OK, it's time for a new build

[bodhi]

Hey all,

So I'm going to bite the bullet in the next couple of months and build my first computer in over 15 years! I've been doing some research and not that much has changed by the looks of it.

I'm hoping some of my trusted friends on here (who know more than I do as I've been out the game for a while) can take a look at the spec I've put together.

I'm going to use it for:

1. Games for my son (and me), for example Fortnite, strategy games etc. Want it to be fairly future proof;
2. Work - Mainly be MS Office based stuff but I do need to do a little bit of video editing.

The spec I've put together I think is mainly games focused, so what I need to know is:

1. Is it too games focussed, i.e. am I giving myself a problem with the processor I've picked?
2. Is this overkill, i.e. could I trim this down a bit without a big issue as it's pretty expensive?
3. Anything I've missed, e.g. DVD Drive?

Also, how do you install Window's now? I can't imagine many people using DVD drives now as most things are downloads, but not sure how that works when it comes to an OS.

See attached file for spec...

I look forward to the discussions and getting my head back into this

Bodhi

 

[muckshifter]

Is this overkill

Intel Core i5 8400 ... no, this is rather conservative. IMHO

 

[Ian]

Brilliant! This will be great fun to build, it's so much easier than 15 years ago

I'd be tempted to go for an AMD Ryzen CPU if I were building a machine at the moment - mind you, the 8400 is really nicely priced at the moment and also good value (but it isn't a high-end gaming CPU).

Also, I see that you've got a 1TB SSD listed as a storage drive - is that storage for things like games/apps, or for photos and documents? If it's not for apps/games, I'd just get a spinning disk as they're so much cheaper.

Also, how do you install Window's now? I can't imagine many people using DVD drives now as most things are downloads, but not sure how that works when it comes to an OS.

The easiest way is probably to run the W10 installation tool (https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10) and then it'll give an option to burn a DVD or USB stick. Just boot from one of those and then enter the product key when prompted .

 

[muckshifter]

I'd be tempted to go for an AMD Ryzen CPU

I really wanted to say that ... didn't want to come across as a boyfan.

you can still use a nVidia GC

 

[bodhi]

Thanks guys.

I went for the 8400 as the reviews seemed to suggest that it was as good, if not better, for games than some of the older i7 processors. I guess that given I want to do more than just games on it, I might be better to get a better processor. What would you recommend?

I'll be honest, I've got certain biases when it comes to hardware (though I admit these are almost 2 decade old biases!!), such as intel over AMD, nvidia for graphics and seagate over WD for example. I've read about the new Ryzen CPUs and from what I gather they have graphics built in? Is that right?

Anyway, I will probably stick with intel unless you somehow manage to talk me round

 

[muckshifter]

... they have graphics built in? Is that right?

The 'cheap' build, all-in-one can-play-minesweeper, yes ... the 'proper' CPUs, like what I got. no!

 

[Ian]

You'll be really pleased with that PC .

It's just down to personal preference - but the 8400 is still a great CPU, so I don't think you'll have any worries tbh . It's the non-gaming performance from Ryzen the interests me, as I'm often doing lots of things at once. However, the 8400 is great value.

The only things I'd consider trimming are that 2nd SSD (if it's only used for docs/large data storage) and perhaps the 1080Ti, as it's so expensive and dropping a tier isn't going to cost that much gaming performance, but it will save you a ton .

 

[floppybootstomp]

Things to consider, budget-based:

Larger mechanical storage drive, 3 or 4Tb
Smaller SSD drive for OS - 250/240Gb will do (M.2 SSD drives fastest)
i5 CPU 6 core 3.6Ghz
A Bluray drive

These are only suggestions but a build with them will cope with all you want to do and be considerably cheaper.

The Bluray drive for DVD and CD disks, storage to 23Gb and 46Gb BD-R's and also loading the OS, Windows 10 is cheaper to buy on Disk from somewhere like Amazon rather than downloading direct from Microsoft although a Linux distro download can be loaded direct from a USB memory stick.

The 1080 is a fine graphics card imo but a 1060 will cope with current games and costs a lot less. 1080 is more future-proof though

 

[bodhi]

Thanks guys. Appreciate the advice.

I'm going to wait until mid July when I get my bonus at work and that will make some decisions for me ;-)

I take your point regarding the bigger mechanical hard drive. I've just been let down recently by external mechanical drives just stopping working so a bit hesitant there.

Does everyone think the monitor, keyboard and mouse are a good pick? Oh, and the other question i had was, do I need to buy a heatsink / fan or do modern processors come with them?

 

[floppybootstomp]

I take your point about the mechanical drives and obviously an SSD is more reliable, perhaps consider a drive with a 5 year warranty such as the Western Digital Black series, although a warranty is no guarantee against failure.

Retail CPU's come with a cooler, OEM CPU's do not. If you're not going to overclock the manufacturer's cooler should cope although a third party cooler is often worth the extra cash. I favour Noctua coolers though they're not cheap. Coolermaster do a good selection of budget coolers.

 

[bodhi]

I take your point about the mechanical drives and obviously an SSD is more reliable, perhaps consider a drive with a 5 year warranty such as the Western Digital Black series, although a warranty is no guarantee against failure.

Retail CPU's come with a cooler, OEM CPU's do not. If you're not going to overclock the manufacturer's cooler should cope although a third party cooler is often worth the extra cash. I favour Noctua coolers though they're not cheap. Coolermaster do a good selection of budget coolers.

Thanks mate. Good advice.

Yes, a warranty doesn't help when you're data is gone I think I'll maybe look at a couple of mechanical drives and mirror data across them. We'll see.

 

[bodhi]

OK guys and gals, I've been doing some more research and taking on board your advice.

What are your thoughts on the attached spec? Key thing to know is am I making any mistakes, or is there anything there that is not compatible?

Also, I've just been on holiday and bought an over-priced PC gaming magazine for the plane. There was an article about ATX v ITX and it kind of swayed me down the ITX path. If I can get the same spec for similar price in a smaller footprint then what's not to love? ;-)

Advice appreciated as always folks.

Bodhi

 

[Abarbarian]

https://www.microsoft.com/en-gb/software-download/windows10ISO

You can download W 10 and put it on a usb to do an install.

NVME drives are the fastest drives you can get. Don't know which outdated articles Flops has been reading "(M.2 SSD drives fastest)". M.2 ssd's are similar in speed to ordinary ssd's.
You could save money by just having a 256 GB 970 NVME for your os. Have a 500Gb 860 EVO for secondary storage, games etc, and the hdd's for longer term storage of less used stuff.

Nvme drives can get rather hot especially if they are mounted on the mobo. I have mine mounted on a pci-e card to take advantage of case cooling.

Here is an article on the subject, a tad old but still relevant I think.

https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/Samsung-950-Pro-M-2-Throttling-Analysis-776/

The newer ultra-fast M.2 drives such as the Samsung 950 Pro give absolutely amazing performance (up to 2.5GB/s read and 1.5GB/s write!), but one major issue with these drives is that they will throttle if the drive gets too hot. When that happens, the speed of the drive is greatly reduced - in a worst case situation it may even end up slower than a standard SATA-based SSD. This has been discussed in many reviews of the Samsung 950 Pro and we have discussed this ourselves in our Samsung 950 Pro review article.

I'll second Flops on a Noctua cooler. I have a NH-D15 and it keeps my Skylake very cool and darn quiet too. It is a tad tall though and rather large.

Oh and I recon a 27/32 " curved monitor would give you a better experience than a 24 " one.

Have fun choosing and building.

 

[Becky]

600W PSU might be a little low for a 1080Ti, but will probably be fine TBH. I had a double take at the prices before remembering you're in Australia, lol

 

[bodhi]

Hey,

So I've started to buy the components for the build, but I've hit a bit of a wall and was looking for advice.

I'm going to buy the Intel 8700K processor, and I was planning to buy the Asus Rog Strix Z370-E motherboard. However, it seems to have been discontinued! I can't seem to find what Asus have replaced it with though despite hours of googling!

I do like Asus, but what I need is a motherboard that'll support that processor (is it socked 1511?), have fast wifi, M2 sockets etc.

Anyone have any thoughts?

Cheers!! Bodhi

 

[bodhi]

Think I might have worked it out. Looks like the 370 chipset is being replaced by the 390 chipset?

So I guess my question is, does anyone have any recommendations for a good motherboard for the 8700K processor, DDR4 RAM, Samsung EVO 970 512Mb M.2 NVME HDD. Needs to have Wifi.

Bodhi

 

[bodhi]

I'm essentially having a conversation with myself now, but I'll keep going

I think this is the board I'm going to get now (although it's bloody expensive!!):

https://www.asus.com/au/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-XI-CODE/

 

[Abarbarian]

I'm essentially having a conversation with myself now, but I'll keep going

I think this is the board I'm going to get now (although it's bloody expensive!!):

https://www.asus.com/au/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-XI-CODE/

Oh we are keeping an eye on you, just in the background.

This might help out with the mobo confusion.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/13407/intel-z390-motherboard-overview-every-motherboard-analyzed

the floodgates have opened on the new Z390 chipset. Intel's latest chipset in turn will offer native USB 3.1 Gen2 connectivity, integrated 802.11ac, and an update to Intel's Management Engine firmware.

 

[bodhi]

Oh we are keeping an eye on you, just in the background.

This might help out with the mobo confusion.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/13407/intel-z390-motherboard-overview-every-motherboard-analyzed

Thanks mate. That was helpful.

I was looking at the Maximus board but it looks from that article that the TUF or Strix boards are more geared towards gaming. Back to the research board

 

[Becky]

I'm essentially having a conversation with myself now, but I'll keep going

I think this is the board I'm going to get now (although it's bloody expensive!!):

https://www.asus.com/au/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-XI-CODE/

I'm a bit out of the loop with motherboards nowadays, but that one does look good. You won't need to upgrade for a while, that's for sure!