Looking for a pc under $1200

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I feel $1200 is enough to go all out on a beast pc that will be great for years to come. Since gpu prices have come down not sure if it is worth getting a gtx 1070 ti over a 1080
Heres what im think
i7 8700 or r7 1800x
matx or atx
16gb ram 2400mhz or 3000mhz
gtx 1070 ti or 1080
ssd only will have windows and apps that i use alot
semi modular psu black cables plz
Overall im stuck on picking parts and thanks in advance to those who helped.
 
Solution
The 8600k will be even better if you DON'T OC, and a big part of why I recommended it. Keep in mind btw, you need to get a cooler for the 8600k. I'm sorry, I may sound biased, but I never recommend Ryzen CPUs for pure gaming rigs. Even their new 2600 series still has the same problem the previous models had. They do not maintain a tight FPS window, and they require high speed RAM. Plus you need to OC them to the max to even get close to an Intel in similar price range. They fluctuate wildly in FPS, often dipping quite low. The Ryzens are OK for multipurpose rigs solely because they have more cores and can multi task better, but you'll be compromising gaming performance.

NEVER cling to just PCPartPicker for pricing. Often times they...
If you mean the non k 8700, I would definitely go with the 8600k instead. It's still 6 core like the 8700, but clocked at 3.6GHz vs 3.2, and is overclockable. Plus it's quite a bit cheaper at about $245 vs $323. The only thing it lacks over the 8700 is HyperThreading, which doesn't help much in most games (assuming this is primarily a gaming rig since you posted it in the PC Gaming forum).

On RAM speed, it's a must to buy high speed RAM for any Ryzen CPU, whereas not as necessary with an Intel CPU. Still though, look for good prices on 3000 or even 3200 speed RAM, like Newegg's email subscriber promo deals. I got my 2x8 GB 3200 Corsair Vengeance LPX from them for $170 many months ago, and it's still a pretty good price even today.

On a 1070 Ti vs 1080, they're fairly close in performance. When I bought mine GPUs were just starting to get back down in price after mining, so the 1080 was a way better deal than the newer 1070 Ti. Now that 1070 Ti prices have come way down though, you may be better off with one of those. I highly recommend the EVGA brand on anything Nvidia.

I use a Cryorig H7 on my 8700k, it's the best performance per dollar. It idles at under 30c on normal temp days, and about 35c on 85 degree days. You'll only need a 500w PSU for a 1070 Ti, 550w for a 1080.

Here's a trick on how to keep your Nvidia based rig running games better and cooler with less wear and tear. DO NOT enable High Performance mode in Windows Power Plan like every gamer out there says to do. All you need do is DL the free tool Nvidia Inspector. It has a built in profile for pretty much every game. One of the settings you can select is called "Power management mode". If you set this to "Prefer maximum performance" in a game profile, it will automatically launch that game in High Performance mode. The beauty of this is your CPU will go automatically back down to 800Mhz at idle speed after exiting the game, making it MUCH cooler, quieter, and healthier long term.
 

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Not planning to overclock but the 8600k does seem like a good option. In terms if ryzen which cpu comes close with the 8600k in games. I will be pairing these with a 1080 because on pcpartpicker the 1080 is $494 and the 1070ti is $455. Also what would you recommend for case and mobo. Right now i have a matx mbo and case not sure if i should get an atx case. One more thing, would getting a 128gb ssd be good for windows and apps that i use alot or is it better to get a 240gb ssd
 
The 8600k will be even better if you DON'T OC, and a big part of why I recommended it. Keep in mind btw, you need to get a cooler for the 8600k. I'm sorry, I may sound biased, but I never recommend Ryzen CPUs for pure gaming rigs. Even their new 2600 series still has the same problem the previous models had. They do not maintain a tight FPS window, and they require high speed RAM. Plus you need to OC them to the max to even get close to an Intel in similar price range. They fluctuate wildly in FPS, often dipping quite low. The Ryzens are OK for multipurpose rigs solely because they have more cores and can multi task better, but you'll be compromising gaming performance.

NEVER cling to just PCPartPicker for pricing. Often times they will not show your best options. Subscribe to Newegg's email subscriber promos. I regularly see the 1070 Ti lately for $450. Their latest email promo link shows an EVGA 1070 Ti for $470, and it's generally shown lower than that when you get a promo email from them. Now granted that is not $455, but that's an EVGA that normally sells for $570.
https://promotions.newegg.com/neemail/latest/index-landing.aspx

That said, keep in mind there are lots of rumors floating around lately that Nvidia will be debuting their 1100 series in Sept. I know, just another rumor, but this time it's thought to be more likely because of invites Nvidia has made with big wigs recently, something they usually do before a big reveal. Even if the new models are too expensive, it could lower prices on the 1000 series even more.

On case, I prefer to prioritize airflow over silence. Reason being, the only time a gaming PC is really making a noticeable amount of noise is when you're playing a game, and usually the game sound drowns it out. The only exception is stealth games that are hardware intense. I play tons of AC Origins on my 8700k, EVGA 1080 SC rig though, and my case has 3 120mms front, 2 120mm back, 2 140mms top, and 1 120mm side, and no solid panels in front of the fans like on silent cases, and it's never too loud or distracting. My case is an Antec DF-85. I love it because it still beats every case on air cooling temps, doesn't compromise cooling for convenience. B y that I mean it uses straight side rail HDD mounts instead of sideways mounts that block a lot of airflow. It also has variable fan speed on every fan, and filters on all intake fans which are easy to remove by swinging out the front doors the 3 front fans are mounted in. Unfortunately the DF-85 or a modern version of it are not made anymore, they went to mid size cases with less fans and space.

Here's a good article on cases with great airflow. https://www.xtremegaminerd.com/best-airflow-pc-case/

As far as SSD size or style, my rule of thumb is to ether get one just for OS and programs, in which case 120-128 GB is plenty, with a 40 GB partition just for the OS, or up to 500-512 GB if you plan to install any games on it. With the file size of today's games, 250-256 GB drives are kind of pointless once you take up 100 GB or more in OS and programs. You'd only be able to install about a half a dozen modern games at most. As for style, I'm eventually going to get a 512 GB m.2 drive, because my MB supports it and they are screaming fast, and can be had for as low as $170 (Amazon's price on the Samsung 960 EVO 500 GB for their Prime sale). By screaming fast I mean over 3000 Mb/s read and 2000 Mb/s write, literally 4-6 times as fast as a typical SSD. This means it's a nice way to speed up your OS and any programs, including times of anything installed or uninstalled on it. Of course it also greatly speeds up boot and reboot time, and the game level loading time of any game installed on it. It will even increase texture streaming in some games, but there, I'm mostly talking badly coded games.


 
Solution
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($179.00 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock - B360 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($81.58 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial - MX500 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($97.85 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card ($494.00 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design - Focus G (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($52.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - EVO Edition 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.90 @ B&H)
Total: $1185.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-25 23:26 EDT-0400
 
If you don't plan to overclock, the 8400 is a very good choice and great for the money. It will run at boost between 3.8 and 4.0 depending on cores used. The FPS difference between a 8400 and 8700k is minimal. If you play at 1440p almost no difference.
 

I think this paints it in more realistic perspective. The 8700k destroys it in CPU intense titles, and even in non CPU intense ones, unless you go with pretty fast RAM and a Z370 OCable MB, it lags behind a fair bit too. So if he is going to use a slower CPU and not OC, I highly recommend not doing the same with the RAM and MB. Also, notice how the 8400 fluctuates way more in FPS, at times dipping to as low as half the FPS in some titles. It's not as consistently bad as Ryzen fluctuation, but in the games it does it most in, it's much worse. A 8600k would be far better balanced with a GPU like the 1080, and it doesn't cost that much more than a 8400. If you think the 333Mhz difference in RAM speed is solely accountable for the disparity, think again.

[video="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwUEVEbZxI4"][/video]

 
Digital Foundry is not only reputable, they show the bench in real time so you know just how the performance is, vs guessing at some numbers slapped up, not knowing what part of the game it's taken from.

This is how bench results are often skewed purposely in favor of whomever greases the palms of those conducting them. They are not a thorough way of showing results, you have to take everything on faith.

It's also why many whom buy based on static benches end up complaining about performance being less than expected, because they really don't know what they're buying based on mere numbers.

Anyway, though my post was in response to your comment, it was for the benefit of the OP. A 8600k is far better balanced to a GPU the level of a 1080, and the mere $40 more it costs is trivial given the 3 plus years he'll be using it.
 
Real time? Its 4 results on 1 screen, lol. What were their settings for each? Anadtech and tomshardware are the 2 best review sites out and both prove that video to be crap. Use whatever metric You want but the result is 300mhz doesn't give that type of fps boost digital foundries is portraying. You are saying a OC from 4.3 to 5.0 is going to net another 50+ FPS, not even fathomable. Where are You buying a 8600k for $40 more than a 8400? I need to shop there. Its at least $65. Now if the OP has the money and wants to buy the fastest CPU, of,course the 8600k is marginally faster than an 8400, but if he has to sacrafice money elsewhere in the build its a waste.
 
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor ($194.02 @ Newegg Marketplace)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! - Pure Rock Slim 35.1 CFM CPU Cooler ($23.90 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: ASRock - B360M Pro4 Micro ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($68.69 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg Business)
Storage: Team - L5 LITE 3D 240GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($49.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($54.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card ($429.99 @ B&H)
Case: Cougar - MX330 ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - EVO Edition 620W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($39.90 @ B&H)
Total: $1036.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-07-26 14:15 EDT-0400

If you have a storage HDD now you can drop that and get it under $1000 now
 

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I have a hdd in my current pc that i will be using and the ssd will only be for os and maybe other stuff so that can be 128 gb. Depending on the money i have left i might be able to get a 8600k or go all out with a 8700k and a 1080/ti or something lol
 

If you don't even know real time means while the games are played, showing what segment of the game is being played, and the variance of FPS, it's kinda pointless even trying to have an intelligent conversation with you about it. Nor do you seem to get that there is software that can merge that data into one video after it's captured in real time. DF uses equal game settings like everyone does, and if there are any different hardware specs, they say so.

What you seem oblivious to is that the fluctuations that occur in frame drops in various parts of the game are far more relevant and diverse than stating settings used, because basically no one tests with dissimilar settings.

It's common that people assume static benches show the same results everywhere in a game, but clearly the DF video proves otherwise. You can thumb your nose at it all you want, but it only makes you look obtuse.

Sites that only do static benches usually are clamoring to get their benches out first when new hardware releases, just to get hit points, because that's what determines ad space value, which is what pays for their site. The ones that take their time to make a video actually SHOWING you how the game plays care more about truth than money.

Clearly you don't know how the benchmarking game works.


You're going to get more realistic pricing if you calculate all this after the 1100 series releases. This is all a bit premature really. You should prioritize getting a decent GPU, CPU, and RAM for anything primarily gaming oriented, and think about how well the spec is balanced.

Balanced spec always plays smoother, with less frame drops, stutter and freezing. You don't want slower parts causing faster parts to wait for rendering data.
 
Clearly you don't understand how ubsurd your claim is that a 300mhz boost on a CPU is giving a "supposed" FPS boost of going from a 1060 to a 1080. Its not even possible that 300 mhz is going to change that much in a games FPS. Again, you are having me believe that if I get an 8600k and overclock it I will get 50-80 FPS more than an 8400. Not possible.
 

You really don't understand OR pay attention. I'm merely stating that the 8400 has a serious FPS fluctuation problem in some games, with very low frame drops. This is the kind of thing that causes stutter and even freezing in some games. This is why static benches that only capture points in the game where FPS are close are very misleading. I could say that a 1000 times though, and you probably still wouldn't get it, because you're so hung up on static benches that only so a screenshot length example.
 

I think when the conversation gets to the point of childish insults vs having something on topic to say, it's reached it's end. And by that I mean I will report you for breaking forum rules should you continue to do so.

The video I posted clearly shows what I've explained to be happening. You could have just said you don't believe it, but instead you call me illogical and senseless for no reason. What's senseless is claiming static benches that show a fraction example are proof of those kind of frame rates throughout a game. You really don't understand how thorough benching is done, and you don't seem to care how your lack of knowledge in that regard affects the decisions of others.

 

No, for labeling me personally as "lacking logical sense". The video clearly shows it has such fluctuation problems. You're simply in denial of it. Your static examples only show one moment in time, and from a part of the game we don't know.

It's like the old saying, "You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink".

 
Well, they are so thorough that they labeled the 8700k as an I5. Guess nothing gets past them. Again, you think an 8700k and 8600k get near identical results while the 8700k employs hyperthreading, but an 8600k and 8400 are vastly different due to a 300mhz difference? It doesn't even pass a common sense test. So, if that's what you wanna hear, no I don't believe it.