Does anyone know how up to date a kernel you need for a i7 6700 and drivers you need for a GTX 1080? Might rule out some of the distros that are slower to update?

Some thoughts on the linux distro's:

Arch is a hard first install, and takes a bit of experience (or being willing to learn) to maintain. If you're willing to spend the time on it, you will get a great OS. It will not have issues with not being up to date enough for your hardware.

Personally I've found Fedora too unstable to use as a primary desktop, even as an experienced user. They are really quick to adopt new, not quite ready, things like Systemd (when it was new), gnome3 (when it was new), or now Wayland. I know other people have had different experiences with it though. It also shouldn't have issues with being up to date enough for your hardware.

I always like recommending linux mint, very easy to install, very clean graphical interface. It might have issues with not being up to date enough for the hardware though.

I generally don't like Ubuntu (shitty graphical interface in my humble estimation (purely subjective), Canonical, it's maker, keeps doing dumb things), but it might be your best option. Definitely go with some _ubuntu like kubuntu if you are going with Ubuntu.