New build, Review and a few questions

[Zophorox]

Hi everyone,

 

I'm looking for advice on a  build I put together below. Here are some preliminary questions to help answer my goals/needs,

 

1. Budget & Location

 

My budget is $1,000 to $1,500 USD for the parts that I need as specified below.

2. Aim

My goal is to run all current games at max settings using 1080p. I may upgrade monitor to 1440 soon, so near max settings for that would be fine.

3. Monitors

Currently two monitors 1080p.

Possible future: 1 monitor 1440

4. Peripherals

I do not need peripherals.

5. Why are you upgrading?

My six year old computer finally gave up. Rather than trying to fix a few parts, I would like to start new with the exception of my SSD, HDD, and peripherals. I could potentially use the case I currently have, but I'm unsure if it the case will fit these parts as mine seems a little smaller than the newer towers out there.

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/byk6jc
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/byk6jc/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($343.49 @ OutletPC) 
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($46.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI Z270 GAMING M3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($143.89 @ OutletPC) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($69.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 8GB ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($509.89 @ B&H) 
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($54.98 @ Directron) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.89 @ OutletPC) 
Total: $1249.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-26 04:49 EDT-0400

 

Questions I have:

What's the difference between GPU manufacturers and their different models(i.e. GTA 1080 WindForce vs GTX 1080 Xtreme Gaming)?

Is it worth getting 16 GB of RAM?

Any general suggestions are appreciate.

 

Thank you for your time.

[VVoltor]

The difference between graphics cards can be a bigger cooler/heatsink, power delivery components, sometimes binned GPUs that can be clocked a little higher. In real world performance the expensive cards don't really perform much better than their cheaper options. They might run a little cooler or quieter with a massive heatsink and 3 fans.

 

Most games run fine with 8GB, I'd probably get a single 8GB stick and buy another later on if you want to save a little money right now.

[NewAndy]

I would probably get 16GB ram (2x8) as games require more and more, but if you don't want to spend the money, do as @VVoltor said and get 1x8GB, so that you can upgrade later. 

Since you don't have storage in this build, I'm guessing you will use what you had in your old PC.  But since that PC is six years old, I'm also guessing that it does not have a SSD, if that's true, get a small SSD (128GB is more than enough) as a boot drive and for frequently used programs.

 

If you're planning to overclock, I'd get a 650W PSU just in case, but if not, the one you have now is just fine.

 

With the extra money, get a nice case with a big window to show of your 1080 and all the other components in you PC (if you want)

[Guest]

He doesn't need to get a single 8GB stick as the board has 4 ram slots. An upgrade to 16GB can still be done later by adding another 2 x 4GB.

[NewAndy]

1 hour ago, lee32uk said:

He doesn't need to get a single 8GB stick as the board has 4 ram slots. An upgrade to 16GB can still be done later by adding another 2 x 4GB.

But it gives him room to upgrade to 32GB (nice to have for content creation/streaming

[Guest]

2 minutes ago, NewAndy said:

But it gives him room to upgrade to 32GB (nice to have for content creation/streaming

He doesn't mention content creation or streaming though. If he plans to do that then I would maybe go for a Ryzen cpu.

[NewAndy]

48 minutes ago, lee32uk said:

He doesn't mention content creation or streaming though. If he plans to do that then I would maybe go for a Ryzen cpu.

Same, but it's better to have the possibility to upgrade later than just use all RAM slots now, also there's not that big of a brpice difference.

Maybe he won't do any of those now, but maybe in 3 or 4 years

[Zophorox]

Thank you everyone for the discussion. It's been very helpful and I've decided to make a few modifications to the build. I upgraded the PSU since overclocking is in the realm of possibilities (probably not right away, but maybe in few months or so). Likewise with the RAM, I went to the 16GB because there is a still a good cushion in my budget's upper bound. I don't see myself doing content creation or streaming anytime soon. 

 

I should have noted it in my original post, but my SSD is fairly new being a Samsung 850 Evo.

 

In regards to cases, could you give a few suggestions in the $50 to $100 price range for the best cases? I am most interested in best performance and compatibility. The looks aren't all that important to me, but I'm open to suggestions as there seem to be a ton of cases out there.

 

Here is the updated build. Hoping to pull the trigger later today, so please let me know your thoughts!

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2MHBYr
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2MHBYr/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor  ($345.99 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG H5 Ultimate 76.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($46.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI Z270 GAMING M3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($159.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($109.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1080 8GB G1 Gaming Video Card  ($529.98 @ Amazon) 
Case: Cooler Master HAF 912 USB3.0 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1332.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-03-26 10:28 EDT-0400

[Guest]

Change the psu to the EVGA G2/G3 version or a Corsair RMx. Also 550W is enough for a single GTX 1080.

[Zophorox]

48 minutes ago, lee32uk said:

Change the psu to the EVGA G2/G3 version or a Corsair RMx. Also 550W is enough for a single GTX 1080.

Whoops, I inadvertently switched to the G1. I'll take your recommendation and stick with the 550W G2 I had in the original post. Thanks for your help!