itsmyjobtoknow

You don't need much to get by in Computer Science.
I've gotten through 4 years with a quad-core Intel Atom and a dual-core hyperthreaded i5 (which thermal throttled)
THE ONLY TIME my under-powered laptop didn't handle the task is when I was doing a deep-learning project that required CUDA acceleration to get any results in a fashionable time, but that was my last semester of University.
 

Damn, was so close to top 500. I guess 554th place isn't too bad...

Damn, was so close to top 500. I guess 554th place isn't too bad...

I have a kid friendly cocktail for you...
 
Water and depression.... wait... Just water...

Intel Core i7 6850K 
Asus X99-M WS
HyperX Predator v2 32GB DDR4 3200Mhz (4x8GB)
Sapphire Nitro+ RX Vega64
Fractal Design Define C Mini
Samsung 960 Evo 250GB NVMe SSD
Samsung 860 Evo 1TB SSD
Western Digital Black 500GB NVMe SSD
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5in HDD
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 2.5in HDD
Seasonic Platinum SS-860XP2
 
EKWB EK-Velocity RGB - Full Nickel
Alphacool GPX-A Vega M05
EKWB EK-CoolStream SE 120
EKWB EK-CoolStream SE 240
Phantek Reservoir (PH-R160_BK01)
Swiftech MCP35X PWM DDC Pump
Mayhems X1 Coolant -  UV Blue
 

 

 

 

[2019.02.18]
 
Where do I begin......
Well my Reference RX Vega 64 started to die on me around  the end of October...
Good news was that Sapphire was willing to RMA my card even though I had a waterblock on it.
Unfortunately they could only return a Nitro+ RX Vega 64, which is a good a bad thing.
Good being that it had a custom PCB and potential to overclock, undervolt better.
Bad being that custom waterblock were hard to come by.
 
But Performance-PCS had listed a singular Alphacool Block that fit my card, and I quickly snatched it.
 
If I were to change something in the future, it would be the radiators, fans, and the GPU itself.
Noiseblocker Eloops are great fans, but only when there is nothing in front of it.  
EK-Coolstream SE were chosen because I had one already and the clearance between the GPU and the front were very tight. After building it, I see I could possibly squeeze in a 30mm radiator (preferably HardwareLabs GTS) instead of the 26mm I opted for.
Sapphire Nitro+.....I kinda lost the silicon lottery. Can't push the memory overclock past 1020MHz on HBM while my Reference could easily do 1100MHz.
 
TDLR: Reference Vega64 got RMA'ed, got a Nitro+ Vega64 in return. The combination of case, fans & radiators isn't optional in this configuration.  
 
Changelog:
Added: WD Black NVMe 500GB SSD Samsung 860 EVO 1TB SSD Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5in HDD Barrowch Aluminum GPU Anti-Sag Bracket - Silver EK-CoolStream SE 120 & 240 Radiator  Phantek Reservoir (PH-R160_BK01) Swiftech MCP35X PWM DDC Pump Mayhems X1 UV Blue Coolant Changed: Reference RX Vega64  -> Sapphire Nitro+ RX Vega64 Alphacool Eiswolf 120 -> Alphacool GPX Vega M05 Corsair H100i -> EKWB Velocity RGB Full Nickel Removed: WD Black 500GB 2.5in HDD Seagate Barracuda 1TB 2.5in HDD Before Coolant:
 
Final Photos:

 

 

 

Intel Core i7 6850K 
Asus X99-M WS
HyperX Predator v2 32GB DDR4 3200Mhz (4x8GB)
Sapphire Nitro+ RX Vega64
Fractal Design Define C Mini
Samsung 960 Evo 250GB NVMe SSD
Samsung 860 Evo 1TB SSD
Western Digital Black 500GB NVMe SSD
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 3.5in HDD
Seagate Barracuda 2TB 2.5in HDD
Seasonic Platinum SS-860XP2
 
EKWB EK-Velocity RGB - Full Nickel
Alphacool GPX-A Vega M05
EKWB EK-CoolStream SE 120
EKWB EK-CoolStream SE 240
Phantek Reservoir (PH-R160_BK01)
Swiftech MCP35X PWM DDC Pump
Mayhems X1 Coolant -  UV Blue
 

 

 

 

I've seen people run their pfSense box off a core 2 duo. You *should* be fine. Worse case scenario, just buy a cheap used LGA1151 Xeon or i3/i5 and put it in there. Maybe take one of your 8GB stick and putting it in the box if you feel the need. 
What I will say is that if you want to have a VPN on the router level, you will need a CPU with a high single core IPC for AES-NI.
I personally run my pfSense box off a i7 4790 & 16GB of RAM just because I have the stuff laying around....
Never liked the idea of having one box do everything in my house. If that one box failed, my entire house would be down.

For VM use exclusively, it wouldn't matter much IMO. More RAM is better then faster RAM.
You're not necessarily computing anything heavy enough for faster memory to benefit you.
I'll say, keep the 2666MHz stuff. If you really want to get faster memory, do it when you upgrade the CPU down the line (if and when you do) . 

In that case, sounds like a plan.
And remember, AMD claimed that AM4 will be supported for awhile, so you might end up having a potential to get a 12c or 16c consumer grade ryzen chip in there, if rumors are to be believed in. 

When it comes to a ESXi Machine or server, the more cores/threads & RAM means that you will can run more VMs. 4c4t on your i5 7600 is probably capable of running 2 VMs at most, but it will struggle. 
 
Now there is two routes you can take down.
You can take the route that you mentioned and that I recommended my friend to do, is get a Ryzen 8c16t CPU and get all the new stuff.
 
Or you can take the route I took, which is buying retired server equipment such as a dual socket 1366 motherboard, 2x 6c12t processor (total of 12c24t) and 48GB of RAM for 250USD.

While I understand that you're set on getting an i5-8600K, might I suggest you consider getting a Ryzen 2600/X.
You get double the thread count, for a lower cost. 
Or wait until 9th Gen Intel to launch. Since it is literally days away from happening.
 
As per GPU, consider getting a used GTX 1070/TI. I've seen GTX 1070s get sold for around 250USD.
If you feel uncomfortable buying used stuff, don't worry about it and get new stuff.

Every 6 months, Microsoft pushes out a feature update. Usually every spring and fall.
1809 is suppose to come out this October....so I have no idea how you manage to get two machines to have it already. 
 
Current latest version is 1803

Correction: i5 8600 is 6c 6t

Correction: i5 8600 is 6c 6t

Correction: i5 8600 is 6c 6t

It'll fit in the front of the case. (As long as you don't have a GPU that is ridiculously long)
Just make sure you remove the mid-plate and push the HDD cage back slightly.
 

They're actually back...https://www.cnet.com/news/mad-catz-returns-from-bankruptcy-rat-freq-strike/

Correction: NZXT X42 is a 140mm radiator 

OR.....buy used E3 v3/4 Xeon or i7 4770/4790K. 

CPU: i5 5675C @ 4.0Ghz
GPU: R9 Nano
 
 

Purposely brought it because of that reason. 

[01/04/17]
Haven't gotten around updating the build log. But the system is essentially built and operational.
Had several issues for the first couple of days with the system:
- the PCI-E SSD was being picky with what slot it was plugged into
- the motherboard will halt during startup because it doesn't detect the keyboard right away
- random crashes due to not enough voltage to the CPU,
- etc.
Have gotten some Aluminum cable comb from MNPCTech but haven't installed it yet. 
Watercooling is already in the works, but won't happen until after AMD announces and releases Vega as that is my ideal card to be in the system. 

[08/16/2017]
 
Got myself a RX Vega64 (standard).
 
 
Not sure why I am excited to convert this into a single slot GPU when I watercool....But I am.

CPU: i7 6850K @ 4.2Ghz
GPU: MSI R9 390x
 
Valley 1080P:
 
Valley 1440P:
 
Superposition 1080P Extreme: