack of a special "gamer ethernet chip" you won't care about, the color red on the motherboard, and about $30. I researched this very, very carefully. For either motherboard, you're paying for largely waste, if you go above the SLI Plus family.

The memory I listed above is probably the memory of a majority of builds out there, and the best option for either CPU/Motherboard combo.

Video Card: I prefer Nvidia to ATI, so go with mine if you want Nvidia, otherwise go with the listed R9 elsewhere. Can't go wrong.

Storage: Samsung Evo 850 at some size you can afford is the standardized solution for economical SSDs. For large storage drives, try WD Blue at 4-6TB.

PSU: I listed the Corsair RM1000 because there was an INCREDIBLE holiday sale for it. Seasonic or Corsair is good. Probably 650w+ is enough. My RM1000 was sub $100 though at the time, and that's too good to pass up.

The H100i will work on pretty much any intel CPU, including Skylake. HOWEVER you need to make sure it fits in your case. It's big. GOOGLE IT. There are forums where people have a list of compatible cases.

[Deleted]

There is no justifable reason to get the Skylake i7-6700k over the i7-5820k.

You are wrong cause you think in US prices that goes for the psu sales you mention later. Its not the case in EU. The cpu has 50-80€ difference and X99 from 200upwards at least. The difference can be 200€ or more depending what mobo you go for. For the sake of argument a common good mobo, Asus Z170-A, gigabyte gaming 3 is around 150€ when the equivalent X99 is at least 250.

You can't go wrong with the H100i. It's easier, in my opinion, to install then many air coolers

Its a pain in the butt compared to air. Last weekend i move it from top exhaust to front intake ( i was bored) and took me tooo long i didn't really keep time on it but it felt like i would have installed 2-3air coolers at the same time (and i am reffering to be quiet! ones i usually use).

... that MSI's are among the best to work with ...

You mean is probably the worst mobo manufacturer even than ASrock. DoA's is not a strange thing for their mobo cause QA sucks.

HOWEVER you need to make sure it fits in your case. It's big. GOOGLE IT.

Its not really. You can actually fit the damn thing in more cases than you can fit a Coolermaster hyper evo. Any decent atx/matx case in the 50$+ will support a h100i.

[Lathais]

Its not really. You can actually fit the damn thing in more cases than you can fit a Coolermaster hyper evo. Any decent atx/matx case in the 50$+ will support a h100i.

Oddly enough, Corsair's own $50 case, the 200R, is not one of those. It can be done, with some modification to the case, but is not easy. It is true that more and more cases are coming with support for 240mm Rads though, I would still check for compatibility though as the 200R is about as decent a atx/matx $50 case you can get and does not support it. Here's a good list though:

http://www.overclock.net/t/1144409/h...-full-listings

[Deleted]

I know, i was had in mind mostly the NZXT S340 and Phanteks Pro M that often enough they go on sale in the 50-60$ area and are good quality with nice features for that price range. Those cases in EU are in the 70-100€ range, unfortunately.

[Mayhem]

Thanks to all of you for the time and effort, very much appreciated.