Is this build still good, and your opinions? v3.0

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loonybin0

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Dec 19, 2012
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Ok so for various reasons my build from v2.0 never actually happened - that's life.


Anyway I'm back a year later with the same desire to build a high performance, future-proof gaming machine. Here's what I have so far:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($349.89 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: NZXT - Kraken X62 Rev 2 98.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($156.29 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - Fatal1ty Z370 Professional Gaming i7 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($286.57 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LED 64GB (4 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($686.81 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Pro 1.0TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($500.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Toshiba - X300 8TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC Black Edition Video Card ($754.98 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design - Arc Midi R2 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $139.99)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - PRIME Titanium 850W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
Optical Drive: LG - WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($0.00)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit (Purchased For $100.00)
Software: Microsoft - Office 365 Home (1 Year Subscription) Software
Other: LG 16x WH16NS40 Internal Blu-ray Writer Bundle with 1 Pack M-DISC BD and Cable Accessories (Supports CD DVD BD BDXL MDISC) ($74.99)
Total: $3270.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-26 13:53 EDT-0400

Notes/Questions:
[listNum]
■PCPartpicker says that the CPU cooler is too large for my case, but I'm pretty sure the front panel on the arc midi is for 2 140mm fans. Is this actually a problem?
■As far as the M.2 SSD, I've read that even if the pin alignment works with the slots on the board, that doesn't guarantee the highest bandwidth. This board says it supports M key type 2280, which is what the drive is, so I'm assuming that should allow the highest performance? And the board supports NVMe boot, so there should be no problem using the 970 as my primary drive?
■Previously I had gotten comments saying 64GB RAM is too much. I can appreciate that but I am still strongly leaning that way. That said, after a brief search I can't find anything much cheaper than $680-ish for a 4x16 pack. Am I looking in the wrong place?
■This case has a side window, so I did make a couple of choices that favored rgb lighting over value. I'd like to keep it that way, but if something has to go on the chopping block, that would probably be first.
■I am planning for now to keep using the monitor, mouse, and keyboard I currently use. They're a few years old but still in decent shape at the moment.
[/listNum]
I don't think I forgot to mention anything so please let me know what you think. Criticism and suggestions welcome.
 
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volkgren

volkgren

Judicious
Aug 13, 2017
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I'll answer what I can.

Looks like the case can only support 240mm rad. Just because it will fit 2x140mm fans doesn't mean the radiator will fit also.

I'd recommend the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M Tempered Glass case.

You will find better, faster RAM at lower capacities. 64GB is a waste of money if you ask me. 32GB is also a waste, but less so.

I don't understand why you would want to find 64GB of cheap RAM instead of 16GB or 32GB of really good, really fast RAM. So, you're on your own there.
 
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4745454b

4745454b

Titan
Moderator
Apr 29, 2006
29,241
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Why didn't 2.0 work? How did life interfere? If it's for budget reasons I suggest you dial things back a bit. You have parts in there that won't increase performance much for the money you are spending.

The cooler is the first thing I would change. First, it's $150+. Second, there is a listed compatibility problem with the case. Don't try to jury rig it, just change it to something cheaper that will work with your case. You can buy plenty of good coolers for $50-$100, saving you $50+. Board is another. What does the ~$290 board get you that the lower end boards don't? When I built my PC years ago I spend $175ish on the board because it gave me more SATA ports which I needed at the time. I bet you anything you can save another $100+ by doing the same and never notice. 64GBs of ram? Why? Even 32GB is overkill. Why spend ~$700 on ram? Drop down to a really good 16GB kit for $200 and you've saved another $500. I don't disagree with the drive choices, but you can save more money if you give up some performance and drop down to an EVO drive. The 860EVO in either format is $268 on newegg right now. Yes it's slower, but considering it's nearly half the cost with not that much slower it's a better buy. Finally the PSU is wildly overkill like your 64GBs of ram. I'm assuming you already had it?
 
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L

loonybin0

Honorable
Dec 19, 2012
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I will do my best to answer your questions/concerns

    ■ 2.0 didn't work for... reasons. Finances did play a small part, but I was primarily just too busy to deal with it.
    ■ I already have the case and I like its understated appearance. My current machine is in an arc mini and it looks just fine, so upgrading to the midi seemed like the thing to do. I am not going to change this part.
    ■ My current machine has 16GB RAM and I often enough still have performance issues because of RAM faults. Now that's probably in part do to playing games in alpha that don't have good memory management, but the point of a high-end machine is to not have to worry about that. I would prefer overkill now than risk being too little a few years down the road (I'm expecting a 5yrs minimum life expectancy from this machine). tl;dr: I have 16GB, it's not enough, and I don't want performance limitations because of RAM.
    ■ Regarding the cooler, the 240mm version of that is the NZXT Kraken X52 Rev 2 for $131 . I'd be fine with that.
    ■ Regarding the mobo, I was looking for something that had these features:
    - Compatibility with LGA 1151 (300 series) CPUs - Z370 and the like Coffee Lake procs, hence the 8700K
    - 4+ RAM slots, with 64GB+ capacity
    - At least one USB 3.1 Gen2 Type-C connector
    - built-in bluetooth
    - onboard a/c wifi
    - An M.2 type M connector for the SSD
    I didn't see a ton of boards that have all those.
    ■ I suppose I would consider dropping a bit on the SSD. Thing is I've tried looking but I can't seem to figure out exactly how the Samsung numbering works. I've been assuming higher numbers & PRO are better than lower numbers & EVO. So for example the 960 PRO is (theoretically) better than the 950 PRO and 960 EVO, but how do the 800s fit in? Is the 860 EVO better than the 950 EVO or PRO? People on the internet seem to be divided (what a shocker).

Thanks for your help.
 
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4745454b

4745454b

Titan
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Apr 29, 2006
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32GBs of ram would still be overkill. I suggested a cheaper board because most people don't need all the features in the more expensive ones. I'm not sure why you need built in bluetooth or wifi, but if you do then you are limited in what you can get.

I mentioned the things I did because what I see most often is people listing the parts for a monster machine, failing to get the money for it, then repeating this every 6mo or year. Get your foot in the door. $3k machines aren't really worth it. If you can save $1k+ and actually buy it this time then great. A $2k machine now is worth more/better than a $3k machine that never gets built. You an always upgrade things later. It's a personal choice as to what needs to get cut so the machine gets built. I listed ideas. Which ones are worth it to you is something you need to decide.
 
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Lucky_SLS

Lucky_SLS

Glorious
Dec 16, 2016
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So something like this would also be good :

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($347.00 @ SuperBiiz)
CPU Cooler: NZXT - Kraken X62 Rev 2 98.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($146.39 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: MSI - Z370 GAMING PRO CARBON AC ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance RGB 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($385.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: HP - EX920 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Black 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($182.99 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC Black Edition Video Card ($749.99 @ B&H)
Case: Fractal Design - Meshify C TG ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.97 @ Newegg Business)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($95.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $2418.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-27 01:00 EDT-0400
 
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L

loonybin0

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Dec 19, 2012
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Ok, well, I scaled back on several items and something amazing happened:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor ($0.00)
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z370 AORUS GAMING WIFI (rev. 1.0) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($0.00)
Memory: Kingston - FURY 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2400 Memory ($366.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($267.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Black 4TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($184.45 @ Newegg)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB FTW Hybrid Gaming Video Card ($589.00 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design - Arc Midi R2 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case (Purchased For $139.99)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($104.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG - WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($0.00)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit (Purchased For $100.00)
Software: Microsoft - Office 365 Home (1 Year Subscription) Software
Other: COMBO: Intel Core i7-8700K Coffee Lake 6-Core 3.7 GHz (4.7 GHz Turbo) , GIGABYTE Z370 AORUS GAMING WIFI (rev. 1.0) ($474.98)
Other: LG WH16NS40 16X Super Multi M-Disc Blu-ray BDXL DVD CD Internal Burner Writer Drive + FREE 1pk Mdisc BD + Nero Software + Cables & Mounting Screws ($74.99)
Total: $2408.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-05-27 19:13 EDT-0400

Note: I'm letting the GPU be my one extravagance. Do I need a water-cooled GPU? No. If you feel like nitpicking with it, be my guest. Including this next bit from a review for my own reference:
"*IMPORTANT*
HOWEVER, there are some reviews complaining about buzzing from the pump. This happened to me until I actually read the manual. There is a card in the box that specifically says, that the tubes going into the radiator should be positioned at the BOTTOM when mounting. DO THIS. If you have good hearing you will hear the buzz if the tubes are positioned on top. "

Thoughts?
 
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L

loonybin0

Honorable
Dec 19, 2012
19
0
10,520
I suppose an important question is whether or not I can fit all that in that case. As I said I already have the case and I think it's a good one, so if space is a problem, I would drop one of the fans/components first.
I thought this was one of the more helpful videos showing the inside of the case:

[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ujH42NYOgbI"][/video]

I'm not going to have more than the Blu-ray burner and the WD to fit in front so I figure I can just ditch the drive cages for space.
 
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