Ultimate Gaming Desktop **need advice**

[mynameajeff]

So, I have found a very cheap living arrangement for college, leaving a lot extra in my student loan. and Fret not, I have around 1200$ CAD saved up for this PC, the rest will be covered with grants from my student loan. But I need some help deciding. I will give my rational for each part under its price in CAD.

 

So, Starting off. We have the ASUS Strix GTX 1080ti

i

At a steep price of $1,067.98 CAD

NEWEGG LINK: https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA7RD5UE3243&cm_re=gtx_1080ti-_-14-126-187-_-Product

I chose this part because, not only is it AURA enabled as is the motherboard in this build but it addressed the heating issues and sound issues that the FE 1080 ti has. I also want to go with the 1080ti because I do plan on doing 4K gaming with this machine, as well as VR in the future. I have seen the performance difference between the 1080 and 1080ti and honestly the ti is a really great performer over the 1080 for only a few hundred bucks more.

 

Next up we have our Motherboard! 

Which is the MSI Z270 GAMING PRO CARBON

This is a killer board for the price of $223.99 

NEWEGG LINK: https://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130973&cm_re=MSI_carbon_pro-_-13-130-973-_-Product

It has M.2 support, it is Aura enabled, and as you can tell is an LGA 1151 socket mobo! Yes for now I have chosen to go blue with this build, as I do not do a lot of Streaming/Content creation or recording, so the Extra cores of Ryzen wont do me any good. However, I can see the benefits of the high overclocks I will be achieving with the CPU I have chosen. I might still go with the AM4 version of this board if I do decide to go Ryzen, let me know what you think! 

 

Onto the processor, and I know you all know what this is already but just in case you didn't I have chosen 

The I7 7700k!

It isn't a budget oriented choice at a whopping $434.99 however,

The price of this CPU makes it a direct competitor with the 1700x and arguably the 1800x. I have chosen to go blue for peace of mind and not worrying about support for AM4, since I have no experience dealing with AM4 or AM4 mounting. I would much rather stay tried and true with this Staple CPU.

 

Ram time

I chose the G.Skill TridentZ RGB 16gb kit

RGB comes at a price when dealing with ram, This RGB kit comes in at $207.98

What can I say, its decently fast RGB ram. 16GB of it. More then enough for gaming.

 

On to the CPU cooler. Not really an expensive choice but **WILL BE** RGB

A refurb Corsair Certified Hydro Series H100i v2

PRICE: $89

I went with this over the NZXT Kraken because its cheaper, and with the money I save on buying a refurb unit from Newegg, I can buy...

 

A THREE PACK OF HD120 RGB LED FANS w/ controller

Price $94.99

I will be replacing the fans on the cooler with these one, and I will be ordering 3 more fans for a total of 4 free ones for the case utilizing all of the ports on the fan controller Which is an extra $90

 

For the case I chose the beautiful Fractal Design Define S, cheap, quiet and supports rads. Its an awesome case for the price.

Price: $124.99

An Amazing case for the money, and looks great too!

 

Finally an internal NZXT USB hub for maximum RGB 

Price: 32.99 

 

oops i forgot a PSU... awkward.

Well I chose a Corsair 650w modular Gold 80+ PSU 

Price: 149.99

Let me know if I need a high wattage PSU or not. Thanks

 

 

I already have an SSD and HDD for the build so I don't need to factor that into the price. So what do you think of my build? When the parts come in I will make a build log with pictures as well! Feel free to make suggestions as I am ordering this in September so there is a lot of room for change! Thanks guys <3 

 

TOTAL BEFORE TAXES AND SHIPPING :$2,519.87

AFTER TAXES AND SHIPPING: $2,944.09

 

[The Sloth]

...build a cheap workable pc, save money for the future, student loans are not free money. 

[mynameajeff]

1 minute ago, nerdslayer1 said:

...build a cheap workable pc, save money for the future, college loans are not free money. 

But grants are  

I am fully acknowledge that I am paying for this, I am not some stupid kid with money for the first time. I know how this works, but thank you for the suggestions. 

 

Edit: Like I said I got lucky with my living arrangements, so I am using the money I would have saved on spending on my living on this PC.

[The Sloth]

Just now, RyanTheCanadian said:

But grants are  

I am fully acknowledge that I am paying for this, I am not some stupid kid with money for the first time. I know how this works, but thank you for the suggestions. 

what are you studying? why not go for a ryzen 1600 system, it should save you money. 

[mynameajeff]

1 minute ago, nerdslayer1 said:

what are you studying? why not go for a ryzen 1600 system, it should save you money. 

Im studying Networking and Network Security. 

Edit: Like I said, I am debating Ryzen. But I am more comfortable with LGA 1151 then AM4

[BWLServers]

If you're just gaming, get the 7600K.

[The Sloth]

Just now, RyanTheCanadian said:

Im studying Networking and Network Security. 

Edit: Like I said, I am debating Ryzen. But I am more comfortable with LGA 1151 then AM4

at 4k ryzen 1600 should give you better minimums, 6c/12t will "future proof" it a bit more. 

[The Sloth]

1 minute ago, BWLServers said:

If you're just gaming, get the 7600K.

ryzen 1600 is much better and around the same price, i5s are not worth getting anymore. 

[Brooksie359]

If you are more comfortable with lga 1151 then get the 7700k. Otherwise ryzen is an option.

[mynameajeff]

4 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

If you are more comfortable with lga 1151 then get the 7700k. Otherwise ryzen is an option.

How hard is it to get the AM4 Mounting bracket for the h100i v2? I am worried i will get the wrong one lol

[Varpin]

3 minutes ago, RyanTheCanadian said:

Im studying Networking and Network Security. 

Edit: Like I said, I am debating Ryzen. But I am more comfortable with LGA 1151 then AM4

I would upgrade to Ryzen. I owned a LGA 1151 system, but then upgraded to AM4 (X370, R7 1700, Kraken X52 AIO the AM4 bracket came with the AIO) and everything worked perfectly, no problems whatsoever.

 

Here's the AM4 bracket for the H100i V2: http://www.corsair.com/en-us/am4-amd-retention-bracket-kit-for-hydro-series-coolers or this one https://www.amazon.ca/Corsair-CW-8960046-Retention-Bracket-Coolers/dp/B06Y6J86V1/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1501112697&sr=8-3&keywords=am4+bracket

[Brooksie359]

10 minutes ago, RyanTheCanadian said:

How hard is it to get the AM4 Mounting bracket for the h100i v2? I am worried i will get the wrong one lol

Honestly don't know. Does one come with the am4 mounting or do you need to order a compatibility kit from corsair?

[mynameajeff]

9 minutes ago, Brooksie359 said:

Honestly don't know. Does one come with the am4 mounting or do you need to order a compatibility kit from corsair?

You have to order it separately on the corsair site, which is a pain. 

[mynameajeff]

1 hour ago, Varpin said:

I would upgrade to Ryzen. I owned a LGA 1151 system, but then upgraded to AM4 (X370, R7 1700, Kraken X52 AIO the AM4 bracket came with the AIO) and everything worked perfectly, no problems whatsoever.

 

Here's the AM4 bracket for the H100i V2: http://www.corsair.com/en-us/am4-amd-retention-bracket-kit-for-hydro-series-coolers or this one https://www.amazon.ca/Corsair-CW-8960046-Retention-Bracket-Coolers/dp/B06Y6J86V1/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1501112697&sr=8-3&keywords=am4+bracket

Which Ryzen CPU do you think is best performance per dollar? And best OC. I like the NZXT Kraken and might get that. 

[The Sloth]

8 minutes ago, RyanTheCanadian said:

Which Ryzen CPU do you think is best performance per dollar? And best OC. I like the NZXT Kraken and might get that. 

ryzen 1600 would be a sweet spot or 1700 if you could spend an extra 100$, 1700 8c/16t if you want to go full enthusiast. 

[Princess Luna]

Lol just copy my rig, it's the same thing, like 3fps lower average for half the cost, it just doesn't look as fancy but I personally prefer that stuff on my screen looks good first.

[JakeJigsaw]

1 hour ago, RyanTheCanadian said:

Im studying Networking and Network Security. 

 

Screw school dude.

Getting my OSCP from Kali has taken me waaay further.

[mynameajeff]

1 minute ago, JakeJigsaw said:

Screw school dude.

Getting my OSCP from Kali has taken me waaay further.

My college has the kali lab and cert integrated in the course, as well as A+ and Linux+. 

[JakeJigsaw]

Just now, RyanTheCanadian said:

My college has the kali lab and cert integrated in the course, as well as A+ and Linux+. 

Good. I had to pay for my courses out of pocket, if you can get it financed through school, more power to you.

I have gotten offers working for a ton of company's, military and such just buy having completed my oscp, and doing some freelancing.

[Varpin]

4 hours ago, RyanTheCanadian said:

Which Ryzen CPU do you think is best performance per dollar? And best OC. I like the NZXT Kraken and might get that. 

If you're doing editing, rendering and streaming stuff, get the R7 1700 and if you're mainly gaming get the R5 1600. The 1600 can also do some editing and streaming if you still want to do that, but at the same time want to save some money. You can then OC to get (about) the performance of a 1700X and 1600X.

[Wyre]

8 hours ago, RyanTheCanadian said:

How hard is it to get the AM4 Mounting bracket for the h100i v2? I am worried i will get the wrong one lol

http://www.corsair.com/en-us/am4-amd-retention-bracket-kit-for-hydro-series-coolers

 

There you go, although if you have purchase information, just shoot it over to Corsair, they will send you the right part. For the most part Corsair is a very good company. At least they have always treated me very well.