I was looking to upgrade my old system and after realizing how outdated it is, realized I am going to need to start fresh. Any feedback on how I could make this parts list more balanced would be welcomed:

 

Processor: i7-8700 (non k version) ($299)

CPU Cooler: Stock intel cooler (Free)

Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z390 I AORUS PRO WIFI Mini ITX LGA1151 Motherboard ($154)

RAM: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($78)

Storage: Western Digital - Blue 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($115)

Video Card: MSI - GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB Video Card ($265)

Power Supply: SeaSonic - 520 W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($65)

Case: NZXT - H200 Mini ITX Tower Case ($80)

Total Cost: $1058

 

I realize I could probably get better performance if I went with the k version of the CPU and overclocked, but I need this build to be stable as family members will be using it when I am not around. I was also thinking of dropping to an i5 and upping the graphics card, but I don't know if there would be any benefit to doing that. I was hoping to stay around the $1000 mark

 

A $260 i5-9600K would be a much better choice for a CPU...a Z390 board with a non-K CPU on it is a pretty big miss, IMHO.  You don't have to overclock it to the extreme edge to still get a big bump in performance over that ugly stock 3.2GHz clock speed on the 8700.

A stock intel CPU cooler also sits squarely in the massively underwhelming dept.

An extra $20 for a 750W power supply would be worth considering.  I do not like running anywhere near the rated capacity of the PSU.

I can live with the rest of the config.  The delta from a 8700 and stock fan (Ick!) to a 9600K plus a decent CPU cooler (e.g. Corsair H100x AIO) is an extra $30.  Well...worth...it. 

Regards

 

12 hours ago, snowingairlines said:

 

I realize I could probably get better performance if I went with the k version of the CPU and overclocked, but I need this build to be stable as family members will be using it when I am not around. 

 

 

Overclocks generally are stable when configured properly. It's not difficult these days. The other point, is that by committing yourself to a non K version, you will never be able to overclock. Even if you get the urge further down the line you wont be able to. And when the chip gets older, you may be glad of a little boost. 

I know you won't be overclocking, but I suspect you may not be too impressed with the stock cooler. They are generally quite noisy. There are some decent budget coolers out there, if you decide you want to change it down the line. 

Re the PSU, modern PSU's have an efficiency curve that is quite impressive, so even at close to the max wattage it should be pretty efficient. 650 watt would have been the minimum I would have opted for. And the extra 100 watts is pretty negligible in terms of extra cost. 

Edited May 21, 20197 yr by martin-w

I'm with Bob.  As we know, clockspeed is king