VFX Artist/Gamer.. First non-xeon build! Games forever *100!!!

[kcmcc]

My friends!

Bit of a long read here...

have a look at what I want to do:

http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3zdhWZ

there was only a link for the Hero Alpha.. I plan on getting the VIII Hero..

Current build is a dual 2650 xeon based on a evga sr-x using noctua U12p on each, 32 gb reg ram, gtx Titan, triple asus 1440p monitors, rosewill blackhawk ultra

If it wasn't for the spotty behaviors with audio latency, some games crashing on startup, usb 2 ports crapped out, my cpus showing up as unknown devices in manager, which i blame said crashing on, oh and the case being the worst to deal with, I would probably stay with this build. Clearly this mobo has issues. But, still renders like a beast, quiet, all my 3D, and compositing apps work great, I can play a lot of games 5760*1080 triple with the Titan but yeah, the other problems are getting annoying. That said, this current build will become a render node/media server via remote desktop. Prob sell the Titan to some OCer

That is my third xeon workstation build and I am now FINALLY ready to get out of that money pit and into this semi-lighter money pit of a nice gaming rig!!
Since I've been used to spending over 3.5k easily on workstation stuff, I'm rather excited to be in the 2k range, and willing to go further if it helps what I want.

For those interested, my wants:

games, all of them, triple 1440p at decent if not best settings, from project cars and witcher 3 to elite dangerous and everything in between, so many great games on the way

ability to gamestream 4k to my nvidia shield TV flawless (wired)

VR at some point

overclock to maybe 4.7 for my work/rendering, back down to 4.4 for gaming.. its all gpu these days isnt it? All while keeping things reliable and lasting longer than a year or two. Would throttle down to stock on normal computing

Room for more ram if I decide to, I want to test After Effects, C4D and Maya on 16GB ddr4 with 8 cores first.

I've always wanted to build a fully watercooled system.. Seems like fun, a challenge, and beneficial when it comes to my work. I know the downsides... mostly maintenance and the fear of leaks, but I'm the meticulous type... Besides, that EK predator 360 with expandability should work for two 970s and their cpu/monoblock for the Hero..

That's down the road..

A mix of looks, power and low dB

The noctua D15 is in my back pocket as well, but I don't think, with two fans, would allow for all ram sinks to be used.

I plan on contributing to the forum as I see fit, where I can.

Thoughts on this build?

Thanks to all

KC

[kkn]

the hero8 and hero 8 alpha is the same exept alpha have an extra U.2 port on it.

[xeromist]

Looks fine to me. You should be happy with that setup.

BTW, have you looked to see if there is a firmware update for your sr-x? Sometimes stability is a flash away.

[kcmcc]

xeromist wrote:
Looks fine to me. You should be happy with that setup.

BTW, have you looked to see if there is a firmware update for your sr-x? Sometimes stability is a flash away.

Yeah, I have the latest firmware and follow it closely. It's like they have their junior team writing the firmware, as each new release fixes some issues but creats others...The board just doesn't get the support it should. It's getting to be an older model, anyway so I doubt firmware is going to keep coming out.

I'm just ready to have a more stable situation, leave that box with the Titan and use it as a server and for my work and rendering.

Turns out that the 6700k at stock clocks is about the same cinebench score as the dual xeons, at least what I've read on the internet. I look forward to render testing!

[Menthol]

I don't know the needs of your rendering, the system parts you picked will be great for gaming, although I would pick one 980ti over two 970's, they are good cards but no upgrade path without replacing both cards
Coming from the system you currently use, i would think you would be going for an X99 and 8 core 5960X
Both systems have the latest USB and hard drive capabilities which is great, you will like the m.2 950 Pro drive

[kcmcc]

Menthol wrote:
I don't know the needs of your rendering, the system parts you picked will be great for gaming, although I would pick one 980ti over two 970's, they are good cards but no upgrade path without replacing both cards
Coming from the system you currently use, i would think you would be going for an X99 and 8 core 5960X
Both systems have the latest USB and hard drive capabilities which is great, you will like the m.2 950 Pro drive

For rendering, I plan on using both GPU (Cuda) rendering and traditional CPU, so the more cuda cores, the better.

I am on the fence over dual 970s or the 980ti... You make a good point over upgrading, but I also want the most cudas I can get. Guess I could go 980ti, maybe get another down the road.

This build is more for gaming than work as my older system handles that pretty well

Will the 980Ti do well on it's own for 5760x1080 triple monitor surround gaming? That was the other reason for two 970s... I understand that just having two GPUs doesn't mean I instantly double my power, but it does help a good bit from what I read.

I may also switch my board out for the Z170 WS... decisions..