First new build, $2500 gaming PC - Advice needed and appreciated

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Chris4890

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Mar 2, 2011
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Hi guys,

I have decided to build my first PC (I have changed out parts like PSU, GPU and SSD in my current PC but never started from scratch) and after about a month of general reading I have finally settled on this list -

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PJcVsJ

The forums on here have been a constant source of advice and one recurring point I have seen is that just gathering the most expensive parts together does not instantly make a great PC. On that note, I guess what I need now is some guidance so I can be sure I have not missed anything or have any bottlenecks that a novice can't see?

Country: Switzerland
Approximate Purchase Date: As soon as I can get my hands on an 8700K so anywhere between 2 to 4 weeks here depending on where I look
Budget Range: My focus is more on value for money and longevity of the PC
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming (looking to start PUBG, GTA V and battlefield), browsing/youtube
Parts Preferences: No real preference or alliance but I decided on intel, AMD parts are more expensive here relative to other countries for some reason
Overclocking: I don't think it will be necessary for the first year or 2 but after that I would like to have the option to do so
SLI or Crossfire: No, from what I have seen it's just not worth it anymore for gaming
Monitor Resolution: 2560x1440 with gsync (1 at first but I may get a 2nd 27" 2560x1440 IPS monitor without any adaptive sync for general use in the near future)
Additional Comments: This will be a windowless build so I am not concerned with internal aesthetics, my focus for the tower is on as silent and subtle as possible

So is there anything on that list that looks out of place or can be improved upon with a justifiable change in price?

The questions I really can't seem to answer myself -
As someone who has never truely gamed on a high end rig, do I really need the 1080 Ti or is the 1080 enough? I have no plans to go 4K with this build as I have seen a 27" 2K monitor and my eyes will never need more. I can easily grab one of these - http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-nvidia-geforce-gtx-1080-graphics-cards,4725-10.html for ~$220 less than the Ti.
Also, I know there is never a perfect time to build but am I doing this build at the wrong time? Of course this is pure speculation but with volta and the new gsync monitors coming out as well as general shortages pushing prices up, should I hold off?
Finally, if a good set of 32GB RAM goes on sale while I am waiting for my 8700K, with a latency of 15 or below, should I go for it just for the extra future proofing, or is 16GB truly enough?

Thank you all in advance!
 
Solution
sadams04
That is a fine build. A bit overkill on some parts, but still a nice build. My thoughts are below..

CPU + MB + CPU Cooler - If you aren't sold on overclocking now, you likely won't do it down the road either. Overclocking isn't needed to game at high settings so consider a non-K series CPU.
MEM - If you find good, low latency memory, then by all means pick it up. You won't see a real world difference between modules at that high of a speed though. The non-K series CPUs are limited to DDR4-2666 and the K-series can go higher. ...either will perform very nicely. Look toward 2x16GB to put less stress on the memory controllers. Add two more matching modules down the road IF you find you need more than 32GB.
SSD - The NVMe Samsung...
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It looks like a pretty good build to me.

The only thing I would consider changing is the 960 EVO. The 960 EVO is a great SSD, but the 250gb model does not perform as well as the 500gb. It is complicated, but essentially, each SSD chip on the PCB are running raid 0 which makes them really fast. The bigger SSDs have more chips, therefore more chips run raid 0, therefore more performance. But if your close to your budget, the 250gb is fine. Or you can just keep the 850 EVO as in real world scenarios, you will probably never see a difference.

As for the GPU, the 1080ti is about 25-35% faster than the 1080 and in your location the 1080ti is about 30% more than the 1080. So for a performance per dollar ratio, they are about the same. My opinion, is get the best GPU you can afford. If you cant afford the 1080ti with this build, then I would drop the 8700k to a 8600k and get the 1080ti. For gaming, the GPU is much more important that the CPU. So if I were given a choice between a system with a 8600k and a 1080ti or a 8700k and a 1080, I would take the system with the 1080ti every time.

As for timing, now is just as good of a time as any. 8th gen CPU prices are high, RAM prices are high, GPU prices are high. Will they go down? Yes, but when? No one knows. It does not seem like a GPU release if imminent. So you may be waiting till summer of 2018 for something new. I would go for it now.

16gb of RAM is more than enough for gaming. I have 32gb kit and I have never used more than 16gb. What happens is the other 16gb just sit around and are not used. Given the high RAM prices now, I would just get a 16gb kit, and if several years down the road you need more (which it will prolly be DDR5 by then), RAM prices should be cheaper as they are more than twice as much as they were just a year ago.
 
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That is a fine build. A bit overkill on some parts, but still a nice build. My thoughts are below..

CPU + MB + CPU Cooler - If you aren't sold on overclocking now, you likely won't do it down the road either. Overclocking isn't needed to game at high settings so consider a non-K series CPU.
MEM - If you find good, low latency memory, then by all means pick it up. You won't see a real world difference between modules at that high of a speed though. The non-K series CPUs are limited to DDR4-2666 and the K-series can go higher. ...either will perform very nicely. Look toward 2x16GB to put less stress on the memory controllers. Add two more matching modules down the road IF you find you need more than 32GB.
SSD - The NVMe Samsung 960 EVO is nice, but you won't be be able take advantage of its speed with a gaming machine. Look toward a 500GB SATA based drive at the same price point for your OS drive.
GPU - If you are gaming on a single 2k display, then the GTX 1070 is all you need. If you want to plan on adding a second 2k gaming monitor down the road, then consider upping that to the GTX 1080 Ti.
PSU - A quality 650w unit will be plenty of power.
OS - Win10 Pro offers nothing over Home unless you plan on joining it to a domain. Doesn't sound like that is going to happen.
CASE FAN - Not needed. The R5 has enough stock fans to promote front-to-back airflow and will keep case temps in check.
MONITOR - There isn't a huge payoff gaming at that high of a refresh rate. Consider a pair of 2k monitors at 75Hz for less cost than one 144+ Hz monitor.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor ($339.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($121.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($378.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($139.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($284.00 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC Black Edition Video Card ($743.88 @ OutletPC)
Case: Fractal Design - Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($89.89 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: Asus - PB277Q 27.0" 2560x1440 75Hz Monitor ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Monitor: Asus - PB277Q 27.0" 2560x1440 75Hz Monitor ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Mouse: Logitech - G502 Proteus Spectrum Wired Optical Mouse ($49.99 @ Best Buy)
Speakers: Creative Labs - Sound BlasterX Katana 0W 2.1ch Speakers ($269.99 @ Dell)
Total: $3108.65
 
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Solution
I tried to optimize for silence :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor (€444.60 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - R1 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler (€79.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Taichi ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€216.53 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (€223.96 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Samsung - PM961 256GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (€105.51 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Seagate - Constellation ES.2 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€61.95 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB AORUS Video Card (€766.87 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Fractal Design - Define R5 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case (€97.78 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: BitFenix - Whisper M 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€127.37 @ Mindfactory)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home French - OEM DVD 64-bit (€65.50 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case Fan: LEPA - LP-BOL12P-BL 81.5 CFM 120mm Fan (€14.28 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Monitor: BenQ - GW2470H 23.8" 1920x1080 60Hz Monitor (€119.95 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Monitor: AOC - AG352UCG 35.0" 3440x1440 100Hz Monitor (€899.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Mouse: SteelSeries - Rival 700 Wired Optical Mouse (€87.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €3310.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-06 07:55 CET+0100

Even though the case dampens the sound, if you want Ultimate silence even in gaming scenarios, go for the gaming trio x gpu.
 
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That is highly speculative to say that Volta is launching next month. I would love to see a release at CES 2018, but considering Nvidia has not used CES to release a GPU and there is not much competition in the GPU market, I would expect the release to be at one of their events in March or May. Then you have the availability issues. Volta cards will be limited at launch and by the time AIB card are available on store shelves could be July or August.

Just look at the 1080 release as an example.
 
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Thanks for all your replies!

@feelinfroggy777
I was not completely sold on the M.2 due to its apparent lack of real world benefits for me, so I will drop it from the build for now and stick with the 1TB 850 until the price of the 500GB 960 drops and then I’ll possibly reconsider putting one in. I will stick with the 1080 Ti over the 1080 then and will keep an eye out for a good deal on it.

That is a relatively long time to wait so yeah, I think I will get started asap and enjoy the PC.

@sadams04
I agree, it did look a bit overkill to me as well but for the extra $220 for the overclock-able components I think I would like to leave that door open, I have a feeling once the build is complete I won’t be able to help myself but try out the overclocking straight away.

I do have a few questions on your proposed list though -

Is a CPU cooler not needed for a non K?

Is there a reason you added the 2nd 500GB SSD after dropping the M.2? i.e. is there a benefit to having a 2nd separate boot drive or will I be fine having everything on just the one 1TB SSD?

Did you only change the GPU for savings? Here in Switzerland the cheapest 1080 Ti I can get is the “MSI GeForce GTX 1080 Ti GAMING X 11G” by about $50 so I will be going for that card unless I see a good deal on another model in the meantime.

After reading your comment about 75hz being enough I have gone crazy trying to read up on this 75 vs 144 topic online and will go to a store to see if they can show me the difference before I decide. One question though, wouldn’t having a 75hz cap negate the need entirely for the Ti? Surely the standard 1080 could handle a dual 2k monitor setup at 75hz or am I misunderstanding frame processing?

Finally, from a pure gaming performance stand point, are you saying this build –
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/KWh87h
would perform just as well as my original build?

@Lucky_SLS
The R1 has been louder in every test I have seen than the NH-D15 and Thermalright - Macho Rev.B though? Also, I am for sure not ready for an ultrawide yet. Maybe one day.

@King Dranzer
I admire your optimism and really hope you have some insider info and are right about next month but from what I can see the general feeling is a release mid 2018 and if I was nvidia I would look to be pushing off that release date as far as possible.
 
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Intel's locked CPUs, or non "k" chips, come with a stock cooler that will perform just fine. So no aftermarket cooler will be necessary.

There is no added benefit from having a separate SSD for a boot drive and another SSD for content.

I have to say that I cannot disagree more on the comment with the 75hz. 144hz gaming is incredible. The difference between 60hz and 144hz is night and day. It is like the difference between standard definition and HD. Spending 2k on a computer and pairing it with a cheap 75hz panel is like buying a Ferrari with cloth interior.

The original monitor you selected is an excellent monitor and one of the better monitors available. It will be a very good monitor for the better part of a decade.

As for ultrawide, it is awesome, but expensive. I have a Predator x34 and it is perfect for gaming, but is also very useful for productivity. It is basically a dual monitor setup because of the extra real-estate on the screen. I can have multiple web pages open and programs at the same time. So if you are thinking about adding a second monitor down the road for general use, the ultrawides are perfect for both. But, they are expensive.
 
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I’d do the following:
- drop the m2 and just run the 850
- change cooler cryorig H5 and do a mild overclock as it DOES assist with high framerate
- not much gained from that more expensive mobo - something like an ASrock extreme 4 is plenty ($160 USD range)
- win 10 but not pro
- 550w is plenty unless you plan to SLI
- look to see if you can get a good price on a Dell S2716DG monitor - 144hz and gsync usually cheaper than Asus and great quality/color reproduction
 
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I certainly hope that you are right, but do you have a source from this announcement? I read up on several tech sites daily that have quite a few rumors and I have not seen anything regarding an announcement of Volta Gaming GPUs at Developer Connect.
 
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Well we have to wait till CES 2018 to get the answer. For the note the spotlight was on the Volta V100 and not the Gaming GPU discussion so it was not covered but was replied on stage when questioned about its release.
To be safe from NVIDIA I would like to believe it but I cannot trust it completely. They once before stepped down from the release of a major GPU(TITAN X PASCAL) which they did announce to release it in our country at an event but that never happened. Funny thing we got the Quadro P5000 and P6000 but never had official launch of TITAN X PASCAL in India till TITAN Xp was released. Learned a lesson.
 
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I hope it happens. Christmas will come early, or late I guess if you think about it.
 
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