Gaming PC -> Advice on Peripherals & OS

[PCUser1990]

The PC will be used for gaming, and I have already asked about the spec and am happy with it. However, as I will be ordering the PC on Monday I thought I should try and get some advice when it comes to peripherals such as monitors and which OS I should get.
Currently I am considering :
ASUS PG279Q 27" IPS G-Sync ROG Swift (£705)
ASUS VX278H 27" LED DISPLAY (£162)
Windows 7
Obviously, the Asus ROG Swift is a very pricey monitor, and I would like to ask if anyone has experience with this monitor? I have seen several reviews about it but if anyone would like to suggest an alternative that would be very much appreciated.
As for the Asus VX278H, I selected this monitor as it is the same size as my first monitor and will only be used for things such as having documents open, internet pages etc, nothing demanding in regards to refresh rate or pixel resolution.
My biggest question is whether or not to get windows 7. I have noticed that M.2 Drives are not compatible during configuration with windows 7, which means that there isn't the option to expand into an M.2 SSD later on. Currently I use windows 8 but have experience with windows 7,8 and 10 and was wondering if there are any other restrictions I need to be aware of when determining OS such as software and hardware limitations.

Thank you for any replies , I will post the spec below just in case anyone would like to suggest improvements on that also.

Case
CORSAIR GRAPHITE SERIES™ 780T FULL TOWER CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-6700k Quad Core (4.00GHz @ upto MAX 4.60GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® MAXIMUS VIII HERO: RoG, PCI-e 3.0, SATA 3.0
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX SAVAGE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB Kit)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
480GB HyperX SAVAGE 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb/s (upto 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
2TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (£119)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H80i V2 Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Liquid Series Ultra Quiet Fans (£89)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (£9)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11 AC1900 1,300Mbps/5GHz, 600Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD (£49)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit w/SP1 - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2016 (1 License) (£85)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Monitor
ASUS PG279Q 27" IPS G-Sync ROG Swift (£705)
2nd Monitor
ASUS VX278H 27" LED DISPLAY (£162)
Monitor Cables
1 x 2m DisplayPort Cable - DP (M) to DP (M) (£19)
Game Streaming
Elgato Game Capture HD60 (£152)
Speakers
Razer Leviathan 5.1 Bluetooth Soundbar (£182)
Webcam
Microsoft LifeCam Studio (£59)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days

(Budget is about £3500 with some flexibility)

 

[Oussebon]

As for the Asus VX278H, I selected this monitor as it is the same size as my first monitor and will only be used for things such as having documents open, internet pages etc, nothing demanding in regards to refresh rate or pixel resolution.

I would consider having either a 27" 1440p monitor as your second screen, or a 24" 1080p screen if you want a cheaper 1080p screen. A lot of people seem to find 1080p looks pretty naff stretched over 27", and I imagine with a 1440p 144hz IPS panel next to it the difference might be rather pronounced.

Why not get Windows 10? If you want to be doing DX12 gaming you'll need it anyway.

 

[PCUser1990]

DX12 is an advantage of windows 10, however after using it I don't really like the desktop layout compared to windows 7 and 8. Still not too sure about it, going to have to do some extra research later on.
Thanks for the advice about the monitors, I will also have to look into a 27" 1440p, I never really considered it due to having the ROG swift which should be able to handle most the intensive work, so I guess it will be worth watching some videos and reading some articles about.

 

[Oussebon]

It might be a shame to have a PC like that and not have access to DX12

As for the desktop etc, there are things like classic shell: http://www.classicshell.net/
I've used it on a spare PC and found it fine.

I'm sure there are plenty of people who are totally fine with a 1080p screen at 27" inches but I hear some people don't like it so worth checking I guess. There are perfectly serviceable 27" 1440p screens for ~£250, maybe less. There are ~25" IPS ones for ~£220 I think. I'm sure you'll have an array of options to think about anyhow.

 

[James_C]

As much as it pains me to say this since I love windows 7 and outright refuse to upgrade completely to windows 10 (I still have an install of 7 as my main and 10 if I need it) windows 10 gives you access to DX12, there is a much higher limit in terms of memory i.e. Windows 7 home only allows 16gb while 10 allows up to 64gb, Windows 7 is no longer supported while 10 is, apparently, to be the last windows released so will be supported for years to come.
I would have mentioned the positives of Win 8 but to be honest there really aren't any.

 

[PCUser1990]

Thanks for the help to both. I will most likely opt for windows 10 due to the support & also due to the fact that I can expand RAM + get an M.2 drive. I've also noticed that windows 10 has some useful apps that you can get unlike the previous windows. Thank you for the help

 

[James_C]

Oh yeah and if you're going to get an M.2 then I'd suggest an NVMe M.2 like the Samsung SM951

They offer up to 4x read and 3x write speeds of an M.2

 

[PCUser1990]

Thanks for the advice, will put in the NVMe instead of a hard drive and SSD which exchanges to be just about the same price. Going with the 512GB because it's currently the same amount of storage than my laptop of 4-5 years, of which the hard drive is only half full and I've heard installing hard drives/ssds is relatively simple so expansion should be easy should I need to.