Small 4K Gaming PC, Water Cooling or AIO?

[fowler002]

This is what I’m thinking in terms of an intel system if the zen+ doesn’t live up to the hype


My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017)= £104.99
• 1 x Seasonic Focus Plus 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £89.99
• 1 x NZXT Kraken X62 AIO Water Cooling Unit - 280mm= £139.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance RGB 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Memory Kit (CMR16GX4M2C32= £218.99
• 1 x NZXT H400i Micro-ATX Gaming Case - Black Tempered Glass= £149.99
• 1 x NZXT Aer RGB120 Series 120mm Fan= £25.99
• 1 x NZXT Aer RGB140 Dual 140mm Fan + HUE controller= £78.95
• 1 x Asus ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming Intel Z370 (Socket 1151) DDR4 Micro-ATX Motherboard= £171.95
• 1 x Intel Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz (Coffee Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £329.99
• 1 x Samsung 960 EVO Polaris 250GB M.2 2280 PCI-e 3.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive= £128.99
• 1 x Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU)= £139.99

Total: £1,579.81 (includes shipping: £0.00)​

​

 

[fowler002]

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x EVGA DG-77 Midi Tower Case - Black Tempered Glass Window= £156.95
• 1 x EVGA SuperNova G3 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £104.99
• 1 x Team Group Night Hawk RGB 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - RGB Black (TF1D4= £199.99
• 1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017)= £104.99
• 1 x Samsung 960 EVO Polaris 250GB M.2 2280 PCI-e 3.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive= £128.99
• 1 x Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU)= £139.99

Total: £835.90 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​

Looking through the cases came across the evga dg-77(not that much bigger than the phanteks or nzxt matx cases I’ve been looking at), thought I’d spec a evga based build as much as possible to compliment the 1080ti ftw3. OcUK doesn’t seem to do the evga aio, seems to be like £120 elsewhere.

https://www.evga.com/products/product.aspx?pn=400-HY-CL28-V1

Included the ram suggested by you @orbitalwalsh
Will the 650w be enough for cpu & gpu?

 

[orbitalwalsh]

Should look good blacked out , thought about Evga board for Intel ? They don't do Ryzen

Yeah that case, seem like worse airflow then Phanteks evolv ATX! Needs to be like Corsair were glass is raised or more cut outs. Looks like theres is the slimmest line gap on the right side of the front glass panel to allow air through .
And by the looks of it, you can only mount 120mm fans ? Or 120 rads, not 140/280 AIO/CLC units.
Seems they couldn't even mount Evga own 240 unit at the top ! (Remind some of Corsair cases )

https://m.hexus.net/tech/reviews/chassis/112709-evga-dg-77/

If your liking the dark out look


My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x be quiet! Dark Base 700 RGB Midi Tower Case - Black Tempered Glass= £176.99
• 1 x be quiet! Silent Loop Superior Liquid CPU Cooler - 280mm= £139.99
• 1 x Seasonic Focus Plus 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £89.99

Total: £419.57 (includes shipping: £12.60)
​

GPU would be cooler from above review of the Evga case, has front RGB and CA mount card vertically but need PCIe cable

Focus unit, lower warranty and beat of a unit

Though again, ATX unit . With height difference with some mATX to atx cases appearing to have the same height , it's normally down to mATX cases having full 55mm cleaernece at the top for AIo not to clash with VRM/Mobo/ Ram were as ATX cases to avoid extra height , offset the fan placement meaning if you have high VRM or ram, you hight cleaernece issues like the EVGa unit did in the review

Nzxt is looking best shout if you want mATX format, RGB elements and looks. Would go all black ! Will last longer with new boards. If you do go itx board, still go mATX case incase of future 3 slot cards

 

[fowler002]

Keeping it plain as possible

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Team Group Dark Pro "8Pack Edition" 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C14 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/= £199.99
• 1 x Fractal Design Meshify C Midi Tower Case - Black Tempered Glass Window= £74.99
• 1 x Fractal Design Celsius S24 240mm All in One Water Cooler= £109.99
• 1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017)= £104.99
• 1 x Seasonic Focus Plus 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £89.99
• 1 x Samsung 960 EVO Polaris 250GB M.2 2280 PCI-e 3.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive= £128.99
• 1 x Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU)= £139.99

Total: £848.93 (includes shipping: £0.00)​

​

 

[orbitalwalsh]

Keeping it plain as possible

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Team Group Dark Pro "8Pack Edition" 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C14 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/= £199.99
• 1 x Fractal Design Meshify C Midi Tower Case - Black Tempered Glass Window= £74.99
• 1 x Fractal Design Celsius S24 240mm All in One Water Cooler= £109.99
• 1 x Microsoft Windows 10 32/64-Bit - USB Pen Drive - Retail (KW9-00017)= £104.99
• 1 x Seasonic Focus Plus 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £89.99
• 1 x Samsung 960 EVO Polaris 250GB M.2 2280 PCI-e 3.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive= £128.99
• 1 x Samsung 500GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E500B/EU)= £139.99

Total: £848.93 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​

Check ram cleaernece with AIO up top and if mounting at front max GPU length

If mounted at front , Mac GPU length is 290mm

Max height of Motherboard components with AIO is 40/44mm, I know 8 pack ram can have top part unscrewed to lessen height

Yet others have been fine

https://************.com/b/xdbXsY

 

[fowler002]

Check ram cleaernece with AIO up top and if mounting at front max GPU length

If mounted at front , Mac GPU length is 290mm

Max height of Motherboard components with AIO is 40/44mm, I know 8 pack ram can have top part unscrewed to lessen height

Yet others have been fine

https://************.com/b/xdbXsY

As I’ve alredy mentioned I’ve got the evga 1080ti ftw3 which is 299mm so the front mounting wouldn’t work, if the ram is too tall I could change it to the Corsair vengence low profile ones as I’m not a heavy overclocker so the 8 pack endorsed ram isn’t necessary(as long as the timings aren’t going to have a major impact on gaming performance).

 

[orbitalwalsh]

As I’ve alredy mentioned I’ve got the evga 1080ti ftw3 which is 299mm so the front mounting wouldn’t work, if the ram is too tall I could change it to the Corsair vengence low profile ones as I’m not a heavy overclocker so the 8 pack endorsed ram isn’t necessary(as long as the timings aren’t going to have a major impact on gaming performance).

You'll have to Google reviews on the case to find out or PCP . Should be fine from a quick look

 

[fowler002]

https://youtu.be/x1OBRSvzDi8

Watched that last night, I’m not very good with cable management so the bit near the end where he puts all the loose cable into the psu shroud seems useful(he did it to save time in the live stream but I’m just lazy/not good at it)

Not long now till we know more about the new ryzen, but in case they don’t live up to expectations any suggestions for a decent intel motherboard?

 

[orbitalwalsh]

https://youtu.be/x1OBRSvzDi8

Watched that last night, I’m not very good with cable management so the bit near the end where he puts all the loose cable into the psu shroud seems useful(he did it to save time in the live stream but I’m just lazy/not good at it)

Not long now till we know more about the new ryzen, but in case they don’t live up to expectations any suggestions for a decent intel motherboard?

heads up, the Strix mATX has its ram slots higher then the above x299 board they used. ATX boards have their ram slots in line with the boards middle holes, ITX and mATX have their ram slots jup above it but 10mm - so you lose 10mm of clearance right there. another thing to factor

ryzen+ looks to be good, 4.35ghz boost speed! new Thread rippers Hit 4.2ghz and 3600hz ram and they were the best binned chips , so shows how much dropping node has improved , 4.45ghz should be hit with good Air/AIO cooling personally .
and judging by Aorus 7 X470- going to be fun times!

Spoiler: nice x470!

though your getting away from small 4k!

also with 4K gaming, dont need as much CPU power, i5 8600k/ 8400 or ryzen 1600 can be just as good!

 

[fowler002]

I was planning on a small matx/itx build but have now decided to go with atx, the meshify c isn’t that much larger than the matx cases I was looking at. The pc will be sitting under the tv table in my bedroom, not planning on moving it around so it should be fine. Main reason I decided to ditch the over the top rgb I had on a few of the specs, not going to see it so will be wasted money which I could either keep in my “pocket” or use on other parts.

I used to go to the i-series lanparty on and off since I first discovered it like 10-11 years ago, was mainly as a spectator but went as a byoc a few times. But it’s been several years since I last went, not bothered going after the way I was treated on their forums by a couple of the mods. It’s one thing the normal users but the mods are multiplay employees, but anyway I digress.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

I used to go to the i-series lanparty on and off since I first discovered it like 10-11 years ago, was mainly as a spectator but went as a byoc a few times. But it’s been several years since I last went, not bothered going after the way I was treated on their forums by a couple of the mods. It’s one thing the normal users but the mods are multiplay employees, but anyway I digress.

I went for a job interview for them a few years back to run their e-leagues... ended up ripping apart their business model and why turtle entertainment was destroying them - also questioning why they were demands a lot of cash from vendors like asus/gigabyte/msi if they wanted to have a presence there...and goes to show, largest lan event and most of the big vendors weren;t willing to place the cash they wanted even though a lot of customers would have seen them...

black out looks do look good just need a little light inside sometimes which normally comes from GPU- why NZXT AIO does look good. simple, not in your face infinity mirror on the unit .
believe bequiet is avoiding RGB at all costs- the Dark 700 is about as RGB as it will get for them ... sure their silent wing 3 with RGB verison would make a killing but aint gonna happen

 

[fowler002]

Btw 650 or 750 on the psu?
Also any point in getting a second 1080ti in a year or two?

 

[orbitalwalsh]

650w can handle 1080ti with a little spare.
Prob not worth SLi as single most powerful card always better, easier to sell card and use funds to buy the fastest card .
Only if you know all the games you play of a lot of them have SLi support and need to drive 4k at solid 60hz, then you maybe looking at 850w to handle two Ti

 

[fowler002]

I’ve ordered the case and aio, still need to order the rest of the parts.
Samsung 850/860 evo or Crucial MX500?

 

[orbitalwalsh]

I’ve ordered the case and aio, still need to order the rest of the parts.
Samsung 850/860 evo or Crucial MX500?

Which ever is cheaper and offers most ram , Samsung 850 is hard to ignore due to build and controller quality

 

[fowler002]

Which ever is cheaper and offers most ram , Samsung 850 is hard to ignore due to build and controller quality

Samsung 850 is £130-£140, 860 £20-£30 more. Crucial MX500 is ~£110 on the rainforest and a couple other places, that’s the 500gb.

I’m not sure about crucial as the last one I had died after a couple of years, well my pc started acting strangely and after testing turned out it was the ssd.

I have a Samsung 830 evo and a 840 evo(think this was the replacement for the crucial).

 

[lee32uk]

The MX500 is hard to ignore at that price. It might be a touch slower than the Samsung drives but nothing that you are going to notice in day to day usage. It gets pretty good reviews as well.

 

[fowler002]

I have a ~4 1/2 year old Corsair AX860(so ~2 1/2 years left on the warranty) which hasn’t gotten too much use over that period(due to the issue with my 4770k based pc which I’ve mentioned before), instead of buying a new psu I’m thinking about using the AX860 and save ~£100.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

AX units are still £150+ now. Small and powerful units ! Loved mine until it got coil whine with Strix z270 ... Every other board and chip it was perfect with

 

[fowler002]

Samsung 960 evo 250gb & crucial mx500 500gb(tho I’m still unsure about this and wondering if the extra £20-£30 on the 850/860 evo would have been a better idea) ordered, now just need the cpu, mobo & ram. So just to wait and see what the new ryzen cpu bring before deciding on the cpu + motherboard.