PC Build Advice/Review II: 3090 or Bust.

[Arkanna]

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/m4thematical/saved/xxkJxr

This is what my friend is building

Gonna be strictly 1080 with that 1060GTX seems like he's wasting a ton of money and I can't talk him out of it.

Terribly confused by this gentlemen

[Zetanio]

Terribly confused by this gentlemen

Same.

[Krandor]

The Intel is a u.2 or something.

Yeah I get that, but for your average user is there literally any reason at all to use u.2 drives?

[Zetanio]

Yeah I get that, but for your average user is there literally any reason at all to use u.2 drives?

epeen. That's my interpretation of his response at least.

[Andalusian girls]

If anyone is wondering, reviews for Kabylake CPUs are coming out and well... it's basically identical to Skylake. It gives you the ability to watch 4k Netflix (in Edge browser only) has slightly improved iGPU and power draw, but clock for clock its completely identical to Skylake.

So if you were waiting for Kabylake to upgrade, unless you REALLY need 4k Netflix support, there's nothing to see here. Until AMD really provides proper competition for them, Intel seems content to just sit on their asses for the folks our there who don't give a shit about iGPU performance.

tick tock go fuck yaself?

[Krandor]

Tick Tock went out the window awhile ago, I don't believe we're seeing a new architecture from Intel until 2019, just more and more revisions of Skylake

[Adajer]

Thought it was common knowledge that kabylake wasnt going to improve performance, just a refresh. Cannonlake is supposed to be a performance increase, but they are probably going to keep pushing it back if amd continues to be irrelevant.

[Krandor]

Well, AMD has a demo on the floor of CES showcasing Star Wars Battlefront running off Zen/Vega at 4k60fps with Ultra settings. I believe their official announcements are tomorrow, so we'll probably hear more then.

[Salodin]

Can't wait till skylake goes on sale!

[Jamison]

WD Red 2, 4 and 8 TB drives are out of stock on Amazon. (2TB and 8TB back in stock soon, 4 TB in 1-2 months). Think that's indicative of new models or other changes to the lineup?

[Zetanio]

On a different note:

I'm finally offloading my stupid MacBook Pro. Gonna try to get a grand for it.

This presents me with an issue though.

I need a laptop for traveling. Nothing super powerful but it needs to be able to run a pretty heavy spreadsheet in Excel. That's it.

Any cheap ideas out there?

EDIT: How about this?
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LX0KIGB...lery.1181&th=1

[Jamison]

These are the z270 mATX motherboards as listed on pcpartpicker. Any recommendations on one to go with or avoid? The Gigabyte Gaming 5 is a little tempting but nothing is really jumping out at me -- to the point I wonder if a regular ATX would be better.



I wouldn't be too heartbroken to go ATX because the NZXT S340 Elite is a pretty sweet case.

[Rulke]

Greetings,

I'll save the back story, as I inquired about this in another thread a month or so ago. I am getting a machine built for me and just looking for any red flags on my choices.


1) motherboard - I have always gone with ASUS (3 diff builds that span over a decade easy). How is this MSI choice?
2) video card - Is the 1080 worth the price hike over a 1070? I want to play ME:A at full blown graphics, as well as BDO. ALSO, I been using EVGA in my last 3 cards, how is the msi choice?
3) cooling choice - Ive never had anything other than a standard fan for cooling, is this choice sufficient/ reliable?
4) PSU - is 700w enough for a build like this? Its what I used in my last build but that was 6 years ago.

Thank you for all insights!

[Boyiee]

What are you using this for other than gaming? You have a few overboard pieces and can really cut the cost and maintain performance if all you're doing is playing games like that.

[Krandor]

For like 99% of people out there, what mobo you use will make basically zero difference in your end user experience. So I wouldn't worry about that, MSI is a fine brand.

For the GPU I would mostly be concerned about what resolution your associated monitor is. If you're only using 1080p a 1070 is more then enough, even factoring in a buffer of a few years of future proofing. A 1080 really isn't worth the cost until you're going up to 1440p, and even then it can be a toss up depending on what kind of games you plan to play.

Going off the top of my head, a 700 watt PSU should be fine, but you might want to consider upgrading it to a more efficient model. The long term value both in terms of better thermal performance and lower power bills can be a decent investment. Higher rated power supplies generally have components/options/warranties/etc

[Boyiee]

Are you overclocking?

[Rulke]

What are you using this for other than gaming? You have a few overboard pieces and can really cut the cost and maintain performance if all you're doing is playing games like that.

Mostly gaming. I mean I use the web for youtube and misc stuff but these days its pretty much a gaming rig.

For like 99% of people out there, what mobo you use will make basically zero difference in your end user experience. So I wouldn't worry about that, MSI is a fine brand.

For the GPU I would mostly be concerned about what resolution your associated monitor is. If you're only using 1080p a 1070 is more then enough, even factoring in a buffer of a few years of future proofing. A 1080 really isn't worth the cost until you're going up to 1440p, and even then it can be a toss up depending on what kind of games you plan to play.

Going off the top of my head, a 700 watt PSU should be fine, but you might want to consider upgrading it to a more efficient model. The long term value both in terms of better thermal performance and lower power bills can be a decent investment. Higher rated power supplies generally have components/options/warranties/etc

Thanks for the tips. I just want a relable mobo, one that wont blow up on me in 2 years as I like the life of my PC to be about 5. I have an old monitor atm too- 1080p, but wondering if i should upgreade to 1440p.

Are you overclocking?

No. I don't play FPS games anymore (mostly MMORPGS, adventure, RTS etc)

[Boyiee]

Ok, you don't need that cpu, mobo, or gpu, can come down prob $500. I'll help when at computer unless someone else chimes in.

[Arkanna]

You can knock the CPU down to say, an i5-7600 or an i7-7700 along with a matching motherboard and save some green. Also, since you're not overclocking, you could get a non-K variant CPU and a Hyper 212 air cooler and be just fine.

As said above, a 1070 is plenty for all 1080p gaming, and most 1440p gaming. A 1080 may still be a worthwhile pick, especially if you knock the CPU down, and if you intend to upgrade to 1440p at some point. Your dollars will be more effective if sunk into an overboard video card, rather than an overboard CPU. Does that make sense?

[Rulke]

Ok, you don't need that cpu, mobo, or gpu, can come down prob $500. I'll help when at computer unless someone else chimes in.

Cool, I'll wait for your insight. I'm going to order this weekend so Ive got time.

<snip> Does that make sense?

Definatly. My current computer was built back in Dec 09 and honestly while I have sensible base knowledge its just been too long since Ive kept up on anything current. Hence why I appreciate all this feedback. I'd rather get the main guts of this machine soild so I don't have to do much but add maybe more memory later or replace a video card. Simple stuff. I'll probably stick with the i7 over the i5 because its what I have now and I have no regrets.