parts Black and white themed PC - Parts selection

[Lord Blue of Screenshire]

Hi everyone!

 

I'm a looking to build my first pc after having saved for quite a while. Initially I would be playing games on a 1080p monitor, but I'm planning on upgrading to a 4K monitor down the line and want a system that can handle that. I'd also like the build to have a black and white theme going on and selected parts accordingly. I don't live in the US, thus prices on pcpartpicker aren't always that representative for me.  (I used the german version of pcpartpicker, here are the links: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/jNMxbX or https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/rG8kgw )Therefor I've provided the following table with clickable URL's to the parts. Most parts are from the German Amazon, but there is an English version of their site.

 

Part	Name	Price	Retailer
CPU	Intel - Core i5-8600K 3,6GHz 6-core Processor	264,95 €	coolblue
CPU cooler	Cryorig H7 processor cooler, CR-h7 a	39,99 €	amazon
Thermal paste	Arctic Silver - 3,5g	8,20 €	amazon
Motherboard	Asus Prime Z370-P Gaming	116,99 €	amazon
Memory	Corsair Vengeance LPX - 2 x 8 GB, 3200 MHz, white	167,72 €	amazon
Storage	Samsung 970 EVO M.2 NVME SSD - 250 GB	88,00 €	amazon
	Western Digital Blue - 1 TB, 64 MB cache, 6GB/s	54,99 €	amazon
Video card	Asus Dual GTX 1070	438,00 €	amazon
Case	Phanteks Eclipse P400S - Tempered Glass, bl/wh	94,89 €	amazon
Fan	Arctic 120 mm fan	4,99 €	amazon
PSU	EVGA bronze 550W	69,99 €	amazon
OS	Windows 10 home - 64 bit	129,99 €	coolblue
	Total	1 478,70 €

 

Any remark/advice is more than welcome

I'll dump some more info in the spoiler to not scare everyone away.

Spoiler

- I don't care for the platform, If you can find me an AMD build that performs better for the same price feel free to share it with me. (The 3200 MHz RAM should be compatible with Ryzen if I recall correctly.)

- I've heard first-time builders are like oil to water cooling, they don't mix well, that's why I opted for air-cooling. I also don't plan on overclocking, but like the higher stock clock on the K-version of the 8600.

- Initially I thought I could use a z170 motherboard with a new Bios, but that doesn't seem to be the case, correct?

- 1 TB HDD is enough for me. I game, but I tend to play one game for a very long time.

- The GPU was chosen for looks tbh, Asus didn't refresh their Dual line-up for the ti-versions to my knowledge. I may opt for a founder's edition 1070ti, but don't know whether it's worth the price given it's a blower style cooler.

- I really like the case as it somewhat is the centrepiece of the theme.

- The extra fan is to mount at the back as it is visible, the included 120mm fan for the back will join the other included fan at the front. Is three fans sufficient? I would like to keep the top of the case "silenced" if that's possible.

- I presume the PSU should have enough watts, but confirmation would be nice. Is upgrading to 650W worth it in the long term?

- I don't trust cheap Windows 10 licences

- The budget isn't that strict as I have quite some money saved and a steady income, but I personally set € 1500 as a cap to keep myself in check

 

- Aside from the desktop itself recommendations for peripherals would be much appreciated as well. I do not like RGB or very "gamery" looking stuff, but am still looking for a good keyboard and 4K display. I'm not into online gaming so resolution over refresh rate for me. 

 

 

 

[brob]

de.pcpartpicker.com includes amazon.de pricing. In addition one can enter price overrides and custom parts.

 

There is generally no need to purchase additional thermal compound. CPU coolers come with either a pre-applied pad or a small tube of compound.

 

AIO coolers are actually easier to install than many large air coolers. 

 

I would suggest investing in a much better psu. SeaSonic FOCUS Plus 550 Gold.

 

If you are going to be overclocking, I'd suggest a more powerful cooler. be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 or Noctua NH-D15. Otherwise, I'd suggest going with the i5-8600 on an Asus Prime B360-Plus motherboard (99,90 from Caseking.de). Aside from its base clock, the i5-8600 has identical turbo clocks to the i5-8600K so its performance is almost identical. The H7 is a very good match for the i5-8600.

 

MSI Armor gpu use a black and white color scheme that might fit the build.

 

Did you consider the Nzxt H500 or Phanteks P350X black/white cases?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Lord Blue of Screenshire]

2 hours ago, brob said:

de.pcpartpicker.com includes amazon.de pricing. In addition one can enter price overrides and custom parts.

This is a lifesaver! Thanks!

2 hours ago, brob said:

AIO coolers are actually easier to install than many large air coolers. 

Cool, how many radiators do I need in the case of an 8600 or 8600K?

2 hours ago, brob said:

I would suggest investing in a much better psu. SeaSonic FOCUS Plus 550 Gold.

What is the difference aside from power efficiency?

2 hours ago, brob said:

If you are going to be overclocking, I'd suggest a more powerful cooler. be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 or Noctua NH-D15. 

Noted, is the original board (Asus Prime Z370-P Gaming, see above for link) good for this?

I also get this warning: "The motherboard M.2 slot #1 shares bandwidth with a SATA 6.0 Gb/s port. When the M.2 slot is populated, one SATA 6.0 Gb/s port is disabled." Does this mean the M.2 slot only runs at SATA speeds?!?

The proposed coolers also seem to be incompatible with the case. Would a Noctua - NH-D15S suffice?

2 hours ago, brob said:

MSI Armor gpu use a black and white color scheme that might fit the build.

I considered it for the 1070 as well, but for € 1 more I got the Asus Dual card which I thought looked better. I also think Asus has a better reputation if I recall correctly.

2 hours ago, brob said:

Did you consider the Nzxt H500 or Phanteks P350X black/white cases?

I still prefer the look of the P400S, but if the RGB strips are programable on the P350X and I can emit it a solid white light I may actually switch. It seems to have better airflow than the P400S. I didn't consider the Nzxt H500 yet, but I did consider the Nzxt H400i for the black/white look but it was more expensive than the P400S.

 

I'll be making two pcpartpicker.de lists soon.

[brob]

If you decide to go with an AIO (all in one) cpu cooler, everything is provides and connected. All one needs to do is mount the radiator on the case and mount the interface component on the cpu.

 

The Focus Plus Gold psu I suggested has a 10 year warranty. This is indicative of the quality of components used. More importantly, the unit will do a much better job of delivering clean and stable power to all components. This directly affects overall system stability and optimizes component lifetimes.

 

The Prime Z370-P is not considered to be a very good motherboard for overclocking. If you want to overclock, I'd suggest spending a bit more. Perhaps a Prime Z370-A or a Strix model.

 

The P350X LED lighting is Aura Sync compatible and there should be no problem setting it to static white.

 

I believe the H500 has similar pricing as the P400S.

 

 

[Lord Blue of Screenshire]

1 minute ago, brob said:

I believe the H500 has similar pricing as the P400S.

It's actually quite a bit cheaper, but that's a solid black, at least from what I've found. The H400i has a black and white option but is more expensive.

 

2 minutes ago, brob said:

If you decide to go with an AIO (all in one) cpu cooler, everything is provides and connected. All one needs to do is mount the radiator on the case and mount the interface component on the cpu.

How many rads would I need?

2 minutes ago, brob said:

The Focus Plus Gold psu I suggested has a 10 year warranty. This is indicative of the quality of components used. More importantly, the unit will do a much better job of delivering clean and stable power to all components. This directly affects overall system stability and optimizes component lifetimes.

Might indeed be worth the money then.

[brob]

20 minutes ago, Lord Blue of Screenshire said:

It's actually quite a bit cheaper, but that's a solid black, at least from what I've found. The H400i has a black and white option but is more expensive.

 

How many rads would I need?

Might indeed be worth the money then.

 

The H400 & H400i are mATX cases.

 

I wouldn't go for the H500i. The H500 is more appropriate for this build as it doesn't include the Nzxt HUE lighting control stuff and some Nzxt LED strips. https://www.amazon.de/NZXT-CA-H500B-W1-Tower-PC-Gehäuse-Schwarz/dp/B07D7H5T57/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1533314292&sr=8-1&keywords=h500.

 

I'm not arguing for the H400, just thought you should look at it.

 

If you were considering an aio cpu cooler, I'd suggest something like the Corsair H100i Pro RGB. It includes two ML120 fans for its single radiator and interfaces with iCUE software. 

[Zeorth]

54 minutes ago, Lord Blue of Screenshire said:

It's actually quite a bit cheaper, but that's a solid black, at least from what I've found. The H400i has a black and white option but is more expensive.

 

How many rads would I need?

Might indeed be worth the money then.

An AIO comes with a rad you dont need to add one. Its a All in One cooler so radiator, pump, cables, tubing all comes connected so you dont need anything else. As in the 8600k or 8600 if youre not getting a 8600k the 8400 is the way to go.

[Lord Blue of Screenshire]

4 hours ago, OreoPandas said:

An AIO comes with a rad you dont need to add one. Its a All in One cooler so radiator, pump, cables, tubing all comes connected so you dont need anything else. As in the 8600k or 8600 if youre not getting a 8600k the 8400 is the way to go.

I know what an AIO cooler is, but the included rads can be small or large

[Lord Blue of Screenshire]

6 hours ago, brob said:

If you decide to go with an AIO (all in one) cpu cooler, everything is provides and connected. All one needs to do is mount the radiator on the case and mount the interface component on the cpu.

 

The Focus Plus Gold psu I suggested has a 10 year warranty. This is indicative of the quality of components used. More importantly, the unit will do a much better job of delivering clean and stable power to all components. This directly affects overall system stability and optimizes component lifetimes.

 

The Prime Z370-P is not considered to be a very good motherboard for overclocking. If you want to overclock, I'd suggest spending a bit more. Perhaps a Prime Z370-A or a Strix model.

 

The P350X LED lighting is Aura Sync compatible and there should be no problem setting it to static white.

 

I believe the H500 has similar pricing as the P400S.

 

 

I've updated it taking your remarks into account. Anything else that stands out?

 

- with i5k: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/3qMxbX

Spoiler

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600K 3.6GHz 6-Core Processor  (€264.95) 
CPU Cooler: Corsair - H100i v2 70.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (€104.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Motherboard: Asus - Prime Z370-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€167.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  (€167.72 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (€88.00 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€43.01 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card  (€469.90 @ Caseking) 
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400S TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case  (€89.90 @ Caseking) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (€84.90 @ Caseking) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($129.99) 
Total: €1481.36
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-04 01:06 CEST+0200

 

- with regular i5: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/x6f4Bb

Spoiler

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600 3.1GHz 6-Core Processor  (€214.90 @ Caseking) 
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler  (€34.90 @ Caseking) 
Motherboard: Asus - Prime Z370-P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€116.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-2666 Memory  (€167.72 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (€88.00 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€43.01 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card  (€469.90 @ Caseking) 
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400S TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case  (€89.90 @ Caseking) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (€84.90 @ Caseking) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($129.99) 
Total: €1310.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2018-08-04 01:06 CEST+0200

 

[brob]

Both builds look good. You could use an H370 or B360 motherboard for the locked i5, but the Z370-P is fine.

[Lord Blue of Screenshire]

1 minute ago, brob said:

Both builds look good. You could use an H370 or B360 motherboard for the locked i5, but the Z370-P is fine.

I checked the B360 board, but couldn't find it for a good price on pcpartspicker. Is this the one you're suggesting? https://www.caseking.de/asus-prime-b360-plus-intel-b360-mainboard-sockel-1151-mbas-366.html

[brob]

Yes.

[Lord Blue of Screenshire]

8 minutes ago, Lord Blue of Screenshire said:

I checked the B360 board, but couldn't find it for a good price on pcpartspicker. Is this the one you're suggesting? https://www.caseking.de/asus-prime-b360-plus-intel-b360-mainboard-sockel-1151-mbas-366.html

So what is the difference between these three boards? 

- ASUS PRIME B360-PLUS (€ 84.90 @azerty.nl)

- ASUS PRIME H370-PLUS (€ 114.90 @alternate.be)

- ASUS PRIME Z370-P Gaming (€ 116.99 @amazon.de)

 

Also why is the B360 but H370 and Z370?

[brob]

The Plus motherboards have USB 3.1 gen 2 and gen 1 ports on the backplane. The Z370-P only has USB 3.1 gen 1, no gen 2 ports.

 

The M.2 connectors are different in terms of supported devices. The Plus motherboards support SATA and PCIe 3.0  x2 on one connector. Not PCIe 3.0 x4.

 

Expansion slot configuration is different.

 

Plus motherboards support 6 SATA devices, the Z370-P supports four.

 

A number of differences with respect to fan/device headers.

 

The numbering is due to AMD using B350 as one of its chipset identifiers. In the previous generation Intel had B250, H270, Q250, and Z370 chipsets.

[Lord Blue of Screenshire]

1 minute ago, brob said:

The M.2 connectors are different in terms of supported devices. The Plus motherboards support SATA and PCIe 3.0  x2 on one connector. Not PCIe 3.0 x4.

Given that I'm planning on buying an NVME M.2 drive I presume it's better to opt for the Z370-P ?

[brob]

All three motherboards have two M.2 connectors. They all support NVMe on both connectors. However, while the Z370-P supports four lane PCIe 3.0 devices on both connectors, the Plus motherboards support these devices on one of the connectors and only two lane PCIe 3.0 devices on the other.

 

I should have mentioned, the Z370-P supports memory speeds up to DDR4-4000 while the Plus motherboards only support up to DDR4-2666.

[Lord Blue of Screenshire]

7 hours ago, brob said:

All three motherboards have two M.2 connectors. They all support NVMe on both connectors. However, while the Z370-P supports four lane PCIe 3.0 devices on both connectors, the Plus motherboards support these devices on one of the connectors and only two lane PCIe 3.0 devices on the other.

How can I know how many PCIe lanes the Samsung Evo 970 M.2 NVME drive uses?

7 hours ago, brob said:

I should have mentioned, the Z370-P supports memory speeds up to DDR4-4000 while the Plus motherboards only support up to DDR4-2666.

So the RAM sticks I've chosen (3200MHz) are incompatible or they won't run at full speed?

 

I'm going to try to compose an theoretical AMD  competitor, which chip would be best suited? I don't stream/video edit at all so I don't know whether games really benefit from those extra cores sometimes.

[brob]

One needs to check the specs for a drive, (usually found at the manufacturer website), to determine its nature. The drive transfer speed is also indicative. Samsung 970 Evo are 4-lane PCIe 3.0 M.2 NVMe drives.

 

B360 and H370 motherboards will limit memory speeds to DDR4-2666. So buying a less expensive DDR4-2666 memory kit with decent timings makes sense. But faster memory will work, just not at the advertised speed.

 

Intel cpu generally perform better in games than similarly priced AMD models. The Ryzen 5 2600X is roughly equivalent to the i5-8600.

 

 

[Lord Blue of Screenshire]

26 minutes ago, brob said:

Intel cpu generally perform better in games than similarly priced AMD models. The Ryzen 5 2600X is roughly equivalent to the i5-8600.

After talking in another thread I've come up with the following AMD build:

Spoiler

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 2600 3.4GHz 6-Core Processor  (€159.00) 
Motherboard: Asus - PRIME X370-PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard  (€137.85) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (€181.19 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (€88.00 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€54.00) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card  (€399.00 @ Caseking) 
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400S TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case  (€89.90 @ Caseking) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (€84.90 @ Caseking) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  (€129.99) 
Total: €1323.83

And the Intel build: 

Spoiler

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-8600 3.1GHz 6-Core Processor  (€214.90 @ Caseking) 
CPU Cooler: CRYORIG - H7 49.0 CFM CPU Cooler  (€34.90 @ Caseking) 
Motherboard: Asus - Prime Z370-P ATX LGA1151 Motherboard  (€116.99 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory  (€181.19 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Samsung - 970 Evo 250GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive  (€88.00 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Storage: Western Digital - Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  (€54.00) 
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition Video Card  (€399.00 @ Caseking) 
Case: Phanteks - ECLIPSE P400S TEMPERED GLASS ATX Mid Tower Case  (€89.90 @ Caseking) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 550W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply  (€84.90 @ Caseking) 
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  (€129.99) 
Total: €1393.77

Would you say these are comparable in terms of gaming performance?

[brob]

In most titles the i5-8600 will perform better, especially at 1080. See https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Core_i5_8600/13.html.

 

I'd suggest a B450 or X470 motherboard for the AMD build.

[Lord Blue of Screenshire]

1 minute ago, brob said:

In most titles the i5-8600 will perform better, especially at 1080. See https://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/Intel/Core_i5_8600/13.html.

Hmmmm interesting ?

3 minutes ago, brob said:

I'd suggest a B450 or X470 motherboard for the AMD build.

The board gets a Bios update by the seller, was just in touch with their support line. That's also why I manually set the prices. Would you still advice the other boards? If so, why?

[brob]

The B450 chipset has some features that support better and more stable automatic overclocks. See the chart at https://wccftech.com/amd-b450-motherboards-official-launch-msi-asus-asrock-gigabyte-roundup/.

 

[Lord Blue of Screenshire]

3 minutes ago, brob said:

The B450 chipset has some features that support better and more stable automatic overclocks. See the chart at https://wccftech.com/amd-b450-motherboards-official-launch-msi-asus-asrock-gigabyte-roundup/.

 

I don't really plan on overclocking though, unless it's something very much recommended.

[brob]

Just now, Lord Blue of Screenshire said:

I don't really plan on overclocking though, unless it's something very much recommended.

Unless there is a significant price difference between a B350 and B450 motherboard, getting the newer technology makes sense to me.

[Lord Blue of Screenshire]

6 minutes ago, brob said:

Unless there is a significant price difference between a B350 and B450 motherboard, getting the newer technology makes sense to me.

About €20