First time build, need opinions on components

[Fidelacchius]

I'm looking to build my first PC to replace my aging late-2011 iMac. I had originally planned on going the hackintosh route, but after reading more into that, it seemed somewhat limiting for the money and time investment, and completely eliminated any hope of including one of the new Nvidia cards. So I switched to just Windows, which made all of my compatibility requirements a lot looser and also gave me more room for upgrades. I've already specced out a list of components, but since this is the first time I've ever attempted to build a computer, I'm not sure if there's any glaring problems that I just don't see due to inexperience.

Budget: For the computer itself, the components I have picked out now are approximately $2200, which is fine. About what a new iMac would have cost if I had been going that route. For the monitor, I can go another $1000 potentially, but I can push it a bit higher by spreading the costs over the next couple months.

Resolution: 4k (I've been looking at the Acer Predator 34-inch Curved UltraWide QHD (3440 x 1440) NVIDIA G-Sync Widescreen Display (X34 bmiphz), but that's at the very high end of my expectations and would be the "pushing it" that I mentioned in Budget).

Games/Settings Desired: WoW on Ultra; don't play many other computer games at the moment (see comment about iMac), but would like to move away from the Xbox Scorpio/PS4 Pro cycle and play any new games on the PC, preferably on the highest settings if possible; potential use for VR once the second generation of tech comes around.

Other intensive software: Nope, except future VR use.

Country: U.S.

Parts that can be reused: None.

Do you need an OS? Yes, going with Windows 10. Suggestions between OEM and full license, Home vs Professional? I haven't used Windows as my full time computer since some time in 2007, so a little dusty.

Do you need peripherals? Yes, see above for comment on monitor. I need a keyboard and mouse as well, so any suggestions would be appreciated. The cost of the keyboard, mouse, and OS don't need to be included in the mentioned budget.

List of components from PCPartPicker (the permalink is /list/8wFmCy; I can't link directly to it because I'm a new poster)

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.99)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H75 54.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($74.99)
Motherboard: Asus MAXIMUS VIII HERO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($204.98)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($249.99)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($306.07)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.48)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Founders Edition Video Card ($699.99)
Case: Corsair 500R Black ATX Mid Tower Case ($129.99)
Power Supply: Corsair 760W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($128.99)
Wireless Network Adapter: TP-Link TL-WDN4800 PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n Wi-Fi Adapter ($34.62)
Total: $2207.09

Any suggestions/comments would be greatly appreciated. I can start buying stuff after October 3rd, so just need essentially some approval to make sure I'm not getting the wrong things. Thanks kindly.

[Thunderball]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($328.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($46.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A GAMING M5 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($132.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($306.07 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1080 8GB GAMING X 8G Video Card ($689.99 @ B&H)
Case: Corsair 780T ATX Full Tower Case ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Wireless Network Adapter: Gigabyte GC-WB867D-I PCI-Express x1 802.11a/b/g/n/ac Wi-Fi Adapter ($29.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Keyboard: Das Keyboard Model S Professional Wired Standard Keyboard ($118.55 @ Amazon)
Mouse: ROCCAT Kone XTD Wired Laser Mouse ($72.65 @ Amazon)
Other: Windows 10 - Kinguin.net ($28.23)
Total: $2139.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-29 08:49 EDT-0400

Not including monitor here. Before buying a 4K monitor you have to know that you wont get 60 FPS on max settings in 4K resolution on modern hardware. If that's fine for you, go ahead. If it's not I suggest going for 1440p.

[Fascinate]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6800K 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor ($428.99 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG R1 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus X99-A/USB 3.1 ATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard ($229.88 @ OutletPC)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($149.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($306.07 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.71 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1080 8GB STRIX Video Card ($629.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5 ATX Mid Tower Case ($125.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($112.89 @ OutletPC)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($85.70 @ My Choice Software)
Total: $2205.09
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-09-29 09:01 EDT-0400

For that budget you should really go with the enthusiast socket, 2011. Its a bigger chip with 2 more cores, they dont overclock quite as good as maintstream line but it would be silly to spend that kind of money on a 1151 build. Went with an air cooler instead of water for various reasons, dropped down to 32gigs of memory thats more than you need even for the most memory hungry programs, went with an aftermarket 1080 the reference design coolers are very very poor. Case is preference but i think at the 125 dollar range you cant beat the mastercase pro.

Ignore the compatibility notes, the drive cages on the cooler master are modular you can move them to various spots and all 2011 motherboards will report the CPU code (most wont need a bios update).

As for monitor id skip on 4k right now, get a good quality 2k high refresh rate panel such as this:
http://pcpartpicker.com/product/BcTr...onitor-s2716dg

[Fidelacchius]

Thanks for the responses and suggestions! I've taken some of the components from both suggested builds and put together a new one that I'm fairly happy with. The biggest question I still have is with regards to the choice of processor. I know there is a debate between clock speed and number of cores and that the consensus online seems to be that, at least for games, the CPU with fewer cores but a higher clock speed would be better in the short term as most games are not equipped to handle multiple cores anyway. However, the 6800 chip does have more RAM slots and is capable of handing a higher strain than the 6700, so it should presumably have a higher longevity versus the 6700. As choice of CPU dictates motherboard choice, and in part RAM selection, any opinions one way or the other?

[Fascinate]

I honestly think its a no brainer to go with the 6 core if you are building a rig with an i7. If you want just gaming performance go with an i5 and overclock the snot out of it, but if you want to future proof your rig and with a budget like you have it makes a lot of sense to spend the lil extra on the 2011 platform.

If you do go with 2011 dont spend big on motherboard, even the entry level boards are super feature packed and have a ton of ports, you really dont get much by spending more on 2011 motherboards.

[Deleted]

If all you do is gaming, stick with the 6700k. It clocks higher than the 6800k, which for the next few years will be more than enough.

Also to keep in mind is, the 6700k is based on skylake, whereas the 6800k is based on Broadwell. IPC should be a bit better on the 6700k compared to the 6800k.

[Fascinate]

If all you do is gaming, stick with the 6700k. It clocks higher than the 6800k, which for the next few years will be more than enough.

Also to keep in mind is, the 6700k is based on skylake, whereas the 6800k is based on Broadwell. IPC should be a bit better on the 6700k compared to the 6800k.

If all they do is game they shouldnt even buy an i7. With the budget they have, not going with the enthusiast platform is kind of silly imo. Its not all about gaming, maybe one day they decide to do a bunch of video editing or anything that can take use of more cores, its just nice to have it there.

This is one of my favorite techtubers, i like his explanation of why if you are going to go with an i7 you really should go with 2011 socket:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB4LAxN5EKY#t=14m35

[Deleted]

Stick with the 6700k.

Also please don't buy the Founder's Edition GPU.

[Xs]

Your limit for a hell of a lot of games these days ends up being CPU > GPU, which is getting tedious, but the 1080 is just such insanity that even the 4 & 6 k models are struggling to work with them. And as you've said the majority of games aren't capable of large core optimization, so depending on how far into the future you're looking to keep it, depends if you'll want the Skylake or Broadwell-E. Personally I'd go for the Skylake with the others and hope that the slightly lower life span and cost allow me to upgrade earlier when Intel eventually gets its finger out its butt and makes something more interesting for gamers.

[Deleted]

If all they do is game they shouldnt even buy an i7. With the budget they have, not going with the enthusiast platform is kind of silly imo. Its not all about gaming, maybe one day they decide to do a bunch of video editing or anything that can take use of more cores, its just nice to have it there.

This is one of my favorite techtubers, i like his explanation of why if you are going to go with an i7 you really should go with 2011 socket:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eB4LAxN5EKY#t=14m35

He could get away with the 6600k yes. But, with all the DX12 and so on, and the money is there, an the 6700k is better than the 6600k or the 6800k.

The price difference is still 200 bucks. It is not like it was before with the 5280k, where the price difference (at least in the US) was so small between the two. That said, you can also perfectly fine do some video editing with the 6700k (or 6600k, because OP will probably not do anything professional anyway).

To be completely honest, OP could just go for a 6600k + 1080 and be happy and save some extra money.

[Fidelacchius]

Thanks for the input guys. I personally probably will never do much in the way of video editing, but my wife might get into it more, especially if I had a computer capable of doing it effectively. My biggest issue, and again this is coming from someone who has been in the more restricted Apple ecosystem for more than a decade, is dropping $2000+ on a new computer and having to settle for 1-3 year out of date components, even when getting a "top of the line" system. So I'm probably way overshooting what I actually need here, but have been in the mindset of "if I was prepared to spend $2000+ on a new Mac, I could just as easily build my own PC with that money and blow it out of the water." I think I might have mentioned it in the original post, but the iMac this build would be replacing was purchased in February 2012. I used it in grad school and for some light gaming (WoW, etc). It's barely 5 years old now, and it hangs noticeably when working with even multiple tabs open on my browser and WoW windowed in the background. I don't want to have this issue again in a couple years.

[Fascinate]

You would be happy either way im sure, i just still think that 2011 is the right option for you here. Say things change 3-4 years down the line, those extra cores could come in handy and allow the system to stay relevant for longer.