Gaming/all-rounder/possible future VR spec

C

Corby Trouser Press

Active member
Hey guys

I'm looking for something to game at a pretty high spec, which could also cope well with VR eventually (maybe not until gen 2). Also want it to be really quick and good for multitasking/a bit of basic Photoshopping and such.

I've budgeted around £2000, but can go a little higher if I'm missing an essential upgrade. I've read through plenty of threads, and also compared reviews of different components, and gotten to this point.

Case
NZXT H440 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK/RED)
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!
1st Hard Disk
1TB WD BLACK 3.5" WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
LED Lighting
50cm Red LED Strip
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

Price £1,991.00



If there's anything obvious I've done wrong, or any suggestions you have, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
I might suggest the Noctis 450 case as it's apparently a good deal better than the H440 for cooling, but has a similar(ish) aesthetic.

Otherwise, looks great.

Note that the GTX 1080 is getting a $100 price cut from Nvidia, at least for retailers what with the release of the 1080 ti next week. You may want to consider waiting to see if PCS drop the price, or order a GTX 1080 from elsewhere and install it yourself if PCS don't drop the price. Over £600 for a GTX 1080 right now is not a good sum to be paying...
 
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C

Corby Trouser Press

Active member
Thanks, I could go with that. I had looked at it before. I rest one of my external HDDs on top of my current PC and wasn't sure if the roof of the 450 would be too sloped to do the same. But I could always buy a longer USB cable for the external HDD and place it somewhere else if that was an issue.

Nothing else jump out?
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
I imagine the 450 would be too sloped, unless your HDDs have some fairly pronounced rubber feet. But as you say there are USB cables etc to work around that.

The rest looks good to me.
 
C

Corby Trouser Press

Active member
I'm still umming and ahing about which case to pick. The Noctis 450 is a bit big (the official dimensions are different to the ones PCS list), and I've somewhat gone off the asthetic of it. Other cases I like but which don't fit the Noctua or the H100i v2.

I'm torn between the Game Max Falcon (seems to have lots of features and looks similar to my current one, but I don't know if putting £2k worth of components into a cheaper case is a good idea), the CM690 III (good all-round features, but I've seen some mixed reviews), and the SR-630 GG (nice aesthetics, but I'm unsure on the company and whether I want all sides to have tempered glass or not).

Any thoughts?
 
R

Ragnar

New member
I would look into the Rizen 7 series if you plan on performing a lot of workshop tasks. They come in at just under the 7700K in gaming by a hair but kick it around in terms of multi-tasking.
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
They come in at just under the 7700K in gaming by a hair
Click to expand...
That's frankly understating it, by a lot.
http://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreview...review-premiere-blender-fps-benchmarks/page-7
When the OP will likely upgrade their GPU in a few years to something even more powerful, buying the weaker CPU for gaming doesn't really make sense.

The 7700k is also a better performer in photoshop which is the one "workshop" software mentioned.
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/amd-ryzen-7-1800x-cpu,review-33811-8.html

That's not to say that the R7 1800x isn't a great CPU - it is - and the OP should definitely consider it if they were getting a rendering rig. But a rendering rig doesn't seem to be what they said they're after. :) For mostly gaming, don't buy a 1800x. Or an R7 1700.

As for the cases, the reviews I's seen of the CM 690 III seemed mostly positive, particularly regarding thermal performance. A lot of case reviews really focus on the experience of building the PC into the case, so I'm not sure if the negative ones you'd seen related to that? If so it's probably not a major downside, since you're paying PCS to do that for you. :)

You could look at the Fractal Define S if you're happy with using an external drive and want a side window
 
C

Corby Trouser Press

Active member
Yes the 7700K seems best suited to my needs, no doubt about it.

Certainly some of the case negatives were relating to building, which I tried to disregard in my thinking. Most reviews all focus on the short term though, it's hard to find impressions based on living with the case for months or years, so it's difficult to get an overall picture. I'm sure they're all good though. The 690 III seems like the best all-round option, and the internal DVD option is a bonus over the SR-630 GG (or other similar ones).
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
I personally wouldn't consider the AMD at the moment regardless of the margins in performance. The memory issues and thermals don't sit easy with me at all when paying for such a premium item. I understand that they will iron out those issues but I'd rather have a drop it in and forget about it solution nowadays. Especially when considering the costs.
 
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