First Gaming pc. Ice Build

[Flower Bandit]

So I am making the switch from console gaming to pc gaming.

 

I have never built a computer before, and haven't even gamed on my own computer since at least high school and even then nothing serious.

So this build is designed to be easily upgradable for the future while being top of the line-ish now.

I should note I have nothing yet. This is all in the planning phases at the moment but purchases will be happening hopefully soon. (A few paychecks down the road)

My tower budget is about 2000$

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor  ($347.89 @ OutletPC) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - MasterLiquid ML240L RGB 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus - ROG MAXIMUS X CODE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($269.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($215.90 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Storage: Western Digital - Black 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($161.14 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Seagate - BarraCuda 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($95.73 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($534.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Cooler Master - MasterCase H500M ATX Mid Tower Case  ($209.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($85.85 @ OutletPC) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit  ($127.88 @ OutletPC) 
Case Fan: Cooler Master - MasterFan Pro 120 Air Balance RGB (3 pack) w/RGB Controller 42.7 CFM  120mm Fans  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $2149.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-25 02:06 EDT-0400

Obviously I am willing to take suggestions or I wouldn't be asking this board

[Jurrunio]

because of price fluctuations, better get the final parts list out right before you get the money to buy them. There are many parts of similar performance levels that are decided by price.

 

The ML240L is a really mediocre liquid cooler, just as the price suggests. I wont buy that with a budget this generous.

 

That 5.4k RPM HDD will be slow, gaming loading times can increase noticeably because of it.

 

Not sure why you want Win10 Pro. The standard version is good enough.

 

CM MasterFan Pro 120 AB RGB is really weak... Quiet, but not pushing much air at all.

 

How much are you into RGB lights and the Cooler Master brand? The price of the case is ridiculous, I might as well get the Corsair 570X RGB which is also a high end fish tank good for showing off RGB lights.

[hazeyez]

6 hours ago, Flower Bandit said:

So I am making the switch from console gaming to pc gaming.

 

I have never built a computer before, and haven't even gamed on my own computer since at least high school and even then nothing serious.

So this build is designed to be easily upgradable for the future while being top of the line-ish now.

I should note I have nothing yet. This is all in the planning phases at the moment but purchases will be happening hopefully soon. (A few paychecks down the road)

My tower budget is about 2000$

 

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor  ($347.89 @ OutletPC) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master - MasterLiquid ML240L RGB 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus - ROG MAXIMUS X CODE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($269.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: G.Skill - Trident Z RGB 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory  ($215.90 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Storage: Western Digital - Black 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($161.14 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Seagate - BarraCuda 4TB 3.5" 5400RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($95.73 @ OutletPC) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($534.98 @ Newegg) 
Case: Cooler Master - MasterCase H500M ATX Mid Tower Case  ($209.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($85.85 @ OutletPC) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit  ($127.88 @ OutletPC) 
Case Fan: Cooler Master - MasterFan Pro 120 Air Balance RGB (3 pack) w/RGB Controller 42.7 CFM  120mm Fans  ($39.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $2149.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-25 02:06 EDT-0400

Obviously I am willing to take suggestions or I wouldn't be asking this board

That cpu is going for $299 at some retailers.. not sure if you have a microcenter near you? They do $299 for in store purchase.

 

Love asus mobos but you can get get the same features on the ROG Strix line for under or around $200.

 

16gb RAM on Corsair Vengeance line is about $35 cheaper and RGB... you dont need faster than 2666mhz unless you plan to overclock.. 

 

Agree with @Jurrunio on the HDD, no reason to get a 5400rpm over a 7200rpm.. especially when you can get a 3tb one for around the same price.

 

Do you need a $200 case? If you want one with great airflow like that check out the Fractal Design Meshify C... or other cases around the $80-100 price point, you can get the same features.. Phanteks p400s tge... Nzxt h500i, all great cases for that price point.

 

Just saved you about $250 and you have the same build. What do you think?

[Flower Bandit]

This is exactly why I posted here so I can avoid newbie mistakes

I'm gonna keep all that in mind and make a few changes after work and edit my list

Thank you for the input 

[EsaT]

7 hours ago, Flower Bandit said:

So this build is designed to be easily upgradable for the future while being top of the line-ish now.

Coffee Lake has fastest single core/thread performance and some advantage over Ryzen in most games.

(assuming no further big vulnerabilities to patch from its mostly old design)

But upgradeability and Intel are mutually exclusive and you'll be stuck with Coffee Lake until ready to pay and change also motherboard.

Myself considering upgrading to Ryzen from 4770K Haswell because of that.

And neither is expensive motherboard without any actual speed advantage for the price going to change that.

 

 

While that case is certainly fancy, like said its price is ridiculous for its size.

And that cheese grater front will leak out any noise completely unmuffled, if you're interested on noise aspect.

Also you sure you won't be needing 5.25" bay for any kind fan control panel etc?

Good case can be used easily for decade (few months to that for my case) so fashionability shouldn't be primary decision factor.

 

And while "water" cooler may be fashionable and have lots of hype going for it, actually high performing water coolers are lot more costlier than normal heatpipe coolers.

Here's neither expensive or insanely huge Scythe Mugen 5 matching/beating non-RGB MasterLiquid Pro 240 in performance per noise:

https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/8320/scythe-mugen-5-rev-cpu-cooler-review/index6.html

Water coolers become even more expensive when made from quality components to last year after year.

In fact good long term reliability would need ability to change coolant (just like in vehicles) which is something not intended for closed loop AIOs.
 

[Flower Bandit]

The 8th gen intel is one of the few parts I am 100% sure I want along with a m.2 slot for my ssd.

 

As for water cooling

I'm not 100% sold on the idea, but I want a good cpu cooler for my system

 

Any recommendations if I were to go away from all in one watercooling?

[Flower Bandit]

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor  ($347.89 @ OutletPC) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H150i PRO 47.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($159.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus - ROG MAXIMUS X CODE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($269.99 @ SuperBiiz) 
Memory: Team - Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($139.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: Western Digital - Black 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($161.14 @ OutletPC) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($68.09 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Storage: Seagate - Barracuda 3TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($68.09 @ Newegg Marketplace) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($534.98 @ Newegg Business) 
Case: Cooler Master - MasterCase H500M ATX Mid Tower Case  ($209.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ B&H) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($95.89 @ OutletPC) 
Keyboard: Logitech - G910 Orion Spectrum RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard  ($89.99 @ Best Buy) 
Mouse: Logitech - G502 Proteus Spectrum Wired Optical Mouse  ($49.99 @ Best Buy) 
Headphones: Logitech - G933 Artemis Spectrum 7.1 Channel  Headset  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $2375.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-06-26 01:49 EDT-0400

 

 

So this is a parts edit I made,based on everyone's awesome feedback.

I'm still in the planning phases but here it 1.5 of this build idea.

 

It is 2,135$ without mouse and keyboard and headset choice which wasn't listed on the original parts list

Making this edit 14$ cheaper than what I originally had set up with a better AIO and more storage space

[seon123]

7 minutes ago, Flower Bandit said:

Motherboard: Asus - ROG MAXIMUS X CODE ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  ($269.99 @ SuperBiiz) 

Sure you want to spend that much on the motherboard? The Z370F is already plenty good. The Gaming 7 is often available for less than the Maximus, and that's also a really good board. 

8 minutes ago, Flower Bandit said:

Memory: Team - Vulcan 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2400 Memory  ($139.99 @ Newegg) 

Get faster RAM. It increases the performance by a few percent. 

9 minutes ago, Flower Bandit said:

Storage: Western Digital - Black 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  ($161.14 @ OutletPC) 

Why an M.2 drive? PCIe drives won't help with loading times. Only get them if you actually need sequential speeds. Also, don't get the WD Black, as it doesn't perform well among the PCIe drives. The MX500 is a good SATA SSD and costs $50 less. If you absolutely want to waste your money on an M.2 PCIe drive, at least get a good NVMe one. There's the NVMe version of the Black, then there's the PM961 and 970 Evo. SSDs are not my forte, but those are better options. 

12 minutes ago, Flower Bandit said:

Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB Superclocked Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card  ($534.98 @ Newegg Business) 

With a $2000 budget, you should be able to get a 1080 Ti. Just reallocate more of the budget towards the GPU. 

13 minutes ago, Flower Bandit said:

Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  ($79.99 @ B&H) 

Don't get one of the higher wattage G3s, unless you want a loud PSU. With an overclocked 1080 Ti system, you have plenty of room with a good 550W PSU. The Formula Gold or Focus Gold are good options. The Formula is quieter, the Focus is semi modular. If you really need it to be fully modular, there's the Focus Plus Gold. 

 

 

With that said, the prices and availability does change, so don't start planning thr exact parts until right before the purchase. 

[Flower Bandit]

Thank you. There are a lot of little things I'm learning as I go. I'm glad I get to get the opinions of people who have done this on a regular basis

I'm gonna make a final edit when I start buying pieces so I can get the most up to date pricing at that time. Right now I'm working two jobs so I'm saving a chunk from each paycheck to use for this build.

[Flower Bandit]

Well there is no going back now I made my first purchase