College Future Proofing

[[狐] DJ Charizard]

I'm about to graduate High School this year, and I just grabbed a job at my local Best Buy, so I was thinking about start to save up for the Laptop/PC I'm going to need for my major. I was debating on either upgrading my clunker of a PC with a brand new one, or if I should just get myself a MacBook Pro like every other college freshman and wait until this puppy dies. I figured i'd go overkill incase I want to keep this new PC for well over 5 years and if I want to upgrade to a new resolution. EX: 1440p. Any advice?

 

(BTW: I left out the PSU because I already have an overkill 750w PSU from EVGA.)

[PCPartPicker part list](https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LhyKf8)
**CPU** | [Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor] $318.89 @ OutletPC
**CPU Cooler** | [Corsair - H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler]| $99.99 @ Newegg
**Motherboard** | [Asus - STRIX Z270-E GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard] | $169.99 @ Amazon
**Memory** | [Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory] | $162.99 @ Amazon
**Storage** | [Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive] | $159.99 @ B&H
**Video Card** | [Asus - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Dual Series Video Card]| $419.00 @ Amazon
**Case** | [Thermaltake - Core G3 ATX Mid Tower Case]| $66.99 @ SuperBiiz
 | ***Total*** | $1407.84 (Taxes and stuff included)

 

Edited October 19, 2017 by [狐] DJ Charizard
Made the list more reader friendly.

[Xanthe_2871]

Well, you might want to stick to what Best Buy sells. I hear the guys who work there only pay 5% over whatever the store pays... if that's still the case you could save quite a bit!

[KawaiiRaven]

Yeah get a PC and get a chromebook or cheap windows laptop (With decent reviews) for note taking and stuff like that

[KawaiiRaven]

Just now, Xanthe_2871 said:

Well, you might want to stick to what Best Buy sells. I hear the guys who work there only pay 5% over whatever the store pays... if that's still the case you could save quite a bit!

BestBuy typically sells pre-built cheap generic PCs. Not ones for enthusiasts. Plus, I think it's just 5% off of what they profit from. 

[[狐] DJ Charizard]

Just now, Alexsolo said:

What's your current PC?

CPU: AMD-FX8320 (OC to 4.2Ghz) // Motherboard: Gigabyte 990FX-Gaming // Ram: A-Data 4GB x 2 Sticks // GPU: Gigabyte R9 380 4Gb // Case: DIYPC J180-BL // Storage: WD-Blue 1TB Drive, WD-Blue Laptop 150Gb Drive // PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 // Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO //

 

3 minutes ago, Xanthe_2871 said:

Well, you might want to stick to what Best Buy sells. I hear the guys who work there only pay 5% over whatever the store pays... if that's still the case you could save quite a bit!

If anything, I'd buy the Apple laptop I'd think about getting from them because of the employee discount. The Pre-Builts from there are a bit...50/50.

 

4 minutes ago, KawaiiRaven said:

Yeah get a PC and get a chromebook or cheap windows laptop (With decent reviews) for note taking and stuff like that

I was thinking of getting something like that, but chromebooks you can't really code on, and for my major I need that. Also, as far as I've seen if you skimp out on the windows laptop, it might just give you headaches.

[Herman Mcpootis]

5 minutes ago, [狐] DJ Charizard said:

Case: DIYPC J180-BL // Storage: WD-Blue 1TB Drive, WD-Blue Laptop 150Gb Drive // PSU: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 // Cooler: CoolerMaster Hyper 212 EVO //

keep these and upgrade the rest, 380 can be kept too if it's enough for your games for now.

[[狐] DJ Charizard]

2 minutes ago, Alexsolo said:

Well already you can keep the R9 390, Case, 1TB, 150GB, PSU and the Cooler!

So any upgrade comes out to THAT much cheaper!

That's very true! The case is doing my fine, the psu, and cooler aswell. The hard-drives and GPU are what worry me though. Since the GPU is quite beaten up from being bought second-hand, and the hard-drives are a number of years old, I have a fear of them starting to fail soon so I was thinking about possibly replacing them with something newer.

The CPU and Motherboard do have to go though, because frankly they just can't keep up with the games I want to play anymore. The R9 380 is also lacking in the performance department (like for example with pubg I have to play on low settings).

[Herman Mcpootis]

3 minutes ago, [狐] DJ Charizard said:

That's very true! The case is doing my fine, the psu, and cooler aswell. The hard-drives and GPU are what worry me though. Since the GPU is quite beaten up from being bought second-hand, and the hard-drives are a number of years old, I have a fear of them starting to fail soon so I was thinking about possibly replacing them with something newer.

The CPU and Motherboard do have to go though, because frankly they just can't keep up with the games I want to play anymore. The R9 380 is also lacking in the performance department (like for example with pubg I have to play on low settings).

just be vigilant and check the HDDs for issues and remember to make backups of important files regularly, replace it when it starts to die.

[Herman Mcpootis]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor  ($279.89 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Killer SLI/ac ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($130.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: SK hynix - SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($77.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($519.89 @ B&H) 
Total: $1158.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-18 21:26 EDT-0400

 

with a 1440p monitor:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.89 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($111.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: SK hynix - SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($77.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($519.89 @ B&H) 
Monitor: Lenovo - L24q 23.8" 2560x1440 60Hz Monitor  ($159.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1219.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-18 21:28 EDT-0400

[[狐] DJ Charizard]

Just now, herman mcpootis said:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor  ($279.89 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Killer SLI/ac ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($130.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: SK hynix - SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($77.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($519.89 @ B&H) 
Total: $1158.74
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-18 21:26 EDT-0400

 

with a 1440p monitor:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.89 @ B&H) 
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Pro4 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($111.98 @ Newegg) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($149.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: SK hynix - SL308 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($77.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($519.89 @ B&H) 
Monitor: Lenovo - L24q 23.8" 2560x1440 60Hz Monitor  ($159.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1219.73
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-18 21:28 EDT-0400

 

5 minutes ago, Alexsolo said:

Here you go!

More suggestions: Keep the 1TB for documents/secondary games

A 250GB SSD should be enough for Windows + main games

Keep windows license from current PC to activate on new one

8400 has comparable performance to the 7700K (which would run pretty hot under a 212 evo when oc'ed)

 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8400 2.8GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.89 @ B&H) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Motherboard: Asus - ROG STRIX Z370-F GAMING ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($189.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($162.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($98.94 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Video Card  ($409.98 @ SuperBiiz) 
Case: DIYPC - J180-BL ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G2 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Total: $1061.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-18 21:21 EDT-0400

These all seem like pretty good builds for my price-range. Thank you both!