New Gaming Computer
So, I built myself a new gaming PC. I may have went a little overboard, but I had a lot of fun putting it together. Right now it is just air-cooled, but I still plan on water-cooling at least the CPU and the motherboard. If the GPU fans get too noisy, I might water-cool that too, but for now I like the look of the graphics card as is.
First off, here are the specs:
- Intel Core i7-7700K
- 16GB (2 x 8GB) Corsair Vengence RGB DDR4 3466 DRAM
- Asus ROG Maximus IX Formula
- Asus ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti
- Samsung 960 EVO 250 GB
- Thermaltake Core P5 case
- 750W Thermaltake Toughpower Grand RGB power supply
Chasis
I started off my build by looking at cases. After building and repairing hundreds of computers, I know that a good case is something I value. A good case is solid and easy to work on. I took a trip to the local Microcenter so that I could see the cases myself and hopefully feel them and check mountings, etc...
The Thermaltake Core P5 stood out. The chasis itself was solid and the open case reminded me of the test machines we used to run without cases to test parts.
The fact that the case showed all the parts also guided my choice of parts for the machine and it's location on my desk instead of under it. If the parts were going to be seen, then they should look cool.
That is the main reason that I choose the Thermaltake Toughpower Grand RGB as my power supply. It had enough wattage to power the machine I was building, it was modular to make it easier to avoid clutter and it lit up making the machine look cooler.
Processor
My choice of processor really boiled down to choosing between Intel and AMD. AMD's new Ryzen processor has been making a lot of headlines, but my research showed that at the high-end Intel was cheaper and had better performance. I ended up settling on the Intel Core i7-7700K. The K signifies that the processor is "unlocked" and is easily overclocked. This isn't something I had planned to do, but the motherboard I chose made this easy, so I did.
Motherboard
Choosing my processor narrowed down the motherboards down to those that had the chipset and the socket that supported my processor. I have used Asus motherboards in the past and was very happy with them, so I started my search with their offerings. I ended up choosing the Asus ROG Maximus IX Formula from their Republic of Gamers line. Knowing that the motherboard was going to be visible, the looks and lights of the motherboard probably swayed me more than it should have, but I am happy with the board. It looks good, has a built in heatsink that supports water-cooling and has two M.2 slots for small fast SSD to plug straight into the motherboard.
The software that came with the motherboard made it easy to overclock the entire system. One click and it will test the system and the cooling to see how fast it can run and remain stable. The system is currently running 16% over the stock settings. I'm sure water-cooling will let me go higher and still stay silent and safe.
Memory
Light up memory was purely for looks. I could have gone with G.Skill memory that could have been controlled by the same software that controlled the lights of my motherboard and graphics card, but instead I went with 16GB (2 x 8GB) Corsair Vengence RGB DDR4 3466 DRAM because it was faster than the G.Skill memory that Microcenter carried.
SSD
For a gaming machine, an SSD drive is a given. The case has default mountings for four hard drives and the motherboard has 6 sata ports, but right now the only drive I am using is the Samsung 960 EVO 250 GB. It is plugged straight into the motherboard using an M.2 port hidden behind a cover and utilizes PCI Express bus. There is a second M.2 port that would allow a drive to be plugged into the motherboard perpendicularly and would utilize the sata bus.
Graphics Card
I knew that in order to run well in 4k I would be getting a NVidia GeForce 1080. The Thermaltake Core P5 has a way to mount the video card vertically so that it is prominently display. With that in mind, I got Asus ROG Strix GeForce GTX 1080 Ti. The vidoe card is connected to the motherboard via a pci express riser cable. The cable that was included with the case has gotten poor reviews and has caused people troubles and I have had the same issues. For now, the video card is mounted into the motherboard like normal, until I get a replacement riser cable.
Misc: Keyboard, Mouse, Cables
I rounded out my computer with a keyboard and mouse from logitech. I got the Logitech Proteus Spectrum because I have used Logitech's weighted gaming mice at work for years and have been very happy with them. I got the Logitech Prodigy to match. I also picked up some replacement power cables from CableMod. They are wrapped in blue paracord and have plastic combs to keep them neat and organized. I am really happy with them.
Future Plans
I still plan on water-cooling the system. I am researching parts for that and will create a post when I decide on what parts to get.
The Thermaltake Core P5 has an upgrade to replace the clear acrylic panel with a tempered glass panel. I plan on getting this at some point, but will wait until I have made all the non-cosmetic changes first.
Conclusion
I am exteremly happy with the machine I have put together. I have pictures from the build that I may post later. I also plan on reviewing any games that I beat on this new machine.
