My new gaming desktop... Goodbye notebook enthusiast?

Hey everyone,

That's right, you read the title correctly. After months of debating whether or not to stay in the gaming notebook arena, I folded and decided to purchase a desktop rig instead. The goal of this build is to quench my thirst for upgradeability and enthusiast-grade performance, but only for a casual gamer like myself. I'll be gaming on a 1920x1080 144Hz display. When Volta hits, I may upgrade to a 144Hz 2560x1440p display. For now, I'll be happy with playing everything at well over 120 FPS and high refresh rates.

If you have recommendations for my build, please let me know. And if you have any questions, feel free to ask.



*There are a bunch of custom things as well, like RGB lighting, water cooling upgrades, fan upgrades, etc.
**I'll be upgrading a vast majority of the components, inc. CPU, GPU, RAM, SSD, PSU over a period of time.

Current System Specifications:

Case: Corsair Obsidian Series 750D Airflow Edition
CPU: Intel Core i7-6850k (15M cache, 3.60 GHz)
GPU: GeForce GTX 1080 Hybrid (8GB GDDR5X)
Motherboard: ASUS X99 Deluxe II LGA 2011-v3
PSU: Corsair RMi RM750 80-Plus Gold Certified
RAM: 32GB (4x 8GB) Corsair Dominator Platinum @ 3200MHz
Storage (Primary): 512GB Intel M.2 PCIe SSD
Storage (Secondary): 2x WD Caviar Blue 1TB RAID 1​

Spoiler: The future of my build...

So, this leaves me with my very first, self-owned gaming desktop since 2010. My hope is that this gaming desktop will unleash the hobbiest and enthusiast in me once again, allowing me to enjoy upgrading, maintaining and gaming. I've spent the past six years purchasing enthusiast-grade gaming laptops and am finally fed up with all of the BGA crapbooks, non-upgradeability, poor customer service, and outrageous price : performance ratios. I'll still be around, don't worry. But I think my gaming notebook days have passed.

 

Any reason on why 6850k and not 6800k?

 

Further expansion down the road. Extra PCIe lane support may come in handy one day.

 

I'm feelin it Dre, 'cause you sound giddy. Your choice of the RM750i, my 1st thoughts would be a $75 - $100 individually sleeved cable set. Normally most Corsair's use the Type3, but 750i uses a Type4 (the type3, the 24pin ATX branches into a 10+14, whereas 'Type4' branches into a 10+18). Better said, 'all' cables in the pouch are Type3 except the 24p. One might try their Type3 set + a Type4 24p separate. BitFenix is also offering sleeved sets, Alchemy 2.0, CableMod too (Type4 24p, ask before buying).
Dress-up kits are always fun & would get your build off of the couple of flat ribbon cables, if / when. If you need two more Grfx cables, Corsair.com standard solo sleeved 6+2 or jumpered ' pigtail', lol. I also think you can toggle between single & multi-12v-rail, see Jonny, cool? Post pics when she's dialed in

 

There will be plenty of time for upgrades, I hope. Let's see if this rush build, "next business day shipment" was worth $109. Will know tonight!

 

Nice build. Yeah I punted out of the enthusiast laptop arena and going with something that is good with gaming but not super expensive.

 

Thanks! Unfortunately, the case I wanted is back-ordered, and this may screw up the fans & water cooling I ordered as well.

EDIT: They've upgraded the case to a full-tower 750D at no additional charge. Will ship tomorrow.

EDIT 2: Updated the main post with my present build and future plans. Very excited to begin!

 

I am wondering why you settled with only 2 sticks of memory on X99 platform. It is quad-channel after all.

 

It will have 32GB's by Friday.

EDIT: Updated the main post. (I have the RAM being delivered Thursday.)

 

You might have outdone yourself, such an awesome build you might not get the upgrade itch for a while! Part of me is toying with the desktop idea but I do sometimes take my laptop to other places to game besides home. Not sure I can make the leap yet.

 

Haha, always appreciate the compliments, thanks man!

Switching to a desktop wasn't easy. I must've been at the "place order" page debating pressing it for hours over the course of several days. The current build is good, no doubt. I ordered high-quality, reliable components. I'll have to refrain from ordering anymore parts until at least next March, when I find out more about Volta. But yeah, so far I have everything I want except a few fans (I'd like to have 140mm instead of 120mm), some SSD's, and a GSYNC display. The current 144Hz is great but GSYNC adds a special touch... But for nearly twice the cost of my current display. The ASUS ROG Swift (2560x1440) display is on my wish list!

That 750D will allow me to upgrade quite a lot.

 

Sweet build! You may also want to pay attention to the Acer XB271HU. Its also 1440p 144Hz IPS, and seems to have less light bleed issues than the Asus.

 

If you don't need the portability a gaming laptop isn't cost effective, even if they are very cool!

Nice build!

 

Thanks! Yeah, those are my exact thoughts. Plus, I am unable to find a suitable laptop these days.

For now, I'll do with a cheap work-class notebook and an enthusiast level desktop for gaming at home.

 

The only reason I have a gaming notebook is for when I travel for work (it's my work notebook too) I can do some gaming in the hotel. This keeps me out of trouble in the evenings. I also take it to my son's place when I go there. He is an avid gamer and likes to destroy ol' Dad on occasion.

 

... But your sig has 4... One for home, one for work, one for the car... And idk one for... like the bathroom or something?

 

Everything has shipped and will be arriving today and tomorrow. Very excited!

It has been more than six months since I logged into Steam or played any video games.

 

You'll certainly be coming back with a bang.

 

It's only a hobby... only a hobby... only a hobby...

And I am selling some of them. M17x R4, M18x R2 and a couple of Dell Mini's.

 

I keep telling myself the same thing. I need to chill! Have spent nearly $3500 already (inc. tax, shipping, external accessories, etc).

 

Added a video to the first page that you guys will like. That's how I hope I feel!

 

So. Epic. FTW.

Why isn't it FRIDAY YET.

 

@J.Dre why haven't you opting for a watercooled rig?

That's what I would build my rig after, if I would say "bye, bye" to notebooks.

 

It is watercooled. I'll be building a custom water cooling loop soon.

 

Oops! I didn't realize it from the pics, the better then!

 

Yeah, it's all watercooled but in a simple manner for now. The fittings and parts I want are often out of stock, so I will be gathering those overtime.

 

Any pics of the build?

I have gone back to mostly desktop use and only bought that new Alienware because I got such a huge discount and was able to order it before they were supposed to release it. Might end up just going for something around $1000 with a 980m in it as most games I play it will do fine at 1080p.

 

I'll be sure to upload pictures this weekend. Sunday, more parts will be arriving (additional fans, thermal paste, etc.). I had to do some rearranging inside the case today, and I'm not entirely satisfied with how it's setup at the moment. However, I did 3DMark 11, just to break it in. Here are the results (at stock): My physics score seems low, any ideas?

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/11585353

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/14900561

 

It's not really low compared to this: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/8721247

Physics is all cpu.

 

FPS is great, so that's all that matters!

 

Yeah! You can seriously boost the score with an overclock though. Looked like you were at 3.9? 4.4Ghz should be attainable. (5820k could go to like 4.6 smh).

 

I may do some overclocking when it cools down. My room is like 84°F from noon to 8PM, then only begins to cool down (and I don't need extra heat at night). But even with this ridiculous ambient temperature, the GPU and CPU both remain around 30°C at idle and around 50°C under load. It's quite impressive!

Spoiler: Temperatures

Verdict: This setup is, without a doubt, overkill for 1080p on BF4. The FPS averages above 180 and is often times higher than 200. When a plane crashes in front of me, or a chopper explodes in front of me, the FPS drops to like 120. 144Hz is quite amazing, though. I am enjoying the high refresh rate!

 

Well you don't need water cooling then.. Honestly just would be a waste of money lol ..



Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk

 

Nope, definitely don't need to. But I definitely want to!

For the time being, I may just upgrade the current setup (e.g. push-pull). At the moment, it's just 'push.'

 

Well the fans are also not needed with those temps.. Instead save that money + of water cooling, put it in a savings account and when the 1180ti comes out or Volta, get that

Sent from my LG-H850 using Tapatalk

 

I already have them. But I may skip 11-series Volta and go straight to 10nm or 7nm architecture once it's released.

 

I installed two more fans on my CPU cooler (above the radiator - pulling), so now there's a Push-Pull configuration, and the temperatures have risen.

EDIT: Never mind. I forgot I had it overclocked a bit, lol. Broadwell-E is hot!

EDIT2: Here are the temps at stock after Unigine Heaven Benchmark:

 

Here's a picture of my build as it currently sits:



Unfortunately, I was forced to put the Hybrid cooler at the bottom because of the RAM (the radiator was too thick to fit at the rear). However, I'm very satisfied with the performance of this setup. The sad thing is, I don't have enough time to game!

 

Welcome to X99! Just because you have a desktop doesn't not make you a notebook enthusiast. Show us the picture with the other panel of that's where the secrets lie/lay?. Can you post a firestrike regular score? Just wondering the difference between the 1080 and 390cf and we have similar systems. heres mine http://www.3dmark.com/fs/10053381

 

I thought I posted one but I'll have to do another benchmark later. Here's Fire Strike Extreme: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/14900561?

It did score a little higher than your score from what I remember. The score was around 24k with a graphics score around 32k.

 

http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/15788752?

Here is my extreme result with cpu @ 4ghz/ no gpu oc. Still interested in the firestrike regular result when you have time

 

here's one of my old Fire Strike results with my Founders Edition 1080: http://www.3dmark.com/fs/8962576

i haven't ran one with my 1080 FTW Hybrid yet.

 

Here is mine with Asus Strix 1080 OC without any twekas...

http://www.3dmark.com/fs/9971376

 

The 1080Ti will be launching soon, so I may grab that, if anyone wants my 1080 Hybrid (that's not even two months old). Haven't even had a chance to try the new Battlefield. All I've done is run 3DMark 11 and 3DMark Fire Strike and played like 12 hours of DayZ... Adulthood sucks.

Here are the results @smoking2k: http://www.3dmark.com/3dm/15890501?

The graphics score seems low. Hmm... I think it may be on adaptive and not maximum performance.

Spoiler: Temps

 

Thanks guys. Seems like the 2 390's are kind of comparable to the 1080. Man I would love 1080's or even better 1080ti/Vega in sli. I cant even fathom how sweet that would look on a 4k screen(which I have been eyeing but its hard to justify the screen plus new gpu's to drive it 100%). You think my physics score seems low? Maybe its due to crossfire overhead?

Wow 40°C gpu....My god

 

Yeah, very cool!

EVGA determined the "burning up issue" isn't related to the Hybrid. Though, I believe the GPU wasn't operating at its full capacity. It was on Optimal Power... I'll run the benchmark again to see if it makes any difference. While gaming, the boost clock reaches over 2Ghz and the temperature is a few degrees higher. FPS is amazing.

EDIT: The graphics score went up a few hundred points but the score didn't change much on maximum performance.

 

Wow, we're all going to desktops, I'm building a more modest one over here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/thr...urchasing-on-black-friday-deals.798132/page-3 (post #29 is the final decided config) I think this will be fun as my first build.

@J.Dre congrats on your desktop, it's quite a monster! Pity you're having to get rid of it, but needs must!

 

Yeah, it seems like a lot of enthusiasts are moving to the desktop gaming arena. It's well worth it. Wish I could keep mine.

 

BF1 is great but it's definitely a bit heavy on the GPU; at ultrawide res (3440x1440) on max settlings I float around 91-100(vsync) with two Titan X (pascal), not sure how easy 120+ would be at 1440P but likely possible at 1080P.

Great temps though. My previous Titan X's were the 'hybrid' model and for the most part they stayed cool. Certainly the best option if you're not looking at a full loop.

 

Certainly. I'll probably always have a Hybrid for a personal rig. It's quiet and cool! And the best part is that it boosts to 2.1GHz sometimes... But yeah, I'm a happy camper at 144Hz 1080p. This 1080 basically gives a constant 120+ FPS on the highest settings in almost every game.

The GTX 1080 is great at 1080p. How ironic!