Need help building a config

Welcome back gpcook. I've configured this build. It comes in right at your price point, and includes your most important features.

Digital Storm Desktop - Config ID 2122309     
1
$2,972.00     $2,972.00
      
System Configuration:
Chassis Model: Digital Storm Lumos
Processor: Intel Core i7-9700K (4.9 GHz Turbo) (8-Core) 3.6 GHz
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z390 GAMING PRO CARBON AC (Intel Z390 Chipset) (Up to 3x PCI-E Devices)
System Memory: 16GB DDR4 3000MHz Digital Storm Performance Series
Power Supply: 750W Corsair RM750x (Fully Modular)
Optical Drive: - No Thanks
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (512GB Samsung 970 PRO) (NVM Express) (Extreme Performance)
Storage Set 2: 1x SSD M.2 (512GB Samsung 970 PRO) (NVM Express) (Extreme Performance)
Storage Set 3: 1x Storage (2TB Seagate / Toshiba)
RAID Config: - No Thanks
RAID Card: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 1x GeForce RTX 2070 8GB (VR Ready)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Corsair H110i GT - 280mm Liquid CPU Cooler (Fully Sealed + No Maintenance)
HydroLux Tubing Style: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
Cable Management: Premium Cable Management (Strategically Routed & Organized for Airflow)
Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Remote Controlled Advanced LED Lighting System (Multiple RGB Color Modes)
Airflow Control: - No Thanks
CPU Boost: Stock Factory Turbo Boost Advanced Automatic Overclocking
Graphics Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
OS Boost: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: USB Drive - Windows 10 Installation (Format and Clean Install)
Virus Protection: Windows Defender Antivirus (Built-in to Windows 10
Branded Gear: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 15-20 Business Days After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

I've cleaned up the config a little by deleting some of the unselected options.

Please note:

1. I've used higher end parts within budget. You could save $ in several places by making some trims which would not substantially reduce quality or performance. I'll point those out.

2.CPU: You could save with the i5 9600K or the i7 8700K. Either would perform well for several years to come. Strictly in gaming, you would barely know a difference.

3.The mobo is my favorite pick for features, cost, and reliability.

4.Power supply is the best pick for price/headroom. Name brand, 5 year warranty.

5.Storage: You could save a bit here without giving up much. The Samsung 970 PRO is the top choice, but you would never see much difference with the 970 EVO 500 GB. You could get the PRO for primary and back it up with the EVO for your secondary. They both carry 5 year warranties from Samsung, but the PRO is a bit more cutting edge, a little bit faster, but not really necessary for consumer uses. They are both so darn fast, you'd never notice the difference IMO.

6.GPU: The RTX 2070 is being touted as THE card for 1440p. Fact is, it will get you great frame rates in the vast majority of games, but you may have to ease back on settings a wee bit in the few which are poorly optimized. IMO, that's the price/performance standard for your need. a better choice would be a GTX 1080, but no longer available here as Nvidia sells out of inventory. With your high res, you could easily turn down some anti-aliasing if you needed to for a performance boost.

7.IDK why the larger reservoir is $10 cheaper, but I figure the more cooling real estate the better. Definitely want to stick with a Corsair AIO for reliability and that always fun-to-have 5 year warranty.

8.The Internal lighting is free. Just adds a little pizazz. Colors can change, you can pick one and stay with it, or turn it off. You can upgrade your case fans for even more pizazz, better cooling, but it's not needed. There's some purty Corsair ones on promo, and the top-end PROs are virtually silent.

9.We don't like to recommend the overclocks. My view is everything is so darn fast already, squeezing isn't necessary.

That's my take, hope it helps. I'm not the sharpest knife in the drawer, I hope my colleagues will deconstruct as needed. Or y'all come back with questions.


Edited by Cretae - 30 Nov 2018 at 2:06am

I've taken into consideration Cratae's config and notes and modified the config a bit.

1. The 8700 CPU sounds like a good idea.

2. I want the quiet fans, would the Corsair ones on promo be good or do I need to upgrade to the PROs? Don't really care about how pretty they are.

3. I also decided to go with 970 EVOs and forget the PROs. Sounds like I won't notice the difference. Also will backup to external drives.

Build 2136234

Chassis Model: Digital Storm Lumos
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i7-8700K (4.7 GHz Turbo) (6-Core) 3.7 GHz
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z390 GAMING PRO CARBON AC (Intel Z390 Chipset) (Up to 3x PCI-E Devices)
System Memory: 16GB DDR4 3000MHz Digital Storm Performance Series
Power Supply: 750W Corsair RM750x (Fully Modular)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: External USB - DVD/CD 8x Multi-Drive (Writes and Reads DVDs, CDs)
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (500GB Samsung 970 EVO) (NVM Express)
Storage Set 2: 1x SSD M.2 (1TB Samsung 970 EVO) (NVM Express)
Storage Set 3: - No Thanks
RAID Config: - No Thanks
RAID Card: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 1x GeForce RTX 2070 8GB (VR Ready)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
HPC Processor: - No Thanks
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Corsair H110i GT - 280mm Liquid CPU Cooler (Fully Sealed + No Maintenance)
HydroLux Tubing Style: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
HydroLux Fluid Color: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected
Cable Management: Premium Cable Management (Strategically Routed & Organized for Airflow)
Chassis Fans: Corsair ML PRO Series (High Static Pressure) (Magnetic Levitation)
Internal Lighting: Remote Controlled Advanced LED Lighting System (Multiple RGB Color Modes)
Airflow Control: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: Option Not Available
Boost Processor: Stock Factory Turbo Boost Advanced Automatic Overclocking
Boost Graphics Card(s): - No Thanks, Please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (64-Bit Edition)
Recovery Tools: USB Drive - Windows 10 Installation (Format and Clean Install)
Virus Protection: Windows Defender Antivirus (Built-in to Windows 10)

Looks very good! I see you liked the PRO fans. Our fave guru, bprat22, has them and swears by them. Dead quiet.

Although hoserator is correct about the paste vs solder situation, I didn't bring it up because just 3-4 months ago the choice didn't exist. As I sit, my 8700k is maxing out at 52C on the same cooler you picked. Since 80C would be acceptable, I don't think its worth extra $.

If it bothers you, the i5 9600k is very close to the 8700k in performance for gaming and it's a soldered chip at the same price point.

I think overall, you are going to be thrilled with your new rig!

I personally wouldn’t. Not much to be gained, if anything, plus just added heat across all cores instead of the fewer that gaming uses.

It won’t hurt, so up to you.

ok, no overclocking.

One more thought.... I'm thinking of saving some $$$ till after the new year. Looks like the 970 EVO is just a plug-in card like a sound card rather than a "box" that I would plug a power and data cable into like I've been used to from 5 years ago. I imagine it's super easy to add a SSD later and eliminate the 2nd one in my config. Right?

If you're going to bring saving $ into the discussion, IMHO, an NVMe is more than you really need for storing and loading games efficiently. I wasn't going to persuade you otherwise if that's what you wanted, but a much cheaper SATA SSD would be able to serve you as your game storage. With the overall speed of everything in your system, from the CPU to RAM to GPU, SATA SSD storage would never seem slow. Because of the difference between performing multiple operations on a variety of data where an NVMe would shine, and more simply loading coded operations from a game directory, the performance would be very similar. NVMe capability is not really worth extra bucks for gaming.

If you were to opt for the 250GB Samsung EVO and the 1TB 860 EVO SATA SSD, it would save you about $150 and you'd never know the difference.

The 860 only uses a SATA interface, even in its m.2 form factor.    DS might not have it because you can get the standard 860 evo, non m.2, plug it into a mobo SATA slot using SATA cable and save the m.2 for NVME pcie drives like the 970 that are many times faster.

Their DS m.2 is also a SATA Drive so only they can say why not the 860.    

M.2 can be either a SATA or NVME. They look the same but pin layout determines which.

Outstanding! I will get the "box" version from Amazon. All these different formats were confusing me. You have cleared it up for me, I feel pretty informed now. I also ran across another version of the 860 that's a square card. Jeeez.

Thanks for the replies guys.