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First Build Since 2009 - Look Alright?

474 views 11 replies 5 participants last post by  chessmyantidrug 
#1 ·
The last time I built a computer was in 2009 with the Core i7 920. It's the machine in my sig so you can see what I'm used to working with. I've upgraded that build a few times with various parts, but it's still the same motherboard and ram. I think it's time to upgrade, especially because of the new storage data transfer capabilities that are available now (my motherboard is still using SATA3!). So I think 8700K Coffee Lake (when it's in stock) is looking pretty good. I'm not the type that upgrades yearly. Whatever I build I'd like to last for 5+ years if possible and I've already waited 8 years since my last build.

Below is the link to the parts that I'm thinking.

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Bluecow/saved/LTvnnQ

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i7-8700K 3.7GHz 6-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($88.95 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus - Prime Z370-A ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($174.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: *Corsair - Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-2666 Memory ($294.99 @ Amazon)
OR
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($336.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung - 960 PRO 512GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($295.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital - Blue 1TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($275.99 @ Amazon) (I'll get the new 3D version, not available on PartsPicker yet)
Storage: Western Digital - Black 6TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($234.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital - Black 6TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($234.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - PRIME Titanium 650W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($134.90 @ Newegg)
Total: $2071.79
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-10-06 20:54 EDT-0400

I won't upgrade my video card until next year probably. It's less important to me at this time. I'll keep my current case, optical drive, and sound card.

Here are my main questions:

1. Motherboard. My primary purpose for the machine will be for big photo editing, which means ingesting many GB's of photos regularly and editing them in Lightroom as fast as possible will be very important (no, I won't RAID0 the Samsung 960 Pro). That's why I have the storage items I do in my list. I'll game too if there is something that looks great, but it's less of a concern. I'd also like to have a nice 24/7 overclock (hence my cooler choice).
  • It seems like the Asus Prime Z370-A would fit my needs, but do you think the Asus ROG Maximus X Code is clearly a better board? I like that the Code seems to have more USB 3.0 ports than the Prime if I'm reading things right. High speed connections for peripherals will be important.
  • Will the Code have a clearly better build quality than the Prime or are they about the same?
  • How much easier will it be to operate/overclock the Code compared to the Prime?
  • Will both the Prime and Code do RAID1 through the board? How is RAID support on motherboards these days? My current board can't do it natively.
https://rog.asus.com/articles/maximus-motherboards/rog-introduces-new-z370-gaming-motherboards-for-coffee-lake/

2. Are there better ram options than the Corsair Vengeance LPX that will provide a rock solid 24/7 overclock? I'll be happy if I can get a 4.7+ GHz 24/7 overclock, which seems doable based on what I'm reading.

3. Is the 650W PSU I selected enough? I will never go SLI. I may add more hard drives in the future.

4. Anything obvious I'm overlooking? I want to spend money for high quality parts that are built to last. I hate dealing with headaches or part failures. I understand there are probably more budget-friendly parts that will get the job done similarly, but focus first and foremost on high quality and reliability.

Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
I would probably pass on the NVMe SSD since there's very little real-world performance gain over an AHCI SSD.

RAM likely won't affect your overclock very much. I can't imagine RAM affecting your overclock by anymore than 100 MHz at the most. Apparently a poor overclocking i7-8700K tops out at 4.9 GHz, but that is with 16 GB. More RAM will likely decrease your overclocking headroom. My suggestion is always get the cheapest kit rated for the speed you want. Skylake and Kaby Lake liked RAM speeds in the 3000 MHz to 3200 MHz neighborhood. I assume Coffee Lake would be the same since it's the exact same architecture.

I think the NH-D15 would normally be overkill for a mainstream Intel CPU, but this is the first mainstream hexacore CPU Intel has released. It's probably best to go slightly overboard with cooling rather than assume a single-tower cooler would suffice.

I have no idea which motherboard will give you a better overclock, but that's mostly up to luck anyway. You're asking for opinions on motherboards that have been available for less than 48 hours. Very few people will have the experience required to give you the information you want. ASUS traditionally makes high quality motherboards with an intuitive BIOS. I can't imagine things changing much with Z370. No idea which values the Prime won't let you adjust that the Maximum would.

The PSU you picked should be enough. Any particular reason you picked out an 80+ Titanium model?
 
#3 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by chessmyantidrug View Post

I would probably pass on the NVMe SSD since there's very little real-world performance gain over an AHCI SSD.
In the little I've read of that, it was mostly people talking about how it didn't help with gaming load times. Have you read that the lack of performance applies to everything?
Quote:
Originally Posted by chessmyantidrug View Post

RAM likely won't affect your overclock very much. I can't imagine RAM affecting your overclock by anymore than 100 MHz at the most. Apparently a poor overclocking i7-8700K tops out at 4.9 GHz, but that is with 16 GB. More RAM will likely decrease your overclocking headroom. My suggestion is always get the cheapest kit rated for the speed you want. Skylake and Kaby Lake liked RAM speeds in the 3000 MHz to 3200 MHz neighborhood. I assume Coffee Lake would be the same since it's the exact same architecture.
Sounds good, thanks.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chessmyantidrug View Post

I think the NH-D15 would normally be overkill for a mainstream Intel CPU, but this is the first mainstream hexacore CPU Intel has released. It's probably best to go slightly overboard with cooling rather than assume a single-tower cooler would suffice.
Agreed. The 8700K overclocked seems to run very hot.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chessmyantidrug View Post

I have no idea which motherboard will give you a better overclock, but that's mostly up to luck anyway. You're asking for opinions on motherboards that have been available for less than 48 hours. Very few people will have the experience required to give you the information you want. ASUS traditionally makes high quality motherboards with an intuitive BIOS. I can't imagine things changing much with Z370. No idea which values the Prime won't let you adjust that the Maximum would.
I guess I was just hoping to get some input about Asus's previous boards in those lines since they had released similar boards for previous chipsets. I know people won't have specific information on these exact new boards. The Maximum Code isn't even coming out until November. Does anyone have experience comparing previous Prime and ROG boards?
Quote:
Originally Posted by chessmyantidrug View Post

The PSU you picked should be enough. Any particular reason you picked out an 80+ Titanium model?
It got amazing reviews and I heard that brand has been good these days. When it comes to the PSU, it's probably the component I care most about being bulletproof just because when problems happen with the PSU all kinds of strange things can happen. It's not a huge cost adder to go from good to great ($50 maybe?).
 
#4 ·
You won't notice the speed difference between NVMe and AHCI unless you're performing drive-intensive tasks.

There's great PSUs available for under $100. Efficiency has nothing to do with quality. The price on that unit doesn't seem unreasonable to me so I won't try talking you out of it.
 
#5 ·
unless u do some serious CAD or 3D modeling work i find 32GB a huge wast of money.

Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3000 (PC4-24000) C15 for DDR4 Systems, Red LED (CMU16GX4M2C3000C15R)

half the price same performance for 99% of us.

same with the SSD, read and write speed are nice but they mean nothing unless u transfer big file from one super fast SSD to the second super fast SSD...
in the real world a single ultra fast SSD mean nothing
http://techreport.com/review/30993/samsung-960-evo-ssd-reviewed/5
1 second here, 2 second there...

i would go with SSD size over SSD speed any day those days, u will wast more time thinking with game/program do delete before u install the new one with the less space...
Crucial MX300 1TB M.2 (2280) Internal Solid State Drive - CT1050MX300SSD4

less price, 2 times the space.
 
#6 ·
Don't upgrade. take that x58 system, whack a x5660 in it, overclocked to around 4.2 - 4.5 ghz (where most are getting them to comfortably).

I'm running 24gb ddr3, x5660 on asus p6x58d-e and the system chops.

You'll easily get one more generations life out of that rig for about US$80, possibly even two.

(I also came from a i7 920 and 6gb ddr3, the step up to the x5660 and 24gb ram was a big jump)
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by idanp View Post

unless u do some serious CAD or 3D modeling work i find 32GB a huge wast of money.

Corsair Vengeance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3000 (PC4-24000) C15 for DDR4 Systems, Red LED (CMU16GX4M2C3000C15R)

half the price same performance for 99% of us.

same with the SSD, read and write speed are nice but they mean nothing unless u transfer big file from one super fast SSD to the second super fast SSD...
in the real world a single ultra fast SSD mean nothing
http://techreport.com/review/30993/samsung-960-evo-ssd-reviewed/5
1 second here, 2 second there...

i would go with SSD size over SSD speed any day those days, u will wast more time thinking with game/program do delete before u install the new one with the less space...
Crucial MX300 1TB M.2 (2280) Internal Solid State Drive - CT1050MX300SSD4

less price, 2 times the space.
Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop can eat up ram when working on huge panoramas. I shoot with a 46MP camera that has huge RAW files. I've shot more than 500GB of photos this year so far. I easily have to transfer 1200+ photos in a sitting regularly. Then I have to edit those photos, which means sorting through them as quickly as possible and applying edits to all the keepers.
Quote:
Originally Posted by spinFX View Post

Don't upgrade. take that x58 system, whack a x5660 in it, overclocked to around 4.2 - 4.5 ghz (where most are getting them to comfortably).

I'm running 24gb ddr3, x5660 on asus p6x58d-e and the system chops.

You'll easily get one more generations life out of that rig for about US$80, possibly even two.

(I also came from a i7 920 and 6gb ddr3, the step up to the x5660 and 24gb ram was a big jump)
A Xeon? I'd need an all new mobo for that. Not really worth the effort to get one more generation out of it. Might as well just upgrade to new stuff at that point. I've already upgraded the x58 system multiple times since I first built it in 2009 (see sig).
 
#8 ·
Well the only thing I see here is that all of the reviews that include overclocking use a liquid cooler, now I am not saying that you could not or would not be able to overclock on an air cooler as there are to many variables at play; but it is something to think about. Just make sure that if you go the air cooler route to get a case and fans that will help with airflow.

Proof:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/intel_core_i7_8700k_processor_review,6.html
https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/8363/intel-core-i7-8700k-i5-8400-coffee-lake-cpu-review/index2.html
http://techreport.com/review/32642/intel-core-i7-8700k-cpu-reviewed/5
https://overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/intel_coffee_lake_i7_8700k_review/3
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-coffee-lake-core-i5-8600k-cpu,5264-2.html

Just some of the reviews that I found that include overclocking and they all use a liquid cooler.
 
#9 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by sjwpwpro View Post

Well the only thing I see here is that all of the reviews that include overclocking use a liquid cooler, now I am not saying that you could not or would not be able to overclock on an air cooler as there are to many variables at play; but it is something to think about. Just make sure that if you go the air cooler route to get a case and fans that will help with airflow.

Proof:
http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/intel_core_i7_8700k_processor_review,6.html
https://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/8363/intel-core-i7-8700k-i5-8400-coffee-lake-cpu-review/index2.html
http://techreport.com/review/32642/intel-core-i7-8700k-cpu-reviewed/5
https://overclock3d.net/reviews/cpu_mainboard/intel_coffee_lake_i7_8700k_review/3
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-coffee-lake-core-i5-8600k-cpu,5264-2.html

Just some of the reviews that I found that include overclocking and they all use a liquid cooler.
Yeah, it does run hot. I'm not trying for a maximum overclock though. I'll be satisfied if I can get 24/7 stable in the 4.8GHz area.
 
#10 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Bluecow003 View Post

A Xeon? I'd need an all new mobo for that. Not really worth the effort to get one more generation out of it. Might as well just upgrade to new stuff at that point. I've already upgraded the x58 system multiple times since I first built it in 2009 (see sig).
You wouldn't need a new motherboard, but there's also no reason for you to consider a Xeon. Everyone who has dropped a Xeon into their X58 motherboard replaced a quad core with a hex core. You already have a hex core with an unlocked multiplier.
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by chessmyantidrug View Post

You wouldn't need a new motherboard, but there's also no reason for you to consider a Xeon. Everyone who has dropped a Xeon into their X58 motherboard replaced a quad core with a hex core. You already have a hex core with an unlocked multiplier.
I didn't know Xeon's could be used in the regular X58 motherboards, but yeah, I already have the 980X hexcore that I upgraded to a couple years ago. It's a good CPU. I don't even have it overclocked anymore because for some reason my BIOS reset and I forgot my overclock settings (I think I had it at like 3.8GHz 24/7, nothing extreme). I didn't want to go through the hassle of trying to remember how to overclock this platform and stress test it again, so I just left it at stock.
 
#12 ·
You shouldn't have to worry about adjusting the base clock since your processor is unlocked. You can overclock with the multiplier.
 
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