So far the 2 major things I noticed are... Youtube video's switch from HTML5 player to Flash randomly during video's. And high DPC latency that seems to be an OS issue.

Feels snappy, more stable, boots in 6 seconds rather then 16 and it's not to bad after you change things.

However I don't like the new window look. Having everything flow into a box just floating... looks to chaotic to me. I like a defined look.

For games like you want to play... (USD)

CPU - Intel Core i3-4370 ($140-$150)

RAM - 2 x 4GB DDR3 1600 timings of 8-8-8-24 ($50-$55)

Mobo - ASRock H97M Pro4 ($70-$80)

GPU - EVGA GeForce GTX 960 04G-P4-3968-KR or EVGA GeForce GTX 960 04G-P4-3966-KR ($230-$260)

PSU - 80 Plus Bronze 450-500 Watt ($40-60)

HDD/SSD - What ever you want to go with.

Case - What ever you want to go with.

OS - Win10 Home Full Version ($120)

That would put you under $900 USD... $850 or less depending on your choice in parts.

PC would be able to play any of those games you listed with ease.

Been playing a decent amount of Ark and that game uses up to 10.5 GB cached.

As you can see... In use it's nearing 7 GB with just the game, IE11 and skype... With nothing but basic windows processes.

The best thing about Skylake is the lower frame times.

If you play a lot of games and have been noticing stuttering or hitching... Skylake is the way to go.

Hey, look... it's the guy from the HW forum. Was told not to buy 3x 970 sli.

Norton and adblock here... Never got a virus, Trojan or malware yet.

Ever since ILL Gotten Gains, GTA 5 has been plagued with frame drops and stuttering. Rockstar put out a patch about 2 weeks ago and only fixed some of the stuttering and frame drops.

No word if they are going to release another patch to try and fix what they broke.

Prolimatech Pk-3 Nano Aluminum Thermal Compound

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008M5157W?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o08_s00

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835242027&cm_re=Prolimatech_Pk-3-_-35-242-027-_-Product

How comes you didn't get the Extreme Edition?

I got the 980 Ti extreme version and it's absolutely awesome. Zotac doesn't get enough attention... They build really good cards.

Don't think I'll buy any other brand from now on... Unless they lose the performance crown per $.

There are a number of solutions.

1. You could buy a PCIe riser and mount the bottom card even lower if you have room.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Description=Pci-e%20riser%20cable&Submit=ENE

2. You could buy a blower fan and mount it above the top card.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&DEPA=0&Order=BESTMATCH&Description=pc+blower+fan&N=-1&isNodeId=1

3. You could buy something better then a blower fan... But would require some modding.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835888112&cm_re=pci_fan-_-35-888-112-_-Product

4. You could always buy a liquid cooler. That way there is very little impeding the air flow.