Things I will be keeping:

 

Corsair 650D case

Two SSD's, and three hard drives (500GB 840 evo, 120gb mushkin sata gen II, 1TB samsung hdd, two other mechanical 7200 rpm drives)

GTX 970

Seasonic X750 PSU

dvd rw optical sata drive

 

For the upgrade....

 

Going from Gigabyte P67A-UD4-B3 to ROG Maximus IX Hero mobo

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-IX-HERO/

 

Going from i5 2500K (clocked at 4ghz) to i7 7700K

https://ark.intel.com/products/97129/Intel-Core-i7-7700K-Processor-8M-Cache-up-to-4_50-GHz

 

Going from 8GB corsair ddr3 1866 mhz to 16GB (2x8) Gskill ddr4 3600mhz RAM

http://gskill.com/en/product/f4-3600c16d-16gtz

 

Going from Corsair H60 (old version) to new H60

http://www.corsair.com/en-us/hydro-series-h60-high-performance-liquid-cpu-cooler

 

My initial concerns....

My case -   It's an old case now... 2011 era.  Corsair did end up sending me USB 3.0 front panel.  The original had pass through cables to the rear ports.  I'm actually still using those, but one I've disconnected and instead, use a large USB 3.0 hub.  Anyway, the new board has usb 3.1 I believe on the front.  Is there going to be issues with my old case and new board?

 

PSU - the wattage is plenty but I'm wondering if I'll have all the correct cabling?

 

The new cooler - I know of the differences between AIO and those monster air coolers.  I like the corsair one I have now so I've decided to stay with it.  However, if I were thinking about changing to a Noctua etc, the heatsinks on the propsed RAM above won't fit I'm pretty sure.  Does gskill make a LP set does anyone know?

 

Can the new mobo take 5 sata drives plus the optical?  Or is that overloading?  I suppose I could ditch one of the older mechanical drives.

 

The CPU - 7700K because I just want a no fuss fast system.  I think it turbos to 4.5 GHz.  I looked at the older 6600K (and 6700K its only 10 bucks cheaper), but the 6600K is 110-120 USD cheaper than the 7700K.  However it only does 3.5 turbo stock.  Even with overlocking (my luck has always been bad for OCs), I imagine only going to 4.2 - 4.4 with the 6600K.  Is the cost worth it for the newer 7700K?  Again I'll be using XP11, P3D and various shooter games like Battlefield 1 etc.

This cooler (the on I'm looking at for my build) claims to be able to clear tall RAM heat sinks, 65mm:

 

http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIAB984BD8349&_ga=1.78914068.1061115704.1469585710

 

Beyond that I'll be interested to hear the feedback you get as I'm considering a very similar upgrade.

 

Dave

Oh - I wasn't aware of that one.  Looks reasonable.  Though the H60 price at the moment beats out the Noctua.  But if the H60 sale goes away the noctua will beat it.  The noctua would certainly fit in my 650D.  Decisions....  

Noctua D15S , the TridentZ fit

To have any gain with AIO minimum 240rad optimal 280rad

The new cooler - I know of the differences between AIO and those monster air coolers.  I like the corsair one I have now so I've decided to stay with it.  However, if I were thinking about changing to a Noctua etc, the heatsinks on the propsed RAM above won't fit I'm pretty sure.  Does gskill make a LP set does anyone know?

 

 

 

As Westman said... should be all good for the RAM.

 

Remember though, that's the NH-D15S. The "S" is important. It's Noctua's "high compatibility" cooler. It's offset so as to be further away from the uppermost PCIe slot. Also has better RAM clearance. Only one fan, but the difference between one fan and two is a mere two degrees. But they give you a pair of fan clips just in case you want to add a second fan. No need though. I love my D15S, cool and quiet.

 

RAM clearance is 65mm.

 

 

 the single fan setup and recessed lower fins guarantee 100% RAM compatibility with memory modules of up to 65mm height.

 

 

 

http://noctua.at/en/products/cpu-cooler-retail/nh-d15s

 

Lots of cooling options with your case. You could of course opt for a big 280 Rad AIO. The Corsair H110i is 11 degrees cooler than the D15S. 

Ufda on the price on the 110i though

 

I'm thinking the noctua now.

Well, as I type this it's cooling my 6700K nicely. Have the fan profile set up so it's almost silent at idle. Temp is currently 24 degrees. Does 75 degrees in RealBench at 4.6 GHz.

 

Very well engineered, apparent as soon as you pull it out of the box. Typical Noctua engineering. The SecuFirm2 mounting system is a delight, super easy and supports the cooler beautifully. It's a spring retention system, acts like shock absorbers. No issue with motherboard strain or anything like that. Obviously I wouldn't advise shipping it distances with cooler attached though.

 

This will be my second big Noctua. My old D14 is still cooling my sons PC nicely. In fact it cooled no less than three PC's.

 

If I ever went AIO though, it would be the H110i I think. Not sure I ever would, don't see the point in risking leaks for a minuscule real world frame rate increase, courtesy of 11 degrees cooler. If I ever went water, it would be a full blown custom loop. Not for the performance but for the fun of it.

My choice would be the D15S, but as I've babbled on about it for ages now, which must be very annoying, here's Tom Logan's massive roundup of 17 AIO coolers all on Kaby Lake at 5 GHz...

 

https://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cases_cooling/kaby_lake_7700k_5ghz_aio_cooler_mega_test/1