Help creating a 'future-proof' 1440p rig for under $1000

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jimfreeman92

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Oct 5, 2018
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EDITED OP 10/5 for length and clarity

Hi all,

Thanks for reading. I'm buying a new 1440p, 144hz monitor soon and looking to build a system to match for about $1000 (with the hopes that holiday sales will drive it down to something like $900). Monitor NOT included in that price.

Idea is to set myself up with some core components (especially mobo/chipset, PSU, etc) that will still perform 3 years from now - where I can upgrade RAM, CPU, GPU as needed...

Running build list:

PCPartPicker List

CPU Intel - Core i3-8350K 4GHz Quad-Core Processor $169.00
CPU Cooler Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler $29.99
Motherboard Gigabyte - Z370P D3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard $89.99
Memory G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory $59.99
Storage Kingston - A400 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $38.99
Storage Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $44.89
Video Card EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card $379.99
Case Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400 TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case $67.57
Power Supply EVGA - B3 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply $69.99

Comes in at $950 currently. I think I'll go with 8gb RAM right now because the price is currently so high, I could buy more once my wallet recovers. I'm not concerned with pairing the i3 8350k (probably will OC) with the GTX 1070, especially since I can imagine myself leapfrogging/upgrading GPUs & CPUs down the road.

I understand that I won't be pushing 144 frames on today's titles, more like 60 - but I'm looking forwards to getting that monitor so I can grow/upgrade into it, not to mention shred my last-gen games at 100+ fps...

Any and all feedback welcome.
 
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Way too many mistakes in that build so I just adjusted so it will actually be worth building and give good performance. A few bucks over a grand, but it will be stable and work well.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($225.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX B360-H GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($104.99 @ Newegg Business)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card ($364.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400 TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case ($67.57 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA - B3 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1008.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-05 00:18 EDT-0400
 
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In the latest games at high frame rates you'll want an i7 with Hyperthreading, specifically 8700 or 8700k. i3 or i5 without Hyperthreading has a possibility of choking depending on your target frame rate.

1080Ti would be preferred but not even this can sustain 144fps in most titles at 1440p. A 1070 would sometimes break a 100, if your ok with that since you said your ok with 60+. Which case id say an i5 would still be ok.

Want no less than 16GB ram in dual channel. 8GB system ram isnt enough for these graphics cards. You'll get a lot of swapping to pagefile otherwise.

Your monitor is an investment and itll be the one component to still exist through many upgrades so if you cant get total use out of it in newer titles doesn't mean you wont in future.
 
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@Jankerson - Thanks for your list! Shaking off the rust... last time I built a computer it had a GeForce 7800GT inside if I remember correct, haha.

  • When configuring that list I intended to OC the i3 8350k, hence the aftermarket cooler - but you're recommending the i5 8400, presumably because you think I'd be better off sinking the $30 into a stronger CPU?

    Regarding the mobo, appreciate the feedback again, but I would lose OC support with a B360 chipset...
@Boju Thanks for your take and the dual-channel reminder, whoops. I hear you on the expected FPS here... I think that's fine. I mostly just want to have the headroom to appreciate a high FPS with future upgrades / builds etc...

  • I do intend to tough it out with 8gb RAM for the time being, I think I'll still be blown away considering I'm coming from a 670MX & i7- 3630QM. Will probably upgrade to 16GB when I can.

    Also, I was surprised to hear you advocate for hyperthreading so strongly. I had seen a few gaming benchmarks that toggle it on/off, and honestly wasn't about to pay more for a hyperthreading intel chip. Open to hearing more or differing perspectives on it...
AM4 Build
Aaand after doing more research, I actually feel a bit more comfortable with the AM4 socket's expected lifespan and future-proof-ness... I threw this AM4 build together (X370 chipset because I'd like to have the option of SLI/CF, should I give that up?)... feedback is very welcome. Thanks all.

PCPartPicker List - AM4 build

CPU AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor $209.99
Motherboard ASRock - X370 GAMING X ATX AM4 Motherboard $119.99
Memory G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory $69.99
Storage Kingston - A400 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $38.99
Storage Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive $44.88
Video Card EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card $379.99
Case Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400 TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case $67.57
Power Supply EVGA - B3 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply $69.99

$1005 Total
 
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As a note that X370 MB likely won't boot with the CPU you chose as it will need a bios update.....

Well the issue was the budget Z370 MB you picked and planned on OCing… Not a good idea.

So I set up a better system that would give higher performance around your budget.

Here is the system with a good Z370 MB and i5 8600K, with the good parts I chose before and faster RAM. Also plenty of upgrade options to I7 8700K (6 Core 12 Thread) and I9 9900K (8 Core 16 thread) when it comes out).


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($269.63 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($36.40 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370 AORUS Gaming 3 (rev. 1.0) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($119.99 @ Newegg Business)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($92.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($59.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($44.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card ($379.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400 TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case ($67.57 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA - B3 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1141.34
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-05 14:16 EDT-0400

 
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Your system is $1039 before MIR. Ram is too slow for a Ryzen build. You want ddr4 3000 at a minimum. X470 should be paired with a 2600x, to eliminate need of a bios update, just to run the cpu. B3 power supplies have not reviewed well.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($209.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - X470 Master SLI/AC ATX AM4 Motherboard ($148.87 @ Newegg)
Memory: Team - Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($70.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: ADATA - Ultimate SU650 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($42.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Toshiba - 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($39.99 @ Newegg Business)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card ($379.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400 TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case ($67.57 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - CXM 650W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($69.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $1030.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-05 14:49 EDT-0400




 
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Would be better off with a EVGA G2 650W.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $79.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-05 15:00 EDT-0400

 
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From my experience in Farcry5 and Ghost Recon, hyperthreading for me was very positive and my CPU usages were lower on a 2600k @4.5 with 1080Ti, it's an old CPU im aware of that but it's still good enough. Without HT my CPU usages were pegged at 97% in both games and with it on, usages dropped between 75 and 87% in 1440p. Farcry 5 average 65fps with HT off, 85fps HT on while fighting. Ghost Recon HT off avg 53~60fps while fighting and 62~75fps with HT on. Standing still both games are just a shy over 100fps.

I also found in Doom2016 my CPU usage was high and even though game play was fine and smooth it sometimes paused now and then. HT on these pauses never happened. Only found this out because Dying Light actually doesn't like HT (Only game i know of that ive played that doesn't like hyperthreading) so had it turned off for this game.

This guy explains it well in this video, not hyperthreading specifically but whats happening with 8600k in BF1 at higher frame rates and that's not in the thick of the action yet.

[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qo3EJzHuXok"][/video]

Games are becoming more commonly multi threaded. BF1 benefits HT reading from other people's experiences with it in this game. A lot of people are complaining about 8600k's high usages actually. And Farcry 5 and Ghost Recon do as well from my own experience.

My view is hyperthreading does have it's place and is becoming more significant now that games are advancing enough and more and more people are aiming for higher refresh rate monitors that CPU usages is becoming a problem.
 
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