1080 ti / i7700k VR build check?

[BobbyReals]

Hi all, I want to get the most out of my Vive so I put together a new potential build. I'm hoping this will be top of the line right now, with some good legs for the future too, at least a few years without having to upgrade. Down the road I could add a second 1080 ti if more VR games end up supporting SLI, but not too concerned about that right now.

I'm pretty novice when it comes to building a PC, so any tips are appreciated. Will this build have enough cooling to take advantage of overclocking features? I've never tinkered around with OC before, but this GPU and mobo have easy buttons that do the work for me, so why not. I'd like it to be an easy, straightforward build, and be able to just push the OC button and leave it be, with minimal management on my part. Is that plausible?

Here's the build:

PCPartPicker part list: https/ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/fYjZCy


CPU: *Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($458.50 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: MSI - Z270 GAMING M7 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($289.99 @ NCIX)
Memory: Corsair - Vengeance LPX 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($169.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Samsung - 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($175.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Samsung - 750 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($415.00 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB STRIX GAMING Video Card ($1099.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Fractal Design - Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($134.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: EVGA - SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($112.00 @ Vuugo)
Optical Drive: LG - WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($74.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($120.25 @ Vuugo)
Monitor: Asus - VG248QE 24.0" 1920x1080 144Hz Monitor ($357.95 @ Vuugo)
External Storage: Western Digital - My Book 3TB External Hard Drive ($169.27 @ Amazon Canada)
Total: $3653.90


Note: Prices are in CAD. I'm pulling the hard drives and optical drive from my current PC, so they may be a bit older but are in good shape.

 

[Barty1884]

A more than capable setup - with a solid CPU cooler for some OCing.

Some comments though:
1. A 1080TI is pretty overkill for 1080p, regardless of VR
2. The NEX lineup is far from the best. Take a look to G2/G3 from EVGA, or anything SeaSonic
3. The motherboard is waaaay overpriced for what it is.
4. You may/may not need an optical drive in 2017

A couple of quick tweaks:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: *Intel - Core i7-7700K 4.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($458.50 @ Vuugo)
CPU Cooler: Noctua - NH-U12S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - GA-Z270XP-SLI ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($179.00 @ Vuugo)
Memory: Team - Dark 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3000 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Samsung - 840 EVO 250GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($175.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Samsung - 750 Evo 500GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($415.00 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: Asus - GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB STRIX GAMING Video Card ($1099.99 @ NCIX)
Case: Fractal Design - Define R5 (Black) ATX Mid Tower Case ($134.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - 650W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.98 @ DirectCanada)
Optical Drive: LG - WH16NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($74.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft - Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit ($120.25 @ Vuugo)
Monitor: Acer - G257HU smidpx 25.0" 2560x1440 60Hz Monitor ($378.50 @ Vuugo)
External Storage: Western Digital - My Book 3TB External Hard Drive ($169.27 @ Amazon Canada)
Total: $3541.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-05-17 18:40 EDT-0400

Moves you to 1440p, a better quality PSU, and saves you $100 for good measure.

If you want to stick with 1080p, I'd drop to a GTX 1070 if it were me

 

[BobbyReals]

Thanks! I'll definitely look at the other power supplies and motherboards, I'd be happy to save money where I can. I primarily liked the MSI motherboard because it seemed really easy to overclock, but if I can achieve the same thing with a cheaper board, I'm all for it.

As to your first point, I'm not sure why you say "A 1080TI is pretty overkill for 1080p, regardless of VR". I'll be using this machine primarily for my HTC Vive, and from everything I've read VR is significantly more taxing on your system than 1080p gaming. Each eye renders a resolution of 1512x1680, for a true render of 3024x1680 at a refresh rate of 90Hz. Sure, a lot of games intentionally dumb down the graphics in order to work on current systems, but I have no doubt something like Fallout 4 VR will make damn good use of the 1080 ti. You don't think so? Am I missing something?

 

[Sakkura]

A 1080 Ti is still kinda overkill for VR. Sure, you can supersample, but beyond a certain point that's just adding enormous computation work for little or no visible difference.

A plain 1080 would still be VERY suitable for VR.

 

[Dragos Manea]

You guys choosed fractal design r5 and an optical drive but that case does not have 5.25" slots so no place to mount an optical drive. If you want to keep the optical drive choose a case with 5.25" slots.

 

[Sakkura]

You guys choosed fractal design r5 and an optical drive but that case does not have 5.25" slots so no place to mount an optical drive. If you want to keep the optical drive choose a case with 5.25" slots.

Uh... it has two 5.25" slots.

I have an old optical drive in my Fractal Design Define R5 right now.

 

[Dragos Manea]

My bad, it has but they are removable, everyone i saw on youtube they had the cage removed, from this came the confusion.

 

[Barty1884]

As to your first point, I'm not sure why you say "A 1080TI is pretty overkill for 1080p, regardless of VR". I'll be using this machine primarily for my HTC Vive, and from everything I've read VR is significantly more taxing on your system than 1080p gaming. Each eye renders a resolution of 1512x1680, for a true render of 3024x1680 at a refresh rate of 90Hz. Sure, a lot of games intentionally dumb down the graphics in order to work on current systems, but I have no doubt something like Fallout 4 VR will make damn good use of the 1080 ti. You don't think so? Am I missing something?

Apologies, apparently I didn't take in the fact this would be exclusively for VR.
Even so, a TI is still in overkill territory IMO. 1070/1080 at most would be my suggestion.

My bad, it has but they are removable, everyone i saw on youtube they had the cage removed, from this came the confusion.

Are the 5.25" bays removeable? I have on......and I've never noticed. The 3.5" HDD cages are, but I don't believe the 5.25" are.

 

[Sakkura]

Are the 5.25" bays removeable? I have on......and I've never noticed. The 3.5" HDD cages are, but I don't believe the 5.25" are.

Yep, they are removable.

http/support.fractal-design.com/support/solutions/articles/4000055499-define-r5-remove-optical-drive-cage

 

[Barty1884]

Yep, they are removable.

http/support.fractal-design.com/support/solutions/articles/4000055499-define-r5-remove-optical-drive-cage

I'm an idiot..... I have the R4 :lol:

Good to know though!