Please review my new build

[HedleyP]

Hi,

I'm currently running on a E6750 Socket 775 which I built back in 2006 and is my work PC. I'm a web developer who also enjoys gaming when I get the chance and as you can see I don't upgrade very often, mainly through laziness/too much work.

My current PC is being passed on to my oldest son as he needs a PC for school work and his 2nd hand laptop gets passed to my youngest so it's time for a new build to last me another 10 years... My storage is externalised on a Synology NAS.

Budget: Don't have one really but around the £1K mark as after that it starts to hurt too much.

CPU: Intel Core i5 6600K Unlocked Skylake Desktop Processor/CPU £197.94
Cooler: Corsair H60 Water Cooler £58.87
MOBO: Asus Z170 PRO GAMING Skylake USB 3.1 ATX Motherboard £119.94
RAM: Corsair 8GB DDR4 Red Vengeance LPX 3200MHz £66.08
GPU: Gigabyte GTX970 Twin Turbo OC NVIDIA Graphics Card 4GB £251.96
HD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5 Inch 3D V-NAND SATA3 SSD £65.82
PSU: Corsair 500 Watt System Builder ATX PSU £43.80
Case: Corsair 230T Mid Tower Case - Orange £69.88
OS: Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit Refurbished MAR English / UK £38.00
Optical D: Samsung 5.25" SATA 24x DVD/CD Writer Drive with M-DISC £11.96


TOTAL: £924.25

NOTES:
1) I know 1151 is new, expensive and not a huge jump from 1150 but if this is going to last 4-10 years I might as well go for the latest socket.
2) Mobo: the other alternative I was considering was the Z170-A but the Pro Gaming has better sound and is only £3 more.
3) I've gone for 8GB of DDR4 3200MHz Ram in 2x4. I don't see a need just now for more but if I do (I do run VM's every now and again), I can chuck another couple of sticks in when the price drops.
4) Water Cooler, is it really needed? I'd like to have one but open to suggestions. As the machine is on all day every day I like them to be whisper quiet if possible.
5) Case. It's orange. So is my business branding and it's my favourite colour. Might not be the best/cheapest case but it's orange.
6) HD. I had originally specc'd an M.2 as I fancy having one but have since dropped back to an 850 Evo. It saves £35. Might still go for it though just to give it a bash.
7) GPU: GTX 970. Ouch. That's quite expensive for playing games and I hope my wife never finds out... Originally was going for a 960 but I'm an avid Elite Dangerous player and do enjoy playing games.
8) Win 7 because Win 10 made me angry

Ok. That's my build and my reasoning behind it. I'm totally open to suggestions/advice/criticism as I've been out of the build/upgrading market since 2006 and things have changed somewhat. I hope I've got a pretty well balanced build there that will do what I need. I don't want to use words like future -proof and all that but hoping by going for the latest socket I do have a pretty good upgrade path over the years.

Many thanks for your help.

Heds

[HedleyP]

Just to add.

Since writing this post I am now 100% set on socket 1151 but the jury is out on whether I go for a 6500 or the original 6600K.

If I can overclock and the board/software makes it easy for a simple bear like me then I will but a £40 saving on the 6500 isn't to be sniffed at. And I could always upgrade at a later date when prices drop.

[wazzickle]

Should find it easy to oc with that board.

You may (probably will) have issues with the W7 + skylake combo, microsoft seem to have made it difficult to install - hearing lots of stories to back that up.

Skylake can take advantage of higher speeds on the ram but imo you'd be better off with simply more of it and less fast.

All looks pretty good to me, if I were building a gaming rig it would look pretty similar to that.

[TechZilla]

Looks good except for a couple things. Try to find windows 10 for that price elsewhere because win7 doesn't like skylake CPUs. Also buy less fast but more ram. Ram speed doesn't make much of a difference unless you're on igpu.

[Hoonigan]

I've just upgraded from a Q6600 on the LGA775 socket.

Firstly, I'd recommend you to get the Corsair H75 instead of the H60. It's got better performance for not much more money.
I went for the H75 and love it!
Alternatively, you could go for a 280mm for a little bit more again.

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/cors...amd-processors

Maybe it would be worth getting slightly slower memory but getting more of it? For about £12 more than your 8GB set, I got 16GB of 3000MHz Corsair Vengeance. This then allows me to upgrade to 32GB in the near future for awesome futureproofing.
If you get 2x 4GB sticks you're limiting yourself to a maximum of 16GB.

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/16gb...blackbmo-offer

Otherwise, I think you're onto a winner there! I noticed a MASSIVE improvement in everything.