So it has been 7 years since I built a computer. In the interim I purchased an MSI notebook that has a cuddly "mobile" I7 and 1060 6GB in it 3.5 years ago and it has been and will likely continue to be outstanding. However, I need to scratch that itch again and I have some development + other needs for a desktop. So, without further ado, this: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qpbdyk Is what I was thinking about doing. That can still play games at 1080p(which is what my monitor is rated at) and meets other needs. There are also variations to the fans(note that the A14 industrial noctua fans are actually 25ish dollars and I do not know why parts picker has them as so expensive) and the case could be switched to the Fractal Meshify C. There is just one problem though; the computer is 200o.00(and more after taxes.) Which is not a question of cost, it is a question of principle. 7 years ago I built I built a computer with the AMD 8320, dual Nvidia 650Ti, 8GB of ram, TWO hard drives - one smallish SSD and a larger disk, and it included the montior(24 inch) for 1450.00(somewhere just under 1600 after taxes.) So advancing forward in time, this is the best I could do with the same cost: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/nJnwL2 To be clear, that is still a rippingly awesome system. However I feel very frustrated by what I feel is not a fair progression in time of parts vs cost. It also does not include a monitor. It feels subjectively like the CPU and graphics cards companies have lost sight of those they are selling to and more focused on each other so the prices have increased arbitrarily(we need more diversity and less competition.) I primarily blame Nvidia and Intel for this even though I sometimes like their equipment, but AMD might be sneaking into the less than moral grounds as well. I also have some questions for anyone reading this that might have an AMD card - do you like them? How are the drivers? <- be honest. Does anyone have the 5700XT? How does it do? Also, @Scoob if I remember correctly you have the 2070? How does that handle? Also @Germanicus I think I will still get windows 10 home edition again, but I kinda do not want to - preferring instead to acquire Fedora Linux. I believe you said you use linux, how does it handle games? Steam? Thoughts? Bear in mind that I have read the recent announcements that say that the new Ryzen 4000 and new offerings from Nvidia + AMD graphics are "gonna be announced soon" so I am probably going to wait.... probably, but I like to collect info and begin to map things out. Plus the Pandemic is likely going to disrupt shipping for at least 6 more months so even with new offerings there is no guarantee that I will be able to acquire the new stuff and should take the plunge now. Edit: Case break down and thoughts: My over-all favorite so far: https://www.newegg.com/black-phanteks-eclipse-p500a-atx-mid-tower/p/N82E16811854102?Description=phanteks p500a&cm_re=phanteks_p500a-_-11-854-102-_-Product&quicklink=true The best air flow I can find in a case. The lack of filter on the front is a little alarming, but I am hoping the super fine mesh is enough. Second favorite: https://www.newegg.com/black-be-quiet-pure-base-atx-micro-atx-mid-tower/p/2AM-0037-00071?Description=pure base 500dx&cm_re=pure_base 500dx-_-9SIA68VB0W1038-_-Product&quicklink=true The best over-all case I know. Has mesh and a filter. The only reason it is number two is because it is not just out of stock, it looks like it will not ever be re-stocked any time soon. Which is really frustrating. Third favorite: https://www.newegg.com/black-lian-li-lancool-atx-mid-tower/p/2AM-000Z-00063?Description=lian li lancool 2&cm_re=lian_li lancool 2-_-9SIAN0MBUD4946-_-Product Awesome air-flow case. Essentially the same case as the P500A but cannot mount and extra 140mm fan on the front... I think. If it can then it is tied for first and is a clone of the P500A. Has mesh in the front with larger holes and no filter.... so that is worrying. Fourth favorite: https://www.newegg.com/black-fractal-design-meshify-c-atx-mid-tower/p/N82E16811352085?Description=Fractal design meshify c&cm_re=Fractal_design meshify c-_-11-352-085-_-Product Astonishing case for only $89. I may end up having to get this and not worry about it. I REALLY hope I can squeeze in an extra 140mm fan in the front(total of three,) but we shall see. Fifth favorite: https://www.newegg.com/p/2AM-0037-00032?Description=dark base 700&cm_re=dark_base 700-_-9SIA68V6HW9594-_-Product&quicklink=true Probably the best case I have ever seen(either that or the Entho Evolve X.) The only reason why it is last is because it is $180. Edit2: We are going to go ahead and add a sixth favorite: https://www.newegg.com/metallic-gra...cm_re=purebase_500-_-9SIA68VA195706-_-Product Phenomenal case. The only reason it did not make the list the first time around is I am not sure it will fit the new Nvidia cards announced today(9/1/2020.) Frankly the pricing of those cards will likely drive me away from them, but, if I can somehow swing it; they are rumored to be physically larger than the previous series of cards by quite a bit and might not fit in this case.
Well, I just gave my Laptop the last revitalization possible - 16GB more RAM - not without troubles from WIN8.1 *sigh*. Several BSOD followed and so I had to invest further €37.- into a Repair Program (which I know and which works pretty well). If I ever get out of this deep Hole again in which I am now... it will be a Laptop again. Some Powerhouse from ASUS -> My "wet" Dream -> https://www.asus.com/Laptops/ROG-G703/ But I feel your Pain
Oh! So you are not a linux person. I coulda sworn I read that you were. And yeah, my wet dream would be one of these: https://www.amd.com/en/products/cpu/amd-ryzen-threadripper-3970x but I question just how much I would get vs time spent etc etc. I mean one of those goes for 1850.00 which is bonkers but from everything I have seen, they are worth every penny. Still, to build a complete system around one would take 4000.00 and that is not really what I want to spend. Although, to be fair, I might do it anyways because I am a crazy person. The only thing that really holds me back is that one of those really wants to be paired with ECC ram and that is hard to come by right now and is un-tethered from reality with respect to price with what you can find. I will do my best to stay grounded and consider different system variations.
I think, my next upgrade is going to be something like this: - CPU: Intel Core i9-10900K, 10x 3.70GHz - Cooler: be quiet! Shadow Rock Slim - Mainboard: ASUS ROG Strix Z490-E Gaming - RAM: Corsair Vengeance LPX Kit 64GB, DDR4-3600 - Graphics card: Next gen. nVidia RTX3080 - Storage: 2x Samsung SSD 970 EVO Plus 1TB, M.2 - Power supply: Corsair TX-M Series Modular TX850M 80 PLUS Gold 850W ATX 2.4 - OS: Win10 Pro or Win10 Pro for Workstations But currently my old i7-2600K with a GTX1070 is still doing a pretty good job. /jmc
I have Sapphire RX5700XT and cheap 4k screen with freesync support. With sapphire TRIXX I created custom resolution 75% of 4k (2880x1620) and Radeon image sharpening to the max. game runs and looks great and sharp with all graphics on. My processor is ryzen 3700x.
That should be a killer gaming PC. Hopefully your case fits the shadow rock slim. It is a little crazy that Intel seems to be going to opposite of what one would expect of technology - becoming more inefficient over time. That is the main reason I am having trouble stomaching them right now. I mean, 125W TDP and probably a bit more in actual usage? That is kinda nuts considering that they came from the position of 65W TDP years ago. So you actually have a 3700X - how is it? I love its efficiency.
Yeah, I know. It's pretty sad, my brother always also had Intels before and has now gotten himself a Ryzen because of that (and also value for money). I'm still a bit reluctant of AMDs, but that's more a psychological problem. In my early days I had a little side job in a computer shop and built and sold PCs there. That time AMDs were simply inferior copies of Intels, and maybe that stuck. I use my PC also to work (with some professional high-demanding software), and I somehow think that Intel is more stable there. But again, that's probably crap. But I don't think I will change at my age anymore. /jmc
Thats cheap... My dream Laptop ranges currently at about €4000.- +/- a few hundreds. Btw., @jmcburn Your AGE?? 42
Hey I built a system for myself in November last year and I'm pretty pleased with it. Bear in mind I was coming from: 2600K @ 4.6ghz 32GB DDR3 1600 GTX 1070 2x SATA SSD's in RAID 0 W10 Pro A pretty solid, if old, system, still in use with a GTX 680. My current rig consists of the following: 3900X @ Stock, but does 4.4ghz all Core just fine and reliably hits 4.65Ghz on two Cores @ Stock. 32GB DDR4 3600 16CL 2x NVMe SDD in RAID0 - I got 2x PCIe 3.0 (not 4.0) drives as they were sooo much cheaper and, in RAID0, they are as fast and double the capacity of the single PCIe 4.0 Drive I would have got for the same price GTX 1070 - still on this, bloody good 1080p card though I'm eagerly awaiting the next gen stuff. W10 Pro I'm still just gaming at 1920x1200 on what is now a very old monitor, it's been amazing value though. I do plan to go 4k with my next GPU, but not in a rush as want to get a Monitor that will last years just like mu current one. With Zen 3 around the corner I think something like the 4900X (assuming 12 Core / 24 Thread) would be a solid part for both gaming and other activities, depending on what you do. I didn't need the 3900X, a 3600 would have been just fine for gaming, however, I wanted to dabble in other things too and have options. Really, unless you desperately need something now, you should really wait and see what Zen 3 and NV 3000 / AMD 6000 series bring to the table. They may well offer a lot more for your money, plus the older gen stuff might become quite the bargain until it sells out. Patience! The 3700X is a great CPU, but the 4700X (assuming naming is consistent) should have certain advantages. Firstly, it will feature an eight Core CCX on the die, not two four core CCX's - this should eliminate the latency issues of the current parts. Aka, better in gaming. There's also rumoured to be a modest clock bump and likely somewhat better thermals etc. from a refinement to the process. Unlikely that this is enough of a bump for me to want to get a 4900X, but enough of one if I were buying once it's out....unless 3900X prices tanked of course. I think, once Zen 3 is out, that there will be greater options for a PC build. Older tech - that's still great - reduced in price, or newer tech offering more for your money. As an aside, my Plan(TM) was always to wait for Zen 3 (based on what I knew at the time) and NV's 3000 series. However, my 2600k started getting really unstable and problematic at the time of the Black Friday sales last year, so I took the jump and got some bargains. When I had some spare time, I revisited the old 2600k build - albeit with a GTX 680 now - and it was behaving its self perfectly, go figure lol. I'll try to monitor this thread, but not about so much at the moment. Edit: I forgot to add... My CPU is fully water cooled via an external 1080 (360x360) rad setup. This was the original cooling loop I built for my old 2500k back in 2011 - I never transferred it to the 2600k build as that was originally a mobile gaming rig I took to the LAN Parties friends and myself used to have most weekends for a while. When I built the 3900X system I ran it on the stock cooler for a bit (really not bad at all) to ensure things were all stable, then I plumbed in the loop. The loop is designed to cool the GPU too - it used to do two GTX 680's on the 2500k build - but I will ultimately block up the whatever GPU I get for a near-silent and super cool system The 3900X currently @ 1.325v peek vCore @ 4.4ghz all-core under heavy load goes 35-40c over ambient (low 60's in a 25c room) which is pretty good. AMD's problem is getting the heat from the die to the heat spreader, but my loop does seem to be keeping temps pretty good. I loved that my gamer at full chat was quieter than my Laptop just on the desktop lol. Scoob.
Right now I am definitely not hesitant on the AMD CPU's. They are very nice. What I hesitate on is AMD graphics cards. That is part of the reason I was asking if any one has a 5700XT. Nvidia might be a steaming pile of donkey dicks with respect to pricing vs features, but they do an excellent job with support with all their cards. I dunno, wee shall see. It is not crap and it is not age, it is more fear. I remember feeling that. With the FX 8320 system, that CPU was my first AMD chip and I was nervous, but while the chip was not.... real awesome, the overall experience was very stable. I think with respect to the professional software I suspect that things are now the reverse. Make sure to get a motherboard with a decent VRM and you will likely be surprised. That will be the key here. I will not want to have any and as mid-September approaches and then potentially passes, it will be measurably harder to wait. Water cooling loops are fun, but I am not sold they are really needed. This is partially because I do see a drop in measured temps, but not enough of one to justify their very high price and maintenance over time. Add in the fact that I built the FX 8320 PC with a second or third gen Corsair H100i and then my brother build a computer with a FX 6400 and one of the Evo 212 air coolers and his computer seemed to respond to cooling faster than the loop did. Granted, a full custom loop and the highest end water coolers seem to do better I am not just not sure that even after the imrpovements to things like Hz and FPS their cost is justified. This is perhaps just my limitation. I like the noise of many fans. I appreciate that some are sensitive so to each their own, but you did see the 6 industrial fans on the build i listed above. That **** be crazy! The FX8320 I keep mentioning had 7 fans in it and I found that comfy. I wonder why they did not do the single CCX to begin with. You mention an interesting point too - the 3000 series may see their prices plunge and I might just scoop one up if they do. That will be hard to monitor but I will do my best.
Waiting is frustrating, especially when you have the desire (and perhaps the time) to build something now I did the loop originally in 2011 as a project, I did hit marginally higher clocks while staying waaay below my temperature, vCore etc. targets and it was a fun exercise. Absolutely zero need to water cool modern hardware though, outside of your basic AIO for the CPU. Two of my other machines - which have far hotter-running CPU's - just use basic 120mm AIO's and are fine. GPU's even more so, though it does make the largest absolute temperature difference on those. My current 1070 running at 2ghz barely goes over 60c and it's bloody hot here at the moment - room is hitting 30c. Massively over-engineered air cooler on it though, yet it was the cheapest 1070 available at the time, just after launch. I expect there was some technical or cost reason they couldn't do a single CCX per die at the time, inter-CCX latency is one of the architecture's biggest weaknesses when it comes to gaming. That's said, the more games that are written while taking into considerations the architectural strengths and weaknesses. the better future games will be. Heh, I did notice the fans you chose...you're nuts! Still, headphones are a thing...just hope your neighbours are ok with it lol. Scoob.
Ok, I am Back Online. Have got my PC (not the Laptop) back from inspection and Repair. Got a new Graphic Card which is a bit...faster than my last two. Specs - Still Win 7 pro CPU Core I7 - 4790K 4.00Ghz Radeon RX 5500 XT 4GB 16GB RAM In time a 500GB SSD and 16GB RAM will be added...and in the near future the upgrade to Win10 Pro will be necessary
Windows 10 Pro keys can be had really cheap, here's and offer on currently - link is to a WCCF Tech article on it. I've NOT used these guys myself, so do your due diligence to confirm you're happy to use them. 4790K is still a very solid CPU. My friend just got a second-hand one to replace his existing 4690K and has been really surprised by the uplift - HT means something on a quad core these days. I noticed the same three or so years back between by 2500k and 2600k. Scoob.
The Guy who repaired my PC said the CPU is powerful. He turned off 2 threads, 1 Core, and the CPU manged 4,50 GHz. He also upgraded the Ventilator for the CPU... now under full stress(tested) the CPU barely goes above 65°C. As nice as such a WIN10 Offer - Key alone - is...NO. I take the complete thing. Its enough if a get Games nowadays ONLY for download and no package with 10 Disc's, Maps, Miniatures, NV Goggles...
It's a simple download direct from Microsoft to get the image. There's even a tool to make a bootable USB drive with it. I have an old 8GB USB3.0 Drive that I use for images. Plus I download the .ISO directly too & burn to DVD if needed - though I've not had to do that for ages now. Now I finally have decent broadband, I can download the W10Pro image in about a minute The 4790k (aka Devil's Canyon) is a 5ghz chip with adequate cooling, a decent motherboard (VRM's) and PSU. My ancient 2500k and 2600k systems would do 5ghz on water, but both currently manage 4.6ghz on a basic 120mm AIO - pretty impressive really. Scoob.
Wow, that is really cheap for windows 10 pro. How on earth can they get it down so much? That is an excellent system that should comfortably munch on Empyrion. I know I said I was wary of AMD GPU's but from what i have read the 5700XT and the 5500XT are now out of their teething troubles and should be quite solid. That i7 is also not that far removed from the latest and greatest from Intel(10th series.) ----------------------------------------------------- Me? I am still trying to be patient. I see now that the Nvidia card launch is 10 or so days away, but what little has shown up in the rumor mill is not inspiring my confidence. The 30 series could be astronomically expensive. I am really hoping that AMD does the same thing in September or October and we hear about it soonish.
Whatever you do just do not buy a GPU right now. It is a changing period in the market. Also Ryzen 4000 series is around the corner too. Your needs of course come first. It is mandatory when you sit in front of your computer to feel good about it, specially when you use it for tough stuff. So go the Shaolin monk way Patience is a key...
