Karadjgne :
That's 1 opinion. I prefer to think my 6yr old i7-3770K is doing just fine with whatever I throw at it, sure doesn't seem like a slug at all. Even my 3½ yr old gtx970 is still chugging away quite happily.
Best to use 2x8Gb sticks for 16Gb of ram. 4x4Gb puts undue stress on the MC, and thereby the cpu. If 1 of the sticks in a 2x8 goes bad, it's easily replaced, however quad channel ram uses different instructions to dual channel ram, so if 1 stick goes down, it's all dead.
Hyper212 on an i7-8700k is a joke, I don't care if it has fancy red leds. You are talking a 100w TDP cpu that's capable of over 150w at peak usage (at stock values) on a 140w cooler. Add some OC and you are looking at over 200w when that hyperthreading kicks in on a 140w cooler. Let's just say thermal throttling and probable shutdowns are a common factor of budget coolers on i7 cpus in general.
Oh, forgot to throw in. The 980 and 1060 are equitable performance, win some / loose some. Once you add sli that can change, but not necessarily so. Sli only works for DX11 and prior games that it has support for, doesn't work at all in DX12 (native windows 10) since sli is synchronous gpus (work in tandem) whereas DX12 is mgpu (multiple gpus). There is a difference. Unfortunately, nobody is writing game code to take advantage of mgpu, it'd triple the size of the files, which hurts Steam and other online sources. So, and thats assuming the is decent support in DX11 titles, yes you'll get better performance. In games without much support, you'll not really notice much difference, and in some games the support is so bad that you get better fps with just 1 card.
Currently SLI/CF is not a worthwhile investment for a pc all around use. Only sees benefits in fewer games, older games and specific games.
And I'm sorry, but Evga does not make a good 600w psu, they are mediocre at best and I'd not put one with a $1000+ build.
Okay, so I'm gonna try to reply to everyone at once here.
james_es,
I will for sure be building a machine like this with the assistance of others. As this is my first build, I think it could qualify as foolish to put together a primo build like this by myself. I have a few friends who have said they'd be willing to help me, all who have put together multiple PC's in the past. You may be wondering if I'm considering hiring a middle man to put it together for me, and the answer is no. Part of this whole process to me is building the system myself, and since it is my first time I want to have the experience of assembling it. Also, thank you for so clearly answering my question regarding monitors.
santijamesf,
I appreciate your advice. As for the specs, I'm going to leave that discussion between you and Karadjgne as it does not directly apply to my build. And for your comment regarding overkill, I mostly agree. for about $1000 - $1500, you can run pretty much any AAA game at a decent frame rate. However, the reason I'm opting for the "overkill" specs is because I don't want decent frame rates at 1080p. What I'm looking for is a solid system; something that can run games at 1440p on ultra settings, otherwise I wouldn't be opting for a build which will total to a very, very, ugly number along with a dent in my wallet. Another thing is the test of time. By buying the best of the best now, I more easily future proof my system so I don't have to make another dent in my bank account any time soon. As for your question regarding Ethernet, I will definitely be using it over Wifi.
Karadjgne,
I especially appreciate your continued support and solutions. You mentioned something about a fault in the EVGA PSU, and I actually looked into that on my own. A few friends of mine commented on their power supplies. The topic came up after discussing PSU's. The general vipe I got was that EVGA makes solid GPU's, has great customer support, but falls short in power. I looked for a new one, and this is what I decided on:
Corsair HXi Series, HX750i, 750 Watt (750W), Fully Modular Power Supply, 80+ Platinum Certified
Since this is a primo build, I thought it would be better to switch to a different brand and up the quality to Platinum. If you have anything to say about this PSU, feel free to mention it, positive or negative. Also, if you have had a great experience with a certain PSU, feel free to mention it as well.
As for everybody, this is my revised build:
GPU - EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti FTW3 DT GAMING, 11G-P4-6694-KR, 11GB GDDR5X, iCX Technology - 9 Thermal Sensors & RGB LED G/P/M - $850
CPU - Intel Core i7-8700K Processor- $330
https://www.amazon.com/Intel-BX80684I78700K-Core-i7-8700K-Processor/dp/B07598VZR8/ref=pd_sbs_147_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B07598VZR8&pd_rd_r=6JMWTR8V3Y6P2NRWNMP5&pd_rd_w=1lEy9&pd_rd_wg=bRtdD&psc=1&refRID=6JMWTR8V3Y6P2NRWNMP5
MB - ASUS ROG STRIX Z370-E GAMING LGA1151 DDR4 DP HDMI DVI M.2 Z370 ATX Motherboard with onboard 802.11ac WiFi and USB 3.1 for 8th Generation Intel Core Processors
- $190 -
https://www.amazon.com/LGA1151-Motherboard-802-11ac-Generation-Processors/dp/B075RHWCC4/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1519361113&sr=1-1&keywords=ASUS+ROG+STRIX+Z370-E
RAM - Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz C16 Desktop Memory Kit – White (CMK16GX4M2B3200C16W)
- $220 -
https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-2x16GB-3200MHz-Memory-CMK32GX4M2B3200C16/dp/B01EI5ZRQY/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1519413016&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=CORSAIR%2BVengeance%2BLPX%2B32GB%2B(2%2Bx%2B16GB)%2B288-Pin%2BDDR4%2BSDRAM%2BDDR4%2B3200%2B(PC4%2B25600)%2BDesktop%2BMemory%2BModel%2BCMK32GX4M2B3200C16W&th=1
M.2 SSD - Samsung 960 EVO Series - 500GB NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V6E500BW) - $200 -
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M20VBU7/ref=as_li_ss_tl?_encoding=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&tag=tecdea0f-20&linkId=3c22e7f8812aa1bf479fe842abdcd86a&th=1
HDD - Seagate 4TB BarraCuda SATA 6Gb/s 256MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive (ST4000DM004)
- $100 -
https://www.amazon.com/Seagate-BarraCuda-3-5-Inch-Internal-ST4000DM004/dp/B071WLPRHN/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1519412928&sr=1-1-fkmr0&keywords=Seagate%2BBarraCuda%2BST4000DM004%2B4TB%2B256MB%2BCache%2BSATA%2B6.0Gb%2Fs%2B3.5%22%2BHard%2BDrives&th=1
POWER - Corsair HXi Series, HX750i, 750 Watt (750W), Fully Modular Power Supply, 80+ Platinum Certified - $170 -
https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-HX1000i-Modular-Platinum-Certified/dp/B00M2UINC8?th=1
CASE - Corsair Carbide Clear 600C Inverse ATX Full Tower Case
- $150 -https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Carbide-Clear-Inverse-Tower/dp/B016IAM7D8
COOLING - Corsair Hydro Series H150i PRO RGB 360mm Radiator Triple 120mm ML Series PWM Fans Advanced RGB Lighting Liquid CPU Cooler (CW-9060031-WW) - $170 -
https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-Radiator-Advanced-Lighting-CW-9060032-WW/dp/B077FZPCRH?th=1
MAIN MONITOR - Acer Predator XB271HU Abmiprz 27-inch WQHD (2560x1440) NVIDIA G-SYNC Monitor (Display Port & HDMI Port, 144Hz)
- $700 -
https://www.amazon.com/Acer-Predator-XB271HU-Abmiprz-2560x1440/dp/B01N11QIYW/ref=as_li_ss_tl?tag=amazongs-20&ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&linkId=1fe87a0842932cce88392a56603563a2
SIDE MONITORS (x2) - ASUS VG278Q 27” Full HD 1080p 144Hz 1ms DP HDMI DVI Eye Care Gaming Monitor with FreeSync/Adaptive Sync - $290 -
https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824236821
Before I mentioned that I am not on a strict budget, which I am not, however I would like final recommendations if possible. Excluding the monitors, this build comes in at about $2500. Including them, it moves up to ~ $3500. Now, I'm not extremely restricted, however that doesn't mean I want to waste money. If anyone sees anything unnecessary, please tell me. In other words, if you see opportunities to cheapen this system without extreme drops in quality please let me know. Like I said, I expect these numbers to be big, and I am also open to any advice.