Very first gaming build, codenamed "Beefcake"

[anthonyvdp]

Hi all,

over the past couple of months I've been searching for some neat hardware to put in my very first gaming build. I've decided to go for a X99 system with the following specs:

Rig:
Case: Corsair 760T black
MoBo: Asus ROG Rampage V Extreme
CPU: intel i7 5930K 6 core @ 3.5-3.7GHz
RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 2666MHz CL16
PSU: Corsair AX1200i
CPU Cooling: Corsair H100i
GPU: dual SLI Asus ROG Matrix 980's
SLI Bridge: the newly yet to be released Asus ROG SLI bridge
SSD: Samsung 840 EVO 250GB
HDD: WD Black 2TB
ODD: Asus BD-RE BW-16D1HT/B 12x
OS: 64 UK Windows 8,1 PRO OEM 64 bit
Cables: Cablemod C series AXi cable kit in red-black and a bunch of E22 cable combs for some sweet cable management
Extra Fans: 2 Corsair SP 120 quiet (replacing the stock H100i fans), 1 Corsair AF 140 quiet (replacing the stock rear case fan), 3 Corsair AF 120 Red LED quiet (2 for the H100i on top and another above the ODD bay)
Dust Filters: DemciFlex 760T dust filter set
Lighting: 2 Corsair Link RGB LED lighting kits
Soundcard: Asus Xonar Phoebus

Peripherals:
Monitor: ASUS PG278Q ROG Swift 27" 2560x1440 1ms 144Hz
Keyboard: Razer Blackwidow Chroma
Mouse: Razer Deathadder Chroma with a Razer Goliathus Control extended mouse mat
Headset: Razer Tiamat 7.1
Audio: Razer Leviathan soundbar
And a Dx Racer Chair OH/FE08/NE in Green to top it all off 😄


It'll be quite a beefy setup (hence the codename "Beefcake" ;)), so I'm wondering if the PSU I've chosen will be enough to power all these goodies, or if I'm better of with a Corsair AX1200i?

Pictures of the build are sure to follow once I've completed it by the end of May 😛


EDIT: updated the RAM kit, PSU, CPU and monitor

[MeanMachine]

Hi anthonyvdp and the makings of a really nice Beefy build.

Only problems I can see is the use of 2 separate DIMM kits. You may encounter problems, even with the same specked kits.
I recommend you get one kit of 32GB and not 2 x 4x4.
If you intend SLI then I would go for the AX1200i, for the extra headroom.
I don't like W8.1 for all the problems ppl have encountered. I would use W7 till W10 arrives. of course your choice.

Good Luck with your build and don't forget the pics.:D

MM

[RMXM]

Wow sounds awesome ! May i ask how much will it cost you foe that rig? Without peripherals ?

[Nate152]

I would say somewhere around 3,000 with no monitor or mouse and keyboard. If you're just gaming the maximus boards and a devils canyon cpu (4790k) is plenty and will be much more cost effective. The rampage v extreme is the top of the line.

Nice first build anthonyvdp and as MeanMachine says a single ram kit to avoid potential problems and headaches.

The 5820k cpu has 28 cpu lanes so I don't see both your 980's running at x16.

[anthonyvdp]

Nate152 wrote:
The 5820k cpu has 28 cpu lanes so I don't see both your 980's running at x16.

I've done some sniffing around about the benefit of having 40 vs 28 lanes in a 2 way sli config, and well, it doesn't matter much if it even matters at all. Linus has a nice vid about this (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rctaLgK5stA if you're interested).

One thing that does trouble me a bit about this, is that he mentions something about the other slots potentially being disabled as well as some sata ports / usb headers due to the 'lack' of PCIe lanes. I wonder if this would be the case, and if slapping another €200 at Beefcake for a slightly higher CPU clock speed and 12 extra PCIe lanes is worth the extra money.

[Chino]

Everything looks good so far except for these two.

anthonyvdp wrote:

RAM: 2 kits of Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (4x4GB) DDR4 2666MHz CL15 (32gigs in total)
PSU: Corsair AX860i

Combining two memory kits will be troublesome as it isn't guaranteed that they will play well together. So to avoid headaches and a lot of tweaking time, stick to a single 32GB kit. If I was shopping for a 32GB 2666MHz kit, I'd grab the G.SKILL Ripjaws 4 series 32GB (4 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 2666 (PC4-21300) Memory Kit Model F4... kit for $500.

While you could get by with a 860W unit, if you want some extra headroom for upgrades or in case you want to overclock. Personally I wouldn't use anything less than a 1000W unit in a system like yours. The SeaSonic Platinum-1000 1000W would be my pick.

[anthonyvdp]

Thanks all for the many quick replies and tips!

In total the rig itself with all the bells and whistles will cost just under 4k euros. If I'd go with the Corsair AX1200i ofc, a few 100 more will be added.

As for the RAM, a single kit is indeed way better, but for now I had indicated two 16GB kits as my preferred shop did not have any 32GB kits in stock (yet). I assumed if I kept the two kits together in their quad channel setup that it'd be fine though, guess not 😛

EDIT: I'll try to find a 32GB kit of 4 dimms Corsair Vengeance LPX, to have an optimal benefit of the quad channel memory

[Chino]

anthonyvdp wrote:
Thanks all for the many quick replies and tips!

In total the rig itself with all the bells and whistles will cost just under 4k euros. If I'd go with the Corsair AX1200i ofc, a few 100 more will be added.

As for the RAM, a single kit is indeed way better, but for now I had indicated two 16GB kits as my preferred shop did not have any 32GB kits in stock (yet). I assumed if I kept the two kits together in their quad channel setup that it'd be fine though, guess not 😛

EDIT: I'll try to find a 32GB kit of 4 dimms Corsair Vengeance LPX, to have an optimal benefit of the quad channel memory

You can usually save a good amount of money when buying G.Skill over Corsair's overpriced stuff. You can then attribute the leftover budget to another component.

[Nate152]

I don't see it disabling usb headers and sata ports due to the lack of pcie lanes. if you are going to use any of the other pcie slots for say a sound card or pcie ssd etc... then yeah go with the 5930k. A gpu can't max out pcie 3.0 x8 so you will be ok with the 5820k. I just wanted to make sure you knew your gpu's wouldn't be running at x16 is all.

[anthonyvdp]

A question about the possibility of watercooling a 760T with this setup: would a 30mm thick 360 rad in push pull be sufficient for this system? I'll be overclocking the CPU and GPUs (not too extreme, but still)

If not, another 60mm 280 rad in push pull in the front will have to be added.

Note though that I want to keep one hard drive cage in there as I dont want to put everything on SSDs. However, if the front rad has te be added, the hard drive cage has to be put in the middle. But there's another thing there: the cables coming out of the ax1200i. I guess they will fit, but it'll be a very tight one.
In this case, jamming a small size res and pump in there will be quite the job too 😄

If I can keep the HDD cage in the front, the pump and res can be placed right next to it where there will be ample space.