8700k build advice and suggestions.

hulari · 31 Dec 2017 at 20:36

Looking to upgrade from a 2500k @ 4.3ghz, 8GB RAM.

I currently play at 1440p, 60hz but I am in the market for a 21:9, 1440p 120hz+ when I find the right one. So future proof is always good.

I mostly play MMOs. I would like to casually stream for friends and sometimes play other games. (Pro Evo, PUBG, Total War).

The reason for the upgrade is because I want to donate my current trio to my girlfriend for her first proper build as she has made do with my £30 bargain build for a year.

Is the 8700k a good choice? What sort of RAM speed should I get and would I need a particular motherboard?
I've seen 8700k for £350~ RAM for ~£180 but haven't looked at motherboards.

tamzzy · 31 Dec 2017 at 21:58

What's your budget?

5punk3monk3y · 1 Jan 2018 at 00:04

Out of interest what gfx card have you got?

In the last couple of days I upgraded from a 2600k @ 4.6ghz with 16gb of ram to an 8700k with a maximus hero and Corsair 3300 ram. I already had a gtx 1080 hooked up to a 21:9 1440p g-sync monitor @100hz.

Currently all I have done is enabled xmp on the latest BIOS and I believe the CPU is at stock will get in to OC in the next couple of days.

The thing I have noticed is the CPU loading between the 2600k and the 8700k on the brief handful of games I have tried has dropped which leads me to believe that I'm bottle necked by my gpu which is where I want to be (max setting on everything) This and the extra cores will be great as you want to stream whilst gaming.

Overall I'm very happy with the upgrade and personally it was worthwhile for me.

hulari · 1 Jan 2018 at 11:11

I'd say around £700 for the CPU/mobo/RAM from prices I've seen around.

5punk3monk3y said:
Out of interest what gfx card have you got?

I honestly thought I put it in there, but I too have an EVGA 1080 FTW Hybrid GPU.

5punk3monk3y · 1 Jan 2018 at 13:28

hulari said:
I'd say around £700 for the CPU/mobo/RAM from prices I've seen around.

I honestly thought I put it in there, but I too have an EVGA 1080 FTW Hybrid GPU.

If you can afford it go for it, the 2500k is showing its age now even more so than the 2600k, I'm hoping that I get at least 5+ years out of this core build, will probably change the gfx card in that time but it's more future proof now.

hulari · 1 Jan 2018 at 14:27

5punk3monk3y said:
If you can afford it go for it, the 2500k is showing its age now even more so than the 2600k, I'm hoping that I get at least 5+ years out of this core build, will probably change the gfx card in that time but it's more future proof now.

What is a decent motherboard and RAM to go with it?

P1Fanatic · 1 Jan 2018 at 15:06

hulari said:
What is a decent motherboard and RAM to go with it?

Bit too early to tell as the Z370 have not been out that long and the cheaper spec models are taking their time to appear. I’m leaning towards the Asus ROG strix Gamer F for about £190. RAM wise 3200 MHZ seems to be the best price vs performance point. Take your pick which make that has a good warranty.

5punk3monk3y · 1 Jan 2018 at 15:13

hulari said:
What is a decent motherboard and RAM to go with it?

I went with the maximus hero and picked up 16gb (half of a 32gb RGB kit) of ddr4 from the MM at a great price.

P1Fanatic · 1 Jan 2018 at 15:14

Long way to go before me and the OP can access the MM

hulari · 1 Jan 2018 at 23:00

Would this build require dual or quad channel RAM?

I've been looking at this motherboard, would this be suitable for OCing? My current motherboard is quite restricted when it comes to overclocking so I dare not push the 2500k any higher than 4.3.

I have a Corsair H100i at the moment which I will carry on using for the 8700k.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-...151-ddr4-micro-atx-motherboard-mb-31x-ms.html

tamzzy · 1 Jan 2018 at 23:03

8700k is not compatible with z270 boards. you need to look for z370 boards.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Intel Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz (Coffee Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - OEM= £359.99
1 x Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming Intel Z370 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £158.99
1 x Team Group Dark Pro 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Grey (TDPGD416G3= £188.99

Total: £718.47 (includes shipping: £10.50)

Hedge · 2 Jan 2018 at 07:31

Since it seems you've held off upgrading for a long time I would be tempted to wait a little longer and see what happens with z390 and coffeelake-s or Ryzen 2 within the next couple of months.

I know people say there is always something round the corner but I know I'd be frustrated if I took the jump then had it superceded so soon.

orbitalwalsh · 2 Jan 2018 at 09:10

Hedge said:
Since it seems you've held off upgrading for a long time I would be tempted to wait a little longer and see what happens with z390 and coffeelake-s or Ryzen 2 within the next couple of months.

I know people say there is always something round the corner but I know I'd be frustrated if I took the jump then had it superceded so soon.

Since Ryzen is back in the game, and have a solid road map, every year now it looks like a new CPU refresh or heavier tweak will roll out . Which is great news but means what ever you'll get one year, next something better will come.

Since we know binned Ryzen chips used in thread ripper can handle 3600hz ram, refresh line will be interesting to see indeed !