New i7-8700K Build... Cooler recommendations? Case?

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mschubb
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Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 10:11 pm
Location: United States

New i7-8700K Build... Cooler recommendations? Case?

Post by mschubb » Thu Nov 16, 2017 12:57 pm

New build for Adobe Premiere, Photoshop, Lightroom, etc for small home office, so want to build it as small and quiet as possible.

Would welcome any thoughts or recommendations! Pretty sure about most of it, except for cooler and case.
  • CPU: i7-8700k -- to run as is, not planning to overclock
    MB: MSI z370M gaming Pro AC (mATX)
    Main Disk: Samsung EVO 850 M.2 500gb
    RAM: Corsair DDR4-2666mhz 32GB (2x16)
    PSU: EVGA Supernova G3 650W
CASE.... So far, most likely choice is Fractal Designs Define Mini which supports a DVD burner. Very tempted by smaller Define Mini C which has no external bays. Any other suggestions?

CPU COOLER... Likely a Noctura NH-U12S (https://www.amazon.com/noctua-NH-U12S-N ... B00C9EYVGY) -- but only because I saw it on another build list. I really have no idea... (My current system has a Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus which could be re-purposed.)

Thanks in advance for any help!

CA_Steve
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Re: New i7-8700K Build... Cooler recommendations? Case?

Post by CA_Steve » Thu Nov 16, 2017 2:22 pm

CPU: ok.

mobo: It's still early days for Coffee Lake, so too early to recommend any particular motherboard based on customer reviews..the first few months of any new release = lots of firmware/driver updates. MSI makes decent boards and this one has both ALC1220 codec and Intel NIC. Decent bios level fan controls.

SSD: If you're going to fully load the CPU, then you may consider upgrading to the 960 EVO. Might be useful for Premiere.

RAM: depending on the model, check for heatspreader/cooler clearance. Also, check MSI's memory qualified vendor list.

gfx: discrete gfx only? You may get some benefit out of a discrete card over integrated gfx if you use gpu acceleration for Premiere. The iGP should handle most Photoshop acceleration tasks ok.

PSU: As listed, your stressed load power is under 150W. Actual power use might top out around 120W. If you want to stay in the $60 range, there is the Seasonic Focus Plus 550W. A bit higher is the oft-recommended Corsair Rm550x.

Case: The Define Mini is a good fit..the Define Mini C is better for cooling...how do you feel about an external DVD burner? :)

cooler: Noctua would work. Height clearance on Define Mini is 160mm...with some wiggle rooom up to 165 or so. Alternatives would be to go bigger for the K CPU. Scythe Mugen 5 or Ninja 4.

mschubb
Posts: 24
Joined: Sun Jun 20, 2010 10:11 pm
Location: United States

Re: New i7-8700K Build... Cooler recommendations? Case?

Post by mschubb » Thu Nov 16, 2017 3:05 pm

Thanks. Super helpful. Will check out suggestions...

I don't burn that often, so an external BD/DVD/CD burner is looking better to me... also have a disc-less laptop.

GRAPHICS... Am curious just to see if integrated 8th gen graphics can play 4K smoothly in a simple timeline in Premiere. Then I will try out the same w/ an old Asus Strix GTX 750ti w/ 2GB from my current rig. (4K chokes on it, but that machine has a very old MB/CPU.) And then of course -- I will probably buy a new card. Maybe a GTX-1060 w/6GB or a GTX-1070 w/8GB. 8GB is reported to be the sweet spot for 4K editing, but 1070/1080 cards are a lot more expensive.

Been a year since I last priced a build for a friend, but it seems like prices for RAM and high-end GFX cards are crazy high right now.

Abula
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Re: New i7-8700K Build... Cooler recommendations? Case?

Post by Abula » Thu Nov 16, 2017 7:00 pm

mschubb wrote:CPU: i7-8700k -- to run as is, not planning to overclock
MB: MSI z370M gaming Pro AC (mATX)
Main Disk:Samsung EVO 850 M.2 500gb
RAM: Corsair DDR4-2666mhz 32GB (2x16)
PSU: EVGA Supernova G3 650W
All choices seems solid, i agree with Steve, i would swap the 850Evo for the 960Evo.
mschubb wrote:CASE.... So far, most likely choice is Fractal Designs Define Mini which supports a DVD burner. Very tempted by smaller Define Mini C which has no external bays. Any other suggestions?
I would go with the Mini C, for a more compact look.
mschubb wrote:CPU COOLER... Likely a Noctura NH-U12S (https://www.amazon.com/noctua-NH-U12S-N ... B00C9EYVGY) -- but only because I saw it on another build list. I really have no idea... (My current system has a Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus which could be re-purposed.)
Thermalright Macho RevB would be my suggestion, comes with a very good fan included, ty147A can drop to 300rpm on pwm control or ramp to 1300rpms (easy to setup with MSI bios fan control), also it will look very nice on Fractal build with black/white color scheme. My secondary pick would be Scythe Mugen 5 Rev. B, both are asymmetrical and mount flush from the CPU to the back, this allows you to use almost any memory, although i recommend to use standard height, both coolers will give you the freedom to use what you please, check this video Scythe Mugen 5 Installation (Guide / How-to).
GRAPHICS... Am curious just to see if integrated 8th gen graphics can play 4K smoothly in a simple timeline in Premiere. Then I will try out the same w/ an old Asus Strix GTX 750ti w/ 2GB from my current rig. (4K chokes on it, but that machine has a very old MB/CPU.) And then of course -- I will probably buy a new card. Maybe a GTX-1060 w/6GB or a GTX-1070 w/8GB. 8GB is reported to be the sweet spot for 4K editing, but 1070/1080 cards are a lot more expensive.
With the release of the GTX1070Ti, it seems the GTX1070 is starting to drop somewhat in price, that said i think your idea is good, to test first and then decide if you need a dedicated GPU, maybe you can wait for Volta, probably around may.
Last edited by Abula on Fri Nov 17, 2017 6:38 am, edited 1 time in total.

CA_Steve
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Re: New i7-8700K Build... Cooler recommendations? Case?

Post by CA_Steve » Thu Nov 16, 2017 9:19 pm

mschubb wrote:Been a year since I last priced a build for a friend, but it seems like prices for RAM and high-end GFX cards are crazy high right now.
Yep. Both Flash and DRAM supplies are tight. Gfx cards are stupidly high priced due to the coin mining craze..more AMD than Nvidia.

Benchmarking gfx card need vs your actual work use is always a good thing. :)

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