PC Building Megathread - "Released" is a nebulous term...

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Umbreon: May 21, 2011

sean10mm posted:

A 3700X would maybe be 10% faster in games at 1080p vs. a 7700K, but it would be much better at multitasking since it has twice as many cores and threads.

If your main concern is gaming a 5600X is a way better buy for similar money (if you can find one)

I use 1440p, which from what I understand means I probably won't see much change in the gaming department if I pick up an AMD CPU, but it'll still help my multitasking.

Obviously I want a 5600x really badly over anything in the 3000 series, but loving hell is it impossible to find one right now. I'd gladly take a 5700 or whatever is higher, but those are sold out too. :smith:

Umbreon fucked around with this message at 03:07 on Nov 17, 2020

# ? Nov 17, 2020 02:48

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# ? Apr 24, 2024 08:30

Brut: Aug 21, 2007

Hey folks, my i5 4690 and GTX 970 are starting to feel old so I think it is time to build something new.

I'm in the USA and can drive to a microcenter.
I'm gonna be playing video games, specifically I'm gonna finally finish the GTA5 campaign on a frame rate higher than 40 with literally every setting turned down to lowest.
My budget is around $1500 but somewhat flexible pending arguments for better value. Keeping monitors outside of this budget.
I am unprofessional.
For now this is getting plugged in to 1080p/144hz, I do eventually wanna look in to a 1440p/144hz monitor but there's a weird compromise space where if you want refresh rate and resolution and the correct panel type monitors jump from 200 to 500, anyway that's a different thread.
I'm hoping to get games that are already out to run at 90+ fps at 1080p on medum-high or so without really dipping below, hopefully at least that.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-10400 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler ($26.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock B460 Pro4 ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($74.94 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Antec P101 Silent ATX Mid Tower Case ($105.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $727.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-17 00:47 EST-0500

The video card will be a 3070, probably EVGA but another one becoming in stock might tempt me. ($500+ @ Anywhere)
With a keyboard, a mouse and a windows license that pretty much puts me around the budget.

I understand I should be buying the 10600k if I'm gonna be doing overclocking, I'm definitely not going to be overclocking, stock the performance jump seems to be less than 10% and the price jump from $180 to $250 is way more than 10%, am I a fool?
Do I even need the custom heatsink at all? How are these chips with the stock heatsink/fan these days?
I see folks buying Z490 boards, but I can't figure out why I would want to. If I'm running a single video card at 16x and the boot nvme/m.2 at 4x the B460 can handle that concurrently, right? Am I missing other reasons to consider the upgrade chipset? As far as I could tell it's pcie lanes and usb ports.

I'm excited to be building something where no drive bays of any kind will be occupied (or even mounted in the case).

Please tell me how everything here is wrong, thank you!

Brut fucked around with this message at 07:30 on Nov 17, 2020

# ? Nov 17, 2020 07:25

spunkshui: Oct 5, 2011

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I0WOZyORmtU

Seems like its similar to a 9700k, should be fine.

For non overclocking that cooler is great. I think its worth it to get rid of an annoying small fan.

$150 for 6 cores 12 threads

https://www.microcenter.com/product/622904/intel-core-i5-10400-comet-lake-29ghz-six-core-lga-1200-boxed-processor

nice

# ? Nov 17, 2020 07:40

Funso Banjo: Dec 22, 2003

Brut posted:

Hey folks, my i5 4690 and GTX 970 are starting to feel old so I think it is time to build something new.

I'm in the USA and can drive to a microcenter.
I'm gonna be playing video games, specifically I'm gonna finally finish the GTA5 campaign on a frame rate higher than 40 with literally every setting turned down to lowest.
My budget is around $1500 but somewhat flexible pending arguments for better value. Keeping monitors outside of this budget.
I am unprofessional.
For now this is getting plugged in to 1080p/144hz, I do eventually wanna look in to a 1440p/144hz monitor but there's a weird compromise space where if you want refresh rate and resolution and the correct panel type monitors jump from 200 to 500, anyway that's a different thread.
I'm hoping to get games that are already out to run at 90+ fps at 1080p on medum-high or so without really dipping below, hopefully at least that.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-10400 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler ($26.99 @ B&H)
Motherboard: ASRock B460 Pro4 ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($74.94 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Antec P101 Silent ATX Mid Tower Case ($105.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS 750 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $727.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-17 00:47 EST-0500

The video card will be a 3070, probably EVGA but another one becoming in stock might tempt me. ($500+ @ Anywhere)
With a keyboard, a mouse and a windows license that pretty much puts me around the budget.

I understand I should be buying the 10600k if I'm gonna be doing overclocking, I'm definitely not going to be overclocking, stock the performance jump seems to be less than 10% and the price jump from $180 to $250 is way more than 10%, am I a fool?
Do I even need the custom heatsink at all? How are these chips with the stock heatsink/fan these days?
I see folks buying Z490 boards, but I can't figure out why I would want to. If I'm running a single video card at 16x and the boot nvme/m.2 at 4x the B460 can handle that concurrently, right? Am I missing other reasons to consider the upgrade chipset? As far as I could tell it's pcie lanes and usb ports.

I'm excited to be building something where no drive bays of any kind will be occupied (or even mounted in the case).

Please tell me how everything here is wrong, thank you!

Do you have a particular reason to be going Intel?

# ? Nov 17, 2020 11:08

Brut: Aug 21, 2007

Funso Banjo posted:

Do you have a particular reason to be going Intel?

Familiarity for the most part, from the looks of it this board is roughly the AMD equivalent, the Ryzen 5 2600 is about the same price and performance but then I'd be buying a generation behind, right? I'm guessing the suggestion would be to go up to the higher price point on the CPU where the 3600XT should outperform the similarly priced 10600k? I could also be missing something in the AMD models.

# ? Nov 17, 2020 11:26

Samadhi: May 13, 2001

I was able to get an order in for an AMD 5800X this morning, ETA of 12/2 - 12/4. I still don't have a 3080, so I may try to get my hands on the 5900X I really want in the meantime. I know for my uses there will be little difference (gaming, Adobe Lightroom and Photoshop), but I'm a big dumb baby and was really looking forward to the higher end chip.

# ? Nov 17, 2020 13:12

Cyks: Mar 17, 2008; The trenches of IT can scar a muppet for life

Brut posted:

Familiarity for the most part, from the looks of it this board is roughly the AMD equivalent, the Ryzen 5 2600 is about the same price and performance but then I'd be buying a generation behind, right? I'm guessing the suggestion would be to go up to the higher price point on the CPU where the 3600XT should outperform the similarly priced 10600k? I could also be missing something in the AMD models.

3600 prices are jacked up right now and above MSRP at a lot of places except for Walmart, who has it listed on sale for $175.

https://www.walmart.com/ip/AMD-Ryzen-5-3600-6-Core-12-Thread-4-2-GHz-AM4-Processor/566127657

At that price point I'd consider it the best CPU price:performance on the market.

-just checked again and the price went up $75 in the last 10 minutes. Had one in my cart I was asking if I should order it for Christmas for somebody. Welp.

Cyks fucked around with this message at 13:55 on Nov 17, 2020

# ? Nov 17, 2020 13:38

Chatrapati: Nov 6, 2012

Thanks for your help everyone, I have my computer all built up now, though I am having a problem-
The graphics card does not have a vga port meaning it can't be plugged into my old monitor; it isn't a massive problem for now, as I can just buy an adaptor, but while I was testing out the machine to see if it worked, a little red light popped up on the board next the words "VGA". Now I'm hoping this is because the graphics card isn't plugged into anything. Could that be the case, or is it more likely there is something wrong with the card? It seems to be powered as the fans are turning around, but perhaps it could be a pins problem? :s

FreeKillB posted:

Thread's moving fairly fast, just wanted to add in a note that unless I'm mistaken the Pro4 is in a tier where ASRock motherboards do not have any kind of debug LED. Looking at manuals for budget B550s, the only thing I can say definitively is that it looks like debug LEDs are present on MSI's boards (I checked it for the Pro-VDH max at least). It's not a dealbreaker (my most recent build used a comparable ASRock mobo) as long as you don't have any trouble hooking things up but I wanted to highlight that as a potential feature that could save you a significant headache if you have issues getting things to post.

You are mistaken FreeKillB. New technology is amazingly useful. All these little lights telling me what I've done wrong!

# ? Nov 17, 2020 15:36

vanilla slimfast: Dec 6, 2006; If anyone needs me, I'll be in the Angry Dome

Chatrapati posted:

Thanks for your help everyone, I have my computer all built up now, though I am having a problem-
The graphics card does not have a vga port meaning it can't be plugged into my old monitor; it isn't a massive problem for now, as I can just buy an adaptor, but while I was testing out the machine to see if it worked, a little red light popped up on the board next the words "VGA". Now I'm hoping this is because the graphics card isn't plugged into anything. Could that be the case, or is it more likely there is something wrong with the card? It seems to be powered as the fans are turning around, but perhaps it could be a pins problem? :s

How old is this monitor? VGA stopped being the standard for interconnects a long time ago

You can�t use a simple adaptor to plug it in as it requires active conversion to go from digital (DisplayPort or HDMI) to analog (VGA). For the price of an active conversion box, you could just buy a new monitor. 1080p 60hz monitors in the 21� range can be had for less than $100

quote:

You are mistaken FreeKillB. New technology is amazingly useful. All these little lights telling me what I've done wrong!

I believe the VGA light on your mobo is telling you that it detected a video card is installed, you just don�t have anything to hook it up to right now. In this case, VGA is being used as shorthand for �video card� and has nothing to do with the interconnect (confusing, I know)

vanilla slimfast fucked around with this message at 16:11 on Nov 17, 2020

# ? Nov 17, 2020 15:50

Beef Of Ages: Jan 11, 2003; Your dumb is leaking.

Welp, I was (finally) able to score an RTX 3070 that gets delivered in a couple of weeks so it's time to start planning a new build in earnest.

What country are you in? USA
What are you using the system for? Primary driver for upgrade is playing MSFS; otherwise I do very light software development and nearly everything else of consequence is done in a browser. I may play a few other games on Steam occasionally but mostly older stuff because I am older stuff.
What's your budget? Now that I've hopefully got the video card, I'd like to keep the rest of the system around $900, but it's not a hard ceiling if there is solid rationale.
If you're gaming, what is your monitor resolution / refresh rate? I'm running a dual monitor 1080p setup that is nothing special but works for my needs and I can't see that changing in the near future. I would likely tune any settings as high as the CPU/GPU bottleneck would allow given the hardware setup. And I think (but am happy to be corrected) that if I moved to a 1440 monitor in the future this would support that.

Other contextual comments: I don't have the Zen3 CPU yet but am actively on the hunt; it's safe to say I'll likely buy whatever version I can get my hands on first. Additionally, I am not into RGB and visual elements of modern case design; form and function are most important.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($189.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($83.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB VENTUS 2X OC Video Card (Purchased For $549.00)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case ($95.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($154.99 @ Corsair)
Total: $669.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-17 08:59 EST-0500

Outstanding questions I have:

Is that CPU cooler sufficient and does it come with the right mounting bracket/hardware? Research has been inconclusive on this point and recommendations vary widely from "lol $200 heat sink or bust" to "liquid or ur dumb" so I have no idea.
Is there really a significant concern around the X570 motherboard needing a BIOS flash to handle a Zen3 chip? I don't have another AM4 chip laying around and we're in the middle of a goddamn pandemic so appreciable amounts of planning will be involved if this is the case.
Is this case reasonable for ease of use and airflow? As noted above, I'm not super motivated by physical aesthetics and I'm open to buying a few more fans as needed but don't have the desire to massively overhaul what a case comes with.

Beef Of Ages fucked around with this message at 16:28 on Nov 17, 2020

# ? Nov 17, 2020 16:03

sean10mm: Jun 29, 2005; It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, MAD-2R World

Mackieman posted:

Welp, I was (finally) able to score an RTX 3070 that gets delivered in a couple of weeks so it's time to start planning a new build in earnest.

What country are you in? USA
What are you using the system for? Primary driver for upgrade is playing MSFS; otherwise I do very light software development and nearly everything else of consequence is done in a browser. I may play a few other games on Steam occasionally but mostly older stuff because I am older stuff.
What's your budget? Now that I've hopefully got the video card, I'd like to keep the rest of the system around $900, but it's not a hard ceiling if there is solid rationale.
If you're gaming, what is your monitor resolution / refresh rate? I'm running a dual monitor 1080p setup that is nothing special but works for my needs and I can't see that changing in the near future. I would likely tune any settings as high as the CPU/GPU bottleneck would allow given the hardware setup. And I think (but am happy to be corrected) that if I moved to a 1440 monitor in the future this would support that.

Other contextual comments: I don't have the Zen3 CPU yet but am actively on the hunt; it's safe to say I'll likely buy whatever version I can get my hands on first. Additionally, I am not into RGB and visual elements of modern case design; form and function are most important.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X570-PLUS (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($189.99 @ B&H)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($83.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB VENTUS 2X OC Video Card (Purchased For $549.00)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case ($95.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($154.99 @ Corsair)
Total: $669.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-17 08:59 EST-0500

Outstanding questions I have:

Is that CPU cooler sufficient and does it come with the right mounting bracket/hardware? Research has been inconclusive on this point and recommendations vary widely from "lol $200 heat sink or bust" to "liquid or ur dumb" so I have no idea.

Is there really a significant concern around the X570 motherboard needing a BIOS flash to handle a Zen3 chip? I don't have another AM4 chip laying around and we're in the middle of a goddamn pandemic so appreciable amounts of planning will be involved if this is the case.

Is this case reasonable for ease of use and airflow? As noted above, I'm not super motivated by physical aesthetics and I'm open to buying a few more fans as needed but don't have the desire to massively overhaul what a case comes with.

For a 5800X I would definitely move to a bigger cooler like a Noctua U14S. It runs hot as balls. For a 5600X any of the 120mm tower coolers would probably be plenty though.
BIOS updates for Zen 3 compatiility are definitely a big deal. I just built a system a week ago and needed to flash to the latest BIOS for my 5800X. Get a board with BIOS flashback/Q Flash plus/whatever the manufacturer calls CPU-less BIOS updates.
Meshify C is good, going to 2x140 or 3x120 front plus 1x120 rear is a worthwhile upgrade IMO but not absolutely critical

Why are you looking at X570? Unless you need to plug up a ton of SATA+PCIE+M2 devices at once B550 is just as good as X570 and usually less money for equal features now.

e: Also don't buy the P1 when the SN550 is better and basically the same price, that old P1 recommendation keeps coming up and just needs to die IMO.

e2: You absolutely do not need 850W for a Zen 3 + 3070 combo. A quality 650W would heave headroom to spare.

sean10mm fucked around with this message at 16:12 on Nov 17, 2020

# ? Nov 17, 2020 16:07

Chatrapati: Nov 6, 2012

vanilla slimfast posted:

How old is this monitor? VGA stopped being the standard for interconnects a long time ago

I don't really know how old it is. Old enough to not have a hdmi port I suppose! I bought it cheaply (�20~) about three years ago from a second-hand shop.