Need some help. I need to build a workstation / gaming rig that I am trying to future proof for a long time. My current computer is about 7 years old and cannot be upgraded anymore. It has 8 GB DDR3 limit, and that frustrates me in what I need it to do, but it has served me really well. I don't have a budget currently. I am scrapping dough together and hoping of buying parts over the next 1 year. The question is if Volta, and new CPUs will come up by the time I scrap additional parts together.
Primary Purpose; Productivity and gaming. I need a new computer for video and image editing and VFX. I'm planning to also dabble into C4D. Besides that, gaming is of course also a massive reason. I really want a really nice future proof single GPU. I'm aiming for 4K editing and 4K gaming. I have nothing from my current build I plan to bring over (besides my 34-inch ultrawide monitor)
I've been on black electronics for all the time I've owned computers, and have had aluminium grey Macs before too. I'd like to have a White build with LEDs I can control to change moods. I'm looking for something lowkey I can change. I've had colorful components before, and its always a bitch when you get tired of your color setup. I'm thinking that White / Black is good as it will compliment many different RGB configs.
I would like to get into NZXTs RGB ecosystem, Hue+ as I like that you can customize colors after temperatures in the case. I like that the lighting can change depending on temperature. That is really useful.
Right now, the plan is very loose. Just trying to get a feel for how it could look like.
Theme: White / Black (70% White, 30% Black)
RGB:
NZXT Hue+ - $59.00
Aesthetics: Minimal, as few logos as humanly possible. Have RGB being what can spice it up a bit.
Desk:
Bekant Sit / Rise ( White / White ) - $159.00
Case:
S340 Elite (Matte White) - $99.00
CPU Cooler:
Kraken X62 - $159.00
CPU: ???
SSD OS:
Samsung 960 EVO SSD 512GB M.2 - $250.00
SSD Productivity:
Samsung 850 EVO SSD 512GB - $200.00
SSD Gaming & Misc:
Samsung 850 EVO SSD 512GB - $200.00
SSD Scratch Disk: ???
Ram: G.Skill Trident Z RGB DDR4 - Unsure about Amount. Unsure about Speeds.
Motherboard: Looking at an Asus as I like their boards in the past. I'm a fan of their 5-way optimization. It needs to have a USB 2.0 Header for the Hue+ and a M.2 slot that doesn't slow down the speeds of 2 primary SSDs and 2 primary 3.5 7200 Hard Drives.
Graphics Card:
Asus ROG Strix 1080 Ti 11 GB OC - $765.00
Harddrive: 2x Raid0:
Western Digital Black 6TB 7200 rpm - $570.00
Power Supply:
Corsair RM 750i 750 Watt - $129.00
CableMod:
White Cablemod Kit - $119.00
Mouse:
Logitech MX Master (Stone) - $71.99
Keyboard: ???
Headphones:
Audio Technica M50x (White) - $139.00
120mm Exhaust Fan:
AER 120 RGB - $29.99
140mm Top Exhaust Fan:
AER 140 RGB - $34.99
Controller:
Xbox Wireless Controller (White) - $49.99
Backup Storage:
Western Digital My Cloud Mirror Dual 16TB (White) - $685.29
So Suggestions and comments are welcome. Particularly I am in doubt about;
CPU; I don't know if I should invest in a 4-6 or 8 Core CPU. Depending on the program and game, it seems like that everything has its advantages and disadvantages. For cost reasons I am leaning towards the 7700k or the sucessor to it. But another part of me is interested in the ideas of more cores. Users here on GAF have said they think multi core threaded application will beginning to take shape soon in a big way. Overwatch is a good example- Will others follow? I'm open to suggestions, and open to waiting. As this build is theoretical yet, I might be able to wait quite a while for something good to come out.
Motherboard; I really am in doubt about mobo. I've always enjoyed Asus. I think the clean armored boards they have are really nice. I like you can cover up a lot of the board. I also hear that there is a lot of problems with the Asus Kabylake boards?
I know I need something that has a M.2 slot, a USB header (for the Hue+), 2 primary SSDs (for productivity and gaming) and 2 HDDs for primary large image and video files being transfered a lot daily.
I'd like to OC, but only with the 5-way optimization and have the AI Asus Suite do it automatically for me. I also need a board that has enough ram Clarence for the Awesome looking Kraken x62.
Keyboard; I'm looking for a TKL RGB keyboard. Since I'm in Europe I need specific ISO keys. I've been looking on an
Cooler Master TKL RGB Master Pro S. It seems solid. I have had this idea about trying to find White PBT caps, but neither MaxKeyboard, WASDkeyboard or any other place I have seen are able to custom make white keycaps. Black board with white keycaps look awesome as fuck.
The only option I have right now, is to buy a white mechanical board like the
Ducky White Shine 5 and just take the keys and put it on the Cooler Master, but that is exessive, and a waste. I really don't want to buy a mechanical keyboard just to take the keys. I wish finding keycaps wasn't such a clusterfuck here in Europe. With so many languages and layouts... It's a total mess.
Ram: I've kind of fallen in love with the
G.SKILL Trident z RGB. I don't know if I need 32 or 64 GB DDR4. Or if I should get 3000 Mhz speeds? I thought ram was ram, but was surprised by games like
Witcher 3 which seems to scale significantly with the speed of the ram.
I need a lot of ram for ram preview while editing. But 64.. and particularly 128 GB are crazy expensive. It hurts just looking at them. And if I need 128, it would lock me out of the 7700k tier of CPU platform. And I'd probably need a board with 8 Ram Slots. The cost is crazy. We're talking almost 2000 USD on ram.
I need this workstation for work, but I'm relatively new in motion graphic and 3d.. I feel intimidated by building such a system. On the other hand, if I hope this system to last me 7 years it would be nice to have the option to expand later. But I'd need to get into x99 platforms.
SSD Scratch Disk: I need something to set After Effects, Premier and Photoshop to scratch to. A dedicated SSD that can take the abuse. I was thinking a 128 GB one would be enough and affordable? I think I wouldn't even mount it, but just stick it in the back next to the cable management!
Headphones: I like the MTX50 from Audio Technica. I have a black pair that is almost worn down. I think they look spiffy in white, but at the same time, I've been wanting a headset for a while (for gaming). I thought about maybe getting into something like Mod Mic.
I also looked at the
Steelseries H800 as they have a really cool design and retractable Mic and their wireless lifespan seems to be best in class, but I am weary about "gaming headsets". I've also looked at the
V-Modas in Silver which have a micrphone accessory. And also the
Sennheiser Momentus 2.0 Wireless. But I am unsure if I will get frustrated with wireless peripherals as a power user.
Hard Drive and Storage: In 2010 when I built my current system Western Digital was the king, and Seagate had totally shit the bed. It seems that things have reversed. Hear lots of bad things about WD. I still like their aesthetics. I wonder if I can do a solid backup storage solution for myself in a way that is cheaper than almost paying 600 dollars for 16TB. I need total recovery and future proofing. I was originally pulled towards it
due to the Dongs video of it.
I'm trying to save cost where it makes sense. I don't have a budget, and I am trying to figure out what I can upgrade later, and what makes sense to future proof now, and what has diminishing returns compared to other components. For example, is it worth dropping a 1080ti to a 1070 to be able to get 64 GB DDR4? Is it worth getting 8-core CPU and just have 16 GB ram? Is it worth dropping hard drives and a cloud back up and get a nas? Is it better to get a 1TB M.2 SSD?
So I am really open to ideas and thoughts. And also about the idea of having a white build. I'm wondering if any of you have experienced white electronics becoming "yellow-ish" over time, or if matte or glossy is easier to clean? I'm aiming for a workstation that is minimalistic and decluttered. Need to bring out the Zen, with the ocassional childish RGB for my own amusement.
Also, do any of you have experience with the NZXT software cam? I've heard its really frustrating.
And lastly, do you guys think Cannonlake and Volta next year are going to be game changers? When I upgraded from i7 950 to a i7 3970k I didn't feel a big difference, and I assume from many peoples comments that the upgrade benefits feel negible.