My First PC Build is in the Horizon

[AlvaroF]

Having restored an old case last week (as seen on the DIY-ers thread), I want to build a sleek and really a e s t h e t i c PC. But I have been having some decision issues. The computer will be used for 3D modelling and rendering, gaming and photo and video editing. My main issue is RAM, is 16GB enough or do I play safe and future proof RAM with 32GB? I won't upgrade to 4K, as my prediction goes, until 2020 (roughly 2 years from when my PC will be fully built) so the GTX1060 is plenty enough, me thinks.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/FbdWpb

These are the parts I picked. I kept the monitor in because it's what I'm looking for, but it's one of my least important things, yet.

I'll also be adding custom cables and LED strips. Other things that are not on the list but are worth noting: I'll be adding 2 Noctua 80mm fans and 2 Corsair 140mm fans and the AIO system will be 140mm instead of 240mm. I went with water cooling because the air flow provided by one single 80mm fan admission and one exhaust wouldn't be enough, so having a "stand alone" way to cool of the CPU was my decision to keep the system some what balanced in terms, of air flow and cooling.

What do you guys think and where do I have to improve?

P.S: Max budget is 1500€. The GBP conversion sucks, because taxation in Portugal is stupidly high. As it stands, all parts sum up to 1370€ (without monitor)

 

[Nexus]

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/7Pbz3F

• Went with an R7 1700
• Dropped the liquid cooler, the stock cooler should be enough
• Switched to a B350 motherboard, you won't need an X370 motherboard unless you want SLI support
• Picked cheaper RAM (you might be able to get even cheaper RAM, but I'm not 100% certain on which kits are able to run at their maximum frequency)
• Picked a better, higher capacity SSD
• Picked a better PSU

I think that you'd be better off with pairing a GTX 1070/Vega 56 with a 144Hz monitor, I don't think a 1060 would be enough (unless the games that you plan on playing aren't particularly demanding).

As for the case fans, this video might be helpful.

 

[AlvaroF]

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/7Pbz3F

• Went with an R7 1700

I can understand, with the budget free'd by the RAM I will go with it.

Switched to a B350 motherboard, you won't need an X370 motherboard unless you want SLI support

I was going for SLI support, still undecided on that

Picked cheaper RAM (you might be able to get even cheaper RAM, but I'm not 100% certain on which kits are able to run at their maximum frequency)

I know, but I think higher clocked RAM might be my best bet.

I think that you'd be better off with pairing a GTX 1070/Vega 56 with a 144Hz monitor, I don't think a 1060 would be enough (unless the games that you plan on playing aren't particularly demanding).

I won't be playing any of the latest AAA unless they're driving games and they won't be on the monitor. And my budget doesn't allow a GTX1070.

As for the case fans, this video might be helpful.

I've seen it. The thing is, I haven't heavily modded the case there's only one 80mm fan slot for intake and exhaust each and I managed to squeeze a 140mm intake fan on it. The video doesn't suit me that much because Luke uses a modern case with 140mm fans. I have a 14 year old case with 2 80mm fans to cool modern components. That's why I went liquid cooling as a stand alone syste for the CPU. It's a bit overkill, but I'm sure the air flow is as balanced as possible.

 

[Nexus]

I was going for SLI support, still undecided on that

The GTX 1060 doesn't support SLI, so you might as well go for a B350 motherboard. RX 580's support CrossFire, but it might be tricky finding one in stock for a reasonable price.

I won't be playing any of the latest AAA unless they're driving games and they won't be on the monitor. And my budget doesn't allow a GTX1070.

Fair enough.

The thing is, I haven't heavily modded the case there's only one 80mm fan slot for intake and exhaust each and I managed to squeeze a 140mm intake fan on it. The video doesn't suit me that much because Luke uses a modern case with 140mm fans. I have a 14 year old case with 2 80mm fans to cool modern components. That's why I went liquid cooling as a stand alone syste for the CPU. It's a bit overkill, but I'm sure the air flow is as balanced as possible.

Alright, I revised the list again - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/WXHTLD

• Added AIO liquid cooler again (not very familiar with these, hopefully someone with more knowledge will offer their input)
  
• Picked cheaper motherboard
• Picked slightly cheaper RAM (I don't know if Ryzen's high speed memory compatibility issues have been resolved, so you may not be able to reach these speeds anyway)
  
• Picked a cheaper HDD

 

[AlvaroF]

The GTX 1060 doesn't support SLI, so you might as well go for a B350 motherboard. RX 580's support CrossFire, but it might be tricky finding one in stock for a reasonable price.

Fair enough.

Alright, I revised the list again - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/WXHTLD

• Added AIO liquid cooler again (not very familiar with these, hopefully someone with more knowledge will offer their input)
  
• Picked cheaper motherboard
• Picked slightly cheaper RAM (I don't know if Ryzen's high speed memory compatibility issues have been resolved, so you may not be able to reach these speeds anyway)
  
• Picked a cheaper HDD

Yeah, I will go for the GTX 1060 and the B350 motherboard like my original plan. I managed to squeeze the X370 because of the SLI, but, yeah, I won't need it.
I think they were, but I'm not sure, so I have to research that.
I read about the Alphacool system on a forum. It's a modular AIO system, and from what I've read it's similar to EK but only for Europe.

Thanks for the input though, it is really helpful

 

[sesselpupser]

I'd say avoid Seagate, apart from that I either don't know enough about AMD to have a useful opinion or agree with everything else. I bought a Seagate drive after everyone was saying they were fine (there was a spate of drive failures that was quite well-publicised about ten years ago, I think?), but it really wasn't - it died a month out of warranty! It's anecdotal, sure, but I'd never buy another and never recommend them.

Edit: I may have misunderstood but are you buying a liquid cooler under the assumption that it will drop the temperature inside the case?

 

[AlvaroF]

I'd say avoid Seagate, apart from that I either don't know enough about AMD to have a useful opinion or agree with everything else. I bought a Seagate drive after everyone was saying they were fine (there was a spate of drive failures that was quite well-publicised about ten years ago, I think?), but it really wasn't - it died a month out of warranty! It's anecdotal, sure, but I'd never buy another and never recommend them.

I've seen them being used in large scale all over YouTube, I thought they were fine, but I'll have that in mind and I'll research it asap. Thanks for your input!

Edit: I may have misunderstood but are you buying a liquid cooler under the assumption that it will drop the temperature inside the case?

Pretty much. I mean if I can't draw away enough heat from components they'll evetually overheat. I was just trying to have the most neutral tempreture inside de case as possible, having small fans doing part of the work and the "stand alone" liquid cooler doing the other bit helps. But if I'm wrong correct me, I'm here to learn and take the most out of this experience.

Edit: Ohhh. I see it now, everything will be roughly the same whether I go liquid or air cooling. Back to the drawing board and time for some maths

 

[sesselpupser]

@AlvaroF you're not wrong, but a water cooler would shift more of the waste heat away from the CPU and into the case. If your case ventilation isn't good enough and it does cause overheating issues you pretty much have to get a new case or downclock your components so they run cooler.

That said, you might be surprised by how cool modern components run so it might not be an issue in the end anyway.

 

[BobK]

I'd say avoid Seagate, apart from that I either don't know enough about AMD to have a useful opinion or agree with everything else. I bought a Seagate drive after everyone was saying they were fine (there was a spate of drive failures that was quite well-publicised about ten years ago, I think?), but it really wasn't - it died a month out of warranty! It's anecdotal, sure, but I'd never buy another and never recommend them.

Over the years I've heard any number of people saying I swear by <drive mfgr> because of the rash of failures that <other mfgr> have had. I've had Seagate, WD, Hitachi, Maxtor, and others. In my experience I can't say one is inherently more reliable than others, and I've had failures amongst all those I mentioned.

 

[sesselpupser]

Over the years I've heard any number of people saying I swear by <drive mfgr> because of the rash of failures that <other mfgr> have had. I've had Seagate, WD, Hitachi, Maxtor, and others. In my experience I can't say one is inherently more reliable than others, and I've had failures amongst all those I mentioned.

Yeah, personal experience is only ever anecdotal and shouldn't be treated as factual, but Seagate did have issues for a while so when I bought my last one it was on a "maybe they're not so bad..." basis, then it died so I'll never buy another. By contrast, I had a Hitachi Deskstar - a common nickname for which was "Deathstar", such was their reputation - which saw service in a PowerMac G5 (it actually replaced a failed OEM Seagate, now that I think about it), a 2009 Mac Pro, the PC I built in 2011 and it finally died this time last year. I've never had a Western Digital drive that died before it outlived its usefulness, the one I have in my PS3 was bought to replace the 60GB one my first PS3 came with shortly before GT5 launched, that PS3 died the same day GT5 arrived on my doorstep so that's over 7 years old too.

So while I know it's an extremely small sample size and based almost entirely on my own anecdotes, I'll personally always recommend WD over Seagate. That said, I'd put that quite low on the list of priorities when it comes to deciding what to keep when cutting the budget.

 

[stonesfan129]

I have five Seagate drives currently. The only one I've ever had fail was a 250GB USB 2.0 portable after ~6 years of use. Maybe I've just gotten lucky. Seagates cost the least, but they also have the highest failure rates. My recommendation is to stick to WD or HGST.

 

[Rallywagon]

Haha, I don't speak on anecdotes, my job is specifically in storage, enterprise storage to be exact, working with infrastructure that houses now well over 20 petabytes of storage over thousands of HDD and SSD. Nearly every vendor we have uses Hitachi or WD for spun disk and Samsung for solid state. Why? Because these vendors, EMC, NetAPP, Pure Storage, OTC, they have done the research. They have done the cost analyses. They know that these two brands make the best, most reliable product.
Also, I personally recommend not worrying about SLI or Crossfire. Both new API's DX12 and Vulcan no longer utilize those technologies. As the new generation of games start to use Dx12 and/or Vulcan, SLI and Xfire will phase out. And honestly, only a few games even really utilize either of those anyway. Save the money buying two cards and buy one better card instead.