Vising the US soon, new high-end build after 3 years: many questions!

[proggm]

Hi! New member here (used to be in xtremesystems, now offline sadly).

Years ago I adopted a three-year cycle on system upgrading (to the highest-end components available). Last time I did this was 2013, and now I'm planning to replace everything except maybe the power supply and case. I'll need some help, since I've been mostly out of the loop from the hardware community since my last upgrade.

FYI:
Country: I'll be flying to the US soon (staying in Detroit for a few weeks, then NY till September), so I'll buy the components there (online also a possibility if done early). Store recommendations will be appreciated!
What do I use my pc for?: Mostly audio/video editing and gaming (from League/WoW to GPU-intensive FPSs). I'm also very interested in VR, so it needs to be ready for that too.
Budget: Not really limited here, but I rather not spend a fortune, so no extreme versions or dual-gpu setups (unless it's REALLY worth it).
Overclocking: I used to be huge into OC'ing the hell out of everything, but now I aim for system stability/longevity and don't want any issues. Any OC'ing done will be very minor (a few MHz here and there), if at all.
Resolution: I'll be buying an Acer Predator X34, so that'd be 3440x1440.
Parts I plan to keep: Coolermaster Cosmos II case, Corsair Ax860 power supply.

Q's:
-Is my Corsair Ax860 compatible with a 2011v3 MB/Broadwell-E CPU? Unsure if connectors have changed. Btw, this ps is only 2 years old and functioning perfectly. I think 860w should be more than enough for a single GPU system, but I will upgrade if it's needed.
-I already have a Samsung 850PRO 512gb SSD that I bought last year (and a bunch of other SSDs/HDDs), but I've read that some PCIe SSD drives are relatively accessible and offer insane performance gains. Knowing what I already have, is it worth spending money there?
-I've been checking out newegg and there's a huge variety in motherboards. I usually go for the higher end ones even if I don't plan to OC (just because of the higher quality parts), but recommendations will surely make my life easier!
-CPU: 6800k, 6850k or 6900k?
-Ram: Again, huge variety. No idea what to pick (usually go for Corsair/GSkill). DDR4: Dual channel or quad channel?
-VGA: I'm pretty sure this one will be down to availability since the FE GTX1080 is proving to be a PITA to find and buy, but any recommendations or tips will help lots.

That's all for now. Thank you guys a lot

!

 

[yee245]

I would try to go and visit a Microcenter, either the one near Detroit, or the one(s) near NYC, or both. They usually have some of the best in-store-only CPU and CPU/mobo combo pricing, though the new Broadwell-E pricing hasn't come down yet. There are also some decent RAM deals that you can also get when buying a CPU or motherboard, like a basic 2x8GB Crucial DDR4-2400 kit for $43 after $15 discount.

 

[proggm]

Oh, that's great to know! Thanks a lot.

 

[CEpeep]

Second the recommendation for Microcenter. You can even try out the VR experience with HTC Vive if you go to one that has it. The reps will also show you the specs of the PC it was running on for your reference.

 

[proggm]

Thank you guys! Surely the one in NYC will be bigger and have more stuff to try, but I'll see what I can get in Detroit too.

I'm still unsure about PCIe storage. Synthetic benchmarks theoretically show huge increases in performance, but people won't notice it on practical usage. I think it will be money better spent somewhere else, but I'll still take advice about that!

 

[playah]

What happened to xtremesystems ?

 

[proggm]

No idea, sorry I haven't been a frequent user since late 2013. A shame though, since I made an account there some +12 years ago.



Anyway, I'm still looking for advice regarding the gpu.

There are many good options when it comes to the 1080, but some issues like noise, temp, fan throttling, etc are starting to show up in many of these cards. In fact, the Founders Edition (which I assumed would be the best) seems to be the one most people are complaining about.

I've been looking at other options like the Gigabyte GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming (the frontal hdmi panel is a huge plus, but those fans look noisy as hell) and the MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Seahawk X (not a fan of WC due to the risk of leakage, but the low noise levels under heavy load are extremely attractive). Newegg reviews (which I take with a grain of salt tbh) seem good for these cards, but I'm still looking for more opinions.

Any help will be appreciated!