First time PC Gamer & Builder

sundawg89 · March 11, 2017

Hi all,

I have decided to make the jump from console gaming to PC gaming and this will be the first time I have built a PC. I have done extensive research (but I am sure there is a lot more I still need to learn) and I am looking to get some approval for the parts I have picked and if this system would be good for now and in the future. I have a budget of £2500.

I won't be doing any photoshopping, video editing or live streaming, just gaming at either 1440p or 4k.

My Build - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/749xNN

The reason I have picked this motherboard and PSU is so that I may be able to get another GTX1080Ti in the future in order to run SLI and also so that I am able to overclock the CPU (although I have no idea how to do this yet as I need to do more research).

Also, WHAT IS WITH THE DIFFERENT PRICES FOR THE SAME GPU? It is confusing the shit out of me. As far as I can tell, is it just the aesthetics and the cooling that is different in GTX1080Ti or is it the different companies brandings that is increasing the prices? A video on this would be great Linus!

Additionally, can someone advices on the m.2 drive as I have heard that there are issues of thermal throttling that can happen and if this would be a problem with the system I have chosen?

Finally, the only other thing I was considering was doing a different motherboard and CPU if I went with a Ryzen 1800x as I have heard that once it is optimised for gaming, it will suit me better in the long run as games may begin to use more cores than they do currently, so if this is the case, could someone spec me the same with a Ryzen motherboard please?

Hope this explains it all well enough and any advice would be much appreciated!

stefanDB · March 11, 2017

the only thing about this build I think is that if you are going to go with SLI and overclocking in the future you may need a slightly stronger PSU, because you want a decent amount of headroom.

about ryzen, maybe some of the R5 will be more interesting for gaming, because most games can't use the 8 cores of an r7, and with fewer cores you can get better per core performance. we don't know how good the r5 will be however, so I can't say if it would be worth it to wait.

Light-Yagami · March 11, 2017

The best performance IPC wise is 7700k no doubt (shouldn't bottleneck 1080ti in 1440p and up). System looks good, you will have no trouble with any of the components. Just remember that those 32gb of RAM will still run in dual channel. And I personally don't see how you can benefit from them right now, but ok..

As for the GPU. I would wait till alternatives come out with primarily better cooling solutions. You'll be able to push this GPU higher, getting more FPS per dollar. Remember that going with z270 platform means you WILL hit bandwith bottleneck with 2 1080ti in SLI. 8x8 speed just isn't enough. So an x99 platform with a CPU that can (should you ever expand to SLI) run those card in 16x16 speeds would be Great. But that means more money. As it is, the system looks really good. But you will not get the performance bump with another 1080ti. The system will bottleneck it too much. If we were talking about 1070SLI ok.. But in this case, no.

donaldtrump · March 11, 2017

just go with i7 and gtx 1070/1080. don't waste your money on a sli gtx titan xp, xeon and x99 or that bulshit. it doesn't worth the money.

oh and go with tt v1 snow edition it's beautiful as ****

sundawg89 · March 11, 2017

1 minute ago, Light-Yagami said:

The best performance IPC wise is 7700k no doubt (shouldn't bottleneck 1080ti in 1440p and up). System looks good, you will have no trouble with any of the components. Just remember that those 32gb of RAM will still run in dual channel. And I personally don't see how you can benefit from them right now, but ok..

As for the GPU. I would wait till alternatives come out with primarily better cooling solutions. You'll be able to push this GPU higher, getting more FPS per dollar. Remember that going with z270 platform means you WILL hit bandwith bottleneck with 2 1080ti in SLI. 8x8 speed just isn't enough. So an x99 platform with a CPU that can (should you ever expand to SLI) run those card in 16x16 speeds would be Great. But that means more money. As it is, the system looks really good. But you will not get the performance bump with another 1080ti. The system will bottleneck it too much. If we were talking about 1070SLI ok.. But in this case, no.

Thanks thats very helpful! In terms of the RAM, I am aware they will run in dual channel, is this not a good thing then? Would it be better to get a motherboard that allows single channel with 4 RAM slots?

Also I had no idea about the potential bottleneck in the future due to the motherboard so that is very helpful as well!

donaldtrump · March 11, 2017

If you go with 16 gb and a monster gpu you'll want to upgrade. Than you should get a 4 slot board and get the advantage of dual channel, and when you need to upgrade, you have 2 slots.

Light-Yagami · March 11, 2017

6 minutes ago, sundawg89 said:

Thanks thats very helpful! In terms of the RAM, I am aware they will run in dual channel, is this not a good thing then? Would it be better to get a motherboard that allows single channel with 4 RAM slots?

Also I had no idea about the potential bottleneck in the future due to the motherboard so that is very helpful as well!

You got me wrong there. RAM can be inserted in 4 slots, but it might run in dual channel like paralel dual channel. You get me? Performance bump is negligible if you don't run apps that benefit from that..

About the GPU bottleneck.. This is the most powerful GPU on the market right now. Putting two of them together on a mainstream system doesn't calculate. For top end GPU solution you need top end platform to support it. I'm just talking future wise, should you ever expand you know.. Imho, you need an x99 platform to run these in SLI.. But look man. By the time you'll need SLI, newer and better GPUs will be available, so I wouldn't worry about it. Go with this system and don't SLI it. When the time comes, change the GPU and then in 4 years or so the whole system.. That's what I would do. CPU and MB will outlast GPU for a few more generations..

sundawg89 · March 11, 2017

1 minute ago, Light-Yagami said:

You got me wrong there. RAM can be inserted in 4 slots, but it might run in dual channel like paralel dual channel. You get me? Performance bump is negligible if you don't run apps that benefit from that..

About the GPU bottleneck.. This is the most powerful GPU on the market right now. Putting two of them together on a mainstream system doesn't calculate. For top end GPU solution you need top end platform to support it. I'm just talking future wise, should you ever expand you know.. Imho, you need an x99 platform to run these in SLI.. But look man. By the time you'll need SLI, newer and better GPUs will be available, so I wouldn't worry about it. Go with this system and don't SLI it. When the time comes, change the GPU and then in 4 years or so the whole system.. That's what I would do. CPU and MB will outlast GPU for a few more generations..

Ah ok I understand what you mean, so if I am just going to be gaming and general web browsing, would 16gb be sufficient?

And yeah, you're right, I will go with a single card system and in the future I can just upgrade the card. You've been a big help thank you! So stay with the i7 and this motherboard or do you think it would be worth going with Ryzen as I herd games in the future may utilise more cores.

Light-Yagami · March 11, 2017

1 minute ago, sundawg89 said:

Ah ok I understand what you mean, so if I am just going to be gaming and general web browsing, would 16gb be sufficient?

And yeah, you're right, I will go with a single card system and in the future I can just upgrade the card. You've been a big help thank you! So stay with the i7 and this motherboard or do you think it would be worth going with Ryzen as I herd games in the future may utilise more cores.

I have 16gb. I honestly don't ever run above 10. Think about it. If you just idle your system, RAM usage is around 4gb right? Open a few tabs, programs and stuff and maybe you're on 6gb, but that's already a lot. That gives the game another 10gb of RAM. Most demanding games demand 8gb of RAM as a whole, so that means only 4-5 will actually be available to the game itself. You have 10. Higher amounts of RAM come in convenient when you edit video, since large video files are loaded into RAM. But in gaming? Nah..

As for the Ryzen CPUs. Their IPC (instruction per clock) is around Broadwell-e. Combine that with lower core clocks and you're got a powerful workstation, but not an amazing gaming performer. It's just facts. It was never meant to be a gaming CPU. For 4k maybe, where GPU takes most of the beating. When streaming, it will come handy, when doing multiple tasks at once, rendering video on CPU or managing data.. Gaming? Not so much. At least not now. Don't get me wrong, it's a great CPU. It just doesn't overclock as high as we thought it would. And in gaming, that matters. Gaming will leverage more cores in a few years time, but 8 logical on 7700k should be more than enough. A few CPU intensive dx12 games show 1-2fps bump over the 7700k when running sth like 6900k.. But yeah.. You're good.

sundawg89 · March 11, 2017

Ok so I have come up with 2 builds, an Intel and an AMD one. I am just going to wait for some more aftermarket GPU's to be released and wait for the NZXT Kraken to be supported on the AMD boards and I will then take the plunge on either one system or the other. Still waiting to see how Ryzen becomes a little more optimised but I feel if games begin to use more cores in the future, it will be worth having Ryzen over the i7700k.

Intel Build: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/npMPcc

AMD Build: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/Mm6vYr