New $5K Build; Recommendations?

Budget:
$4,500 - $5,500

Expectations:
Upgrade from 6 year old ----- ------- Mach V; able to play modern and near-future (1-3 years) games on Ultra settings at good frame rates; anticipate usage for 5-6 years.

Usage:
Gaming; can support three monitors (at non-4K) or two monitors (at 4K)

Special Needs:
None; noise reduction is not important; is Velox best option for expectations?

Saved Ticket #: 1317587

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Special Deal Hot Seller - Digital Storm Velox
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7 5930K 3.5GHz (Six-Core) (Unlocked CPU)
Motherboard: ASUS X99-DELUXE USB 3.1 (Intel X99 Chipset)
System Memory: 16GB DDR4 2666MHz Corsair Vengeance LPX (High-Performance)
Power Supply: 1000W Corsair HX1000i (Digitally Controlled Power)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: DVD-R/RW/CD-R/RW (DVD Writer 24x / CD-Writer 48x)
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD (512GB Samsung 850 PRO)
Storage Set 2: 1x Storage (3TB 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): 2x SLI Dual (NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti 6GB (EVGA HYBRID Edition)
Sound Card: Creative Sound Blaster Zx (Includes Audio Control Module)
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: Upgrade All Fans to Corsair Airflow Performance Edition (Up to 6 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 - Up to 4.4GHz (Depends on Cooling and Motherboard)
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)







...removed competitor's name...

Edited by Snaike - 15 Nov 2015 at 7:44pm

Thanks for the advice. I am less concerned with the back order wait and more concerned with what the best case is for this build. Should I go with water cooling, or will the air cooling that I selected be about as good? I am not particularly concerned about noise, but I have had "overheating" problems on some older machines. Would you recommend moving to water cooling, and if so, what would you recommend?

if people are willing and able to do a little maintenance (and have the budget) i almost always suggest a custom open water loop to a closed AIO water cooler.  they are throwaway products.  when the pump goes bad that's all she wrote.  might as well go with the best air cooling imo. 

however, if you want to venture into open water loop cooling you can really push the overclocking, as long as you get enough radiator.  there aren't a lot of "mid tower" cases that can support the amount of rad that would enable you to seriously cool a cpu+multiple vid cards+chipset.  that's why you need to look at DS' larger cases (Velox, Hailstorm, Aventum).  custom open loop water cooling is an enthusiast sport in it's own right.  if you're ready to dive into custom open loop water cooling than i'd recommend you go with their quick disconnect flex tubing option for beginners.  the quick disconnect option seals the loop so that you can remove components that need replacing or diagnostic testing w/o having to completely drain the entire loop and dismantle portions of it.  you just unplug the problematic component (like a vid card) and the rest of the system remains cooled by the loop.  if you go with this option i'd also recommend getting different vid cards (like the factory overclocked Strix cards) that can also be cooled under the loop.  

if that doesn't really appeal to you i'd stick with an Apollo case over a Velox because you won't have to be cleaning it out as much and it will be quieter.    

Yes, a 1000W PSU is good. If you want to expand to 3-way SLI GPU's at any time, you would want to go with the 1200W.

Money is better spent on speakers and amplification than a dedicated sound card. On-board audio is excellent these days.

I would suggest getting the Intel 750 SSD over the Samsung 850 Pro.

Also, if DS is still using the Panasonic UJ-265 slot-loading Blu-Ray drive and you are interested in UltraHD Blu-Ray playback in the future, I'd recommend upgrading the ODD, as well.

Any advantage in going mini-SAS over PCI-E (or vice-versa) for the Intel SSD? It's a pretty big price difference between Samsung 850 Pro; Intel SSD is about double the price for 1 TB. Is it much better?

No plans to go with 3-way SLI in the near future; will go with 1000W PSU. Looking at using a Dell UltraSharp U3415W monitor. Btw, any other monitor suggestions for 2-way SLI 980 Ti's? I primarily play MMO's, MOBA's, and FPS (though not at a super-competitive level).

I am using Audioengine A5+ for speakers - primarily used for music and movies; probably will stick with them. I generally use headphones for gaming.

I see a blu-ray option for the ODD, but no mention of make or model; it just lists Blu-Ray & DVD Writer/Reader (Burn + Play Blu-Ray & DVDs) (12x BD-R)

i thought i've read about a downside to the mini-SAS being heat concerns with how it is oriented on the mobo-as compared to the pcie version.  tradeoffs

i'm waiting on the ultra wide Asus monitor myself.  just FYI, 21:9 format isn't supported by every game maker.  go here for more info/list of game: http://www.wsgf.org/

i think i replied to you in another thread about the audio stuff.  weren't you asking about a sound card?  i normally steer clear of sound cards because they are notorious for poor driver support and software conflicts with the OS.  however, i've read that the Creative Labs Sound Blaster ZX (and specifically the ZXR) line is really good and well supported.  from what i've read it would fit your usage extremely well for both phones and speakers due to its expanded connectivity options and I/O.  for someone just on phones like myself i would recommend an external DAC (i use the JDS Labs Objective DAC) and amp (i use the SMSL sAP II) combo.  the DAC is connected via USB to the comp with a 3.5mm jack>2-plug RCA cable running to the amp (which has it's own power supply).  the amp is connected to phones by a 6.3>3.5mm (w/incl adapter), but you still have to plug the mic into a separate source (i use my keyboard jack as it's convenient location due to the DAC/amp sitting on my desk).  the amp is very powerful for its low price.  i also use fairly high impedance phones.  it's a great little amp imo!