Hey guys, so my gaming laptop just died last night after 5 years of valiant service, and I figure this time since portability isn't as much of a factor, I'd go with a desktop instead.
I'm still trying to go with a smaller build (mini ITX I guess?) since I do LANs still occasionally, but I really have no clue if I'm building things properly or not.
First off, here's the questionnaire filled out for a little more information:
Your Current Specs: Nada (got a mouse and headphones and that's it, mobo is fried on laptop and not gonna repair it).
Budget: Looking for ~$3,500 CAD (with tax), including a gsync/freesync monitor
Main Use:
Gaming (5),
Some emulation (GC/wii) (3)
and general use (word/excel/streaming) (3).
Monitor Resolution: Need a little help here, based off the nvidia build I have below I'd go for the 1440p/165hz Acer in the OP
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/product/ttnG3C/acer-monitor-xb271hubmiprz
But I'm not sure if I'd be better off with Vega/Freesync, or a different gsync monitor.
List SPECIFIC games or applications that you MUST be able to run well: Must run an adaptive display software, and looking for a minimum 60fps at 1440p for high-ultra settings for most modern games. Specific game include Battlegrounds at 60fps medium settings (cause it's early access) and a build that would hopefully cover destiny 2 other new releases at high-ultra 1440p 60fps (don't mind turning down performance for higher frame rate though).
Looking to reuse any parts?: N/A
When will you build?: The sooner the better, 2 weeks from now at most would be nice. I'm willing to wait a month or so if Ryzen is worth waiting for.
Will you be overclocking?: only if it doesn't cause heat problems in a mini ITX build (I know very little about OC'ing in general).
I had a friend help me put together a build on pc part picker as follows:
https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/user/Stormbrewer/saved/j2W23C
CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 1700X 3.4GHz 8-Core Processor ($435.84 @ DirectCanada)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-U12S SE-AM4 CPU Cooler ($79.95 @ Newegg Canada Marketplace)
Motherboard: ASRock - X370 Gaming-ITX/ac Mini ITX AM4 Motherboard ($200.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($189.73 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Samsung - 850 EVO-Series 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($131.50 @ Vuugo)
Storage: Seagate - FireCuda 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Hybrid Internal Hard Drive ($126.75 @ Vuugo)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1080 8GB FTW Gaming ACX 3.0 Video Card ($824.99 @ Memory Express)
Case: Fractal Design - Define Nano S Mini ITX Desktop Case ($84.92 @ DirectCanada)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA G3 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Memory Express)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit ($179.50 @ Vuugo)
Monitor: Acer - XB271HU bmiprz 27.0" 2560x1440 165Hz Monitor ($949.99 @ Memory Express)
Total: $3333.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-07-30 23:45 EDT-0400
Actual grand total is 3,600 with tax and preferred vendors (amazon, ncix and newegg).
Some points I'm unsure about:
Intel vs AMD: In particular I'm not doing any video editing/other media work, so I'm not sure if the extra cores from AMD are necessary? At the same time I'm willing to pay a bit extra if it helps future proof at all.
1080ti vs 1080: I'm currently going with a 1080 build, but I'm not sure if the extra 3GB of VRAM will make a huge difference for future proofing, and if the extra clock speed is necessary to bruteforce 60fps/1440p for some of the suboptimal ports we've been seeing (nier and dishonoured 2 come to mind). If it's significant enough I don't mind laying out the extra cash, but if it's more of a 4K/VR necessary expense I'm not as interested.
Nvidia vs AMD: this ones a little trickier, since Vega's just finally had its specs announced. It seems based off of AMD's figures there's higher min frame rates, but I'm not sure it's worth the hassle of trying to track down a new card when it seems like a great target for miners. If I can get the card at launch, the benchmarks match up with the 1080 and y'all think a 1080/64 card is enough for my needs I don't mind waiting, but again I'd prefer to build sooner rather than later.
Anyway sorry for the wall of text and hopefully the formatting isn't too bad since I'm writing this all on mobile (rip laptop), but any and all advice is greatly appreciated!
