The Monolith

[ERM64bit]

So after about a month of planning, I finally got all of my parts for my new system. Here's the specs rundown:

 

Specs: Intel Core i7 8700K CPU
Asus Z370-A Prime Motherboard
G.Skill Trident Z RGB 16GB 3000Mhz RAM
NZXT Kraken x52 AIO Cooler
WD Black M.2 256GB SSD
NZXT S340 Elite Case
Two 120mm NZXT Aer RGB w/ Hue+
EVGA GTX 1070 Ti SC Graphics Card
EVGA G3 650W 80+ PSU
ASUS 1200AC WiFi card

Peripherals:
LG 29UM68 29" Widescreen Monitor
Alienware AW958 Elite Mouse
Alienware AW768 Elite Gaming Keyboard

Logitech 2.whatever speakers w/ sub woofer that I've had for 8 years.

 

So far I did a quick benchmark using Userbenchmark, and I got this:

 

UserBenchmarks: Game 116%, Desk 108%, Work 104%
CPU: Intel Core i7-8700K - 129.4%
GPU: Nvidia GTX 1070 Ti - 120.5%
SSD: WD Black NVMe PCIe M.2 256GB - 114.7%
RAM: G.SKILL F4 DDR4 3000 C15 2x8GB - 87%
MBD: Asus PRIME Z370-A
 

So overall, I'm pretty happy with how things turned out. As far as games: I launched Sea of Thieves at 2560x1080, with Mythical (highest) settings and averaged 95 FPS. I'm still about to test Doom, Skyrim, and Dead Space (my 3 favorites that I own). I'm also going to try out Rise of the Tomb Raider and Far Cry 5 pretty soon as well. Also waiting on my 2TB storage drive to show up, friend of mine is giving me his spare.

[wojtepanik]

for me the screen is not up to the build, i would go for 144hz or 2k 16:9 monitor this wide screen is crap for me

[wojtepanik]

1 hour ago, dieegoperi said:

If it's crap for you then go buy yourself a better one, man it's his build, don't talk like that about anyone else' PCs!

read my post, i said : I WOULD GO FOR and then I said that the screen is crap FOR ME, what is your problem

[ERM64bit]

50 minutes ago, wojtepanik said:

read my post, i said : I WOULD GO FOR and then I said that the screen is crap FOR ME, what is your problem

Honestly I just saw this monitor at my friend's house and like it, so I ordered one too. That, and my budget for a monitor was $250, so I just went with one that I liked. Later on I plan on getting a second monitor, but I just happen to like this one. I've never gamed on a widescreen monitor before, but I'm liking it so far.

[wojtepanik]

2 hours ago, ERM64bit said:

Honestly I just saw this monitor at my friend's house and like it, so I ordered one too. That, and my budget for a monitor was $250, so I just went with one that I liked. Later on I plan on getting a second monitor, but I just happen to like this one. I've never gamed on a widescreen monitor before, but I'm liking it so far.

fair enough, I have 144hz 1080p for gaming and at work I  have 2x2k monitors, I would never step down to 1080p for content consuming and working

[RockoCL]

Very nice color selection man love the combination of blue and purple, and that little plant blend perfect in the desk!

[Teo Villanueva]

Awesoem build! love that rgb tho

[ERM64bit]

On 3/31/2018 at 4:10 PM, wojtepanik said:

fair enough, I have 144hz 1080p for gaming and at work I  have 2x2k monitors, I would never step down to 1080p for content consuming and working

Yea I've got a 4K Dell PremierColor monitor at work, but I couldn't afford a $800 monitor for the house for just occasional use. Once I start getting into more video editing, I'm definitely going to pick one up, but in the mean time, I'm digging the widescreen for gaming. I just played some Doom and Sea of Thieves this weekend and could not have been happier with it.

[ERM64bit]

Oh so some caveats to the build in case anyone feels like using these parts:

 

The motherboard was not the easiest to install, particularly the I/O shield and the I/O guard (the plastic piece that surrounds the I/O on the motherboard itself). You really have to push in the I/O shield with some force to get it to snap in, but it's not very clear when it is completely snapped into place. The easiest way for me to tell was putting the motherboard in the case, and if the stand offs didn't align with the motherboard, keep pushing on the I/O shield. Also with the rear I/O guard and the NZXT S340 Elite, you definitely need to remove the rear case fan, and possibly the top fan to gain extra clearance to insert the motherboard. It may not be easy to tell in the photos, but there's maybe 1-2mm of clearance between the guard and the rear fan in the case. 

 

If you mount SSDs on top of the PSU basement, be careful cable managing your cables. I'm still not sure how, but I managed to cut myself twice on the motherboard pins while hooking up my USB 2.0 connectors. Again not really sure how, but those little bastards are sharp (never had this happen before, I swear).

 

If you've never build a system before, I would definitely recommend this case, maybe a different motherboard just because of that I/O shield and mounting the MB itself was a bit of a pain. 

[ERM64bit]

21 hours ago, RockoCL said:

Very nice color selection man love the combination of blue and purple, and that little plant blend perfect in the desk!

Thanks man! My wife actually got me that plant for my desk, she said it needed something