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Thoughts on this MicroATX build?

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Aug 18, 2013
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Motherboard
Asus ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming (WI-FI AC)
CPU
i7-8700K
Graphics
Vega56
Mac
  1. MacBook Air
  2. MacBook Pro
Classic Mac
  1. Color Classic
  2. iBook
  3. iMac
  4. Power Mac
  5. PowerBook
Mobile Phone
  1. iOS
Hi all, I'm thinking of building a computer for gaming and for work. I might end up dual booting with Windows, but in any case I do need OSX for work, so my focus is on making sure it's compatible. I've gotten most things from the buyer's guide, some from user build topics around here.

I really would love to have a nice, fast computer that I can rely on for years to come, both for entertainment and for work :)
Not that my work requires a lot of cpu power (I work on web apps and mobile native apps), but still, my current 2015 Macbook Pro is kind of sluggish when it runs dual screen with my external 4K monitor.

One thing is I kind of prefer small form factors, particularly cases without external bays. I don't need them anyway. Thankfully MicroATX doesn't seem too limiting.
I'm not super knowledgeable about building computers though so if you have any advice I would appreciate it!

CPU:
Intel Core i7-8086K Coffee Lake - 4.0 GHz
https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/1182355/intel-core-i7-8086k/specificaties/

Cooler:
Corsair Hydro H80i v2
https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/434614/corsair-hydro-h80i-v2.html

Cooler:
Corsair Hydro H105
https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/366444/corsair-hydro-h105.html

GPU:
EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti SC Black Edition
https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/746885/evga-geforce-gtx-1080-ti-sc-black-edition-gaming.html


GPU:
Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX Vega64 8G HBM2
https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/1166197/sapphire-nitro+-radeon-rx-vega64-8g-hbm2/specificaties/

Motherboard:
Asus ROG Strix Z370-G Gaming (Wi-Fi AC)
https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/1054609/asus-rog-strix-z370-g-gaming-(wi-fi-ac)/specificaties/

Case:
Haven't quite decided which one I want yet :mrgreen:
Cooltek Coolcube Maxi
https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/358406/cooltek-coolcube-maxi/specificaties/
Silverstone Sugo SG09
https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/326831/silverstone-sugo-sg09/specificaties/

Hard disk:
Samsung 960 Pro 1TB
https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/587971/samsung-960-pro-1tb.html

RAM:
Crucial Ballistix Sport LT 32GB Kit (16GBx2) DDR4
https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/723599/crucial-ballistix-sport-lt-bls2c16g4d26bfsc/specificaties/

PSU:
Corsair RM650i (650W) 80 Plus Gold
https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/448553/corsair-rm650i/specificaties/

Monitor (already owned):
Asus PB279Q 27" IPS, 3840x2160 (4K)
https://tweakers.net/pricewatch/429091/asus-pb279q-zwart/specificaties/

Only one SSD of 1TB, no extra hard drive, because I've got a good NAS. Could always add one later if needed.

Sorry for the Tweakers.net links, I'm Dutch so for me it's a good way to find sites to order from.
I set myself a budget of €3000, but according to my wishlist this actually comes down a bit less at around €2400 give or take a bit.
Thanks for any thoughts and suggestions :)
 
Last edited:
Great choice for motherboard. I use the same one and it has been fantastic.

I've said this to others, I'll say it again, unless you really need Cuda, I feel that it's much wiser to go with an AMD graphics card now. AMD cards just work better with macOS now.
 
Great choice for motherboard. I use the same one and it has been fantastic.

I've said this to others, I'll say it again, unless you really need Cuda, I feel that it's much wiser to go with an AMD graphics card now. AMD cards just work better with macOS now.

I think I actually got that motherboard from one of your posts then, because I was browsing around saving links to motherboards from posts to check out later. :)

Also thanks for the advice, I don't really need Cuda so I'll have another look for a graphics card. The buyer's guide says they are a bit more new so I figured maybe there would be compatibility issues, but if they actually work better than NVidia I'll gladly go with one of them.
 
I think I actually got that motherboard from one of your posts then, because I was browsing around saving links to motherboards from posts to check out later. :)

Also thanks for the advice, I don't really need Cuda so I'll have another look for a graphics card. The buyer's guide says they are a bit more new so I figured maybe there would be compatibility issues, but if they actually work better than NVidia I'll gladly go with one of them.

The Nvidia web drivers caused problems for many people when High Sierra was released. Personally, I'm glad I no longer have to deal with them. Everything has just been much smoother with AMD.
 
I think I actually got that motherboard from one of your posts then, because I was browsing around saving links to motherboards from posts to check out later. :)

Also thanks for the advice, I don't really need Cuda so I'll have another look for a graphics card. The buyer's guide says they are a bit more new so I figured maybe there would be compatibility issues, but if they actually work better than NVidia I'll gladly go with one of them.

Apple has used only AMD graphics cards for the last few years. Using Nvidia cards requires web drivers which also requires waiting for their release after updates to OS. With AMD cards the drivers are native and there is no need to wait before updating the OS. Sierra 12.6 through Mojave betas have good support for AMD Polaris and Vega cards.

The only exception to this is the RX 460-560 XFX brand models (incompatible bios) and any of the RX 550 models. But those are low end compared to a 1080ti.
 
Awesome. I'm hoping to keep it relatively quiet too. According to the reviews I've read this one doesn't make a lot of noise.
 
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