williamshatnerspants70
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Hi from New Zealand. I'm helping my son build his first PC. We have the following parts... EVGA 500B PSU Corsair 570X case ASUS STRIX GTX970 i5-8400 CPU 8GB ram Everything else TBC We're not looking for a fancy RGB board, and the PC will be used many for Fortnite, and similar. No overcloking required, no VR, no 4K, etc. I'm considering an EVGA Z370 FTW, as it looks to suit our build, the price (with online rebate) is great, it looks subtle, and I hear support from EVGA is good. What do you all think of this option? Thanks in advance, all comments and ideas welcome. Matt
post edited by williamshatnerspants70 - 2018/09/23 17:30:30
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rjohnson11
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Re: First time build - budget gaming Z370 FTW a good option?
2018/09/16 07:49:01
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☄ Helpfulby williamshatnerspants70 2018/09/18 17:10:46
I think those specs are fine based on what you want to play. I'd also stick with a 1920 x 1080 gaming monitor with that setup.
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Tech_JoseC
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Re: First time build - budget gaming Z370 FTW a good option?
2018/09/16 11:11:35
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☄ Helpfulby williamshatnerspants70 2018/09/18 17:10:39
If your son is ever interested in upgrading his graphics card, I would recommend that you purchase a 650GQ power supply or higher just to have extra headroom for future upgrades.
-Jose C.
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williamshatnerspants70
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Re: First time build - budget gaming Z370 FTW a good option?
2018/09/16 12:59:44
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Thanks guys, much appreciated!
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_JoseR
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Re: First time build - budget gaming Z370 FTW a good option?
2018/09/16 20:47:06
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last but not least, I can confirm our support is the best!  
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williamshatnerspants70
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Re: First time build - budget gaming Z370 FTW a good option?
2018/09/17 01:33:54
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Thanks Jose, so far so good, I think I have already had an email from you  oooooooo.....I see the Classified K is only $10 more than the FTW. Worth it in your opinion?
post edited by williamshatnerspants70 - 2018/09/17 01:55:22
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Vlada011
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Re: First time build - budget gaming Z370 FTW a good option?
2018/09/17 13:03:24
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☄ Helpfulby williamshatnerspants70 2018/09/18 17:10:58
williamshatnerspants70
Thanks Jose, so far so good, I think I have already had an email from you
oooooooo.....I see the Classified K is only $10 more than the FTW. Worth it in your opinion?
If difference is 10-20$ you can buy Classified K. Than with stronger PSU, strong motherboard you will have space to upgrade CPU and GPU later on very very powerfull stuff. I talk about i7-8700K, i9-9900K, GTX1080, GTX2080, etc... their price will go down over years.
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jejeo
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Re: First time build - budget gaming Z370 FTW a good option?
2018/09/17 13:20:13
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☄ Helpfulby williamshatnerspants70 2018/09/18 17:11:03
I have classified K but really don't see the difference that much other than onboard sound and LAN. Speaking of onboard sound (recon 3di), it is not good. Well, the driver itself is buggy and it just gave me so many error messages when I installed (I am wondering if others were able to install it without errors. Install was stuck at extra package or something but anyway it works somehow). Then, the sound quality is slightly better than typical realtek ones but not much. I have given up on it and am currently using a cheap external DAC (fx audio x3; around $35) which is just so much better. For the killer lan, I don't see anything special.
Having said these, however if it is $10 difference, why not. It still has more power phases.
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Cool GTX
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Re: First time build - budget gaming Z370 FTW a good option?
2018/09/17 13:20:36
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☄ Helpfulby williamshatnerspants70 2018/09/18 17:12:23
Not sure where your going to find a 960 GPU ? Look at the 1050 Ti or 1060 Ti if it fits your budget For your Boot drive a SSD is a must - 256 GB can work with a spinner for library files; but, at current prices I'd go with a Samsung 512 GB Not really sure down-under in NZ - what your choices & costs would be
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williamshatnerspants70
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Re: First time build - budget gaming Z370 FTW a good option?
2018/09/17 18:14:00
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Thanks for that! The 970 is a gift from a friend so we'll give it a go and see if it works.... our budget is very tight. The Classified K is $10 more than the FTW o the EVGA website, but I have found the FTW cheaper again elsewhere, so that will be my likely purchase. Thanks for the advice on the SSD. I had planned on a 120GB ($US26), as prices here are crazy for 500GB SSD ($US112). I'm debating if I should go for 250GB ($US46) but we simply can't afford to go higher. The 1TB HDD will pick up the slack in the storage department. Matt UPDATE. Z370 FTW ordered from Amazon $119.
post edited by williamshatnerspants70 - 2018/09/23 17:31:32
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williamshatnerspants70
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Re: First time build - budget gaming Z370 FTW a good option?
2018/10/02 02:47:28
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Update one more question, thanks in advance.
The Z370 FTW is on the way from Oregon to Auckland, so we will have:
EVGA Z370 FTW
EVGA 500B PSU
Asus GTX970 GPU (freebie!)
1920 x 1080 Samsung 22" monitor
The two big purchases left are RAM and a CPU.
While we had intended on saving up for an i5-8400 I am now considering the (1/3 cheaper) i3-8100. This will mean my son can afford to get the PC up and running before Xmas. Given (like most 14 year olds) he only plays Fortnite and similar I am wondering if the i3 will do the job, or if its worth the wait for the i5.
Thanks
Matt
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