A Little Help With A New Build - Some Miscellaneous Questions

[Crag_Hack]

Hi I am finally getting around to replacing my 6 year old rig. I'm well rehearsed in hardware but still have some questions. No interest whatsoever in overclocking or SLI and just going to use my old GTX 970. Here goes:

1. If I initially buy 2x8 GB memory then later decide to add another 2x8 in the remaining two slots of the four on the mobo, will the memory perform at dual channel speed as fast as if I used 2x16 GB to begin with?
2. I want a PSU of very high quality - I was looking at EVGA ones with a 10 year warranty. I like quiet products however and was also looking at Zalman and BeQuiet! ones. The BeQuiet! Dark Power Pro 11 which is their flagship carries a 5 year warranty. Is it of comparable quality compared to the 10 year warranty EVGA ones? How do the Zalmans compare? Or is this a fuzzy question with the only answer being they're all good quality...?
3. Are the new coffee lake Z370 mobos and coffee lake CPUs protected from meltdown and spectre out of the box with no decrease in performance?
4. I like the idea of a cooler/heat sink for my M2 NVME SSD to prevent thermal throttling. The Gigabyte Aorus Gaming 7 comes with a built in Thermal Guard for M2 SSDs (see here 15% or so down the page). Is it effective? Are there any other solutions out there like this that perhaps are worth investing in?
5. I would like in the future to upgrade to a 500-1000 GB data drive using an SSD. If I use the Gaming 7 will it run both drives full speed concurrently if I use the built-in M2 slots? How about if I use the MSI cooler mentioned in #4 which runs through a PCIE slot?
6. I am looking for a quiet tower as well. Are Zalmans of high quality? They have some cool looking ones like the Z11 Plus. BeQuiet! cases look a little boring to me... Any other cool looking cases of high build quality that are quiet out there that are obvious candidates?
7. Is the Intel i7-8700K compatible with the Gigabyte Aorus Gaming 7 Z370 mobo?
8. Is the i7-8700K the fastest CPU for single-threaded performance out there besides the 8086K?
9. In addition to the PSU of super high quality I also want to invest in a very high quality mobo. Is the Gigabyte Aorus Gaming 7 a good candidate?
10. How many Watts do I need on the PSU to support this video card and the 8700K?

Thanks so much! Any help much appreciated. Please only answer if you are 100% sure of the answers.

 

[whm1974]

1, Yes you will see a small slow down that you will likely not notice.
2. Personally I'm a fan of SeaSonic who makes the best PSUs are the market. Most PSUs fans now days only run at speeds that are needed when needed.
3. Unless you are running a server or a database you will notice any slowdown with the vast majority of desktop uses cases.
4. To be honest you will not see any difference in performances between NVMe SSD or SATA SSDs, So unless you already have a NVMe drive, just use SATA SSDs and save you some money.
5. See answer #4.
6. I'll let others comment on this.
7. Yes.
8. If you are not going to overclock just get the i7-8700, it's cheaper and comes with a HSF.
9. Same as #6.
10. Go to pcpartpicker.com and enter your parts list and that will tell you how many watts you need. Otherwise my default answer would be to get a decent 550w PSU.

Good luck with your build. What is the budget on this thing?

 

[RLGL]

1. Mixing memory,even from the same manufacturer is risky at best. If you think you may need 32G, get it as a matched set right away. 16G is fine for my use CAD and photos, no gaming
4. go with an M.2 PCIE device for storage, Max speeds
9. Go with Asrock or Asus, I switched from Asus to Asrock.

 

[Crag_Hack]

Thanks guys. @whm1974 The budget is as much as is needed for quality mobo/PSU/case and fast CPU/SSD.

 

[whm1974]

Thanks guys. @whm1974 The budget is as much as is needed for quality mobo/PSU/case and fast CPU/SSD.

Keep your eye out since really nice PSUs and cases go on sale quite a bit many time a year. You can get nice quality equipment without spending money on higher end features you may not need or even use at all. Which is I recommend the 8700 over the 8700K and SATA SSDs over NVMe. As far as getting 32GB of RAM now, ask yourself how likely will you need or make use of that much in near future? If you are planning on doing a Mini-ITX build, it might be well advised to get that much now since you would only have two DIMM slots.

 

[Crag_Hack]

@whm1974 Re the RAM I will probably be doing some gaming and have lots of tabs open with Chrome. Currently have 8 GB and can do both of those things. Games won't stop getting hungrier though as times goes on... What do you think I should get based on that information?

 

[whm1974]

@whm1974 Re the RAM I will probably be doing some gaming and have lots of tabs open with Chrome. Currently have 8 GB and can do both of those things. Games won't stop getting hungrier though as times goes on... What do you think I should get based on that information?

Well 16GB seems to be fine for now and it is the sweet spot. Assuming you are not build a MiniITX build, then 2x8GB sticks should be fine.

 

[Torn Mind]

Meltdown and Spectre will have to wait a while for hardware fixes. I'd personally wait 5 years and not spend more than necessary in the meantime.

 

[Crag_Hack]

Another question I conjured up - when placing old components in a new computer, like when reusing a video card, there's no danger of harming the new components is there? Only a short would be dangerous right? The old guy say video card isn't going to dump out dirty fluctuating voltages or something right?

 

[whm1974]

Another question I conjured up - when placing old components in a new computer, like when reusing a video card, there's no danger of harming the new components is there? Only a short would be dangerous right? The old guy say video card isn't going to dump out dirty fluctuating voltages or something right?

Usually not a problem unless the old parts are damaged or really flaky in some way.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Usually not a problem unless the old parts are damaged or really flaky in some way.

Yeah, like I wouldn't drop an 8800GT(X) into a Skylake / Kaby Lake / Coffee Lake rig, but something like a working GTX460, maybe.

 

[whm1974]

Yeah, like I wouldn't drop an 8800GT(X) into a Skylake / Kaby Lake / Coffee Lake rig, but something like a working GTX460, maybe.

Speaking of the 8800GT(X), how does it now compare to modern iGPUs?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Speaking of the 8800GT(X), how does it now compare to modern iGPUs?

Cosnidering, that it is what, DX9? DX10? And modern Intel iGPUs are DX12, more or less? I think that there really is no comparison, it won't be able to play modern games at all, whereas, an Intel iGPU can (somewhat).

 

[Crag_Hack]

Another question that's been nagging me... how many years should a home built computer last with premium components like Z370 mobo reputable video card etc with moderate usage 4-8 hours a day or so? Probably beats the socks off your average Dell/HP non business computer right?

 

[VirtualLarry]

I would say 5 years, at least, because that's often the point where HDDs and PSUs wear out and need replacing.

That said, my friend's Athlon II X4 rig, with DDR2, and an SSD and a HDD (WD Black), is still kicking, quite a few years later (needed a HDD and PSU replacemenet part-way through).

My own Core2Quad rigs, haven't been deployed for a while, but they were still kicking, last time I used them.

Mobos and CPUs (and RAM), can often last 10-15-20 years or longer, depending how well they were powered and cooled.

GPUs? Well, I've had an RX 460 Nitro die on me already, without any warnings. GPUs, I give a 3 year lifespan, when used 24/7. Maybe only two years if mining.

Case and GPU fans? Case fans, maybe 3 years for sleeve, maybe 5-7 years for Ball Bearing, until they get too noisy to stand using. GPU fans? It depends, there's so many different types.

 

[Crag_Hack]

Thx VirtualLarry. How about GPU with 1 hour of gaming a day? How about with no gaming at all? Comparable to the mobo? GPU is kinda like it's own mobo/chipset/cpu/fans all in one right?

 

[VirtualLarry]

Does this matter to you? Are you planning on a "10 year rig"? You're not planning to upgrade for 10 years, and you're a gamer? Your PC will become obsolete, far before it starts to fail on you, most likely.

 

[whm1974]

Does this matter to you? Are you planning on a "10 year rig"? You're not planning to upgrade for 10 years, and you're a gamer? Your PC will become obsolete, far before it starts to fail on you, most likely.

Well if the OP gets a nice CPU and decent amount of memory, then he could do a build that will last ten years with some upgrades such as GPU, more memory and storage. The deal is the build has to use high quality and mid-range to high end parts. In other words the OP will have to spend some extra money up front at first.

 

[Crag_Hack]

@VirtualLarry Just curious. I'm not a hardcore gamer and don't play those AAA resource hungry ones so I upgrade less often. Also keep in mind if you buy a super nice PSU it's got to last longer than 5 years, just look at the warranty on the top-of-the-line EVGA ones with 10 year warranties and the Seasonic ones with 12 year warranties.

When's the ETA for the new generation of Intel CPUs to succeed Coffee Lake? Worth waiting for?

 

[Crag_Hack]

I've pretty much made up my mind for everything except for the case. Any quiet high quality cases anybody can recommend? Been looking at the Zalmans and BeQuiet!s

 

[whm1974]

I've pretty much made up my mind for everything except for the case. Any quiet high quality cases anybody can recommend? Been looking at the Zalmans and BeQuiet!s

How is this build?
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/CPcbRJ

 

[Crag_Hack]

Lookin good cept for the case. I'm a fan of honeycomb and angles. Is this guy a quality case?? Is it possible to know without a comprehensive review for anandtech or somebody?

 

[Crag_Hack]

I've been looking at the Gigabyte Aorus Gaming 7 since Tom's Hardware and Techradar both list it as one of the best Intel Z370's. Anandtech looks to tend toward ASUS and ASRock. Can ASUS or ASRock really beat Gigabyte; does it vary depending on model or are they just overall better?

Gamer's Nexus always says "There's no such thing as a good brand, only a good product." Anybody care to weigh in on that?

Looks like Seasonic for the PSU some get LAMBDA A++ for noise which I'm thinking is probably as good as a Zalman/Be Quiet.