[SOLVED] New gaming rig (~2000$) - does this make any sense

Feb 20, 2019
3
0
10
Dear enthusiasts of the TH-community,


Time has again passed and my gaming rig has become outdated beyond saving. As every 3-5 years I have decided to get a new rig and as always, I consult you before throwing out tons of money.

I am not shy of spending money if the performance increase is worth it (no need for lights/LEDs or whatever). You have an idea how to save a buck or two with an alternative component? feel free to share. Your opinions are much appreciated!
(all prices are in swiss francs. I don't expect you guys to check swiss sites or anything (for reference, I am using https://en.toppreise.ch/). usually if one component is cheaper than the other in the states, same goes for switzerland)

CPU:
INTEL Core i7-9700K "Coffee Lake", 8x 3.6GHz (4.9GHz), Sockel 1151, Boxed (BX80684I79700K) for 430.-

Cooler:
I still got a Noctua NH-D14 in my rig. Would love to keep using it if it fits the 1151 socket. But it's a hassle to find any DDR4 Dimms that fit under it. So my alternative would be:
CORSAIR Hydro Series H115i PRO (2x140mm) for 134.-

Mainboard:
MSI MPG Z390 GAMING PRO CARBON AC for 220.-

GPU:
GAINWARD GeForce RTX 2080, 8.0GB GDDR6 for 740.-

RAM:
2x KINGSTON HyperX Predator 1x 16GB, DDR4-DIMM, PC4-28800 (3600MHz), CL17-19-19, heatspreader, Low Voltage (1.35V)/Intel XMP 2.0 (HX436C17PB3/16) for 2x 180.-
(Alternatively if 32Gb is overkill, I'd go with G.SKILL RipJaws V, 16Gb (2x8Gb), PC4-28800, 3600Mhz, 17-18-18-38-2N, (F4-3600C17D-16GVK) for 190.-)

G.SKILL RipJaws V, 2x 8GB, DDR4-DIMM, PC4-28800 (3600MHz), CL17-18-18-38-2N, heatspreader • Low Voltage (1.35V)/Intel XMP 2.0 for 190.-

SSD:
ADATA XPG Gammix S11 Pro SSD M.2, 1.0TB for 215.-
(and some 2 TB hdd and later on maybe a second SSD M.2)
SAMSUNG 970 Evo Plus SSD M.2, 1.0TB (MZ-V7S1T0BW) for 230.-

Case:
Going to keep using my Nanoxia deep silence 1 (rev.b) for 0.-

PSU:
going to keep my old one: XFX 650W Pro, 80+ bronze for 0.-

Monitor:
Dell S2719DGF 27.0 Inches, QHD 2560 x 1440 @ 155 Hz, free-sync, 1ms, 350cd, DP, HDMI, USB (DELL-S2719DGF) - 390.-
(Reviews say it's G-sync compatible (not official, but in tests). Can't find a good G-sync monitor 27" in that price range and I am glad to dodge the G-sync tax.)

Mainly I have two questions:

1.) About the RAM: Is 32Gb worth it? Are the above mentioned a good set? Any DDR4 Ram that fits under the noctua NH-D14?

2.) about the PSU: Ich checked and the GPU mentioned needs a 8-pin + 6-pin, but the mainboard I have no idea. can't find it in the specs! I checked the cable connectors of the PSU (it's 4 years old):
Fixed FDD : up to 1
Fixed Peripheral : up to 7
Fixed 6+2-pin PCI-E : 4
Fixed ATX12V / EPS12V : One 4+4-pin
Fixed Motherboard Connector : 20+4 Pin
Fixed SATA : up to 8
-> does that work?

Thank you for going through my rig and for your opinion. Can't wait to "get it approved" and order it!! :eek:

Love you all!


Edit: Updated SSD and RAM due to feedback
 
Last edited:
Solution
As to your questions:
1) 32gb of ram is not that useful unless you have an app that can use ram or unless you are heavily multitasking while gaming. a 2 x8gb kit should be appropriate.

2) I think you are ok on the psu.
Looking at the motherboard, it appears to have a 8 pin aux cpu port as well as a 4 pin port.
The extra power may be used for adding extra pcie heavy components like graphics cards of for heavy over clocking. Read the motherboard manual, but I think your single 4+4 cpu connector will suffice since you are not maxing out the components.
If necessary, you could buy a molex to 4 pin adapter.

NH-D14 is a great cooler that mounts on lga1151 motherboards.
I would never buy a aio cooler when a good air cooler will do the...

Eximo

Titan
Ambassador
1: I can't personally find a need for 32GB of memory. Unless you like to leave a lot of applications running. Most high end games run up to around 11GB at the most.

Corsair LPX memory is my usual go-to for avoiding heatsinks. Only a few millimeters taller than bare memory and it looks okay. (Not that you see much under an NH-D14) Yes that cooler should still fit the socket. Typically you buy memory in sets, never individual sticks to ensure compatibility.

2: ATX 2.3 pretty much covers anything but high end motherboards that require multiple EPS connectors. You don't have to worry about the motherboard.
 
As to your questions:
1) 32gb of ram is not that useful unless you have an app that can use ram or unless you are heavily multitasking while gaming. a 2 x8gb kit should be appropriate.

2) I think you are ok on the psu.
Looking at the motherboard, it appears to have a 8 pin aux cpu port as well as a 4 pin port.
The extra power may be used for adding extra pcie heavy components like graphics cards of for heavy over clocking. Read the motherboard manual, but I think your single 4+4 cpu connector will suffice since you are not maxing out the components.
If necessary, you could buy a molex to 4 pin adapter.

NH-D14 is a great cooler that mounts on lga1151 motherboards.
I would never buy a aio cooler when a good air cooler will do the job.
You are good there.
It will clear ram up to 44mm tall.
Corsair LPX and g.skil aegis are both low profile ram.
3000 to 3600 speed is fine.
Here is the noctua NH-D14 ram compatibility list:
https://noctua.at/en/nh-d14/rcomp

On the ssd, stick with the performance and reliability of Samsung EVO.
On a high end build like this, I would splurge for a 1tb Samsung 970 EVO M.2 PCIE.
The PRO versions are not much worth it since the benefit is mostly higher endurance which is no longer an issue.
You could save with a sata drive that will mostly perform the same except for sequential processing.

Unless you need a HDD for bulk storage such as videos why not defer on the HDD until you actually need the space.
When you DO add a HDD, also add a intel optane pcie device to act as a cache for the HDD. They are 16/32gb and not expensive.

Do not worry about g.sync. New nvidia drivers will have freesync support and there are other options to handle monitor/gpu speed mismatches.
 
Solution
Feb 20, 2019
3
0
10
thanks a lot for the answers!

alright I am going to stick with the noctua. According to the ram compatibility list you provided I have 44mm clearing for the DDR4. so these should fit (42mm):
G.SKILL RipJaws V, 2x 8GB, DDR4-DIMM, PC4-28800 (3600MHz), CL17-18-18-38-2N, heatspreader • Low Voltage (1.35V)/Intel XMP 2.0 for 190.-
(the corsair LPX are 40-50.- more expensive with the same timings...)
no need for 32Gb then.

Also I'll follow your advice and switch to this SSD: SAMSUNG 970 Evo Plus SSD M.2, 1.0TB (MZ-V7S1T0BW) for 230.- (it's even 10.- cheaper than the 970 EVO)

Glad to hear the PSU should do it's job. Would be a bummer to get all the components and then having to order and wait for the new PSU....

Anything else you beautiful people?
 
Feb 20, 2019
3
0
10
You might want to switch for a Ryzen 2700X instead, as it's cheaper and not that much slower.

I considered the Ryzen. Even considered waiting for the next Gen of AMD CPUs. But I can't wait any longer. My rig is 4-5 years old (Haswell i5, gtx770) and with the budget I have for new components, the 90.- I'd save with a ryzen don't really bother me. the intel is (sadly) still faster and the additional cores of the ryzen don't give me anything...
 

TRENDING THREADS