Need new Gaming PC

[mrjt26]

Hey all,

I posted a few months back but was waiting on news on 7th gen i7 and the 1080ti. 1080ti is still a while away and I am now facing the ' your pc is below min requirements' on new games so need to move it.

Hoping for some general feedback.

I will be mainly gaming but want speedy multitasking as well as a bit of future proofing.

I have went with the new 7th gen CPU but tbh im unsure if i should go for an overclocked 6th gen as they are still performing well but again I am hoping for some of you wiser people to give me some honest feedback.

My budget is around 2k-2.2k preferred but willing to go to 2.5k if it really will be worth it.

One other thing is the case, I want a DVD drive and it seems most of the cases don't have the bay for it - hard to judge from the pictures everytime if someone could recommend a simplistic but sleek looking case that would accomodate (preferred see through side).

I am asking a lot but hopefully someone can help.

Any questions I will be happy to answer.

Put the 7th gen build I have started with.

Case
InWIN 503 MID TOWER GAMING CASE (WHITE)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-7700k (4.2GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270E GAMING: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB HyperX SAVAGE DDR4 3000MHz (4 x 8GB Kit)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
500GB Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H60 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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 DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
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
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,016.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Freeley]

For a £2k gaming pc I'd be wanting a Samsung m2 SSD as my primary drive as there MUCH quicker than the evo's.
The SM range was out of stock last week so I went for the slightly slower PM961 1tb. But for someone like me who's never had an SSD it's still blisteringly fast and perfectly suited to a gaming rig.
My understanding is that 32gb ram in unnecessary as there are no games out there that will use anything like this much.
The mobo on board wifi is working well for me, was unsure if it would be but I downloaded battlefield 1 yesterday no problem.
The Noctua cooler is better than the hydro but probably won't fit your case so is a non starter.
I think a lot of people on here use external dvd drives so can buy whatever case takes their fancy.

 

[Oussebon]

+1 to all the above.

The PM961 under the M.2 SSD section will outperform the 850 Evo while costing basically the same.

If you want a white case, the CM 690 III white edition (which coincidentally is what Freeley's system has: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/foru...arrived-today!&p=382807&viewfull=1#post382807 ) is decent for cooling performance, will fit the Noctua cooler and is, well, white. If you're not overclocking the CM212x cooler is fine for your CPU.

Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!

What monitor do you have? Or what are you planning to upgrade to. The GTX 1080 is arguably wasted on anything short of 1440p 144/165hz or 4k screens. If you're at 1080p, a GTX 1070 might be a more cost effective option. The 1080 is 50% more expensive while not offering 50% more performance.

 

[mrjt26]

OK have tweaked a bit, going external so went with Nvidia case .

Posted new spec below. (SM out of stock still but may hold of till next week to see if they come back in)

I am looking to upgrade my monitor in maybe a month or 2 so ill pay the extra for the 1080. I was going to hold off for the TI but I see that being a tad more expensive to say the least.

What do you think about the CPU's then? should i go for the Quad 7th Gen or should i go for like an overclocked 6850?

Appreciate the help

Case
InWIN 303 MID TOWER GAMING CASE - NVIDIA EDITION
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Quad Core Processor i7-7700k (4.2GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270E GAMING: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB HyperX SAVAGE DDR4 3000MHz (4 x 8GB Kit)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
NOT REQUIRED
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1600MB/W)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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
2 PORT (2 x TYPE A) USB 3.1 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
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
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £2,090.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Oussebon]

What do you think about the CPU's then? should i go for the Quad 7th Gen or should i go for like an overclocked 6850?

For gaming the 7700k is better. The 6 and 8 core intel CPUs are more expensive and, such that there is any difference, perform not quite as well. Games generally prefer the higher frequencies and IPC of the Intel quad cores.

You can always get an overclocked 7700k if you want.

As above, 32gb RAM is an utter waste for gaming. 16gb is more than enough.

USB Options
2 PORT (2 x TYPE A) USB 3.1 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS

The motherboard comes with one USB 3.1 Type A and one USB 3.1 Type C already. Unless you already have lots of USB 3.1 devices, don't buy this card. All you're doing is impeding airflow and spending cash for no benefit.

If getting the Inwin 303 I'd recommend some extra case fans. It only comes with 1 fan as standard and its cooling performance in reviews has not been great.

 

[mrjt26]

Forgot to trim my RAM to 16gb good spot.

Have removed the extra USB ports cheers.

Swapped case to the Fractal define should i add an extra quiet fan for this you reckon?. Appreciate all the small fixes, rather make sure I get the best as well as cost efficient.

I couldn't find the Z270E for a review, would you recommend a motherboard tweak or this work well for this setup?

Again thanks.

Setup now -


Case
FRACTAL DEFINE S BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-7700k Quad Core (4.20GHz @ up to 4.8GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270E GAMING: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX PREDATOR DDR4 3200MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
NOT REQUIRED
2nd Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1600MB/W)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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 DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
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
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,912.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Oussebon]

I would recommend the Z270E. It seems to have quite positive reviews:

ASUS Z270E - https://www.asus.com/us/ROG-Republic-Of-Gamers/ROG-STRIX-Z270E-GAMING/
https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Mothe...ng-Launch-Preview/Overclocking-and-Conclusion
https://www.overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/asus_strix_z270e_and_z270f_review_comparison/20
http://www.ocaholic.co.uk/modules/smartsection/item.php?itemid=4055&page=24

I would actually not recommend an extra case fan, as PCS seem to favour the rear/roof extraction which in the case of the Fractal cases means they will remove one of the moduvent covers to fit it. This lets the noise out the top and undoes one of the main purposes of the Fractal cases, which is keeping the noise in.

The stock case fan setup should be fine as well. That said, if you find you want an extra fan in the future you can always source and install your own extra fan as a 2nd front intake.

 

[mrjt26]

Thanks Oussebon. I will stick with this build then as it is.

Going to look over the spec a tad but probably stick this order in tomorrow morning. Was looking at monitors here but think I will do that seperately, not really sure which would work best unless you had any recommendations on that? Looked at IIYAMA ProLite B2783QSU-B1 QHD but again not really sure.

Cheers for all the advice.

 

[Oussebon]

What kind of budget area are you looking at for the monitor?

 

[mrjt26]

I would say 300 maybe? anything above I think may be overkill. In honesty I don't mind spending for quality

 

[Oussebon]

I might be tempted to suggest a GTX 1070, freeing up £200 which you could then spend upping that £300 budget to buy a 144hz 1440p gsync screen.

 

[mrjt26]

Hi all,

I have had a lot of advice last month and have finally tweaked my build to recommendations.

Gaming PC - going to buy new monitor in a month or two to utilise the 1080.

Just wanting any last minute suggestions to anything I may have overlooked? Also is this case going to work well with the build? Want a case with see through side and simplistic yet not cheap looking. the m.2 ss I will be waiting on the SM coming back into stock hence I haven't ordered yet.

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE S BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-7700k Quad Core (4.20GHz @ up to 4.8GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270E GAMING: LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GB, Wi-Fi - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX PREDATOR DDR4 3200MHz X.M.P (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
FREE FOR HONOR or GHOST RECON: WILDLANDS with select GTX 10 Series GPUs!
1st Hard Disk
NOT REQUIRED
2nd Hard Disk
2TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1600MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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 DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
NO OFFICE SOFTWARE
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
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 2 to 4 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,996.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z270-overclocked/0w6vtSKNzM/

Thanks again always helpful here

Regards.

 

[Scott]

I would recommend the RM850x PSU, it's simply a better unit than the CS. I would also look at the H100i with the silent fans. The Noctua does a good job of quietly cooling the CPU but the H100i is the best cooling solution outwith a custom loop system.

Everything else is exactly how I would manage it.

 

[Oussebon]

You might as well get a case with better cooling if going for the H100i. Not that the Define S's cooling is inadequate, just that if you're prioritising cooling over noise then you might as well. Plus you can get one with an internal vdv drive, which being cheaper will claw back a bit of the cost.

 

[jerpers]

If you are going for the H100i cooler, I would highly recommend going for the one with the quieter fans. The stock ones are very noisy, I only kept them in mine for a few hours before swapping out.

 

[mrjt26]

Changed PSU then as advised thanks.

What are the pro's and cons of going for the H100i Ultra quiet over the Noctua, is it worth the extra cost? If i was going for another case would you recommend any specifically? Again i picked the Fractal for both design and functionality so would prefer to have a case with the transparent side, show off the new machine and all.

Cheers again.

 

[Oussebon]

Consider the Carbide Air 540.

One of the main points of the Fractal cases is that they help dampen the noise. However, PCS will mount the H100i such that they'll remove two of the panels that keep the sound in. So if you're letting the sound out somewhat anyway you might as well go for a case that has exceptional cooling. The Air 540 would also help manage GPU temps (assisting with maximising boost clocks) by keeping it better fed with cool air.

The H100i is somewhat better than the Noctua cooler (it's the only one of the water coolers on offer that definitely is better than it). The advantage is that when the CPU is under heavy load it will run cooler.

Changing the cooler and the case would increase the cost by £100.

The Noctua + Fractal Define S is likely to be more than sufficient for gaming load. If you plan to do a lot of video encoding or other things that will load the CPU to 100% you might consider the H100i. Kaby Lake apparently runs hotter than its immediate predecessor.

 

[mrjt26]

I will be honest I dont intend to use this for anything other than gaming or watching tv / movies. only multi tasking will be watching while gaming. Don't really like the look of the 540 prefer the more standard shape at least but will consider it if the Kabby Lake does indeed run that hot.

 

[Oussebon]

Then I'd stick with the Noctua cooler + Define S.


http://edgeup.asus.com/2017/01/31/kaby-lake-overclocking-guide/

CPU core frequency	Cooling	Vcore	Peak CPU temperature in Celsius	Realbench - 2 Hours Pass?
5GHz	Dual radiator AIO (water temp 28C)	1.28V	70C	No
5GHz	Triple radiator custom loop in temp controlled room. Water temp 18C	1.28V	63C	Yes
5GHz	Noctua NH-D15	1.28V	73C	No
5GHz	Dual radiator AIO	1.32V	72C	Yes
5GHz	Air - Noctua NH-D15	1.32V	78C	Yes

From an overclocking perspective, the only advantage a dual radiator AIO cooler has over the Noctua NH-D15 heatsink is lower CPU temperatures. Unfortunately for us, the temperature drop isn’t significant enough to reduce Vcore requirements. To obtain a Vcore advantage, our CPU sample requires its load temps are kept under 65 Celsius, which requires a water chiller holding the coolant temps to 18 Celsius, or an ambient room temperature of 13~15 Celsius with a custom water loop and 3 X 120MM radiator. Not exactly a mainstream scenario. Of course, there is variance between samples, so our results may not be reflective of all CPUs.

That's the NH D15, but the NH U14S is not all that far off and if you're just gaming your temps ought to be fine.

 

[mrjt26]

Thanks Oussebon as always. Will stick with the case / cooler combo then. Looking forward to ordering this once the SM is in stock