First Ever Build, Advice Needed Please!

Avessa

Member
Having only ever had shop bought general purpose desktops before now, I'd like to ask for advice on this build. It would be used primarily for gaming, AAA titles though likely no or very little multiplayer online stuff (poor internet speed). I'd also like it to be somewhat futureproof and customisable as I know PCS allow for upgrades to existing systems.

Ideally I'd like to be less than £2000, maybe ever as low as £1700, though I really want to keep the 1080 Ti, the i7 processor and have an SSD as my main gaming drive. The components in BOLD are where I'm most unsure about what's best.


Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ AIR 540 GAMING CASE


Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700k (3.7GHz) 12MB Cache (I don't want to overclock on my first build.)

Motherboard
Gigabyte Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
FREE entry to win one of FIVE GIGABYTE Fan Bundles!
(I have no idea when it comes to motherboards, help!)

Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)

Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - GTX VR Ready!

1st Hard Disk
500GB Samsung 850 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)

1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB WD Blue™ 3D NAND M.2 SSD (up to 550MB/sR | 525MB/sW)


DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM (I do need one of these though if a better case without is reccomended I'm open to an external, albeit reluctantly.)

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET

Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler (I have no idea about water cooling so thought it best I stick with fans and I know Noctua are considered very good.)

Thermal Paste
EK-TIM ECTOTHERM THERMAL COMPOUND

Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)


Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)

USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00003]

Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account

3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)


Price £2,076.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations//8JHAJYRbXx/



Now please note, I will not be buying anything for a couple of months at least as I'm still (a) saving up and (b) hoping the cryptocurrecy caused price rise will settle a bit.


My current monitor is an older Acer model S240HL, specs here: https://www.acer.com/ac/en/PH/content/model/ET.LU50D.013
I'm almost definitely going to be replacing it, possibly upgrading to a 27 inch so reccomendations there would also be appreciated.
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
I will not be buying anything for a couple of months at least
In that case it's not worth making any decisions or choices about components. New components come out all the time, PCS's stock/selection could change, and you're right to say prices change too.

So splitting hairs over the fine detail of motherboards today might just have bee a waste of time come when you purchase the system.

But as a ballpark, the spec and price seems alright. The storage is an odd choice. A 500gb SSD + HDD would probably make more sense than a medium and small SSD.

I'm almost definitely going to be replacing it,
You should. There's no point buying a GTX 1080 ti for a 1080p monitor, unless you have more money than you know what to do with - and if you did, there'd be no reason not to upgrade the monitor too!

possibly upgrading to a 27 inch
The size of the monitor is totally irrelevant to how well it goes with a gaming system. What matters is the resolution and the refresh rate (and optionally gsync/freesync). To get the best out of a GTX 1080 ti, a 1440p 144hz monitor or better would be ideal, with gsync. These are about £500. And are usually 27" as well.

In more general terms you can get a spec very similar to the above for £1750 here:
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/configure-review/248/

The Vulcan Pro is about ~£2000's of spec for a £1750 fixed price, including an i7 8700k, GTX 1080 ti, 16gb 3000MHz RAM, same PSU and similar performing cooler. Cheaper case but for a £300 saving, who cares.
 
Top