First time build looking for guidance

[trainerlynx]

Alright so it's taken a while but I'm finally financially in a place where I can spend a decent amount of cash on a build and I've come here looking for advice. I plan on completing the build by the end of May but I figure if I get started now I might be able to catch some sales in between now and then.

Some notes

• I live in the United states
• My budget is around $2000-2500 usd
• I need literally everything that includes a monitor(up to two) and other peripherals
• Use is for heavy gaming, possible streaming, and VR 
• No preference on parts other than reliability and performance per dollar 

Any and all help would be appreciated I went onto pcpartpicker but I ended up having no ideas so I came here. Thank you in advance, if I missed any needed information let me know.

[lightning_po]

For that budget, I would definitely reccomend getting a 144hz 1440p or 180-240hz 1080p monitor. Also a second monitor in general. You have no idea how often it's helpful to be playing a game and have charts/strategy guide/discord/streaming stuff on the second monitor so you don't have to constantly flip back and forth. I'd say it's essential if you plan on streaming. The second monitor doesn't have to be fancy, a 1080p 60hz for like $80 would do fine.

For heavy gaming, intel is still the king of single threaded performance. Consider 8600k,8700k, 9600k, 9700k for CPUs and that price point.
You have the budget for Nvidia gpus as well. Consider rtx 2070 or 2080 for that price point/monitor setup.

I'll try to throw something together in PCPartpicker

[GoldenLag]

wait, untill when you are actually buying. Zen 2 is on the horizon and with the budget you are working with, that is honestly worth waiting for. 

[lightning_po]

I somewhat agree with GoldenLag. Pricing will likely change between now and then, but for a first build more well established hardware is the way to go. Leave the bleeding edge tech to the people that are willing to put up with troubleshooting with little information.

[lightning_po]

7 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

wait, untill when you are actually buying. Zen 2 is on the horizon and with the budget you are working with, that is honestly worth waiting for. 

 

Not saying Zen 2 won't be cool, but it will be new enough to confuse a first time builder compared to the just tons of information available for 8000 series intel CPUs

[trainerlynx]

Well like I said I plan to start buying parts between now and the end of may depending on if I catch sales so a general idea of what to look out for would help, I'm constantly shopping around and i know with pcpartpicker you can set email alerts if the price drops 

[GoldenLag]

Just now, lightning_po said:

 

Not saying Zen 2 won't be cool, but it will be new enough to confuse a first time builder compared to the just tons of information available for 8000 series intel CPUs

there is more than enough info out there. and any CPU is practically plug and play.

 

4 minutes ago, lightning_po said:

Leave the bleeding edge tech to the people that are willing to put up with troubleshooting with little information.

um, idk what you are on about. consumer "bleeding edge" is a bit expencive, but not a concern in terms of stability etc. 

 

 

honestly, wait for Zen 2. see how it handles. and if it is anywhere near where the rumours put it: buy. going with 9th or 8th gen with that kind of budget is not a great plan. 

[lightning_po]

Here's what I came up with in 15 minutes. There is room for improvement on this list to be sure, but this is right about $2200
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor	$375.89 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler	Corsair - H100i PRO 75 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler	$89.89 @ OutletPC
Motherboard	ASRock - Fatal1ty H370 Performance ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$111.98 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory	$79.99 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory	$79.99 @ Newegg
Storage	Inland - 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive	$49.99 @ Amazon
Storage	Hitachi - 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$71.50 @ Amazon
Video Card	Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card	$498.99 @ SuperBiiz
Case	NZXT - H500i (Black/Blue) ATX Mid Tower Case	$108.99 @ Amazon
Power Supply	Corsair - VS 550 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply	$33.97 @ Newegg
Operating System	Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$119.98 @ OutletPC
Monitor	Sceptre - E225W-1920 22.0" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor	$79.00 @ Walmart
Monitor	MSI - Optix AG32CQ 31.5" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$389.99 @ Newegg
Keyboard	AmazonBasics - KU-0833 +MSU0939 Wired Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse	$14.99 @ Amazon
Headphones	Corsair - HS50 Headset	$49.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$2200.13
	Mail-in rebates	-$45.00
	Total	$2155.13
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-01 03:23 EDT-0400

 

Edited April 1, 2019 by lightning_po
3am forgot the link lol

[trainerlynx]

2 minutes ago, lightning_po said:

Here's what I came up with in 15 minutes. There is room for improvement on this list to be sure, but this is right about $2200

I think you forgot the link lol

[lightning_po]

9 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

honestly, wait for Zen 2. see how it handles. and if it is anywhere near where the rumours put it: buy. going with 9th or 8th gen with that kind of budget is not a great plan. 

I do honestly see your point. I will say he plans on building this throughout the next month and that intel's 8th and 9th gen are already well established and all we really have to go on so far for zen 2 is marketing and leaks. If he wants to wait, it could be worth it, it could be a waste of time. We don't know for sure. We do know for sure what's better for single threaded RIGHT NOW.

EDIT: Yes, forgot the link, fixed it. Also note that this was literally just slapped together in 15 minutes and could definitely be improved on. I just threw a random case in there because for a nice aesthetic case expect to spend at least $100. You could cheap out on that and slap some fans in a cheaper one and have the same performance.

 

Also, NVME drives are a thing, maybe consider optane, you have the budget. Just some rough estimates

[GoldenLag]

Just now, lightning_po said:

zen 2 is marketing and leaks

i mean we have a cinebench run from January....... and a substrate picture...... tbf the cinebench run is marketing, but we know what the test system ran and that cinebench favors AMD a bit. 

3 minutes ago, lightning_po said:

If he wants to wait, it could be worth it, it could be a waste of time.

we will have to see, but from what we have gathered, its gonna be worth it for those wanting to spend a lot of money. even if its simply to be sure they dont end up with buyers remorse. and if its not better, it is at least going to be cheaper (that is speculation, but its AMD we are talking about. they cant launch anything expencive)

 

but if one cant wait, 9th gen isnt a bad choice. 

[trainerlynx]

I could wait til the summer if that's when they launch to see how it all turns out is there a set release date yet?

[lightning_po]

8 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

i mean we have a cinebench run from January.....

I didn't know that actually.

Quote

 

but if one cant wait, 9th gen isnt a bad choice. 

I put a 8700k on there just because I clicked it first, and not have to deal with potential BIOS updates. 9700k would be a better choice for an extra $30, that he has budget for.

[lightning_po]

April 16th or 19th I think for zen 2. You'll definitely get more price/performance out of AMD, but if you only care about raw performance and not necessarily cost, Intel is the way to go.

 

EDIT : Sorry for double posting, I'm not meaning to, I just forget to hit edit sometimes.

[trainerlynx]

1 minute ago, lightning_po said:

April 16th or 19th I think for zen 2. You'll definitely get more price/performance out of AMD, but if you only care about raw performance and not necessarily cost, Intel is the way to go.

I did say the only preference I had was performance per dollar so if zen 2 is going to be better for that I could probably wait. 

[GoldenLag]

10 minutes ago, lightning_po said:

Keyboard AmazonBasics - KU-0833 +MSU0939 Wired Standard Keyboard w/Optical Mouse $14.99 @ Amazon

um, what?

10 minutes ago, lightning_po said:

CPU Cooler Corsair - H100i PRO 75 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler $89.89 @ OutletPC

cheap AIO? nope, swap for good aircooler. nh-d15 or Dark Rock Pro 4

11 minutes ago, lightning_po said:

torage Inland - 480 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive $49.99 @ Amazon

swap for mx 500 500GB drive from Crucial. 

12 minutes ago, lightning_po said:

Memory G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory $79.99 @ Newegg Memory G.Skill - Aegis 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR4-2666 Memory $79.99 @ Newegg

32GB is redundant. also 2666mhz speed? get at least 3000mhz. 3200mhz max. 

13 minutes ago, lightning_po said:

Power Supply Corsair - VS 550 W 80+ Certified ATX Power Supply $33.97 @ Newegg

oh dear god no. never ever suggest a VS PSU. this is one of those PSUs  that may end up being the death of your system. 

14 minutes ago, lightning_po said:

Video Card Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2070 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card $498.99 @ SuperBiiz

odd GPU choice for this sort of budget, but ok. 

 

Just now, trainerlynx said:

I could wait til the summer if that's when they launch to see how it all turns out is there a set release date yet?

May/June. more likely June at the time being. i suggest waiting for that. 

 

 

Just now, lightning_po said:

I didn't know that actually.

chopped down "early" sample Zen 2 CPU with 75%/50% of the expected cores. tying the 9900k. take it with a grain of salt, we dont know what it will actually perform like. 

 

 

@lightning_po im critiquing the system, because it has major flaws. 

2 minutes ago, lightning_po said:

April 16th or 19th I think for zen 2.

what? nonononono. May at the earliest, they have no launch events in April or other events to align it with

[lightning_po]

I'll try again, this time with effort.

[GoldenLag]

@lightning_po

 

 this is worth a read. quite a lot of people worked on this. the suggestion builds are a bit outdated, but it contains just about any info you need to create a good build. 

 

edit:

OP: if you have free time, you can have a read aswell. dont be afraid to PM if you have any questions

[mxk]

13 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

swap for mx 500 500GB drive from Crucial. 

I've heard good things about the inland SSDs. If the T force delta RGB (which apparently is an adata su800 ultimate), mx 500, or 860 evo are pretty close in price I'd pick those up. I didn't check the price of any of the current SSDs but I wanted to point it out.

[lightning_po]

23 minutes ago, GoldenLag said:

@lightning_po

 

this is worth a read. quite a lot of people worked on this. the suggestion builds are a bit outdated, but it contains just about any info you need to create a good build. 

With considerably more thought and effort put into it, here's an updated parts list ( I used suggested PSU and Case from what you posted, took your suggestion for air cooler (even though I personally think H100i would be better, but to each their own)
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor	$375.89 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler	Noctua - NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler	$89.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard	Asus - PRIME Z370-A II ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$153.98 @ Newegg Business
Memory	G.Skill - Sniper X 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$180.98 @ Newegg
Storage	Intel - 660p Series 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$109.99 @ Newegg Business
Storage	Hitachi - 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$71.50 @ Amazon
Video Card	Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2080 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card	$699.99 @ Amazon
Case	Phanteks - Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case	$108.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$89.89 @ OutletPC
Operating System	Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$119.98 @ OutletPC
Monitor	Sceptre - E225W-1920 22.0" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor	$79.00 @ Walmart
Monitor	Samsung - LC27JG50QQNZA 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$329.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$2430.12
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$2410.12
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-01 04:07 EDT-0400

 

Still went with 8700k so there's no worrying about a BIOS update
Changed the AIO to a "decent air cooler"
Increased speed of RAM

Went full m.2 drive instead of just Sata SSD
2080 instead of 2070
Nicer case
Much better PSU
Slightly cheaper, slightly smaller main monitor
Leaves $150 for choose your own peripherals/headphones

Edited April 1, 2019 by lightning_po
Changed several things.

[mxk]

3 minutes ago, lightning_po said:

With considerably more thought and effort put into it, here's an updated parts list ( I used suggested PSU and Case from what you posted, took your suggestion for air cooler (even though I personally think H100i would be better, but to each their own)
 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

Type	Item	Price
CPU	Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor	$375.89 @ OutletPC
CPU Cooler	Noctua - NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler	$89.95 @ Amazon
Motherboard	ASRock - Fatal1ty H370 Performance ATX LGA1151 Motherboard	$111.98 @ Newegg
Memory	G.Skill - Sniper X 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory	$180.98 @ Newegg
Storage	Intel - 660p Series 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive	$109.99 @ Newegg Business
Storage	Hitachi - 4 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive	$71.50 @ Amazon
Video Card	Gigabyte - GeForce RTX 2080 8 GB WINDFORCE Video Card	$699.99 @ Amazon
Case	Phanteks - Enthoo Pro ATX Full Tower Case	$108.98 @ Newegg
Power Supply	EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply	$89.89 @ OutletPC
Operating System	Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit	$119.98 @ OutletPC
Monitor	Sceptre - E225W-1920 22.0" 1920x1080 60 Hz Monitor	$79.00 @ Walmart
Monitor	Samsung - LC27JG50QQNZA 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor	$329.99 @ Amazon
	Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts
	Total (before mail-in rebates)	$2388.12
	Mail-in rebates	-$20.00
	Total	$2368.12
	Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-01 03:52 EDT-0400

 

Still went with 8700k so there's no worrying about a BIOS update
Changed the AIO to a "decent air cooler"
Increased speed of RAM

Went full m.2 drive instead of just Sata SSD
2080 instead of 2070
Nicer case
Much better PSU
Slightly cheaper, slightly smaller main monitor
Leaves $150 for choose your own peripherals/headphones

h370 motherboard??????

 

did you mistake the H for a Z?

[lightning_po]

3 minutes ago, fantasia. said:

 

did you mistake the H for a Z?

...yes. post updated.

[mxk]

4 minutes ago, lightning_po said:

...yes. post updated.

im not sure about the Z370 choice. It's not a terrific board but it's not absolute garbo. You can get a way better board and still cut down some money by getting a windows key off of eBay (I got a pro key for $12 USD that's still working). That should open up for a better motherboard choice.

[GoldenLag]

12 minutes ago, lightning_po said:

Motherboard Gigabyte - Z370 HD3 (rev. 1.0) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard $119.99 @ OutletPC

shite board for an expencive CPU.

 

other than that it looks fine. nothing amazing tho

[lightning_po]

4 minutes ago, fantasia. said:

im not sure about the Z370 choice. It's not a terrific board but it's not absolute garbo. You can get a way better board and still cut down some money by getting a windows key off of eBay (I got a pro key for $12 USD that's still working). That should open up for a better motherboard choice.

Good point, changed to a mobo that even the mobo tier list post says is definitely B tier. ASUS PRIME z370

I was honestly not aware that, other than overclocking, boards made any significant difference. I am willing to admit I am wrong on this.