Got the upgrade bug.....

Thanks to a hefty salary increase I've been thinking of replacing the current beast. I've got a buyer for the parts I'd be replacing, so it'd just be a matter of replacing those older parts with some newer ones and reusing the things that are fine as they are.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming mostly. Some video conversion work, some Photoshopping.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$2,000 for everything. Would prefer to buy most parts off Amazon ([H] referral!) so that will save shipping costs.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
USA - Massachusetts (There is a Microcenter about an hour away from me, but its not overly practical to get there with my work schedule unless there is some insane deal to grab).
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 // Motherboard // Ram // M2 Drive // Power Supply // AIO CPU Cooler (Corsair Hydro Series H115i PRO)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
2 x NVidia Titan XP's // BR Burner // Various SATA SSD's // Fractal Design Define XL R2 Full Tower Case
6) Will you be overclocking?
It would be nice to bump it up a little perhaps, but not looking for an extreme OC. Stability is the most important thing.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
3440x1440 (34" main screen) // 1920 x 1080 (21" side screen)
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP
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.
SLI for certain // M2 would be nice (and seems standard now) // Wifi built in is a small bonus but not required. Most boards seem to have USB3 and such as normal things now. (Built the current beast 5 years ago).
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I have several X64 Win10/Win7 Pro keys available to me through work.


I was figuring to just get the 8700K and work from there, but MB's seem tough to decide on this time around. Also, most of the good Titanium power supplies are solid out on Amazon (guessing thanks to miners), so I'm expecting to have to wait on that a bit.

Any suggestions to scratch the upgrade itch? Appreciate any suggestions from those who've been able to play with the newest stuff on the market.

Damar said:

Thanks to a hefty salary increase I've been thinking of replacing the current beast. I've got a buyer for the parts I'd be replacing, so it'd just be a matter of replacing those older parts with some newer ones and reusing the things that are fine as they are.

1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming mostly. Some video conversion work, some Photoshopping.
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$2,000 for everything. Would prefer to buy most parts off Amazon ([H] referral!) so that will save shipping costs.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
USA - Massachusetts (There is a Microcenter about an hour away from me, but its not overly practical to get there with my work schedule unless there is some insane deal to grab).
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 // Motherboard // Ram // M2 Drive // Power Supply // AIO CPU Cooler (Corsair Hydro Series H115i PRO)
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
2 x NVidia Titan XP's // BR Burner // Various SATA SSD's // Fractal Design Define XL R2 Full Tower Case
6) Will you be overclocking?
It would be nice to bump it up a little perhaps, but not looking for an extreme OC. Stability is the most important thing.
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
3440x1440 (34" main screen) // 1920 x 1080 (21" side screen)
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
ASAP
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.
SLI for certain // M2 would be nice (and seems standard now) // Wifi built in is a small bonus but not required. Most boards seem to have USB3 and such as normal things now. (Built the current beast 5 years ago).
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I have several X64 Win10/Win7 Pro keys available to me through work.


I was figuring to just get the 8700K and work from there, but MB's seem tough to decide on this time around. Also, most of the good Titanium power supplies are solid out on Amazon (guessing thanks to miners), so I'm expecting to have to wait on that a bit.

Any suggestions to scratch the upgrade itch? Appreciate any suggestions from those who've been able to play with the newest stuff on the market.

Click to expand...

My recommendation is based on getting the most for your $2000 budget at the expense of some extra effort on your end. I was going to write up a big list, but I feel like a list of recommendations/advice may be more helpful.

1. CPU: 8700k
I love overclocking because it gives you the best FPS and makes the most of those Titan XP GPUs of yours. If it were me, I'd want to make sure I didn't buy a CPU that was less overclocking inclined (a dud). That's why I like the Texas based retailer Silicon Lottery. They pre-bin CPUs so that you know what you are buying ahead of time. All of their 8700ks are pre-delidded so their temperatures stay low and allow for higher overclocks. They offer a 1 year warranty on their delidding service to alleviate any worries regarding the process. They offer bins all the way up to 5.3 ghz (at a premium).

How could this be good for you? You could buy a 5.2ghz chip and run it at 5ghz 24/7 at lower temperatures and voltages. (Instead of a retail chip maxing at 4.9 ghz and you running it at 4.7)

Food for thought, but I think its pretty cool.

2. Motherboard (Z370): I would mainly be concerned with the size and fin density of the VRM heatsinks. So that your components run cool during overclocks (increasing longevity).

3. DDR4
I recommend 16gb, Gskill, and 3200mhz speeds. Corsair usually has looser timings. Don't be wooed by big heatsinks and RGB, DDR4 usually doesn't need either.
I don't recommend blowing all your money on highly clocked DDR4 because it is inflated right now.

Also, please do consider overclocking your ram. I saved money and bought 2133mhz DDR4 and OCed to 3200mhz with ease.

4. AIOs the H115i PRO ($140) has good performance to noise ratio, but it isn't the best performer in terms of temps (Corsairs older comparable models actually out perform it because those have fans that operate at higher rpms)

5. M.2 SSD
The best performance M.2 right now is the Samsung 960. I'd reccomend 500gb minimum for convenience for a boot drive. You could save a lot of money and get a 500gb sata crucial MX300 for $150 (instead of $245)
..An SSD is the most important part, NVME optional

6. PSU: a generous 1000 watt PSU should be more than enough most likely. I like the Corsair RMx and Seasonic Prime Titanium series. (Up to $200)


Final thoughts: If you want the best of the best gaming FPS, you can get it in your budget if you use your money wisely. Its a bit crazy, but if you truly want bragging rights and the best gaming performance, the CPU is the key component. If you are ok overclocking, buy cheaper ddr4 and look into Silicon lottery. Nothing can beat the potential of 12 threads all clocked to 5.3ghz.

I understand this may not be what you are looking for, hope it helps.

8700K paired with a Asus ROG Hero NON Wifi for $259. Or, there is a Wifi version for an additional $15 or $20 dollars. Great board with EXCELLENT support. Asus does a fantastic job in the firmware dept so you will constantly get fixes but mostly improvements.

For ram, go with DDR4 3200mhz. Pay close attention to latency. Shoot for 15 but you will probably end up with 16.

Get the Samsung NVMe 960 EVO 500gb for $230ish. Absolutely fantastic blazing faaaaaaast performance. You will see a huge jump in performance coming from SATA.

I recommend the new corsair AIO as well.

The guy before me gave you some really good advice and I also give great advice so it's pretty clear what you might want to consider.

There are a lot of other AIO's but they all .... ALL have quality / performance issues. Go read the reviews. Corsair has everyone beat on quality / fit and finish, better than average performance.

Make sure you have Microcenter price match your parts. They will absolutely price match. When I shopped there ( I no-longer do because of tax ) they did this for me weekly.

I'm running the new 7820x that costs slightly more than a 8700K. With it I get quad channel memory performance and I have a nice 4.5Ghz overclock. 8 cores / 16 threads. It's a beast at gaming and productivity.

That's another option for.

Most gamer kiddies don't stray too far from the norm and go with gaming builds but for nearly the same cost you can build a workstation that does the same exact job as a gaming system with the added benefit of more cores and quad channel memory, again, another consideration.

Thank you both for the suggestions and comments. It confirms some of my own thoughts and gave me a couple new things to consider as well, which is what I had hoped for.

Something like this for RAM then? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017WST5EE/

And this for a MB? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075RJ944T

Not too worried about the fans on the AIO cooler, I've got spare fans around here both for case airflow and some for radiators with higher static pressure ratings should the need arise.

Finding a power supply thats in stock is proving tricky still.

Damar said:

Thank you both for the suggestions and comments. It confirms some of my own thoughts and gave me a couple new things to consider as well, which is what I had hoped for.

Something like this for RAM then? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017WST5EE/

And this for a MB? https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075RJ944T

Not too worried about the fans on the AIO cooler, I've got spare fans around here both for case airflow and some for radiators with higher static pressure ratings should the need arise.

Finding a power supply thats in stock is proving tricky still.

Click to expand...

For the DDR4, those timings are a bit loose for the price (16-18-18-36)

I search on Newegg first since its easier to find things. I found a 3200mhz Gskill 16gb kit with 14-14-14-34. They use Samsung B-die dram modules which are regarded as being higher quality and better overclockers.

Link ($200.99) I was trying to find an Amazon equivalent, but its a bit tricky.

I have owned a Asus Hero for my older 4790k and they are good boards. On their Z370 board my slight concern would only be the quality of the heatsinks for the vrms around the cpu socket. They look more decorative than functional. It is probably just fine for a 6 core CPU, but it is something I'd want to see addressed in some reviews that might be out there.

Just found a good review, seems the temps are fine. (105C to 120C is the danger threshold and this board is fine)

Yeah good luck with the PSU. Best I can find for efficient PSUs right now on Newegg is the Corsair RM1000x for $199.99. If I were you I wouldn't want to pay much more than $200for a 1000 watt PSU as at that point you'd probably just be paying inflated prices.

Neapolitan6th said:

Link ($200.99) I was trying to find an Amazon equivalent, but its a bit tricky.

Just found a good review, seems the temps are fine. (105C to 120C is the danger threshold and this board is fine)

Yeah good luck with the PSU. Best I can find for efficient PSUs right now on Newegg is the Corsair RM1000x for $199.99. If I were you I wouldn't want to pay much more than $200for a 1000 watt PSU as at that point you'd probably just be paying inflated prices.

Click to expand...

Found this on Amazon, looks like the same memory as the Newegg link? (I've got so much store credit at Amazon so its the main reason I'd rather go through them to save a few bucks out of pocket even if it is $20 or so more). https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ACODP7S

Think I've got a power supply lined up now. So now just need to order up the rest of the parts. Hopefully by Monday.

Damar said:

Found this on Amazon, looks like the same memory as the Newegg link? (I've got so much store credit at Amazon so its the main reason I'd rather go through them to save a few bucks out of pocket even if it is $20 or so more). https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01ACODP7S

Think I've got a power supply lined up now. So now just need to order up the rest of the parts. Hopefully by Monday.

Click to expand...

Yep that's the one! Totally understand, I'd do the same. Awesome, looking forward to hearing about the build, should be fun.