Is this (mostly) sensible? 2 options to go with Vega 64 & 1080p144hz FreeSync

[DST23]

Hi all,

I was in the market for a gaming PC a little while ago and was going to pull the trigger on the Vulcan S01 review build as suggested by Oussebon but life got in the way. I'm likely going to get on with things and make a purchase in the next few weeks so I'd appreciate opinions on the following. As a disclaimer, I'm a sucker for RGB - this should explain some of my choices.

Option 1

Case
CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 460X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-8400 (2.8GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z370P D3: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
1st Hard Disk
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 1500MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
LED Lighting
2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 12 NOON)
Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH
Quantity
1

Price £1,155.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-pc/usXGkF2rvg/

Option 2

Case
CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 460X RGB GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™ i5-8600K Six Core (3.6GHz @ up to 4.6GHz)
FREE PlayerUnknown's Battlegrounds, Battlefield 1 & More! w/ select Intel CPUs!
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st Hard Disk
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 1500MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
LED Lighting
2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 12 NOON)
Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH
Quantity
1

Price £1,272.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-overclocked/puRrJ64g4b/

As I already have a 1080p144hz FreeSync monitor, I thought it would make sense to go for a Vega 64 to make full use of it. It's a toss up between the Asus Strix and the Power Color on ebuyer at the moment for £450 and £460 respectively (free games are a bonus). I've read (on reddit I think) the PowerColor has slightly better temps and power usage than the Strix. I can't afford to fork out £450 on a GSync monitor if I go for an Nvidia GPU so this seems logical to me.

Secondly, the only taxing use of this PC will be gaming (I don't do any heavy content creation. Maybe some basic Photoshop here and there but nothing major). How much of a difference would going from Option 1 to 2 make on gaming and is Option 2 worth the extra ~£120 for the OC and mobo? Am I right to say the 8400 should be more than enough (especially with it's turbo boost) since I'd assume the system should easily hit 144FPS in most esports titles and still max out most AAA titles where high FPS isn't as crucial?

I went for the AIO cooler primarily for aesthetics but if this wholly unnecessary, I'm not opposed to air cooling. The CM Hyper 212X should be a good alternative I'd imagine (as good as Noctua coolers are, I can't stand their colour scheme).

750W PSU to leave room for the possibility of future upgrades.

If I can keep this to around £1.6k, which is what Option 1 + GPU comes to, that's ideal. If there's a compelling argument for the OC'd CPU I'd likely be open to spending that extra money. Of course if I can shave unnecessary costs off here and there, even better.

I also realise 9th gen Intel CPUs are around the corner but I'm not sure if they're at my budget pricepoint? If they are, I don't have an issue with waiting, in which case, would it be advisable to buy the GPU now and wait for the new CPUs before I re-evaluate?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Oussebon]

I also realise 9th gen Intel CPUs are around the corner but I'm not sure if they're at my budget pricepoint? If they are, I don't have an issue with waiting,

The idea is - as far as the rumours go - that the new CPUs will be slightly better than the current CPUs for the same price. Plus one i9 CPU as a new top tier, but you're not shopping in that budget range anyway. You'd probably be looking at an i5 9600k.
I don't know how current this rumour is but it was suggested the 9600k would have 300MHz more boost clocks: https://videocardz.com/76808/intel-...k-and-i5-9600k-possible-specifications-emerge

The builds you're comparing are apples and oranges. You won't be overclocking an i5 8400. So there's no point to an ~£80 water cooler. The Frostflow 100 is fine. So that's another, what, £50-60 difference.

Also buying a more expensive mobo with the 8600k instead of the 8400. No reason you couldn't buy an 8400 with the better mobo. Or the OCed system on the Z370-P since all mobos cover overclocking.

And the boost frequencies of the 9600k will take it at stock nearly up to what PCS OC the i5 upto.

Perhaps re-evaluating options once the new CPUs are out is best.

May well turn out that buying one of the less expensive Z370 mobos, a basic cooler, and a stock clocked i7 gives more cores and more frequency than an i5 anyway. The price of doing so is already not far off build 2 already: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-pc/arWDyK0afe/
And the 9700k has some very high boost frequencies if that (frankly fairly believable) leak is accurate.

Whether to buy the GPU now is a gamble to a degree - what will prices do when the RTX 2070 comes out? Or might prices rise again as the current level feels shockingly low for Vega after the ludicrous high prices we've seen. I'd definitely be tempted to get one. But ultimately you're gambling on the market to some degree whether you buy or hold off, so it needs to be your call.

What's your current PC? Is there a reason you couldn't just get a Vega, use it in your current system, and see whether you even really want to spend £1200 on a new system to host it?

Another way of looking at it is that if you can use the Vega GPU today and can use it in the current PC, you get a month's worth of improved gaming experience (give or take) as a headstart over any new PC. So even if prices came down a bit more you'd still have gotten something for your money.

 

[DST23]

Thanks for the quality reply (as always).

The builds you're comparing are apples and oranges. You won't be overclocking an i5 8400. So there's no point to an ~£80 water cooler. The Frostflow 100 is fine. So that's another, what, £50-60 difference.

Good point, I'll change the cooler.

Also buying a more expensive mobo with the 8600k instead of the 8400. No reason you couldn't buy an 8400 with the better mobo. Or the OCed system on the Z370-P since all mobos cover overclocking.

And the boost frequencies of the 9600k will take it at stock nearly up to what PCS OC the i5 upto.

Perhaps re-evaluating options once the new CPUs are out is best.

May well turn out that buying one of the less expensive Z370 mobos, a basic cooler, and a stock clocked i7 gives more cores and more frequency than an i5 anyway. The price of doing so is already not far off build 2 already: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved...pc/arWDyK0afe/
And the 9700k has some very high boost frequencies if that (frankly fairly believable) leak is accurate.

Yeah, only reason the Aorus was selected is it's the cheapest RGB-compatible mobo currently in stock for the OCed build. As I said, I'm a sucker for RGB so this isn't really a rational choice. Thinking about it, though, I'm not sure I'd really make use of the extra juice from an OCed system, is that fair to say?

But yes, to be more rational about things, waiting to see what the new CPUs are like is the way to go.

Whether to buy the GPU now is a gamble to a degree - what will prices do when the RTX 2070 comes out? Or might prices rise again as the current level feels shockingly low for Vega after the ludicrous high prices we've seen. I'd definitely be tempted to get one. But ultimately you're gambling on the market to some degree whether you buy or hold off, so it needs to be your call.

What's your current PC? Is there a reason you couldn't just get a Vega, use it in your current system, and see whether you even really want to spend £1200 on a new system to host it?

Another way of looking at it is that if you can use the Vega GPU today and can use it in the current PC, you get a month's worth of improved gaming experience (give or take) as a headstart over any new PC. So even if prices came down a bit more you'd still have gotten something for your money.

So the main reason I'm looking at the Vega is that since I've already got a 144hz FreeSync monitor, it seems a waste to not take advantage of that. The other reason I thought of buying the Vega sooner rather than later is, as you said, the prices they're at now are around the lowest they've been since possibly forever.

My gut says to buy the GPU now as I feel there's not much more that could be shaved off the current Vega prices, but they could potentially get a lot more expensive again? I think I'd be more annoyed if I missed a decent deal after prices went back up again than if I bought it now and they decreased a bit more.

Sorry, should've mentioned this in the first post. I'm using a laptop now (i7 4720HQ, GTX 970M) so upgrading components individually isn't an option unfortunately. That said, it still runs most games relatively well if I don't crank up the settings so shopping for a new desktop PC is more of a want rather than a need.

 

[Oussebon]

My gut says to buy the GPU now as I feel there's not much more that could be shaved off the current Vega prices, but they could potentially get a lot more expensive again? I think I'd be more annoyed if I missed a decent deal after prices went back up again than if I bought it now and they decreased a bit more.

It's personal opinion - but think I agree with you.

One thing to bear in mind is that if you buy it now without a PC you have no means to test it, which depending how long until you buy a PC may be a problem if you need to return it. Obviously you'd have the manufacturer warranty to claim on, but it might be easier and quicker to return a defective product and buy a new one / get sent a replacement dealing with the vendor, instead of doing a manufacturer RMA.

Make sure you've checked what Powercolour and Asus's RMA processes are. Do you deal with them or with the vendor? If you deal with them, where do you need to post the card to? I've not checked but I might be surprised if powercolour had a UK RMA address... And how long are their warranties?

Or if you buy it and just don't like it. That model's fans are too loud, or it looks too garish in your RGB PC, or whatever. You might be out of the 30 day return window.

 

[DST23]

Good point on RMA processes, I'll look into that. I've always had laptops in the past and have been lucky to not need repairs/returns so I'll have to think about this a little more now.

or it looks too garish in your RGB PC, or whatever

I highly doubt it.