Thoughts Before I Buy

[claytonsafranek]

Hello all. I am building my first gaming PC and I am planning to build it rather high end so I can get a lot of use out of it. Here is my parts list:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8Zxr3F

My budget is right around 1,000. I already have a 1TB hard drive and a handy SSD from previous builds so that is why they are not on my list of parts. I am wanting to know everyones thoughts about the components in the build. The i7 8700k can probably handle a bigger and better graphics card but it just wont fit in my budget for now. I have heard good reviews about the Corsair H115i cooler but was wondering if it is enough to keep the i7 at stable temperatures, I plan to overclock it a little bit so I want it to be able to run nice and cool. The only other small problem is I am trying to make everything black and white for aesthetics and the ram that I have is bring red, which isn't a big deal but if anyone knows of a good 8GB DDR4 ram stick that is black and white and fits in my budget its greatly appreciated!!

Thanks!

 

[vapour]

The build is not balanced. You may want a better motherboard to overclock 8700k. Dual channel ram is faster than single stick, 8gb is too small for new builds. More balanced will be I5-8600k, Cryorig H7, Asrock extreme 4 or better, 16 gb ddr4 3200 ram.

 

[g-unit1111]

On your budget I think I would lose the cooler and the i7 and invest more money in a better GPU. Right now because the 8700K is in such high demand you're going to be paying a premium for it, and on $1K you don't want to spend 1/2 your budget on the CPU alone. This is what I would suggest:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($279.89 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($41.99 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SSC GAMING Video Card ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT - S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12G 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($51.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $1083.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-22 11:53 EST-0500

 

[Wolfshadw]

I'd agree with both posters above.

Yeah, I understand wanting to go with the I7, but if it's out of budget or compromises the rest of your build, you're not going to get the performance out of it anyway. Drop down to the I5-8600K and go with a dual-channel 16GB (2x8GB) RAM kit.

Not a fan of your motherboard selection either as in my opinion, SLI/Crossfire were never worth the cost in the first place and are seemingly being disregarded now.

With the funds saved from the CPU downgrade and the motherboard downgrade (shouldn't cost more than around $80), you should easily be able to make the extra RAM cost.

-Wolf sends

 

[Bob125484]

Best Gaming CPU
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-cpus,3986.html
https://www.anandtech.com/show/9793/best-cpus

My son just upgraded his computer from 2500K to 8700 with cryogen H7. It max out his GTX 970 now on 1080p 144 Hz. He will upgrade GPU and 2K 144 Hz monitor later. Watch youtube with different combo CPU/GPU to see benchmark so you can make better decision. We originally order 8600K but return to get 8700 because 8600K OC to 5.0 GHz, will result in 17% jump from turbo boost but you lose 6 extra thread, so we decide on 8700.

 

[g-unit1111]

Best Gaming CPU
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-cpus,3986.html
https://www.anandtech.com/show/9793/best-cpus

My son just upgraded his computer from 2500K to 8700 with cryogen H7. It max out his GTX 970 now on 1080p 144 Hz. He will upgrade GPU and 2K 144 Hz monitor later. Watch youtube with different combo CPU/GPU to see benchmark so you can make better decision. We originally order 8600K but return to get 8700 because 8600K OC to 5.0 GHz, will result in 17% jump from turbo boost but you lose 6 extra thread, so we decide on 8700.

Yeah the thread loss is really not that big of a deal. But if you do care about the extra threads an alternative to the 8000 series would be going with a Ryzen 7 1700 which is an 8 core, 16 thread CPU that delivers performance comparable to the 7700K for way less money than the 8700K is currently.

You could get something like this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 1700 3.0GHz 8-Core Processor ($269.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($41.99 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-AX370-GAMING 5 ATX AM4 Motherboard ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SSC GAMING Video Card ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT - S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12G 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($51.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $1098.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-22 12:18 EST-0500

 

[MountainDrew329]

On your budget I think I would lose the cooler and the i7 and invest more money in a better GPU. Right now because the 8700K is in such high demand you're going to be paying a premium for it, and on $1K you don't want to spend 1/2 your budget on the CPU alone. This is what I would suggest:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($279.89 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($41.99 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Extreme4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($124.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SSC GAMING Video Card ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Case: NZXT - S340 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - S12G 550W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply ($51.89 @ Newegg)
Total: $1083.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-22 11:53 EST-0500

He posted that he already had an SSD available for this build.