Advice requested on this build

Budget: 2000-ish

It's for my teen-age son's birthday! He would like a somewhat future-proof gaming set-up (Witcher 3 has been mentioned). Also, he uses a drawing tablet so needs more than 2 USB ports. Listens to a lot of music, mostly via headphones (but good over -the-ear ones).

Build is below, it is basically standard Apollo level 2, but with air-cooling.
Some additional questions -

We looked at other cases (trying to save a few pennies here & there) but they all seem to be 2xUSB only, is that correct, 4 seems like the bare minimum, am I missing something?

We chose the Noctua NH-D15 (me being nervous about liquids & electronics)
Opinions, will it do the job?

Is the GTX 980 with 4GB rather than the one with 6GB good enough, trying to economize (this pc costs more than my car!) but I would also like to avoid a false economy.

Power supply sufficient?
Sound quality with the integrated sound?
Anything else you would advise?

Thanks in advance!

Saved Ticket #: [1301794]

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Digital Storm Apollo <br><strong></strong>
Processor: Intel Core i7 6700K 4.0GHz (Codename Skylake) (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core)
Motherboard: ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING (Intel Z170 Chipset)
System Memory: 16GB DDR4 2666MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series
Power Supply: 750W EVGA SuperNOVA (750 B1)

Graphics Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 4GB (Includes PhysX)

Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D15 (Extreme Performance)
Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz

Here's the build....

I also threw in some blue internal lighting to match the front led fans.    You have a big window to show it off. 

Config #    1301841        Cost $ 2288

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Digital Storm Apollo
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 6700K 4.0GHz (Codename Skylake) (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core)
Motherboard: ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING (Intel Z170 Chipset)
System Memory: 16GB DDR4 2666MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series
Power Supply: 750W EVGA SuperNOVA
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD (250GB Samsung 850 EVO)
Storage Set 2: 1x Storage (1TB Western Digital - Black Edition)
Storage Set 3: - No Thanks
RAID Config: - No Thanks
RAID Card: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 4GB (Includes PhysX)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
HPC Processor: - No Thanks
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D15 (Extreme Performance)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Internal Chassis Lighting System (Blue)
Airflow Control: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz
Boost Graphics Card(s): - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD)
Virus Protection: FREE: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 Value)
Office: - No Thanks
Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
Portable Gaming: - No Thanks
Branded Gear: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

Originally posted by Tia You are awesome, thanks! As far as future-proofing goes, what would he need for 4k or is that out of the question at this budget?

I can help you with this specific question. Short answer is it is kind of out of the budget. The rest of the build can handle 4k but in this case its the cards that really matter for a 4k build.

The reason why is that 4k, even at high settings (not even ultra settings), is still a very demanding way to play. Im not sure your experience would be very enjoyable with a single 980. Gamers on pc typically prefer a 60 fps experience, with just a single card you would have to turn down a lot of settings to be able to make it stable at 60fps. Some people enjoy a 30fps experience, you should ask your son and see what he wants to be able to do at 4k.

Any card made after the 970 and including the 970 can support 4k. But supporting it and be able to handle it very well are two different things. I went ahead and looked up some benchmarks for you and even with two 980's in there, your are looking at around 32-42 fps (id like to state that this is very dependent on the game as well) on ultra depending on the game at 4k. Again that is with two cards.

I hope this helped if you need some links to look at the bench marks or have any other questions Ill try and help out any way I can. I hope this is the information you were needing good luck on the rest!


Edited by Phantom1294 - 19 Oct 2015 at 9:47am

Here's another build that drops below $2K.....

Config # 1301896         Cost $ 1890

Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Digital Storm Coridium
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i5 6600K 3.5GHz (Codename Skylake) (Unlocked CPU) (Quad Core)
Motherboard: ASUS Z170 PRO GAMING (Intel Z170 Chipset)
System Memory: 16GB DDR4 2666MHz Digital Storm Certified Performance Series
Power Supply: 850W EVGA SuperNOVA
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD (250GB Samsung 850 EVO)
Storage Set 2: 1x Storage (1TB Western Digital - Black Edition)
Storage Set 3: - No Thanks
RAID Config: - No Thanks
RAID Card: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 1x NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB (Includes PhysX)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
HPC Processor: - No Thanks
Extreme Cooling: AIR: Stage 2: Noctua NH-D15 (Extreme Performance)
H20 Tube Color:- Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Airflow Control: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - No Thanks
Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU 4.0GHz to 4.4GHz
Boost Graphics Card(s): - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost Memory: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my memory
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: Windows Recovery Toolkit (Bundled with Windows CD)
Virus Protection: FREE: McAfee AntiVirus Plus (1 Year Service Activation Card) (Not Pre-installed) ($35 Value)
Office: - No Thanks
Game: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
Portable Gaming: - No Thanks
Branded Gear: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

I put in the Corridium and dropped to the i5-6600k cpu.  For gaming the 6600k is all you need.

Dropped the gtx 980 for the 970.  The 980 is about 15-20% faster but for 1080p gaming the 970 will play anything out there at High to Max.   Either card is good. The 970 is best bang for the buck but the 980 does offer a little more.

I put in the 850w psu in case you go sli, 980 or 970.  The 750w would probably be ok for sli but the 850 w gives more flexibility in the future .

The Noctua is a large cooler like all air coolers.  I have an A70 from 4 years ago, almost as large that just keeps on cranking.   The only thing is, the Noctua might overhang the inboard ram sticks meaning the fan, maybe the cooler, needs to be removed to get at the inboard ram stick. 

Our pleasure.   

Another thought is the Vanquish level 4 for $1599.   The same gtx 970 but with the i7 that your son wants.      Your build would have a better psu, etc. but the Vanquish are tough to beat.

The only unknown until Alex chimes in, is whether the motherboard in the Vanquish lvl 3 and 4 is sli capable.     The levels 3 and 4 have had sli motherboards but this setup just changed.. 

I'm thinking it isn't sli ready, the mobo, since Asus website doesn't mention it and it doesn't come with an sli bridge.





Edited by bprat22 - 19 Oct 2015 at 11:00am

Thanks, Alex, good to know. 

Tia....stick with the other builds if you want sli in the future.          If you go with the i7-6700k, like your son prefers, the price is still only $2023, just a smidgen above the budget.    i7 with its hyper-threading is great for multi-tasking, most tasks ,etc and might get better utilized in future games. 

Originally posted by Alex Currently the VANQUISH 4 does not have SLI ready motherboards.

are you sure Alex?  that V4L4 looks like it uses either an Asus Z170-P or Z170-K mobo.  both have 2xpcie x16 slots and they even say "CrossFire X Ready" on the board between the slots. 

nvm, i guess you can't sli on a crossfire board.  i guess that begs the question why you're using crossfire x boards paired with nvidia-only video card options? 


Edited by db188 - 19 Oct 2015 at 1:56pm

Originally posted by db188 Originally posted by Alex Currently the VANQUISH 4 does not have SLI ready motherboards. are you sure Alex?  that V4L4 looks like it uses either an Asus Z170-P or Z170-K mobo.  both have 2xpcie x16 slots and they even say "CrossFire X Ready" on the board between the slots.

Those boards are set up for AMD Crossfire only and do not have support for NVIDIA SLI. If you need an ASUS Z170 motherboard that is SLI-ready I recommend the Z170-A, Z170-PRO, Z170-Deluxe, or any of the ASUS ROG versions.

Originally posted by Tia Nice. This looks good & he is pretty happy. Multi-tasking prob. makes i7 worth it - if that includes Skype. So, we are thinking your build with the i7 & GTX 970, with the 850w PSU & WD Black hard drive, all for 2023. Planning someday to add another GTX 970 - this mobo and this combination of case/cooling/PSU is def. capable of sli with a pair of 970s. Yes? Even I am getting excited about this. Sorry, one last question - what is the story with the CPU overclocking for $49? PS Alex, have you guys considered putting bprat22 on staff?

This combo can definitely sli the 970. The mobo, psu and cooler which really doesn't matter, can handle it.

I would opt for stage 1 cpu overclock. Gives a bit more performance for little money and your Noctua lives for overclock.

Originally posted by db188 since i edited my op, i'll just repeat here:  then why pair a crossfire (AMD multi gpu support) ready mobo with only Nvidia graphics options?

That's the only budget level board that was available at this time with the Z170 chipset. SLI version boards are far more expensive and don't go along with the vision of the best performance per dollar.

the "pro" is $20 difference on Newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Productcompare.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=100007627%2050001315%20600567554&IsNodeId=1&bop=And&CompareItemList=280|13-132-570^13-132-570%2C13-132-567^13-132-567&percm=13-132-570%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24%3B13-132-567%3A%24%24%24%24%24%24%24

that doesn't seem like "far" to me; however, i understand that you've probably already made a bulk purchase on the other model and to switch it up at this point wouldn't be cost effective. 

even "budget" products should offer some future expansion even if the product that leaves the station is intended to be rather "baseline".  i thought i read an announcement earlier this year that DS was now offering AMD graphics as an option?  just a recommendation going forward, to either pair this line with AMD cards or switch to the sli-capable Nvidia mobo.