Gaming rig specs for critique

[kennyboy]

Here's my list for a future gaming rig. Long time never keep updated liao, so the experts here can give me an idea if I'm doing anything wrong. Objectives are to be powerful enough for 4K gaming and the basic RGB stuff.

COOLERMASTER MASTERLIQUID ML240R ARGB (Should be enough for the CPU listed?)

Cooler Master MasterBox MB530P ARGB ATX Gaming Case with 3 Tempered Glass Panels (If got any prettier case that doesn't cost a bomb pls let me know)

*SAMSUNG EVO 970 M.2 500GB SSD $249
ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512GB NVMe M.3 $189 (Dunno if the extra costs of the Evo 970 is warranted, based on reviews)

Western Digital Blue 6TB $257
Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB 3200mhz CL16 $229 (I see most price lists the RGB variants don't go beyond this speed - or should I forgo the RGB for faster speed?)

GPU - Most probably a 2080TI. This is the one I'm most struggling with - alone it costs more than the rest of the PC. Not sure if a 1080TI will be up to snuff or not, and the nagging feeling of buying old tech.

GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS ULTRA + i7-8700k $929 (Looking for a motherboard with BT built in - AMD don't seem to have it. But not exactly sure of the performance gap between AMD and Intel when it comes to 4K gaming.

SEASONIC M12II-MODULAR 750W $145 (Is this good enough? My Seasonic has lasted me for years, so no idea about other brands)

Still have a lot of spare secondary storage (SSD/HDD from current PC) so that's not needed. Anything missing can let me know, thanks!

 

[Elysium87]

I'm using the cooler Master m530p, for the liquid cooler that u mention, I'm not sure whether is it 2 or 3 fan. If it's 3 then no point as u can't fix anywhere. if it's 2 then okay, can fix on top, u need to get one more argb fan for the back as it's not rgb/argb.

If u wan the best 4k then it would be 2080ti liao, nth can beat it. 1080ti lose cause no dlss and Ray tracing. Not many games make use of dlss and tracing for now but u never know the future of how games will be like.

 

[kennyboy]

I'm using the cooler Master m530p, for the liquid cooler that u mention, I'm not sure whether is it 2 or 3 fan. If it's 3 then no point as u can't fix anywhere. if it's 2 then okay, can fix on top, u need to get one more argb fan for the back as it's not rgb/argb.

If u wan the best 4k then it would be 2080ti liao, nth can beat it. 1080ti lose cause no dlss and Ray tracing. Not many games make use of dlss and tracing for now but u never know the future of how games will be like.

Yeah, it's the 2 fans version, because the case already comes with 3 front ARGB fans. Going to get another ARGB fan for the back, never list here hehe.

Still a bit questioning DLSS and RTX because it's kinda Nvidia proprietary right? Kinda like the last gen hairworks crap that nearly everyone disabled due to the huge performance drops.

 

[Elysium87]

Further to that, usually ppl get 32gb for 2080ti and it seems that you would need to have water cooling system otherwise it would get too hot also

 

[elmariachi]

Further to that, usually ppl get 32gb for 2080ti and it seems that you would need to have water cooling system otherwise it would get too hot also

You don't need 32GB for gaming even if it is paired with 2080 Ti.

Since you're already going for a high end rig, I would recommend you to get these instead.

1) 9700k ( Soldered TIM and runs cooler; 8 cores proven faster than 6 cores 12 threads in games). I am using this CPU with the Aorus Ultra and you can easily get 5Ghz without getting crazy on thermals.

2) 2080 Ti since you want to game at 4k. But if you can consider going down to ultrawide 1440p and get a high refresh rate 3440x1440 monitor. Because 4k gaming still isn't spectacular with current flagships with the frame rates and 4k high refresh rate monitors are 3k onwards so that's really not worth it.

3) Wait for the 970 Evo Plus though the 970 Evo is fine. But it's launching soon might as well get the fastest and greatest.

4) Get a better AIO like the new Corsair H115i Pro RGB which is 280mm. You will want a 280mm with at least 9th generation CPUs. Even overclocked depending on your case cooling and ambient temps at 5Ghz for example, you won't be crossing 70 degrees during gaming.

If you stick to the 8700k, you will be likely forced to delid the CPU. Moreover, from your current combo price, I think the 9700k is a couple of dollars more only. Totally would get the latest one since it also has hardware fixes for Spectre and Meltdown which isn't on the 8700k.

 

[narkizy]

You don't need 32GB for gaming even if it is paired with 2080 Ti.

Since you're already going for a high end rig, I would recommend you to get these instead.

1) 9700k ( Soldered TIM and runs cooler; 8 cores proven faster than 6 cores 12 threads in games). I am using this CPU with the Aorus Ultra and you can easily get 5Ghz without getting crazy on thermals.

2) 2080 Ti since you want to game at 4k. But if you can consider going down to ultrawide 1440p and get a high refresh rate 3440x1440 monitor. Because 4k gaming still isn't spectacular with current flagships with the frame rates and 4k high refresh rate monitors are 3k onwards so that's really not worth it.

3) Wait for the 970 Evo Plus though the 970 Evo is fine. But it's launching soon might as well get the fastest and greatest.

4) Get a better AIO like the new Corsair H115i Pro RGB which is 280mm. You will want a 280mm with at least 9th generation CPUs. Even overclocked depending on your case cooling and ambient temps at 5Ghz for example, you won't be crossing 70 degrees during gaming.

If you stick to the 8700k, you will be likely forced to delid the CPU. Moreover, from your current combo price, I think the 9700k is a couple of dollars more only. Totally would get the latest one since it also has hardware fixes for Spectre and Meltdown which isn't on the 8700k.

Dont bother jumping on the hype train and spending extra on the 'PLUS' label. Its completely useless to the avg consumer. Even now i see no diff in speed between my SATA ssd and NVME unless i need to move large files. Which happens maybe once in a bluemoon lol. If u wanna futureproof, just get the 970 EVO.

I've ran very heavy games on both my 970 EVO and 860 EVO and see ZERO fps/loadtime difference. So dont be a sheep, my friend. OS load times on both are pretty much identical as well. Until the day they actually build windows 11/games to properly harness the R/W speed of the NVME, you wont actually benefit from NVME

 

[Rashkae]

Further to that, usually ppl get 32gb for 2080ti and it seems that you would need to have water cooling system otherwise it would get too hot also

Disagree. Usually people get 16GB.

32GB is really only for the heavy Photoshop users, Video renderers, or people running VMs.

 

[elmariachi]

Dont bother jumping on the hype train and spending extra on the 'PLUS' label. Its completely useless to the avg consumer. Even now i see no diff in speed between my SATA ssd and NVME unless i need to move large files. Which happens maybe once in a bluemoon lol. If u wanna futureproof, just get the 970 EVO.

I've ran very heavy games on both my 970 EVO and 860 EVO and see ZERO fps/loadtime difference. So dont be a sheep, my friend. OS load times on both are pretty much identical as well. Until the day they actually build windows 11/games to properly harness the R/W speed of the NVME, you wont actually benefit from NVME

I only mentioned getting the 970 Evo Plus because the price is lower than 970 Evo. I know there is not much difference in day to day but he probably can save around 30-40 bucks getting the new 970 Evo Plus. If price is higher, of course, the 970 Evo.

 

[kennyboy]

Further to that, usually ppl get 32gb for 2080ti and it seems that you would need to have water cooling system otherwise it would get too hot also

Watercooling for the GPU?

 

[elmariachi]

Watercooling for the GPU?

Not necessary. A good card like the MSI 2080 Ti Trio can run the card sub 55 degrees with a custom fan profile. Unless you want all out then by all means watercool the GPU. For gaming, it is enough.

 

[kennyboy]

Not necessary. A good card like the MSI 2080 Ti Trio can run the card sub 55 degrees with a custom fan profile. Unless you want all out then by all means watercool the GPU. For gaming, it is enough.

Ok, was just curious what watercooling he meant.

 

[elmariachi]

Ok, was just curious what watercooling he meant.

The 2080 Ti runs fairly cool even on auto fan profile with a good casing ventilation. Around 70 degrees. Pretty much in line with most 2080 Ti's. The better cards like the MSI for example, does it with less noise and better efficiency. If you gonna future proof your rig, spend a little more for better parts and they will serve you well. Just get a good PSU and Case with that.

The Aorus motherboard for the Z390 has the best VRMs this time around. BIOS is not very intuitive but it runs extremely stable and once you get used to it, it is very easy to navigate.

 

[d3adc3II]

Disagree. Usually people get 16GB.

32GB is really only for the heavy Photoshop users, Video renderers, or people running VMs.

As a gamer with 16GBs ram user, I will say : 16GBs is good enough, but 32 GBs will benefit your game greatly.


Why? Window 10 Creator update has an issue with memory leak.



After 3 or 4 matches of PUBG/CoD/Battlefield, it's pretty common that your rig is left with 10 MB of free memory. This is when you experience stuttering in games.



Just google for "windows 10 stuttering standbylist". Of course, we can always clear standbylist after few games, but extra 32GBs will come handy.

 

[d3adc3II]

Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB 3200mhz CL16 $229 (I see most price lists the RGB variants don't go beyond this speed - or should I forgo the RGB for faster speed?)

GPU - Most probably a 2080TI. This is the one I'm most struggling with - alone it costs more than the rest of the PC. Not sure if a 1080TI will be up to snuff or not, and the nagging feeling of buying old tech.

GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS ULTRA + i7-8700k $929 (Looking for a motherboard with BT built in - AMD don't seem to have it. But not exactly sure of the performance gap between AMD and Intel when it comes to 4K gaming.

SEASONIC M12II-MODULAR 750W $145 (Is this good enough? My Seasonic has lasted me for years, so no idea about other brands)

Still have a lot of spare secondary storage (SSD/HDD from current PC) so that's not needed. Anything missing can let me know, thanks!

- For Ram, SSD : Buy from Newegg SG , much cheaper, free shipping. You can buy faster speed ram on Newegg btw. But anything beyond 3200Mhz does not improve that much on Intel rig.



- When it comes to 4k gaming, CPU does not matter much. So either AMD or Intel solution will give you similar result. Hmm but why 4k for game ? 4k gaming is like ...dead as of now.


But why that medicore Aorus Ultragaming ? Go for Aorus Master. You don't want to fry mb VRM after OC.


You should wait 1 or 2 more month when the first 7nm CPU comes out ( rumor says 5.1 GHz 16c/32t which basically put 8700k to shame)



GPU - Most probably a 2080TI.
Even though It's the best card money can buy in the market right now, alot of ppl consider it as a failed product from Nvidia. At least the sales record say so.

 

[elmariachi]

- For Ram, SSD : Buy from Newegg SG , much cheaper, free shipping. You can buy faster speed ram on Newegg btw. But anything beyond 3200Mhz does not improve that much on Intel rig.



- When it comes to 4k gaming, CPU does not matter much. So either AMD or Intel solution will give you similar result. Hmm but why 4k for game ? 4k gaming is like ...dead as of now.


But why that medicore Aorus Ultragaming ? Go for Aorus Master. You don't want to fry mb VRM after OC.


You should wait 1 or 2 more month when the first 7nm CPU comes out ( rumor says 5.1 GHz 16c/32t which basically put 8700k to shame)



GPU - Most probably a 2080TI.
Even though It's the best card money can buy in the market right now, alot of ppl consider it as a failed product from Nvidia. At least the sales record say so.

Aorus Ultra and Aorus Master uses almost the same except that the Master uses 14 phases (12+2) instead of 13 phases (12+1). This will not in anyway cause your motherboard to fry because of the VRM setup on the Aorus Ultra. There are people running 9900k on the Aorus Elite and Ultra with no issues at all, even overclocked.

 

[shunsuu]

Here's my list for a future gaming rig. Long time never keep updated liao, so the experts here can give me an idea if I'm doing anything wrong. Objectives are to be powerful enough for 4K gaming and the basic RGB stuff.

COOLERMASTER MASTERLIQUID ML240R ARGB (Should be enough for the CPU listed?)

Cooler Master MasterBox MB530P ARGB ATX Gaming Case with 3 Tempered Glass Panels (If got any prettier case that doesn't cost a bomb pls let me know)

*SAMSUNG EVO 970 M.2 500GB SSD $249
ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 512GB NVMe M.3 $189 (Dunno if the extra costs of the Evo 970 is warranted, based on reviews)

Western Digital Blue 6TB $257
Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB 3200mhz CL16 $229 (I see most price lists the RGB variants don't go beyond this speed - or should I forgo the RGB for faster speed?)

GPU - Most probably a 2080TI. This is the one I'm most struggling with - alone it costs more than the rest of the PC. Not sure if a 1080TI will be up to snuff or not, and the nagging feeling of buying old tech.

GIGABYTE Z390 AORUS ULTRA + i7-8700k $929 (Looking for a motherboard with BT built in - AMD don't seem to have it. But not exactly sure of the performance gap between AMD and Intel when it comes to 4K gaming.

SEASONIC M12II-MODULAR 750W $145 (Is this good enough? My Seasonic has lasted me for years, so no idea about other brands)

Still have a lot of spare secondary storage (SSD/HDD from current PC) so that's not needed. Anything missing can let me know, thanks!

Based on your current and planned specs, seems like you don't change your rig often. Why not go for i9 9900k with a decent motherboard + cooler? I did some reading up before getting my own i9 9900k + Z390 Aorus Master (due to good VRM performance as compared to even high end asus and msi boards) and H115i platinum RGB cooler (this itself is not sufficient to cool an overclocked i9 9900k).

Also, you can consider the gskill trident RGB ones as the LED is more prominent than corsair vengeance RGB.

Please get a better PSU. Something like the seasonic prime and evga supernova g3.

The type of game you play depends on what kind of display u need. If you're the dota/rpg kind of player, i think a decent 1440p monitor is great. If you're competitive then 1440p@144hz. 4k gaming makes no sense at the moment at least.

 

[elmariachi]

Based on your current and planned specs, seems like you don't change your rig often. Why not go for i9 9900k with a decent motherboard + cooler? I did some reading up before getting my own i9 9900k + Z390 Aorus Master (due to good VRM performance as compared to even high end asus and msi boards) and H115i platinum RGB cooler (this itself is not sufficient to cool an overclocked i9 9900k).

Also, you can consider the gskill trident RGB ones as the LED is more prominent than corsair vengeance RGB.

Please get a better PSU. Something like the seasonic prime and evga supernova g3.

The type of game you play depends on what kind of display u need. If you're the dota/rpg kind of player, i think a decent 1440p monitor is great. If you're competitive then 1440p@144hz. 4k gaming makes no sense at the moment at least.

You do not really need to spend the premium for the 9900k if you are just gaming. Sure you will future proof your PC but thread count will not help indefinitely as games get more advanced over the years. You also can just go with the Aorus Ultra which is just as good as the Master other than a better sound DAC and some other extras. VRMs are 14 phases on the Master and 13 phases on the Ultra. Not a big difference at all unless you are extremely overclocking and you will be very well thermally limited before that.

Which is why the 9700k and the new Corsair H115i Pro RGB (6th Generation Asetek pump) is a great combination. I considered the 9900k but it just was not worth for gaming alone. Benchmarks have seen the 9700k faster than the 9900k or neck-neck in most games. Rather save the money on the 9900k and get a good AIO since the difference is alot. And the 9700k gets easy to 5Ghz unlike the 9900k that will be thermally limited at that frequency for most unless you have a good silicon.

Memory get from Newegg. I got my G.skill 3600Mhz 16-16-16-36 non-RGB memory at $303 incl. shipping. RGB memory is just paying extra for nothing. Unless you die die want it, then go for it.

Totally agree on getting a good PSU especially on the new 8 cores from Intel. You need good, clean power.

 

[d3adc3II]

Aorus Ultra and Aorus Master uses almost the same except that the Master uses 14 phases (12+2) instead of 13 phases (12+1). This will not in anyway cause your motherboard to fry because of the VRM setup on the Aorus Ultra. There are people running 9900k on the Aorus Elite and Ultra with no issues at all, even overclocked.

I haven't tried Z390 ultra gaming but I got help my friend o/c his 8700k with z370 ultra.


AIDA64 FPU stress test show the VRM temp shoot up to 90* after 20 mins , while my z370 gaming 7 remain stable at ~ 70*. Just google for Z370 Ultra gaming VRM issue.

You are right about the Z390 version, since Gigabyte improved it over Z370.

But , the story for Z370 version is very different.

/edit: I read through OP first post again, turn out he wanna use z390 with 8700k. In this case, his choice is fine.

 

[elmariachi]

I haven't tried Z390 ultra gaming but I got help my friend o/c his 8700k with z370 ultra.


AIDA64 FPU stress test show the VRM temp shoot up to 90* after 20 mins , while my z370 gaming 7 remain stable at ~ 70*. Just google for Z370 Ultra gaming VRM issue.

You are right about the Z390 version, since Gigabyte improved it over Z370.

But , the story for Z370 version is very different.

/edit: I read through OP first post again, turn out he wanna use z390 with 8700k. In this case, his choice is fine.

Yes Bro the Z370 was plagued with VRM issues from Gigabyte from low-mid end boards. It seems Gigabyte saved itself the embarrassment and redeemed itself even offering great VRMs even for most of their Z390 line-up. The Z390 offering from Gigabyte is bulletproof but I prefer sticking to the Aorus line of their boards as they have been nothing short of extremely stable and impressive.

 

[Encrypted11]

Too much generalisation.
Z370 ultra gaming is not comparable to Z390 Aorus Ultra.

For one, the Aorus Ultra uses ISL69138 7 phase 2 channel controller configured in 6+1 mode.

Aorus master uses IR35201 8 phase 2 channel controller in 6+2 mode (ir3553). That's why the marketing states 12+1 and 12+2 for the other. That aside, Aorus ultra uses 2x 50A Visha SiC634 per phase, similar to what the Maximus XI formula's SiC639 used (but in 4x2 no doubling).

Not quality stuff for probably like 40+% less in price tag? VRM comparison terms. Better to look beyond marketing nomenclature.

https://www.overclock.net/forum/6-i...0-vrm-discussion-thread-348.html#post27746548

Both are also 6 layer PCB. Not mediocre stuff like the aorus elite or lower. Feels heavier than a regular ATX board because of what's mounted on there, the finish is very clean no flux residue etc. Have to see it for yourself to tell it's quality stuff except for the BIOS.