February 2018 Build Guide

Waiting for the cryptocurrency crash

February 2018 Build Guide

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Cryptocurrency and VRAM pricing has really done a number on GPU prices so having a list of builds doesn't really work, below is a list of GPU's then the rest of a system. Ones within the same tier are within 5% of each other in general preformance and prices are based on launch MSRP sourced from Anandtech. There are three caveats with this list: Tier 0 should not be brought for gaming typically, T1 is where it is acceptable to buy Intel K CPU's typically, where there is an AMD card and Nvidia the AMD ones are preferable due to Freesync (when they're roughly the same price) otherwise just get the cheaper of the two.

GPU Tiers

GPU Tier MSRP Recommended Resolution
Titan V, Titan X(Pascal), Titan XP [7] 0 >$900 1440p+ [8]
GTX 1080ti 1 $700 1440p+ [8]
GTX 1080, RX Vega 64 2 $600 1440p
GTX 1070 ti, RX Vega 56 3 $450, $500 1440p
GTX 1070 4 $380 1440p
GTX 1060 6GB, RX 580 5 $250, $230 1080p+ [8]
GTX 1060 3GB, RX 570 6 $200, $170 1080p
GTX 1050ti 7 $140 1080p
RX 560 8 $100 720p+
GTX 1050 9 $110 720p+
RX 550 10 $80 -
GT 1030 11 $80 -
2200G, 2400G 10,11 (Expected) $100, $170 -

N.B. The 2200G and 2400G are Raven Ridge APU's and are unreleased as of this article.

With that out of the way lets get down to everything else below is a similar list to the above.

Everything else

CPU CPU Cooler Motherboard [4] RAM SSD (Required) [1] HDD (Recommended) [2] PSU Monitor [5] Tier [5] GPU Tier
8700k, 8600k Good 240MM CLC with delid Z370 (Z270 is not compatible), 4 RAM slots (when not mITX) 2x8 or 1x16 DDR4 2666MHz 288 pin SDRAM 480 GB SATA (M.2 or 2.5") >3 TB 7200 RPM Good 650w+ 80+ Gold PSU like Corsair RMx, Seasonic Focus Plus, Bitfenix Whisper M and EVGA G3 1440p Adaptive Sync IPS, 4k IPS, 4K+ 1 1
R7-1700, 1700x, 1800x [3] Good single tower air cooler like an Cryorig H5 Universal B350, X370, 4 RAM slots (when not mITX), 0 PCI slots with above average VRM 2x8 or 1x16 DDR4 3GHz+ 288 pin SDRAM 480 GB SATA (M.2 or 2.5") >3 TB 7200 RPM Good 550w+ 80+ Gold PSU like Corsair RMx, Seasonic Focus Plus, Bitfenix Whisper M and EVGA G3 1440p Adaptive Sync IPS, 4k IPS, 4K+ 2 1
R7-1700 Wraith Spire (Stock cooler) B350, X370, 4 RAM slots (when not mITX), 0 PCI slots 2x8 or 1x16 DDR4 3GHz+ 288 pin SDRAM 480 GB SATA (M.2 or 2.5") >3 TB 7200 RPM Good 550w+ 80+ Gold PSU like Corsair RMx, Seasonic Focus Plus, Bitfenix Whisper M and EVGA G3 1440p Adaptive Sync IPS, 4k IPS, 4K+ 3 1-4
i7-8700 (non k) Intel Stock Cooler Z370 (Z270 is not compatible) until the B250 equivalent is avaliable, 4 RAM slots (when not mITX) 2x8 or 1x16 DDR4 2400MHz+ 288 pin SDRAM 480 GB SATA (M.2 or 2.5") >2 TB 7200 RPM Good 550w+ 80+ Gold PSU like Corsair RMx, Seasonic Focus Plus, Bitfenix Whisper M and EVGA G3 1080p+, 1440p 3 1-4
i5-8400, i5-8500 Intel Stock Cooler Z370 (Z270 is not compatible) until the B250 equivalent is avaliable, 4 RAM slots (when not mITX) 2x8 or 1x16 DDR4 2400MHz+ 288 pin SDRAM 240 GB SATA (M.2 or 2.5") >2 TB 7200 RPM Good 550w+ 80+ Gold PSU like Corsair RMx, Seasonic Focus Plus, Bitfenix Whisper M and EVGA G3 1080p+, 1440p 4 2-5
R5-1600, R5-1600x [3] Wraith Spire (Stock Cooler), Cryorig M9A B350, X370, 4 RAM slots (when not mITX), 0 PCI slots 2x8 or 1x16 DDR4 2666MHz+ 288 pin SDRAM 240 GB SATA (M.2 or 2.5") >2 TB 7200 RPM Good 550w+ 80+ Gold PSU like Corsair RMx, Seasonic Focus Plus, Bitfenix Whisper M and EVGA G3 1080p+, 1440p 4 2-5
i5-8400, i5-8500 Intel Stock Cooler Z370 (Z270 is not compatible) until the B250 equivalent is avaliable, 4 RAM slots (when not mITX) 2x8 or 1x16 DDR4 2400MHz+ 288 pin SDRAM 240 GB SATA (M.2 or 2.5") >2 TB 7200 RPM <= Good 500w 80+ Bronze PSU like Corsair CXM (white label) , Fractal Integra M or BeQuiet Pure Power 10 1080p+, 1440p 4 2-5
R5-1600, R5-1600x [3] Wraith Spire (Stock Cooler), Cryorig M9A B350, X370, 4 RAM slots (when not mITX), 0 PCI slots 2x8 or 1x16 DDR4 2666MHz+ 288 pin SDRAM 240 GB SATA (M.2 or 2.5") >2 TB 7200 RPM <= Good 500w 80+ Bronze PSU like Corsair CXM (white label) , Fractal Integra M or BeQuiet Pure Power 10 1080p+, 1440p 4 2-5
R5-1400, R5-1500x [3]_[9]_ Wraith Stealth(Stock Cooler), Wraith Spire (Stock Cooler), Cryorig M9A [6] B350, X370, 4 RAM slots (when not mITX), 0 PCI slots 2x8 or 1x16 DDR4 2666MHz+ 288 pin SDRAM 240 GB SATA (M.2 or 2.5") >1 TB 7200 RPM <= Good 500w 80+ Bronze PSU like Corsair CXM (white label) , Fractal Integra M or BeQuiet Pure Power 10 1080p IPS 5 5-8
2400G Wraith Stealth (Stock Cooler), Cryorig M9A [6] B350, X370, 4 RAM slots (when not mITX), 0 PCI slots 2x8 or 1x16 DDR4 2400MHz+ 288 pin SDRAM 240 GB SATA (M.2 or 2.5") >1 TB 7200 RPM <= Good 500w 80+ Bronze PSU like Corsair CXM (white label) , Fractal Integra M or BeQuiet Pure Power 10 1080p IPS 5 5-11
R3-1200, R3-1300x [3] [9] Wraith Stealth(Stock Cooler), Wraith Spire (Stock Cooler), Cryorig M9A [6] B350, X370, 4 RAM slots (when not mITX), 0 PCI slots 2x8 or 1x8 DDR4 2666MHz+ 288 pin SDRAM 240 GB SATA (M.2 or 2.5") >1 TB 7200 RPM <= Good 500w 80+ Bronze PSU like Corsair CXM (white label), Seasonic S12 II/M12 II, Fractal Integra M or BeQuiet Pure Power 10 1080p IPS 6 5-8
2200G Wraith Stealth (Stock Cooler), Cryorig M9A [6] B350, X370, 4 RAM slots (when not mITX), 0 PCI slots 2x8 or 1x16 DDR4 2400MHz+ 288 pin SDRAM 240 GB SATA (M.2 or 2.5") >1 TB 7200 RPM <= Good 500w 80+ Bronze PSU like Corsair CXM (white label), Seasonic S12 II/M12 II, Fractal Integra M or BeQuiet Pure Power 10 1080p IPS 6 5-11

Footnotes

[1] NVMe, PCIe drives should be avoided, see "Effective marketing or why you don't need an NVMe SSD" and "M.2, NVMe, Optane and You" for why.
[2] 7200 RPM HDD's provide the best value, there is no valid data on reliability.
[3] (1, 2, 3, 4) These are all the same CPU, the difference is stock clocks and the bundled cooler. They overclock to the same point.
[4] When presented with multiple choices choose the cheapest that has the features that you will actually use.
[5] (1, 2) Assumption of gaming.
[6] (1, 2, 3, 4) This general price range of cooler, never get the Coolermaster 212 unless there is no better option (last choice.)
[7] Please do not buy these for gaming.
[8] (1, 2, 3) The + means that it is a bit more powerful than needed for the tier or high refresh/adaptive sync.
[9] You normally want to choose the Raven Ridge equivalent over these since they both feature an onboard GPU and have a single CCX removing the primary reason for high clocked RAM.

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