New Gaming PC?

[Oussebon]

I was recommending an extra fan with the Masterbox 5t (the £89 one). PCS seem to favour adding extra fans as top/rear extraction fans (for reasons I'm not wholly clear on) so they'd probably add the extra fan at the rearmost top mounting point. But you can always change your fan config however you want.

Although given the poor cooling in the Maker (the £189 one) another fan or two couldn't hurt. Though tbh I get the impression the case's stock fans aren't great and buying a £200 case only to have to add in more fans / swap out the 3 default fans it ships with for better performing ones would be a pretty poor show.

 

[The1Meteor]

yeaaa I know what you mean mate. damn.. this is gunna be a hard decision haha is the ASUS maximus VIII HERO RoG motherboard? why is it so much extra money and is it worth it?

 

[Oussebon]

why is it so much extra money and is it worth it?

If you're wondering whether it's worth it, it probably isn't. i.e. if you don't know what the extra features are then you won't be using them, so it's not worth spending the extra to buy them.

I think motherboards of the Z170X Gaming 3 / Asus Pro Gaming kind of level are more than enough in terms of features for most people's uses.

 

[The1Meteor]

ahhh I understand what you mean, what are the extra features? also is it worth to go for 3000MHz RAM instead of 2133MHz or are the speeds when it comes to RAM not very important?

 

[Oussebon]

ahhh I understand what you mean, what are the extra features?

You can compare the motherboards on the Asus website. The Hero really is not worth it for your uses though.

also is it worth to go for 3000MHz RAM instead of 2133MHz or are the speeds when it comes to RAM not very important?

Some games won't care much about faster RAM, but others will. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ESeoexGLVFU (there are links to the charts for how RAM frequency affects performance in various games in the video description. See Fallout 4 for an example of how it really can affect performance).

I'd say it's worth having the faster RAM at this kind of budget level.

 

[The1Meteor]

literally thank you for everything mate, you've been soo helpful, think ive finally sorted out my build, ill post it soon! decided to go with the expensive case but really good cooling, I'm spending soo much on the inside so thought I may as well splash out on the outside hahaha plus its sexy lol. going to wait till they release the new CPU's though to see if I can get the brand new better ones for around the same price as I would be paying now anyways... makes sense I suppose.

 

[Oussebon]

going to wait till they release the new CPU's though to see if I can get the brand new better ones for around the same price as I would be paying now anyways... makes sense I suppose.

I'd agree. I imagine it will be fairly straightforward to "translate" the spec to the new stuff.

 

[The1Meteor]

do you think PCS will stock the new CPU's as soon as they are released? also here is my build I've decided to go with, let me know what you think. over budget like..but I don't mind haha. is there much better builds for this price or is this pretty solid?

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE MAKER 5t GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-6700k Quad Core (4.00GHz @ upto MAX 4.60GHz)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 3 ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX SAVAGE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB Kit)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1070 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i V2 Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Liquid Series Ultra Quiet Fans
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY 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 DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,788.00 including VAT and delivery.

 

[Oussebon]

do you think PCS will stock the new CPU's as soon as they are released?

I would think so. These CPUs have been known to be coming for a long time, and we have even had full reviews already for a couple of weeks. I can't see them not being widely available imminently as they are released.

also here is my build I've decided to go with, let me know what you think. over budget like..but I don't mind haha. is there much better builds for this price or is this pretty solid?

I don't think so, (aside from the expensive case ofc!). But in terms of the components inside the case I'd say it's a good option.

You could stick to the Noctua cooler as you don't need the H100i V2, the Noctua will be more than fine.

That would save you £50, which conveniently would be enough to upgrade the M.2 SSD from the 256gb SM961 to the 512gb PM951. The PM is about as fast as the SM, but obviously 512gb is double the storage.

 

[The1Meteor]

i was thinking about that noctua cooler and that seems like a really good idea, the only thing that put me off it is the way it looks, I personally think it looks ugly and brown which sorta puts me off buying it

 

[Oussebon]

Yeah, that colour scheme is not for everyone.

However, the PC case window is tinted I believe, which combined with the case's lighting seems to take the edge off the colour somewhat:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/cooler-master-mastercase-maker-5t-modular-atx-case,review-33724.html
(Tom's Hardware who reviewed the case happened to use a Noctua in their build - looks like a nh-u12s which is only 7mm shorter than the nh-u14s)

 

[Freeley]

I would think so. These CPUs have been known to be coming for a long time, and we have even had full reviews already for a couple of weeks. I can't see them not being widely available imminently as they are released.

I don't think so, (aside from the expensive case ofc!). But in terms of the components inside the case I'd say it's a good option.

You could stick to the Noctua cooler as you don't need the H100i V2, the Noctua will be more than fine.

That would save you £50, which conveniently would be enough to upgrade the M.2 SSD from the 256gb SM961 to the 512gb PM951. The PM is about as fast as the SM, but obviously 512gb is double the storage.

That's interesting that you should say that @Oussebon, if the Samsung PM's are as quick as the SM's then what is the difference between them in real world use? Would it make sense to go for a PM if they're a bit cheaper?

 

[Freeley]

do you think PCS will stock the new CPU's as soon as they are released? also here is my build I've decided to go with, let me know what you think. over budget like..but I don't mind haha. is there much better builds for this price or is this pretty solid?

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE MAKER 5t GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-6700k Quad Core (4.00GHz @ upto MAX 4.60GHz)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z170X Gaming 3 ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX SAVAGE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB Kit)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1070 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i V2 Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Liquid Series Ultra Quiet Fans
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY 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 DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,788.00 including VAT and delivery.

This is a very similar build to my current pie in the sky build apart from the case and the M2 drive (I'm thinking of going for the 1TB SM961).
This will be another thread I'll be keeping an eye on!

 

[Oussebon]

The SMs are faster than the PMs. However, larger SSDs can be faster than smaller ones of the same family. So while an SM961 256gb is somewhat faster than a PM961 256gb, the 512gb PM961 may well give higher performance than its little brother. Obviously the SM961 512gb is better but that's another £40 more expensive than the PM961 512gb and the suggestion was made in terms of tweaking the spec while keeping the cost the same (£50 economy in the CPU cooler making room for a £50 SSD upgrade)

Regardless of SM961 vs PM961 speeds, 512gb of SSD storage is a lot faster for the extra 256gb stuff you can't fit on the smaller SSD!

It would depend on what you were asking the disk to do as well. Storage metrics aren't really my thing. In terms of real world difference, it would depend what you were doing. You may well not notice the difference in general home PC usage and gaming. But if you can afford the SM961 and are happy with the premium, then go ahead and get that.

The PM961's greatest strength is that it offers very high speeds at the same cost as a high end Sata SSD like the 850 Evo. The SM961's strength is that, for a premium, it's even faster.

 

[The1Meteor]

Yeah, that colour scheme is not for everyone.

However, the PC case window is tinted I believe, which combined with the case's lighting seems to take the edge off the colour somewhat:
View attachment 9426
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/cooler-master-mastercase-maker-5t-modular-atx-case,review-33724.html
(Tom's Hardware who reviewed the case happened to use a Noctua in their build - looks like a nh-u12s which is only 7mm shorter than the nh-u14s)

Look how nice that case is :tt2: hahaha, but very very interesting...it actually doesn't look bad at all..you cant even tell its brown or anything :O hmm..ive got some thinking to do then. one plus side to the other cooler is that it is a lot better than the noctua and with the cooling in the maker 5t not being the best then having a really good cooling system in there would probably benefit the OC i7 build a lot wouldn't it?

 

[Oussebon]

I think the Noctua would be more than fine tbh. The case's cooling isn't great, especially when you consider you're paying £200 for it, but it copes alright with modestly overclocked quad cores even with less powerful CPU coolers than the Noctua (e.g. the be quiet! Dark Rock 3 in the Hexus review - and bit-tech are also using a 120mm be quiet! fan). It does particularly badly in the Tom's hardware test I think because they're cooling an OCed 8-core Intel extreme CPU with a 120mm tower cooler in that case.

Certainly the H100i V2 would keep temps a bit lower, but likely only a few degrees under gaming load. You won't be encoding video for hours on end.

Weigh that against the option of doubling your SSD storage for the same price. Although if you're happy going further over budget you could always double your SSD storage and keep the H100i V2

At this point it's probably not worth doing further thinking about the build until the new CPUs and motherboards are out though.

 

[The1Meteor]

Build Updated with the newer CPU and Motherboards just released, slightly more expensive than the original but hopefully worth it, what do you think? is there anything you would change or does this all look good ?

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE MAKER 5t GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-7700k Quad Core (4.2GHz @ upto MAX 4.8GHz)
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z270X-Ultra Gaming: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX SAVAGE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB Kit)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1070 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG SM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3100MB/R, 1400MB/W)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i V2 Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Liquid Series Ultra Quiet Fans
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY 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 DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Quantity
1

Price: £1,806.00 including VAT and delivery.

Unique URL to re-configure: http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/quotes/intel-z270-overclocked/zXMyMWYT9F/

 

[Oussebon]

Looks good.

I might personally be tempted by the Asus Z270E for the 2nd M.2 socket (and bonus features and features like built in wifi and RGB lighting). But the Gigabyte Z270X-Ultra Gaming seems decent as a ~£15 cheaper alternative.
Gigabyte Z270X - http://www.eteknix.com/gigabyte-z270x-ultra-gaming-lga1151-motherboard-review/12/
Asus Z270-E https://www.pcper.com/reviews/Mothe...ng-Launch-Preview/Overclocking-and-Conclusion

 

[Oussebon]

I've also just noticed that 3200MHz DDR4 is available and is £20 cheaper than the 3000MHz stuff (for now, anyway).. so get that instead. Covers the cost of the better mobo and still saves a few £.

 

[The1Meteor]

I've also just noticed that 3200MHz DDR4 is available and is £20 cheaper than the 3000MHz stuff (for now, anyway).. so get that instead. Covers the cost of the better mobo and still saves a few £.

Woah why is it cheaper if it's better and faster and that's an ace plan! Thank you mate! Your a legend, how do I give REP on here?