Gaming Rig Hardware Recommendation

[Georg | Raken]

Hey,

so i decided to build a gaming rig from ground up with which I will be able to run games, as well as private game servers while playing on them.

I have all the external peripherals (Mouse, Keyboard, Headset, Monitor)

My planned PC looks as following:
Motherboard: -
CPU: -
CPU Cooler: - (Air cooling)
RAM: -
GPU: ZOTAC, GeForce GTX 1080Ti 11GB, AMP Extreme Edition
Storage: Samsung 960 EVO 250GB (M.2), Toshiba P300 2TB HDD

Power supply: -

Bluray drive: - (any recommendations?)

 

Case: Cooler Master MasterCase Pro 5

 

Just for the sake of completeness:
Monitor: Acer XF240H, 24"   1920x1080 / 144Hz

Headset: Asus Strix 7.1
Mouse: Logitech G403 wired

Keyboard: Corsair K70 RAPIDFIRE

 

 

My question is now, what CPU would you recommend me? I got my eyes on the following:
Intel Core i7 7740X - Quadcore

Intel Core i7 7800X - Hexacore

Intel Core i7 8700K - Hexacore

I have to admit, i can't see any downsides of the new 8700K compared to the 7800X except that the 7800X supports 28 PCIe Lanes and the 8700K only 16 (just like the 7740X) as mentioned on Intel's website.
Graphiccard wise it shouldn't be a problem but does my M.2 SSD count as a PCIe "user" as well for the processor or is that covered? Because when I take the sum of both I am at a PCIe count of 20...

 

Also what RAM would you recommend me? I think 16GB should be fine but with all the newer games using up to 8GB of RAM is 32GB worth the investment for gaming and hosting a server (sometimes)?

 

If you need any more information/have any questions or would recommend other hardware than listed above feel free to contact me.

Thanks for the help in advance!

[COUPER MILLAR]

If you can find an i7 8700k get that. If not honestly an i7 7700k would be the next best option. The x299 platform doesn't really give any benefit for gaming and costs a lot more than the main stream platform. the i7 7740x shouldn't even exist. 

 

regarding ram. 16gb should be fine for the time being. I would hold off on more than that in hopes that the DDR4 shortage gets resolved sometime in 2018 and prices return to a more reasonable level.

 

current gpus don't necessarily need all 16 lanes to run at full performance. also i believe that the chipset on the main stream motherboards also gets 4 pcie lains. 

[Streetguru]

6 minutes ago, Georg | Raken said:

 

Budget/Country

Monitor resolution/refresh rate?

[Georg | Raken]

1 minute ago, Streetguru said:

Budget/Country

Monitor resolution/refresh rate?

I am from Austria, budget doesn't matter that much.

1920x1080, 144Hz

[Streetguru]

Just now, Georg | Raken said:

 

You don't really need a 1080ti for that resolution/refresh rate

 

if there's no real budget then just get a 1950X
 

PCPartPicker part list: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/9sKmyf
Price breakdown by merchant: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/9sKmyf/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Threadripper 1950X 3.4GHz 16-Core Processor  (€877.93 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Enermax - LiqTech TR4 360 102.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (€169.90 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: ASRock - X399 Taichi ATX TR4 Motherboard  (€344.20 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (€332.67 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital - Blue 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (€148.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC2 Video Card  (€775.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Thermaltake - Core X9 ATX Desktop Case  (€147.36 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - PRIME Gold 1200W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (€259.66 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €3056.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-21 21:27 CET+0100

[geo3]

3 minutes ago, Georg | Raken said:

1920x1080, 144Hz

8700k or 7700k  For high refresh gaming high clock and IPC are king.

[Georg | Raken]

38 minutes ago, COUPER MILLAR said:

If you can find an i7 8700k get that. If not honestly an i7 7700k would be the next best option. The x299 platform doesn't really give any benefit for gaming and costs a lot more than the main stream platform. the i7 7740x shouldn't even exist. 

 

regarding ram. 16gb should be fine for the time being. I would hold off on more than that in hopes that the DDR4 shortage gets resolved sometime in 2018 and prices return to a more reasonable level.

 

current gpus don't necessarily need all 16 lanes to run at full performance. also i believe that the chipset on the main stream motherboards also gets 4 pcie lains. 

Okay, why would you go for the i7 7700K over the i7 7800X with slightly lower clock speed but 2 additional cores?

Do you have a motherboard you'd recommend?

 

Yeah i thought so, too, heard alot about stability problems regarding 32GB DDR4 or what else is bad about it?

 

Oh okay and what is that with the chipsets giving additional pcie lanes? Do the processors have some free pins left which accept additional inputs depending on the motherboard layout?

 

Also, thanks for your quick reply.

[Georg | Raken]

6 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

You don't really need a 1080ti for that resolution/refresh rate

 

if there's no real budget then just get a 1950X
 

PCPartPicker part list: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/9sKmyf
Price breakdown by merchant: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/9sKmyf/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Threadripper 1950X 3.4GHz 16-Core Processor  (€877.93 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Enermax - LiqTech TR4 360 102.2 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (€169.90 @ Caseking)
Motherboard: ASRock - X399 Taichi ATX TR4 Motherboard  (€344.20 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (€332.67 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital - Blue 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (€148.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC2 Video Card  (€775.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Thermaltake - Core X9 ATX Desktop Case  (€147.36 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - PRIME Gold 1200W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (€259.66 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €3056.50
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-21 21:27 CET+0100

Thanks for your answer but I have some questions:
1. Your PC is a bit overkill for my needs.
2. You just said that I don't need a GTX 1080Ti yet you send me a setup with it

3. The processor you picked is not the best regarding gaming

4. Your powersupply is a bit overkill as well, why go for that much?

5. Why go for such a big case?

6. I said air cooling for CPU and you send me a liquid cooler

 

I don't want to sound aggressive or anything like that but if you don't want to engage on my specific needs why do you answer this post?

[Streetguru]

1 minute ago, Georg | Raken said:

Thanks for your answer but I have some questions:
1. Your PC is a bit overkill for my needs.
2. You just said that I don't need a GTX 1080Ti yet you send me a setup with it

You said you didn't have a budget so at that point you might as well buy the best, just that TR makes more sense than Skylake-X to me

Ryzen is going to be doing about 100fps in the average AAA game, so it's up to you if intel is worth the extra cost for say 120+fps.

If you want to run game servers and what not the extra cores are going to be useful

The PSU is another might as well thing if you're going for that kind of build, plus the CPU will pull a lot of power if you overclock

Noctua makes a TR4 cooler, but the enermax cooler is beyond solid and will potentially get you more performance.

The Core X9 just has a lot of airflow and seems to be the way to go for HEDT systems


If you have a real budget or just want the best 144hz CPU then the 8700K is what you want. You'll just want to delid it and OC it to 5ghz+, probably with some other 240 or above AIO.
 

[Georg | Raken]

1 minute ago, Streetguru said:

You said you didn't have a budget so at that point you might as well buy the best, just that TR makes more sense than Skylake-X to me

Ryzen is going to be doing about 100fps in the average AAA game, so it's up to you if intel is worth the extra cost for say 120+fps.

True that, yet I don't want to "waste" that much money for things I might not even need.

Yes, sorry I didn't mention that. My bad. I need stable FPS (144+ if possible), playing in an esports team.

Thanks for your answers but I won't buy the rig you sent me.

[Streetguru]

9 minutes ago, Georg | Raken said:

 

What game? Are you contracted to do streaming while you game? Do you already have a secondary PC for that?

Probably get the 8700K delidded and overclocked, gotta look more into the motherboard

You can always just use a secondary PC for running your servers, some used i7 or xeon rig, maybe a super cheap FX 8 core system could do it

 

Also 240hz display because why not?
 

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

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor  (€384.90 @ Alza)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler  (€87.99 @ Aquatuning)
Motherboard: ASRock - Z370 Killer SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€137.73 @ Mindfactory)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (€355.50 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital - Blue 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (€148.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB SC2 Video Card  (€775.89 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Cooler Master - MasterCase 5 ATX Mid Tower Case  (€109.32 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 850W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (€117.83 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Monitor: AOC - AG251FZ 24.5" 1920x1080 240Hz Monitor  (€372.24 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €2490.29
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-12-21 21:58 CET+0100
 

 

[komar]

@Georg | Raken you gotta be a little bit more specific. 1080p 144Hz and sometimes host a server with no budget is quite vast. Depending on what you play and maybe host you may need the Threadripper  or maybe any quad core will do the job just as good.

Best bet is to do the research what you will need for your needs and go from there (will the server need fast cores, many cores, lots of ram etc) but keep in mind - if you want good server properties you will throw a lot money on them and not use them that often!

[Georg | Raken]

Just now, komar said:

@Georg | Raken you gotta be a little bit more specific. 1080p 144Hz and sometimes host a server with no budget is quite vast. Depending on what you play and maybe host you may need the Threadripper  or maybe any quad core will do the job just as good.

Best bet is to do the research what you will need for your needs and go from there (will the server need fast cores, many cores, lots of ram etc) but keep in mind - if you want good server properties you will throw a lot money on them and not use them that often!

sorry, saw afterwards that it was not really specific.
I normally play LoL, ARK: Survival Evolved, Dark and Light and Minecraft. The servers I host are from the last 3 of them. Dark and Light as well as ARK servers often tend to take at least 2 threads.

Rarely Farcry Primal, Rainbow Six: Siege and Fallout 4.
I did a lot of research and in order to eliminate the last thoughts I have about choosing my CPU I posted here.

[Streetguru]

1 minute ago, Georg | Raken said:

 

Doesn't LoL run at 200+fps on any modern CPU?

[Georg | Raken]

9 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

What game?

Probably get the 8700K delidded and overclocked, gotta look more into the motherboard

 

Also 240hz display because why not?

LoL

I know delidding gives a boost in terms of cooling but I don't feel comfortable doing that.

Not planning on buying a higher Hz display but thanks.

[Georg | Raken]

3 minutes ago, Streetguru said:

Doesn't LoL run at 200+fps on any modern CPU?

Not really, no. I built a rendering/half gaming pc for my brother with a Ryzen 7 1700x and a GTX 1080Ti and it runs at ~100fps in teamfights, at the start of the game ~270fps.

[komar]

2 minutes ago, Georg | Raken said:

I did a lot of research and in order to eliminate the last thoughts I have about choosing my CPU I posted here.

Well when you know what every of these servers uses as resources (I don't) why bothered at all to make a thread here? If they don't need more than 4 cores to run smoothly just go for the faster 4C/8T Intel chips and buy the one you feel most comfortable. The only advice I can give you, being a AMD fanboy, is don't go with the premium stuff and stick to mainstream - way cheaper. 

[Georg | Raken]

3 minutes ago, komar said:

Well when you know what every of these servers uses as resources (I don't) why bothered at all to make a thread here?

If they don't need more than 4 cores to run smoothly just go for the faster 4C/8T Intel chips and buy the one you feel most comfortable.

 

The only advice I can give you, being a AMD fanboy, is don't go with the premium stuff and stick to mainstream - way cheaper. 

Well I wanted some advice if anyone has had similar needs and mostly because of the PCIe lane "issue" of the 8700k.

For example I didn't knew that the chipset gives the CPU additional I/O's depending on the motherboard layout.

 

Okay haha.

[Streetguru]

1 minute ago, Georg | Raken said:

 

The extra lanes through the chipset doesn't matter for your situation, that only becomes an issue if you want to do RAID 0 NVME SSDs

[komar]

4 minutes ago, Georg | Raken said:

Well I wanted some advice if anyone has had similar needs and mostly because of the PCIe lane "issue" of the 8700k.

For example I didn't knew that the chipset gives the CPU additional I/O's depending on the motherboard layout.

Well the I/O is common sense - it would be a bit ridiculous if a 40$ motherboard has better than the 3-4-5-600$ and more dollar one. As for the PCIe lanes  - https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/854417-1080-ti-m2-nvme-i7-8700k-only-16-pcie-lanes/ pretty good answer here in my opinion.

 

[COUPER MILLAR]

57 minutes ago, Georg | Raken said:

Okay, why would you go for the i7 7700K over the i7 7800X with slightly lower clock speed but 2 additional cores?

Do you have a motherboard you'd recommend?

 

Yeah i thought so, too, heard alot about stability problems regarding 32GB DDR4 or what else is bad about it?

 

Oh okay and what is that with the chipsets giving additional pcie lanes? Do the processors have some free pins left which accept additional inputs depending on the motherboard layout?

 

Also, thanks for your quick reply.

The two additional cores really wont benefit you in gaming. Also the heat generation and power draw on x299 is way higher than the z270 or 370. If you are looking for best bang for your buck I would go with an ASRock extreme4 or taichi. Most Asus z series motherboards are going to be solid. 

 

I haven't heard anything about stability regarding 32gb kits. 

 

From what I understand, intel mainstream motherboards have up to 16 PCIe lains for PCIe devices, and an additional 4 to 8  lanes dedicated to the chipset. Based on the set up NVME ssd's will utilize the laines form the chipset as opposed to the 16 lanes utilized by the GPU. 

[Georg | Raken]

39 minutes ago, komar said:

Well the I/O is common sense - it would be a bit ridiculous if a 40$ motherboard has better than the 3-4-5-600$ and more dollar one. As for the PCIe lanes  - https://linustechtips.com/main/topic/854417-1080-ti-m2-nvme-i7-8700k-only-16-pcie-lanes/ pretty good answer here in my opinion.

 

Yes I meant the PCIe lanes, isn't that also a I/O?
Ahh thank you very much, helped me understand it.

[Georg | Raken]

47 minutes ago, COUPER MILLAR said:

The two additional cores really wont benefit you in gaming. Also the heat generation and power draw on x299 is way higher than the z270 or 370. If you are looking for best bang for your buck I would go with an ASRock extreme4 or taichi. Most Asus z series motherboards are going to be solid. 

 

From what I understand, intel mainstream motherboards have up to 16 PCIe lains for PCIe devices, and an additional 4 to 8  lanes dedicated to the chipset. Based on the set up NVME ssd's will utilize the laines form the chipset as opposed to the 16 lanes utilized by the GPU. 

I know that. Roger. Thank you very much.
 

Ahh okay.