Please rate my build: old parts + upgrades!

[Mighty-Lu-Bu]

I currently have a pretty decent gaming rig that I built about 3 1/2 years ago. About every 3 years or so I upgrade and the time has finally come to do so! Below is my part list which includes everything from the case all the way to the monitor that I use. Please note that components in bold are components that are either already installed on my current build or components that I have already purchased as upgrades.

Also note that I went back and fourth with air cooling my CPU as opposed to getting an AIO cooler, but I have ultimately decided to get an air cooled system. Anyways, here is my build, please let me know what you think!


Case: White Phanteks P400S (or a Phanteks P400) Eclipse ATX Mid-Tower with tempered glass w/ a front Thermalright TY-147B 120mm fan and a rear Thermalright TY147B 120mm fan- push, pull configuration

Motherboard: Gigabyte Aorus GA-Z270X-Gaming 7

CPU: Intel i7-7700K

CPU Cooler: Thermalright Le Grand Macho RT

GPU: EVGA GTX 1070 Superclocked

RAM: 16GB G.Skill Trident Z DDR4 3200 Mhz, Timing 14-14-14-34, Cas Latency 14

PSU: Corsair HXi Series HX750i 80+ Platinum

Storage: 2x Crucial MX300 525GB SSDs

Optical: White DOY External DVD Drive + CD and DVD Burner USB 3.0

Audio: Sound Blaster Z PCIe Gaming Sound Card paired with White Audio-Technica ATH-M50x headphones. USB White Blue Snowball iCE Condenser Microphone (I honestly hate this Microphone- looks really cool, but I am looking for a new one). Microlab FC20 40 Watt Subwoofer with Stereo Speakers w Digital Signal Processor (DSP) and Rotating RF Remote Control (White)

Video: White ASUS 24-inch Full HD UltraSlim Gaming Monitor [VX238H-W] 1080p, 1ms Rapid Response Time

 

[Mighty-Lu-Bu]

Surprised that no one has chimed in on this

 

[Flow]

What's there to rate? It's more or less a new build. And a good one for gaming. I fail to notice the 3,5 years old parts in your list though. Or it must be the hsf and fans?

 

[Mighty-Lu-Bu]

I just updated my system specs for my profile- that is what I currently have and will be upgrading from. Like I said before, some of the parts I will still be using for my new build. Hopefully that helps!

 

[ERazer]

solid build


*why not open back headphone? m50x amazing pair (i used for my travels) open back is better for immersion

just saw your updated spec

 

[Mighty-Lu-Bu]

Why is open back better for immersion as opposed to closed back with noise canceling? Isn't that better for immersion?

 

[ERazer]

open backs are more airy, feels more surround sound not like fake sound cards makes. Plenty articles for open vs close headphones. I dont recommened it if you have noisy enviroment.

 

[peche]

Surprised that no one has chimed in on this

Build parts are great, the one you have is solid enough, but upgrades are always desired, we are never happy with what we already have,

about the parts:
Processor + motherboard + Ram sounds great,
about video card, i'll choose gigabyte over most other brands for video cards and motherboards, cuz they have never disappointing me before, so Gigabyte everything
PSU and case are terrific, no need to upgrade the on your sys specs already.
i dont like that much PCI sound cards, the board you listed come with a decent audio chip,

Regards,

 

[DeathtoGnomes]

open backs are more airy, feels more surround sound not like fake sound cards makes. Plenty articles for open vs close headphones. I dont recommened it if you have noisy enviroment.

What does a fake sound card sound like? I bet its real quiet.

Why not go for a 1080 card?

 

[ERazer]

What does a fake sound card sound like? I bet its real quiet.

Why not go for a 1080 card?

have you tried open back? a decent open back headphone

 

[Mighty-Lu-Bu]

Build parts are great, the one you have is solid enough, but upgrades are always desired, we are never happy with what we already have,

about the parts:
Processor + motherboard + Ram sounds great,
about video card, i'll choose gigabyte over most other brands for video cards and motherboards, cuz they have never disappointing me before, so Gigabyte everything
PSU and case are terrific, no need to upgrade the on your sys specs already.
i dont like that much PCI sound cards, the board you listed come with a decent audio chip,

Regards,

I really like my NZXT Phantom 530 case that I have right now, but I want a mid-tower now to not only save a bit of space, but also to get better cooling. I was all about full-tower and super-tower cases, but I learned that the bigger the case doesn't necessarily mean the better the cooling. While the Phantom 530 is a great case, it doesn't beat the modern case designs that have a PSU shroud which can be very beneficial in cooling- hence where the Phanteks P400. Plus who doesn't like tempered glass? I have always had acrylic and it always scratches.

I have had that Sound Card for awhile now and while I think it is good, it isn't anything special and I might just end up selling it since the on board audio on my new mobo will probably match it. I had an R9 390 Sapphire Nitro that I sold to my buddy and I bought the EVGA GTX 1070 superclocked- I basically got it for half off. Out of many reviews, it was consistently one of the highest rated GTX 1070 cards so I ended up going with that. In all the games I play I actually noticed an immediate performance increase when I upgraded to my 1070, despite what many people think, the 1070 is actually a better card than the R9 390 (even better than the R9 390X, Fury and Fury X). I saw a 15-25 FPS increase in games like Skyrim, Doom, Metro Last Light Redux etc. which was very welcoming. While GTX 1080 and the GTX 1080ti sound tempting, I think eventually I will get a second GTX 1070 in SLI because all of the games that I play have SLI support. This would give me very similar performance to a Titan X a least from what I have seen.

Originally I was going to upgrade to a Ryzen CPU (probably the Ryzen 7 1800x), but with its average 1080p performance I was quickly turned off. I have also heard that Ryzen's mobo support has been absolutely abysmal- maybe it can be my next upgrade in the next 3 years or so, but all I do is game and it doesn't make sense to get the Ryzen 7 1800x when the i7-7700k is about $130 cheaper and decimates it in gaming performance.

 

[Mighty-Lu-Bu]

OK now I am absolutely torn after reading this article: http://www.toptengamer.com/amd-ryzen-7-1700-vs-intel-i7-7700k-1800x/

The Ryzen 7 1700 is about $20 cheaper (on some sites its $30 less), but if I can achieve similar gaming performance to the i7-7700k is it worth it?

 

[phanbuey]

OK now I am absolutely torn after reading this article: http://www.toptengamer.com/amd-ryzen-7-1700-vs-intel-i7-7700k-1800x/

The Ryzen 7 1700 is about $20 cheaper (on some sites its $30 less), but if I can achieve similar gaming performance to the i7-7700k is it worth it?

it cant - you should go silicon lottery (siliconlottery.com) and just get a 7700K that can go at 5 ghz... nothing will touch that for gaming.

If youy want to do anything else then a 1700 is ok... but i would still buy one that can do at least 4Ghz, otherwise its just not that great for gaming.

 

[Mighty-Lu-Bu]

it cant - you should go silicon lottery (siliconlottery.com) and just get a 7700K that can go at 5 ghz... nothing will touch that for gaming.

If youy want to do anything else then a 1700 is ok... but i would still buy one that can do at least 4Ghz, otherwise its just not that great for gaming.

Then how do we explain the similar performance in gaming tests at 1080p between Ryzen 1700 and the i7-7700k?

 

[phanbuey]

Then how do we explain the similar performance in gaming tests at 1080p between Ryzen 1700 and the i7-7700k?

what tests are you reading? most show a -25% loss

 

[Keullo-e]

It would be a fine upgrade IMO. I have P400S windowed myself, and it does already have some scratches.

Though at least I think that having a full-glass sidepanel would be difficult to keep 100% fingerprint-free. At least for me it would. But I can recommend my P400S, a damn fine case!

 

[Mighty-Lu-Bu]

Taking everything into consideration, I am heavily considering either the Ryzen 7 1700 or the 1700X. That would still be a pretty tremendous upgrade to my current FX 8350 and it would definitely give my system some "future-proofing". I have been doing research and it seems that Ryzen performance has been increasing almost weekly with BIOS updates, game patches, etc. The 1700 is considered the "sweet spot" due to its price and performance, but if I can somehow get the 1700X for a good price (maybe from siliconlottery.com as mentioned by Phanbuey) I can probably overclock that bad boy to 4.025Ghz. If I went the 1700 route, I am pretty confident that I could get it to 4.00Ghz and with both of these processors as these speeds, they really don't lag too far behind the i7-7700k. I know there are a lot of things to consider, but I have been reading a ton of articles over the last 4 hours or so and it almost seems worth it.

 

[peche]

Stick with the i7 and dont loose your time with all ryzen craps... live your days easy!
also another important fact about intel, resale value is better, compared to amd....


Regards,

 

[BarbaricSoul]

Personally. I'd go for the R5 1600X over the 1700 if gaming is the primary purpose of the computer. And because of the $100 premium for the 7700k, I'd go for the R5 over the i7.

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_5_1600X/11.html

 

[Mighty-Lu-Bu]

Personally. I'd go for the R5 1600X over the 1700 if gaming is the primary purpose of the computer. And because of the $100 premium for the 7700k, I'd go for the R5 over the i7.

https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/AMD/Ryzen_5_1600X/11.html

Yeah right now I am deciding between the R5 1600X and the R7 1700. I think both are great and I have seen overclocked R7 1700s either out perform or going toe-to-toe with the 1800X. There seems to be a really big Intel bias out there and while I could care less, I can't really deny the benefits of going with a Ryzen CPU. The R7 1700 after an OC is actually not that far off from an i7-7700k performance wise in gaming. Another thing to take note, is that they literally have been improving in performance on a weekly basis and AMD made an exclusive partnership with Bethesda (one of my favorite developers). What this means is that we will see major Ryzen support and AMD GPU support with Skyrim Special Edition, Fallout 4 and any other Bethesda games. Both of these Ryzen CPUs are in my price range and whatever one I am going to get, I am going to overclock.

 

[Hood]

Yeah right now I am deciding between the R5 1600X and the R7 1700. I think both are great and I have seen overclocked R7 1700s either out performance or going toe-to-toe with the 1800X. There seems to be a really big Intel bias out there and while I could care less, I can't really deny the benefits of going with a Ryzen CPU. The R7 1700 after an OC is actually not that far off from an i7-7700k performance wise in gaming. Another thing to take note, is that they literally have been improving in performance on a weekly basis and AMD made an exclusive partnership with Bethesda (one of my favorite developers). What this means is that we will see major Ryzen support and AMD GPU support with Skyrim Special Edition, Fallout 4 and any other Bethesda games. Both of these Ryzen CPUs are in my price range and whatever one I am going to get, I am going to overclock.

The large bias towards Intel is probably because, they just work (usually). However, that could get boring if you're a hardware geek that likes to tinker and solve problems. Ryzen is more interesting because it requires more tinkering to get it running perfectly, especially when overclocking, and when you're done, you have a faster system for less money (the whole point of OCing). So Intel if you just need it to work, AMD if you have the time to tweak it properly (and like to save money).

 

[Mighty-Lu-Bu]

The large bias towards Intel is probably because, they just work (usually). However, that could get boring if you're a hardware geek that likes to tinker and solve problems. Ryzen is more interesting because it requires more tinkering to get it running perfectly, especially when overclocking, and when you're done, you have a faster system for less money (the whole point of OCing). So Intel if you just need it to work, AMD if you have the time to tweak it properly (and like to save money).

If I go this route, I will OC it right when I get it and I am pretty sure with my setup I will be able to keep it cool.

 

[Frick]

How's the sound card when compared to the motherboard? I want details.

(some day all my XFi Platinums will die, so I might as well look at new sound cards)

 

[Mighty-Lu-Bu]

How's the sound card when compared to the motherboard? I want details.

(some day all my XFi Platinums will die, so I might as well look at new sound cards)

I am not an audiophile by any means, but in most cases the sound card is better than a lot of onboard audio situations. That being said, motherboards have come a long away and a lot of the new motherboards have really good to great sound cards now. Also, there is that age old debate regarding internal sound cards vs external amps and DACs.

 

[Frick]

That being said, motherboards have come a long away and a lot of the new motherboards have really good to great sound cards now. Also, there is that age out debate of internal sound cards vs external amps and DACs.

I know, which is why I asked how it was compared to the motherboard.