First build seeking feedback

[M. Boone]

Hey guys,

I'm looking into building my first pc and was hoping for some feedback. I have a limited budget but would like to run Arma on ultra settings with smooth FPS. Here's the link: https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Mikeymizz/saved/P8nP6h

i7 7700k 4.2GHz
Hyper 212 EVO
MSI Z270 A Pro
G.Skill Ripjaws V 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4-2400
Samsung 850 EVO-series 250GB SSD
MSI - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB
Deepcool - Tesseract SW ATX Mid Tower
EVGA - SuperNOVA NEX 650W Power Supply

Thank you!

Respectfully,
PV2 Boone

[D. Persia]

Not a bad build but whats your budget? If you gave a ballpark figure we would be able to help you out more with swapping a few pieces here and there. I also would recommend that you buy a hard drive along with the SSD, unless you already own one, as 250gb doesn't go that far anymore. The current build that you posted would be able to support Arma on ultra but the fps would depend on your in game settings such as view distance. However, seeing as Arma is not optimized you might struggle to push 60 fps on ultra with that build if that is what you're looking for.

[CPT Hammersmain]

I had very very very bad luck with the "Thermal Interface Material" on the 7700k -- I went through 3 different CPUs until I found one that had stable temps suitable for overclocking.  My idle temps w/ no OC was 60-70C, and with the automatic boost clock on the 7700k to 4.8ghz it would overheat and shutdown with just running google chrome. 

I finally ended up going with a company that "de-lids" the CPU and installs proper TIM -- been loving the CPU ever since.  It cost me an extra $50, which is worth it to me since I overclock as much as I possibly can.  www.siliconlottery.com -- excellent experience there as they guarantee overclocks w/ the chips....if that's what you want to do eventually.   

The deals with the 7700k on newegg right now are hard to pass up, though.  They have A LOT of 7700k's on inventory when i built my rig back in April -- It was impossible for me to find a CPU that wasn't made after November 2016.  Since a bulk of that was made before launch in January, they all likely still have the lame stock TIM -- which is BAD. 

Long story short -- be sure you monitor your CPU temps w/ that chip. 

[M. Boone]

Depends on who you ask, me or my wife...haha. I was hoping to keep it closer to 1000, but if it's going to make a huge difference for a few hundred bucks, then I'll save more.

Is 60 FPS the magic number? Right now I'm running low 20's on the lowest settings so I don't even have a frame of reference.

I figured I would add an external drive after a bit.

Not a bad build but whats your budget? If you gave a ballpark figure we would be able to help you out more with swapping a few pieces here and there. I also would recommend that you buy a hard drive along with the SSD, unless you already own one, as 250gb doesn't go that far anymore. The current build that you posted would be able to support Arma on ultra but the fps would depend on your in game settings such as view distance. However, seeing as Arma is not optimized you might struggle to push 60 fps on ultra with that build if that is what you're looking for.

[M. Boone]

Thank you for that insight. I'll look into those newer chips. An extra 50 vs replacing a burnt out piece of hardware seems smart.

I had very very very bad luck with the "Thermal Interface Material" on the 7700k -- I went through 3 different CPUs until I found one that had stable temps suitable for overclocking.  My idle temps w/ no OC was 60-70C, and with the automatic boost clock on the 7700k to 4.8ghz it would overheat and shutdown with just running google chrome. 

I finally ended up going with a company that "de-lids" the CPU and installs proper TIM -- been loving the CPU ever since.  It cost me an extra $50, which is worth it to me since I overclock as much as I possibly can.  www.siliconlottery.com -- excellent experience there as they guarantee overclocks w/ the chips....if that's what you want to do eventually.   

The deals with the 7700k on newegg right now are hard to pass up, though.  They have A LOT of 7700k's on inventory when i built my rig back in April -- It was impossible for me to find a CPU that wasn't made after November 2016.  Since a bulk of that was made before launch in January, they all likely still have the lame stock TIM -- which is BAD. 

Long story short -- be sure you monitor your CPU temps w/ that chip.

[SPC (Ret) Stein]

I haven't built one with the 7700k but I haven't heard all great things about it.... another thing to look into is 6700k which is a great processor, and another thing is you can find the processor on amazon for cheaper and then price match with best buy so you can get warranty stuff if you want it.

[M. Boone]

Thank you. Can you point me to more info on the negative feedback for the 7700k?

I'm guessing the warranty stuff from bestbuy is at an additional cost?

Thanks for the feedback

I haven't built one with the 7700k but I haven't heard all great things about it.... another thing to look into is 6700k which is a great processor, and another thing is you can find the processor on amazon for cheaper and then price match with best buy so you can get warranty stuff if you want it.

[MSG J. Brewer]

You will not get 60FPS in one of our operations. I average around 25-30 while streaming. ArmA is horrible about optimizations and it's even worse when you have ~60 people on the server. A steady 30FPS is pretty good for ArmA, and anyone telling you they're getting 60 is lying.

[1LT (Ret) Garcia]

I'm at a solid 40 except during intense firefights it'll drop to 30. No way to get 60 with ultra settings in an op with ~55 guys. Arma doesn't use cores and threads like it should.

6700k oc @4.5 GHz
ASRock formula oc
16gb Corsair RAM
EVGA 980Ti SC

All settings are maxed except terrain at low and clouds at standard. Terrain doesn't seem to make a huge diff, but grass causes issues with LOS.

Not sure what's up with 7700k temps, mine hits about 55 at Max while it's rendering. It's on water though.

Some of those graphics settings won't offload to the GPU unless they're on high - like shadows. With shadows on low it's jacking time from your CPU.

Go with 7700k or 6700k. Essentially the same CPU, kaby lake just comes with a higher clock from the factory.

1060 will work fine for Arma. My 980ti never goes above around 55 percent usage.

I've always bought from Newegg or Amazon. 100% happy.

[SGT (Ret) Bergwohl]

Skylake Intel chips (6000 series) are known for their excellent thermals. However, Kaby Lake chips (7000) do have some newer features that may or may not be used in Arma. Intel has even told owners of the 7700K (overclockable model) to not overclock because of bad temperatures. Intel seems to be dropping the ball lately (with the new i9 stuff and Kaby Lake X), and AMD is on the Ryze (pun intended) with their new Ryzen series chips and soon their Threadripper series.

All this being said, I would get whichever chip is cheaper of the two (6700 or 7700). Both will yield good results for Arma if you have decent cooler. (Hyper 212 EVO is great bang for the buck, but you may want to invest in a more expensive Noctua cooler for amazing silence and overclocking results.

I hope I have been of any help, if you need any more I know a thing or two about PCs so you can PM me. 

-J. Bergwohl

[M. Boone]

Thank you First Sergeant. That's what I've started to gather. Now it's a matter of figuring out what to get that will be most effective without overspending.

You will not get 60FPS in one of our operations. I average around 25-30 while streaming. ArmA is horrible about optimizations and it's even worse when you have ~60 people on the server. A steady 30FPS is pretty good for ArmA, and anyone telling you they're getting 60 is lying.

[M. Boone]

Thanks for the input, Sergeant. I appreciate you sharing your hardware,  settings, and results. That's very helpful. Maybe that should be a thread!

I'm at a solid 40 except during intense firefights it'll drop to 30. No way to get 60 with ultra settings in an op with ~55 guys. Arma doesn't use cores and threads like it should.

6700k oc @4.5 GHz
ASRock formula oc
16gb Corsair RAM
EVGA 980Ti SC

All settings are maxed except terrain at low and clouds at standard. Terrain doesn't seem to make a huge diff, but grass causes issues with LOS.

Not sure what's up with 7700k temps, mine hits about 55 at Max while it's rendering. It's on water though.

Some of those graphics settings won't offload to the GPU unless they're on high - like shadows. With shadows on low it's jacking time from your CPU.

Go with 7700k or 6700k. Essentially the same CPU, kaby lake just comes with a higher clock from the factory.

1060 will work fine for Arma. My 980ti never goes above around 55 percent usage.

I've always bought from Newegg or Amazon. 100% happy.

[K. Gaudet]

The build looks great. ARMA 3 is going to benefit a lot from that CPU and the clock speed of the RAM. GPU is less important but you've picked a solid one to keep up with current and future games.

As others have mentioned about the thermal paste, stock paste and fans from Intel have been hit and miss over the past few years. I had issues with my i5 4690k during its first year. After switching to the Hyper 212 Evo fan and using Arctic Silver 5 paste, my temporatures have gone from 80C+ to 60C at full load.

[M. Boone]

Good input, thank you. I'll look into that cooling system!

Skylake Intel chips (6000 series) are known for their excellent thermals. However, Kaby Lake chips (7000) do have some newer features that may or may not be used in Arma. Intel has even told owners of the 7700K (overclockable model) to not overclock because of bad temperatures. Intel seems to be dropping the ball lately (with the new i9 stuff and Kaby Lake X), and AMD is on the Ryze (pun intended) with their new Ryzen series chips and soon their Threadripper series.

All this being said, I would get whichever chip is cheaper of the two (6700 or 7700). Both will yield good results for Arma if you have decent cooler. (Hyper 212 EVO is great bang for the buck, but you may want to invest in a more expensive Noctua cooler for amazing silence and overclocking results.

I hope I have been of any help, if you need any more I know a thing or two about PCs so you can PM me. 

-J. Bergwohl

[M. Boone]

That's a pretty big difference in temp! Is it easy to redo the paste if necessary?

The build looks great. ARMA 3 is going to benefit a lot from that CPU and the clock speed of the RAM. GPU is less important but you've picked a solid one to keep up with current and future games.

As others have mentioned about the thermal paste, stock paste and fans from Intel have been hit and miss over the past few years. I had issues with my i5 4690k during its first year. After switching to the Hyper 212 Evo fan and using Arctic Silver 5 paste, my temporatures have gone from 80C+ to 60C at full load.