The almost 1337 build

[Questargon]

Inspired by the video "LTT: Build the Perfect Gaming PC - Holiday Buyer's Guide 2017" I come up with "The almost 1337 build". It's between $1000 and $2000 and features everything for a great gaming & light workstation experience. No Intel CPU because - as mentioned in the video - the upgrade route for Intel is unsafe (Z270 -> Z370) and Coffee Lake is not available at the moment. It features a nice case with glass, a 512 GB SSD and 3 TB of HDD storage for storage and a really nice graphics card. The memory is picked from the compatibility list of the selected mainboard, that's why it's so expensive *sigh*.

 

Feel free to modify to your heart's content :-D

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/TY2qcc
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/TY2qcc/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor  ($199.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! - PURE ROCK 51.7 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($28.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME B350-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill - Flare X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($174.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($149.99 @ B&H)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($89.50 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windforce OC Video Card  ($439.89 @ B&H)
Case: Phanteks - Eclipse P300 Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Case  ($63.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: be quiet! - Pure Power 10 CM 500W 80+ Silver Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($141.05 @ Newegg Marketplace)
Total: $1358.37
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-21 16:15 EST-0500

 

or for the Germans

 

PCPartPicker part list: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/TY2qcc
Price breakdown by merchant: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/TY2qcc/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600X 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor  (€209.00 @ Caseking)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! - PURE ROCK 51.7 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  (€32.89 @ Aquatuning)
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME B350-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard  (€92.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill - Flare X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  (€228.88 @ Alza)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€159.30 @ Mindfactory)
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€77.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Gigabyte - GeForce GTX 1070 8GB Windforce OC Video Card  (€429.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Phanteks - Eclipse P300 Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Case  (€59.90 @ Caseking)
Power Supply: be quiet! - Pure Power 10 CM 500W 80+ Silver Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply  (€65.95 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €1356.70
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-21 22:16 CET+0100

 

EDIT: Mindfactory list ... even cheaper: https://www.mindfactory.de/shopping_cart.php/basket_action/load_basket_extern/id/1e60e722184dc90983c3c0e19b5158f49143cf3913be2263f0a

EDIT2: As @seon123 pointed out: You could even get a 1080 for that price. If you don't need much storage, you can ditch the HDD (or get a 250 GB SSD and 1TB HDD) and invest the savings into the beefier graphics card.

Edited November 21, 2017 by Questargon
Options, options...

[Streetguru]

1 minute ago, Questargon said:

 

Needs Vega 56 for free-sync savings though.

[IziBartek]

1 minute ago, Questargon said:

and Coffee Lake is not available at the moment.

What do you mean not available?

[Questargon]

Just now, IziBartek said:

What do you mean not available?

Last time I checked all good Coffee Lake CPUs were out of stock or heavily overpriced, i.e. € 455 instead of msrp €399. (checked here: https://www.heise.de/preisvergleich/intel-core-i7-8700k-bx80684i78700k-a1685281.html?hloc=de [german, sorry])

[Questargon]

4 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

Needs Vega 56 for free-sync savings though.

Still not in stock for a good price here in good, ol Germany

[IziBartek]

2 minutes ago, Questargon said:

Last time I checked all good Coffee Lake CPUs were out of stock or heavily overpriced, i.e. € 455 instead of msrp €399. (checked here: https://www.heise.de/preisvergleich/intel-core-i7-8700k-bx80684i78700k-a1685281.html?hloc=de [german, sorry])

https://www.ebuyer.com/805378-intel-core-i5-8600k-processor-bx80684i58600k

[IziBartek]

Check all the links from here https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/Mr2rxr/intel-core-i5-8600k-36ghz-6-core-processor-bx80684i58600k

[Questargon]

8 minutes ago, IziBartek said:

Check all the links from here https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/Mr2rxr/intel-core-i5-8600k-36ghz-6-core-processor-bx80684i58600k

NIce But you better not set your location to Germany, because in this case only one parts dealer shows up with a price near the i7 8700K (€369)...

 

EDIT: The cheapest i7-8700K I could find (via PcPartPicker) was about €425. Both options, i5 or i7 and the fitting mainboard would drive the price up by at least €250.

[seon123]

With that kind of budget, I expect a 1070 Ti or 1080...

[Questargon]

Just now, seon123 said:

With that kind of budget, I expect a 1070 Ti or 1080...

You could ditch the HDD and put the savings into the graphics card. That should suffice for a 1080.

[seon123]

2 minutes ago, Questargon said:

You could ditch the HDD and put the savings into the graphics card. That should suffice for a 1080.

You mean the SSD? I usually put a 250GB SSD and a 1TB HDD into my part lists, and that usually costs $/€80-90 + $/€40-50. And I still get a 1070 Ti or a 1080

Edited November 21, 2017 by seon123
Something something

[Questargon]

3 minutes ago, seon123 said:

You mean the SSD? I usually put a 250GB SSD and a 1TB HDD into my part lists, and that usually costs $/€80-90 + $/€40-50. And I still get a 1070 Ti or a 1080

A 250 GB SSD is a bit too small for me in my main rig, but that's personal experience.

[seon123]

Okay, this build is really weird. I would normally never make a $1300 build with a 1TB SSD.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($189.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME B350-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  ($139.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Crucial - MX300 1.1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($237.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K3000 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($68.25 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card  ($469.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400 TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case  ($59.99 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1306.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-21 17:12 EST-0500

 

Damn, it's hard to find decent RAM that's actually in stock. German list

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  (€198.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME B350-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard  (€92.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (€182.93 @ Mindfactory) 
Storage: Crucial - MX300 525GB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€131.00 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Hitachi - Ultrastar 7K4000 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€70.00 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card  (€499.00 @ Caseking) 
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400 TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case  (€79.90 @ Caseking) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (€93.37 @ Mindfactory) 
Total: €1348.18
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-11-21 23:19 CET+0100

[Questargon]

I don't agree with your memory picks. The Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (TDGED416G3000HC16CDC01) are on the QVL for the Asus - PRIME B350-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard, but can only run at 2133 speed. The Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15) of the "german list" can run faster, but ONLY version 4.24 - I heard they're at version > 5 now... and THESE would fall back to 2133 again. Dunno how old the QVL of the Asus is though, since AMD is upgrading memory compatibility constantly.

 

Picking the right memory is a minefield for Ryzen right now...

 

But everything else is really nice. You shaved off some $$ from the CPU, thereby went with the stock cooler. Then you picked a cheaper SSD and were able to fit a nice 1070 Ti for that price.

 

[seon123]

1 minute ago, Questargon said:

I don't agree with your memory picks. The Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (TDGED416G3000HC16CDC01) are on the QVL for the Asus - PRIME B350-PLUS ATX AM4 Motherboard, but can only run at 2133 speed. The Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (CMK16GX4M2B3000C15) of the "german list" can run faster, but ONLY version 4.24 - I heard they're at version > 5 now... and THESE would fall back to 2133 again. Dunno how old the QVL of the Asus is though, since AMD is upgrading memory compatibility constantly.

 

Picking the right memory is a minefield for Ryzen right now...

 

But everything else is really nice. You shaved off some $$ from the CPU, thereby went with the stock cooler. Then you picked a cheaper SSD and were able to fit a nice 1070 Ti for that price.

 

Lower end kits all use Hynix die, meaning they're equally likely to run at their rated speeds. Worst case scenario is usually 2800 MHz. Very few kits use Samsung's lower end S, E and D-dies, which are a bit worse.

With Agesa code 1006, memory support is much better. My single rank Micron B-die kit (Corsair LPX 3000 MHz CL15 v3.32) went from being stable at 2400 MHz to being able to run 3066 MHz (though the performance was lower than on 2933 MHz).