A Few Questions for my Gaming Build ($2000-$2500 most likely)

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justinj

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Nov 26, 2011
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Hello everybody!

I’m finally going to pull the trigger and buy the parts for a new computer. I’ve been thinking about it for a while and now seems a good time because my laptop is getting a little old (3 years but it’s a gaming laptop) and my 11-yr old daughter needs it for her schoolwork. I have built two computers in the past (thank you Toms’ hardware and Sharkyextreme – yes, I go back a bit). I am no expert by any means, but I will definitely OC (just enough but not being too pushy).

I will use the computer for gaming and want to have a solid frame rate (60-100) on new FPS games in Ulta settings at 1440p.

I found the PCpartpicker lists below from recent similar threads. Thanks to those guys for their suggestions, as the OP is looking for just about exactly the same thing as me. I don’t have a set budget, but around $2,000-$2,500 is probably right. I want top quality, but I don’t want to add unnecessary expense. I already have a mouse and headset. Any suggested improvements for my build?

I admit that I have not done loads of research at this point, so my apologies if I could have answered any of these questions myself. That said, I appreciate your help very much. My questions are:

    1. Should I wait for Xmas or January to get better pricing? I’m hoping to take advantage of Black Friday sales if possible, but I can wait if that makes sense. Read a few posts on this – just making the point that I can wait if prices tend to go down in January, for example.

    2. Should I get the i5-8600K or the i7-8700K? The price difference appears to be around $120. I suppose those are both better options than the i7-7700k (4 cores)?

    3. Is the 1080Ti worth the extra $180 over the 1070Ti? If I should be great with a 1070Ti and can just buy a new video card (e.g., Volta) in 2 years for this exact system, then maybe I should save the $.

    4. Does the brand of video card matter (MSI, EVGA, Asus, etc.)?

    5. What case makes sense for me? Is it mostly about aesthetics with a case these days? I want something that’s not overly stylish (e.g., LED lights because it’s going to be very visible in our living room. A glass cover would be good but nothing too flashy. Probably grey or black. Definitely mid size.

    6. With Nvidia I want a G-Synch monitor, at least I read that’s a good idea for gaming performance. I need a monitor no bigger than 25” because it won’t fit if it’s more than 20” tall and I’m going to be sitting very close to it. Want a 1ms response time.

    7. Which hard drives are better for me? I had one fail on me a few years back and I NEVER want to go through that again. Reliability is very important. I want a 500GB SSD and a 2-3TB secondary drive. I’d pay a bit more for 3TB if it’s just as reliable. Have a lot of family pictures and videos.

    8. Does the memory at DDR4-3000 vs. DDR4-3200 matter much?

    9. Any concerns with the similar thread part list choices for cooler or power supply? I would not skimp on a cooler with OCing. Happy to buy an extra case fan if it will help.

    10. Not a question but just a point – I don’t know jack about mobos these days, so just looking for something that will let me OC well enough.


Once I figure out the parts, then I need to do some research to remember how to actually put in all together and how to test it and OC it… Will probably do most of this with my son. Good times.

Thanks for all your help! You guys are always extremely helpful.

______________________________________________________________________

Builds from similar threads (not sure how to link them):

Recently posted by Elbert
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($279.89 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D15S 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($121.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($233.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital - BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($116.39 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC Black Edition Video Card ($749.99 @ B&H)
Case: NZXT - Phantom 410 (Gunmetal/Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($93.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($88.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus - PG279Q ROG Swift 27.0" 2560x1440 165Hz Monitor ($739.89 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Total: $2738.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-03 16:34 EDT-0400

Recently posted by vapour:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($399.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Scythe FUMA Rev.B CPU Cooler (SCFM-1100) ($45.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370 SLI PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($141.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($149.75 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($45.69 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC Black Edition Video Card ($749.99 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (White) ATX Mid Tower Case ($67.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - TXM Gold 750W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Fractal Design - FD-FAN-SSR3-120-WT 46.5 CFM 120mm Fan ($9.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1836.34
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-02 08:30 EDT-0400



 
Solution
Hellfire13


The Dell monitor listed in the build comes with G-Sync.

The price of the EVGA card is relatively cheaper and the clock speed is relatively higher than ASUS and MSI cards. So those cons are already nullified. In real world performance, there is no major difference whatsoever.
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1- it is up to you .... buying now or later.

2- get the i7 8700K , it is more future proof .. and yes dont get Gen7 CPU

3- GTX 1080 ti is worth every penny . but it all depends on the resolution you are playing on .. for 2560x1440 minitor GTX 1070 ti is enough . for 4K or ultrawide 3440 X 1440 minitors , GTX 1080 Ti is the better option

4- not the brand , but the card model , you will find some MSI cards better than Gigabyte , and some Gigabyte cards better than MSI and so on . Gigabyte/MSI/ASUS are my picks

5- there are many Glass door cases around it depends on how much you want to pay ... in General Nzext and Fractal Design cases are the best and at good prices.

6- you dont need Gsync , but playing on Gsync is feels great and people who play on Gsync never looked back

7- More reliable harddisks are the ones that come with 5 years warranty , at a price of course , as for SSD , get Samsung they are good ... and get NVME SSD as well for OS

8- no it does not matter much ..

9-
 
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1> The new generation Intel are not yet fully out there to have any significant price difference after 2-3 mnths. But you can get some good deals on other parts around Black Friday.

2> The 8700k is the best you can get right now and it will definitely outlast the 8600k for atleast a couple of years. And if the extra 2-3yrs is worth the $120 for you, then you should go for it. Some benchmarks here... http://www.pcgamer.com/intel-i5-8400-review-the-best-new-gaming-cpu-in-years/

3> The 1070ti is a few notch less than the 1080 and that segmentation actually doesnt make much sense. 1080ti is the best you can get and should last you quite a while longer in terms of support and game scaling. Here is a concise benchmarking comparison you can look into... https://www.extremetech.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/GTX1070Ti-PCG.png

4> All the brands perform around the same. Doesnt make any significant difference except for a few fps here and there.

5> The case should be always chosen keeping primarily airflow and spacing in mind. A good quality case with dust filters should be always preferable.

6> Thats is a very personal choice. Nothing much to add to that, except ofcourse the monitor should be befitting the pc setup.

7> NVME SSD is around 5 times faster than SATA SSD and is the future standard of SSD. That said, SSD speeds are pretty fast anyways, and NVME speed doesnt add anything to gaming performance except load times. It shines mostly on non gaming worklaod where the particular app./prog. is optimized for such speed.

8> 3000mhz vs 3200mhz doesnt make any performance difference in gaming. It however affects overclocking a bit. Faster memory helps in overclocking and certain non gaming worklaods again.

9> You should always install extra fans for proper airflow, over and above the stock fans that comes with the case. Front, bottom and side should be intake whereas rear and top should be exhaust.

10> The board listed below comes with lots of connectivity options, overclocking potential and features like superior audio codec with headphone amps, bluetooth and wifi.



Ideal build...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($399.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - R1 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($88.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($207.65 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($141.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($233.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($71.00 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC Black Edition Video Card ($749.99 @ B&H)
Case: Thermaltake - Chaser MK-I ATX Full Tower Case ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.89 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Dell - S2417DG 23.8" 2560x1440 165Hz Monitor ($406.30 @ Amazon)
Total: $2549.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-05 11:39 EST-0500



Scaled down build...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($279.89 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($207.65 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($141.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 525GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($145.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($71.00 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ROG STRIX Video Card ($509.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT - S340 Elite (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($93.29 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Dell - S2417DG 23.8" 2560x1440 165Hz Monitor ($406.30 @ Amazon)
Total: $1965.98
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-05 11:43 EST-0500


The scaled down build gives you an upgrade path for future. You can add a 8700k or later compatible processors down the line when you need it, as a 8600k is sufficient for now even on the most demanding of games.
Between them you can get from 5yrs vs 7yrs longevity.
 
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Thank you guys, very helpful. What I'm thinking after your two posts:

- It looks like the 1080Ti is a significant increase at 1440p, so I guess I'll pay the extra $200.
- Similarly will go with 8700-K processor.
- For which video card brands, samer.forums said his picks were Gigabyte, MSI, and ASUS, but Hellfire picked EVGA, lol. But both of you agree it doesn't matter much so maybe that's my answer.
- Could I use the ideal Hellfire build with a mid-size case? I'd rather stick with a mid-size unless you think that makes it too cluttered/too hot. Could I get a mid-size Nzext or Fractal Design with those picks? Do they have dust filters and which extra fans should I buy?
- Will definitely get a NVMe SSD I guess - thanks for the tip. Samsung 960 EVO looks good.
- I'm starting to get confused on the 2nd hard drive. I want 3TB if possible but if I also want a 5-yr warranty, then at least the BarraCuda model needs to be Pro, right? That comes in 4TB and 2TB only I think ($175 and $125). Is that right or is there any other 3TB option that is very reliable and has a 5-yr warranty? Just looking to be sure I don't have a mechanical failure.
- For the memory I remember thinking about that with my last build. I ended up with a better memory choice as a result. I guess I'll go with the 3200 as you suggest.
- Is the Dell monitor suggested as good as any ASUS PG or Acer Predator or does it not matter much?


-Justin

 
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Changes made...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($399.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - R1 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($88.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($207.65 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($141.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($233.88 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Western Digital - BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($116.39 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC Black Edition Video Card ($749.99 @ B&H)
Case: NZXT - Phantom 410 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.89 @ Amazon)
Monitor: Dell - S2417DG 23.8" 2560x1440 165Hz Monitor ($406.30 @ Amazon)
Total: $2514.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-05 14:47 EST-0500

EVGA cards have a tad better cooling solution with ICX technology. You can google it. Also it is clocked significantly higher at the price point out of the box. As mentioned before, in terms of performance it doesnt make much difference.
The Fractal Design Define is a very good Mid Tower case with adequate dust filters and airflow.
The WD Black series is top of the line with 5yr warranty... https://support.wdc.com/warranty/warrantypolicy.aspx
Asus or Acer do not have any units listed with those specs at your requested size. They are all bigger monitors.
 
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The Dell monitor listed in the build comes with G-Sync.

The price of the EVGA card is relatively cheaper and the clock speed is relatively higher than ASUS and MSI cards. So those cons are already nullified. In real world performance, there is no major difference whatsoever.
 
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Solution
Ok, two more questions:
1. is the thermal paste that comes with it very good? You used to have to buy that separately.
2. Wondering how good the case is with cooling? One potential issue is that the case is likely to back up to the wall, meaning that the rear won't get much airflow.
 
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Ok it appears that the Cryorig is so big that my memory doesn't fit. It's too tall. Any recommendations for new memory that is short?

Alternatively and looking at it more closely, I can also orient the cooler fans to push the air upwards instead of out of the back near the IO ports. The Phantom 410 has air openings right there at the top too and has a fan in each place. Thoughts anyone?
 
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Thanks for the reply. The memory slots I'm using are the ones preferred by the mobo (A2/B2), but will it work just as well if in the B1/B2 positions? If that is just fine, then that's the way to go I think.

Alternatively if I adjust the fan up the 5mm, it still barely connects with the top of the memory stick (but can probably be installed that way). I'm probably better off adjusting the cooler orientation to flow up instead of out of the back of the case, but for that route is the air flow as effective? Tried doing a lot of googling and youtubing but having some trouble figuring that out. If I should post this in another forum then please let me know.
 
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1zxt9ba.jpg


Hot air blows up and it is precisely why back and top are used as exhaust... https://www.howtogeek.com/303078/how-to-manage-your-pcs-fans-for-optimal-airflow-and-cooling/
 
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Ok, installed it facing up, which will probably be better anyway with it possibly backed up to a wall. Might want to buy a second intake fan for the middle blue arrow on the right (circled in green above). There is only 1 intake fan and 2 exhaust. Any suggestions for a fan there or does it not matter much? Not looking for fancy LEDs. Think it's 120mm.

Almost done with the build at this point. Memtested, temps look good, installed windows and updated it, updated drivers, antivirus, some software installed. Still need to install the 2nd hard drive and a bunch of programs, backup software, and copy files, and probably more things. Bought a surge protector and need to buy a webcam.

For sound, I'm not hearing anything. I know this is a really noob question, but should I have sound from the motherboard? I need speakers or a headset, right?

Thanks for your help anyone.

 
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