Help With New i7-7700K Build

bake_me_a_cake

bake_me_a_cake

n00b
Joined
May 30, 2016
Messages
17
It's been about 10 years since I have upgraded and was wondering how this looks so far? What would you change if anything?

Motherboard: $219.99
MSI Enthusiastic Gaming Intel Z270 GAMING M7

CPU: $339.99
Intel 7th Gen Intel Core Desktop Processor i7-7700K

Power Supply: $99.99
EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2, 80+ GOLD

Heatsink: $139.99
Corsair Hydro Series H115i

Hard Drive: $247.98 / $249.99 / $99.99
Samsung 960 EVO Series - 500GB NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD
Samsung 850 PRO - 512GB - 2.5-Inch SATA III Internal SSD
Seagate 4TB BarraCuda SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Hard Drive

Memory: $184.99
Corsair Dominator Platinum Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz

Case: $164.99
Corsair Graphite Series 760T Full Tower Windowed Case

Graphics Card: $581.83
EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 FTW2 GAMING, 8GB GDDR5X, iCX Technology - 9 Thermal Sensors & RGB LED

Monitor: $299.99
ASUS VG278HV 27 inch 144Hz Full HD 1920x1080 Gaming Monitor
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
We need to know:

- What are you using your computer for?
- What's your budget?
- Do you live near a physical Micro Center store?
- What resolution is your monitor? (Additionally: Are you using more than one monitor?)
- Are you overclocking? If so, how far do you want to push it?
- Do you need to buy a copy of Windows?

At first glance, I'd swap out the 850 Pro for the 850 Evo. Most boards under $300 don't have two M.2 slots; besides, you don't really need to use RAID 0 for your SSDs.
 
tiraides said:
We need to know:

- What are you using your computer for?
- What's your budget?
- Do you live near a physical Micro Center store?
- What resolution is your monitor? (Additionally: Are you using more than one monitor?)
- Are you overclocking? If so, how far do you want to push it?
- Do you need to buy a copy of Windows?

At first glance, I'd swap out the 850 Pro for the 850 Evo. Most boards under $300 don't have two M.2 slots; besides, you don't really need to use RAID 0 for your SSDs.
Click to expand...

Gaming/Video Editing/Music Production.
$2500 - $3000 (MAX)
No.
1080p. Just one monitor. Getting 4K monitor soon. (What would be a great 4K monitor for under $650)
Yes. As close to 5.0GHz as i can get. H115i for cooling.
I have a key for win10.
Why not put two M.2's in RAID 0? This board has two M.2 slots.

I'm also waiting till around Summer to buy the video card. Waiting for price to drop.
 
Last edited:
Running RAID 0 in a desktop for the OS drive has always been, at best, a marginal idea. Doing it with SSDs, where you'll see absolutely no real-world benefit, is silly. Best case, you're needlessly complicating things and doubling your chances of a drive failure taking down the system. Better to get a single larger SSD than two smaller ones. Also, for a given make/model of SSD, larger is generally faster, FWIW. There's no need to fill the m.2 slots just because they're there. Doing so just limits/complicates later possible upgrades.

Further on the real-world front, PCIe/NVMe drives have no real-world benefit over SATA units except in very specific cases (of which gaming and A/V production are not). Until NVMe SSD prices drop they just aren't that compelling.

I doubt video card prices will move much if any in the next few months. The GTX 1080ti (the minimum for 4k gaming) just came out. Still, not a bad idea to wait and see what AMD's Vega cards will offer.

For gaming purposes 16 GB RAM is fine. Not sure on the A/V production front, as that can be highly variable. Start with 2x8 GB RAM sticks and see how it works out. If needed, you can drop in another pair later.

Split the difference on your PSU choices and get a quality gold-rated unit. Seasonic, EVGA, etc. Anything above gold generally isn't worth the price premium. You don't need anything more than a 5-600 W unit. Also, make sure it's a relatively current model that supports Haswell sleep-states.
 
BlueLineSwinger said:
Running RAID 0 in a desktop for the OS drive has always been, at best, a marginal idea. Doing it with SSDs, where you'll see absolutely no real-world benefit, is silly. Best case, you're needlessly complicating things and doubling your chances of a drive failure taking down the system. Better to get a single larger SSD than two smaller ones. Also, for a given make/model of SSD, larger is generally faster, FWIW. There's no need to fill the m.2 slots just because they're there. Doing so just limits/complicates later possible upgrades.

Further on the real-world front, PCIe/NVMe drives have no real-world benefit over SATA units except in very specific cases (of which gaming and A/V production are not). Until NVMe SSD prices drop they just aren't that compelling.

I doubt video card prices will move much if any in the next few months. The GTX 1080ti (the minimum for 4k gaming) just came out. Still, not a bad idea to wait and see what AMD's Vega cards will offer.

For gaming purposes 16 GB RAM is fine. Not sure on the A/V production front, as that can be highly variable. Start with 2x8 GB RAM sticks and see how it works out. If needed, you can drop in another pair later.

Split the difference on your PSU choices and get a quality gold-rated unit. Seasonic, EVGA, etc. Anything above gold generally isn't worth the price premium. You don't need anything more than a 5-600 W unit. Also, make sure it's a relatively current model that supports Haswell sleep-states.
Click to expand...


I'll probably get the "Samsung 960 EVO Series - 500GB NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD" for the operating system/gaming. You talked me out of the RAID 0. I'll still wait and see about the pricing on the video cards in the coming months. Not much of an AMD fan. Yeah definitely getting the 16GB for the start. Never had a Platinum PSU and to own one for this build would be pretty cool. I'll get the 850W one in the OP.
 
Last edited:
bake_me_a_cake said:
Never had a Platinum PSU and to own one for this build would be pretty cool. I'll get the 850W one in the OP.
Click to expand...

Or, you could get a Seasonic SSR-550RM for up to $150 less. Gold-rated is just fine, and full modular is useless as you've got to use the Main and CPU lines regardless (unless you expect you'll often be pulling the PSU out of the system or want to do custom decorative cabling).

Even with overclocking, you'll be hard-pressed to get the system you've outlined above 400 W in normal usage. Running with an oversized PSU means you'll probably be outside of its efficiency sweet-spot.

If you're paranoid, get the 650 W model for $20 more.

Generally, platinum- and titanium-rated PSUs aren't worth the high premium on pricing.
 
BlueLineSwinger said:
Or, you could get a Seasonic SSR-550RM for up to $150 less. Gold-rated is just fine, and full modular is useless as you've got to use the Main and CPU lines regardless (unless you expect you'll often be pulling the PSU out of the system or want to do custom decorative cabling).

Even with overclocking, you'll be hard-pressed to get the system you've outlined above 400 W in normal usage. Running with an oversized PSU means you'll probably be outside of its efficiency sweet-spot.

If you're paranoid, get the 650 W model for $20 more.

Generally, platinum- and titanium-rated PSUs aren't worth the high premium on pricing.
Click to expand...

I do want to have it fully modular for easy cable management, as I will be taking it in and out of the case every now and then and just want it to look nice. I will definitely look into what you said about the Seasonic you suggested. If I were to get the 850W how does that affect the sweet spot? I will probably have 2 cards in SLI or any other upgrades when its all completed. That's why I wanted to make sure I would have enough power for when I do.
 
Last edited:
You never mentioned doing SLI in prior posts. Seems like overkill, given the capabilities of the GTX 1080ti. But if you do go that route, then yeah, something in the 7-800 W range for the PSU will be needed.

It varies, but most PSUs are most efficient between 50-80% of their capacity. Check the manufacturer's site, they may give exact numbers or graphs. Modern systems doing normal tasks easily run at less that 100 W. My 3770K + GTX 1070 driving a 1200p display hits anywhere between 250-350 W in-game. Various review sites will often give power consumption stats when doing reviews of GPUs and other major components.

Not sure why you think you'll be moving the PSU in and out of the case often. Generally, the only real reason to do so is to replace it. Full modular is kinda nice to have, sure, but for most is generally useless and not worth the cost premium.
 
BlueLineSwinger said:
You never mentioned doing SLI in prior posts. Seems like overkill, given the capabilities of the GTX 1080ti. But if you do go that route, then yeah, something in the 7-800 W range for the PSU will be needed.

It varies, but most PSUs are most efficient between 50-80% of their capacity. Check the manufacturer's site, they may give exact numbers or graphs. Modern systems doing normal tasks easily run at less that 100 W. My 3770K + GTX 1070 driving a 1200p display hits anywhere between 250-350 W in-game. Various review sites will often give power consumption stats when doing reviews of GPUs and other major components.

Not sure why you think you'll be moving the PSU in and out of the case often. Generally, the only real reason to do so is to replace it. Full modular is kinda nice to have, sure, but for most is generally useless and not worth the cost premium.
Click to expand...

Yeah I will eventually get a second card and I want to know I will have enough power to deal with that and anything else I would add later on. I was also wondering what would be a great 4K monitor for under $650. I changed the OP to reflect the decisions I've made so far.
 
I could only find (through NewEgg) four monitors that meet your requirements:

$445 - QNIX UHD3216R (Perfect Pixel version) (32", 4K, 60Hz, AMD FreeSync)
$513 - Crossover 324KS(324K) (32", 4K, 60Hz)
$559 - YAMAKASI O40USUT (40", 4K, 60Hz)
$592 - WASABI MANGO UHD320 (32", 4K, 60Hz)

These monitors all ship from South Korea and come from brands that are unfamiliar to many of us in the U.S. As such, I can't vouch for the quality or the reliability of any of those monitors. The QNIX UHD3216R also uses AMD FreeSync, which is pointless if you stick with NVIDIA video cards.

If you want to stick with a more familiar brand like Dell, Asus, or even BenQ, you need to look at the 27" or 28" 4K models that they sell. However, many of the better quality monitors from them cost well over $650.
 
tiraides said:
I could only find (through NewEgg) four monitors that meet your requirements:

$445 - QNIX UHD3216R (Perfect Pixel version) (32", 4K, 60Hz, AMD FreeSync)
$513 - Crossover 324KS(324K) (32", 4K, 60Hz)
$559 - YAMAKASI O40USUT (40", 4K, 60Hz)
$592 - WASABI MANGO UHD320 (32", 4K, 60Hz)

These monitors all ship from South Korea and come from brands that are unfamiliar to many of us in the U.S. As such, I can't vouch for the quality or the reliability of any of those monitors. The QNIX UHD3216R also uses AMD FreeSync, which is pointless if you stick with NVIDIA video cards.

If you want to stick with a more familiar brand like Dell, Asus, or even BenQ, you need to look at the 27" or 28" 4K models that they sell. However, many of the better quality monitors from them cost well over $650.
Click to expand...

Seeing as the 4K monitors are a little expensive at the moment I will wait to get a 4K screen for the time being. As for a motherboard, what do you think would be the better motherboard for what I am going to use this system for in the OP? Gaming/Video Editing/Music Production.
 
Is gaming or video editing the primary role of your system?

With what you've just said, when do you plan on upgrading to a 4K monitor?
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Any Ideas on motherboard from the OP for this build? Or another one all together?
 
Last edited:
bake_me_a_cake said:
Any Ideas on motherboard from the OP for this build? Or another one all together?
Click to expand...
My first thought was for the Z270 Gaming Pro Carbon, but I believe that the Z270 Gaming M7 would be better for overclocking. (I came to this conclusion after reading reviews from TweakTown and KitGuru.)

As a caveat, however, I must warn you that you could buy the most expensive yet best OC-friendly board around but still miss out on the CPU lottery. In other words, I can't promise you that my recommendation, much less any board on the market, would guarantee you a 5GHz overclock.

bake_me_a_cake said:
[Answering when you'll buy a 4K monitor] When the name brand ones get a little cheaper. Right now I'm using an "Element 40 Inch class 1080P LED Television ELEFW408" I also have a "Gateway XHD3000 30" Widescreen HD LCD Monitor", but have to get a new power supply for it.
Click to expand...
If you're not going to buy the 4K monitor within the next six months, I recommend that you "downgrade" the video card to a GTX 1070 as the 1080 Ti would be overkill for a 1080P resolution. Given how often the high-end video cards refresh themselves, usually within an 8-to-12-month period, I recommend waiting until you're about to buy the 4K monitor before you consider "upgrading" your video card. (In that case, I recommend buying one newer, better card rather than picking up a second GTX 1070 for SLI.)
 
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
tiraides said:
My first thought was for the Z270 Gaming Pro Carbon, but I believe that the Z270 Gaming M7 would be better for overclocking. (I came to this conclusion after reading reviews from TweakTown and KitGuru.)

As a caveat, however, I must warn you that you could buy the most expensive yet best OC-friendly board around but still miss out on the CPU lottery. In other words, I can't promise you that my recommendation, much less any board on the market, would guarantee you a 5GHz overclock.


If you're not going to buy the 4K monitor within the next six months, I recommend that you "downgrade" the video card to a GTX 1070 as the 1080 Ti would be overkill for a 1080P resolution. Given how often the high-end video cards refresh themselves, usually within an 8-to-12-month period, I recommend waiting until you're about to buy the 4K monitor before you consider "upgrading" your video card. (In that case, I recommend buying one newer, better card rather than picking up a second GTX 1070 for SLI.)
Click to expand...

Im going to go with the Z270 Gaming M7 and instead of the 1070 would you recommend the GTX 1080 FTW2?
 
Last edited:
As an Amazon Associate, HardForum may earn from qualifying purchases.
Buying everything piecemeal is generally a bad idea. If you end up with a bad part, and you've bought everything one-at-a-time over "a few" months, then you may miss the window in which you can return the defective part (from the retailer; the manufacturer is another story).

Hold off on buying anything else until you have the money to purchase everything at once. That way, if something goes bad, you can return or exchange the defective item(s).
 
tiraides said:
Buying everything piecemeal is generally a bad idea. If you end up with a bad part, and you've bought everything one-at-a-time over "a few" months, then you may miss the window in which you can return the defective part (from the retailer; the manufacturer is another story).

Hold off on buying anything else until you have the money to purchase everything at once. That way, if something goes bad, you can return or exchange the defective item(s).
Click to expand...

Yeah I was thinking about that too. I will take your advice and buy everything at once.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top