First PC build, need advice.

[Hernanrn]

So I am planning my first build, I have some concerns though. Do you think I'll have bottlenecks? Is my cpu cooler enough? Is my monitor good enough? Maybe the parts won't mesh well together.  Any advice is accepted and appreciated. Also I'd like to stay in the 2500 to 2700 price range. So please let me know what changes I could make or what you would make.

 

CPU: Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor

CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler

Motherboard: Asus - PRIME Z270-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard

Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory

Storage: Samsung - 850 Pro Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

Storage: Western Digital - BLACK SERIES 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive 

Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB G1

Monitor: Acer - XB241H bmipr 24.0" 1920x1080 180Hz Monitor

PSU: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply

Case: Corsair - Air 540 ATX Mid Tower Case

Case Cooling: Noctua - NF-A14 PWM 82.5 CFM 140mm Fan x5 (will be replacing the stock fans)

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Prawns/saved/QPgPsY

[DailyProcrastinator]

For the most part that actually looks like a good part list, but two things.

1 - Why not go for the i7-8700k?

2 - Why 32GB of RAM?! What exactly is this PC being used for? I bet 16GB would be more than enough.

[Bruno_A]

Solid build. Although, the GTX 1070Ti is coming and will probably be a better option over the 1080, so, I would suggest you either go with a 1080Ti, or wait for the 1070Ti.

[whoisjaya]

Looks perfectly fine to me. Personally, I'd go for a 1440p 144 Hertz monitor, but that's just me. 

But what about an 8th-gen CPU?

[whoisjaya]

Just now, Jonas_2909 said:

Looks perfectly fine to me. Personally, I'd go for a 1440p 144 Hertz monitor, but that's just me. 

And what about an 8th-gen CPU?

 

[Bruno_A]

@JM21 LOL, didn't even notice the 32GB of RAM. If you're going with a 1080 and 32GB of RAM, don't, just get a 1080Ti with 16GB of RAM. As for the 8700K, if the motherboards aren't as expensive as they were, it is a better option. Although, if you still want to go with the 7700K, it is still a solid CPU and z270 motherboards are not very expensive now.

[DailyProcrastinator]

2 minutes ago, bruny06 said:

@JM21 LOL, didn't even notice the 32GB of RAM. If you're going with a 1080 and 32GB of RAM, don't, just get a 1080Ti with 16GB of RAM. As for the 8700K, if the motherboards aren't as expensive as they were, it is a better option. Although, if you still want to go with the 7700K, it is still a solid CPU and z270 motherboards are not very expensive now.

Kinda my point haha

[Jurrunio]

Why 7700k? Even 8600k is better as it doesnt have problems with hyperthreading optimization and will work as good as a 6 core should at all times.

[Pup Shepard]

The cpu will be the bottleneek at 1080p for gaming.  You may want to consider going to wqhd or 4k so the gpu becomes the bottleneak.  This will allow for a better upgrade path as new technologys come out.  This build looks to be a good use case for video editing, blender, and scientific computing.

 

If your going to be gaming only,  I would drop down to an i5 or a ryzen 5 and drop from 32gb of ram to 16.  However if you are going to be doing video editing I would go with a ryzen 7 1700

[DailyProcrastinator]

For $100 less I left about half of your config just made it better. If you want Noctua fans I get it as I am a Fan snob as well, I just hate the Nocuta look haha.

Anywyas,

-i7-8700k

-280mm Corsair AIO

-A nicer motherboard (Z370)

-16GB of 3000MHz RAM (32Gb is seriously overkill)

-Still a GTX 1080 but just a slightly cheaper model

And otherwise it is all the same just $100 less and will be way better performance wise.

 

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/TPJVM8

[DailyProcrastinator]

Just now, rubberpuppy said:

The cpu will be the bottleneek at 1080p for gaming.  You may want to consider going to wqhd or 4k so the gpu becomes the bottleneak.  This will allow for a better upgrade path as new technologys come out.  This build looks to be a good use case for video editing, blender, and scientific computing.

 

If your going to be gaming only,  I would drop down to an i5 or a ryzen 5 and drop from 32gb of ram to 16.  However if you are going to be doing video editing I would go with a ryzen 7 1700

An i7-7700k will not bottleneck for gaming at 1080p, up until the 8700k it was THE BEST gaming CPU available, no questions asked. Hate how loosely people throw around that term. If the i7-7700k bottlenecks then the R7, R5, and i5, will bottleneck far worse... Where are you getting your info from?!

[Pup Shepard]

1 minute ago, JM21 said:

An i7-7700k will not bottleneck for gaming at 1080p, up until the 8700k it was THE BEST gaming CPU available, no questions asked. Hate how loosely people throw around that term. If the i7-7700k bottlenecks then the R7, R5, and i5, will bottleneck far worse... Where are you getting your info from?!

at 1080p there is not a fastenough cpu to pump out instruction to take full advange of a 1080.  ie. at 1080p all cpu's are bottle necks for flagship gpu's in 2017

[LeBigMac506]

1 minute ago, JM21 said:

An i7-7700k will not bottleneck for gaming at 1080p, up until the 8700k it was THE BEST gaming CPU available, no questions asked. Hate how loosely people throw around that term. If the i7-7700k bottlenecks then the R7, R5, and i5, will bottleneck far worse... Where are you getting your info from?!

Bottleneck gets thrown around a lot, but the processor is going to hit 100% far before the 1080 @ 1080p. This can be mitigated a bit by cranking up graphics settings. Note that there is no real impact on performance, just that the 7700k is the going to run at max while the 1080 won't be at full utilization.

 

There is always going to be a component that isn't at 100%. It's no big deal. I wouldn't call it a bottleneck, since there won't be any loss in quality.

 

7700k + gtx 750ti? Bottleneck

7700k + gtx 1080? Decent pair

[DailyProcrastinator]

Just now, rubberpuppy said:

at 1080p there is not a fastenough cpu to pump out instruction to take full advange of a 1080.  ie. at 1080p all cpu's are bottle necks for flagship gpu's in 2017

ONLY use the term bottlenecking if it will actually inhibit you from playing at a certain resolution. No other CPU other than the 8700k will outperform the 7700k in gaming. Then you suggest CPU's that would actually provide worse gaming performance at every resolution... Congrats you passed the stupid test 

 

1 minute ago, LeBigMac506 said:

Bottleneck gets thrown around a lot, but the processor is going to hit 100% far before the 1080 @ 1080p. This can be mitigated a bit by cranking up graphics settings. Note that there is no real impact on performance, just that the 7700k is the going to run at max while the 1080 won't be at full utilization.

 

There is always going to be a component that isn't at 100%. It's no big deal. I wouldn't call it a bottleneck, since there won't be any loss in quality.

 

7700k + gtx 750ti? Bottleneck

7700k + gtx 1080? Decent pair

Yes, I know, and totally agree with you. Will the 7700K get utilized at 100% before the GTX 1080, yes. Is that a valid 'bottleneck' term as NO OTHER CPU (excpet now the 8700k) will outperform it in gaming, no. So don't throw around the term bottleneck.

 

All I am getting at is that everyone and their dog says 'this will bottleneck that' etc. When 90% of the time they don't fully understand what they are saying and then proceed to make a far worse suggestion.

[Pup Shepard]

2 minutes ago, JM21 said:

ONLY use the term bottlenecking if it will actually inhibit you from playing at a certain resolution. No other CPU other than the 8700k will outperform the 7700k in gaming. Then you suggest CPU's that would actually provide worse gaming performance at every resolution... Congrats you passed the stupid test 

 

Yes, I know, and totally agree with you. Will the 7700K get utilized at 100% before the GTX 1080, yes. Is that a valid 'bottleneck' term as NO OTHER CPU (excpet now the 8700k) will outperform it in gaming, no. So don't throw around the term bottleneck.

 

All I am getting at is that everyone and their dog says 'this will bottleneck that' etc. When 90% of the time they don't fully understand what they are saying and then proceed to make a far worse suggestion.

Redefine the word bottleneck all you want,  we still dont have a processor that can feed a flagship gpu instructions fast enough to take full advantage of said gpu at the resolution of 1080p.

[Hernanrn]

@JM21 I guess the real reason I choose the 7700k over the 8700k is that I'm eager to build it now, was looking at the 8700k at first but couldn't find it anywhere in store or online, then did a search and read sites that said it wouldn't be available til Q1 of 2018, which to be fair I really do not know what means except I'd have to wait 3 to 4 months unless I spent more to get it off eBay.

 

So from what I gather, drop my ram to 16gb (2 8gb sticks) and maybe wait it out till the 8700k is more readily available. 

[DailyProcrastinator]

1 minute ago, rubberpuppy said:

Redefine the word bottleneck all you want,  we still dont have a processor that can feed a flagship gpu instructions fast enough to take full advantage of said gpu at the resolution of 1080p.

Then why would you suggest CPU's that 'bottleneck' even more than 7700k? If gaming is the purpose of the build and a 7700k or a 8700k (as I showed) are within budget then your 'advice' makes no sense. And yes the build is well within means to get a 2k or 4k monitor that would push more load on the GPU. I agree that if the build is going to be used for video editing, 3D design, encoding etc. then the R7 1700 is the best choice but why go form the i7 to an i5 or R5, that's limiting your CPU capabilities when not required.

[Pup Shepard]

1 minute ago, Hernanrn said:

@JM21 I guess the real reason I choose the 7700k over the 8700k is that I'm eager to build it now, was looking at the 8700k at first but couldn't find it anywhere in store or online, then did a search and read sites that said it wouldn't be available til Q1 of 2018, which to be fair I really do not know what means except I'd have to wait 3 to 4 months unless I spent more to get it off eBay.

 

So from what I gather, drop my ram to 16gb (2 8gb sticks) and maybe wait it out till the 8700k is more readily available. 

The 7700k is just fine for any workload you could throw at it, be it gaming, streaming, video editing, and heavy productivity.  Dropping to 16g is a good idea, only upgrade to 32 if you find you are using all 16 for your use case.

[Pup Shepard]

1 minute ago, JM21 said:

Then why would you suggest CPU's that 'bottleneck' even more than 7700k? If gaming is the purpose of the build and a 7700k or a 8700k (as I showed) are within budget then your 'advice' makes no sense. And yes the build is well within means to get a 2k or 4k monitor that would push more load on the GPU. I agree that if the build is going to be used for video editing, 3D design, encoding etc. then the R7 1700 is the best choice but why go form the i7 to an i5 or R5, that's limiting your CPU capabilities when not required.

Your world sound like your an angry child.  If Hernanrn is only going to do gaming he only needs an i5.  The extra power of an i7 is not going give any more finite in gaming performance.  If he wants to do video editing or stream while gaming than the extra power of an i7 will help.

[DailyProcrastinator]

2 minutes ago, Hernanrn said:

@JM21 I guess the real reason I choose the 7700k over the 8700k is that I'm eager to build it now, was looking at the 8700k at first but couldn't find it anywhere in store or online, then did a search and read sites that said it wouldn't be available til Q1 of 2018, which to be fair I really do not know what means except I'd have to wait 3 to 4 months unless I spent more to get it off eBay.

 

So from what I gather, drop my ram to 16gb (2 8gb sticks) and maybe wait it out till the 8700k is more readily available. 

I totally get that. And essentially all 6 core CoffeeLake CPU's will really only be in stock around February-ish. I am on a waitlist for an i7-8700k and was told it could be 2-4months from earlier this month. In the US (I live in Canada) I wouldn't be surprised to see stock show up every few weeks at some retailers for a very limited time. I personally think it really is worth the wait. It's a significant upgrade that Intel has not done in a long time and you are moving to the 'New' LGA 1151 platform, whereas Z270 has no CPU upgrade path anymore. It's ultimately your decision but the i7-8700k is quite the performance gain. 

 

As far as RAM goes 32GB is a ton, get 16GB for now and if you ever need more then you can get another 2x8GB kit.

[Hernanrn]

My intentions for this pc are all over the place. I have a older amd pc that has worked well for me in the past but as I start to do more it doesn't keep up.

 

Gaming (from Minecraft to GTA) really just a mix of everything.

Video rendering

Photoshop

Website creation and design

Streaming both youtube and twitch

Media Server streaming to my Xbox and ps4 (not always running, just on movie nights)

[Pup Shepard]

3 minutes ago, Hernanrn said:

My intentions for this pc are all over the place. I have a older amd pc that has worked well for me in the past but as I start to do more it doesn't keep up.

 

Gaming (from Minecraft to GTA) really just a mix of everything.

Video rendering

Photoshop

Website creation and design

Streaming both youtube and twitch

Media Server streaming to my Xbox and ps4 (not always running, just on movie nights)

How large are your Photoshop files?

[DailyProcrastinator]

10 minutes ago, rubberpuppy said:

Your world sound like your an angry child.  If Hernanrn is only going to do gaming he only needs an i5.  The extra power of an i7 is not going give any more finite in gaming performance.  If he wants to do video editing or stream while gaming than the extra power of an i7 will help.

Not so angry, just don't understand your 'advice'. If the 7700k or 8700k is in budget and you want the best gaming CPU don't get anything else haha. You will see a consistent 15-20% FPS gain with a 7700k over the 7600k in almost every game.

Case and point:

 

[DailyProcrastinator]

9 minutes ago, Hernanrn said:

My intentions for this pc are all over the place. I have a older amd pc that has worked well for me in the past but as I start to do more it doesn't keep up.

 

Gaming (from Minecraft to GTA) really just a mix of everything.

Video rendering

Photoshop

Website creation and design

Streaming both youtube and twitch

Media Server streaming to my Xbox and ps4 (not always running, just on movie nights)

You would definitely benefit from the i7-8700k then, it will also be great for streaming and multi-threaded workloads. Based on your needs you may want to consider the R7 1700, especially if you want to build right now.

[Tom Cat]

30 minutes ago, JM21 said:

 

As far as RAM goes 32GB is a ton, get 16GB for now and if you ever need more then you can get another 2x8GB kit.

That's where you're wrong kiddo. A 32gb kit isn't even close to enough, you need at least 128gb to run minecraft. (ಥ ͜ʖಥ)