Need advice on new build

[trenzterra]

Ok I'm super out of touch... built my last PC in 2016 (i5-6600K with Gigabyte Z170X, 16GB, GTX1060) and haven't really upgraded anything since.

My PC just died... basically over the past few months it had trouble booting off and on, and regular BSODs. Since I want to upgrade to Win 11, I think it's time for an overhaul as well. No time to troubleshoot...

Actually I don't really use my desktop much these days. Seldom game, but I use it for Photoshop and occasional video rendering work.

Some questions I have:

1. Zen 3 or Intel? My last build, AMD was like non-existent lol. Have the USB issues been fixed yet?
2. I have 3 SATA HDDs -- any good cases with window to recommend around $200? Requirements are USB Type-C front header support
3. Nowadays do most people go the AIO route? Is air cooling still relevant?
4. Will DDR4 be phased out anytime soon? A bit sian that my computer spoil now -- thought can last another year.
5. Any recommendations for processor+mobo+32GB RAM+512GB NVMe SSD+AIO within the $1,500 - $2,000 range? I guess I will reuse my GTX 1060 for now. I need support for many SATA ports, PCI-E ports for my graphics card, sound card and Wi-Fi. I need USB Type-C Gen 2 ports at the least and preferably Thunderbolt 3
6. Now still can go SLS and get everything settled in one day? Really hate buying online and having to wait for parts.

 

[trenzterra]

Thank you! Wah I really not sure what to get at this stage. I mean budget I can stretch... but just wondering if it's worth it with Alder Lake and Zen 4 around the corner and DDR5 and USB4 coming up... so it's basically something decent to tide over for now vs something high-end to last another 5 years.

Would a Ryzen 5 be a good upgrade from a i5-6600K? I guess so right, 6 cores vs 4. Not sure whether I need a 5800X or 5900X...

 

[KYOGRE]

Thank you! Wah I really not sure what to get at this stage. I mean budget I can stretch... but just wondering if it's worth it with Alder Lake and Zen 4 around the corner and DDR5 and USB4 coming up... so it's basically something decent to tide over for now vs something high-end to last another 5 years.

Would a Ryzen 5 be a good upgrade from a i5-6600K? I guess so right, 6 cores vs 4. Not sure whether I need a 5800X or 5900X...

Alder lake available next month but Zen 4 is End of next year. Do note that 5800x ran very hot so will recommend to pair it with a aio while the 5900x ran fine with air cooler.

Photoshop doesn't scale well with more cores, so 5900x might not be the best value.

The usb issues on amd has long been resolved. Not many amd board came with TB3, either go for b550 vision d or b550 pro art creator(TB4).

 

[trenzterra]

Thanks all. I decided to forego TB3 support because it comes with all the restrictions re: PCI-E bandwidth sharing and stuff... I guess if I need it down the road then I see how.

I went with the following for $2,320 at TradePac. Going to collect this evening. I guess I can save about $150 to $200 more if I get the parts individually from online and 10.10, but I think it's reasonable:

- Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master -- chose this because it has Intel WiFi 6E built in, has the fanless chipset and comes with USB-C 3.2 2x2. Given it's a new model, hopefully it comes with the latest stepping of Intel 2.5GbE which has less issues

- Ryzen 7 5800X

- Arctic Freezer II 280mm

- Klevv 2x16GB 3200MHz (actually I not sure what RAMs to buy, but Klevv apparently is SK Hynix housebrand so should be ok?)

- Superflower Leadex II 850W

- Define 7 XL

- Samsung 980 1TB

- Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut

Any thoughts? Thinking maybe the NVMe SSD is a weak link but I'm coming from a SATA MX500 lol. I don't game much these days so reusing my GTX 1060

 

[NightRaven49]

2.2 is reasonable for these parts, but there are definitely some parts that are just not that value.

- Klevv 2x16GB 3200MHz (actually I not sure what RAMs to buy, but Klevv apparently is SK Hynix housebrand so should be ok?)

this kit of rams should be fine, since u dont seem intent on overclocking. yeah klevv is sk hynix but their ram chips are just average.

- Superflower Leadex II 850W

- Define 7 XL

- Samsung 980 1TB

u probably dont need 850w, given that ur only using a 1060. even if u do plan on a gpu upgrade in the future, 650w/750w is more than plenty. tradepac does offer the super flower gx pro 650w for significantly cheaper than most other psus in this power class. the case is hella expensive too; while tradepac price list doesnt list its price, other shops sell it close to $300, which is quite hard to swallow for me. id settle for an o11d mini for half the price. and like u mentioned, the ssd isnt the best either, possible to get the wd blue sn550, which performs similarly (if not better) for cheaper.

 

[trenzterra]

2.2 is reasonable for these parts, but there are definitely some parts that are just not that value.

this kit of rams should be fine, since u dont seem intent on overclocking. yeah klevv is sk hynix but their ram chips are just average.

u probably dont need 850w, given that ur only using a 1060. even if u do plan on a gpu upgrade in the future, 650w/750w is more than plenty. tradepac does offer the super flower gx pro 650w for significantly cheaper than most other psus in this power class. the case is hella expensive too; while tradepac price list doesnt list its price, other shops sell it close to $300, which is quite hard to swallow for me. id settle for an o11d mini for half the price. and like u mentioned, the ssd isnt the best either, possible to get the wd blue sn550, which performs similarly (if not better) for cheaper.

Thanks for the comments! Yah after looking at it again my configuration is a bit imbalanced.

I have 4 spinning HDDs so I need a case that can accommodate them. Nowadays most cases can support only 2 HDDs.

It does seem that the SN550 is on par with the 980 and I will see if I can change it out when I go down later

 

[86technie]

Thanks all. I decided to forego TB3 support because it comes with all the restrictions re: PCI-E bandwidth sharing and stuff... I guess if I need it down the road then I see how.

I went with the following for $2,320 at TradePac. Going to collect this evening. I guess I can save about $150 to $200 more if I get the parts individually from online and 10.10, but I think it's reasonable:

- Gigabyte X570S Aorus Master -- chose this because it has Intel WiFi 6E built in, has the fanless chipset and comes with USB-C 3.2 2x2. Given it's a new model, hopefully it comes with the latest stepping of Intel 2.5GbE which has less issues

- Ryzen 7 5800X

- Arctic Freezer II 280mm

- Klevv 2x16GB 3200MHz (actually I not sure what RAMs to buy, but Klevv apparently is SK Hynix housebrand so should be ok?)

- Superflower Leadex II 850W

- Define 7 XL

- Samsung 980 1TB

- Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut

Any thoughts? Thinking maybe the NVMe SSD is a weak link but I'm coming from a SATA MX500 lol. I don't game much these days so reusing my GTX 1060

Thermal paste best get Noctua HT-N1 than Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut.
Cheaper than the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut.

My recommendation:

- Ryzen 7 5800X
- ASUS ROG STRIX GAMING X570-E GAMING WIFI+BT
- CORSAIR VENGEANCE LPX 3200MHZ CL16 (For AMD Ryzen)
- Samsung 980 Pro1TB
- SEASONIC FOCUS GX-750W
- Fractual Design define 7 xl
Total: $2260

*Price taken from PCthemes.
If you have brought than it's OK.

 

[astones153]

It does seem that the SN550 is on par with the 980 and I will see if I can change it out when I go down later

The samsung 980 is absolutely way better than the SN550 by a significant margin, but the reason why it's recommended is because unless you do work involving huge 10-100gb sized files on a daily basis, you're not gonna see any noticeable benefit from the increased seq read/write speeds.

 

[trenzterra]

Thermal paste best get Noctua HT-N1 than Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut.
Cheaper than the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut.

My recommendation:

- Ryzen 7 5800X
- ASUS ROG STRIX GAMING X570-E GAMING WIFI+BT
- CORSAIR VENGEANCE LPX 3200MHZ CL16 (For AMD Ryzen)
- Samsung 980 Pro1TB
- SEASONIC FOCUS GX-750W
- Fractual Design define 7 xl
Total: $2260

*Price taken from PCthemes.
If you have brought than it's OK.

Thanks..going down to tradepac to buy now.

Probably will change the RAMs to LPX.

The ASUS was on my shortlist too but because it is an older model, I'm just worried it will come with the older stepping of the I225V NIC which apparently has some hardware issues. Not sure if this should be a concern?

Edit: sorry, remembered wrong model, this one uses realtek

 

[Phen8210]

Thermal paste best get Noctua HT-N1 than Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut.
Cheaper than the Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut.

My recommendation:

- Ryzen 7 5800X
- ASUS ROG STRIX GAMING X570-E GAMING WIFI+BT
- CORSAIR VENGEANCE LPX 3200MHZ CL16 (For AMD Ryzen)
- Samsung 980 Pro1TB
- SEASONIC FOCUS GX-750W
- Fractual Design define 7 xl
Total: $2260

*Price taken from PCthemes.
If you have brought than it's OK.

why not wait for fractal torrent case

 

[86technie]

Thanks..going down to tradepac to buy now.

Probably will change the RAMs to LPX.

The ASUS was on my shortlist too but because it is an older model, I'm just worried it will come with the older stepping of the I225V NIC which apparently has some hardware issues. Not sure if this should be a concern?

Err.. I don't think so but if you want to go with the newer model is also fine.
Just take note for now the AMD stock cooler which comes with Ryzen 5800X is decent.
Down the road than get a better cooler, for now focus get "Good" parts for your build.

 

[NightRaven49]

I have 4 spinning HDDs so I need a case that can accommodate them. Nowadays most cases can support only 2 HDDs.

are u sure? looked through some price lists for popular atx cases, quite a few atx cases around the $100-$150 mark that can support 4 or more 3.5" hdds, eg. cooler master nr600, phanteks p400a, o11 air mini (if it is still being sold) etc.

Just take note for now the AMD stock cooler which comes with Ryzen 5800X is decent.

5800x doesnt come with a stock cooler.

 

[KYOGRE]

Thanks for the comments! Yah after looking at it again my configuration is a bit imbalanced.

I have 4 spinning HDDs so I need a case that can accommodate them. Nowadays most cases can support only 2 HDDs.

It does seem that the SN550 is on par with the 980 and I will see if I can change it out when I go down later

New SN550 is total garbage as WD secretly downgrade the NAND to QLC.

 

[ragnarok95]

Err.. I don't think so but if you want to go with the newer model is also fine.
Just take note for now the AMD stock cooler which comes with Ryzen 5800X is decent.
Down the road than get a better cooler, for now focus get "Good" parts for your build.

No cooler included for 5800X.

 

[stylechap]

Maybe he got 5800x from special source

 

[86technie]

Sorry my bad I mistaken 3800x with 5800x cuz 3800x have cooler.

 

[trenzterra]

Thank you all. Apparently the Gigabyte comes with a free AIO so I can probably save another 100+ when I sell it away.

Got my rig yesterday and spent until early hours of the morning setting up. I swapped the RAM to Corsair LPX instead and the SSD to Adata xpg8200 pro.

The case was bigger than I expected and super heavy, but good thing is that it's much easier to set up my radiator etc. I experienced an issue where some of the screw holes on the radiator was stripped, maybe by my mistake, but thankfully I switched to a larger thread screw (M4 instead of M3.5) and seems fine now.

I also stripped the front panel door hinge screw... It's made of plastic and I didn't realise how fragile it was. And later on the whole screw hole cracked. Gonna ask Convergent if I can buy a replacement front panel

After setting up everything, I realised I experienced the exact same issue as my old rig. Turns out my gfx card was the culprit. Had to flash the DisplayPort firmware... So actually my old PC was probably still working la haha..

Anyway I guess I was also a bit itching to spend some money after getting my bonus so ya lor. Probably gonna try to sell my old rig for parts since it's probably still working then.

 

[caesium2108]

Thank you all. Apparently the Gigabyte comes with a free AIO so I can probably save another 100+ when I sell it away.

Got my rig yesterday and spent until early hours of the morning setting up. I swapped the RAM to Corsair LPX instead and the SSD to Adata xpg8200 pro.

The case was bigger than I expected and super heavy, but good thing is that it's much easier to set up my radiator etc. I experienced an issue where some of the screw holes on the radiator was stripped, maybe by my mistake, but thankfully I switched to a larger thread screw (M4 instead of M3.5) and seems fine now.

I also stripped the front panel door hinge screw... It's made of plastic and I didn't realise how fragile it was. And later on the whole screw hole cracked. Gonna ask Convergent if I can buy a replacement front panel

After setting up everything, I realised I experienced the exact same issue as my old rig. Turns out my gfx card was the culprit. Had to flash the DisplayPort firmware... So actually my old PC was probably still working la haha..

Anyway I guess I was also a bit itching to spend some money after getting my bonus so ya lor. Probably gonna try to sell my old rig for parts since it's probably still working then.

share some pics of your new build!

 

[trenzterra]

share some pics of your new build!

Maybe once my front panel is replaced haha..now it's naked.

Anyway the promo came with a Gigabyte Aorus Waterforce AIO 240 which I just collected today (apparently it's the last set... Those who come later only can redeem air cooler). seems to be worth quite a bit. Gonna sell it off and see how much I can offset the price.