Critique my list: PC build

Update - Ordered EVERYTHING!! Gahhhhhh, I'm so glad to be done with this part. Thanks for all of the help and guidance. You all are awesome! I'll put the final ordered parts list at the bottom of this post. :D

So I'm FINALLY to the point where I can start ordering things! :D Thank you, all, for the responses and guidance you've given me in my several threads. I can't wait to start flying with you folks. (Ready to get my butt handed to me!)

This month will be the PC. Next month will be the HOTAS and other peripherals (and monitor at some point). Unfortunately, I caught some of the PC components on the upswing for pricing...like the motherboard that just went up about $50 a few days ago. Bah!! :doh: So I may take my time a bit to see if anything falls again in the short term.

One thing I still am uncertain of is which GPU to go with. This XC Ultra Gaming seems pretty middle of the road. Not the highest, but not the Black like I'd considered at one point. Also not sure if I'll stick with the Meshify S2 or find something with a front USB-C port as well.

I'm open to recommendations and tweak ideas! I may still change somethings if I decide to do some RGB. Right now, this one's pretty much all black.

DCS will go on the 1 TB Samsung. Question: does ALL of DCS, everything to do with it, have to be on the same drive? Just thinking about the future when it's getting filled up and I want to buy more planes.

If you have time, I would appreciate any input on each component to make sure I haven't missed something. Thanks!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: Intel - Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor ($261.98 @ Newegg)

CPU Cooler: Fractal Design - Celsius S36 87.6 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($115.04 @ Newegg)

Motherboard: Gigabyte - Z390 AORUS MASTER ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($294.98 @ Newegg)

Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($219.99 @ Newegg)

Storage: Crucial - P1 500 GB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($79.99 @ Adorama)

Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($147.99 @ Amazon)

Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB XC ULTRA GAMING Video Card ($1249.99 @ B&H)

Case: Fractal Design - Meshify S2 Black – Dark TG ATX Mid Tower Case ($162.98 @ Newegg)

Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($84.89 @ OutletPC)

Total: $2617.83

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Here's the list. Everything ordered, in-transit, or already delivered.

- i5-9600k

- Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Master

- Thermaltake Floe Riing 360 RGB Premium Cooler

- G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2x16) 3200 Mhz

- Crucial MX500 M.2 500 GB

- Samsung Evo 960 500 GB SSD

- EVGA RTX 2080 Ti XC Ultra Gaming, lol!! :chair:

- EVGA G3 850W Gold PSU

- Thermaltake View 71 TG Snow Edition

- Thrustmaster Warthog HOTAS

Still to come are the pedals, TrackIR & VR (later), headset, a powered USB hub, and at some point a monitor, new keyboard and mouse.

1T should be enough.

it will be years and years before dcs has enough planes to fill all that space.

970 EVO Plus just came out, pretty fast on paper.

https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=9SIA12K8SS0241&Description=970%20evo%20plus&cm_re=970_evo_plus-_-20-147-743-_-Product

Should be good I have just completed a 9600K/Asus Prime Z390 build myself and it's pretty impressive given I used my 1080Ti in it although I just used 500GB SATA 6 SSD.

Passmark tests has it right on the heels of my rig and when I OC the 9600K it may even beat my rig. :shocking: :megalol:

As for DCS I have a goodly collection of aircraft a couple of campaigns and all the maps and that is about 150GB.

Should be good I have just completed a 9600K/Asus Prime Z390 build myself and it's pretty impressive given I used my 1080Ti in it although I just used 500GB SATA 6 SSD.

 

Passmark tests has it right on the heels of my rig and when I OC the 9600K it may even beat my rig. :shocking: :megalol:

 

As for DCS I have a goodly collection of aircraft a couple of campaigns and all the maps and that is about 150GB.

Glad you're having good results!

Wow, DCS doesn't take much space then? I just saw the space requirements per airplane of "120 GB free on SSD" and thought I would end up filling 1 TB pretty quick. Thanks!

Glad you're having good results!

I should mention the PC build is for my wife. :D

I had some hand me down parts from my upgrades on hand.

Phanteks Anthoo Evolve ATX case (tough build glass on both sides. :) ) A case I had

i5 9600K buy

Noctua NH-15D cooler A cooler I had.

Asus Prime Z390A buy

EVGA 750W G2 buy

Ino 3D 1080Ti (my old GPU)

32GB Corsair Vengeance 2666 4*8GB (my old RAM)

Intel 545 series 500Gb SATA 6 SSD (my old SSD)

Windows 10 Pro buy

I'm sure you'll also find your build pretty good as well. :thumbup:

I don't know what you're doing on your system but I hardly come even close to ever filling up 500GB of disk space. I'd go with the 500GB M2 only, leave the normal 1TB SSD out and go for the 9700K or even 9900K seriously. The future tends to put more demand on corecount (DCS to Vulkan API), with the 9900K you have top-notch single thread performance and future proofing for multicore usage in one. Also if you intend to overclock the processor plus the graphics card you might get a PSU with a slightly higher wattage. I'd advise you to overclock with this motherboard anyway since it's mid to highrange/highrange. If you don't overlock atleast the CPU there is no need for you to buy this board really.

I don't know what you're doing on your system but I hardly come even close to ever filling up 500GB of disk space. I'd go with the 500GB M2 only, leave the normal 1TB SSD out and go for the 9700K or even 9900K seriously. The future tends to put more demand on corecount, with the 9900K you have single thread performance and future proof for multicore in one. Also if you intend to overclock the processor plus the graphics card you might get a PSU with a slightly higher wattage.

Ok, good info.

This will be purely for gaming, with DCS the ultimate goal. (I'll get some shooters like Battlefield, etc) I was planning on everything DCS on the 1 TB SSD, and then the OS and other games, etc. on the smaller M.2. However, you do make a good point. I figured having the OS on a separate drive could be handy if there were ever problems with Windows. Honestly, I guess maybe I was wrong in estimating my storage needs??? I thought each module required 120 GB of space. I thought I would run out of space after I bought a handful of planes and maps. Not the case?

One other thought, I will be transferring all of our family photos onto this computer as well.

I am planning on OC'ing. I figured the 9600k would be a great initial chip: lower price, great performance for pure gaming. I'm planning on a better motherboard now as I figure I'd upgrade to a better CPU once the prices are down in the future. I didn't want to burn extra money since DCS wouldn't really take advantage of the 9900k at this point.

I'll look at bumping up the PSU, thanks!

Any comments on that GPU? Good choice in the 2080 Ti offerings?

... This will be purely for gaming, with DCS the ultimate goal. (I'll get some shooters like Battlefield, etc) I was planning on everything DCS on the 1 TB SSD, and then the OS and other games, etc. on the smaller M.2. However, you do make a good point.

"Some" shooters is quite subjective but 500GB should still be enough, for me it would be even with another bigger application here and there. Afterall you don't want to spend all your life on video games or DCS do you? DCS alone really is able to keep you busy.

I figured having the OS on a separate drive could be handy if there were ever problems with Windows.

Handy and clean.

Honestly, I guess maybe I was wrong in estimating my storage needs??? I thought each module required 120 GB of space. I thought I would run out of space after I bought a handful of planes and maps. Not the case?

 

One other thought, I will be transferring all of our family photos onto this computer as well.

You're good to go with 500GB for DCS and one or two bigger shooters and family photos. Unless you really, really have a lot of photos in terms of filesize.

I am planning on OC'ing. I figured the 9600k would be a great initial chip: lower price, great performance for pure gaming. I'm planning on a better motherboard now as I figure I'd upgrade to a better CPU once the prices are down in the future. I didn't want to burn extra money since DCS wouldn't really take advantage of the 9900k at this point.

 

I'll look at bumping up the PSU, thanks!

It would just be smart to get a 9900K straight away instead of another 1TB storage. I guess ED will move DCS to Vulkan before the end of 2021, hopefully a lot sooner, so the cores and threads will "pay off" quite fast. Also there really isn't a downside for the 9900K because it is also one of the kings in terms of single thread performance as of now.

You could also 1) get the EVGA 2080 TI FTW3 instead of the one you listed, it's their most powerful right now plus the 9600K/9700K or 2) 9900K with the GPU you listed. Depends if you do prefer a little more power on the processor or on the graphics card against each other. If you have the cash go for both seriously. The more you pay the more you get, quite simple in this case.

"Some" shooters is quite subjective but 500GB should still be enough, for me it would be even with another bigger application here and there. Afterall you don't want to spend all your life on video games or DCS do you? DCS alone really is able to keep you busy.

 

 

Handy and clean.

 

 

You're good to go with 500GB for DCS and one or two bigger shooters and family photos. Unless you really, really have a lot of photos in terms of filesize.

 

 

It would just be smart to get a 9900K straight away instead of another 1TB storage. I guess ED will move DCS to Vulkan before the end of 2021, hopefully a lot sooner, so the cores and threads will "pay off" quite fast. Also there really isn't a downside for the 9900K because it is also one of the kings in terms of single thread performance as of now.

 

You could also 1) get the EVGA 2080 TI FTW3 instead of the one you listed, it's their most powerful right now plus the 9600K/9700K or 2) 9900K with the GPU you listed. Depends if you do prefer a little more power on the processor or on the graphics card against each other. If you have the cash go for both seriously. The more you pay the more you get, quite simple in this case.

Well, you're certainly right about DCS keeping me busy. I remember the learning curve when I started playing BMS, so I can only imagine what DCS will be like. Throw in learning the commands of a HOTAS, and then trying to master each plane I get. I imagine the only shooter I'll have for a while would be Battlefield V, as it comes with the GPU.

I think I'll just do that one 500 GB SSD as you suggested. I might throw in a cheap HDD to keep photos and other "stuff" on. They're pretty darn inexpensive as it is.

I don't have the cash to do both the 9900K and step up higher in GPU, so if I do anything it'll be one or the other. I'll probably do a better GPU if that's the case. It'll be easier to spend a little more on that monster purchase now, and will be a little easier spending $400-500 later on for a 9900k once Vulkan arrives. Of course, Mrs. CL30 may not be happy with these changes, if I do them! :helpsmilie:

Also, I stepped back up to the SeaSonic Focus Plus Gold 850W PSU.

I think I'll just do that one 500 GB SSD as you suggested. I might throw in a cheap HDD to keep photos and other "stuff" on. They're pretty darn inexpensive as it is.

I don't have the cash to do both the 9900K and step up higher in GPU, so if I do anything it'll be one or the other. I'll probably do a better GPU if that's the case. It'll be easier to spend a little more on that monster purchase now, and will be a little easier spending $400-500 later on for a 9900k once Vulkan arrives.

I don't know what you're doing on your system but I hardly come even close to ever filling up 500GB of disk space. I'd go with the 500GB M2 only, leave the normal 1TB SSD out and go for the 9700K or even 9900K seriously. The future tends to put more demand on corecount (DCS to Vulkan API), with the 9900K you have top-notch single thread performance and future proofing for multicore usage in one. Also if you intend to overclock the processor plus the graphics card you might get a PSU with a slightly higher wattage. I'd advise you to overclock with this motherboard anyway since it's mid to highrange/highrange. If you don't overlock atleast the CPU there is no need for you to buy this board really.

Agree I was thinking of GB Aourus but for 9600K I went for the cheaper but still OK Asus Z390A Prime, the GB equivalent would be fine at that price point.

The 9700K and 9900K are nice CPU's but I still think high clock low cost is the go for DCS for now, AD 's 8350K is also a great choice. I only get to use just over 30% CPU usage with 6 cores 12 threads. Also the 9900K is 2 core @ 5GHz out of the box nice, but a 9600K all cores at well maybe 4.9 to 5Ghz + for me at half the price is good value.

:thumbup:

You guys are great! Thanks for getting these wheels turning.

One other question I just thought of: right now I have a 360 AIO. Wanted to see if you think stepping down to a 280 would be okay cooling-wise for an OC'd 9600k. What about a 9700/9900k? Just wondering where to draw the line.

The reason I ask is I'm toying with a "theme" in my mind for how I want this thing to look, and I think I may not have to pull the little panel out of the case if I do a 280 instead of a 360. I could be wrong. Looking at that now, actually.

The 9700K and 9900K are nice CPU's but I still think high clock low cost is the go for DCS for now ... Also the 9900K is 2 core @ 5GHz out of the box nice, but a 9600K all cores at well maybe 4.9 to 5Ghz + for me at half the price is good value.

Point being that newer CPUs, in this generation, are still slightly more powerful at the same clock speed since they also work with more cache and more additional stuff which I can't explain to you since I'm not on the level a Intel employee as of now. So 5000 megahertz on the 9600K are not as strong as on the 9900K (single thread), but the difference is not big by any means. In the end it is just about if you want the best without really looking at finances or not.

One other question I just thought of: right now I have a 360 AIO. Wanted to see if you think stepping down to a 280 would be okay cooling-wise for an OC'd 9600k. What about a 9700/9900k? Just wondering where to draw the line.

280 is enough for cooling this line of CPUs if you have a decent manufacturer of the cooling system, 360 is a "cooling overkill" especially in case of the 9600K because the voltage will decide where your overclocking wall will be and not the heat (in this 280 versus 360 radiator scenario). If it's about space in a new case then have a look at the Lian Li PC-O11 (Dynamic), has place for 3x360 radiators plus it also has superb airflow for motherboard and GPU.

Point being that newer CPUs, in this generation, are still slightly more powerful at the same clock speed since they also work with more cache and more additional stuff which I can't explain to you since I'm not a Intel employee. So 5000 megahertz on the 9600K are not as strong as on the 9900K (single thread), but the difference is not big by any means. In the end it is just about if you want the best without really looking at finances or not.

 

 

 

280 is enough for cooling this line of CPUs if you have a decent manufacturer of the cooling system, 360 is a "cooling overkill" especially in case of the 9600K because the voltage will decide where your overclocking wall will be and not the heat (in this 280 versus 360 radiator scenario). If it's about space in a new case then have a look at the Lian Li PC-O11 (Dynamic), has place for 3x360 radiators plus it also has superb airflow for motherboard and GPU.

Ok, thanks. Yes, the O11 Dynamic is a beautiful case! I think I'll revisit that. I had it on my build list for a while at one point. :thumbup:

Point being that newer CPUs, in this generation, are still slightly more powerful at the same clock speed since they also work with more cache and more additional stuff which I can't explain to you since I'm not a Intel employee. So 5000 megahertz on the 9600K are not as strong as on the 9900K (single thread), but the difference is not big by any means. In the end it is just about if you want the best without really looking at finances or not.

Agree if I where to do a balls against the wall build I would do a 9900X build Vulkan and all.

But maybe Ryxen 3000 eh? ;)

... do a 9900X build Vulkan and all.

This would only help if Vulkan had no limits on utilizing number of cores. It has limits I guess. I doubt it has none and can really use like 20+ threads in a effective way but better than it is now for sure.

This would only help if Vulkan had no limits on utilizing number of cores. It has limits I guess. I doubt it has none and can really use like 20+ threads in a effective way but better than it is now for sure.

We will wait & see.

my 5 Dollars are on Ryzen 3000 for 2019. I think by Xmas no one talks Intel anymore.

 

You could also 1) get the EVGA 2080 TI FTW3 instead of the one you listed, it's their most powerful right now plus the 9600K/9700K or 2) 9900K with the GPU you listed. Depends if you do prefer a little more power on the processor or on the graphics card against each other. If you have the cash go for both seriously. The more you pay the more you get, quite simple in this case.

Agreed, I am running an i9 9900k at 5.1 GHz on all cores with an EVGA RTX 2080 Ti FTW3 and am quite pleased.

Bring on Vulcan!

Agreed, I am running an i9 9900k at 5.1 GHz on all cores with an EVGA RTX 2080 Ti FTW3 and am quite pleased.

Bring on Vulcan!

Ehhhhh...I'm pricing out a build with a 9900K and FTW3 (non-Ultra).

- I've dropped the Aorus Master for the Aorus Ultra.

- Went with cheaper G.Skill Ripjaws V RAM (still 32GB @3200).

- Also dropped the 500 GB Samsung 970 Evo Plus for a Crucial P1 500 GB M.2.

- Kept the Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 850W PSU. Is that enough for that CPU/GPU though?!

This build is still pushing $2900. I don't think I'd feel good about doing that, lol!!

I'll keep toying with it, and maybe try for a 9700K at least. I think I'll be pretty happy for a while though with the current CPU and GPU. If/when Vulcan ever arrives, I'll worry about upgrading then. This system, no matter WHAT ends up in it, will be a massive upgrade from my current PC. My wife will probably still be talking to me this way, too! lol :chair:

Ehhhhh...I'm pricing out a build with a 9900K and FTW3 (non-Ultra).

 

- I've dropped the Aorus Master for the Aorus Ultra.

- Went with cheaper G.Skill Ripjaws V RAM (still 32GB @3200).

- Also dropped the 500 GB Samsung 970 Evo Plus for a Crucial P1 500 GB M.2.

- Kept the Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 850W PSU. Is that enough for that CPU/GPU though?!

 

This build is still pushing $2900. I don't think I'd feel good about doing that, lol!!

 

I'll keep toying with it, and maybe try for a 9700K at least. I think I'll be pretty happy for a while though with the current CPU and GPU. If/when Vulcan ever arrives, I'll worry about upgrading then. This system, no matter WHAT ends up in it, will be a massive upgrade from my current PC. My wife will probably still be talking to me this way, too! lol :chair:

Lol I feel your pain. I saved up for mine over the course of a few months, shudder to think how much I spent.

Re: power supply, I am sure it would be ok but I would consider a 1000w to be safe.

Lol I feel your pain. I saved up for mine over the course of a few months, shudder to think how much I spent.

 

Re: power supply, I am sure it would be ok but I would consider a 1000w to be safe.

Ok, thanks. If I end up going up into those higher-tiered components, I'll up the PSU as well. :thumbup:

Being an avid gamer myself with admittedly too much free time on my hands.. highly introverted and swore off cable television years ago, my PC is my home entertainment system.

257 games on steam, EA/Origin Premier access and a couple titles I enjoy playing through battle.net

DCS with all the maps, and in my case most of the modules can take up to 130GB (not per module, DCS as a whole)

DCS + 1 modern title can easily eat half of a 500GB drive. My two 480GB sata III pny ssd's are quite easy to fill up and most modern titles come with a 20-80GB download these days.

Personally, I'd rather have higher capacity sata III ssd's than a lower capacity NVME drive.

In most practical use you aren't going to see the benefit of NVME over sata III, with NVME offering almost no benefit to gaming over sata III.

In that regard, if you're concerned about saving $$$ a 500GB sata III drive would help there too.

But it's hard to go wrong here. Cost of even NVME drives aren't that bad. The beauty of a desktop being that things like video cards and storage are easily replaced/upgradable, and you might be able to sell whatever you upgrade from to help with the cost factor. You can always just add another drive up to the limit of sata connections on your motherboard later if you feel you need more storage.

I'd say your build looks good. And by the time you recover from the expenses you'll probably have had quite a bit of time to enjoy the new rig.. and I'd wager it'll last you long enough to have gotten your money's worth from it.

P.S. I'm loving my XC Ultra, but that black edition is still a 2080Ti for a few hundred bucks less. Most people probably wouldn't even notice the difference between the two performance wise. XC Ultra gets a bit more headroom for overclocking with a 130% power target, but that's if you win the silicon lottery.. and the difference is still negligible. Just food for thought, as you seem content with shooting for somewhat higher end hardware.

Being an avid gamer myself with admittedly too much free time on my hands.. highly introverted and swore off cable television years ago, my PC is my home entertainment system.

 

257 games on steam, EA/Origin Premier access and a couple titles I enjoy playing through battle.net

 

DCS with all the maps, and in my case most of the modules can take up to 130GB (not per module, DCS as a whole)

 

DCS + 1 modern title can easily eat half of a 500GB drive. My two 480GB sata III pny ssd's are quite easy to fill up and most modern titles come with a 20-80GB download these days.

 

Personally, I'd rather have higher capacity sata III ssd's than a lower capacity NVME drive.

 

In most practical use you aren't going to see the benefit of NVME over sata III, with NVME offering almost no benefit to gaming over sata III.

 

In that regard, if you're concerned about saving $$$ a 500GB sata III drive would help there too.

 

But it's hard to go wrong here. Cost of even NVME drives aren't that bad. The beauty of a desktop being that things like video cards and storage are easily replaced/upgradable, and you might be able to sell whatever you upgrade from to help with the cost factor. You can always just add another drive up to the limit of sata connections on your motherboard later if you feel you need more storage.

 

I'd say your build looks good. And by the time you recover from the expenses you'll probably have had quite a bit of time to enjoy the new rig.. and I'd wager it'll last you long enough to have gotten your money's worth from it.

 

P.S. I'm loving my XC Ultra, but that black edition is still a 2080Ti for a few hundred bucks less. Most people probably wouldn't even notice the difference between the two performance wise. XC Ultra gets a bit more headroom for overclocking with a 130% power target, but that's if you win the silicon lottery.. and the difference is still negligible. Just food for thought, as you seem content with shooting for somewhat higher end hardware.

Thanks for your helpful insight, Headwarp!

You do make some good points about using a SATA drive instead of an NVMe. I'm not going to be doing lots of data transfers and stuff like that. Mainly, I'll load Windows and load some games. I think a slightly longer load time for the maps could be a good thing...will give me time to grab a beer from the 'fridge, lol.

As for the GPU, I considered that point about the Black card. You may have been the one make that statement to me quite a while back in another thread, that even though it's on the low rung, it's still a 2080 Ti. I think a little room for overclocking would be good. I don't want to paint myself into a corner so-to-speak and end up wishing I would've spent a couple hundred extra for a little better card. :)