3440x1440 Build recomendations

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balabah

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Nov 22, 2017
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510
Hello,

I am looking to build a new system within the next 2 months and am looking for help in doing so.
My background of building PC's is very limited and i would like some help so i can get the best possible without messing something up.

From the research ive done i have found that i absolutely want to go 3440x1440, i have no interest in going full 4k. I currently run eyefinity with 3x Asus 27" Monitors on a single mount, so i love that wide field of view. So the 3440 to me is where its at.

That being said i want to make a system that will not struggle no matter what i throw at it in the near future. I know its impossible to plan for future as components come out so quickly its ridiculous. But because ive never built a system of my own i certainly want help to do this proper.

I am looking for recommendations for a build that will be able to do this. So far my price range, before monitor, is around $2500 canadian. I believe this will be possible even with the option of a 1080ti. I do not have a preference of brand, so im open to different ideas.

Please feel free to inform me the route i should take, offer advice, or if need be ask me for further details and i will happily answer as best i can.

Thank you all for your time and i look forward to hearing what the outcomes are so i can get into my upgrade :D
 
Solution
Darkbreeze
I can see running a couple of SSD's for storage, if you've got the cash to spring for those, but honestly I can't understand having a top shelf build like this and not running an NVME M.2 drive that offers you probably 600% faster sequential reads and somewhere in the neighborhood of 200% random read speeds, both of which are going to offer a whole lot more "system that will not struggle" than even the fastest SATA SSD will. And believe me when I say that anybody who tells you that an SSD, and in particular a very fast M.2 NVME drive like the Samsung 960 EVO or Pro, is of no use in gaming has clearly not ever had or used one in their system. Levels, maps, textures, everything, load times are practically non-existent.

But it's your...
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vapour

vapour

Champion
Aug 28, 2017
12,398
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57,540
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($489.99 @ Memory Express)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($97.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-F GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($231.75 @ Vuugo)
Memory: GeIL - EVO POTENZA 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($171.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($119.00 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($52.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB STRIX GAMING Video Card ($1019.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($64.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($116.75 @ Vuugo)
Case Fan: NZXT - Air Flow Series 83.6 CFM 140mm Fan ($9.75 @ Vuugo)
Total: $2495.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-07 11:32 EST-0500
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Jun 24, 2014
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Based on those two statements, there is NO such system possible at this time. Period. ANY system currently in existence will struggle with SOMETHING at that resolution. Even a dual card system, IF you could resolve the lack of current support for dual card configurations and somehow overcome the scaling issues, would STILL struggle with some things at that resolution. There's just nothing that exists that can meet ALL your criteria.

Closest thing you're going to find is a 8700k or 1800x build paired with the best GTX 1080ti overclocking card you can find. Even then, there WILL be situations where it struggles if you're trying to run max settings with that kind of resolution. Just can't happen. Can it be playable? Sure, so long as you're willing to accept that there's going to be situations where some sliders need to go to the left. Otherwise, you're going to throw your cornflakes at the wall when you realize you're not where you thought you'd be.
 
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Eximo

Eximo

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May 27, 2010
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Such monitors are a long term investment. So not having the full capabilities now isn't the worst thing in the world. When you start spending this much on computers, you'll be looking at every new GPU that comes out and deciding if it is worth it.

Vapour's build is good, but doesn't include the monitor. If that is to be part of the budget, you may need to rethink your spending cap, or your goal.
 
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B

balabah

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Nov 22, 2017
6
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510


Nope that build is correct. My budget was $2500 before the monitor. As i would like to have the system build prior to picking up the monitor, which i know is going to be a significant purchase on its own.
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Jun 24, 2014
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I don't know. I can't see, or justify, a 2500 dollar build that uses a budget case that's really limited for this price range and a standard SATA SSD. It's mostly good hardware, but if I was paying 2500 dollars I would not be happy to see some of those components in my build, even with the clearly higher premium hardware fetches in the Canadian market.

While I'm over budget a fair bit, I think the increase in quality in a few areas plus the markedly faster M.2 storage medium are worth the consideration. Settling for a standard SSD, lower end memory and a budget case on a 2500 dollar build just seems impractical.


PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($489.99 @ Memory Express)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($86.99 @ PC Canada)
Motherboard: Asus - Prime Z370-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($208.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($229.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($159.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($96.25 @ shopRBC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB AORUS Video Card ($989.99 @ Vuugo)
Case: Phanteks - Enthoo Evolv ATX Glass ATX Mid Tower Case ($229.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($116.75 @ Vuugo)
Total: $2728.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-07 13:24 EST-0500

 
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B

balabah

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Nov 22, 2017
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510


My apologies, i forgot to state in my original post that i was going to keep and reuse my current case.
I am running a Coolermaster HAF 932 Full tower.
Also i believe i will be upgrading to running dual 500gb solid state drives as the price is resonable. One of which i just purchased in my current system.
So with just the case removed from the overal price it comes to almost right in line with where my hopes are at. I know it will be tweaked and changed a little but its ideas like these that i like to see and are giving me good hopes that the system i want is well within reach.
 
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Zerk2012

Zerk2012

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I am running a Coolermaster HAF 932 Full tower.
Also i believe i will be upgrading to running dual 500gb solid state drives as the price is resonable

I hope your not planing to run 2x500gb SSD's in raid 0 that is not a very good idea. Twich the chance of a failure with no real life performance increase.
I never like a case with no dust filters on theintake fans.
 
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B

balabah

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Nov 22, 2017
6
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510


No i was just going to run 2 seperate drives. Maybe a third 1tb or bigger regular drive as well.
As for this case, it has proved to be very good to me for the past few years, and i regularily clean it out. As well ive seen videos on how to put in custom dust filters, which i may do when i take it apart for the new build.
Just looking to salvage what i can to keep myself within the price range of the build. The more i can salvage the more i can spend on other things. So saving my case, and re-using my windows 10 will save me a bunch right there.
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Jun 24, 2014
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I can see running a couple of SSD's for storage, if you've got the cash to spring for those, but honestly I can't understand having a top shelf build like this and not running an NVME M.2 drive that offers you probably 600% faster sequential reads and somewhere in the neighborhood of 200% random read speeds, both of which are going to offer a whole lot more "system that will not struggle" than even the fastest SATA SSD will. And believe me when I say that anybody who tells you that an SSD, and in particular a very fast M.2 NVME drive like the Samsung 960 EVO or Pro, is of no use in gaming has clearly not ever had or used one in their system. Levels, maps, textures, everything, load times are practically non-existent.

But it's your system. I'll just leave this last look here and then bid good luck to you unless I can help with something or offer any further suggestions.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($489.99 @ Memory Express)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($86.99 @ PC Canada)
Motherboard: Asus - Prime Z370-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($208.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($229.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($159.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB AORUS Video Card ($989.99 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($116.75 @ Vuugo)
Total: $2402.68
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-07 18:12 EST-0500


 
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Solution
B

balabah

Prominent
Nov 22, 2017
6
0
510


At this point i am here asking for any advice possible to assist me in building an awesome system. I will openly admit i have no idea what im doing when it comes to this so im really relying on people like you, and the others that have responded to assist me in building this. I agree with you completely, if there is another drive like the one you have listed then i would happily take that over a different one.
 
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Zerk2012

Zerk2012

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Oct 6, 2014
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Use one of your current hard drives and reformat it for storage. 250GB SSD for the OS and programs 1TB SSD for all your games.
I see no reason for a M.2 drive yes their fast on paper, running benchmarks, and doing a lot of file transfers but in real life performance you will get about a 0.4 second quicker boot time.
The 6 Core i5 8600K should work just fine and leaves you money for shipping cost.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor ($334.99 @ Memory Express)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H5 Universal 65.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($62.75 @ Amazon Canada)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370 GAMING PLUS ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($149.99 @ Memory Express)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($214.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($121.95 @ shopRBC)
Storage: Crucial - MX300 1.1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($361.99 @ PC Canada)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB STRIX GAMING Video Card ($969.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Total: $2336.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-07 18:38 EST-0500
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Jun 24, 2014
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NO, they're not "fast on paper". They're FAST, period. Do you own one Zerk? Have you actually done any realistic gaming on a system equipped with a 960 EVO/Pro or something closely relevant? There are a lot of M.2 NVME drives that are no faster than a SATA SSD, but that is not the case with these drives. It's LITERALLY like the difference between a 5400rpm mechanical drive and an 850 EVO, if not more.

If you HAVE, and certainly I'm not going to be the one to call you a liar, you're generally a straight shooter so I have no reasons to doubt you, but if you have and didn't see the same kind of results then I'd almost guarantee there was an issue with whatever system it was on, because I've seen/felt the results and there is absolutely a wow factor involved and I don't just mean in sequential large file operations either.

I'll agree that it's true enough that you could get by just fine with standard SATA SSD's, but if you're going to sink that kind of money into a build and CAN fit 960 EVO or Pro into it, there is no godly reason I can think of why you wouldn't. I mean, none. No reason at all. It's like saying "well, I know I can get two models of car that are exactly the same for the exact same price except one gets 20mpg better fuel mileage. Nah, I'll take the one with worse fuel mileage because it has a gas tank that's twice as big as the one with better mileage." :)
 
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Zerk2012

Zerk2012

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Oct 6, 2014
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I do not own one yet and have seen the on paper results and real life results. 0.4 quicker boot time. no in game performance increase that would make a difference, just a bit quicker cut screen/load time (this also comes down to your connection to the game server). I have never seen any benchmarks that show any actual in game FPS increase that would matter.
I am rebuilding my PC next year and going to use one for a scratch drive.
When you can buy 2X the SSD space using a SATA SSD then nothing you can say will convince me that a m.2 is necessary / worth the extra cost for gaming.

I'll agree that it's true enough that you could get by just fine with standard SATA SSD's, but if you're going to sink that kind of money into a build and CAN fit 960 EVO or Pro into it, there is no godly reason I can think of why you wouldn't. I mean, none. No reason at all. It's like saying "well, I know I can get two models of car that are exactly the same for the exact same price except one gets 20mpg better fuel mileage. Nah, I'll take the one with worse fuel mileage because it has a gas tank that's twice as big as the one with better mileage." :)

Since you look like your taking this personal!!!!!!
This is the only drive you have listed on your build...
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/ZNBrxr/samsung-960-evo-250gb-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-mz-v6e250
Steam, COD, BF1 and the operating system will fill that up.
I listed a 1.1TB SSD that will fit all his games and a decent SSD for the OS and programs.
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Jun 24, 2014
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No, it will not increase FPS at all. That's not where it shines. Anything that requires loading data into memory is where you will see a major difference for gaming. Like I said. I also didn't say it was "necessary".

Unlocked CPUs aren't necessary. Motherboards with 10 power phases aren't necessary. SSDs at all aren't necessary. Having a top shelf graphics card isn't necessary. There are a LOT of things that aren't necessary, but they are sure nice to have AND there is sure a difference between having them, and not having them.

Clearly it's not a necessity and the difference won't be like going from a GTX 1050 to a GTX 1070, however, and I know there are simulations out there that claim there is little difference, but in my experience all of the following are much faster if you also have fast supporting hardware to allow it to shine. If a slower CPU with fewer threads is being used then increases in performance due to the drive will be relatively unnoticeable because it won't be the drive but will instead be the CPU that is holding up items from loading into memory. When you elininate that though I see improvement in :Game loading. Map and level loading. Level saves. Game saves. Texture and most importantly I think is that whatever Windows is doing in the background that requires reading or writing operations while gaming, becomes entirely unnoticeable. But it's cool. You're probably right.

In fact, since there really also isn't much difference, for gaming, between a hard drive and a SATA SSD, he should probably just ditch the SSDs altogether and stick with mechanical hard drives. You know, because the only thing you ever do on a computer is game and nothing else could be a factor at all anyhow. :)
 
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Darkbreeze

Darkbreeze

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Jun 24, 2014
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No, I took the other drives off the build because he said he already had one 500gb SSD and planned to get another just like it, so no need for it to be on the build I posted. If you read things a bit more carefully you'd have seen where he stated that. It's all good though. I'll just leave you guys to it.
 
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B

balabah

Prominent
Nov 22, 2017
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510
So far I am super happy with all the responses. Thank you all for the help with this.
The more comments i am seeing in having this build narrowed down to a more specific goal the more excited i am to get started on this setup.

Questions:
Would it be reasonable to have a larger M.2 drive? I currently run a 500gb solid state for operating system and games combined. I am pretty sure a 250 would be too small. would i be better off to run multiple small ones, one for operating system and whatnot, and another one for games? Or run a larger M.2 for everything?
Is the case i am currently using sufficient enough or would you guys recommend getting something better? If i keep this case i will certainly be looking into building custom dust filters for it, but i also tend to open it up and clean it on a monthly basis as is.
I also already have windows 10 which i can wipe off my current system and use it on the new one so that free's up some more space right there.

Basically im just getting picky now to make sure im getting the best bang for the buck. If i am best off to spend a little more to get a good boost in performance of any sort i dont mind doing it. I do builds like this every 5 years or so and i want this one to be the best system ive ever had, obviously.

So taking a look at darkbreeze's build:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($489.99 @ Memory Express)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($86.99 @ PC Canada)
Motherboard: Asus - Prime Z370-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($208.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($159.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB AORUS Video Card ($989.99 @ Vuugo)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($116.75 @ Vuugo)
Total: $2172.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-08 14:33 EST-0500

With this list in mind and the information we have gone over would this be sufficient or would you guys think there could be some changes to be made to improve this build even farther?


 
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