Suggestions on build

[Agility]

Hey guys, it's been 7 years since i last changed my computer. Current specs can be viewed. As i am currently running 1080Ti, would be porting over my GPU to the new system.

Prices are in SINGAPORE DOLLAR.

USD to SGD = 1USD to 1.32SGD (Based on the lowest money exchange rates in my country)

Bundle Prices Motherboard + Processor (Intel 8700K / 8600K) - HOW TO READ = Motherboard ( 8700k / 8600k)
Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Gaming 7 ($891 / $742)
Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Gaming 5 ($812 / $663)
ASROCK Z370 Taichi ($843 / $694)

Ram (My country don't sell C14 for 3000Mhz and above)
[Trident Z RGB] F4-3000C16D-16GTZR - $329
[Trident Z RGB] F4-3200C16D-16GTZR - $359

Storage (Am currently running Samsung 840 PRO 256GB, looking to upgrade)
Samsung 960 PRO NVMe M.2 SSD 512GB - $428

PSU (Will prefer to use Single Cards until SLI/xFire becomes attractive again)
Cooler Master V1200 Platinum - $349
Corsair HX850i Platinum Modular - $269

Case (In Singapore, temperatures are an usually up to 37 degrees in the afternoon at 26 degrees at night, thus the need for more airflow)
Obsidian Series® 500D Premium Mid-Tower Case - $218
Crystal Series™ 570X RGB ATX Mid-Tower Case - $275
Thermaltake Core P5 - $198

Cooling (For cooling my CPU due to warm weathers in my country)
Corsair Hydro Series™ H150i PRO RGB 360mm Liquid CPU Cooler - $255

Sound Card (Optional, if motherboard comes with ESS9018Chip)
Sound BlasterX AE-5 - $229

As i have not been following the news for hardware, i am currently not sure if getting a sound card is viable. Begging you guys for help to tweak on what i can spend more on or less

P.S: Would WELCOME all suggestions.

P.S.S Appreciate everyone giving their inputs. In my country, processor + motherboard bundles together at a much cheaper rate. I have edited the costs between 8600k and 8700k based on inputs by our TPU members. Thank you.

I will be intending to upgrade from 2560 X 1440 (60Hz) to a 3440 X 1440 (120Hz) monitor when they start releasing.

 

[ikeke]

Downsize on PSU, would be my suggestion. 650W would be sufficient.

https://seasonic.com/prime-ultra-titanium

 

[Vayra86]

I think its clear you aim for a high performance level and look/feel of this rig. So my suggestions will be a mix of optimal performance with a touch of common sense.

Motherboard: Gaming 7 is a great board VRM wise. 5 not so much, it isn't great value at that price point. I will point you to the AsRock Taichi which is best value for money in the (enthusiast level) VRM department right now, and also has all other possible features. For OC, it has been an awesome performer for most everyone. @Vario will support that statement, and I run a slightly cheaper version of the Taichi with virtually the same contents in the shape of the Gaming K6, which is also a very good choice.

If you want to look at budget and still not lose any OC capability, then grab an Extreme4. In all fairness, AsRock has Z370 on lockdown at each bracket in terms of feature/price/performance. There is a significant savings to be had in motherboards as you can see. In the midrange there is only one real competitor in the shape of the MSI Gaming Pro Carbon, but that is not an OC miracle or anything, it just offers the richest feature set at that price point.

PSU: @ikeke said it well, prioritize quality over watts. EVGA's Supernova G2/3 or a Seasonic are safe/optimal choices here. 650-750W will be more than enough headroom for single GPU, you could even add another 250w GPU no problem. If you want to do exotic stuff in terms of OC, then yes go bigger but I doubt that. The i7 8700k will pull 150w tops @ 1.36v, and going much higher will require a delid, no realistic amount of cooling will really help otherwise.

CPU: what is your primary purpose for the rig? If its gaming, the 8600k can be a budget friendly alternative without a performance sacrifice. HT has shown some minimal benefits in specific titles but real cores and clocks are what really matters, regardless of your FPS target. The 8600k will be more likely to hit a slightly higher OC - 4.8 ~ 5.0 for the 8700k, and 4.9 ~ 5.1 for the 8600k I think is an accurate 'blanket statement'. Considering the price gap, that may be worth doing.

RAM: Price/perf, 3200C16 is a sweet spot. Raw perf, 3200C14 is optimal for Coffee Lake.

Sound card: get a board with a Realtek ALC1220 and no, you don't need one. The onboard is ridiculously good and almost all Z370 boards carry it with a separate audio section on the board.

Cooling: of course big degree of personal preference, but I cool my 8700k on air and you don't need more than that. Water AIO will not benefit the OC in a meaningful way, only custom water and big rads can, but then they only really pay off when you delid - but so does a big air tower.

Storage: another important price/perf or common sense consideration here: M2 versus regular SATA SSDs - if you don't do professional work that involves moving large (1GB+) files all the time, do not invest in M2 or PCIe SSDs. Just get regular, and consider the Crucial MX500 or Samsung 850 EVO, with Crucial leading in price/GB.

Case: Are you keeping that Phantom? Consider case airflow options well, they can do a lot for CPU/GPU temps and there will be a higher power draw in that case than what you have now. Scale up accordingly

You can check my specs for some more insight.

For motherboard comparisons go here

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IY6W6YhyjnzSvi8BqEqiK1xykSiTDF2Lt1FO8cNhI6I/edit?usp=sharing

 

[CrAsHnBuRnXp]

Kill the sound card and everything looks badass! You typcally dont need a sound card anymore as onboard is way more than sufficient. Unless of course youre some sort of audiophile.

Didnt notice the PSU! That is WAY overkill. Downgrade that as previously suggested and youre golden. You only need 1000W PSU if youre running like 3-4 video cards.

 

[Vario]

@Vayra86 Nice post. Important to note some of the Z370 AsRocks (yours and mine) have Fairchild VRM and others have Sinopower. You can tell by looking at the exposed ICs near your Ram slots as those theoretically use the same as under the VRM heatsink proper. Fairchild has a better reputation, in all likelihood it doesn't matter much. I have the Sinopowers. The VRM on these AsRocks is overkill already.

 

[Agility]

I think its clear you aim for a high performance level and look/feel of this rig. So my suggestions will be a mix of optimal performance with a touch of common sense.

Motherboard: Gaming 7 is a great board VRM wise. 5 not so much, it isn't great value at that price point. I will point you to the AsRock Taichi which is best value for money in the (enthusiast level) VRM department right now, and also has all other possible features. For OC, it has been an awesome performer for most everyone. @Vario will support that statement, and I run a slightly cheaper version of the Taichi with virtually the same contents in the shape of the Gaming K6, which is also a very good choice.

If you want to look at budget and still not lose any OC capability, then grab an Extreme4. In all fairness, AsRock has Z370 on lockdown at each bracket in terms of feature/price/performance. There is a significant savings to be had in motherboards as you can see. In the midrange there is only one real competitor in the shape of the MSI Gaming Pro Carbon, but that is not an OC miracle or anything, it just offers the richest feature set at that price point.

PSU: @ikeke said it well, prioritize quality over watts. EVGA's Supernova G2/3 or a Seasonic are safe/optimal choices here. 650-750W will be more than enough headroom for single GPU, you could even add another 250w GPU no problem. If you want to do exotic stuff in terms of OC, then yes go bigger but I doubt that. The i7 8700k will pull 150w tops @ 1.36v, and going much higher will require a delid, no realistic amount of cooling will really help otherwise.

CPU: what is your primary purpose for the rig? If its gaming, the 8600k can be a budget friendly alternative without a performance sacrifice. HT has shown some minimal benefits in specific titles but real cores and clocks are what really matters, regardless of your FPS target. The 8600k will be more likely to hit a slightly higher OC - 4.8 ~ 5.0 for the 8700k, and 4.9 ~ 5.1 for the 8600k I think is an accurate 'blanket statement'. Considering the price gap, that may be worth doing.

RAM: Price/perf, 3200C16 is a sweet spot. Raw perf, 3200C14 is optimal for Coffee Lake.

Sound card: get a board with a Realtek ALC1220 and no, you don't need one. The onboard is ridiculously good and almost all Z370 boards carry it with a separate audio section on the board.

Cooling: of course big degree of personal preference, but I cool my 8700k on air and you don't need more than that. Water AIO will not benefit the OC in a meaningful way, only custom water and big rads can, but then they only really pay off when you delid - but so does a big air tower.

Storage: another important price/perf or common sense consideration here: M2 versus regular SATA SSDs - if you don't do professional work that involves moving large (1GB+) files all the time, do not invest in M2 or PCIe SSDs. Just get regular, and consider the Crucial MX500 or Samsung 850 EVO, with Crucial leading in price/GB.

Case: Are you keeping that Phantom? Consider case airflow options well, they can do a lot for CPU/GPU temps and there will be a higher power draw in that case than what you have now. Scale up accordingly

You can check my specs for some more insight.

For motherboard comparisons go here

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1IY6W6YhyjnzSvi8BqEqiK1xykSiTDF2Lt1FO8cNhI6I/edit?usp=sharing

Yes, regarding the motherboard, i would put up the taichi as recommended. I have also added in the costs of the parts in my country.

CPU: I will be intending to overclock as how i did for my current computer. Do appreciate that gaming wise, it does not make any much difference. However i tend to upgrade my chipsets and CPU once every 7 - 8 years when i feel sluggish / bottleneck with the performance. Intending to future prove a little bit and since it's just a little more, i decided to try 8700k too. But would still consider your two cents.

RAMS: Apparently, my country doesn't sell any 3200C14. The highest i could find was C16 at that rated speed. Stocks are limited to what the distributor decides to bring in.

Storage: For storage wise, i always had the difficulties of storing more game and decided to go for M.2 Storage. Am currently running an SSD but i do understand that M.2 provides a much faster reading time right?

Cooling: In my country, temperatures daily are between 26 degrees to 37 degrees. I am living just above the equator, and my 1080Ti temperatures could cook an egg with such warm weather

PSU: I was intending to do SLI but decided not, judging the way those crazy miners destroyed the prices of them. Also, had horrible experience with CrossFire R9 290's. Single card all the way.

Kill the sound card and everything looks badass! You typcally dont need a sound card anymore as onboard is way more than sufficient. Unless of course youre some sort of audiophile.

Didnt notice the PSU! That is WAY overkill. Downgrade that as previously suggested and youre golden. You only need 1000W PSU if youre running like 3-4 video cards.

Ah i see. Thanks! I used to run 2X R9 290 cards and man those two are hungry power GPU's. Thank god my current one suffice.

 

[Vayra86]

Yes, regarding the motherboard, i would put up the taichi as recommended. I have also added in the costs of the parts in my country.

CPU: I will be intending to overclock as how i did for my current computer. Do appreciate that gaming wise, it does not make any much difference. However i tend to upgrade my chipsets and CPU once every 7 - 8 years when i feel sluggish / bottleneck with the performance. Intending to future prove a little bit and since it's just a little more, i decided to try 8700k too. But would still consider your two cents.

RAMS: Apparently, my country doesn't sell any 3200C14. The highest i could find was C16 at that rated speed. Stocks are limited to what the distributor decides to bring in.

Storage: For storage wise, i always had the difficulties of storing more game and decided to go for M.2 Storage. Am currently running an SSD but i do understand that M.2 provides a much faster reading time right?
.

- I did the same thing with the CPU, sometimes you just want to go for the top of the stack It will for sure not 'hurt' performance, so yah.

- Don't worry about the RAM. We're talking 2-4% best case scenario, and only when you would run into that latency which is extremely rare. I run 3200c16 myself and it works very well, hitting high in benches etc

- M2 honestly won't benefit anything for gaming. The only real benefit in gaming for SSD's is in loading streamed game content and for that an SSD is more than enough because that is the mainstream. Going past that mainstream option for gaming makes literally no sense because it won't be optimized for. Rather, games are still optimized mostly around mechanical HDD transfer rates. You can easily see this if you load into multiplayer matches; at least half the players in a match will enter the game (long) after yourself when you run a regular SSD and almost no one is faster.

So, M2 is really only a benefit if you're out of SATA ports if the purpose is gaming. Other than its tossing out money. Storing every game on an SSD though, yes I can get into that. Load times are much shorter, ie more gaming which is what the rig's for.

- Cooling: if your ambient temperature doesn't change, the benefit of water also doesn't really change. For effective heat transfer you need large temperature differences, whether on water or air.

- SLI: I applaud you for your wise choice. Wise, because SLI support is waning and it is a direct result of the new APIs, where devs need to be more involved to get multi GPU to good performance. Also, Nvidia has been phasing out SLI fingers on the lower tiers and this basically means the largest audience gets cut off from the option. Again: the mainstream decides what gets optimized for, so you know where this is going.

 

[Agility]

- I did the same thing with the CPU, sometimes you just want to go for the top of the stack It will for sure not 'hurt' performance, so yah.

- Don't worry about the RAM. We're talking 2-4% best case scenario, and only when you would run into that latency which is extremely rare. I run 3200c16 myself and it works very well, hitting high in benches etc

- M2 honestly won't benefit anything for gaming. The only real benefit in gaming for SSD's is in loading streamed game content and for that an SSD is more than enough because that is the mainstream. Going past that mainstream option for gaming makes literally no sense because it won't be optimized for. Rather, games are still optimized mostly around mechanical HDD transfer rates. You can easily see this if you load into multiplayer matches; at least half the players in a match will enter the game (long) after yourself when you run a regular SSD and almost no one is faster.

So, M2 is really only a benefit if you're out of SATA ports if the purpose is gaming. Other than its tossing out money. Storing every game on an SSD though, yes I can get into that. Load times are much shorter, ie more gaming which is what the rig's for.

- Cooling: if your ambient temperature doesn't change, the benefit of water also doesn't really change. For effective heat transfer you need large temperature differences, whether on water or air.

- SLI: I applaud you for your wise choice. Wise, because SLI support is waning and it is a direct result of the new APIs, where devs need to be more involved to get multi GPU to good performance. Also, Nvidia has been phasing out SLI fingers on the lower tiers and this basically means the largest audience gets cut off from the option. Again: the mainstream decides what gets optimized for, so you know where this is going.

Cheers mate. What would you suggest for my storage? And for cooling, would it be better to get an open case like the Thermaltake Core P5? Or just a bigger case? In all honesty, IDGAF about RGB and shits, nor tempered crap cases.

 

[adulaamin]

How about the Fractal Design Meshify C or the Fractal Design Define R6 Blackout TG? Both cases provide good airflow and have a TG sidepanel as well. I'll be replacing my case the the R6 Blackout, I'm just waiting for it to be available in the Phlippines.

 

[Agility]

How about the Fractal Design Meshify C or the Fractal Design Define R6 Blackout TG? Both cases provide good airflow and have a TG sidepanel as well. I'll be replacing my case the the R6 Blackout, I'm just waiting for it to be available in the Phlippines.

UPDATE
Finally got all my parts!

For casing, jumped onto Thermaltake View 71 Tempered RGB.

Parts are

i8700K
Gigabyte Z370 Aorous Gaming 7
G.Skill 3200 TridentZ 2X8GB
Samsung 960PRO 512GB
Corsair HX850
Corsair H150I
Thermaltake View 71 Tempered RGB

Anyone has any experience with riser cables? I wanted to purchase them but the shop decides to charge me $60USD for a 300MM riser (http://www.thermaltake.com/Chassis/...T_Premium_PCI_E_3_0_Extender_300mm/design.htm)

 

[Vayra86]

UPDATE
Finally got all my parts!

For casing, jumped onto Thermaltake View 71 Tempered RGB.

Parts are

i8700K
Gigabyte Z370 Aorous Gaming 7
G.Skill 3200 TridentZ 2X8GB
Samsung 960PRO 512GB
Corsair HX850
Corsair H150I
Thermaltake View 71 Tempered RGB

Anyone has any experience with riser cables? I wanted to purchase them but the shop decides to charge me $60USD for a 300MM riser (http://www.thermaltake.com/Chassis/...T_Premium_PCI_E_3_0_Extender_300mm/design.htm)

They introduce an almost undetectable/measurable degree of latency (1-2ms, not something to care about) and add to the aesthetics when used right. That's about it. In terms of cooling, they don't add that much unless you can then place the GPU in a more ideal spot in the case; but most of them push the fans towards the case left panel which only is an advantage if you also have a vent there, which most normal, recent, cases do not have (especially those with a glass panel, which are the primary use case). With a closed panel, you may see slightly higher temps.