Spec me: 8700k Build

Amraam

Amraam

Amraam

Soldato
Joined
5 Jan 2009
Posts
4,771
Had my faithful 2500k system running for a good few years, but it's time to upgrade.

Will be reusing case, PSU, and GPU so I need Z370 board, 8700k, RAM, CPU Cooler, and M.2 SSD.

What would you get for <£1200?

I'm thinking just OEM/retail 8700k; non of this rip off pre OC'd chip stuff. I'll take my chances OCing myself.

16GB RAM, unless 32GB is considered a must nowadays? M.2 needs to be 240, but I'm thinking I could get a 2x M.2: 120GB (OS) and 500GB (games). I have several 'normal' SATA SSDs that I can use for game drives if M.2 are crazy money.

Here's what I have, but I'm sure there are sensible ways to save:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,221.05 (includes shipping: £11.10)
​



I don't think my HAF X will support a dual fan rad cooler, so I either have to drop to a single fan or ditch the HAF X and go for a smaller, better case.

Thanks!
 
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My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,065.14 (includes shipping: £13.20)​
​

better value clc cooler
cheaper ram - intel is less dependent on ram speed/timings
cheaper mobo - do you really need one that costs £250?
sm961 ssd is basically a 960 pro - and cheaper than the 960 evo to boot. trade off is that you lose some warranty (2 years on the sm 961)
and a nice case to fit the clc cooler
 
Thanks. No real need for that board, just had a quick flick through and I know they're a good rated board. I tend to upgrade my PC only like twice a decade. Can't decide whether or not to ditch the 980Ti and get a whole new system with a 1080ti...
 
just a slight tweak to Tamz nice spec


tamzzy said:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,065.14 (includes shipping: £13.20)
​

better value clc cooler
cheaper ram - intel is less dependent on ram speed/timings
cheaper mobo - do you really need one that costs £250?
sm961 ssd is basically a 960 pro - and cheaper than the 960 evo to boot. trade off is that you lose some warranty (2 years on the sm 961)
and a nice case to fit the clc cooler
Click to expand...

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £513.68 (includes shipping: £8.70)


8 Pack ram- had mine running 3800hz with i5 8400 on that board and drive i7 8700k at 4000hz on ITX version.

4SwSsjv.jpg
would personally pay a bit more for 1TB M.2 drive. yes its standard SSD format and not NVMe but honestly unless you know what your looking for, not to much difference - not the difference from going HDD to SSD personally .

also, cheap or even 240 AIO with i7 8700k that isn't de-lid- it can get hot! would push for 280 mm AIO at least

also comes with £20 steam voucher

thought if you want some blind like the hero

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £169.49 (includes shipping: £10.50)
​
aorus 7 + £40 steam voucher and best on board audio
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £265.49 (includes shipping: £10.50)
​
If you do like asus... STRIX all the way!!!!

though you do pay a premium for asus

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £217.49 (includes shipping: £10.50)​
​
 
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Thanks. Onboard audio is not really a concern, as I already have a soundblaster Zx. I'm not too fussed about the board's looks, but I'd prefer to look decent. It does need to be black and red, as everything else is red (x34a, K70 Red, mouse, case).

It does sound like I'm going to need a new case. I think 240, or 360, is the biggest rad config the HAF X can take; it doesn't seem to support 140mm fans, and I'd rather not butcher up the case.

That 1TB SSD looks like a bargain, but I wonder if I'd be better getting the better type now, as I will not look to upgrade the PC for a good few more years. I also prefer to have games separate from the OS, so I'm thining a 120/500 combo would suit me better. Funny to see motherboards in 2017 that still come with PS2 connectors.

What's the ideal RAM speed? I can see that 4000mhz is around, but will the extra speed make any noticeable difference to warrant to crazy cost?
 
Amraam said:
Thanks. Onboard audio is not really a concern, as I already have a soundblaster Zx. I'm not too fussed about the board's looks, but I'd prefer to look decent. It does need to be black and red, as everything else is red (x34a, K70 Red, mouse, case).

It does sound like I'm going to need a new case. I think 240, or 360, is the biggest rad config the HAF X can take; it doesn't seem to support 140mm fans, and I'd rather not butcher up the case.

That 1TB SSD looks like a bargain, but I wonder if I'd be better getting the better type now, as I will not look to upgrade the PC for a good few more years. I also prefer to have games separate from the OS, so I'm thining a 120/500 combo would suit me better. Funny to see motherboards in 2017 that still come with PS2 connectors.

What's the ideal RAM speed? I can see that 4000mhz is around, but will the extra speed make any noticeable difference to warrant to crazy cost?
Click to expand...

HAF X case, damn . had the 830 that it replaced haha . air power!

if you like to keep it separate, could go

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £257.68 (includes shipping: £8.70)
​

tad under the 1TB - still using the Highest spec NVMe drive for OS which everything piggy backs off and then large standard SSD for games :) best of both worlds

does mean installing windows is a tad faster ;)

the aorus boards, all have the same path/lane design and VRM but features such as RGB, Network and sound are different- thus the cost rises

coffeelake does get some heat out when overclocked, no ones fault bar INTEL! quick google of the heatspreader paste used and you'll see. Heck, if you dont want to change case...

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £497.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)​
​

de-lid with liquid metal - apply thermal grizzlie paste and should have good 10c + knocked off!!

depends if you want a new case- range from budget £35 to stunning units £200+
 
orbitalwalsh said:
HAF X case, damn . had the 830 that it replaced haha . air power!

if you like to keep it separate, could go

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £257.68 (includes shipping: £8.70)
​

tad under the 1TB - still using the Highest spec NVMe drive for OS which everything piggy backs off and then large standard SSD for games :) best of both worlds

does mean installing windows is a tad faster ;)

the aorus boards, all have the same path/lane design and VRM but features such as RGB, Network and sound are different- thus the cost rises

coffeelake does get some heat out when overclocked, no ones fault bar INTEL! quick google of the heatspreader paste used and you'll see. Heck, if you dont want to change case...

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £497.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)
​

de-lid with liquid metal - apply thermal grizzlie paste and should have good 10c + knocked off!!

depends if you want a new case- range from budget £35 to stunning units £200+
Click to expand...

Thanks dude, but if I'm honest, I'm one of those that are on the fence (leaning towards the unhappy side)about pre binned stuff. To me, it's paying £100+ extra to have basically a used item. I'd rather save, and play the CPU lotto. I don't plan on taking the 8700k beyond 4.7 ish, so anything beyond that is nothing more than a bonus. Having said that, it would be nice to have it sat at 5Ghz
 
Amraam said:
Thanks dude, but if I'm honest, I'm one of those that are on the fence (leaning towards the unhappy side)about pre binned stuff. To me, it's paying £100+ extra to have basically a used item. I'd rather save, and play the CPU lotto. I don't plan on taking the 8700k beyond 4.7 ish, so anything beyond that is nothing more than a bonus. Having said that, it would be nice to have it sat at 5Ghz
Click to expand...

was looking at it from Case point of view- money used for case to fit bigger AIO or spent toward a chip thats been de-lid and year warranty - just outside thinking :D

i did it myself - and managed to get liquid metal all over my wife's rug whilst missing the mobo and socket due to syringe being stuck
 
orbitalwalsh said:
was looking at it from Case point of view- money used for case to fit bigger AIO or spent toward a chip thats been de-lid and year warranty - just outside thinking :D

i did it myself - and managed to get liquid metal all over my wife's rug whilst missing the mobo and socket due to syringe being stuck
Click to expand...

Got you. I think a new case is going to have to go on the list, but then what do you do with the old stuff; you can never get rid of an old case/build. Wonder if I could just sell a sandybridge build minus GPU and get £200 for it. Not as easy as splitting, but less hassle.
 
you have members market access! use it! lol :D
also, there is no difference having a large ssd for os and games compared to 2 smaller ssds - its not a mechanical spinning drive
i have a 1tb ssd for my os and games
also, ssds like to have free space on the drive for garbage collection and TRIM, so if the drive gets filled, you'll see a performance hit.
of course, one could argue that having 1 drive means that if it fails, you lose the whole lot. but of course, having 2 drives means either could fail too... :p
 
tamzzy said:
you have members market access! use it! lol :D
also, there is no difference having a large ssd for os and games compared to 2 smaller ssds - its not a mechanical spinning drive
i have a 1tb ssd for my os and games
also, ssds like to have free space on the drive for garbage collection and TRIM, so if the drive gets filled, you'll see a performance hit.
of course, one could argue that having 1 drive means that if it fails, you lose the whole lot. but of course, having 2 drives means either could fail too... :p
Click to expand...

I tend to rebuild windows every 6 months or so, so it's easier to keep my heavily modified games, such as Skyrim and Fallout 4 on a separate drive. I jsut need to remember how to transfer them across to the new system without breaking the games. I understand and follow the 80% unofficial rule, which is why I keep a 120 GB reserved for OS and apps only, then try to have dedicated SSDs for games.

It seems a lot of cases mount the 280 rads at the front; does that cause heat problems for the rest of the system? Sure, fresh cool air is hitting the CPU rad, but all that warm exhausted air is what 'feeds' the GPU and mother board coolers. I'm concerned that an OC'd 8700k is going to cause temp problems for the 980Ti.
 
Amraam said:
I tend to rebuild windows every 6 months or so, so it's easier to keep my heavily modified games, such as Skyrim and Fallout 4 on a separate drive. I jsut need to remember how to transfer them across to the new system without breaking the games. I understand and follow the 80% unofficial rule, which is why I keep a 120 GB reserved for OS and apps only, then try to have dedicated SSDs for games.
Click to expand...
fair enough everyone has a specific requirement, and one size doesn't fit all :P

Amraam said:
It seems a lot of cases mount the 280 rads at the front; does that cause heat problems for the rest of the system? Sure, fresh cool air is hitting the CPU rad, but all that warm exhausted air is what 'feeds' the GPU and mother board coolers. I'm concerned that an OC'd 8700k is going to cause temp problems for the 980Ti.
Click to expand...
 
I mount mine at the top . Specially when Pascal chips , the cooler you get them the better , so for me lower case temps are better. Don't mind AIO or water unit pulling any hot air through to be honest

Bequiet dark base 700 , Lian Li PC-o11 , case maker 500 T are some nice cases :)

Sorry , just realised your Maxwell card
 
tamzzy said:
fair enough everyone has a specific requirement, and one size doesn't fit all :p


Click to expand...

Interesting. So the tradeoffs are generally exactly as I thought, but the overall difference in CPU temps by mounting it at the front is quite pleasantly surprising. Good to know, as my 980ti is the windforce non blowere style, so a front mounted rad would work well for me.

Oh and btw, I've just discovered how much I hate how Yanks say "chassis"...
 
So I've decided I will get a new case and have been looking at a few. One that is currently standing out for me (albeit not the prettiest I've ever seen) is the NZXT H700i. Liking the RGB, cable management, and the 'smart' features look good, but need to read up more to ensure it's not just a gimmicky thing. This is going to cost a bit more than £1200...
 
Amraam said:
So I've decided I will get a new case and have been looking at a few. One that is currently standing out for me (albeit not the prettiest I've ever seen) is the NZXT H700i. Liking the RGB, cable management, and the 'smart' features look good, but need to read up more to ensure it's not just a gimmicky thing. This is going to cost a bit more than £1200...
Click to expand...


Two other cases that are cheaper and RGB linked to the board, not it's own software
700 can also be flipped upside down


My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £301.08 (includes shipping: £14.10)​
​
 
Thanks, was looking at the Dark Base 700 before and something put me off, can't remember what now. That Phanteks should be renamed Entpoo; it's awful looking, sorry! :D

EDIT: Just remembered. The BeQuiet! case sounds like it has poor airflow and the top basically has zero airflow. I think my reasoning was that if I'm spending a lot on a case, then I may as well spend £25 more and get the H700i with the better air and more features.

I'm in no rush, I'll keep shopping :)
 
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