Building new rig! Need suggestions

[Masters2150]

I have two variants of my rig I plan to buy, one without a custom watercooling loop and one with.


Budget: $5000 CAD (including taxes, so $4400 without taxes)

With an AIO cooler: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/XHFp7h




I decided to see if I could afford a custom loop. To keep within my price range I had to sacrifice some of the parts, like a slightly lower GPU, changing the case, and cut my SSD to 250gb.

Heres the new parts picker: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/bsp4HN

Here is the EK configurator water cooling setup: https://www.ekwb.com/custom-loop-configurator/shared/oW59dd9314b2b44

All parts except the cooler comes up to $3495 CAD without taxes. The EK kit comes up to $760 USD (including shipping) which is approx $950, totalling approximately $4445, accounting for taxes would be $5022, JUST above my $5000 budget.

I also added a T splitter and valve to make maintenance draining easy, but it only added like $40, so no big deal.

 

[Nebulous]

Well given you have a real nice budget to work with, I'd go custom with the EK setup. However with the AIO there's less maintenance involved aside from the occasional dusting. So it all amounts to if you're willing to do regular maintenance or not.

Still gonna be a hell of a build!

 

[Masters2150]

Well given you have a real nice budget to work with, I'd go custom with the EK setup. However with the AIO there's less maintenance involved aside from the occasional dusting. So it all amounts to if you're willing to do regular maintenance or not.

Still gonna be a hell of a build!

How much work is actually involved? Is it as bad as people make it out to be?

Or do I just, drain it every 6 months, run some distilled water through it every 6 months, then refill it and I'm good for another 6 months. If thats it, I'm fine. Or do I have to open the block up and take a tooth brush to it as well?

 

[Nebulous]

Using distilled water and a biocide (PTNuke) you'll be fine. Unless you get some sort of bacteria growth, 6mos flush will do. Before assembly of your new watercooling parts, flush with distilled water. That will take care of contaminates. I do my maintenance about once every 10 mos to a year. Never had a problem.

Take a look at this :

 

[Masters2150]

Using distilled water and a biocide (PTNuke) you'll be fine. Unless you get some sort of bacteria growth, 6mos flush will do. Before assembly of your new watercooling parts, flush with distilled water. That will take care of contaminates. I do my maintenance about once every 10 mos to a year. Never had a problem.

Take a look at this :

If thats the case and it doesn't require me to completely take the thing apart I'll be fine.
One thing to note, the EK config thing said I needed 2 rads, is that true? Seems like a bit much.

 

[EarthDog]

This is going to be weird to say.............

Save money and go Intel... lol.

I say wait a bit and grab a 8700K and X370 board. You will want that to push the 1080Ti properly. Will you miss the FPS, not really, but it won't hold you back at all and costs less. I would only go Ryzenif you actually needed all those cores and threads.

 

[Masters2150]

Using distilled water and a biocide (PTNuke) you'll be fine. Unless you get some sort of bacteria growth, 6mos flush will do. Before assembly of your new watercooling parts, flush with distilled water. That will take care of contaminates. I do my maintenance about once every 10 mos to a year. Never had a problem.

Take a look at this :

Also, do I need that kill coil and anti-corrosive?

- - - Updated - - -

This is going to be weird to say.............

Save money and go Intel... lol.

I say wait a bit and grab a 8700K and X370 board. You will want that to push the 1080Ti properly. Will you miss the FPS, not really, but it won't hold you back at all and costs less. I would only go Ryzenif you actually needed all those cores and threads.

Save money...with intel? I'm sorry are you high?

Honestly I have a $4400 CAD budget, and the little bit of money I'd save, I don't think I would save enough to put it into anything else worth while. True, I may not use the cores, but future proofing in case game makers finally do make a game that uses all cores available.

 

[Masters2150]

Can anyone help me with something. I'd prefer to use a Canadian store, just for cheaper shipping and I don't have to worry about exchange rates, etc.

I'm looking on dazmode.com, which ships from Canada, trying to decide on a compartable kit. Any ideas?

 

[EarthDog]

I'm not high (right now).

I just realized its Canuckistan money... AN 8700K is a mere $40 more.

Games wont need 8 cores... I'd rather have 6 that are faster than 8 slower in 4 years.

 

[Masters2150]

I'm not high (right now).

I just realized its Canuckistan money... AN 8700K is a mere $40 more.

Games wont need 8 cores... I'd rather have 6 that are faster than 8 slower in 4 years.

Or I could save even more money and just go for a Ryzen 5 1600 and overclock it....what do you think?

 

[EarthDog]

I think you should get the Intel. YOu have a 165Hz monitor...in some titles, the Ryzen CPU will put a glass ceiling on the 1080Ti and, IMO, getting a monitor like that says you want every FPS you can get. Perhaps consider the 4c/8t coffee lake CPU.

 

[Masters2150]

I think you should get the Intel. YOu have a 165Hz monitor...in some titles, the Ryzen CPU will put a glass ceiling on the 1080Ti and, IMO, getting a monitor like that says you want every FPS you can get. Perhaps consider the 4c/8t coffee lake CPU.

If I'm going to be honest, I just wanted a really good monitor that had g-sync and 27". Someone recommended it, looked good, so I went with it.

But ya I do want the performance, but in all honesty, you say the ryzen would be the bottleneck. Isn't that true of both unless I overclock, which would then bring them almost on par with each other?

 

[Nebulous]

If I'm going to be honest, I just wanted a really good monitor that had g-sync and 27". Someone recommended it, looked good, so I went with it.

But ya I do want the performance, but in all honesty, you say the ryzen would be the bottleneck. Isn't that true of both unless I overclock, which would then bring them almost on par with each other?

Ryzen is still slower clock for clock against Intel. Intel is the better choice for a gaming rig. Ryzen is best suited for applications that benefit from the xtra cores. In the end it's really up to you if you still decide on Ryzen. It will be a slower clocked machine for gaming which eventually will hold back the 1080Ti in gaming performance.

 

[GatorChamp]

You are going to leave frames on the table, how much will depending on which title you are playing, if you go with Ryzen. Intel is still better in the gaming arena. It's just true. My friend just got a 165hz screen with gsync and him and his brother have almost exact same setups with 1080TIs but he has a 6800k and his brother a 1700x. He gets better frames in almost every game. Listen to ED.

 

[Masters2150]

You are going to leave frames on the table, how much will depending on which title you are playing, if you go with Ryzen. Intel is still better in the gaming arena. It's just true. My friend just got a 165hz screen with gsync and him and his brother have almost exact same setups with 1080TIs but he has a 6800k and his brother a 1700x. He gets better frames in almost every game. Listen to ED.

Didn't meant I wasn't listening, I just want to be sure. I have time before I'll actually be buying the computer.

My current rig is running on an i7 920. The original video card was a ATI 4890, that I upgraded later to my current 7950. So when I buy a computer, it usually lasts me close to 8 years with only minor upgrades. So I'm trying to make sure that I'll be happy with what I buy.

One thing I wanted to ask, ek also sells those aluminum based kits that can expand. Think it would be cheaper and almost just as good to buy the a240g kit, and buy an extra 360mm rad?

 

[Nebulous]

If you go with the EK Aluminum 240mm kit and want to buy a separate 360mm rad, be sure to get aluminum. DO NOT MIX METALS! That's a recipe for corrosion disaster.

If Aluminum, stick with Aluminum.
If Copper, stick with copper/brass

Copper/brass & aluminum don't mix well together.

 

[batboy]

Agreed, don't mix metals, I prefer to keep aluminum away. Yes, it's light weight and it's... well... light weight, but copper transfers heat better and is more stable in the loop. If you only have copper, you shouldn't need anti-corrosive additives. At least I never have... I use plain distilled water and a couple drops of PT-nuke. You need to drain the system, remove the block and radiator, and clean them good at least once a year.

 

[||Console||]

Here is just a quick build but more of a an idea @ only 2500$ you still have lots of room for Cooling and a Display

 

[Masters2150]

Ryzen is still slower clock for clock against Intel. Intel is the better choice for a gaming rig. Ryzen is best suited for applications that benefit from the xtra cores. In the end it's really up to you if you still decide on Ryzen. It will be a slower clocked machine for gaming which eventually will hold back the 1080Ti in gaming performance.

Agreed, don't mix metals, I prefer to keep aluminum away. Yes, it's light weight and it's... well... light weight, but copper transfers heat better and is more stable in the loop. If you only have copper, you shouldn't need anti-corrosive additives. At least I never have... I use plain distilled water and a couple drops of PT-nuke. You need to drain the system, remove the block and radiator, and clean them good at least once a year.

No mixing!? But I was going for the grunge look!

I get that aluminum isn't as good, but it's not like I'm going for crazy overclocks, let me get into watercooling before I go for phase change here.

The problem I have is that I've got to balance things with my budget because I most likely won't get this kind of money again for years, so I've got to balance my budget with longevity.

Honestly, if I just got a good air cooler, I could put the money from a water loop towards getting a second graphics card.

Maybe I should just get a noctua dh15 and sli two 1080 ti.

I'm trying to find all my options. Like for instance, I could go with what I have now, which is the full custom loop. Or I can get a smaller loop that I can expand later and afford a second 1080 ti, thought I may have to compromise on other parts. I could also get the best air cooler I can get my hands on, and a second card, and I don't need to compromise other parts. Or I can go the complete opposite and not overclock at all, get a second card card, and get even better alternate components.

But I'd prefer it if I could meet myself somewhere in the middle that while i may not get everything, even with a budget like mine, but that it wouldn't be as expensive to get what I want later down the road.

If someone has a suggestion in how I can achieve that, I want to know.

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If anyone has an alternate monitor in mind I'd love to hear it too. I'd need one though to take advantage of even one 1080 ti as I've only every used 1080p for years on a 22" monitor.

 

[GTXJackBauer]

You want watercooling while being within budget along with all the bells and whistles of RGB bling? Build a NZXT eco-system. NZXT AIO for CPU and GPU (bracket). They have ones that have RGB controls as well as a hub that controls their fans/RGB. You'll spend less at the end and will love the look of your rig as you can change its color theme at any moments notice. It will look great if done right instead of having the worries of custom H20 and the best part of it all, maintenance-free. Money left over can go to better parts for the rest of the build or saved for future upgrades.