New Gaming PC Build

[Faheem]

Realise that this is a car forum but this might still interest some.

I've just placed an order for some parts for a new gaming PC that I plan to build this weekend. All very exciting stuff.

I haven't actually built one since I was 13 so it may prove to be a slight challenge but hopefully should make for an interesting weekend.

The parts I've chosen for the build are:
NZXT CA-S340MB-GR Source 340 Midi Tower Case
Intel BX80684I78700K 8th Gen Core i7-8700K
ASUS Intel 1151 Socket Z370 Chipset Maximus X Hero D4 ATX Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3200MHz C16 XMP 2.0 Enthusiast RGB LED Illuminated Memory Kit (bloody expensive for RAM - don't know why DDR4 is this expensive!)
NZXT Kraken X62 (280mm) All-In-One Water Cooling Unit with AM4 Bracket
Corsair RMi Series RM750i ATX/EPS Fully Modular 80 PLUS Gold 750 W Power Supply Unit
NZXT Aer RGB120 Series 120 mm RGB LED Fan - Black (Pack of 3)

I bought a cheapy mechanical keyboard of Amazon to go with it, a Corsair gaming mouse and a nice gaming chair.

The star of the show however, is the curved gaming monitor I went for. I was confused between having three mid range displays or buying just the one display so I chose to do the latter in the end. 32 inch Samsung Curved Gaming Monitor - only a QHD (1440) but it has 1ms response time and 144hz refresh rate.

The parts should all arrive tomorrow, properly excited.

 

[Antm72]

I shall just nod my head to that and agree Good luck mate

 

[gookah]

Hi Faheem

I always wondered this. Not a criticism at all, but why do you spend out a large amount on a PC, when you can buy an Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo (all 3 together) and probably still save money, and with a bigger range of games to select from?
Whats the benefit of the PC?

 

[hard top]

Whats the benefit of the PC?

Because he wants to be like @GazHyde ....

 

[GazHyde]

I posted up some pics of my system a few months back, running an overclocked i7 with triple screens. Desperately want to upgrade my graphics card to make the most of it, but other things first... what you planning on playing games wise?

 

[Faheem]

Hi Faheem

I always wondered this. Not a criticism at all, but why do you spend out a large amount on a PC, when you can buy an Xbox, Playstation and Nintendo (all 3 together) and probably still save money, and with a bigger range of games to select from?
Whats the benefit of the PC?

To me a PC is somewhat more future proof than your average console, you also have the advantage of being able to do more than just game or watch videos on a PC. With my current build (built in 2011) I've been able to upgrade parts over the years which you can't do in a console. If I wanted to, I could keep my current PC and use it for gaming for the next couple of years without issues, however, with newer releases it is starting to struggle so I thought it's time to invest in a new build. Also if you have a top notch PC the graphics can look substantially better than they would on an Xbox or Playstation.

 

[Faheem]

I posted up some pics of my system a few months back, running an overclocked i7 with triple screens. Desperately want to upgrade my graphics card to make the most of it, but other things first... what you planning on playing games wise?

I haven't been gaming quite as much as I used to a couple of years ago so I think I'm going to start by revisiting some older titles - GTA V, LA Noire, Mafia 2 & 3 and possibly fallout. I've never been a huge fan of multiplayer or FPS and prefer campaigns so will look for other games once I've had enough of those.

I didn't invest in a new card as I bought a GTX 970 a couple of years ago at an extrordinary price and so far my CPU in my current build has been my bottleneck. I want to see how the 970 copes with the new system and may choose to upgrade if it doesnt do too well.

 

[Althulas]

Not bad kit at all. Anyone into modding I really need to get my water cooled system back together but ran out of steam after a house move just mounted everything off the mobo tray untill I got back round to it that was December 2010 and started collecting other bits.

I like my pc for games where you can mod with games like Skyrim one of my favourites but working away from home as left the pc scene abandoned hence I bout an Xbox one to take round with plus my laptop for my Rimworld fix

 

[5harp3y]

Ram is expensive as their is a global memory shortage right now

 

[GazHyde]

Managed to find some of my spec. The case, PSU, SSD and graphics card I already had, before I replaced the mainboard, cpu and ram last year. Went with a customised overclocked 3XS spec from Scan.co.uk, they overclock it properly and then soak test before they ship to you.

MSI GT 750ti 4GB (the weak link in the system)
Toshiba 500GB SSD for the OS and 2TB Western Digital slave drive for storage
Asus ROG Strix Z270H Gaming mainboard
Intel Core I7 7700K 4.2ghz over clocked to 4.6ghz
2x 8G Corsair Vengeance LED DDR4 3000 Red
BeQuiet DarkRockAdv BK014 Cool

Have a cheapo mechanical keyboard and a wired logitech gaming mouse, and then for driving games a Logitech G29 Steering Wheel, Pedals and gear shifter set.

I'll try and take some pics of the innards at some stage.

 

[Grumps]

I have absolutely no idea what the hell anyone is going on about! . @Faheem whatever it is that you 're doing I hope it turns out well for you. Do you work with computers for a living? I assume building one yourself isn't easy.

 

[Faheem]

@Grumps totally forgot to reply to that! I do work in IT though I work more with application than I do physical hardware so whilst I ovcasioccasionally touch on this it is by no means something I do everyday. Building a PC is honestly just like building lego mate once you get your head round all the bits it is super easy!


Anyway, the build is complete and if I do say so myself it looks the dogs b*******s.

Cable Management was a bit of a nightmare as the case though it to support an ATX motherboard isnt massive.

The windowed side looks really neat and tidy with not many visible cables

The other side which is where you're meant to manage your cables is a bit of a mess even though I went with a fully modular PSU...

Here are the final specs for anyone interested:
NZXT CA-S340MB-GR Source 340 Midi Tower Case
Intel BX80684I78700K 8th Gen Core i7-8700K
ASUS Intel 1151 Socket Z370 Chipset Maximus X Hero D4 ATX Motherboard
Corsair Vengeance RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3200MHz C16 XMP 2.0 Enthusiast RGB LED Illuminated Memory Kit
NZXT Kraken X62 (280mm) All-In-One Water Cooling Unit with AM4 Bracket
Corsair RMi Series RM750i ATX/EPS Fully Modular 80 PLUS Gold 750 W Power Supply Unit
NZXT Aer RGB120 Series 120 mm RGB LED Fan - Black (Pack of 3)

In addition to all the above I got
256gb PCIe M.2 Drive
Hue + Controller - can you believe that for the leds to work in the case fan you need to buy a separate controller!
I already had a strix 970 which I'm sticking with for now as after testing a few games I'm getting really good FPS.
A standard 500GB SSD which I also had to spare from my old build.
A 33inch Samsung curved gaming monitor - the panel looks absolutely insane.

 

[ZTec]

Is this Chinese???

 

[hard top]

@Faheem, if you fart in that little room, you will gas yourself ....

 

[Faheem]

That is the plan Mike.

 

[Grumps]

It looks very good at @Faheem, well done mate. I wouldn't have a clue where to start. I don't even own a computer!

 

[Alan Walter]

Nice build @Faheem!

I invested in a decent PC system about 2 1/2 years ago and its been awesome with CAD, coding and a lot of gaming.

Slightly overkill for what I needed, but oh well...

Specs are as follows:

-Corsair 780t tower case
-i7 6700k (currently at 4.8Ghz and running smoothly)
-Gigabyte Ultradurable series motherboard
-EVGA GTX 980ti SC graphics card.
-Samsung 850 Evo Pro SSD 512gb
- x2 WD Red 4TB in Raid 1
-32gb 3100Mhz Ram (I think its Corsair)
-H100i water cooler (pic old - updated water cooler since)
-RM850 Gold series PSU

Current bottleneck for me at the moment is the screen. I've got a 1080p (curved) and want a 4K one sometime soon.

 

[TaffZee]

I hate Them I hate Them, bloody PC's sat here all day operating them the thought of spending more time with them makes me feel ill....

 

[Lee]

I’m also a secret pc geek. Run a rampage 5 extreme board with a hex core I7. Nicely sat with a pair of 980ti’s. I tend to play a lot of racing games in 4K. PC’s are much better than consoles in terms of resolutions and graphics making the feel of games really immersive. You’ll find me on Project cars 2, wreckfest and mud runner.

This is a screen shot from a 4x4 off-roading game I play from time to time.

 

[GazHyde]

That Mudrunner game is awesome, that first image looks like it could have been taken by me. Think I've done exactly the same on that map as well