Alphasus

Hate to nitpick, but it is the OF-40, from Italy. Other than that, looks really nice!

I think it was a $5 price difference between the two, so if you want to overclock it you can, but that money wouldn't go to a different part.

SSDs have 2 interfaces and 2 form factors. The interfaces are SATA and NVMe. The form factors are M.2, and 2.5".The only combination of these two that CANNOT exist is 2.5" NVMe. Anything over the NVMe interface has far more bandwidth that anything over SATA. Thus, the SSDs use that speed with certain high speed designs, and run faster than they can over the the SATA 6 interface( capped at 6 gigabit sped second, or 750 megabytes per second). Realistically, the faster SATA SSDs can do 500 megabytes per second. PCIE drives can do 2 gigabytes per second, right now. That doesn't even max out the interface.Samsung 950 Pro The actual PCI-E interface maxes out for SSDs at 4 gigabytes per second, so it is noticeably faster.

What motherboard did you go with? Because if you went with any board that has a PCI-Ex4 slot, you could get speeds 4 times as fast as those SSDs. Also, those numbers aren't inflated as far as I know. Multiple disk test softwares have confirmed that for me. The Samsung drive is also faster in real file transfer off of a USB 3 drive. Yes, most used files should go on SSDs. Mine has KSP and my main applications like OpenOffice on it. So does the OS. Windows 10 is fast enough on boot to take advantage of a PCI-E SSD like a Samsung 950 Pro, which is REALLY fast. Minecraft and KSP will also boot significantly faster off of any ssd, but especially a PCI-E drive(PCI-e is a size, NVMe is the actual interface, I know).

DDR4 always works with z170. Make the motherboard change you want, and then it will be just fine. The hard drive change will increase the price by $70 though. On the monitor, I have experience with that monitor but it is interchangeable. So yeah go with either. The Dell monitor is IPS, which looks better than the TN monitor that the ASUS monitor. That cooling should be just fine. The case isn't small, and 4 of those fans should keep temps low.

He should over clock the 970 and it can easily outperform the 390x. It also will run nice and cool.

That 970 will be fine then, unless you want to play shadow of mordor. That cooling should be sufficient.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($254.99 @ Newegg) CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Newegg) Thermal Compound: ARCTIC MX4 4g Thermal Paste ($7.99 @ Newegg) Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z170-HD3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($97.98 @ Newegg) Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg) Storage: Samsung 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($88.00 @ Newegg) Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 970 4GB STRIX Video Card ($332.98 @ Newegg) Case: Fractal Design Define R5 w/Window (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($129.98 @ Newegg) Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA GS 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($90.98 @ Newegg) Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM (64-bit) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A15 PWM 140mm Fan ($22.98 @ Newegg) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A15 PWM 140mm Fan ($22.98 @ Newegg) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A15 PWM 140mm Fan ($22.98 @ Newegg) Case Fan: Noctua NF-A15 PWM 140mm Fan ($22.98 @ Newegg) Monitor: Dell S2715H 60Hz 27.0" Monitor ($269.99 @ Newegg) Total: $1509.79 Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-03-17 13:53 EDT-0400 All from Newegg, with a price tag! That should cover it.

The GTX 980 and r9 390 are both good choices. But, you are running 1080p. A 970 is overkill for that, a 980 even more so. I mentioned a 970 because it is bulletproof for 1080p. The 980 is 25% faster, and it doesn't justify the $150 premium.The GPU will start having VRAM issues before it runs out of gpu power. If you go r9 390 or 390x, internal case temps would go up. Those 2 GPUs would like water cooling loops, and I don't know of your experience with that. What games do you want to play?

I mentioned the thermal compound for Arctic MX-4, a NH-U14S. In terms of keyboards, I could recommend the CM Storm Quickfire Rapid in whatever switch you prefer. Also, on the 970, it has always had that much VRAM, so its benchmarks have always been valid. Finally, for noise, I mentioned the Noctua A15 fans.

Also, the U14S needs to be horizontal, not vertical. Otherwise, it will block the top PCI-E slot. @KocLobster

The NH-U14S is a very nice cooler... I don't consider better temps than an h100i in quiet mode to be shabby or weak. Also, it is $7 off of an $1800 build. An h80i in balanced settings, and lower temps than an NH-D14 NON low profile cooler is not a bad cooler...Here, the benchmark. It is also quieter than any water cooler in that test.

Meh. That paste is arguably the best on market. I chose low profile(the u14) because skylake seems to have issues with heavy coolers.

Happy birthday to your father! Happy pi day!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835186038 Here we go then. That thermal paste is quite nice. If you feel you dont need it, some ok thermal paste comes with the cooler. But, the expense is $8, so negligible in an $1800 build.

You are welcome. Do you still want that laptop with the rest of the machine? Because that laptop is still on the table too.

Ok, I'm passing the rest of this off to someone else. @Camacha @cantab If either of those could run over the specs of the machine, and do final checks then you would have a second set of eyes. If you need mouse advice I'm still here but that's where my peripheral knowledge stops.

Oh yes, and use arctic mx4 thermal paste.It is about 1 degree cooler and comes in a larger quantity. It also spreads better.

Those Rosewill fans were very loud, at 30 dB. This computer should never go above 20 dB, with those Noctua fans, without taking into account the case's sound dampening foam. That should make it quieter. I thought you went with the MSI mATX board. Also, take maybe 4 fans of this type(that case takes 140mms, which have better airflow):Noctua NF-A15 Also, that cooler should probably be upgraded. If I'm correct, you plan to over clock. And anyways, that has a higher TDP. Try this:Noctua NH-U14S That should be a lot of cooling on all ends. Those fans also have the ability to work in tight spaces rather well. So, location shouldn't matter as much. @KocLobster

That RAM increase wont increase power usage by more than 10 watts at worst. But you only have 2 ram slots so you will need to replace all the RAM.

That 970 recommendation is a PSU size recommendation. The 980 recommendation is a usage estimate of the GPU alone. The 970 is fine with a 550W or 500W PSU. I know because I use it with one. I measured usage with a kill-a-watt, and with unigine heaven and handbrake running to max my CPU and GPU, I did not hit more than 300 watts. You may need 50 watts more for that cpu, which is a very high estimate(realistically 20). You don't need a huge PSU.

That motherboard seems nice. If you want a smaller case, then I will point you to something. I am quite partial to Fractal Design.HEre

If you want cheap fans, then these work nicely Do you care for silence? Also, in terms of heat, I use a similar TDP CPU and GPU(same GPU actually), with a slightly larger cooler and less fans in a smaller case. I have not hit above 60 degrees celsius ever since that new CPU cooler was installed. That case can mount 8 140mm case fans. Mine has 2 120mm case fans.

Quad channel is faster than dual which is faster than single channel. Dual channel is really all you need.

Nope, but I can take a look at lower latency RAM. Also, low latency DDR4 is not cheap.