Asus x99 Deluxe II new build, could use some advice

[MyerPj]

I’ve been following the threads here for some months, and have especially found interesting the comments from RoninEdits and Bill Gehrke thanks for your time and efforts here. February has finally arrived, so I can start getting serious about my new build. I have it mostly sorted it in my head, but could use some expert help such as I’ve seen here.

Here’s my starting point

Asus x99-Deluxe II

Intel Core i7-6850K 3.6 GHz

Noctua NH-D15S 140mm CPU Cooler

Corsair HXi Series HX850i 850W Power Supply

Per my post yesterday I currently have a two Samsung 960’s a 500gb EVO and a 512gb Pro. I’ll probably keep both.

32gb or 64gb of Memory

I’m mostly a bang-for-your-buck type guy, and I don’t really have that much video stuff to do, but I like it a lot. I’m on old school / analog editor for many years, and have been enjoying getting better in PP and AE. I have a couple of projects going currently and plan to keep doing this for a while. I tend to keep my rig for some years, currently I’m using my 2011 build with an Asus Deluxe P8Z68, Sandy bridge, I7 2600K, 16GB, 850 EVO, 256gb, NVidia 560ti. I have a modest overclock on this rig, I'll probably do the same with the new one.

My main area of question is

1. What memory I should get for it, ie: actual memory sticks, and should I go 32 or 64g
2. Which Case should I get. I prefer a specifically quiet case.
3. Video card, 1060 or 1070

CASE:

I’m into quiet cases. I have 3 5.25” bays in use currently, but I could go with 2 and get an external USB DVD writer.

Antec P183 v3

I’ve used Antec P180 / 182 in my most recent builds. The P183 v3 seems to be the current Antec case, but not sure they are even making it anymore. Plus, it could use some updating. My plan was to use this since I’m familiar with it, but I could move to something else. I saw that RoninEdits​ seems to like the Fractal Design.

Corsair 330R Quiet Tower Case

  Has advantage of 3 - 5.25” bays

Fractal Design R5

   Most up-to-date

  Only 2 – 5.25” bays

Graphics Card

Asus Dual OC GeForce GTX 1070 - $398.89 - (DUAL-GTX1070-O8G)

or

Asus Dual OC GeForce GTX 1060, - $259.99 - (DUAL-GTX1060-O6G)

Is it worth the extra $ - performance wise and longevity, considering I probably won’t be upgrading this anytime soon.

Thanks very much, your comments on this would be much appreciated.

[Alexander Eberhard]

Hi,

I build up a similar system lately. Here is some experience I can share:

1. Mainboard: I run the Asus X99-A II is perfectly fine. Check out the specs if you really need those additional features, ports and CPU lanes. If you plan to go with one GPU you might go for the A II.

2. Case: I own the Fractal Design R5. Quite, easy build-up, plenty of space, great cable management, good fans. I am running four fans which also gives me room for overclocking and enhanced cooling performance. There are hundreds of youtube reviews. Just check some out.

3. GTX 1060, 6GB works wonders for me and is still pretty affordable, giving me enough performance for GPU effects, rendering and color grading. I can editing multiple 6K footage layer with GPU effects flawlessly. Personally I love EVGA cards. Got mine running on 2.164 MHz with Percision XOC.

4. CPU: The 6850K is a great choice. The 6800K might be a cheaper option giving you pretty much the same performance. Due to overclocking my CPU I picked the 6850K as it handles power consumption much better and gives you more headroom. Got mine set on 4.4 GHz (all cores) with idle temps of 24 degrees. For cooling I got the D15S. Just perfect. I run two fans though, but the cooling improvement is marginal.

5. Memory: I came up with some great results on the G.Skill Rigjaws 4, 3.200 MHz. Just make sure to check your mainboards QVL. These one are fully supported on the A II. Latency and speeds could also be improved with an overclock. If you into AE a lot, go for the 64GB.

6. Samsungs 960 Evos are just fine.

7. PSU: I run Corsair as well and have always been very pleased. 850 watt will give you enough room to power everything and extentions.

Tweaking windows 10 pro 64bit a bit will give you a stable OS. Lots of youtube videos offer guides for speed up. Good luck

[RoninEdits]

great post by alexander, i agree with what he says.

question 1 - ram, for memory kingston and crucial tend to show up with lowest failure rates on some websites, while corsair and gskill are good for value brands. like alexander mentions, its a good idea to check the memory qvl just to be safe.

question 2- case, yes i think fractal design has done a great job with the R5. if you really want the 3 5.25" bays they have the XL R2, its a bit older so its not as nice as the R5. the corsair 330R falls short with no bottom or side fan option. so if you want more than the front two intakes, you would have to turn to the top mounts which will be more noticeable for noise. i often see poor reviews on antec cases, that case also seems to have no bottom or side fan spots. phanteks is another case mfg that's doing great things, and they do have some cases with 3-4 5.25" bays, but unfortunately they have open tops so they wont be as quiet as the other cases with closed tops.

question 3 - gpu, if you are going for a quiet system, you may want to get a video card that will turn off its fan when temps allow. i looked at the asus dual and didn't see that ability. the asus strix version has it, but is also expensive for a gtx 1060 6gb card. the msi gaming and gaming x are more affordable and appear to have the ability to turn off its fans.

[MyerPj]

Thanks very much Alexander Eberhard​ and RoninEdits​

I'll look for the memory sticks again. I found the QVL so will check into that. Seems there are so many choices, and I can't tell what #'s to look for. Is the DDR4 2133 much different than the 3200? Should I look for one speed over another, or a better latency, etc.

I think I'm going to go with the R5 and just get a external USB DVD writer and it can be the last one I'll have to buy.

From these posts I'm leaning towards the 1060. Very good catch RoninEdits​, I thought about that (do the card's fan stop spinning at idel) when I was first reading over the specs, and then I've forgotten it! Yes, I'll have to see about that. I know I don't want three fans, so I may need to change vendors. Though I thought there might be some advantage to using an Asus card with and Asus motherboard, all other things being even.

[RoninEdits]

faster mhz ram can help transfer data to the gpu faster. between 2666-3000mhz is good to aim for. 2400mhz is default for i7-6xxx cpu's, so i wouldn't go any lower with the 2133. lower latency isn't as helpful, i wouldn't worry about getting it to the lowest. the cpu can use quad channel memory, so its a good idea to get a 4 stick kit vs 2 stick kit.

i think the only benefit to having asus mbd and gpu would be a possible matching logo and color scheme. if there was some compatibility issue with the video card and mbd, having the same mfg for both parts might help when contacting tech support, but its extremely unlikely that there would be any issues like that.

[MyerPj]

I posted a question on the BH website, and found out that the ASUS Dual cards (ie: two/dual fans) have a BIOS upgrade which allows for 0db (IE: The fans are off until 60*c is reached). However, I saw RoninEdits​ post regards the new EVGA ftw2/icx cards, that looks like an interesting option if a 1070 is under consideration rather than the 1060s I've been mostly contemplating.

Also, I've been having a rather difficult time finding memory which are on the QVL. Maybe I'm searching for it incorrectly? But I've been looking over modules, especially discounted ones, and have found very few on the list. Alexander Eberhard​ which gskill did you pick?

thanks very much.

[Alexander Eberhard]

I run the G.Skill Ripjaws 4 DDR4-3000 DIMM CL15 Quad Kit. I was about to get the new version 5 but didn't found them on the list so got these instead. No problem at all.

[RoninEdits]

evga are going to be releasing two gtx 1060 icx cards as well, the ssc2 and ftw2. those cards have some nice features, but its kinda sad they got caught cutting corners in the first place before they decided to implement these features to try and save their reputation...

if the memory qvl only has a kit of ram that is 16gb(2x8gb), you can look up that kit and search for a 32gb(4x8gb) version. you can do that for any listing in the qvl to help expand the memory options.

[MyerPj]

I've been looking mostly for 16gb sticks, thinking 4x16gb = 64gb, but there doesn't seem to be very many on the QVL. I'm wondering how often they update that list?

So, are you saying if I find a 2 stick version in the qvl, I can get two of those = quad channel?

What about 8x8gb? Is the 4x16 preferable?

[Alexander Eberhard]

They all work. Just get 4 x 8 GB or 8 x 8 GB. Just make sure to always run 4 simultaneously due to Quad channel performance.

[RoninEdits]

memory is made to a standard, so usually any kit works. just like any video card should work with any motherboard. but once in a blue moon a kit and motherboard don't play nice. the only 16gb sticks i see on the qvl are corsair 32gb(2x16gb), and the 64gb(4x16) version seems to be sold out. if you want to stick to the qvl, ordering two of those 32gb(2x16gb) kits should be fine and get you to 64gb total. i wouldn't be too worried about choosing another brand or kit though. running 4 sticks vs 8 sticks at high mhz should be slightly easier on the cpu and also leaves room for more memory if ever needed.

[JFPhoton]

If you haven't bought anything yet, you may want to hold off until March 2nd, when the brand new AMD Ryzen CPU is released.

Initial benchmarks have already shown that it is going to be a serious threat to Intel's CPU dominance. There will be 3 versions of the 8 core/ 16 thread CPU......ranging in price from the low $300 range to $499 for the flagship 1800X model which may equal or even SURPASS intel's 6900K , which has been selling for over $1,000 !!!  I'm glad I waited...I probably will wait to see benchmarks done with PPro before purchasing,but, this is a MAJOR development that video editors who build computers should pay attention to.

Check these benchmarks out for a clue to what is coming :

Ryzen 7-1700X beats the Intel Core i7 6900K in benchmarks - Chipsets & Processors - Products

[MyerPj]

When looking over video cards, of the same model, it seems there is one which advertises "Overclocked" and the other is standard. It's usually only $20.00 difference, but is it worthwhile to get the 'better' one considering they are overclockable?

[RoninEdits]

i think most are the same, just factory overclocked. you would have to look at tear-downs of the two versions to find any differences. the gtx 1000 series chips overclock pretty easy, so most of the time its possible to manually overclock both versions higher than default settings. some just prefer not to touch anything, install the card and go, so factory overclocked gives them more options.

[Bill_Gehrke]

I have two of the EVGA 06G-P4-6163-KR which are superclocked on the Memory clock at 2002 MHz and I further overclock it to 2500 MHz but when you use any CUDA application it drops back to 2400 MHz which is an "Effective" 9600 MHz.  I have not seen any thermal problems with these units, of course I do not have instrumentation to do any measureing.  I guess I will try moving it to my third slot so I can try the finger test????

[MyerPj]

Based on this forum and in particular the comments from RoninEdits​ and confirmation from Alexander Eberhard​ above, I purchased a Fractal Design R5 Titanium last night. I went by NewEgg check some options and found the case discounted $30.00 from what it has been, so if you're contemplating this case, I think it's a good buy at ($79.99)

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811352050

Looks like I'll be purchasing items over the next month, ill let you know how it goes...

[MyerPj]

Got my R5 today. It is much nicer than I thought it would be!

I was at Fry's the other day, and looking over their cases, and they were all so flimsy and wobbly I was somehow thinking this might be similar. I am happy to say this is one sturdy case and the sound dampening seems really nice. At least as sturdy as my Antec P183 v3. Thanks very much for the tips!

A question on memory. How do you go about looking for it? I see 64gb of memory for ~$400.00 on well known sites but it's not on the QVL, and when I only look for memory on the QVL it's not on sale or I can't even find a vendor selling it? Looking via PcPartPicker they have 64gb (4x16) Corsair, and Corsair has it listed for $399 on their site, but there is no purchase button on that item (only 'find a vendor') and then as I've said above. So, it's a bit frustrating. Any suggestions on how to go about it would be appreciated.

[RoninEdits]

i would ignore the memory qvl if you can't find any on that list available. you can either shop for sales and/or by brands. it looks like all the 64gb(4x16gb) kits cost more than just buying two 32gb(2x16gb) kits, so if you want to save some money you might want to buy two 32gb kits.

newegg has 10% off memory coupon right now, so there might be some deals in there

Newegg Promo Codes, Coupons, Discounts, Promotions and Free Shipping

this is one of the cheaper priced 32gb kits on newegg's memory coupon list, i'm not sure if the price includes the coupon or it would be another 10% off this price. G.SKILL TridentZ Series 32GB (2 x 16GB)…

[MyerPj]

Thanks for the tip(s) RoninEdits​​​, My 64gb's TridentZ at 3200 arrived today. Purchased the ones you linked to.

I only went $2.35 over my memory budget! Really sweet looking memory also. The heat spreaders are CNC type of aluminum, where as the Corsair I'm using in my current rig have more of a folded aluminum like stamped from a sheet. Very pleased. And, don't know if it matters but the 4x16's from the two different 32gb packages have 4 sequential serial #'s.

Also, I had called Newegg earlier in the day Monday and asked how long the sale would be on for, she said till the 28th and also said there were 32 packages in stock. I was going to hold off, then after a bit I decided to go for it. Shortly thereafter they were marked as out of stock, then they went back on, now with the end date of the sale added, but also up $15.00 per set! Still pretty much the best price I've seen.