2nd Build - High Performance without stupid expense

[Snipeye]

I hope the title says it all - I built my first a few years ago - around 2012 - and have been quite happy; I got lucky with the i7-2600K, turned out very nice. That said, I'm upgrading for maximum compatibility, and to build a real beast of a machine.

Currently trying to decide between motherboards:
GA-Z170X-Gaming 5 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128836) and
GA-Z170X-Gaming 6 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128880). Honestly, I'm not really seeing a difference there beside $10 - am I missing something? Anybody had experience with either?
A third option is GA-Z170X-UD3 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128840), I don't really like the shortage of USB but that's solve-able.

This'll probably be a Sierra build, when the official release comes. I'm wanting to take this to the top - hopefully our nVidia Pascal drivers come soon, because I want a GTX 1080. I'm hoping that I can get this fully stable - iMessage and Sleep are my standard.

In terms of RAM, that'll depend on the recommended list from whatever mobo I choose, but I intend to get 64GB (you know, just in case Pixar calls and needs a rendering farm).
My processor will (of course) be the i7-6700K (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819117559).
For a boot drive, I'm very excited about trying out M.2 (I don't even have an SSD in my current build), and from what I understand, the SAMSUNG SM951 M.2 256GB (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820147425) is pretty nice - any other recommendations, M.2-wise? It'll be a boot drive and host a few commonly-used or large applications.

I'll probably have a couple extra TB of storage with some Brracuda's from Seagate, and I'd like to boot Windows 10 and Kali as well - so I'll get a couple smallish drives for them.

CPU Cooler will be the Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103099), as I plan on doing some OC'ing.

When (if? Hopefully that's a "when") Pascal support arrives, I want to use the GTX 1080 - there are a number of different brands, but the EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 SC GAMING ACX 3.0 (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487244) seems to be a pretty good choice in terms of performance - and has very good reviews. That said, I'm also looking at the GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 G1 Gaming (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16814125869), which has a little bit more performance - but not as good of reviews. I don't know if it's really worth it to step up to GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 1080 XTREME Gaming (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125873). I'd love people's thoughts on this.

For a power supply, I'm playing it safe with CORSAIR 750W (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?item=N82E16817139055) even though I don't need quite that.

I haven't decided for sure on monitors - I've heard good things about 144hz, but I'm frankly not that sold; I've used 60hz for as long as I can remember, and it's fine for me. I'm planning on getting three 1920x1080, preferably with as small a bezel as possible - any recommendations?

I've already got my peripherals, but I'll probably add a camera into that for Facetime and such. My next big challenge is selecting a case - I want something with plenty of room (it'll be under my desk, not hidden but not in plain view of everything), and preferably set up to air cool from bottom intake to top exhaust - hoping to make this a quiet system. So that's my next research project. Thought I'd post here and see what people thought - thanks!

 

[DrBEN]

The three boards listed are almost identical. You can compare all three boards here:

http://www.gigabyte.com/products/comparison/list.aspx?ck=2&pids=5835,5838,5499

I don't understand your comment about a shortage of USB on the UD3.

All three boards you listed have 7 USB 3.0/2.0 and 6 USB 2.0/1.1.

For all three boards, the seven USB 3.0 locations are 3 on the back panel and 4 on the internal headers.

For the six USB 2.0 locations are slightly different:

UD3 board: 2 on back and 4 on internal headers.​

Gaming 5 and 6: 4 on back and 2 on internal headers​

 

[Snipeye]

Hey, thanks for that link - that was really helpful! The comment about the USB on the UD3 was in regards to how many were already in place on the back panel - I'm likely not going to get something to expose the headers other than the front panel in my case, so...

I think I've decided on the Gaming 5 considering their similarities and the end price. It'll be either that or the UD3, depending on compatibility - I'm going to start scavenging the forums to see if people have had success with either one more frequently.

 

[kiiroaka]

The difference between the G5 and the G6 seems to be the shroud over the back panel and the G6 having a rear panel sound amp (probably for headphones). Both have two NICs, Qualcomm Atheros Killer and Intel. You'll pay extra for that. But, then again since you're running Kali Linux you may find a very good use for them.

I'd go with a Cryorig or Noctua cooler because of their superior mounting system; the Evo has been known to have less than a rock solid connection and may twist after you're already laved the thermal paste down. If you go with the EVO, regardless, I'd change over to Aircraft nylon centre nuts to make sure that the nuts don't loosen through vibration, or at least make sure I used Loctite-Blue on the bolt threads.

For quiet airflow go with Noctua fans.

As for monitors, IMO there's very little reason to go with 1K, 1920x1080. (Price is not everything...) I went with 2K, 2560x1440 (DL-DVI-I) and the future looks like 4K, 3840×2160 (DP).