New PC Gaming Build Opinions Please

I'm not sure I'm going to do this as to my surprise I'm not experiencing any gaming problems with an EVGA FTW 1080 and an X58 MB and first generation I7980X processor. But if I do make a change and put this EVGA 1080 in a proper PCI lane 3.0 instead of 2.0, I would consider something like this:

Corsair Obsidian Case 750D $190
Intel Skylake i7-6700K CPU $450
Asus ROG MAXIMUS VIII HERO MB $275
Corsair Vengeance Mem LPX 16GB 4x4 DDR4 2800 $120
Asus BW-12B1ST 12X Blu-ray Reader $80
Corsair Hydro Series H110i 280mm Extreme
Performance Liquid CPU Cooler CW-9060026-WW $165
EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G1 1000W Fully
Modular Power Supply 120-G1-1000-VR $200

TOTAL Canadian Dollars $1480

I would of course use my FTW 1080, my existing hard drives and sound card. I was thinking of a Haswell I7 5820K and compatible MB, but just thinking that Haswell is two generations older than Skylake CPU's. Any comments for better quality/performance at reasonable price points are welcome.

BTW, would these changes give me a Windows 10 activation problem, given I'm keeping my hard drives? Would a clean install work given I have a USB with Windows 10? My user password would be the same as this Alienware would go to a nephew and I would put back the original Windows 7 on it from CD.

How about added case fans? Archie, you have a similar case I think.

Dude said:

That looks like a really good build. As far as activation, the new MB will be an issue. You may be able to call MS and get it, not sure

Thanks, Dude, ya was wondering with the same hard drives if it would boot into Windows the first time or if there would be activation issues. Brink or others, do you know for sure if there would be an issue?

The best information/advice I give to anyone I know who comes on this forum for the first time is this:

1) What a great bunch of helpful, knowledgeable people.
2) Read Brink's tutorials.

So taking my own advice I see this from Brink's tutorial on install/activate:



And I thought my license was linked to my Microsoft account, but just checking, it is:



So I'm thinking I should still be good to go with Windows 10 and those hardware changes, hopefully.

Yeah, now that they're linking activations to accounts, it should be easier to get by with major hardware changes. When I did my new build, I threw W10 on there right away, instead of going 7 and then upgrading, and it activated fine. I wouldn't see why it wouldn't do the same for you.

If it doesn't, though, it's usually as simple as calling into MS and explaining the hardware change.

blackroseMD1 said:

Yeah, now that they're linking activations to accounts, it should be easier to get by with major hardware changes. When I did my new build, I threw W10 on there right away, instead of going 7 and then upgrading, and it activated fine. I wouldn't see why it wouldn't do the same for you.

If it doesn't, though, it's usually as simple as calling into MS and explaining the hardware change.

Windows 10 wouldn't activate. Chatted with Microsoft explaining changes. Hmmm. Asked my (history) how I got Windows 10. Bought Windows 8 and upgraded before July 29. "Got a W8 product key?". Searching gmail as I didn't have anything installed other than the OS. Found it and a couple of minutes later I was good to go. These guys/gals are the best. Maybe me saying "U Karen and Microsoft and W10 R the best", helped.