Building first gaming PC

[nbacoventry 0]

Hi there,

In a couple of weeks I am looking to build a new gaming PC. In the past on my previous PCs I have only upgraded the RAM so building from scratch will be a first for me. The PC that I would like to build will be primarily used for gaming, don't really see myself becoming interested in content creation, streaming or video editing. I already have a monitor that I used on my last PC (not sure if its 1080p, definitely wasn't 1444p anyway). Which by the way, I'm not going to be reusing any parts from. The last week I've have been looking into CPUs and graphics card and have sort of an idea what I possibly want but would like advice on pretty much everything. 

So far I am thinking:

Motherboard: MSI MPG Z390 GAMING EDGE AC ATX LGA1151 

CPU: i7 9700K - Probably overclock at some point but later in the future.

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler

Thermal Paste: Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER Windforce OC 8G GDDR6

Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 10 Home - Guess I might as well go with the home version than the pro version?

Thats how far I have got. So I need advice on what RAM to use and also SSD. Believe its better to have operating system on one and games installed on another ssd drive?

Power supply unit too, I'm not sure what I'm going to need. Lastly, looking for a tower case with good airflow, not too worried about the fancy lighting you can get. Someone recommended me the Phanteks ECLIPSE P350X on another forum where I asked for advice.

If you think I should consider anything different, then let me know.

Thanks

 

[scottb613 1,188]

Hi...

While my build (my third) isn't the latest and greatest for various reasons - one of which I was trying to control costs - just what I chose for comparison... I only finished this build a month or so ago and it's treating me very well so far...

I'm a HUGE fan of Noctua products (3) builds worth - I would suggest you want the "Noctua NH-D15S" - the "S" model is notched to make it easier to access your memory SIMMS... Keeps my 7700K <= 65 C @ 5.0 Ghz - - - I plan on going higher...

Overclocking provides your biggest bang for your buck - plan on the OC with the hardware you have listed - don't buy a Ferrari and drive it like a Yugo...

From responses I've seen here over the years - I would say 85% of us or so prefer Samsung SSD's and WD Hard Drives - LOL - I'm not sure if they are truly better than other brands - but it seems to be what we buy - and I've never had an issue with either one...

If you need a reasonably priced case - I can't recommend the one listed below enough - absolutely superb - well made - completely tooless with access where I needed it - intelligent wire management - it's the best I've ever used and for $100.00 or so - the price was good as well...

I'm sure you can't go wrong with that processor and video card combo...

I like EVGA products - they have a power supply sizing calculator - that should give you an idea of the correct size to use no matter the brand: https://www.evga.com/power-meter/

I'm not a pro on RAM but you want some middle of the road speed instead of the cheapest - you can see what I picked...

Well that's my nickels worth...

Best of luck...

Regards,
Scott

Quote

Intel 7700K Kaby Lake @ 5 Ghz | Noctua NH-D15S Premium Dual-Tower CPU Cooler | Gigabyte Z270X-Ultra Gaming Motherboard | EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti SC GAMING ACX 3.0 Black Edition | (32GB) G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series DDR4 SDRAM 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory | (1) SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2 2280 1TB SSD | (1) SAMSUNG 860 EVO 1TB SSD | (2) WD Black 2TB HDD | EVGA SuperNOVA 650W Power Supply | Phanteks Enthoo Pro Series Full Tower Computer Case | (4) Noctua NF-A14 PWM Premium Quiet Cooling Case Fan (140mm) | LG 32GK850G-B 32" QHD Gaming Monitor with 144Hz Refresh Rate and NVIDIA G-Sync

 

 

Edited August 16, 2019 by scottb613

[scottb613 1,188]

22 minutes ago, nbacoventry said:

Hi there,

Forgot the quote...

 

[Bob Scott 7,720]

The NH-D15 will limit the RAM you can use--make sure it doesn't exceed the maximum height.  Noctua makes another model, the NH-D15S that is offset and allows more options for RAM clearance.

There's no requirement or performance gain from having your OS on a separate SSD, but it does make OS system backups go much faster.

Regards

 

[Bob Scott 7,720]

Looks like Scott beat me to the draw...this time...  🤠

[nbacoventry 0]

Thanks for the quick replies! Any idea of what sort of RAM speeds, timings i should be looking at?

[scottb613 1,188]

Hi Bob,

LOL - we just seem to gravitate to the same topics...

😁

Regards,
Scott

[scottb613 1,188]

2 minutes ago, nbacoventry said:

Thanks for the quick replies! Any idea of what sort of RAM speeds, timings i should be looking at?

Search the hardware forum - there was a recent topic on memory that delved deeper than I ever wanted to go...

Regards,
Scott

[Bob Scott 7,720]

See my post here: https://www.avsim.com/forums/topic/548984-memory-speed/?tab=comments#comment-3961131

[flyinion 280]

I would see if the Gigabyte Aorus Pro Z390 will work for you (price depending on location, features, etc.).  It's been reviewed as having a really good VRM section which those higher end 9xxx series need (vs. Asus, MSI, etc.).  Not sure where you're located, but here in the US on Newegg they're within a few $$ of each other.  I would use the Outervision PSU calculator.  EVGA's tends to be all over the place on its recommendations and some in their forums have even noted it recommends less in some cases than the product page for their cards.  I plugged a rough idea of your system into the Outervision one and it recommended around 750W.  You could probably squeeze by with a 650 but that's really pushing it.  That 2070 Super is essentially a 2080 non-super almost as far as power draw.  

[micstatic 4,319]

I’m personally not a noctua air cooler fan. Too big and too heavy. I think it takes up too much space and personally find them ugly if you are trying to make your setup appealing to the eye. No offense meant to anybody 

[flyinion 280]

2 hours ago, micstatic said:

I’m personally not a noctua air cooler fan. Too big and too heavy. I think it takes up too much space and personally find them ugly if you are trying to make your setup appealing to the eye. No offense meant to anybody 

They may be big and ugly, but they're pretty much the best air coolers.  They do have a newer single radiator model with fans on both sides that is pretty well reviewed and easily beats or matches lower end AIO coolers including some 240's.  The NH-U12A.  However, after 9 years of looking at my NH-D14 I'm with you on the big ugly heavy thing and am moving to a custom water loop on my new build.  Also, amusingly even though the physical size is smaller than the D14 due to only one rad tower, that NH-U12A is the same weight.  1220g, that's nuts.

[vortex681 806]

On 8/16/2019 at 6:54 PM, scottb613 said:

If you need a reasonably priced case - I can't recommend the one listed below enough - absolutely superb - well made - completely tooless with access where I needed it - intelligent wire management - it's the best I've ever used and for $100.00 or so - the price was good as well.

+1 for the Enthoo Pro case. Don't be put off by the relatively low price - this is a quality case that's easily the match of some which cost double the price. Not only is it tool-less, it's also completely screwed together (rather than being riveted) so it's easy to fully customise it. It's a full tower so you need plenty of space for it but the size also makes it ideal to build in. I'm not a big fan of flashy internal LEDs so I went for the non-windowed version. It may be a few years old but there's still nothing to beat it for the price: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cBhmn21ylkc

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by vortex681

[nbacoventry 0]

Thanks for all the replies so far. Will give you an updated list of what I'm thinking of building:

Tower Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro

Motherboard: Gigabyte Aorus Pro Z390

CPU: i7 9700K

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15

Thermal Paste: Noctua NT-H1 thermal compound

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER Windforce OC 8G GDDR6

Operating System:  Microsoft Windows 10 Home

RAM:  Corsair 16GB DDR4 Vengeance LPX 3200MHz Memory Kit for Skylake - https://www.scan.co.uk/products/16gb-(2x8gb)-corsair-ddr4-vengeance-lpx-black-pc4-25600-(3200)-non-ecc-unbuffered-cas-16-18-18-36-xm?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIvqCsoNqK5AIVCZ3VCh2n0gJGEAQYAyABEgJSiPD_BwE

 

What do you think of my choice of RAM? Is it a suitable choice that goes well with the rest of my components so far?

On the SSD, I can't make up my mind if I should just go with one 1TB ssd, as I'm not someone who plays a lot of different games at once. On previous PCs, I probably would only have 3 or 4 games installed at a time. When I'm done playing a game that is not flight sim I tend to uninstall. I like to keep my PC clean of unused applications. When it comes to P3d I'll eventually get some of the orbx scenery, PMDG 737 + 747, maybe the FSlabs airbus. I also like playing DCS. So I'm thinking with P3d and DCS, and 2 other non flight sim games like the Formula 1 game for example, maybe just the one 1TB SSD would be sufficient for me.

I've kept the NH-D15 the same for now. But would the NH-D15S be fine to use when i come to overclock the CPU?

Will leave the Power supply unit choice to last once i decided on everything else.

Thanks again.  

 

Edited August 17, 2019 by nbacoventry

[NBouc 54]

35 minutes ago, nbacoventry said:

What do you think of my choice of RAM? Is it a suitable choice that goes well with the rest of my components so far?

I can only say "Good choice of RAM" since I am also using the Corsair DDR4 Vengeance LPX 3200MHz memory kit, but in a 32GB configuration (2x16GB XMP1) and it performs very well with my i7 9700K at 4.9GHz on all cores. When I bought my RAM last January, 3200MHz was the sweet spot between cost and performance. In my opinion, higher frequency RAM come at a huge additional cost for little gain.

My CPU cooler is a Noctua NH-U14S and it keeps my CPU cool under load running P3Dv4 (average 60-65C, a few short peeks to 72C). The D15 will possibly be a bit more efficient than my D14S and choosing between the NH-D15 or D15S should not make a big difference thermal-wise. I would base my choice on which one gives you better RAM and Graphic card clearance.