Building a semi-future proof work and fun (mostly work) computer.

[DOMau5]

Hello everyone,

 

Please excuse me with my knowledge as I am not a computer expert. I have just been doing some research through Linus, Jayztwocents and GamersNexus, trying to find answers to the immediate array of complicated and broad questions exposed to me when I began looking at parts. I have built a PC before, specs at the bottom, and it was so rewarding to build but there were a lot of issues with the build. For one my MB died a year in (at least I think it was - Amazon sent me a replacement and swapped the parts over and it worked again?), certain USBs just don't seem to work and the ones that do sometimes don't even register, my cable management could be improved upon, and I could benefit from not trying to cheap out. I'm not asking for fixes on the old system because to hell with it!

 

My new build I'm hoping will last me for as long as I need. I don't want to upgrade anything a couple years down or whatever, I just want it to remain around this specification so I put a list together of exactly what I want without worrying about the price (too much) yet not exceeding my needs - hopefully, this is why I need your help! I need my new system mostly for work, I'm an audio producer, from sound design to DAW compositions using either synthesis or samplers with sound libraries. I also use it as my home system so would like to be able to play some recent games really well, perhaps later upgrading to a 4k monitor. From my non-expert research, I felt I needed something like the specs below:

 

OS:            Windows 10 Home 64bit

CPU:          Intel i7-8700K                        6 Cores @3.7GHz (hoping to OC to 4.5-4.7 all core)

Cooling:     NZXT - Kraken X62 Rev 2 Liquid Cooler - 2 Corsair SP120?

RAM:         Corsair Vengeance RGB       16GB DDR4 (2x8GB)

MB:            ASRock - Z370 Extreme4

GPU:         Asus GTX 1070 Ti                 8GB

PSU:         Corsair HX Platinum 750W

Case:        Fractal Design - Define R6

Recycling my old storage (1TB HDD/112GB SSD) as well as a WD 512GB M.2-2280 SSD for partitioning windows on as well as my most used work programs - FL Studios, Pro Tools, Adobe medias

 

All my sound is covered as I use external audio interfaces and monitors. I want you to set me in my ways and help me find the best parts as I trust you lot more than me!

 

Is there anything newbies always make a mistake with when setting up their system?

Are my parts balanced for what it is I want to do?

When it comes to my cooling I was thinking of setting the radiator at the front of the case (I'm keeping the 5.25" caddy) and having a fan at the back of the case - Is one enough, and are the radiator fans an exhaust or intake? Or should I put the radiator up top and have one front intake and one back out?

Is it stupid for me to build it myself or is it all okay for me to do carefully?

 

Sorry for such a long post, if you have any questions you can hit me up, thank you for even just reading but all help will be highly appreciated.

 

OLD PC Specs:

OS:            Windows 7 home 64bit

CPU:          Intel Core i5 4690K                  4 cores @3.50GHz

Cooling:     Stock Intel fan with horrible fan arrangement (1 front bottom - 2 side - 1 upper back - 1 top back)

RAM:         Some entry Kingston                8 GB DDR3 (2x4GB)

MB:           Gigabyte Z97P-D3

GPU:         MSI GTX 960                            2GB

PSU:         Corsair Builder CXM 430W

One 1TB Toshiba HDD and one 112GB Samsung EVO SSD

[cj09beira]

it seems you did a good job choosing the parts, the only thing i would suggest is to try to look for benchmarks specific for your audio software to see between the 8700k and a 2700x which is faster, though i dont know if anyone has them, either way it will serve you well

[mrsebe]

The parts look great and will definitely not need to be upgraded for a long time. The only suggestions I would make is not to get the kraken x62 and instead get the corsair h100iv2 because other than the rgb pump, it is has a minimal performance difference. For 50$ more, it is not really worth it. Also, if you are going to be gaming at all or editing, id suggest a gtx 1080, it will be worth it as it will last longer and better than 1070ti.

[brob]

I don't think overclocking in this use case is worth the cost or increase in noise.

 

I'd be leery of reusing storage from a flaky system. Presumably the WD Blue M.2 is fairly new and should be ok. 

 

A 750W psu is significantly higher than the required capacity. You might consider a quiet 550W psu. In the build below, the psu is ~180W over the maximum draw of all components. Which leaves a great deal of room for upgrades. 

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor  ($298.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler  ($34.89 @ OutletPC) 
Motherboard: Asus - Prime H370-Plus ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($105.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  ($183.89 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Western Digital - Blue 500GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($59.69 @ SuperBiiz) 
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB ROG STRIX Video Card  ($549.99 @ Newegg Business) 
Case: Fractal Design - Define R6 Black ATX Mid Tower Case  ($129.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($69.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home Full - USB 32/64-bit  ($103.95 @ Trusted Tech Team) 
Total: $1537.37
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-05 10:16 EDT-0400

 

 

 

[yaya1]

52 minutes ago, DOMau5 said:

[...]

When it comes to my cooling I was thinking of setting the radiator at the front of the case (I'm keeping the 5.25" caddy) and having a fan at the back of the case - Is one enough, and are the radiator fans an exhaust or intake?

[...]

That depends on the way you install them, usually, there are arrows on the frame, indicating the direction the fan blade's spinning direction and therefore the direction air is going to be moving at.

 

52 minutes ago, DOMau5 said:

[...]

Is there anything newbies always make a mistake with when setting up their system?

[...]

I'd say you should only connect your bootdrive whilst installing Windows. Otherwise, your PC won't start up if on of the hard drives/SSDs that was connected during the installation process, isn't hooked up or detected for some reason(at least I think so...), if you'd count that as a mistake(for me, this has never really been an issue, I think).

[kevinisbeast707]

It looks pretty good though I do agree with the user who said to save money on the liquid cooler. Corsair sp120's have been more expensive recently and I'd recommend using Noctua's p12 redux if the sp120's are still expensive when you buy them. Also Team group's T Force Delta RGB is 30 dollars cheaper for the same kit on Newegg compared to Corsair's and it looks incredible. It overclocks very easily as well. Just food for thought. Also not sure if you need a power supply with that much power or efficiency but if you really want it then go for it.

[Troika]

If the only thing that failed on your old build, why not just buy another z97 board? The 4690k is a pretty good cpu for gaming.