Suggestions on Build Requested

[Nuluvius]

Overview
I’m in the research phase of putting together a build targeted at work and gaming. Elaborating on these a little more; work is Software Engineering (so lots of multi-threading and CPU intensive activities). Gaming is upper mid-level; I already have a decent GFX card and run Eyefinity over 4 monitors. Yes I’m also intending to overclock and run SLI/XFire.

Emphasis
The real important points of this build are flexibility, overclocking and future proofing. I build once every 6 to 8 years then run upgrades till it’s basically filled out and obsolete.

The Current Spec
CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K Socket 1150 'Devils Canyon'
Cooling: NZXT Kraken x40
RAM: 8GB Corsair DDR3 Vengeance PC3-14900 (1866) CAS 9-10-9-27
MB: (Suggestions please)
Case: NZXT Phantom 630 (Suggestions please)

Justification
Please, if you have any suggestions/contradictions they would be welcome!

CPU: I considered the FX-9370 but realistically it gets destroyed by the i5 and would only serve a minor advantage when compiling code/running multi-threaded applications. Plus I said work AND gaming so it’s got to be the i5. Budget won’t quite stretch to i7 sadly.

Cooling: I though the x60 would simply be overkill on that i5 chip. Of course there’s the Noctua NH-D15 but it’s kind of big and ugly.

RAM: I’m considering upping to 16GB; RAM cache/disks are great fun plus I work on VMs a great deal and 8 seems a little low.

MB: I considered the ASUS z97 Deluxe; I had heard that ASUS were a little bit ahead with their BIOS and software management right now. But really I need suggestions here. I’m after the best in the mid bracket really.

Case: 630 Phantom, simply because it seems to be the best available around the price… saying that I don’t like what I’ve heard about the HDD mounts. Also the fan control seems a little pointless given that fan control will be handed off to the software anyway. Compounded by the fact it’s only single channel! Seems like a chocolate fireguard? I would welcome alternatives, as long as it’s BIG AND BLACK.

Thanks for taking the time to look over my plan. Any input or criticism is eagerly welcomed!

EDIT: Budget is around £600

 

[Dangman]

PLease answer the following questions sop that we can help you better:
1) What PSU are you going to be using/reusing?
2) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? UEFI? etc.
3) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
4) What online computer hardware strores are you buying from?

Off the bat, don't bother with DDR3 1866 RAM. You really won't notice a difference between DDR3 1866 and DDR3 1600 RAM unless you plan on running benchmarks all-day long. In regards to the HSF, at least here in the U.S, the Kraken X40 costs $95 or so. The problem is that the Coolermaster Seidon 120V costs $50 and actually outperforms the Kraken as you can see in this chart:
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2744&page=5

So if the Seidon 120V is available in the UK for a lot less than that Kraken, get the Seidon 120V instead.

As for cases, I recommend the following cases:
$65 - Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Case
$75 - Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black w/ Window ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$120 - Antec 1100 ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Obsidian Series 450D ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Arctic White ATX Case
$110 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom 530 Black Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$140 - Corsair Graphite Series 730T ATX Case
$150 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Obsidian Series 750D ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$170 - NZXT Phantom 630 Gunmetal Full Tower ATX Case
$170 - NZXT Phantom 630 White Full Tower ATX Case
$190 - Corsair Graphite Series 760T ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B-USB3.0 ATX Case
$250 - Silverstone FT02S-W-USB3.0 ATX Case

Though with your budget, I would seriously consider downgrading the case and upping the RAM. It sounds like you really would benefit from 16GB of RAM far more than a really really big expensive case.

 

[Nuluvius]

PLease answer the following questions sop that we can help you better:
1) What PSU are you going to be using/reusing?
2) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? UEFI? etc.
3) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? 32bit or 64bit?
4) What online computer hardware strores are you buying from?

Off the bat, don't bother with DDR3 1866 RAM. You really won't notice a difference between DDR3 1866 and DDR3 1600 RAM unless you plan on running benchmarks all-day long. In regards to the HSF, at least here in the U.S, the Kraken X40 costs $95 or so. The problem is that the Coolermaster Seidon 120V costs $50 and actually outperforms the Kraken as you can see in this chart:
http://www.frostytech.com/articleview.cfm?articleid=2744&page=5

So if the Seidon 120V is available in the UK for a lot less than that Kraken, get the Seidon 120V instead.

As for cases, I recommend the following cases:
$65 - Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Case
$75 - Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black w/ Window ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case
$120 - Antec 1100 ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Obsidian Series 450D ATX Case
$120 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Arctic White ATX Case
$110 - Corsair Vengeance Series C70 Gunmetal Black ATX Case
$120 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - NZXT Phantom 530 Black Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - Corsair Graphite Series 600TM ATX Case
$140 - Corsair Graphite Series 730T ATX Case
$150 - Corsair Obsidian Series 650D ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Obsidian Series 750D ATX Case
$160 - Corsair Special Edition White Graphite Series 600T ATX Case
$170 - NZXT Phantom 630 Gunmetal Full Tower ATX Case
$170 - NZXT Phantom 630 White Full Tower ATX Case
$190 - Corsair Graphite Series 760T ATX Case
$230 - Silverstone FT02B-USB3.0 ATX Case
$250 - Silverstone FT02S-W-USB3.0 ATX Case

Though with your budget, I would seriously consider downgrading the case and upping the RAM. It sounds like you really would benefit from 16GB of RAM far more than a really really big expensive case.

Thanks for getting back to me. To clarify then:

1) Corsair 750AX Fully Modular
2) As much of those features as possible for the brackt. Emphasis being; SLI/XFire support, UEFI & SATA Express for lifting the SSD bottleneck.
3) x64 of course.
4) Probably a choice between Scan, eBuyer or OCUK - whatever works out to be cheaper..

Yes the Seidon is available in the UK. Also I think I have already decided on the Obsidian 750D, it's build quality seems to be fantastic.

To be honest it seems as well that it might be possible to actually push up to a 4790K for just a little bit more than budgeted and using something like a Noctua NH-U12P SE2 Dual Fan Quiet CPU Cooler.

 

[Nuluvius]

So far I have:

Intel Core i7-4790K 4.00GHz (Devil's Canyon) Socket LGA1150 Processor
Corsair Obsidian 750D Full Tower Case - Black
Gigabyte Z97X-Gaming 5 Intel Z97 (Socket 1150) DDR3 ATX Motherboard
TeamGroup Elite Black 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C11 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
Corsair Hydro H110 280mm High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler

 

[sinisterDei]

16 GB of memory is a no brainer. Get it on 2 sticks as well, because one day you'll up it to 32 GB. I'd get better memory than that though. While a lot of the high MHz memory is more marketing than performance, assuming everything is the same price there is no reason not to get better memory with faster timings. The one you listed is only DDR3 1600 @ C11 and it's $135. For $5 more, get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104421. It's DDR3 1866 @ C10. You can get faster and fancier if you like, but that's what I'd consider a starting point, and for some workloads it makes a minor difference.

Also, I guess I'm old fashioned, but holy shit I think $380 is entirely too much to spend for a motherboard. For $380 it should come with a butler named Alfred who chauffers me around. Gigabyte and other manufacturers have Z97 boards starting closer to $100. They may not have fancy paint jobs, but I'll be damned if they don't run the same CPU and memory as the $380 one. This one, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157501, is $135 and comes with many of the same features as the $380 Gigabyte, including the silly Killer-NIC thing.

 

[Dangman]

16 GB of memory is a no brainer. Get it on 2 sticks as well, because one day you'll up it to 32 GB. I'd get better memory than that though. While a lot of the high MHz memory is more marketing than performance, assuming everything is the same price there is no reason not to get better memory with faster timings. The one you listed is only DDR3 1600 @ C11 and it's $135. For $5 more, get http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104421. It's DDR3 1866 @ C10. You can get faster and fancier if you like, but that's what I'd consider a starting point, and for some workloads it makes a minor difference.

Also, I guess I'm old fashioned, but holy shit I think $380 is entirely too much to spend for a motherboard. For $380 it should come with a butler named Alfred who chauffers me around. Gigabyte and other manufacturers have Z97 boards starting closer to $100. They may not have fancy paint jobs, but I'll be damned if they don't run the same CPU and memory as the $380 one. This one, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157501, is $135 and comes with many of the same features as the $380 Gigabyte, including the silly Killer-NIC thing.

FYI, the OP is in the UK, not the U.S. So the pricing and availability for us don't apply to him. With that said, are you sure you're looking at the right Gigabyte motherboard? The Gigabyte GA-Z97X-Gaming 5 costs $150 at Newegg:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128709

@ Nuluvius
Personally, I'd go with the Asus Z97-A but considering that both mobos just came out, your bet is as good as mine as to what the long-term viability of either motherboards are.

 

[Nuluvius]

Thanks, well I did find three of them from the same bracket reviewed on Hexus. Surprisingly that Asus (while being loaded with features the others don't have) comes up a little worse on performance, specifically memory performance.

See for yourselves:
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/mainboard/70133-gigabyte-z97x-gaming-5/?page=4
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/mainboard/69517-asus-z97-a/
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/mainboard/69525-msi-z97-gaming-5/

 

[Dangman]

Thanks, well I did find three of them from the same bracket reviewed on Hexus. Surprisingly that Asus (while being loaded with features the others don't have) comes up a little worse on performance, specifically memory performance.

See for yourselves:
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/mainboard/70133-gigabyte-z97x-gaming-5/?page=4
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/mainboard/69517-asus-z97-a/
http://hexus.net/tech/reviews/mainboard/69525-msi-z97-gaming-5/

Yeah, it honestly doesn't matter that much in the long-run how fast a motherboard performs considering that a lot of those tests are synthetic benchmarks. Which means that they have little bearing on the actual real world performance of the motherboard. IN addition, even in the few real-world programs they used, the performance was really really minor and you really wouldn't notice it.

When reading motherboard reviews, basically ignore the performance parts and look for the comments about the layout, reliability, overclock stability, any potential quirks, ease of use/installation, etc.

 

[Nuluvius]

Yeah, it honestly doesn't matter that much in the long-run how fast a motherboard performs considering that a lot of those tests are synthetic benchmarks. Which means that they have little bearing on the actual real world performance of the motherboard. IN addition, even in the few real-world programs they used, the performance was really really minor and you really wouldn't notice it.

When reading motherboard reviews, basically ignore the performance parts and look for the comments about the layout, reliability, overclock stability, any potential quirks, ease of use/installation, etc.

Indeed and I have made my choice. It is going to be that Asus board after all. Simply has more nice features.

Thanks for all the help guys!