drmobius

I'm in the process of planning my next build. I'm stuck with the Gigabyte z370 Aorus Gaming 7 as I am returning to PC's after 8 years of doing all my creative work (music production, graphic design, 3d rendering) on Mac's, and the Gigabyte Aorus Gaming 7 is one of the only boards that support thunderbolt 3 and a hackintosh build easily. My issue is, according to the official memory compatibility, it only supports 32gb of ram in an 8gb x 4 configuration, however I can foresee myself needing 64gb of ram. Does anyone have this motherboard and have positive results running 32gb DDR4-3200 in a 2 x 16gb stick configuration (preferably with CAS 14 timings)?

Two options come to mind. One is the NZXT GPU kit, which includes a shroud to mount any of their AIO kits, and a fan to cool the memory/power. https://www.nzxt.com/products/kraken-g10-white Alternatively EK has an aluminum kit that can include a full gpu waterblock as long as your 1080ti has a founders edition style layout. You can check if your card is compatible here: https://www.ekwb.com/configurator/waterblock/3831109890769 And you can buy the kit with a 240 rad here: https://www.ekfluidgaming.com/ek-kit-a240g Or with a 360 rad here: https://www.ekfluidgaming.com/ek-kit-a360g As it is all aluminum, you won't want to add in any other parts that aren't sold on that EK Fluid Gaming website as you don't want to introduce copper, steel, or any other metals in with an aluminum loop, but everything EK sells on the fluid gaming website is aluminum.

Newegg just put up a backorder/preorder for EVGA 1080 ti SC Black edition. You aren't charged until the item actually ships, which they estimate between 10-20 days. This card has a founders style layout and will work with EK waterblocks. https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487336&ignorebbr=1&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-PCPartPicker, LLC-_-na-_-na-_-na&cm_sp=&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

A GTX 1080 new on massdrop is 615. Someone wanting a 1070 is already getting "not the best" card, so they're not going to want to pay a premium for it, especially when they can get a 1080 for $95 more from a reputable website.

Go go go https://www.massdrop.com/buy/gigabyte-geforce-gtx-1080-g1-gaming-8g-bundle

uhhhh... I think I'll stick with the i7

I'm seeing lots of the builds on pcpartpicker using the i5-8400, why is that? Why not the i7?

Ooh I haven't seen pcpartpicker before, helpful site, thank you! I won't need a win10 license as I'll just move it from my bootcamp on my mac to the pc and never use the bootcamp again.

$2000

I just find it a huge PITA these days. I did it for so long I'm kind of over building my PC's, plus the bitcoin miners have made finding graphic cards a PITA.

TLDR: Looking for a quality pre-built desktop with a 1080 Ti 11GB, 512gb NVME boot drive, and thunderbolt 3 connectivity (or room to add a thunderbolt 3 pcie card). Flexible on processor as long as its fast. Budget is around $2000. I am a music producer, graphic artist, and gamer. I was an avid PC builder years ago, but switched to Mac ~6 years ago as their products better suited music production and graphic design. My studio mac is a 27" Late 2014 iMac Retina 5k with a 4.0GHz quad-core Intel Core i7, 32gb 1600MHz DDR3 memory, 512 SSD boot, and AMD Radeon R9 290X video card. It still works great for music production and 80% of the graphic design work I do, but using it for gaming is a different matter. I have bootcamp on it so I can run Win 10, but the graphics card just isn't suitable for modern games. I've also been taking on more and more 3D rendering gigs which take FOREVER. So, its time to snag a dedicated gaming and 3D rendering PC. I grew out of the "build everything myself" phase (mainly got tired of all the tiny cuts on my hands and cramped back) so I just want to buy pre-built. Only snag is both my RAID storage and my sound card are both thunderbolt 2, so I need to make sure there is either thunderbolt 3 included, or an extra slot where I can buy a card and stick it in. I don't need crazy 16 core ryzen or anything, more along the lines of a Intel Core i7 8700K 6-Core 3.7GHz or equivalent. Does anyone have any good recommendations for either systems, or companies that do good pre-built systems? I built one out on Origin but it ended up being around $3,600. Just wondering if there are better priced options anywhere, or if that is just what I'm gonna have to pay?

Hey everyone! I just wanted to pop in and introduce myself because I find it ironic to be joining a Canadian based tech review forum again after over a decade. Does anyone remember the website modthebox.com? Back when beige computer cases were the norm (circa 2000) there was a huge movement into "modding your box", which involved sanding off the beige paint, cutting holes for fans, creating rheobus fan controllers, and wiring up led lights. It was due to this movement that manufacturers started creating led lit fans, colorful cases, and modular power supplies. I was a reviewer and author on modthebox, even though I didn't live in Canada. Just wondering if anyone here frequented that website when it was still around.