First build in 5 years. Tips needed.

[Ctwodub]

I haven't done a new build in about 5 years, and have decided to go for it again.

Please let me know if this build is decent, or any tips on changes.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/sbQ26X

 

[Zerk2012]

Dump that PSU and get the RMx lower priced and higher quality. 750 Watt is overkill unless you thing you will add another GTX 1070 in the future.
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/9q38TW/corsair-power-supply-cp9020092na
You sure you need a sound card.

 

[Barty1884]

I assume this is for gaming predominantly? Any other uses? What resolution?

Looks a solid build overall, but if you're aiming for 1080p or 1440p, an i5-6600K is fine. If you're looking for 4K, the i7 shows some gains....but the 1070 will likely fall a little short there. No harm in the i7 for (theoretical, at least) longevity though.

I'd look to an M.2 PCIe SSD over a 2.5" these days, but SATAIII is still fine too. Your PSU choice is solid enough, but a bit overpriced for what it is. A soundcard & DVD drive are pushing near obsolecence, so unless you have a true need for them, you migth want to drop them (although they're not adding a whole lot of cost overall).

 

[Ctwodub]

I don't know, I always have had a sound card due to terrible on board sound. Has onboard sound gotten much better over the years?

 

[Ctwodub]

@barty yeah I use it for gaming as well as my work from home PC, though work takes next to nil for power needs. Currently I am only using it at 1080p, but might be looking at higher res monitors as well.

Hoping to future proof with the i7 too.

 

[Barty1884]

Yes, onboard sound is dramatically better than it was ~5+ years ago. There's still a few select needs for a soundcard, but if you don't *know* you need one, you probably don't.

For 1080p/1440p I'd look to something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i5-6600K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($229.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A SLI PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($93.99 @ Jet)
Storage: Plextor M8Pe 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($139.99 @ Jet)
Storage: Western Digital Blue 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($87.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1070 8GB AMP! Edition Video Card ($400.00 @ Jet)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($88.58 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1335.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-19 12:48 EST-0500

i5 + 1070, and keeps your SLI options open.

If 4K, I'd look to an i7 + 1080

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel Core i7-6700K 4.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($324.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.88 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI Z170A SLI PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($93.99 @ Jet)
Storage: Plextor M8Pe 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($139.99 @ Jet)
Storage: Western Digital Blue 3TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive ($87.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 8GB WINDFORCE OC 8G Video Card ($614.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ NCIX US)
Power Supply: EVGA 750W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($88.58 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1645.27
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2016-12-19 12:50 EST-0500

 

[bahnstormer]

Ctwodub - regarding the sound - I know what you're saying regarding the onboard, but soundcards are really mostly just for the audiophiles and musicians... gaming surround sound really doesn't need a separate sound card any more.... just think about why you used to get a soundcard: my main reason was so my CPU wasn't wasting time processing surroundsound audio and sound effects, but the CPU overhead of processing that audio is very small relative to the CPU capacity in most gaming machines.

I'm a bit of a hypocrite as technically I still have an old SB X-Fi in mine, but I honestly haven't used it for several months as all my gaming is on USB 7.1 headphones now instead of the 5.1 speakers... if I had a room with enough space to warrant a decent speaker setup (mine is a pretty basic Logitech 5.1 analogue setup), and I was THAT worried about electronic noise and separating the audio channels, then I think I'd just get a motherboard with optical/SPDIF out and let an amp do the decoding.

I'd give it a try without an add-on soundcard and borrow a friend's before wasting money on one...

 

[Zerk2012]

I haven't done a new build in about 5 years, and have decided to go for it again.

Please let me know if this build is decent, or any tips on changes.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/sbQ26X

You don't need a M.2 dirve as listed above. For sure dont get a slow 5400 RPM drive unless its just to store pictures an crap.
Just change the PSU out to the one I listed above and drop the sound card.
You already have a nice build going.
You can always add the sound card later if your not satisfied with the sound.

 

[Barty1884]

Nobody *needs* an M.2 drive Zerk, realistically. But they are faster (the PCIe variants), and frees up SATA ports. If it's a matter of cutting cost, a 2.5" SSD will be fine too. A 5400rpm is totally fine as bulk storage

From the OP's clarification, they don't *need* an i7 or a 1080. An i5+1060 would be more than capable at 1080p, with the i5+1070 being solid at 1440p.
Unless they're heading for 4K (unclear, but doubtful), or workload requirements require the i7 (it doesn't, as above), then an i5 should be more than capable.

 

[bahnstormer]

why put your storage on your local drive.... surely far better to leave the spindle disks in a NAS box somewhere... in another room / the garage

 

[Zerk2012]

Nobody *needs* an M.2 drive Zerk, realistically. But they are faster (the PCIe variants), and frees up SATA ports. If it's a matter of cutting cost, a 2.5" SSD will be fine too. A 5400rpm is totally fine as bulk storage

From the OP's clarification, they don't *need* an i7 or a 1080. An i5+1060 would be more than capable at 1080p, with the i5+1070 being solid at 1440p.
Unless they're heading for 4K (unclear, but doubtful), or workload requirements require the i7 (it doesn't, as above), then an i5 should be more than capable.

I would never load games on a 5400 RPM drive only for bulk storage.
The i7 is what to get already log in to multi player BF1 with a i5 then with a i7 and see the difference. More and more games sre starting to use the extra cores and DX 12 should increase that in the next few years.
For the 1070 that is slso what to buy it will last longer before upgrading and is ready for 2K resolution.
For the M.2 drive 100% wasted money for a gaming PC you get a killer 0.5 second faster boot time over a SATA SSD. A SATA SSD is already so fast that half or so of your boot time is the board post process. The only reason to buy a expensive M.2 drive is your doing a lot of file transfers or using it as a scratch drive.