Starting to work out parts for a new tower build

Ok background, I have a laptop currently Asus something or other, its working pretty darn good for being a laptop. I have a pretty decent monitor that matches my prints so I will continue to use that for now. But I would like to get even more power in my next build and since I use the laptop as a desktop 99.9% of the time I decided to go with a tower build. I would like it to be future proof for the next few years if at all possible.

Now I have never built a computer but I dont think its all that hard. I will be buying the parts over a few months since I can not just go drop all that cash at once. But this is kinda what I am looking at, and am totally open to suggestions if there is a place that I can save money or if items I have listed are just to much overkill.

(SEE POST #12 FOR AN UPDATED LIST OF PARTS)
CPU - Intel Core i7 7700k
Cooler - Noctua NH-D15 6
MB - Asus ROG Maximus 1x Hero
SSD - Samsung 960 Pro Series NVMe M.2 500GB (Does it hurt to go with a single 1TB vs 2 500GB or is that overkill)
Spinning Drives - I have a couple 4TB drives that I will use for internal storage of files not in use
Ram - Corsair Vengeance DDR4 2x16 (I might just jump up to 2x32 sticks)
Video Card - EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC
Power Supply - Corsair RMx Series RM650x 650W
Case - Cooler Master HAF X


I plan to use this 95% for photo editing, 5% video editing (cell phone / GoPro footage) I would like to have a SD & CF card reader in the front of the case, is that something thats doable? I also would like to have dual monitors set up which I think this set up will be able to do, but please correct me if I am wrong.

I am looking to all you wonderful people that know so much more about building your own machine for a little guidance.

Swap out the 7700K for 8700K and buy a Z370 motherboard, basically the same price(depending on sales). The 8700K is a 6 core 12 thread vs 4 core 8 thread for the 7700K. Stock on the 8700K is low at this time but I would buy the processor and motherboard last. If you get a really good deal on a 7700K and Z270 motherboard it's still a very good performer.

Thank you that is good to know and I will update my "to buy list" to reflect the change.

It looks good and I really like Dave's suggestions, but I feel the one thing you should not skimp on is the video card. The 1060 is not bad, but I REALLY like the 1070. It is 2x the price but isn't this going to be a photo and video editing machine?

HodjPodj wrote in post #18496565
It looks good and I really like Dave's suggestions, but I feel the one thing you should not skimp on is the video card. The 1060 is not bad, but I REALLY like the 1070. It is 2x the price but isn't this going to be a photo and video editing machine?

I am not as worried about price as I am about performance and it working well for a few years. I feel with off the shelf machines they work great for a little while then not so much. I would rather save another month and get a better part this time around. Since what I have is working for now, there is no time rush to get this build done.

32GB DDR4 modules are really expensive and serve no purpose on the Z270/Z370 platform. Z270/Z370 can only support up to 4 x 16GB = 64GB Max. You would have to move up to the HEDT(X299) platform to support more than 64GB of RAM. As far as I know 32GB modules will not work in a Z270/Z370 motherboard.

The Cooler Master HAF X is a fairly old case and does not support front panel USB 3.1 or USB Type C, it's also huge and weighs a ton(I owned 2 HAF X's at one point). Personally I would look for something with the latest front I/O connectors.

You can get card readers that mount in drive bays(not that common anymore and hard to find ones that support even USB 3.0 speeds), but I would just use an external plugged in via USB.

HodjPodj wrote in post #18496565
It looks good and I really like Dave's suggestions, but I feel the one thing you should not skimp on is the video card. The 1060 is not bad, but I REALLY like the 1070. It is 2x the price but isn't this going to be a photo and video editing machine?

He said he's only doing 5% video editing, the GPU barely makes a difference in photo editing. If anything I would suggest he get a cheaper video card.

Littlejon Dsgn wrote in post #18496569
I am not as worried about price as I am about performance and it working well for a few years. I feel with off the shelf machines they work great for a little while then not so much. I would rather save another month and get a better part this time around. Since what I have is working for now, there is no time rush to get this build done.

CPU tech has slowed pretty significantly in the past few years, up until this year's introduction of Ryzen which basically forced Intel to up their core counts... but that doesn't really make much difference for photo editing. The only areas of large improvements are in GPU performance (not important for 2D apps) and hard drive/memory speed (the first of which being the most important, and one that's easy to upgrade an old system with) and energy efficiency (something that's not really that important unless you're using your system every day and taxing it hard for long periods of time).

"Off the shelf" machines usually start getting sluggish for a few reasons; they're using proprietary cheaply made components, they're shipped with "bloatware" apps that run in the background without you even noticing, you've unknowingly downloaded software that's essentially become "bloatware" yourself without realizing it, or you have drivers out of date and other software conflicts. Usually that last one is the most true.

Before upgrading any computer I always recommend people try doing a fresh install of Windows and check all their drivers. You'd be shocked how big of a difference that can have.

-dave-m- wrote in post #18496579
32GB DDR4 modules are really expensive and serve no purpose on the Z270/Z370 platform. Z270/Z370 can only support up to 4 x 16GB = 64GB Max. You would have to move up to the HEDT(X299) platform to support more than 64GB of RAM. As far as I know 32GB modules will not work in a Z270/Z370 motherboard.

The Cooler Master HAF X is a fairly old case and does not support front panel USB 3.1 or USB Type C, it's also huge and weighs a ton(I owned 2 HAF X's at one point). Personally I would look for something with the latest front I/O connectors.

You can get card readers that mount in drive bays(not that common anymore and hard to find ones that support even USB 3.0 speeds), but I would just use an external plugged in via USB.

Do you have a case recommendation, I put the HAF X down because it was recommended, looking at Cooler Masters site im not even really sure where to start.

So looking closer at MB's I think I settled on the MSI Z370 SLI Plus which has two M.2 connections. Would it be better to but 2x500gb sticks in vs a single 1tb

I think cases are the hardest things to select. I personally like Fractal Design, Phanteks, Be Quiet and Corsair cases. When I built my mid-tower 2 years ago, I picked the Fractal Design Arc Midi R2. If you don’t plan on an optical drive, I like the Fractal Design Define S. I also like the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M.

I did an upgrade to my build this fall. I changed out my CPU air cooler for a Fractal Design AIO water cooler. It made a huge difference in noise. My PC sits on the table close to the monitor so I always heard the air cooler revving up and down. Also if you don’t plan on overclocking, you might consider the 8700 instead of the 8700K. It will save you a little money.

Ok I am now looking at these components

CPU - Intel Core i7 8700
CPU Cooler - Noctua NW-D15 6 (Open to Liquid Coolers that will work with the setup here .... suggestions?)
MB - MSI Z370 SLI Plus
SSD - Samsung 960 Pro Series NVMe M.2 500GB or 1TB (Is it better to do two 500GB drives)
Spinning Drives - Use existing or Upgrade
Ram - Corsair Vengeance LPX 64GB (4x16) DDR4 DRAM 3000MHz C15 Memory Kit
Video Card - EVGA GeForce GTX 1060 SC (Still doing research as to what to settle on)
Power Supply - Corsair RMx Series RM850x
Case - Corsair Obsidian Series 750D Airflow with USB 3.1 Type C I/O Panel Upgrade Kit & Solid Side Panel

The Corsair 750D is a full tower case. It’s little brother is the 450D. That’s the mid tower version. The full tower will be much bigger and heavier than the mid tower. Your build will fit in a mid tower with room to spare.

Great thank you, I was wondering how large of a case I really needed, and since space under my desk is not an issue I figured I would just go big. I also like having room for more drives inside the case with the 750D vs the 450D. One of the reasons I am headed towards a tower build is to get rid of all the docking stations on my desk and tidy things up. I will still have an external that is not plugged into the computer but I would like to keep the rest in the case.

I think you are going to really limit your case choices trying to get USB 3.1 on the front panel. I don’t think there are any that come standard though I haven’t researched them all. If you could find one, your MB would also have to have a 3.1 header to support it. You can get a USB 3.0 type C on the CoolerMaster Maker 5. They are customizable on CoolerMaster’s site.