cant decide on a board

[captainthrall]

Building a new pc... here are the components I have chosen so far:

-PCU: Intel-Core-i7-6700K
-Cooler: Kraken x61
-Case: EVGA D8-87
-Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW
-PSU: EVGA supernova 750
-MEMORY: 32gb @2kMhz (haven't determined brand yet)
-STORAGE (os/games): 2x Samsung 950 pro M.2 RAID-0
-STORAGE (media): 2x WD black 3tb RAID-0
-MONITORS: 32'' + 2x 27'' 2K+ resolution

I can't decide on a motherboard. I've kinda-sorta narrowed it down to these two based on the fact that they can handle dual M.2s and they look cool:
http://www.overclockers.com/msi-z170a-xpower-gaming-titanium-edition-motherboard-review/
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produ...m_re=evga_classified_k-_-13-188-181-_-Product

I know I know... I can find almost all of the same features on $99 boards, but I like these two. Are there any distinguishing factors that make either board better than the other?

 

[EarthDog]

Neither... get that R0 crap out of your head already... . Being more serious, I am wondering what the bandwidth will be if you R0 those M.2 slots on those boards. You need to find out the throughput of both slots. If one is 32Gbps while the other is 10Gbps, then your R0 is even more useless.

Also, the classified is out as it has a Key-E M.2 and a Key M M.2 (what the 950 Pro is).

2K resolution..I recall going over this before.. probably deja vu...but you mean 1920x1080p (which is 1080p), or are you actually talking 2K which is 2048x1080? The 'inches' on the monitor do not mean much...

Last, why 32GB of memory? Are you close to using 16GB that would warrant such a purchase? You should also get DDR4 3000-3200 Mhz CL14 instead of the slower than DDR3 DDR4 2133MHz like I think you mean up there.


Please, for those helping, list your uses for this board so we can suggest an appropriate build for the uses. If you want to take it to another level for giggles, you of course can, but we can save you an arseload of money for strikingly similar and hassle free performance.

 

[captainthrall]

lol... but R0 M.2s will be so awesome! I'll try to address all of the questions:

Both of the boards I linked possess 2x of the fast "ultra x4 key m" slots. I may be mistaken, but I believe you're confusing the classified with the classified-K. The "k" version seems like a middle-ground between the "ftw" and baseline "classified." The two higher tiered mobos have 2x high-speed m.2 slots, while the "classified" only has one. The MSI Platinum board also has 2x M.2 ultra slots.

Yes, you're right, I meant to type ddr4 @3000. I'm not sure if I will ever use the full 32gbs of RAM, but if I find that I dont, then I can designate it as ultra-fast HDD cache. Anyway, 32gb of DDR4 3000 is only $100 these days. I feel frugal for not getting 64gbs.

Right now I have 3x monitors: 1x 32inch + 2x 24inch. They're all 1080p. I'm going to upgrade the 24 inchers to 27 inch monitors and when I do, I'll also upgrade the resolution. When Shopping for newer monitors there are generally 4 resolution options: 720, 1080, 2k, and 4k. To be entirely honest, I don't think 2k or 4k are exactly standardized resolutions. I chose 2k because it's significantly cheaper than 4k, while being nearly impossible to distinguish. Basically reviewers generally claim that they can see an improvement when going from 1080 to 2k, but they can't tell a difference between 2k and 4k (although there is a big price difference).

Yes, you are correct: I am definitely assembling a rig that is more powerful than I need. I'm doing it out of the sheer enjoyment of building something cool, fun, beautiful, and useful. I'm not really into cars, boats, or vintage Air Jordan sneakers, but building computers is a bit of a frivolous hobby for me... as I'm sure it is for many others. I'm on my 6th build since I began in 1999. I'm not looking to blow $3000 on quad-SLI, but I will happily invest on extra components that will provide a tangible increase in performance.

BTW, thank you for all of your diligent work on this website. Your reviews are awesome, and the forums are super-useful. I wish I discovered this place sooner!

 

[EarthDog]

I must have looked at the other board, yes. I still don't remotely see the point in going R0, but, its your PC, $, additional risk, and hassle.

RE: Ram - Ha, you remind me of my grandfather... would buy things because they were cheap/on sale even though he doesn't use or need it. I really would go 16GB as it will be plenty for the next few years (for your still yet unlisted uses, LOL). If you want 32GB, you want it, but its simply not needed, regardless if its 'cheap'.

2K is 2048x1080... I can't think of any monitors that support it, so drop that term. 4k is actually 4096x2160..monitor makers say UHD 4K which is the more common 3840x2160. So, you are not getting a "2K" monitor.. Are you trying to go 2560x1440??? Please clarify.

I'm not looking to blow $3000 on quad-SLI, but I will happily invest on extra components that will provide a tangible increase in performance.

This is what I am trying to do for you by explaining you hardly get any benefits out of R0. In fact, it will take longer to boot up because it has to load both drives and the RAID. It just doesn't give one a tangible increase in performance. You could easily run a $150 and a single 950 Pro then RAID your HDDs if you choose. That saves you nearly $500 right there for darn near the same performance.

 

[captainthrall]

Are you trying to go 2560x1440??? Please clarify.

This is what I am trying to do for you by explaining you hardly get any benefits out of R0. In fact, it will take longer to boot up because it has to load both drives and the RAID. It just doesn't give one a tangible increase in performance. You could easily run a $150 and a single 950 Pro then RAID your HDDs if you choose. That saves you nearly $500 right there for darn near the same performance.

yes. I'm shooting for 2560 x 1440 resolution (or something better)
Does loading a RAID controller really take that long?

 

[EarthDog]

Boot times are likely going to be a wash from a single card. It may be a bit faster, but not close to double.

In the end, how are you going to play your games? On a single 2560x1440 or do you plan on 3 2560x1440 monitors? This will help us help you size the GPU (or two) and the PSU.

 

[captainthrall]

I usually play a game in 1 monitor while watching media (youtube, movie, hulu, etc) in the second, and I have idle email/internet browsing open in the third. So I don't usually stretch a single game across multiple monitors. I have different things displaying in each.

 

[EarthDog]

A single 1080 would be plenty rocking 2560x1440 monitor for a couple years.

 

[captainthrall]

A single 1080 would be plenty rocking 2560x1440 monitor for a couple years.

Absolutely!
I've already determined that I'll just be rocking one single gtx 1080. I'm not sure which mobo I want to plug it into though!

 

[wingman99]

The MSI MSI Gaming Z170A XPOWER GAMING looks good, you can do some heavy overclocking with that.

 

[captainthrall]

Okay, I've been thinking about this decision for about a week now. I really really really like the look of the silver colored MSI board. I'm hearing great feedback on it. It has very positive reviews overall, and it's even on sale right now for $274. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130870&ignorebbr=1

I am concerned about something though... the i7-6700k only has 16 PCI lanes. That means all 16 of them would be going to my graphics card. I know we've discussed this before, so I'm kinda-sorta beating a dead horse by asking, but.... are we entirely sure that no other devices will be pulling from those PCI lanes?

The alternative setup I'm looking at (i7 6850k) has 40 PCI lanes, so there would never be a problem there. It also has 2x as many DDR4 channels and 2 additional cores. Oh yeah... and it also costs twice as much

 

[EarthDog]

Entirely sure. Please see your other thread for details on the discussion.

http://www.overclockers.com/forums/...estion-about-M-2-slots-and-PCI-e-architecture