Thoughts On New PC/Gaming Rig Build?

[Astronomer]

Hi all,
 

Well, my 6-7 year old Sandy Bridge Core i5 2500k (overclocked) rig is starting to show its age (with dual nVidia 680's!), so it's time to start putting together the components for a new PC. I use it for the basics, as well as tons of photo editing (Photoshop, Lightroom), and gaming. My rough thoughts on a base spec are:
 

32Gb RAM

large SSD for boot drive and a small one for cache

A couple of big spinning disks for bulk storage

i7 CPU - 6 or 8 cores (or maybe i9, though the cost is nearly double for far less than double the performance)

high-end nVidia video card

I'm not wedded to Intel and nVidia - they're just what I'm used to - so I'm open to suggestions

Any thoughts on the above, and other components like coolers, case, power supply etc? I'll be buying the pieces in a couple of weeks.

Cheers,

AstronomerXI

[MikeB]

In the same boat.  Im running an AMD-8350 now, so its getting old.   Going to build a rig in late April.  I have always used AMD except on my last build (for my wife) which was an i7 2600k (few years back).   Ive been comparing Ryzen and Intel offerings,  especially these two.   http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-8700K-vs-AMD-Ryzen-7-1800X/3937vs3916   The link is a great site for comparing different cpu's.  Well comparing everything.  Im leaning towards the Intel chip.   As far as GPU, Im leaning towards the Nvidia 1070.   I always use Gigabyte boards.  I've built probably 50 pc's and through trial and error settled on Gigabyte as my only choice.  Well, DFI was my main source in the day, but they abandoned the "consumer" market and make only commercial specific motherboards.  DFI was the LanParty company, which some may know.  Miss those boards !!   Anyway, I definitely will go solid state for the OS (Windows 7), and I always use a separate sound card (Sound Blaster of course).   

Edited March 31, 2018 by MikeB

[Astronomer]

41 minutes ago, MikeB said:

In the same boat.  Im running an AMD-8350 now, so its getting old.   Going to build a rig in late April.  I have always used AMD except on my last build (for my wife) which was an i7 2600k (few years back).   Ive been comparing Ryzen and Intel offerings,  especially these two.   http://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i7-8700K-vs-AMD-Ryzen-7-1800X/3937vs3916   The link is a great site for comparing different cpu's.  Well comparing everything.  Im leaning towards the Intel chip.   As far as GPU, Im leaning towards the Nvidia 1070.   I always use Gigabyte boards.  I've built probably 50 pc's and through trial and error settled on Gigabyte as my only choice.  Well, DFI was my main source in the day, but they abandoned the "consumer" market and make only commercial specific motherboards.  DFI was the LanParty company, which some may know.  Miss those boards !!   Anyway, I definitely will go solid state for the OS (Windows 7), and I always use a separate sound card (Sound Blaster of course).   

My current board is an ASUS, but Gigabyte has the lead for me so far. Man, video cards are expensive, thanks to cryptocurrency miners! The 8Gb video card is about $300 cheaper (Canadian) than the 11Gb cards.

Here's my first pass at components:

Edited March 31, 2018 by Astronomer

[MikeB]

Looks good.   Case wise its personal taste.  Most cases now a days are comparable.   I do like Antec cases and used them a lot, but case quality has come a long way.  I remember in the 90's most had razor sharp edges and one had to be careful during assembly.  I currently have a large Antec with a Corsair PS and "knock on wood" the PS has been bullet-proof.  So I may lean towards Corsair.  I have a Micro Center close by and usually get my stuff there.  They match any online price and I walk out with everything.  Definitely will go "liquid cooled", just for shits and giggles.   And two "blue-ray" burners.   Analog drives I have good luck with WD.

But back to cases, I will look all over for one.  Definitely want something weird and cool looking.

   

 

[Astronomer]

@MikeB, I have a big Cooler Master HAF X case now. I love the size, so I'll go big this time as well. I currently have a 1200w Cooler Master PSU. It was top of the heap when I bought it, and it's still working great. I'm not settled on the PSU yet. I have a large Canada Computers shop nearby, and they have a huge selection and staff that actually know what they''re talking about.

Those cases you posted look sweet! Lots of choices.

Pic is my current case.

Edited March 31, 2018 by Astronomer

[JohnnyNashville]

What games do you play? 

 

johnnysmartass

 

[MikeB]

33 minutes ago, Astronomer said:

@MikeB, I have a big Cooler Master HAF X case now. I love the size, so I'll go big this time as well. I currently have a 1200w Cooler Master PSU. It was top of the heap when I bought it, and it's still working great. I'm not settled on the PSU yet. I have a large Canada Computers shop nearby, and they have a huge selection and staff that actually know what they''re talking about.

Those cases you posted look sweet! Lots of choices.

Pic is my current case.

You have the same case my son has.  I like the case I have, but Im going to be running two pc's.  Going to keep the one I have for everyday use and the new is strictly for gaming.  My sons been looking at the Ryzen Threadripper.   Most games out today only utilize four cores (if that) so the Ryzen Threadripper is overkill for me.  Now for multi-tasking with multiple programs it might be worth it.  My son does alot of audio and video editing with multiple programs running at once.  So the damn high price is justified to him.  

[MikeB]

23 minutes ago, JohnnyNashville said:

What games do you play? 

 

johnnysmartass

 

All the COD's  of course     I have no issues with my current rig.  I play all the games in high resolution and all artifacts on.  Even the new COD ran great (demo) and looked fantastic.   Just time to build a new one.  

[Astronomer]

58 minutes ago, JohnnyNashville said:

What games do you play? 

 

johnnysmartass

 

COD 5 for me, and same as Mike, all high-res. I want a rig that can handle VR when I decide to jump in.

 

[Astronomer]

14 hours ago, MikeB said:

You have the same case my son has.  I like the case I have, but Im going to be running two pc's.  Going to keep the one I have for everyday use and the new is strictly for gaming.  My sons been looking at the Ryzen Threadripper.   Most games out today only utilize four cores (if that) so the Ryzen Threadripper is overkill for me.  Now for multi-tasking with multiple programs it might be worth it.  My son does alot of audio and video editing with multiple programs running at once.  So the damn high price is justified to him.  

Yeah, 16 cores/32 processes might be a little bit of overkill for me! I may look at making my old rig a "Hackintosh". I have an old Lenovo laptop running OSX, and it works great. Having a bit more video horsepower for the OS would be cool. I already have 3 Dell and HP servers (lease returns) in the basement rack, so no need for another server.

Edited April 1, 2018 by Astronomer

[Unchileno]

Suggestion? ... Hmmmm  

 

Don't try to sell spare parts here..

[Astronomer]

8 hours ago, Unchileno said:

Suggestion? ... Hmmmm  

 

Don't try to sell spare parts here..

No kidding!

[Krackennutz]

tip if you are thinking of getting a M.2 ssd, you need MB that has it, there frightening fast,i have the 250gb version of this one...

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/solid-state-drives/ssd-960-pro-m-2-2tb-mz-v6p2t0bw/

 

heres the tip! first have Windows on usb drive.... why , well when got mine,had everything set, could see it in startup[f12] but not bios,or even on hooking up old ssd.2 flaming hrs later!!! wish on install instructions, it would have mentioned " do not connect any other sata devices!"..........once you have Windows installed.you can re attach other drives and they will show......

Do not forget if you have win10 its connected via your hardware,so have key ready to call microsoft

[Krackennutz]

oh yeah case have this one great for water cooling,they have tempered glass window now.Thermaltake X71

 

[Krackennutz]

Water cooled..

 

[Astronomer]

18 minutes ago, Krackennutz said:

tip if you are thinking of getting a M.2 ssd, you need MB that has it, there frightening fast,i have the 250gb version of this one...

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/solid-state-drives/ssd-960-pro-m-2-2tb-mz-v6p2t0bw/

 

heres the tip! first have Windows on usb drive.... why , well when got mine,had everything set, could see it in startup[f12] but not bios,or even on hooking up old ssd.2 flaming hrs later!!! wish on install instructions, it would have mentioned " do not connect any other sata devices!"..........once you have Windows installed.you can re attach other drives and they will show......

Do not forget if you have win10 its connected via your hardware,so have key ready to call microsoft

Thanks for the tip! I'm still working on the details of what bits and pieces I'll get. I've been researching online all day and my head is spinning faster! LOL!

[Astronomer]

@MikeB @Krackennutz, I may get the Corsair Crystal 570X Tempered Glass case. It's on sale until the 5th. I like the look:

http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=6_112&item_id=103144

[MikeB]

Is pretty cool.   Ive seen one with blue lights too.  

[Astronomer]

4 minutes ago, MikeB said:

Is pretty cool.   Ive seen one with blue lights too.  

The lights are RGB, and it come with a controller so you can change them to any colour you want. My current rig is stuck with only one colour, red, in 3 of its fans.

[Astronomer]

OK, I've picked up a couple of bits:

Corsair 2x16Gb 2666Mhz (easily overclockable)

 

The case is a Corsair Carbide Clear 600C full-tower:

 

I'm leaning towards the Asus ROG Maximus X motherboard, though the Gigabyte Z370 Aorus Gaming is pretty sweet too. I have an Asus in my current rig, so there is the "devil you know". I'm still researching a CPU cooler for the Intel i7 8700k CoffeeLake, and the cost of video cards nowadays is killing me. My wife says "just do it", but I may hold off for the 1180's to be released. Still on the fence on that one.

Edited April 5, 2018 by Astronomer

[Astronomer]

Also still researching power supplies and SSD storage. Looking at an efficient PSU of at least 850w.

[7Toes]

[shadow2009]

I built a Ryzen 1800x system in December. Runs great! Always been an AMD guy since my first build in 2002. Quite an upgrade from the 2009 AMD Phenom II 965 and Radeon 5850 GPU!

CORSAIR VENGEANCE C70 Mid-Tower Case - Military Green

EVGA SuperNOVA G2 850 Power Supply

G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600)

GA-AX370-Gaming K7(rev. 1.0)

https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/GA-AX370-Gaming-K7-rev-10#kf

Samsung EVO 960 512gb PCIE M.2 SSD

Seagate 3tb 7200 rpm HD

Asus DUAL-GTX1060-O6G

https://www.asus.com/us/Graphics-Cards/DUAL-GTX1060-O6G/

Big Air cooler

Noctua NH-U12S SE-AM4

https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N9X2YYN/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Old Bluray drive

USB 3.0 card reader/USB bay

[YACCster]

And of course we all know Nvidia will be shipping the 1180 or 2080 or whatever in August right?