Hi all,
I'm looking to build a new rig to replace my ageing 2500k based setup. It's about 5 years now since I last built one up, so hoping those in the know may be able to offer some advice or improvements to my initial list here, or any potential problems?
I'm a freelance graphic designer and work from home, (Blender, Photoshop, Premiere, ZBrush, Unity etc, a little gaming) so it's my daily machine and hoping to build something that will last me another 5 years or so..
I've budgeted for around £1500 initially, but it's more important to me that I get the guts as high end as possible, with headroom to upgrade some bits later down the line, so storage etc isn't as important atm (and possibly could be trimmed down to get this closer to budget). If it runs a bit over it's not the end of the world, hopefully I can recoup a little from selling on some of my existing gear.
Prices are based from my local supplier (CCL), and it's just a quick spec I've run through to get an idea..
CPU i7 6700k £309.98
Pushing for the 6700k for rendering and general performance that I need, with a little headroom for the 5 years. Likely won't be overclocking it (apart from XMP profiles etc) but want the capability to do so if I need to later down the line.
CPU Cooler Corsair H100i-GTX-Extreme - £107.34
Again haven't looked into this much, so any suggestions here welcome! Seems a popular choice, and prefer something reasonably easy to install (it's been a while!). Won't be overclocking initially but want to keep the thing ticking daily, and cool when rendering etc..
Motherboard Gigabyte Z170X-GAMING-7 £172.98
Open to suggestions on this, no major requirements other than performance, and a decent amount of USB ports for peripherals. Quickly went by a decent review somewhere, but will look into it further.
PSU Coolermaster G750M - "Free" with mobo
Lifespan and enough juice to power the thing hopefully, it's included with the mobo, but any suggesions here welcome (esp if I go with another motherboard).
RAM - Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x 16GB) 3200MHz DDR4 £195.38
Again open to suggestions here, was hoping to move my 16GB over from my current system, but being DDR3 won't be a possibility, so will need to start afresh. Could possibly drop to 16GB and upgrade later, but with the mobo being max 64GB would prefer 16GB sticks (so I can max it out if needed without having to completely replace). Couldn't find an option for a single 16GB strip so roughed this out. Not sure how much of a performance boost I'll see over 16GB to be honest.
SSD Samsung EVO 500GB SSD £129.98
Will only be used for OS and software, I'm planning to move my OCZ 240GB SSD over from my current machine for game installs (BF4 and maybe another one or two). Open to suggestions.
HDD Storage WD Red 4TB SATA III £131.88
For production files, photoshop etc, realability mostly important here. Will use my current 1TB HDD for docs, photos music etc, or possibly buy another later.. I backup via Crashplan, Onedrive etc, but 4TB should be enough for now. Going by hearsay on WD being more reliable than Seagate etc..
Case NZXT 450 £102.82
Had a Fractal R4 atm which I do like, but this or the 440 looks a little more suitable for radiators with the headroom? Would ideally still like room for an optical drive, but could get an external one if totally necessary. Open to suggestions here, solid build quality and a decent silence/cooling mix also important.
GFX Card - Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti Xtreme 6GB £579.59
Important for work and play not sure how much better the Xtreme version is over standard, but for an extra £40 in proportion seemed the best choice?
Sound Card
Not as important to me, will either use my existing card (Xonar DG) or mobo sound for the time being.
Current Total: £1729.95
All help and suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!
I'm looking to build a new rig to replace my ageing 2500k based setup. It's about 5 years now since I last built one up, so hoping those in the know may be able to offer some advice or improvements to my initial list here, or any potential problems?
I'm a freelance graphic designer and work from home, (Blender, Photoshop, Premiere, ZBrush, Unity etc, a little gaming) so it's my daily machine and hoping to build something that will last me another 5 years or so..
I've budgeted for around £1500 initially, but it's more important to me that I get the guts as high end as possible, with headroom to upgrade some bits later down the line, so storage etc isn't as important atm (and possibly could be trimmed down to get this closer to budget). If it runs a bit over it's not the end of the world, hopefully I can recoup a little from selling on some of my existing gear.
Prices are based from my local supplier (CCL), and it's just a quick spec I've run through to get an idea..
CPU i7 6700k £309.98
Pushing for the 6700k for rendering and general performance that I need, with a little headroom for the 5 years. Likely won't be overclocking it (apart from XMP profiles etc) but want the capability to do so if I need to later down the line.
CPU Cooler Corsair H100i-GTX-Extreme - £107.34
Again haven't looked into this much, so any suggestions here welcome! Seems a popular choice, and prefer something reasonably easy to install (it's been a while!). Won't be overclocking initially but want to keep the thing ticking daily, and cool when rendering etc..
Motherboard Gigabyte Z170X-GAMING-7 £172.98
Open to suggestions on this, no major requirements other than performance, and a decent amount of USB ports for peripherals. Quickly went by a decent review somewhere, but will look into it further.
PSU Coolermaster G750M - "Free" with mobo
Lifespan and enough juice to power the thing hopefully, it's included with the mobo, but any suggesions here welcome (esp if I go with another motherboard).
RAM - Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x 16GB) 3200MHz DDR4 £195.38
Again open to suggestions here, was hoping to move my 16GB over from my current system, but being DDR3 won't be a possibility, so will need to start afresh. Could possibly drop to 16GB and upgrade later, but with the mobo being max 64GB would prefer 16GB sticks (so I can max it out if needed without having to completely replace). Couldn't find an option for a single 16GB strip so roughed this out. Not sure how much of a performance boost I'll see over 16GB to be honest.
SSD Samsung EVO 500GB SSD £129.98
Will only be used for OS and software, I'm planning to move my OCZ 240GB SSD over from my current machine for game installs (BF4 and maybe another one or two). Open to suggestions.
HDD Storage WD Red 4TB SATA III £131.88
For production files, photoshop etc, realability mostly important here. Will use my current 1TB HDD for docs, photos music etc, or possibly buy another later.. I backup via Crashplan, Onedrive etc, but 4TB should be enough for now. Going by hearsay on WD being more reliable than Seagate etc..
Case NZXT 450 £102.82
Had a Fractal R4 atm which I do like, but this or the 440 looks a little more suitable for radiators with the headroom? Would ideally still like room for an optical drive, but could get an external one if totally necessary. Open to suggestions here, solid build quality and a decent silence/cooling mix also important.
GFX Card - Gigabyte GTX 980 Ti Xtreme 6GB £579.59
Important for work and play not sure how much better the Xtreme version is over standard, but for an extra £40 in proportion seemed the best choice?
Sound Card
Not as important to me, will either use my existing card (Xonar DG) or mobo sound for the time being.
Current Total: £1729.95
All help and suggestions are greatly appreciated, thanks in advance!