New PC Build

[DarkWolf009]

Hi there, I am going to be pretty much building a new PC, changing everything but my GPU, drives and CPU cooler (it is compatible with the CPU I want). There will be a few questions in here as it seems most logical to put them all in one thread rather than in separate threads.

My current plan for the new PC:
-i7-8700k
-Asus Strix GTX 1070 (already have)
-Arctic Freezer 13 (already have - planning to upgrade to watercooling at some point)
-Some 1TB HDD (already have)
-Samsung 850 EVO 250GB 2.5' SSD (already have)

What motherboard would you recommend? I am looking for one that offers full overclocking functionality and has at least 7 USB slots total (will be using VR etc.) My budget for the motherboard is probably up to £200.

What about RAM? I want 16GB DDR4 RAM, preferably in a 2x8GB kit. Not sure what speed would be best but for the RAM I could probably stretch to £150 tops.

Finally (for components), what case would you recommend, there needs to be enough space for both a drive bay and my 1070 which has 3 fans (about 30cm long). Also how should I set up case fans (and what fans would you recommend) for the best airflow? My PC is on the floor at the moment, but I could elevate it onto my desk to improve airflow. I'd imagine £50 would be enough for a good case? This is not including any recommended fans as I would likely add these a bit further down the line. A see-through panel on the case would be nice but is not essential. The same goes for RGB on the other components. One other thing for the case is I would like there to be some left over space as I mentioned before I will be upgrading to water cooling at some point.


Now the component questions are out of the way I've got a (couple of) quick question(s) on the actual building part. What do I need to know about CPU and Motherboard installation and removal? How much TIM do I need and what TIM would you recommend? Is there much difference between different TIMs?


I think that's all (at least all the questions I have right now). I know there's quite a lot to answer so I understand if you can't answer everything. Thanks for any answers and for even reading this far! Oh, and is there anything I've neglected to mention?


EDIT: Just remembered I didn't mention the PSU. I have some Be Quiet 550W PSU (I haven't been able to identify its model unfortunately), will this be sufficient for the new components (including overclocked)?

 

[vapour]

50 for good case.... LOL. My take:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor (Purchased For £0.00)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£142.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws 4 Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£146.77 @ Technextday)
Case: NZXT - H500i (Black/Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case (£100.00 @ AWD-IT)
Total: £389.76
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-10 18:16 BST+0100

You may hold off for now and see how temp goes. Add fans later if needed.

550 good quality psu is enough for the system, but can you take a photo of your psu? Be Quiet has bad quality ones...

 

[WildCard999]

The Fractal Design Focus G is a good case for the price.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£43.79 @ Aria PC)
Total: £43.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-10 18:29 BST+0100

 

[Hellfire13]

First the part list most suitable for you...

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($347.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC - Freezer 13 36.4 CFM CPU Cooler (Purchased For $0.00)
Thermal Compound: Thermal Grizzly - Kryonaut 1g 1g Thermal Paste ($10.48 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($196.00 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($64.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (Purchased For $0.00)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB STRIX Video Card (Purchased For $0.00)
Case: Thermaltake - View 22 Tempered Glass Edition ATX Mid Tower Case ($44.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($59.89 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Cooler Master - SickleFlow (Red) 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan ($7.90 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Cooler Master - SickleFlow (Red) 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan ($7.90 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Cooler Master - SickleFlow (Red) 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan ($7.90 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Cooler Master - SickleFlow (Red) 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan ($7.90 @ OutletPC)
Case Fan: Cooler Master - SickleFlow (Red) 69.7 CFM 120mm Fan ($7.90 @ OutletPC)
Total: $912.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-10 13:31 EDT-0400


Now the analogy...

> The board comes with lots of connectivity options, overclocking potential and features like superior audio codec with headphone amps, bluetooth and wifi.

> Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut is the best non-metallic Thermal compound out there. You need to apply a pinch of it. Check some build videos on youtube and you will get the idea.

> DDR4 3200mhz with CAS latency 16 should be perfect sweet spot for the 8700k + z370.

> A SSD is a must for building in 2018 for its sheer speed and performance. Crucial MX500 is one of the best units with individual RAM cache.

> The case has adequate air flow and cable management along with robust build quality. It has slots for 7 x 120mm fans, but 5 should be adequate for a start. You can add 2 more if required.
2 x 120mm front as intake.
2 x 120mm top as exhaust.
1 x 120mm rear as exhaust.

> If your beQuiet is DarkPower/StrighPower/PurePower, then keep it. Else get a better one as listed in the build... https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/

 

[vapour]

The Fractal Design Focus G is a good case for the price.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (£43.79 @ Aria PC)
Total: £43.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-10 18:29 BST+0100

Good budget choice, yes For his budget I think the NZXT is better~

 

[vapour]

Definitely not the thermaltake one suggested above.

 

[Hellfire13]

Definitely not the thermaltake one suggested above.

Check the card he has mentioned again.
Definitely not the NZXT.

 

[coozie7]

As Vapour says, some of the BeQuiet! PSUs aren't particularly good, it'll probably be OK for the stock system, but may need changing later on when you start to OC, something from Tier 1 or 2 of about 650Watts will be plenty: https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/631048-psu-tier-list-updated/

There's a mass of videos on YouTube about TIM use and how to build a system-time to get a mug of hot coffee and start watching!

If this is your first build there's a lot to learn so here's a number of hints, tips and pointers that most build videos won't tell you:

It's not particularly hard but there is some potential issues to bear in mind:

Static is an overrated risk, touching a water or gas pipe, a masonry wall, an AC or heating duct/grille is a good way to keep it at bay.

You'll need a few tools to make the build go smoothly: A good quality, magnetic Phillips screwdriver, either a pair of pliers or a suitable socket wrench to tighten the motherboard standoffs, possibly a pair of tweezers and a magnifying glass to help with the front panel cables ( some cases use tiny single cables ).

Work on a flat, stable and well lit surface that is free of clutter and has enough room around it to store the parts and empty boxes.

ALL the power cables will only go in one way, if one seems too hard to insert, check you have it correctly aligned.

That big 24 pin motherboard connector is always tight, lubricate the plug with a little petroleum jelly before trying to push it home with one hand while supporting the underside of the motherboard with the fingertips of your other hand.

It's easier to install to motherboard with the CPU cooler attached, it gives far better control to have something chunky to hold on to. Also lower it in at an angle so you can slide it into the rear IO shield before lowering it fully down onto the standoffs. In most cases that IO shield has a number of springy fingers on it that will push the motherboard a little ' forwards ' and out of alignment with the standoffs, attach a mounting screw to the 'driver, gently push the motherboard into alignment and start, but don't tighten that screw, repeat until all the mounting screws are started THEN tighten them firmly down.

Check the case and case manual, there's a 4 or 8 pin connector block on the motherboard, usually top left, and it's not always possible to route that cable from the power supply, behind the motherboard tray and out the top of it with the motherboard installed as the motherboard can block the exit hole, if you're in any doubt about this, install the power supply first, then route the 4/8 pin EPS cable then install the motherboard.

Sellotape and/or elastic bands can be great friends, use then to keep stray cables out of the way, especially when installing the motherboard.


General tips:

Allow plenty of time, don't rush, turn off your mobile and don't get distracted, if you have to move away from the build, finish the task you're doing then move away, never leave a task halfway through, it's an open invitation to Murphys Law to step in.

DONT'T PANIC! If it doesn't start up first time you've probably made one of the embarrassing errors we have all made in the past so start with the basics: Is the power lead plugged in? Is the socket turned on? Is the PSU switched on? If yes, power down, disconnect the power cord wait a minuet to allow the motherboard to discharge then check the cables are fully home and in their correct locations.

Finally: READ THE MANUALS! It is essential for your first build to read and understand these documents.

 

[DarkWolf009]

550 good quality psu is enough for the system, but can you take a photo of your psu? Be Quiet has bad quality ones...

Here are the best photos I could get without taking it out. The PSU is probably 5+ years old as the CPU that was with it is 5-6 years old now (this was my dad's PC before it was mine). I seem to remember I know it's 550W as my dad told me, but he couldn't remember what model it was.

Yes I know it's rather dusty xD

 

[bichn]

550 good quality psu is enough for the system, but can you take a photo of your psu? Be Quiet has bad quality ones...

Here are the best photos I could get without taking it out. The PSU is probably 5+ years old as the CPU that was with it is 5-6 years old now (this was my dad's PC before it was mine). I seem to remember I know it's 550W as my dad told me, but he couldn't remember what model it was.

Yes I know it's rather dusty xD

may be worth investing in a 600 or 650 Seasonic or similar brand because if your power supply breaks it could cause other issues at least on some of the older budget psu

 

[coozie7]

Agree with bichn, it'll be a good idea to use a new PSU, 5 years old is getting on a bit and it may not support all the low power features of the new build, which is likely to cause issues if the system goes into sleep or standby modes.
The other reason would be overclocking, pushing the new i7 hard could cause the old PSU to become unstable resulting in very annoying crashes and random restarts.

 

[DarkWolf009]

You may hold off for now and see how temp goes. Add fans later if needed.

One other thing, other than the 2 120mm or 140mm fans you can put in the front, are there any other places to put fans in that case? Obviously there is already one on the rear and one on the top. Considering when I get watercooling I will probably get a 240mm one to get on the front, how do you recommend doing intake/out-take as surely the AIO would be pushing air out of the case? What I'll probably do is buy 2 case fans (probably 2 of the Cooler Master SickleFlow case fans that Hellfire13 recommended) to put on the front and then replace the 2 that are already installed with those fans when I get watercooling.

EDIT: This is for the NZXT H500i case

 

[madmatt30]

Fractal design r6 tg.

£110 but absolutely worth it.

Comes with 2x140mm intake fans & a 140mm exhaust prefitted , superb quality.

Will,fit up to 360mm rads in the front and/or top.

I would replace that Psu personally.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor (Purchased For £0.00)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (£142.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£157.01 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Fractal Design - Define R6 Black TG ATX Mid Tower Case (£109.19 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£71.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £481.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-12 13:25 BST+0100