Switching from Mac - first gaming build - any good? (i5-8400/8600K, GTX 1060/1070)

[msmyla2]

Hello, after years of using a Mac, I’m building my first gaming PC! I’m both happy and stressed at the same time! I’ve done lots of research, I’ve read tens of threads on the topic, but I’d still love your feedback - just to make sure I’m not doing any stupid mistakes.

This is going to be strictly a gaming setup. My budget is $1600 but keep in mind I’m from Poland so the prices are probably different here. I don’t care about how the computer’s internals look but I do care about it being silent I listed multiple brands below so if you could suggest which brand to get, it would be nice. I’m open to all suggestions.

CPU
i5-8400 - or should I go for the 8600K? Over here the price difference is only $50 (or 19%). Right now, I don’t plan on overclocking, but who knows, maybe I’ll get into that in the future.

GPU
Palit/EVGA/MSI/Gainward GTX 1070. I’m also considering getting a used 1060 and upgrading to a 1070 later this year (tight budget)

Motherboard
ASRock Z370 EXTREME4

RAM
8GB (2x4GB) 3200MHz/3000MHz Corsair Vengeance LPX/G.Skill Ripjaws V - I’d love to get 16GB, but the prices are just so high!

SSD
Samsung 860 EVO (~18% more expensive than the 850 EVO - worth it?). Either 250GB or 500GB depending on the budget.

HDD
WD Caviar Blue 1TB 7200RPM. Also considering an external HDD instead? Internal HDD makes constant noise, but I don’t need constant access to my photos

Power supply
600W (SilentiumPC - it's a Polish brand, but really high quality)

Case
Fractal Design Define R6 - I like the design and it’s silent. It’s a relatively new case - will it need additional fans?

Thanks!

 

[Lutfij]

I know you have access to Seasonic , Fractal and Corsair PSU's. You may want to look through them comparing your availability against this tier list. Pick a unit that is as close to Tier 1 as possible.

So long as it's the cheapest platter drive you can find, you're good with the WD Blue 1TB drive.

Come to think of it, if we had access to sites you can purchase from, we could help sourcing parts for your build. PCPartpicker is of little help unless you can state that a country close to you like Germany or Belgium would have prices similar to your area or better yet, you can source the parts from aforementioned European neighbor.

 

[ArchitSahu]

It is a good build. But like Lut said, I would consider Seasonic, EVGA and Corsair PSU's first.

8600k allows for overclocking, if you are gaming only, I would go 8400 to keep down costs. 8400 comes with a stock cooler, 8600k does not so if you go with it you need to buy a third party cooler.

 

[Zerk2012]

Video card prices are crazy right now for 1080p gaming I would get the 1060 and put the savings in the 8600K.
I would always recomend the ability to overclock even if your not going to right now to make the PC to last longer before you need to buy new again.
When the 8400 no longer gives you the performance you need you got to either0 buy a new processor or rebuild to the latest hardware. When the performance of the 8600K is no longer their you just overclock it up and keep going a couple more years.
Hard drive I would just get the SATA SSD and internal hard drive for faster speed over a exterbal one.

 

[msmyla2]

Thanks for the helpful answers. You're right, video card prices are just crazy right now and it might be smarter to buy a slightly used GTX 1060 and hold off with the GTX 1070 until the prices drop.

I created a PCPartpicker list as suggested and also included a better PSU, as suggested. Prices are sourced from German stores; sourcing parts from all over Europe is not a problem for me. Prices in Poland are 10-15% higher on average, but there is a big e-sports event (ESL One / IEM) coming up this weekend right next to where I live. They always have big discounts on computer parts there so I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

i5-8400 / GTX 1070 / 250GB SSD / 8GB RAM

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor (€187.59 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€152.73 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (€106.26 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€92.30)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€43.72 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card (€659.90 @ Caseking)
Case: Fractal Design - Define R6 Black ATX Mid Tower Case (€122.67 @ Mindfactory)
Power Supply: EVGA - 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (€71.00)
Total: €1436.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-02-20 16:33 CET+0100


Now, if I give up on the GTX 1070 and get a GTX 1060 instead, I can get an i5-8600K instead of the i5-8400, a Noctua NH-D15 cooler, twice as much RAM (16GB instead of 8GB) and twice as much SSD storage (500GB instead of 250GB):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor (€247.59 @ Alza)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler (€87.99 @ Aquatuning)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€152.73 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (€184.74 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€167.56 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€43.72 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB GAMING X Video Card (€427.94 @ Mindfactory)
Case: Fractal Design - Define R6 Black ATX Mid Tower Case (€122.67 @ Mindfactory)
Power Supply: EVGA - 600B 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply
Total: €1434.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-02-20 17:04 CET+0100



To be honest, both setups are slightly out of my price range (by about $150). I didn't account for the extra cooling the i5-8600K needs so I didn't expect the price difference to be so big (although I have to admit, I added a pretty expensive cooler). Do you think the CPU + cooler are worth the price? Which build makes more sense?

 

[Finstar]

https://geizhals.eu/?fs=gtx%201070&cat=gra16_512

Why pay extra?

 

[msmyla2]

Thanks for the link! The prices are indeed lower! I will definitely use Geizhals.

That still leaves me with the question though - which setup would you advise me to choose?
Specifically, is the i5-8600K + cooler worth the extra €100-150 over the i5-8400? From what I understand, the purpose of getting the 8600k is overclocking potential. But considering the big difference in price, I might as well save the money now and upgrade the CPU and mobo in 3 years.
What about the RAM? 16GB seems to be the standard nowadays but the prices are just so high. I'm wondering if I should skimp on RAM and get 8GB or not.

 

[Finstar]

Thanks for the link! The prices are indeed lower! I will definitely use Geizhals.

That still leaves me with the question though - which setup would you advise me to choose?
Specifically, is the i5-8600K + cooler worth the extra €100-150 over the i5-8400? From what I understand, the purpose of getting the 8600k is overclocking potential. But considering the big difference in price, I might as well save the money now and upgrade the CPU and mobo in 3 years.
What about the RAM? 16GB seems to be the standard nowadays but the prices are just so high. I'm wondering if I should skimp on RAM and get 8GB or not.

Get the i5 8400 but don't skimp on RAM, 16gb is definitely worth it.

 

[Zerk2012]

Get the 8600K for the reasons I stated above.
The B1 power supply is still low quality it's going to cost you but buy a good one.

https://de.pcpartpicker.com/product/R7V48d/seasonic-power-supply-ssr650rm

For the video card I would look for a used GTX 980.

No matter what card you buy you will need to upgrade it in a few years.

 

[logainofhades]

Unless you really want SLI, you can get by with the Z370 pro 4. I changed the case to a similar looking, and cheaper Corsair.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor (€187.59 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard (€106.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2666 Memory (€89.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (€75.90 @ Caseking)
Storage: Toshiba - 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (€42.90 @ Caseking)
Video Card: Zotac - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB AMP! Edition Video Card (€659.90 @ Caseking)
Case: Corsair - Carbide 400Q ATX Mid Tower Case (€99.99 @ Corsair DE)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - EVO Edition 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (€70.85 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €1334.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-02-20 21:02 CET+0100

 

[Finstar]

The i5 8600k won't be doing what the i5 8400 can't do, no matter how much you overclock it. Especially not for 2 years.
It would be an extreme display of stupidity to get an i5 8600k and a used gtx 980 over an i5 8400 and a gtx 1070 ti.

 

[msmyla2]

Thanks guys. I will definitely get a better PSU. As for the GPU, I will probably go for a used 1060. I will get 16GB RAM.

As for the CPU, I'll try to get the 8600K if I still have money left. If not, I'll settle for the 8400