How good is this gaming pc build for its price and how long will it last?

[lunarfreakz]

Hello Tom's Hardware Community,

I am buying my first gaming pc ever and I have a budget of 1500euro however would love to spend as little money as I possibly can to get above minimum requirements for most of the popular games now (COD, Fortnite, Mount&Blade and some others). I did a lot of research on finding out what is good for what and which is better than what. Here is the finally specifications that I had customized for 1,507euros.

Case= Sharkoon Skiller SGC1
Processor (CPU)= Intel Core i5-8600k
Cooling= Scythe Mugen 5 PCGH
Memory (RAM)= 16GB Crucial Ballistix Sport DDR4-2400Mhz (I think its 2x8GB)
Graphics Card (GPU)= GTX 1070Ti 8GB
Motherboard= MSI Z370-A PRO
HDD= Seagate Barracuda 1TB
SSD= Samsung 860 EVO 250GB
Power Supply= 650W Corsair RM650X
OS= Windows 10 Home 64-bit

1. Are these components good for the price of 1,507euro? (A company is assembling it for me and I am aware it would be a lot cheaper if I built it myself, however I am very scared I will do something wrong when building it)
2. How long do you think it could last? (will it have to be replaced or solely upgraded - GPU/CPU?)
3. Are these components and specs too high for games as I mentioned above? If so, what components and specifications would be ideal/cheaper?

Any answers, recommendations and solutions are very appreciated!

 

[ritvarsdavis]

For the games you mentioned, a regular 1070 would be good enough. If the price difference is negligible, then 1070 Ti for sure. An i5 8400 and a B360 board would be more than plenty for those games as well.

And don't worry about building it yourself. There are gazillion video and written tutorials on it. It's basically Legos for adults.
No one knows how long a system can last. It could be a year or 5 years. Depending what you do and how games progress over time.

 

[lunarfreakz]

For the games you mentioned, a regular 1070 would be good enough. If the price difference is negligible, then 1070 Ti for sure. An i5 8400 and a B360 board would be more than plenty for those games as well.

And don't worry about building it yourself. There are gazillion video and written tutorials on it. It's basically Legos for adults.
No one knows how long a system can last. It could be a year or 5 years. Depending what you do and how games progress over time.

Are you saying that I should just build it myself? Because if I do build it myself it will cost me around 600euro less?! Only issue I would have is how will I know the pieces will work together?

 

[ritvarsdavis]

If it saves you 600 euros less to build it yourself, then I'd say do it. That's a hell of a lot of money to throw away just for building. It's an afternoon work pretty much.
If everything is compatible with each other (it is, I checked), then it's only a matter of plugging things in. Don't force any plugs in, they only go one way. As I said, gazillion video tutorials out there, it's impossible to not know how to build one.

Question, from what website are you planning to buy it?
I made a pcpartpicker (Germany, so I could see €) list and selected the components 1 to 1. It's about 1400€..

 

[lunarfreakz]

If it saves you 600 euros less to build it yourself, then I'd say do it. That's a hell of a lot of money to throw away just for building. It's an afternoon work pretty much.
If everything is compatible with each other (it is, I checked), then it's only a matter of plugging things in. Don't force any plugs in, they only go one way. As I said, gazillion video tutorials out there, it's impossible to not know how to build one.

Question, from what website are you planning to buy it?
I made a pcpartpicker (Germany, so I could see €) list and selected the components 1 to 1. It's about 1400€..

I am using arcticsecrets (im not sure if I am allowed to send links) and they are a dutch company (the netherlands). Would I have to pay any extra fees if i order from germany or transport to the netherlands?

 

[lunarfreakz]

If it saves you 600 euros less to build it yourself, then I'd say do it. That's a hell of a lot of money to throw away just for building. It's an afternoon work pretty much.
If everything is compatible with each other (it is, I checked), then it's only a matter of plugging things in. Don't force any plugs in, they only go one way. As I said, gazillion video tutorials out there, it's impossible to not know how to build one.

Question, from what website are you planning to buy it?
I made a pcpartpicker (Germany, so I could see €) list and selected the components 1 to 1. It's about 1400€..

Also, how do I know which graphics card to buy? (company wise) As there are three different ones with the same graphics but they have different prices and companies?

1. PALIT GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB JetStream - Grafische kaart (642.95euro)
2. PALIT GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB Dual - Grafische kaart GTX 1070 Ti (602.95euro)
3. EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti SC GAMING - Black Edition (553.95euro)

 

[lunarfreakz]

If it saves you 600 euros less to build it yourself, then I'd say do it. That's a hell of a lot of money to throw away just for building. It's an afternoon work pretty much.
If everything is compatible with each other (it is, I checked), then it's only a matter of plugging things in. Don't force any plugs in, they only go one way. As I said, gazillion video tutorials out there, it's impossible to not know how to build one.

Question, from what website are you planning to buy it?
I made a pcpartpicker (Germany, so I could see €) list and selected the components 1 to 1. It's about 1400€..

I just managed to find the cheapest websites (but also trustworthy) for all the parts/components (windows 10 I can download for free apparently and validate with an actual product key later) and I got a total of 1450.97..... meaning your german website would be able to make it for 50euro less?

(so apparently I was wrong when I said its 600euro cheaper! It is only 57euro cheaper to build myself - which of course is still a lot of money to save and maybe use to upgrade something else)

 

[ritvarsdavis]

Pick the cheapest 1070 that you can. Only the cooling differs from each other and other than that, they're similar (give or take some fps here and there).
The thing about EU is that you don't have to pay customs tax. So if you buy, for example, a 100 euro product from Germany with a free delivery to Netherlands, you won't have to pay anything additional. Of course, if you can buy locally, that'd be better.

Oh, and that Scythe cooler you chose isn't the greatest for an i5 8600k. There are better options. If I knew the site you're thinking about, I might check it out and see what are they offering.

 

[lunarfreakz]

Pick the cheapest 1070 that you can. Only the cooling differs from each other and other than that, they're similar (give or take some fps here and there).
The thing about EU is that you don't have to pay customs tax. So if you buy, for example, a 100 euro product from Germany with a free delivery to Netherlands, you won't have to pay anything additional. Of course, if you can buy locally, that'd be better.

Oh, and that Scythe cooler you chose isn't the greatest for an i5 8600k. There are better options. If I knew the site you're thinking about, I might check it out and see what are they offering.

So youre saying its more worth it for the company to set it up for me than me building it myself?
The site is: https://www.arcticsecrets.nl/game-pc-configurator-intel
It costs me 66euro for them to install windows 10 on it, however they do not offer the option of "buying it without an OS" instead they offer installing a 30 day trial Windows 10, but what will happen after the 30 days are over?

Update: Once I chose the cheapest graphics card it went down to 1414.92euro which is almost 100euro less!

 

[lunarfreakz]

I have changed the cooler and the case (kept all specs the same) and I chose these two differnet items:
1. Noctua NH-D15 (CPU Cooler) [102.99euro]
2. Cooler Master MasterCase MC500 (Case) [79.95]

with the price differences I get a total of: 1492.68euro!
with the website (including the windows 10 installation) it would cost me 1578euro.
that is a difference of= 85.32euro if I manage to build it myself and install windows 10 by myself!

Questions:
1. Do you think it is better for me to build it myself in the end (with the price difference of 85euros)?
2. Are there any better alternatives for the case and cooler (cheaper alternatives if possible or similar price but better?)?
3. Should I adapt any of the components to less good components to get a cheaper build but still amazing for the games that I want to play?

 

[logainofhades]

Are you saying that I should just build it myself? Because if I do build it myself it will cost me around 600euro less?! Only issue I would have is how will I know the pieces will work together?

PC part picker can help you in that area.

https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/

Example of a similar system to what you listed.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (€224.90 @ Caseking)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (€44.90 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€154.72 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€152.74 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€68.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Toshiba - 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€39.13 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB Mini Video Card (€493.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Thermaltake - Versa N27 ATX Mid Tower Case (€43.04 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€88.82 @ Mindfactory)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (€98.28 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1409.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-08 18:24 CEST+0200

 

[lunarfreakz]

Are you saying that I should just build it myself? Because if I do build it myself it will cost me around 600euro less?! Only issue I would have is how will I know the pieces will work together?

PC part picker can help you in that area.

https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/

Example of a similar system to what you listed.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (€224.90 @ Caseking)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (€44.90 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€154.72 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€152.74 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€68.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Toshiba - 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€39.13 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB Mini Video Card (€493.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Thermaltake - Versa N27 ATX Mid Tower Case (€43.04 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€88.82 @ Mindfactory)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit (€98.28 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1409.41
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-08 18:24 CEST+0200

Wow this is great! Are the specs similar/better/the same for that price? And it is assured that those pieces go together right? If so I might consider getting those components and putting them together!

Also: Do all those German websites that the PCPartPicker chose ship to the netherlands with no problem? (I dont mind shipping costs because 1410 is an amazing price!)

 

[King Dranzer]

Here is the list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor (€319.90 @ Alza)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (€44.90 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: Asus - TUF Z370 Plus Gaming ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€140.95 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (€145.22 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital - Blue 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (€71.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€44.94 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Mini Video Card (€558.17 @ Mindfactory)
Case: Corsair - 270R ATX Mid Tower Case (€59.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€88.82 @ Mindfactory)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro Full - USB 32/64-bit (€24.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €1498.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-08 20:18 CEST+0200

This i7-8700K and GTX1080 combo is around 20-25% more powerful than i5-8600K and GTX1070Ti combo which is a decent gain.

 

[King Dranzer]

For Netherlands the build you made is perfectly fine.

 

[logainofhades]

This i7-8700K and GTX1080 combo is around 20-25% more powerful than i5-8600K and GTX1070Ti combo which is a decent gain.

25%, I don't think so. The GPU does most of the work and 99.99% of games aren't going to make use of the 12 threads of an 8700k.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_1070_ti_gaming_review,13.html

 

[King Dranzer]

This i7-8700K and GTX1080 combo is around 20-25% more powerful than i5-8600K and GTX1070Ti combo which is a decent gain.

25%, I don't think so. The GPU does most of the work and 99.99% of games aren't going to make use of the 12 threads of an 8700k.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_geforce_gtx_1070_ti_gaming_review,13.html

Yes it depends on games. DX12 games see a better performance boost compared to DX11. For now it is more like 15-20% boost in future it will increase. You are correct.

 

[lunarfreakz]

Here is the list:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor (€319.90 @ Alza)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (€44.90 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: Asus - TUF Z370 Plus Gaming ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€140.95 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory (€145.22 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital - Blue 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive (€71.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€44.94 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Mini Video Card (€558.17 @ Mindfactory)
Case: Corsair - 270R ATX Mid Tower Case (€59.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€88.82 @ Mindfactory)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro Full - USB 32/64-bit (€24.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €1498.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-08 20:18 CEST+0200

This i7-8700K and GTX1080 combo is around 20-25% more powerful than i5-8600K and GTX1070Ti combo which is a decent gain.

Thank you so much for this build! I am glad to know I get the opportunity to get 10-15% better performance for even slightly cheaper than what the website I wanted to order from sold for.

However when I look at the compatibility it says
"The motherboard M.2 slot #1 shares bandwidth with a SATA 6.0 Gb/s port. When the M.2 slot is populated, one SATA 6.0 Gb/s port is disabled.
The motherboard M.2 slot #2 shares bandwidth with SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports. When the M.2 slot is populated, two SATA 6.0 Gb/s ports are disabled."
What does this mean?

Would you guys say that I should get this build for 1498.88euro or this one: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/dppbKB for 1410euro?

 

[logainofhades]

The M.2 drive in that build shares the same connection pathways as a sata particular sata port. Not sure if I would trust that €24.00 Windows listing. That is far below normal cost for Windows, and might not be legit keys, and could end up with you spending more to get a proper license. If you are willing to take the risk, my build drops another €74. This would put my system more in line with King's if I went 8700k, and the GTX 1080. You could load win 10 onto a USB drive, using Microsoft's media creation tool, install windows, and leave it unactivated till you could afford to buy a proper license. You lose out on some customization options, and get an annoying watermark that will let you know you need to register windows, but it will be functional. If you want that extra performance, I would go that route, over taking a risk of a license that may get squashed by Microsoft.



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor (€318.40 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (€44.90 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€155.67 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€152.74 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€68.89 @ Alternate)
Storage: Toshiba - 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€39.13 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Mini Video Card (€558.17 @ Mindfactory)
Case: Thermaltake - Versa N27 ATX Mid Tower Case (€43.04 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€88.82 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1469.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-08 22:43 CEST+0200

 

[lunarfreakz]

The M.2 drive in that build shares the same connection pathways as a sata particular sata port. Not sure if I would trust that €24.00 Windows listing. That is far below normal cost for Windows, and might not be legit keys, and could end up with you spending more to get a proper license. If you are willing to take the risk, my build drops another €74. This would put my system more in line with King's if I went 8700k, and the GTX 1080. You could load win 10 onto a USB drive, using Microsoft's media creation tool, install windows, and leave it unactivated till you could afford to buy a proper license. You lose out on some customization options, and get an annoying watermark that will let you know you need to register windows, but it will be functional. If you want that extra performance, I would go that route, over taking a risk of a license that may get squashed by Microsoft.



PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor (€318.40 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler (€44.90 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€155.67 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (€152.74 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€68.89 @ Alternate)
Storage: Toshiba - 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€39.13 @ Mindfactory)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Mini Video Card (€558.17 @ Mindfactory)
Case: Thermaltake - Versa N27 ATX Mid Tower Case (€43.04 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€88.82 @ Mindfactory)
Total: €1469.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-08 22:43 CEST+0200

This build seems to be the best build out of the ones I've seen for a very decent price. Would it somehow be possible for you to send a youtube link or just a website which tells me how to install windows 10 onto a usb? (I saw videos but they all downloaded windows 10 from other windows computers, however I only have macbook and when I tried to download the contents onto my macbook it created its own weird little usb/drive on my desktop, all I did was copy the contents of it onto the actual USB I would use to install windows 10 in the future.

A few other questions:
1. Do you reckon the windows 10 I have on the USB now will work? If not, how should I download it?
2. Does the windows 10 on the USB expire or can I keep it on there till whenever I decide to order everything and put everything together?

 

[logainofhades]

This is where you get the software to setup a USB drive. Needs to be at least and 8gb flash drive. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10. Whether it is doable on a mac, I am not sure. It setups the flash drive to install Windows the same as if it were a DVD installation. You do not actually run windows off the USB drive.

 

[lunarfreakz]

Just a general quick question:
If I get a headset with a mic on it and I connect my headset to my pc, will the mic just automatically work or are there other installations I have to do to make it work?

 

[lunarfreakz]

This is where you get the software to setup a USB drive. Needs to be at least and 8gb flash drive. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10. Whether it is doable on a mac, I am not sure. It setups the flash drive to install Windows the same as if it were a DVD installation. You do not actually run windows off the USB drive.

Alright I will try to maybe go to a friend's house to use their windows computer and download windows onto the usb there. However do you think if I just manage to copy all the contents from what I received from the downloaded windows 10 version from the website onto my USB, that it'll work just fine?

 

[logainofhades]

If no other speakers are hooked up, then it should work automatically, after the motherboard sound drivers are installed.

 

[King Dranzer]

That Microsoft license is listed by Amazon and Amazon sells legit keys no problem. If it was some other source I would agree of it being fake. But from Amazon it is legit. If Amazon starts selling grey market stuff it will go down badly. That product is also sold by a high rated seller.

 

[lunarfreakz]

If no other speakers are hooked up, then it should work automatically, after the motherboard sound drivers are installed.

Oh yes! When you mention motherboard sound drives, do those come with the motherboard?
Also, will I get cables to connect everything to everything within the boxes of the components I purchase?