Critique this build for 4K Gaming

I

I3eyond

Gawd
Joined
Jan 14, 2006
Messages
934
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
4K Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
Prefer $1,500, but can do $2k - Tax/Shipping not included
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
North Carolina
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU, Mobo, RAM, Storage, PSU, Case, CPU Cooler, Windows
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
N/A- Keeping rig in sig for other purposes, possibly to sell
6) Will you be overclocking?
100% No.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
Will be getting a 4K Freesync down the road. However, for now, 1080p 27".
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
October
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video (as a backup or main GPU)? UEFI? etc.
Something that will do Crossfire and lose no bandwidth, 2-way
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
No- Will be getting Win 7 Pro 64-bit

PC Hound:

https://pchound.com/tiVM5A/

No GPU listed because I already have a Vega 64 on the way. The reason I went "all out" on PSU is so that if I want to add a second Vega 64 down the road I can.

I'm not familiar with modern hardware (CPUs in particular at all, so critique away:)

Thanks for the advice.
Best,
I3
 
I'm no expert, but my critiques would be

1. You can save money with just one 2x8gb kit of memory. If its just gaming, you don't need more than that.
2. There's also really no point of having 2 SSDs (I'm assuming for Raid0). It makes more sense to have one and at a 2 or 4TB HDD
3. Even if you add a second RX Vega, I doubt you'd need a 1600W PSU for it. I believe a 1000W PSU that is half or a third the price of that one you have listed will work just fine.
4. If you're spending this much, why not invest in a better CPU cooler? I know you say you don't want to overclock, but you never know.

My 2cents
 
Here's the same parts list with the changes I mentioned. Total is closer to you $1500 preferred budget.
Even with two RX Vega added, the wattage is 810. I selected a platinum 1000w PSU, but you could go up to a 1200W gold PSU for about the same price if you really want more wattage. I used pcpartspicker because PC Hound wasn't reporting the wattage with the GPUs.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/WvdMkT
 
As a side note, off-topic, nonetheless, how would the rig in my sig fair with 4K gaming, or even 1080p, when I add the Vega 64?

My mobo only has PCI 2.0, and I'm rocking a 1st gen i5-760 (not OC'd) with 8GB RAM. My current GPUs are (2) 660ti's in SLI. For example, with BF1, I can only play @ 1080p at around 30-40FPS TOPS.

The only reason I'm considering the system overhaul is because I feel for 4K or even 1080 gaming, the rig listed above and in sig will significantly bottleneck the Vega 64. If it won't, I'll just save $1500! LOL

Thoughts?

Thanks!
-I3
 
I dont know the answer to that question but I'll say if you're not in a hurry, you can wait for Coffee lake to be released in a couple of months so you know you have the latest, or you benefit from the price reduction it will bring to Kaby Lake.
 
manny1222 said:
I dont know the answer to that question but I'll say if you're not in a hurry, you can wait for Coffee lake to be released in a couple of months so you know you have the latest, or you benefit from the price reduction it will bring to Kaby Lake.
Click to expand...

Good advice, thank you!
 
Yeah no reason to buy an Intel chipset at the end of its life. If you were going Ryzen AM4 that socket will be around for a while. Intel always uses a new socket for new chipsets.

Buy an OEM Windows key for <$20.

If you were building today, with no OC and as much future proofing as possible I'd go this way:
https://pchound.com/Z6SYLM/
 
Wow. That is a terribly designed computer. First of all Vega, especially only one of them, is not going to get you a good 4K experience. Also don't expect a good 4K experience unless you overclock. You don't need a $450 1600W power supply - get a 1000W for $250 or less. The system in my signature uses a Corsair 1000W PS and is overclocked balls to the wall and the power supply is still overkill. Maybe consolidate into one hard drive. RAM is okay (and i do highly recommend 32 GB) but you could probably find faster sticks for that price. CPU and motherboard are fine although end of life - you could by a 5.0GHz+ rated 7700K on silicon lottery and configure it per their specs if you have an aversion to overclocking yourself. Consider using a AIO cooler as well. Sell or return your Vega, it is too slow and hot. With the money you get buy a 1080ti, or maybe two of them. Good luck :)
 
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bjornb17 said:
Wow. That is a terribly designed computer. First of all Vega, especially only one of them, is not going to get you a good 4K experience. Also don't expect a good 4K experience unless you overclock. You don't need a $450 1600W power supply - get a 1000W for $250 or less. The system in my signature uses a Corsair 1000W PS and is overclocked balls to the wall and the power supply is still overkill. Maybe consolidate into one hard drive. RAM is okay (and i do highly recommend 32 GB) but you could probably find faster sticks for that price. CPU and motherboard are fine although end of life - you could by a 5.0GHz+ rated 7700K on silicon lottery and configure it per their specs if you have an aversion to overclocking yourself. Consider using a AIO cooler as well. Sell or return your Vega, it is too slow and hot. With the money you get buy a 1080ti, or maybe two of them. Good luck :)
Click to expand...

Thanks for your honesty :) ~ I've been out of the loop for quite some time, as my rig is nearly 7 years old now.

I bought into the hype on the Vega 64 and clicked order the second the SKUs popped up on Newegg; it will be here Thursday. Unfortunately Newegg has a no return policy on them, just return for exchange. So, I'm stuck selling it which I really don't want to go through the trouble of doing.

Likewise, looking at benchmarks for the 1080TI, wow, it really knocks the Vega 64 out.

I MAY stick the Vega 64 in my current rig to see what kind of performance boosts I get on BF1 & Overwatch @1080p. Hopefully my computer won't be TOO much of a bottleneck and I can actually play both games (particularly BF1) at max settings and have 60+ FPS.....
 
I3eyond said:
Thanks for your honesty :) ~ I've been out of the loop for quite some time, as my rig is nearly 7 years old now.

I bought into the hype on the Vega 64 and clicked order the second the SKUs popped up on Newegg; it will be here Thursday. Unfortunately Newegg has a no return policy on them, just return for exchange. So, I'm stuck selling it which I really don't want to go through the trouble of doing.

Likewise, looking at benchmarks for the 1080TI, wow, it really knocks the Vega 64 out.

I MAY stick the Vega 64 in my current rig to see what kind of performance boosts I get on BF1 & Overwatch @1080p. Hopefully my computer won't be TOO much of a bottleneck and I can actually play both games (particularly BF1) at max settings and have 60+ FPS.....
Click to expand...

What newegg's "policy" is and what they will do are two different things. Don't open the box, just chat with newegg and they'll usually grant an RMA anyway and sometimes even give you a prepaid label. Using a 1080Ti will save a lot of money on electricity in the long run as well. With your budget and smarter choices you could definitely have a 5 GHz, 32GB, SLI 4k rig no problem. When I get home I can try to configure a system for you that works better.
 
bjornb17 said:
What newegg's "policy" is and what they will do are two different things. Don't open the box, just chat with newegg and they'll usually grant an RMA anyway and sometimes even give you a prepaid label. Using a 1080Ti will save a lot of money on electricity in the long run as well. With your budget and smarter choices you could definitely have a 5 GHz, 32GB, SLI 4k rig no problem. When I get home I can try to configure a system for you that works better.
Click to expand...

Alright, thanks!
 
bjornb17 said:
Wow. That is a terribly designed computer. First of all Vega, especially only one of them, is not going to get you a good 4K experience. Also don't expect a good 4K experience unless you overclock. You don't need a $450 1600W power supply - get a 1000W for $250 or less. The system in my signature uses a Corsair 1000W PS and is overclocked balls to the wall and the power supply is still overkill. Maybe consolidate into one hard drive. RAM is okay (and i do highly recommend 32 GB) but you could probably find faster sticks for that price. CPU and motherboard are fine although end of life - you could by a 5.0GHz+ rated 7700K on silicon lottery and configure it per their specs if you have an aversion to overclocking yourself. Consider using a AIO cooler as well. Sell or return your Vega, it is too slow and hot. With the money you get buy a 1080ti, or maybe two of them. Good luck :)
Click to expand...

I dont agree that he needs 32gb od RAM if this is just a gaming rig. I dont believe there's been any documention of a game using more than 16gb. I would understand if RAM was cheap and there was only a small price difference where you'd say "might as well", but that is not the case. Getting 2x8gb still leaves that room for upgrade when games begin to use more ram or he starts ro use more ram intensive applications. But as of right now, there is no need.

Again, my 2cents.
 
manny1222 said:
I dont agree that he needs 32gb od RAM if this is just a gaming rig. I dont believe there's been any documention of a game using more than 16gb. I would understand if RAM was cheap and there was only a small price difference where you'd say "might as well", but that is not the case. Getting 2x8gb still leaves that room for upgrade when games begin to use more ram or he starts ro use more ram intensive applications. But as of right now, there is no need.

Again, my 2cents.
Click to expand...

My resource monitor was reporting 18 GB of use yesterday while playing BF1 and nothing else running in the background :) The more RAM you have the more it will use. If he needs to cut money anywhere, RAM is the place to do it, but if he wants a good 4K experience he will need all the resources he can get.

People keep saying games don't use more than 4C/8T or 16 GB of ram but my system proves otherwise.
 
This is one of the few times where I'll say: "Wait a few months."

Why pay $350 for a 4c/8t i7 Kaby Lake now, when you can buy a 6c/12t i7 Coffee Lake for the same price in just a couple months?
 
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bjornb17 said:
What newegg's "policy" is and what they will do are two different things. Don't open the box, just chat with newegg and they'll usually grant an RMA anyway and sometimes even give you a prepaid label. Using a 1080Ti will save a lot of money on electricity in the long run as well. With your budget and smarter choices you could definitely have a 5 GHz, 32GB, SLI 4k rig no problem. When I get home I can try to configure a system for you that works better.
Click to expand...

From what i hear, it may be better to sell than return the RX Vega if he was able to get it at launch day price. There's rumors that the price will go up, and I'm miners will also be buying. He could make a little money selling it back.
 
That PSU is a stupid buy for that system. It could handle 4+ GPUs with ease and you "might" use 2 instead of 1? A 550W PSU would be more than plenty for 1 GPU and an 850 - 1000W would be enough for 2 GPUs. I've got 3x 980 Ti running on a 1200W PSU without any issue and it gets used, heavily.

https://www.hardocp.com/article/2017/08/14/amd_radeon_rx_vega_64_video_card_review/16

Under the most extreme case the entire system used ~500W at the wall. Adding a second GPU wouldn't double that power.
 
I would say the 7700k is a pretty good CPU that if you plan on overclock to 4.8ghz plus will serve you well. I would suggest a 2x 16 GB ram lot if you really want 32gb, and as suggested a m.2 nvme ssd, maybe the Samsung 960, also the 1600w PS is over kill for sure and if you actually use that wattage on a typical 15a circuit you can have problems in the house. As far as GPU the 1080ti appears to be a better price performance part, but the Vega 64 might be better if you have a freesync 4k monitor. Personally I would add a large mechanical drive if you need storage for steam.

As for your i5 760, these are probably 40% the IPC of the Skylake chips clock for clock so if you can OC to plus 4ghz you might actually get a good gaming experience so definitely worth a shot. Side note on the 1156 socket you might be able to find one of the i7 or Xeon 4c8t chips for a bargain on eBay to get a little extra out of the platform with hyper threading.
 
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