New build, core components needed

davisdavid · 4 Oct 2017 at 20:55

So I'm looking to do a new build using the parts I have which means I only need a MOBO / CPU / GPU / RAM and maybe NVMe.

I have currently:

Phanteks Enthoo Primo
1200w HXi Corsair
32" 1440p Samsung S32D850D (doen't have speakers)
3 x Samsung SSD (120,250,500Gb) 1 x WD 2TB Blue
Logitech Speakers - not great
AK Racing Chair that I want to set fire to
Corsair K95 RGB
Corsair Scimitar
2 x D5 140 Res / Pump
2 x 360mm EKWB Rad
1 x 240mm EKWB Rad
1 x 420mm EKWB Rad
All the soft tube fittings for SLI / CPU and 3 Rads though PETG is the aim.

I can probably make 2-3k available, obviously lower the better. Basically I cannot for the life of me settle on a build. I must have gone through every conceivable build on OcUK from X99 through to TR4 and 1080 to 1080Ti SLI. What are peoples thoughts on purely a gaming aspect for a build? Also are the 1440p G-Sync monitors at a higher refresh than the 60Hz I have now really such a jump in quality? Any advice will be appreciated, even if it narrows me down to one platform or dispels the 'I need to be SLI cos I have a big case and benchmarks' thought process.

I have noticed RAM and GPU prices have crept up and up in my search so far which is annoying.

lee32uk · 4 Oct 2017 at 21:25

Hi

If this is purely for gaming I would go with a Coffee Lake i7 8700K build. They are due to release tomorrow, although no idea on availability yet as they haven't gone live in the product listings. For 1440p a single GTX 1080 ti will be a good match for a high refresh rate monitor. As you have a high wattage psu then SLI can always be an option later on.

Have a wander into the monitor section for advice on a screen. There are a few 165Hz 1440p G-Sync ones and also the Ultrawide 3440 x1440p but I don't know which is the best.

Quartz · 4 Oct 2017 at 21:36

Do note that there are 120 Hz 4K monitors in the offing - 6 months or so - and that there may also be a GTX 1070 Ti in the imminent offing.

ChocAndGray · 4 Oct 2017 at 21:52

As mentioned in the other thread I'm in a similar predicament to yourself (aside from no longer having any other components, aside from display).

In an ideal world I'd buy an 8700k, I'd imagine you might too. But as you mention prices for ram and gpus are still rising, and to be honest I think prices are going to get much worse before they get better. So waiting months is not ideal.

My concern with going with Ryzen is buyers remorse, when I spend a large amount of money I like knowing I've got the best possible parts at the time, and it'll kill me knowing the 8700k performs much better.

I looked at x299 but the only cpu I could live with (and buy for my budget) is the 7820x. I wouldn't want a 7800x for the reasons mentioned above. Even if the 8700k performs better in gaming I'd feel satisfied having the additional cores (sounds silly I know). The disadvantage with going x299 and 7820x is that I'd need to settle for a 1080 as opposed to a 1080ti.

Going back to Ryzen, the reality is that a 1600 and 1080ti build would save money off your budget and perform really good (I'm not convinced 8 cores is worth it for gaming). Even if an equivalent intel build get's 15fps more if you're gaming at 60hz it's not going to make a difference to your experience as you'd be hitting 60fps with both rigs.

I'm not personally ready to go to 144hz as I'd rather max out a game at 60fps than struggle trying to get over 100fps in games. Again I probably sound nuts but psychologically I feel better being able to crank the settings in a game. When I have to start lowering settings I feel bad inside lol.

I appreciate my response has not really helped, but I'm completely confused as to what to do....Hopefully 8700k will be available and then it'll solve your (and my) dilemma.

davisdavid · 4 Oct 2017 at 22:15

Jay I'm the same with the buyers remorse. I've been looking at the X34A to maintain the 1440p and have the OC for 100mhz refresh rate plus gsync.

Threadripper is of no real use to me in terms of the excessive number of cores, I'll just be using it for gaming on so never envisage me needing to save a few seconds editing a video.

Ryzen is a really good option particularly with the price drops but then I think if it's just for gaming I could get a 7700k and good z270 board. Ideally the 8700k will launch and there'll be plenty of stock but can't see it happening. Plus I'd only want a z390 board next year.

I'm inclined to go 7820x at the moment with a single 1080Ti and the X34A. I think the 1070Ti will just muddy the waters and prices even more as well!

Too many choices. Oh look the new coolermaster case looks nice..........

ChocAndGray · 4 Oct 2017 at 22:19

The way I'm looking at it is if 8700k and Ryzen were in stock at my preferred retailer would I buy Ryzen? The answer is no. It sounds bad but I'm only considering Ryzen because my first choice isn't available. That's buyers remorse just waiting to happen.

If your answer is the same to that question then I'd say avoid it.

My gut is telling me to wait and see how 8700k availability looks tomorrow, if it's terrible then just go x299 and 7820x. I'll feel better knowing I've got 8 cores, that clock quite high to be fair (think 4.6ghz is realistic), and at least there's an upgrade path there in the future....

edit: just to add you've got a good shout with 7700k, to be honest for a year it'll still be fantastic for gaming, stock is good, the platforms mature, I mean let's face it z370 could be a disaster in terms of issues at launch.

With 7700k the costs are reasonable and you know what you're getting. Like yourself I'd only want to change next year anyway, with z370 I'd go z390. But I guess if you go X299 and 7820x you might not be tempted to change....

davisdavid · 4 Oct 2017 at 22:26

Will wait and see what happens tomorrow, maybe there'll be enough to go around.

4.6ghz should be more than achievable on air with that chip. Probably low voltage too.

Fortunately I'm not in a real rush to buy but the urge takes over....

orbitalwalsh · 5 Oct 2017 at 07:26

davisdavid said:
Will wait and see what happens tomorrow, maybe there'll be enough to go around.

4.6ghz should be more than achievable on air with that chip. Probably low voltage too.

Fortunately I'm not in a real rush to buy but the urge takes over....

You'll see today, when you add that 8700k to your basket , hit refresh to see the numbers half - then panic buy will kick in haha it's around the 100hz mark you notice the difference over gaming from 60hz . I think when you get 180-200+ you've really got to be in the esports lifestyle to see the difference

ChocAndGray · 5 Oct 2017 at 12:50

@davisdavid If you don't get Coffelake what do you think you're doing?

A 1600x with a look to the zen refresh 8 core with faster clock speeds is getting mighty tempting, especially if I can keep the X370 board...

Aneskimo · 5 Oct 2017 at 13:22

Personally I’d go coffe lake I7 when released and buy a 1080ti if your main is gaming. If you do a lot of multi tasking/video rendering the extra cores you get on some high end Ryzen may be worth a look too

davisdavid · 5 Oct 2017 at 13:38

Jay343434 said:
@davisdavid If you don't get Coffelake what do you think you're doing?

A 1600x with a look to the zen refresh 8 core with faster clock speeds is getting mighty tempting, especially if I can keep the X370 board...

To be honest I'm leaning towards Ryzen at the moment with a high end board due to the upgrade path though not sure on which chip and also the fact that I use 1440p the GPU will probably be the core component. Possible look into some X299 combinations too but fortunately I'm not in a rush as I'm still out of country so I don't need a new build immediately like you do.

Aneskimo said:
Personally I’d go coffe lake I7 when released and buy a 1080ti if your main is gaming. If you do a lot of multi tasking/video rendering the extra cores you get on some high end Ryzen may be worth a look too

The probable lack of availability is the issue at the moment. Ideally I'd be on a ROG / 8700k combo but there doesn't seem to be any indication for anything other than a limited day 1 release. In terms of gaming, any new CPU paired with a 1080ti is going to make very little real world difference. Though there's the mindset thing where we all want the best available yet we hardly notice any difference most of the time in all honesty, but we just know.

Aneskimo · 5 Oct 2017 at 15:09

davisdavid said:
The probable lack of availability is the issue at the moment. Ideally I'd be on a ROG / 8700k combo but there doesn't seem to be any indication for anything other than a limited day 1 release. In terms of gaming, any new CPU paired with a 1080ti is going to make very little real world difference. Though there's the mindset thing where we all want the best available yet we hardly notice any difference most of the time in all honesty, but we just know.

The thing with upgrading is you can wait to see the next new thing out. Take your current situation you can go Ryzen or wait coffee lake and with the Gpu you can go With what’s out now or wait for Nvidia to release Volta next year?

I’m toying with the idea to upgrade and all I have is a headache to show

davisdavid · 5 Oct 2017 at 19:46

@Jay343434 - What did you end up going with today mate? Got buyers remorse yet??? :eek:

Aneskimo said:
The thing with upgrading is you can wait to see the next new thing out. Take your current situation you can go Ryzen or wait coffee lake and with the Gpu you can go With what’s out now or wait for Nvidia to release Volta next year?

I’m toying with the idea to upgrade and all I have is a headache to show

Yeah I'm in no rush, I'm thinking Ryzen 1600 with 1080ti and 3200mhz ram for gaming at 1440p is more than enough until new architecture is released in the wild.

ChocAndGray · 6 Oct 2017 at 10:36

@davisdavid I didn’t end up ordering anything pc related in the end, I considered the i3 8350k as a stop gap but couldn’t bring myself to compromise. I was only considering it because I couldn’t get a 8700k.

If I’m honest, for a gaming pc I reckon I’ll have buyers remorse with anything but an 8700k as it’s the best gaming cpu and likely will be until Intel release their next processors.

Even if the differences are minimal between the processors at higher resolutions and 60fps, where you won’t notice a difference, ultimately I’d always just wish I had the “best”. The same applies to a 1080ti, I’m sure a 1080 would be sufficient for my needs, but I would rather have the better card (I’m crazy I know).

When I bought a 980ti on my last rig I was gaming at 1080p 60hz and at the time people were recommending lower tier cards, saying 980ti was overkill but I couldn’t max out all games. The likes of Borderlands 2 with Phys x for example suffered frame rate drops, GTA V on absolute max settings did too etc. I reckon a 1080 can’t absolutely max every game at 1440p, and I wouldn’t want to game at 4K as a 1080ti can not push 60fps in most games. I feel better being able to max settings at a lower resolution than turn settings down at higher resolutions.

The reality is if I went Ryzen or an i5/i3 I’d save a couple of hundred quid at best, but when I’m spending 4 figures on a new rig it’s quite a small percentage of the outlay and with the way I am, I’d be focused more on wishing I had the i7 than thinking about the money I saved lol.