Wanting to build a complete overkill gaming PC

[Jonathans]

Hi guys

 

So I've had the opportunity to finally get a new PC, as my current laptop is now aged enough that is no longer plays games comfortably. I've also come into quiet a bit of finance. With this been said I had my heart set on buying the MSI GT83VR 6RF Titan SLI, with along with an Oculus Rift. The machine will be primarily used for Gaming and Software Development hence the weird specifications

 

Though obviously the price of the GT83VR 6RF Titan SLI is completely over the top, I am contemplating building an equivalent or greater desktop machine, and this is where I am wanting some assistance on.

So basically I am wanting input on what motherboard, processor, gfx, ram, ssd and hhd to get.

 

I have decided on the following but leaves me open to which brand/version to buy:

 

Graphics Card:
2x GTX 1080 in SLI

1x ?? possibly for PhysiX - This is probably a complete waste but hey if not why not.

 

Drives: 
SSD: 2x 1TB Raid 1 configuration - For OS & everyday apps

HDD: 3x8TB Raid 0 configuration - For Games (raid 0 as im not worried about loosing data but wanting speed, but not ssd speeds)

 

Ram:
32/64 GB Gaming Ram, (8Gb will used for Ram Drive for holding temporary files)

 

Motherboard & Processor:
Unsure, looking at MSI X99A Carbon for the MB but also it looks gimmicky with the lights

Processor would be an i7, though what variant I am unsure as the PC will be used on a day to day basis for software development, but gaming and the SLI configuration from what I've read also play a part.

 

From a software point of view, aside from the OS, it will be primarily Visual Studio 2010 through to 2016, MS-SQL 2008 to latest versions, Hyper V and Virtual Box for the VM's.

As you can see most of the day to day stuff will be along the development line.

 

I am not so much worried about overclocking from a gaming point of view, but more a rig that will last for the next few years (probably 5 - 7) so reliability is also playing a big part.

 

It has been a long long while since I've done a build and I am very much out of touch with what's good and what's not, and what counts and what's a sales gimmick.
So im taking any sort of input or suggests or even flames.

 

 

Edited September 10, 2016 by Jonathans

[Hum]

There ya go ....

 

[Jim K Global Moderator]

No budget listed?  Overkill?

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-6950X 3.0GHz 10-Core Processor  ($1649.99 @ B&H) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110 94.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($118.17 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: Asus Rampage V Edition 10 EATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($549.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($229.99 @ Newegg)

Storage:  Samsung 950 Pro ($323.95 @ NewEgg) 
Storage: 3x Western Digital Gold 8TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($1598.97 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: 2x EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB FTW Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($1359.98 @ B&H) 
Case: Corsair 900D ATX Full Tower Case  ($333.49 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic 1050W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($174.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $6339.51

 

Complete overkill.  Couple of side notes.  I do not think you can do a bootable RAID m.2 on the X99 platform (I could be wrong) .. not that you really want to considering the 950 Pro is already blazing fast.  Also, I thought Samsung was coming out with a 1TB m.2 ... but could not find one listed anywhere.  

I can not recommend a third GPU just for PhysX ... because ... well that is just stupid even for an "overkill" system.

[Anibal P]

If you already gonna have 2 1080s then a PhysX card is just a waste of money, not that you seem to care, but you will get no benefit from it 

[Luc2k]

Why not Titans instead of 1080s if you're going for overkill?

[Buttus]

also, what monitor?  wouldn't make sense to just have a 1920x1080 monitor, or even just one 4k monitor with that setup....

[xendrome]

37 minutes ago, Luc2k said:

Why not Titans instead of 1080s if you're going for overkill?

Because the difference in performance, 2-5% for the huge difference in cost, double a 1080 GTX is just like burning money, use that for other components in the system to be beefier.

[Bryan R.]

I'm confused by the 3 HDD's in RAID0. You're only asking for trouble. Just get 2 or 3 large SSD's in a RAID0 and be better off in every way.

[TPreston]

I'm doing the same thing here's what I have sofar.

 

For the case Cosmos II for obvious reasons

Cooling EK Custom Loop (no point cooling the cpu with a closed loop cooler when its the GPU that produces the most heat.

For the 1080s either MSI. Zotac or EVGA's models with a preinstalled water block.

CPU is a no brainer

Motherbord Asus x99 because of the safeslot/qconnector/oc socket
PSU AX1200I or higher

Add in a Corsair Link commander for fan/led control

 

That's it.

[+PeterUK MVC]

12 hours ago, Jonathans said:

HDD: 3x8TB Raid 0 configuration - For Games (raid 0 as im not worried about loosing data but wanting speed, but not ssd speeds)

 

You likely don't need 24TB of gaming storage surely? Two 2TB in RAID 0 will be enough and maybe look at SSHD.

http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/internal-hard-drives/firecuda/

[PacificAk]

This is what i'm building over the next month -
Thermaltake Core P5 ATX Open Frame Panoramic Viewing Tt LCS Certified Gaming Computer Case  - $148.49

ASUS RAMPAGE V EXTREME LGA 2011-v3 Intel X99 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard  - $499.99

ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 ArcticStorm, ZT-P10800F-30P, 8GB GDDR5X ArcticStorm Liquid Cooling Waterblock, Spectra Lighting,  - $719.99

Thermaltake Toughpower PS-TPD-1500MPCGUS-1 1500W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular  - $312.99

Intel Core i7-6950X 25M Broadwell-E 10-Core 3.0 GHz LGA 2011-v3 140W BX80671I76950X Desktop Processor  - $1,649.99

CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 64GB (8 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2133 (PC4 17000) Memory Kit  - $279.99

Acer Predator Z35 35" 21:9 Ultra-wide Curved Monitor G-Sync (NVIDIA Adaptive Sync) 144Hz 4ms 2560 x 1080  - $949.99

I'm undecided on the monitor so far...

Thermaltake Pacific DIY LCS RL360 High Capacity D5 Res/Pump Hard Tube RGB Riing Edition Red Opaque Coolant Water Cooling  - $499.99

Total cost ~$5000+

 

Not using liquid cooling for a gaming rig is criminal nowadays...  especially in SLI configs...

 

I already have 4x OCZ Trion 240gig SSDs... going with RAID 0 with them...

For storage... i have a Synology 1515+ with 5x 4TB drives... in Syno Hybrid RAID...

[MorganX]

8 hours ago, jjkusaf said:

No budget listed?  Overkill?

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-6950X 3.0GHz 10-Core Processor  ($1649.99 @ B&H) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110 94.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($118.17 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: Asus Rampage V Edition 10 EATX LGA2011-3 Motherboard  ($549.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($229.99 @ Newegg)

Storage:  Samsung 950 Pro ($323.95 @ NewEgg) 
Storage: 3x Western Digital Gold 8TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($1598.97 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: 2x EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB FTW Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card (2-Way SLI)  ($1359.98 @ B&H) 
Case: Corsair 900D ATX Full Tower Case  ($333.49 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic 1050W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($174.98 @ Newegg) 
Total: $6339.51

 

Complete overkill.  Couple of side notes.  I do not think you can do a bootable RAID m.2 on the X99 platform (I could be wrong) .. not that you really want to considering the 950 Pro is already blazing fast.  Also, I thought Samsung was coming out with a 1TB m.2 ... but could not find one listed anywhere.  

I can not recommend a third GPU just for PhysX ... because ... well that is just stupid even for an "overkill" system.

Only notes I would make, that board supports Quad Channel Memory, with the 6950X, go for it all and go 4 x 16GB DDR4-3200. Also, I love my 950 Pro 512GB but if money is no object, I would go with the Samsung SM961 1TB M.2 NVMe.

 

No need for dedicated PhysX but if you've got the space in the case, is 3-way SLI an option if NVIDIA makes good on it's initial promise to provide a 3/4 way SLI unlock key to "enthusiasts" upon "request."

[Luc2k]

2 hours ago, xendrome said:

Because the difference in performance, 2-5% for the huge difference in cost, double a 1080 GTX is just like burning money, use that for other components in the system to be beefier.

What do you mean 2-5%? I know it's just one game, but I have that at hand and I couldn't care less about finding a full review. Also, OP said overkill, not sensible, and there's nothing more overkill than Titans right now as far as gaming PCs are concerned. Now, if this were up to me, I'd wait for AMD's Vega, considering that Nvidia's latest isn't doing that great in games with DX12 & Vulkan (have a look at 390/X vs 1070 in those charts) and OP wants this PC for 5+ years.

 

In conclusion, wait for Vega, or Volta if you must go green, because Pascal is not going to handle 5 years of DX12 and Vulkan games.

Edited September 10, 2016 by Luc2k

[Jonathans]

11 hours ago, Bryan R. said:

I'm confused by the 3 HDD's in RAID0. You're only asking for trouble. Just get 2 or 3 large SSD's in a RAID0 and be better off in every way.

This been that HDD's are generally cheaper and have larger storage, and I am not specifically worried about game load times and its mainly going to be for storage than anything else.

[Jonathans]

11 hours ago, PeterUK said:

You likely don't need 24TB of gaming storage surely? Two 2TB in RAID 0 will be enough and maybe look at SSHD.

http://www.seagate.com/gb/en/internal-hard-drives/firecuda/

I have over 300 games, and switch between playing them randomly, also I do a lot of DB work (hence the various SQL installations and need the space for corporate DB development etc)

[Jonathans]

11 hours ago, PacificAk said:

This is what i'm building over the next month -
Thermaltake Core P5 ATX Open Frame Panoramic Viewing Tt LCS Certified Gaming Computer Case  - $148.49

ASUS RAMPAGE V EXTREME LGA 2011-v3 Intel X99 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Extended ATX Intel Motherboard  - $499.99

ZOTAC GeForce GTX 1080 ArcticStorm, ZT-P10800F-30P, 8GB GDDR5X ArcticStorm Liquid Cooling Waterblock, Spectra Lighting,  - $719.99

Thermaltake Toughpower PS-TPD-1500MPCGUS-1 1500W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular  - $312.99

Intel Core i7-6950X 25M Broadwell-E 10-Core 3.0 GHz LGA 2011-v3 140W BX80671I76950X Desktop Processor  - $1,649.99

CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 64GB (8 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2133 (PC4 17000) Memory Kit  - $279.99

Acer Predator Z35 35" 21:9 Ultra-wide Curved Monitor G-Sync (NVIDIA Adaptive Sync) 144Hz 4ms 2560 x 1080  - $949.99

I'm undecided on the monitor so far...

Thermaltake Pacific DIY LCS RL360 High Capacity D5 Res/Pump Hard Tube RGB Riing Edition Red Opaque Coolant Water Cooling  - $499.99

Total cost ~$5000+

 

Not using liquid cooling for a gaming rig is criminal nowadays...  especially in SLI configs...

 

I already have 4x OCZ Trion 240gig SSDs... going with RAID 0 with them...

For storage... i have a Synology 1515+ with 5x 4TB drives... in Syno Hybrid RAID...

Awesome, ironically this is almost very similar to the 'online build' i did for about $6000 yesterday...
thanks for this

[+PeterUK MVC]

1 hour ago, Jonathans said:

I have over 300 games, and switch between playing them randomly, also I do a lot of DB work (hence the various SQL installations and need the space for corporate DB development etc)

Was not said you needed it for other stuff but still 300 games? At Seagate they say Store up to 40 games per TB (at 25 GB per game) with the 2 TB FireCuda SSHD! (they somewhat where meant to say with the 1TB and 80 games at 25GB per game on the 2TB) but 25GB per game! How many games out of 300 you have are 25GB per game? But Ok you can go nuts if you want If it was me I likely do 2 x 2x2TB SSHD RAID 0 and 2xSSD RAID 0 if I had 300 games that is.

[Jonathans]

3 hours ago, PeterUK said:

Was not said you needed it for other stuff but still 300 games? At Seagate they say Store up to 40 games per TB (at 25 GB per game) with the 2 TB FireCuda SSHD! (they somewhat where meant to say with the 1TB and 80 games at 25GB per game on the 2TB) but 25GB per game! How many games out of 300 you have are 25GB per game? But Ok you can go nuts if you want If it was me I likely do 2 x 2x2TB SSHD RAID 0 and 2xSSD RAID 0 if I had 300 games that is.

As it stands at the moment ive got 2x 2tb externals which are permanantly attach, and 3x 1tb externals which are permanantly attached to my laptop, which also has 1tb and im pretty much down to 150gb space left between them, so my current solution is to this is swapping drives around in a docking station, but this is messy  as ive now landed up with drives floating around my desk, swapping between them for DB's and games that are not installed in any of the 'fixed' ones.

 

Yeah ugly I know, and i know soon its going to come crashing down.

 

So this was the one i looked at yesterday

 

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

What site you getting the listing from? I bet I can do better lol

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

I put in 3 6TB HDDs but it only listed 1, weird.  Anyway theres ya beast.

 

[Jim K Global Moderator]

16 minutes ago, Anarkii said:

I put in 3 6TB HDDs but it only listed 1, weird.  Anyway theres ya beast.

 

Holy smokes ... what store is that (and/or country)?  Please don't tell me that is some store in the US (highway robbery regarding the prices).

[+Anarkii Subscriber²]

12 minutes ago, jjkusaf said:

Holy smokes ... what store is that (and/or country)?  Please don't tell me that is some store in the US (highway robbery regarding the prices).

PC Case Gear - its Australian currency, so basically half that for US prices lol

[metallithrax]

If we are going all out, try this one.

[+Warwagon MVC]

Got it!

 

 

[T3X4S]

OP - I dont know how much you have to throw at this, and I dont know your financial position.

Overkill is a starting point - but are you wanting a Dream Machine $10,000 beast of a machine or something absolutely ridiculous ?

And - keep in mind - in less than 1 year - there will be something faster/better.

With that out of the way....

The core i7 6950 Extreme is the CPU du jour
RAM-  Corsair Platinum
PSU - Corsair 1500i
Mobo - 
Monitor(s) - 
Storage - Someone mentioned WD Gold ..... there is a Gold now ?!?  For rotational - get the UltraStar or Caviar Gold/Black in whatever capacity you want (personally I wouldnt give a Seagate as an anonymous christmas present)
RAID - Onboard or add in card ?
Videocards - As many 1080 you can fit

Cooling - Something custom - Something beautiful (chrome hard tubing
AC Cable - AudioQuest - why ?  Because you said overkill and you had coin to burn - cant use a plain ol peasant power cable - even the nice one that a $450 PSU comes with is for n00bs !  You have to go all out

Oh - forget it - I dont know what is out there now.

When I built my present desktop (last Christmas) it was insane - now its just meh - keep that in mind.  Even a Samsung 950 Pro gets boring


Use million dollar pc for inspiration, and neowin for guidance.