The PC Builders Thread ("I Need a New PC") v3

Flammable D · Feb 2, 2021

I'm grabbing some parts for my deskmini, and this seems like a decent price for some RAM, but quick question:

Is there any reason I wouldn't go for the 3200Mhz or is this just a pricing quirk?

astro · Feb 2, 2021

A guy I know asked for some advice on upgrading his PC, but I'm not really up to speed on current values.

This is his build, it was a pre-built:

He's got £700 to spend.

Is that enough to comfortably beat his current build if he bought all new parts, or would it be better to upgrade a few bits like the GPU, a bit more ram, and maybe an SSD?

Stacey · Feb 2, 2021

My psu has an OPP of 1014w, is this the wattage it allows during power spikes before it shuts itself down?

Merv · Feb 2, 2021

astro said:
A guy I know asked for some advice on upgrading his PC, but I'm not really up to speed on current values.

This is his build, it was a pre-built:

He's got £700 to spend.

Is that enough to comfortably beat his current build if he bought all new parts, or would it be better to upgrade a few bits like the GPU, a bit more ram, and maybe an SSD?

If they don't have an SSD they should get one. A new GPU if they can find one would be the best upgrade. I would say no to more RAM, just wait for a DDR5 build.

astro · Feb 2, 2021

Merv said:
If they don't have an SSD they should get one. A new GPU if they can find one would be the best upgrade. I would say no to more RAM, just wait for a DDR5 build.

What would be the best GPU to go for here considering the budget?

I was thinking something like a 1080ti or a 2060, but maybe something else they can build around more in future?

Crazymoogle · Feb 2, 2021

astro said:
A guy I know asked for some advice on upgrading his PC, but I'm not really up to speed on current values.

This is his build, it was a pre-built:

NZXT H440 case

Core i7 5820K

8GB DDR4-2400

MSI X99A

Corsair CX750

GTX 970

Is that enough to comfortably beat his current build if he bought all new parts, or would it be better to upgrade a few bits like the GPU, a bit more ram, and maybe an SSD?

It's a pretty aged system, but I agree that improvement #1 needs to be an SSD (even SATA SSD would be fine) and then #2 needs to be a GPU. 1080ti, RTX2060 Super, honestly even a GTX1660 Super would be an improvement

TheBlackMarvel · Feb 2, 2021

astro said:
What would be the best GPU to go for here considering the budget?

I was thinking something like a 1080ti or a 2060, but maybe something else they can build around more in future?

You definitely want a 20XX or 30XX GPU.

astro · Feb 2, 2021

Crazymoogle said:
It's a pretty aged system, but I agree that improvement #1 needs to be an SSD (even SATA SSD would be fine) and then #2 needs to be a GPU. 1080ti, RTX2060 Super, honestly even a GTX1660 Super would be an improvement

TheBlackMarvel said:
You definitely want a 20XX or 30XX GPU.

This is enough for me to work with, thanks a lot everyone!

Merv · Feb 2, 2021

astro said:
What would be the best GPU to go for here considering the budget?

I was thinking something like a 1080ti or a 2060, but maybe something else they can build around more in future?

Honestly a GTX 3070 or 3060Ti if they can be found at MSRP. Maybe the upcoming 6700XT from AMD. I have a GTX 1070 and I'm waiting for the madness to die down.

astro · Feb 2, 2021

Merv said:
Honestly a GTX 3070 or 3060Ti if they can be found at MSRP. Maybe the upcoming 6700XT from AMD. I have a GTX 1070 and I'm waiting for the madness to die down.

Yeh they're the obvious choices... finding one, though... ugh.

captainzombie · Feb 2, 2021

Merv said:
Honestly a GTX 3070 or 3060Ti if they can be found at MSRP. Maybe the upcoming 6700XT from AMD. I have a GTX 1070 and I'm waiting for the madness to die down.

I have a 1080 Ti and want a 3080 to finally upgrade my GPU, but almost feel like it'll never happen at this rate. When I see 1080 Tt's selling on ebay for $500-$750 range, I'm like WTF.

Merv · Feb 2, 2021

captainzombie said:
I have a 1080 Ti and want a 3080 to finally upgrade my GPU, but almost feel like it'll never happen at this rate. When I see 1080 Tt's selling on ebay for $500-$750 range, I'm like WTF.

Yeah, it's maddening. When I got my 1070, I was a little upset that the 70 series jumped from $330 to $380, but then realized that traditionally they had been $399. My 1070 matches a 980Ti and I paid $430 for a three fan variant. The 3070 which matches a 2080Ti is $499 MSRP, and nearly $700 for 3 fan variants.

captainzombie · Feb 2, 2021

Merv said:
Yeah, it's maddening. When I got my 1070, I was a little upset that the 70 series jumped from $330 to $380, but then realized that traditionally they had been $399. My 1070 matches a 980Ti and I paid $430 for a three fan variant. The 3070 which matches a 2080Ti is $499 MSRP, and nearly $700 for 3 fan variants.

This whole GPU craze is nuts. I remember a somewhat similar situation happening when I bought the 1080 Ti, but it wasn't as bad as this obviously. I had bought the ASUS Strix OC for around $700-750, then 2-3 months later the prices shoot up to $1100-$1200 for these at the time. Now things are even worse.

I would never think of the day that an x70 card would be at $700. My 770 was $399, and then I remember buying my 970 at $349, then I had jumped to a 980 for $449 before I went the 1080 Ti route. I was so happy when I skipped on the 2080 Ti since the gains are not there, but now I think back and wish I would of upgraded to it since we could be in this GPU turmoil for another 6 months to a year. I don't think my card will still hang with newer titles by the end of this year.

I do have the PS5 and XSX, but playing Valhalla on the XSX with how poorly its been optimized I wish I was playing it on the PC with at least no screen tearing and some frame drops. It is stuff like that which has me wanting to go back to mainly playing on the PC.

ggdeku · Feb 2, 2021

I'm planning on getting a 5600x cpu and was having trouble figuring out what exactly I am looking for in a motherboard. The Asus B550-F seems well-liked, but I read a comment saying "if you are getting a 5000 series cpu, go for an X570 board." I'm not really sure what information I'm looking for to make a decision. Does anyone have a suggestion?

MG3 · Feb 2, 2021

I'm looking to build a simple SFF PC for 1440p games. With a budget range of $1500 - $2000. Here are the components I've decided on and was hoping to get some tips or opinions on it. I want to start ordering as soon as I can once I have all the parts decided. Any opinions or advice is appreciated.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XLC2Yg

CPU: Ryzen 7 5800x + Noctua NHU-12A Cooler
MOBO: Gigabyte B550I AORUS Pro AX Mini ITX AM4
STORAGE: Crucial 1TB M.2-280 NVME SSD
MEMORY: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3070
CASE: Lian Li TU150 Mini ITX Case
PSU: Seasonic FOCUS SGX 650W 80+Gold SFX

I'm also looking at 3 120mm case fans for the bottom and side case intake vents. Since I'm not overclocking would a 650w be sufficient for everything?

PhantomFFR · Feb 2, 2021

astro said:
A guy I know asked for some advice on upgrading his PC, but I'm not really up to speed on current values.

This is his build, it was a pre-built:

He's got £700 to spend.

Is that enough to comfortably beat his current build if he bought all new parts, or would it be better to upgrade a few bits like the GPU, a bit more ram, and maybe an SSD?

Merv said:
If they don't have an SSD they should get one. A new GPU if they can find one would be the best upgrade. I would say no to more RAM, just wait for a DDR5 build.

Given that 8GB of RAM is hardly sufficient, I'd say getting more RAM should be a priority as well. 16gb does not cost the world and should make a noticeable difference.

As for GPU I'd imagine it's not that urgent, so hoping to find a 3060(Ti)/3070 for somewhat close to retail pricing might not be the worst idea ever. Otherwise right now appears to be about the worst time ever for a GPU upgrade

astro · Feb 2, 2021

PhantomFFR said:
Given that 8GB of RAM is hardly sufficient, I'd say getting more RAM should be a priority as well. 16gb does not cost the world and should make a noticeable difference.

As for GPU I'd imagine it's not that urgent, so hoping to find a 3060(Ti)/3070 for somewhat close to retail pricing might not be the worst idea ever. Otherwise right now appears to be about the worst time ever for a GPU upgrade

Exactly.

He's getting 8gb of ram, an ssd, and I convinced him to try to find a 3060ti/3070.

PhantomFFR · Feb 2, 2021

ggdeku said:
I'm planning on getting a 5600x cpu and was having trouble figuring out what exactly I am looking for in a motherboard. The Asus B550-F seems well-liked, but I read a comment saying "if you are getting a 5000 series cpu, go for an X570 board." I'm not really sure what information I'm looking for to make a decision. Does anyone have a suggestion?

I would not put any amount of trust into apparently random comments I read on the Internet. There's nothing wrong with a B550 chipset for Ryzen 5000. In fact, if anything the consensus seems to be that B550 boards on average have more solid power delivery than (cheaper) X570 boards, which in all likelihood only matters if getting one of the higher end Ryzens and even then I'd assume mostly for Overclocking, but still, the point stands: Giving weight to any one random comment on the Internet is a bad idea.

astro said:
Exactly.

He's getting 8gb of ram, an ssd, and I convinced him to try to find a 3060ti/3070.

Good. With another 8GB stick of RAM he'll even be able to take advantage of Dual Channel. On a sidenote, I really have to wonder about the choice of CPU/platform back then. Why get an X99 board and then only put one stick of RAM inside? What a giant waste on a platform that supports Quad Channel and has 8 DIMM-slots.

astro · Feb 2, 2021

PhantomFFR said:
I would not put any amount of trust into apparently random comments I read on the Internet. There's nothing wrong with a B550 chipset for Ryzen 5000. In fact, if anything the consensus seems to be that B550 boards on average have more solid power delivery than (cheaper) X570 boards, which in all likelihood only matters if getting one of the higher end Ryzens and even then I'd assume mostly for Overclocking, but still, the point stands: Giving weight to any one random comment on the Internet is a bad idea.

Good. With another 8GB stick of RAM he'll even be able to take advantage of Dual Channel. On a sidenote, I really have to wonder about the choice of CPU/platform back then. Why get an X99 board and then only put one stick of RAM inside? What a giant waste on a platform that supports Quad Channel and has 8 DIMM-slots.

Yep, told him to make sure whoever sets it up for him knows what dual channel is lol.

It was a pre-built apparently, maybe he chose a lesser option in the ram slot to bring the price down.

Merv · Feb 2, 2021

PhantomFFR said:
Given that 8GB of RAM is hardly sufficient, I'd say getting more RAM should be a priority as well. 16gb does not cost the world and should make a noticeable difference.

As for GPU I'd imagine it's not that urgent, so hoping to find a 3060(Ti)/3070 for somewhat close to retail pricing might not be the worst idea ever. Otherwise right now appears to be about the worst time ever for a GPU upgrade

16GB will not give an appreciable uplift in performance, especially vs a GPU upgrade. Yes, a RAM upgrade will cost > $50, but I don't think it will result in a noticeable improvement.

ggdeku · Feb 2, 2021

PhantomFFR said:
I would not put any amount of trust into apparently random comments I read on the Internet. There's nothing wrong with a B550 chipset for Ryzen 5000. In fact, if anything the consensus seems to be that B550 boards on average have more solid power delivery than (cheaper) X570 boards, which in all likelihood only matters if getting one of the higher end Ryzens and even then I'd assume mostly for Overclocking, but still, the point stands: Giving weight to any one random comment on the Internet is a bad idea.

Thanks for the explanation! Yeah I had read that about the B550 boards at first, but i guess that random internet commentor freaked me out a bit.

astro · Feb 3, 2021

Merv said:
16GB will not give an appreciable uplift in performance, especially vs a GPU upgrade. Yes, a RAM upgrade will cost > $50, but I don't think it will result in a noticeable improvement.

It will for some of the things he wants to do like photoshop and light video editing.

super-famicom · Feb 3, 2021

MG3 said:
I'm looking to build a simple SFF PC for 1440p games. With a budget range of $1500 - $2000. Here are the components I've decided on and was hoping to get some tips or opinions on it. I want to start ordering as soon as I can once I have all the parts decided. Any opinions or advice is appreciated.

CPU: Ryzen 7 5800x + Noctua NHU-12A Cooler
MOBO: Gigabyte B550I AORUS Pro AX Mini ITX AM4
STORAGE: Crucial 1TB M.2-280 NVME SSD
MEMORY: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3070
CASE: Lian Li TU150 Mini ITX Case
PSU: Seasonic FOCUS SGX 650W 80+Gold SFX

I'm also looking at 3 120mm case fans for the bottom and side case intake vents. Since I'm not overclocking would a 650w be sufficient for everything?

Everything looks good. It might be a while before you get a 3070, though, and if you buy everything else ahead first but don't plan to build until you have the graphics card, you'd be wasting the warranty on the other components. If you have a spare graphics card then you can use that as a placeholder. A 650W PSU would work for this build but if you ever plan to upgrade in the future and get a more power hungry CPU or GPU, then a 750W might be a better choice.

The 5800 can run hot, and you can actually fit bigger coolers in the TU150. The Noctua NH-D15 and the Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4 can both fit. You'd just need to double check the RAM clearance with the Ripjaws you chose. Or you can get some Crucial Ballistix which have a lower profile. And if you'd like to consider different SFF cases check out this post:

Small Form Factor "Gaming" PC Thread (AKA HTPC) OT

Here are some useful resources that could be included in the OT whenever OP is unbanned and decides to update: SFF List - Google Sheets: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AddRvGWJ_f4B6UC7_IftDiVudVc8CJ8sxLUqlxVsCz4/edit#gid=1459265577 A well curated spreadsheet with separate sheets for...

www.resetera.com

MG3 · Feb 3, 2021

super-famicom said:
Everything looks good. It might be a while before you get a 3070, though, and if you buy everything else ahead first but don't plan to build until you have the graphics card, you'd be wasting the warranty on the other components. If you have a spare graphics card then you can use that as a placeholder. A 650W PSU would work for this build but if you ever plan to upgrade in the future and get a more power hungry CPU or GPU, then a 750W might be a better choice.

The 5800 can run hot, and you can actually fit bigger coolers in the TU150. The Noctua NH-D15 and the Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4 can both fit. You'd just need to double check the RAM clearance with the Ripjaws you chose. Or you can get some Crucial Ballistix which have a lower profile. And if you'd like to consider different SFF cases check out this post:

Small Form Factor "Gaming" PC Thread (AKA HTPC) OT

Here are some useful resources that could be included in the OT whenever OP is unbanned and decides to update: SFF List - Google Sheets: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1AddRvGWJ_f4B6UC7_IftDiVudVc8CJ8sxLUqlxVsCz4/edit#gid=1459265577 A well curated spreadsheet with separate sheets for...

www.resetera.com

Thanks for the tips. I think I'll update my build with Crucial ballistixs with the lower profile and the bigger CPU Noctua cooler. I'll be watching that thread I might have some more Qs once I can start building. I just wish a 750w SFX was a bit cheaper but I'll consider it.

PhantomFFR · Feb 3, 2021

Merv said:
16GB will not give an appreciable uplift in performance, especially vs a GPU upgrade. Yes, a RAM upgrade will cost > $50, but I don't think it will result in a noticeable improvement.

I'm not sure why or where you'd get the idea that I was against a GPU upgrade in general. But going by personal experience for non-gaming, I don't think your assessment is correct. And even for gaming it's ... not quite true either. Though "appreciable uplift" might be a debatable term and be very dependent on the game.

super-famicom · Feb 3, 2021

MG3 said:
Thanks for the tips. I think I'll update my build with Crucial ballistixs with the lower profile and the bigger CPU Noctua cooler. I'll be watching that thread I might have some more Qs once I can start building. I just wish a 750w SFX was a bit cheaper but I'll consider it.

Cooler Master recently released a new line of SFX PSUs. They're usually in stock and priced reasonably well (for an SFX PSU). But a lot of V1 models have issues with the fan ramping up too soon or something like that. Cooler Master acknowledged this and V2 models should remedy this. I think if you buy one now and it's a V1 model, they'll replace it with the newer one for free.

Here's a link to the 750W model, it's $129.99

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08LP7B7F...abc_RA71AZW11KKAGJEJ1GX1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1

Azai · Feb 3, 2021

I read that first DDR5 modules are set to release this year.
Any info if next AMD or intel CPUs will support it or if we will get DDR5 compatible mainboards this year?

Crazymoogle · Feb 3, 2021

Azai said:
I read that first DDR5 modules are set to release this year.
Any info if next AMD or intel CPUs will support it or if we will get DDR5 compatible mainboards this year?

Extremely hard to say. It requires the memory manufacturers to be ready with the supply chain and AMD to be ready to play ball (DDR4 and 5 are not interoperable, so they would have to define specific motherboards or chipsets to support one or the other).

This year was supposedly going to finish with AMD releasing Zen 4 / "Ryzen 6000" which would use the new AM5 socket, and a perfect opportunity to move up to DDR5. But any part of that package could be delayed. We could see advanced Zen3 instead of Zen 4, we could see another AM4 product, and we could see AM5 running DDR4 if they determine the market is too glutted and just not ready to dump everything for new RAM.

For Intel I would wait for 2022 as Rocket Lake will likely be out well before consumer level DDR5 modules.

Azai · Feb 3, 2021

Crazymoogle said:
Extremely hard to say. It requires the memory manufacturers to be ready with the supply chain and AMD to be ready to play ball (DDR4 and 5 are not interoperable, so they would have to define specific motherboards or chipsets to support one or the other).

This year was supposedly going to finish with AMD releasing Zen 4 / "Ryzen 6000" which would use the new AM5 socket, and a perfect opportunity to move up to DDR5. But any part of that package could be delayed. We could see advanced Zen3 instead of Zen 4, we could see another AM4 product, and we could see AM5 running DDR4 if they determine the market is too glutted and just not ready to dump everything for new RAM.

For Intel I would wait for 2022 as Rocket Lake will likely be out well before consumer level DDR5 modules.

Thank you. Probably not a good idea to buy it at release anyways.
Although it seems like MSI is preparing a launch of DDR5 motherboards for this fall with Intel chipset.
Thats from a news from late december early january.

Other question:

I havent followed CPU prices recently and only know that there is an overall shortage.

however I can get a 10900K in Stock here for 490€.
A 5900X however is out of stock and starts at 700€.
i know the 5900Xis a bit better but this price difference is huge.
if I wanted to upgrade my CPU I would simply go with the 10900K. It seems like a much better valued price. Or am I missing something?

SmartWaffles · Feb 3, 2021

astro said:
A guy I know asked for some advice on upgrading his PC, but I'm not really up to speed on current values.

This is his build, it was a pre-built:

He's got £700 to spend.

Is that enough to comfortably beat his current build if he bought all new parts, or would it be better to upgrade a few bits like the GPU, a bit more ram, and maybe an SSD?

Finding a GPU that is a reasonable upgrade from his 970 is going to be tough. Upgrading the CPU, RAM and motherboard should be an easy process but this doesn't leave him much for GPU.

Yerffej · Feb 3, 2021

I had a Tuf 3070 in the cart and hemmed and hawed over finalizing it and lost it. I hesitated because I never looked much at reviews and have been holding out for a 3080 forever now. I think maybe I should settle for it if I get the chance again? Seems pretty solid. Just feel like a 3080 is out of reach. Especially the FE, which is really the only one I want.

Kaiken · Feb 3, 2021

After a few upgrades to my very first build from last year I think I'm done for a while:

CPU: 3800x
Cooler: Wraith Prism
GPU: 3070FE
MB: B450 Tomahawk Max
RAM: Ripjaws 3600 CL 16 32GB
Storage: WD Blue NVMe 1TB
Storage: Evo 860 1TB
Power: SuperNOVA 750 G+
Case: Phanteks P300A
Misc: 140mm x2 120mm x1 with RGB frames, and RGB strips.
Cost: $1,437.79

Merv · Feb 3, 2021

astro said:
It will for some of the things he wants to do like photoshop and light video editing.

This is true.

PhantomFFR said:
I'm not sure why or where you'd get the idea that I was against a GPU upgrade in general. But going by personal experience for non-gaming, I don't think your assessment is correct. And even for gaming it's ... not quite true either. Though "appreciable uplift" might be a debatable term and be very dependent on the game.

Sorry didn't mean to imply that you were against a GPU upgrade. After thinking about it more the cost of a RAM upgrade is trivial, so might as well do it and reap any and all benefits.

Kaiken said:
After a few upgrades to my very first build from last year I think I'm done for a while:

CPU: 3800x
Cooler: Wraith Prism
GPU: 3070FE
MB: B450 Tomahawk Max
RAM: Ripjaws 3600 CL 16 32GB
Storage: WD Blue NVMe 1TB
Storage: Evo 860 1TB
Power: SuperNOVA 750 G+
Case: Phanteks P300A
Misc: 140mm x2 120mm x1 with RGB frames, and RGB strips.
Cost: $1,437.79

Nice! I got a 3700X middle of last year and was planning on getting a 3070...

Have you thought about getting an AIO water cooler? My 3700X only hit 4215 per core with the Wraith, but now hits 4300+. I haven't done any tweaking myself. 5800X results might be different, but I bought a 240mm AIO for $80 on sale.

Refyref · Feb 3, 2021

So, my computer has a Radeon HD6950, and as you might expect, it's really showing its age and dragging the system down, especially after some other upgrades I've done lately. So I've been looking into re[lacing with something a little more capable. I've looked around, and I found myself looking at the options of a GTX 1650 Super, RX 5500XT at a little over that, and GTX 1660 Ti & Super (both around the same price) at a bit over that. (I also found the GTX 1070 Ti at bit higher price, and a blower 2070 close to that, but at this point it's already double what some of the 1650 Super costs, so I don't think I should go for these.)
Any suggestions what I should be looking at, considering that this isn't a new machine and I'm only looking for acceptable 1080p60 at medium-to-high settings?

EDIT: Actually, the 1070 Ti and the 2070 have a DVI port which I still need, so maybe I should buy that after all... What's the general difference in performance between all of these cards?

Kaiken · Feb 3, 2021

Merv said:
Nice! I got a 3700X earlier this year and was planning on getting a 3070...

Have you thought about getting an AIO water cooler? My 3700X only hit 4215 per core with the Wraith, but now hits 4300+. I haven't done any tweaking myself. 5800X results might be different, but I bought a 240mm AIO for $80 on sale.

Just installed everything the other day. Did some medium gaming to test the rig and haven't seen anything above 75c yet. I haven't tested any core performance yet. You can definitely hear the fan rev up occasionally but nothing that would be considered a nuisance.

Merv · Feb 3, 2021

Kaiken said:
Just installed everything the other day. Did some medium gaming to test the rig and haven't seen anything above 75c yet. I haven't tested any core performance yet. You can definitely hear the fan rev up occasionally but nothing that would be considered a nuisance.

My 3700X was at 75c as well on the Wraith. If I remember correctly it now stays around 60c maybe 65c at the most. I don't really need the extra performance and the Wraith is a good looking cooler. I guess the discounted price and the itch to upgrade something since I couldn't get a GPU was too much.

Kaiken · Feb 3, 2021

Merv said:
My 3700X was at 75c as well on the Wraith. If I remember correctly it now stays around 60c maybe 65c at the most. I don't really need the extra performance and the Wraith is a good looking cooler. I guess the discounted price and the itch to upgrade something since I couldn't get a GPU was too much.

I hear ya. Got lucky on the 3070 from a BestBuy drop and the same week found someone selling the 3800x and cooler for $250. Going to ride that W for a while.

Merv · Feb 3, 2021

Kaiken said:
I hear ya. Got lucky on the 3070 from a BestBuy drop and the same week found someone selling the 3800x and cooler for $250. Going to ride that W for a while.

Nice. I got the 3700X for $270 last summer. It's up to $350 now. Newegg had a "Hot Deal" on the 2700X for $270 yesterday....

Deleted member 35478 · Feb 3, 2021

MG3 said:
I'm looking to build a simple SFF PC for 1440p games. With a budget range of $1500 - $2000. Here are the components I've decided on and was hoping to get some tips or opinions on it. I want to start ordering as soon as I can once I have all the parts decided. Any opinions or advice is appreciated.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XLC2Yg

CPU: Ryzen 7 5800x + Noctua NHU-12A Cooler
MOBO: Gigabyte B550I AORUS Pro AX Mini ITX AM4
STORAGE: Crucial 1TB M.2-280 NVME SSD
MEMORY: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16
GPU: Nvidia RTX 3070
CASE: Lian Li TU150 Mini ITX Case
PSU: Seasonic FOCUS SGX 650W 80+Gold SFX

I'm also looking at 3 120mm case fans for the bottom and side case intake vents. Since I'm not overclocking would a 650w be sufficient for everything?

im running a 3080 on a 650w psu, you should be good with a 650w and 3070.

Strangiato · Feb 3, 2021

Was at MicroCenter today to get a new monitor as mine is nearly dead. They had lots of 3070 and RX 6800 on the shelf but....

$800 for the 3070
$1030 for the 6800

I'm just not doing that.

Jimmy Joe · Feb 3, 2021

So I been thinking about buying an Xbox or a Playstation lately, but a friend of mine might have a (gently used) 2070 Super I can get off him for relatively cheap

I built my rig back in 2014. What I got under the hood right now is:

970
i5-4570
16GB of pretty decent RAM I put in about a year ago
All nestled in a Gigabyte Z87X-D3H

Now as near as I can tell, the 2070 Super should work fine with my ding dang motherboard, but the real stickler is probably that processor. I'm pretty sure I'll want to upgrade it. But will my creaky old workhorse motherboard work OK with any of them newfangled processors out there? If I grab a *checks notes* Ryzen 3600, would I need to replace my mobo to get it all working right?

The Turbanator · Feb 3, 2021

Jimmy Joe said:
So I been thinking about buying an Xbox or a Playstation lately, but a friend of mine might have a (gently used) 2070 Super I can get off him for relatively cheap

I built my rig back in 2014. What I got under the hood right now is:

970
i5-4570
16GB of pretty decent RAM I put in about a year ago
All nestled in a Gigabyte Z87X-D3H

Now as near as I can tell, the 2070 Super should work fine with my ding dang motherboard, but the real stickler is probably that processor. I'm pretty sure I'll want to upgrade it. But will my creaky old workhorse motherboard work OK with any of them newfangled processors out there? If I grab a *checks notes* Ryzen 3600, would I need to replace my mobo to get it all working right?

The best processor you can get on your motherboard is an i7 4790k, which has aged somewhat well but is well on its way out and outperformed by sub-$200 processors from last gen. You are better off upgrading to a new CPU entirely, and will have to change your motherboard in the process.

CorpseLight · Feb 3, 2021

Refyref said:
So, my computer has a Radeon HD6950, and as you might expect, it's really showing its age and dragging the system down, especially after some other upgrades I've done lately. So I've been looking into re[lacing with something a little more capable. I've looked around, and I found myself looking at the options of a GTX 1650 Super, RX 5500XT at a little over that, and GTX 1660 Ti & Super (both around the same price) at a bit over that. (I also found the GTX 1070 Ti at bit higher price, and a blower 2070 close to that, but at this point it's already double what some of the 1650 Super costs, so I don't think I should go for these.)
Any suggestions what I should be looking at, considering that this isn't a new machine and I'm only looking for acceptable 1080p60 at medium-to-high settings?

EDIT: Actually, the 1070 Ti and the 2070 have a DVI port which I still need, so maybe I should buy that after all... What's the general difference in performance between all of these cards?

If you are looking for acceptable 60fps at 1080p, perhaps an older Rx580 would be acceptable. I had a Rx570 and was able to get a decent enough framerate before upgrading to a 5600XT. I would advise against a 5500XT, and spend just a little more and go for the 5600XT. I have had zero issues with it for months and it handles everything I throw at it, usually at 1440p60+ FPS

Refyref · Feb 3, 2021

Ch3m61_ said:
If you are looking for acceptable 60fps at 1080p, perhaps an older Rx580 would be acceptable. I had a Rx570 and was able to get a decent enough framerate before upgrading to a 5600XT. I would advise against a 5500XT, and spend just a little more and go for the 5600XT. I have had zero issues with it for months and it handles everything I throw at it, usually at 1440p60+ FPS

Unfortunately, I can't find any 5600XT for sale, and the RX580 models I can find are more expensive than the 5500XT and 1660 models I can find. I'm also aiming for 1440p, nor am I planning to buy a monitor that supports it.

Jimmy Joe · Feb 3, 2021

The Turbanator said:
The best processor you can get on your motherboard is an i7 4790k, which has aged somewhat well but is well on its way out and outperformed by sub-$200 processors from last gen. You are better off upgrading to a new CPU entirely, and will have to change your motherboard in the process.

Aight

This is basically like having a new rig, I suppose. Getting the 2070 for cheap will help a lot; luckily the CPU and the motherboard aren't the really expensive bits, and my PSU should still be good

Blackrobe · Feb 3, 2021

Are there any reliable tools out there there to that take PC build lists and show performance?

Something where I put could in my rig at the moment + a potential build and see a semi-accurate 4K FPS improvement?

Crazymoogle · Feb 3, 2021

Azai said:
Thank you. Probably not a good idea to buy it at release anyways.
Although it seems like MSI is preparing a launch of DDR5 motherboards for this fall with Intel chipset.
Thats from a news from late december early january.

Intel's new gen is Rocket Lake, which is in a few months, and I believe it's spec'd for DDR4-3200. DDR5 at the end of the year is certainly possible but it depends on Intel shipping a CPU with DDR5 support at that time. So I guess we will see, but I wouldn't expect Intel to be first as they rarely are these days. (Rocket Lake will be their first true foray into PCIe 4.0, for example)

Azai said:
And yeah, if a 10900K is that much cheaper then why not?

Absolutely go for the 10900K if that's the price difference. Ryzen 5000 is better but the performance difference % is nowhere near the cost efficiency difference you are seeing. (So you're not missing anything, this is just the wonky market we have right now with huge supply chain problems)

Refyref said:
EDIT: Actually, the 1070 Ti and the 2070 have a DVI port which I still need, so maybe I should buy that after all...

You can buy DisplayPort to DVI adapters pretty easily; I wouldn't treat that port as a requirement for your build.

Jimmy Joe said:
Now as near as I can tell, the 2070 Super should work fine with my ding dang motherboard, but the real stickler is probably that processor. I'm pretty sure I'll want to upgrade it. But will my creaky old workhorse motherboard work OK with any of them newfangled processors out there? If I grab a *checks notes* Ryzen 3600, would I need to replace my mobo to get it all working right?

As mentioned the motherboard uses an old socket and there's just no upgrade path anymore. But even worse is that the motherboard you have is using DDR3 while the entire industry right now uses DDR4 (with DDR5 coming late next year). So yes, you would need to dunk the motherboard, CPU, and RAM to move forward. But yes, for PCIe it's totally interoperable so a 2070 or 3070 or whatever will run on your old PC. It just might be heavily CPU limited.

And unlike the old days, AMD and Intel are not cross compatible so Ryzen needs different motherboards than Intel...

I Don't Like · Feb 3, 2021

Blackrobe said:
Are there any reliable tools out there there to that take PC build lists and show performance?

Something where I put could in my rig at the moment + a potential build and see a semi-accurate 4K FPS improvement?

I don't think so but you can find benchmarks for CPUs with certain GPUs and gauge from that. What are you trying to compare?

Jimmy Joe · Feb 3, 2021

Crazymoogle said:
As mentioned the motherboard uses an old socket and there's just no upgrade path anymore. But even worse is that the motherboard you have is using DDR3 while the entire industry right now uses DDR4 (with DDR5 coming late next year). So yes, you would need to dunk the motherboard, CPU, and RAM to move forward. But yes, for PCIe it's totally interoperable so a 2070 or 3070 or whatever will run on your old PC. It just might be heavily CPU limited.

And unlike the old days, AMD and Intel are not cross compatible so Ryzen needs different motherboards than Intel...

The madmen, they finally did it...

Well, I'm not too worried about future-proofing, so I won't fret about DDR5 (though it does sound nice). But this really is basically a new rig; I'd be replacing everything except my case, my SSD/HD combo, and my PSU, which is like 650W and should be fine

A Ryzen 3600 wouldn't be the limiting factor if I paired it would a 2070, would it?

Crazymoogle · Feb 3, 2021

Jimmy Joe said:
The madmen, they finally did it...

Well, I'm not too worried about future-proofing, so I won't fret about DDR5 (though it does sound nice). But this really is basically a new rig; I'd be replacing everything except my case, my SSD/HD combo, and my PSU, which is like 650W and should be fine

A Ryzen 3600 wouldn't be the limiting factor if I paired it would a 2070, would it?

No, not really. CPU intensive games will do better with more, but honestly the 3600+2070 is a great combo

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