After six months of planning and research I've completed the following build list. I'm in the process of ordering the parts now. Please let me know what you think and if you have any last second advice. I can always return some of the components.
Design goals: Minimal footprint (mid-size), excellent airflow, AIO cooling for GPU & CPU, and relatively quiet. I'm a VR player who is maxing out my 7 year old SandyBridge-E platform. Budget wise I've been saving for a long time but didn't want to go crazy. No Titan or SLI. I also wanted an understated RGB build using EVGA components.
Things that drove me crazy: I really struggled with buying the new generation of Western Digital Black Drives. Apparently they have a new anti-wear feature that causes a lot of audible clicking - driving people crazy. I'm still wondering if I should have gone with Seagate Barracuda Pros instead. Edit: Switched to the Seagate Barracuda Pros after all.
Selecting a case took a long time. I ended up disqualifying the best looking mid-size cases due to terrible airflow and footprint. Some of the mid-size cases were the same size as full-size cases. I debated endlessly between the Phanteks Enthoo Pro M (TG) and the Fractal Design Meshify C (TG). Little did I know the decision was made for me. In the Meshify C I can't mount the 280 CLC front due to the 1080 Ti FTW3 Hybrid's length and I didn't have the clearance to top mount the CLC due to the VRM heat sinks. I'm very thankful for the build videos of either case on Youtube; they really helped me visualize and find 'gotchas' without having to inspect the cases in person.
Finally - I could not decide between the older EVGA 850 P2 and the new EVGA 850 G3 platform but because I was aiming for a quieter build (and the Meshify C's restrictive PSU basement was no longer a factor) I went with the larger EVGA 850 P2 and its passive thermal cooling potential (and working ECO mode fan-curve).
Build ListCase: Phanteks Enthoo Pro M (Tempered Glass)
Case Fans: 4x Phanteks MP (140mm - 2x White / 2x Black), 1x Phanteks MP (120mm - White)
Lighting: 2x Phanteks Halo RGB Ring (140mm), 1x Phanteks Halo RGB Ring 120mm)
Motherboard: EVGA Z370 Classified K
CPU: Intel Core i7 8700K
CPU Cooling: EVGA CLC 280 AIO
Graphics Card: EVGA 1080 Ti FTW3 Hybrid
Memory: Corsair Dominator 16GB DDR4 3200 (2x 8GB - Timing 16-18-18-36)
SSDs: 1x Samsung 960 Pro M.2 (512GB), 1x Samsung 850 Pro SATA3 (512GB)
HDDs: 2x Seagate BarraCuda Pro 6TB (RAID 1)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA P2 (80+ Platinum 850w)
OS: Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)
Now to build it. @.@
post edited by Jinkguns - 2018/01/08 13:38:14