EXABYTE- 8086k and 1080, with many used parts

[RollTime]

It's finally time to begin! This is the culmination of over half a year of meticulous planning and research and countless forum questions. It is my first "real" build (I did a $300 pc for my brother, but I don't count that one), and wow it has been a learning experience.

Here's the config:

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JVHM6s
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JVHM6s/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8086K 4GHz 6-Core Processor  ($476.18 @ B&H) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($82.82 @ Newegg) 
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($221.91 @ Amazon) 
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($167.77 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($167.77 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($63.74 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ROG STRIX Video Card  ($665.30 @ Newegg) 
Case: Fractal Design - Meshify C Dark TG ATX Mid Tower Case  ($101.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx (2018) 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($97.41 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan: Fractal Design - X2 GP-14 (White) 68.4 CFM  140mm Fan  ($16.20 @ Newegg) 
Case Fan: Fractal Design - X2 GP-14 (White) 68.4 CFM  140mm Fan  ($16.20 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: HP - Omen 27 27.0" 2560x1440 165Hz Monitor  ($756.66 @ Adorama) 
Total: $2833.95
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-10-20 00:37 EDT-0400

 

Quite a lot of the stuff in here is either used or straight from eBay, or was on sale. I'll go over that later.

DAY 1: October 19

As of now, I have the following parts:

8086k 

H100i

Z370-e

960 EVO

1080

OMEN 27 monitor

 

Here are some photos of all that stuff, note some of it is in my current PC until the rest of the new one arrives. 

Spoiler

The photos are over 20mb, so I put them on Imgur:

https://imgur.com/a/xsWUPyb

 

Since I can't start building yet, I'm going to go over each component and explain why it's in there. For the ones I have, I'll talk a little about how I got them. The cool thing about this rig is that I bought as much as possible used or discounted because it was cheaper and I enjoy bargain hunting.

 

Quick note: I do gaming and light content creation, which should help explain why I went with what I did.

8086k

This was a nice steal. I caught it a few minutes after it went up for only $350 on r/hardwareswap.  It's never been used, the owner won it in the competition and never had a mobo for it, so he sold it to buy an Xbox one. His loss, IMO. My original plan was an 8700k for aforementioned gaming and content creation, but since this is basically a binned 8700k and it was under MSRP for both chips, it was a great deal. Very happy with it, also glad to know I can upgrade to 9th gen in a couple years if I want.

H100i V2

Got this off eBay for $60. I only tested it once and it seemed to rattle a bit, so I'm not entirely convinced it works. I may have to buy something else, but if it is functional then another great deal. Not much else to say. It's a nice cooler.

Strix Z370-E

So I went through a lot of deliberation between this and the Prime Z370-A. It was between the prime's lower cost, better overclocking (or so I've heard) and slightly better looks IMO, and the Z370-Es integrated wireless and addressable RGB header (what can I say, I like RGB). Really it was the convenience of the integrated wifi that sealed the deal for me. I got this board open box from Micro Center, I guess it was returned. It was $150, the same as the Prime, so it all turned out OK. It didn't actually have an I/O shield, so I bought one from China. It's still in shipping after about 20 days, having cleared customs about 3 days ago. I guess this is the price I pay (although the price of the shield itself was an outrageous $15).

G.Skill Trident Z RGB RAM

Not much to say here. It's fast and looks great. I may end up going non-RGB if the savings are significant enough.

960 EVO 500GB

I have a 120GB SSD in my current system that is always full, so this is going to be a nice change. I didn't really need NVMe, but I went for it because it'll simplify cables and also help with content creation (to a degree). It also came with Far Cry 5 and only cost $130 at Micro Center, which was nice.

Seagate Barracuda 2TB

I mean... It's a hard drive. That's it. I originally had a Hitachi Ultrastar 3TB but I heard really bad things about the quality and performance, so I went for a much better 2TB drive at a similar price point.

ASUS Strix 1080

The GPU was probably the hardest part for me to choose. The plan was a used 1080 Ti off craigslist or eBay, but they were still going for around 550-600 USD. As I was saving up to bid on one, I noticed a craigslist post for a 1080... for $200. Awwww yeah. The story of the meetup is a whole another post in and of itself. I guess let me know if you're interested in the story. Long story short, I can't drive and my driver had to cancel at the last minute, so I took a $30 uber to a Starbucks 30 mins away at 10 PM. Still saved a bunch! And the card is a great overclocker. I'm stable at 2,080 MHz core and 5,265 memory, and it never goes above 65 C. The performance is perfect for my needs, and in all honesty, the 1080 Ti was mostly for the "I need the best" factor. So the 1080 is a better choice overall.

Meshify C

Great airflow and sexy looks. I had planned a corsair carbide 400c for a very long time, but I chose the Meshify C because of the better airflow in the front panel and the real tempered glass side panel.

RMx 550w

It's a 550w power supply. Nothing more to it.

Fractal design fans

The Meshify C comes with 2 120 mm fans. My H100i needs 2 140mm fans, and the ones that came with it are truly ugly red ones. I'm buying 2 140mm fans to be the fans for the radiator, as front intake. I'll use one 120mm fan as rear exhaust and one as top exhaust for nicely balanced airflow. The reason the fan blades are white is so that they'll quote-unquote reflect the RGB in my case and thus (I hope) look really nicely blended in without screaming "IM AN RGB FAN LOOK AT ME".  That said, at some point, I may get the Phanteks Halos RGB frames if I feel like it.

HP Omen 27

The original plan was a Dell S2716DGR. This came about because of a lucky micro center sale. They had them for $400, an excellent deal. The monitor itself looks awesome and the 165 Hz refresh rate, gsync, and 1440p resolution are just amazing compared to my old 1080p60 crapfest. 

 

Also, for what it's worth, I'll be getting a couple RGB strips; one for behind the desk and one for inside the case. Is that a lot of RGB? Yes. But I like RGB and I'm not compromising performance, just increasing cost a little, which is fine as I can save up for as long as I need to.

 

Final thoughts and what's to come:

I'll add more posts to this thread as I get more parts or other interesting stuff happens. When the actual build happens, I might make some kind of build log video. I'll definitely be making a text post about it on here. 

 

Finally, I just want to say that I'm super excited to both begin and end this journey. It's been awesome, and I want to thank everyone on the forum who put up with my dumb questions. I love you guys!

 

 

[RollTime]

-deleted-

I accidentally quoted myself instead of editing my original post.

[Phentos]

Nice deal on that 8086K.

 

Good luck with the build.

[Jumballi]

The rog stix gaming e with the 8086 can only be paired with a corsair aio, a true man of culture I see

[RollTime]

5 minutes ago, Phentos said:

Nice deal on that 8086K.

 

Good luck with the build.

Yes, it was. And thanks!

[Jumballi]

I did some sleuthing and you probably overpaid on the mobo and cpu

mobo

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-strix-z370-e-gaming-socket-lga1151-usb-3-1-gen-1-intel-motherboard-with-led-lighting-black/6211754.p?skuId=6211754

cpu

https://www.frys.com/product/9594962?site

Edit: I thought your prices on the main line were the prices you paid, sorry should have read a bit more before making a note.

Edited October 20, 2018 by Navid Jamali
didn't read first post

[RollTime]

8 minutes ago, Navid Jamali said:

I did some sleuthing and you probably overpaid on the mobo and cpu

mobo

https://www.bestbuy.com/site/asus-rog-strix-z370-e-gaming-socket-lga1151-usb-3-1-gen-1-intel-motherboard-with-led-lighting-black/6211754.p?skuId=6211754

cpu

https://www.frys.com/product/9594962?site

Edit: I thought your prices on the main line were the prices you paid, sorry should have read a bit more before making a note.

Yep, exactly. I don’t buy off of what pcpartpicker says is cheapest. I check many websites and look for sales to get the best deals.

[RollTime]

NOVEMBER 2: Update

Just a quick update as I get closer to the build. 

 

CPU sent for delidding

I have sent my CPU to Silicon Lottery for a delid. It was $60 total and given that the delid tool, liquid metal, and conformal coating would have cost me around $50 total, it's worth it. They also have a guarantee, meaning there's no chance of me losing a CPU either to my novice skills or a mistake of theirs. I'll let you know how it went when the CPU gets back.

 

RAM has been purchased!

I got a wonderful deal on some 3200 MHz TridentZ RGB on Newegg- $140. The only things left to buy are the case and the PSU.

 

Case issues

I had planned to get a Meshify C, but it turns out that with a front mounted rad the GPU wouldn't have fit. Dangit Asus. I've moved to a Define R6, which will be slightly worse airflow but has a more premium look and feel, as well as being able to fit my build. 

 

Almost time

I have a buyer lined up for my old PC! When that sale is finished, I can finally get started!

 

I'll keep you all posted!

[RollTime]

November 11: Update 2

 

CPU is back

My 8086k is back with a new liquid metal TIM courtesy of Silicon Lottery. Upon visual inspection it looks perfect, of course I will have to wait until I build to verify that it's functional.

RAM is here

The only components remaining now are the case and PSU.

 

At this point, I have about $350 left of stuff to buy. A new, fully updated PCPartPicker shows all components:

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/pDPHQZ
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/pDPHQZ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8086K 4 GHz 6-Core Processor  (Purchased For $0.00) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i v2 70.69 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($60.00) 
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB ROG STRIX Video Card  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Case: Fractal Design - Define R6 Blackout TG ATX Mid Tower Case  ($165.00) 
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx (2018) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($55.76 @ Newegg) 
Monitor: HP - Omen 27 27.0" 2560x1440 165Hz Monitor  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Keyboard: Razer - BlackWidow Chroma V2 Wired Gaming Keyboard  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Headphones: Sennheiser - HD 598 CS  Headphones  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Other: Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Thermal Grease Paste - 1.0 Gram  ($10.60 @ Amazon) 
Other: CableMod extension kit ($30.00)
Other: Silicon Lottery Delid (Purchased For $0.00)
Other: RGB Strip ($20.00)
Total: $341.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-11 23:40 EST-0500

 

The situation with selling my current PC is complex. The buyer can only pay $275 but they can wait to buy. Since I can't seem to sell it to anyone else, I'm waiting until I get paid (should be around the 15th). Then I'll make the sale and start the build. Can't wait!

[RollTime]

Quick update, I changed the PSU to take advantage of a sale- as good or better than my original RM550x, with an extra 200 watts for future-proofing. Got it for $60, which was a steal. Final parts arriving Friday, so expect the build log itself soon!

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/rHNHLJ
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/rHNHLJ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8086K 4 GHz 6-Core Processor  (Purchased For $0.00) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i v2 70.69 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Thermal Compound: Innovation Cooling - Diamond "7 Carat" 1.5 g Thermal Paste  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Storage: Samsung - 960 EVO 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 8 GB ROG STRIX Video Card  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Case: Fractal Design - Define R6 Black TG ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Monitor: HP - Omen 27 27.0" 2560x1440 165 Hz Monitor  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Keyboard: Razer - BlackWidow Chroma V2 Wired Gaming Keyboard  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Headphones: Sennheiser - HD 598 CS  Headphones  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Other: Silicon Lottery Delid (Purchased For $0.00)
Other: CableMod extension kit (Purchased For $0.00)
Other: RGB Strip (Purchased For $0.00)
Total: $0.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-11-28 11:05 EST-0500