Looking for advice for this build.

[ryamur834]

With the 1080ti available, I'm looking at upgrading from my current 780 card from yesteryear. Using a budget of £2350-£2650, this is what I drafted up quickly.

Case
InWIN 303 MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-7700k Quad Core (4.20GHz @ up to 4.8GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270E GAMING: LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GB, Wi-Fi - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX SAVAGE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB Kit)
Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
2TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive
500GB WD BLUE™ M.2 SSD (up to 545MB/s R | 525MB/s W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
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 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
LED Lighting
2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
Sound Card
Asus Xonar DGX 5.1-Channel Gaming Audio Card
Wireless/Wired Networking
ASUS PCE-AC88 AC3100 2100Mbps/5GHz, 1000Mbps/2.4GHz
USB Options
2 PORT (2 x TYPE A) USB 3.0 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 10 (64-bit) Home DVD with paper sleeve
Monitor
AOC I2769VM 27" IPS Monitor - 5ms, 1920x1080, D-Sub, HDMI, DP

In the near future I plan to get a second monitor for 1440p at 144hz, but for now this seems reasonable to me. However I am not an expert at building these so I'd like to ask anyone here what they would add/remove to this build for almost exclusively a gaming rig. The main questions I'd like to ask if someone can answer are if anyone has experience using the ASUS PCE-AC88 WiFi card in this build, I'm looking at it's range more so than speed, and how much maintenance does liquid cooling have these days? Admittedly I've always avoided it until now due to the whole 'liquids in my pc?? that doesn't sound right' spiel.

Any advice or feedback would be useful, and thank you for your time taken to read this.

 

[Oussebon]

I might be tempted to get a more upmarket case. if you like black and red, the Noctis 450 is apparently good for cooling.

The main questions I'd like to ask if someone can answer are if anyone has experience using the ASUS PCE-AC88 WiFi card in this build

I don't but what I would say is that costs £100 and the mobo has onboard wifi anyway. I might suggest trying that wifi first and then seeing. If range is an issue then homeplugs / powerline adapters may be worth looking at.

Sound Card
Asus Xonar DGX 5.1-Channel Gaming Audio Card

The motherboard already has reasonably upmarket 7.1 onboard audio. I'd suggest trying that first. If you don't like it, a USB DAC may be a better buy.

and how much maintenance does liquid cooling have these days?

Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i V2 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler

That cooler would have 0 maintenance as it's a closed loop. It may be worth getting it with the PCS quiet fans.

Memory (RAM)
16GB HyperX SAVAGE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB Kit)

The price of the RAM varies from day to day, but generally the 3200MHz is only £1 or so more than the 2666MHz RAM.

M.2 SSD Drive
500GB WD BLUE™ M.2 SSD (up to 545MB/s R | 525MB/s W)

If you're buying an M.2 SSD at 500gb capacity, I'd suggest the PM961 which is substantially faster. Or the Samsung 850 Evo from the general HDD menu as it's a bit faster and is the same price.

USB Options
2 PORT (2 x TYPE A) USB 3.0 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB PORTS

The mobo already has a lot of USB ports at the back, plus the ones at the front of the case. Are you sure you need this card? If not, drop it to save a few £ and possibly improve airflow.

Monitor
AOC I2769VM 27" IPS Monitor - 5ms, 1920x1080, D-Sub, HDMI, DP

GTX 1080 ti for a 1080p monitor? :O Modded Skyrim/ Fallout is it?

More seriously, you can probably get a cheap 1440p monitor for not much more than that and so have matching resolutions when you get your 165hz 1440p IPS monster.

 

[ryamur834]

I don't but what I would say is that costs £100 and the mobo has onboard wifi anyway. I might suggest trying that wifi first and then seeing. If range is an issue then homeplugs / powerline adapters may be worth looking at.

Unfortunately I'm unable to use homeplugs/powerlines due to how my home is wired, so I need a strong WiFi device to be able to connect through 2 floors. I currently use a USB adapter on my PC and it has the fun side effect of occasionally blue screening everything, so the plan is to find something strong enough to not need it anymore.

The motherboard already has reasonably upmarket 7.1 onboard audio. I'd suggest trying that first. If you don't like it, a USB DAC may be a better buy.

Honestly I'm not sure how much of a difference sound cards make when connected to speakers, so if it doesn't make much difference here I'll cut this part out.

More seriously, you can probably get a cheap 1440p monitor for not much more than that and so have matching resolutions when you get your 165hz 1440p IPS monster.

The selling points of this monitor was I want to use it for some game consoles as well as have it as a second monitor, I'm not sure if/how well consoles output on a 1440p monitor so I went with a 1080p to be on the safe side. Would the Iiyama Prolite B2783QSU-B1 QHD be a better choice in that case?

 

[Amethyst]

Hello,

how do "homeplugs / powerline adapters may be worth looking at." work?

 

[Oussebon]

They use the building's electricity cables to transfer data: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomePlug

I guess the room the OP's PC is in is on a different circuit to where the router is plugged in or something.

--

I imagine consoles output to a 1440p monitor fine, if they also output 720p to 1080p HDTVs. It's all 16:9 ratio. Given that 720p divides evenly into 1440p I imagine the Xbox would look fine on it. Having googled PS4 on 1440p monitors most forum topics appear to be talking garbage, but some people say do this and it's fine.

If you currently use a USB adapter I'd probably suggest trying out the mobo's wifi rather than spending £100 on extra wifi a little speculatively. You can always source it (possibly a touch cheaper from elsewhere) and add it in yourself should you decide you want it after. It's an option, anyway.

 

[ryamur834]

After taking in your advice and asking for others elsewhere, I've settled on this build. Does everything seem to be in order? Hoping to get it ordered on Thursday.

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE PRO 5 GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked Intel® Core™i7-7700k Quad Core (4.20GHz @ up to 4.8GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z270E GAMING: LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GB, Wi-Fi - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
2TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1600MB/W)
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
LED Lighting
2x 50cm Blue LED Strip
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
DVD Recovery Media
Windows 10 (64-bit) Home DVD with paper sleeve
Monitor
IIYAMA ProLite B2783QSU-B1 QHD Freesync