Build Advice/Optimizations

[Egghead101]

Budget (including currency): $2,000 U.S dollars (somewhat flexible)

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Ark: Survival evolved, Total War Warhammer 2, Cyberpunk 2077 

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

Hey everyone, first time builder here. I am upgrading from a gaming laptop I have had for about 3 years (Dell Inspiron 7577). I would like to play on ultra/epic settings on 1440p monitor/144Hzwith at least 60 fps. I am not looking to overclock right now, though I am certainly open to it in the future. Looking for any advice on bottlenecking, price per performance, or anything else on my build. I already bought most parts but can still return most of them for a couple days yet. The system is assembled except for the GPU. Just bought a GPU today and before I finalize everything wanted some opinions from more experienced builders! I will list all the parts below as well as what I bought it for excluding tax. Everything was bought new from microcenter, amazon, or Newegg. I have amazon prime so all shipping was free. 

 

PART LIST:

CPU: Intel i5 11600K (Microcenter for $220)

CPU Cooler:  Vetroo V5 CPU Air Cooler w/ 5 Heat Pipes 120mm PWM Processor 150W TDP Fan Intel LGA 1200 115X / AMD Ryzen AM4 Universal Socket w/Addressable RGB Lights Sync (Amazon for $30)

Thermal Paste: Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut Thermal Grease - 1g (Microcenter for $12)

GPU: EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra gaming Triple-Fan 10GB GDDR6X PCIe 4.0 (Microcenter for $890)

Motherboard: ASUS TUF Gaming B560M-PLUS WiFi LGA1200. Micro ATX. PCIe 4.0, 2X M.2 Slots,8+1 Power Stages, 2.5Gb LAN, WiFi 6, USB 3.2 Type-C, Thunderbolt 4 Support (Amazon for $155)

PSU: EVGA 210-GQ-0650-V1 650 GQ, 80+ GOLD 650W, Semi Modular, EVGA ECO Mode, 5 Year Warranty, Power Supply, Black (Amazon for $80)

RAM: G.Skill RipJaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin SDRAM PC4-28800 DDR4 3600 CL18-22-22-42 1.35V Dual Channel Desktop Memory Model F4-3600C18D-16GVK (Amazon for $83)

Storage: Inland Premium 512GB SSD M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe 3.0 x4 3D NAND, High-Speed Read/Write Speed up to 3100 MBps and 1900 MBps, NVMe 1.3 & PCIe 3.1 Compatible (Microcenter for $60)

Case: Lian Li Lancool II Mesh Tempered Glass eATX Full Tower Computer Case - Performance Black (Microcenter for $120)

Monitor: AOC CQ27G2 27" WQHD (2560 x 1440) 144Hz HDMI DP FreeSync Curved LED Gaming Monitor (Microcenter for $229)

Mouse: Old Logitech Mouse I had lying around

Keyboard: Logitech G G610 Orion Illuminated Mechanical Gaming Keyboard - Cherry MX Red Switches (Microcenter for $75)

Operating System: 64 bit Windows 10 home with key ($16)

 

TOTAL COST:

Build: 2044 plus tax. I have some buddies that are pitching in some money they owe me (approximately $1,000) so I can be somewhat flexible with costs.

Gas (to microcenter): $90

Sales Tax: $131

Build Total: $2,271

 

QUESTIONS/CONCERNS:

1. GPU and CPU combination bottlenecking. Is it overkill or reasonable (not ideal I am sure) to have the 3080 combined with my 11600k CPU? I have to drive 1.5 hours roundtrip to microcenter and I could not get a 3070 GPU (my ideal card) after two weeks. At this point, I worry I am spending more on gas so I just pulled the trigger on the 3080 today when I saw it available and won the random selection. 

2. GPU and 650W power supply. Is 650W enough for this build? I was originally going for a 3060 when I got a good deal on the 650W power supply a couple weeks back. Now that I went up to a 3080, I am unsure if this power supply wattage will cut it. I have seen conflicting information on the amount of watts I actually need for a 3080 build. Microcenter support tells me 850W, maybe 750 with reliable brand, and online tells me anywhere from 650W to 850W. PCPartpicker estimates 540W so I am a bit confused. If I need to go up to a 750W PSU I can do that for the cost of an amazon return and like $10, I just want to know if the money and hassel is even worth my time. 

3. Overall cost for what I want. Did I go overboard anywhere or skimp on something I should not have? For this build and future builds, how could I adjust my spending?

 

 

[Pixelfie]

1. Your games are very heavy for the GPU. With those games a 3080 + 11600K would be decent

2. 650w should work fine but don't expect to do much overclocking. It will put a lot of load on the PSU so it will make more noise and get less efficient, but should still work

3. If you buy a K series CPU you should also buy a Z board. Otherwise you spend money for a feature you can't use

[Egghead101]

Alright thank for the reply!  I agree with your point on the K series chip. I was originally going for an 11400 but strangely the 11600 was cheaper and only was stocked in the K variant in store. Hence some mismatch in the build!