Question 10 years later, it's time for a new build!

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RaynorWolfcastle

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Feb 8, 2001
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Edit: I can't believe I have been an AT Forum member for nearly 22 years!

Currently running an i7 3770 (non-k) that has served me fine since forever but is definitely getting long in the tooth. I had been wanting to upgrade in 2020 but prices spiked and I decided to make due with what I have until prices came back down from the stratosphere especially with all the new techs that are rolling out now (PCIe 5/USB4/DDR5/ATX 3.0 PSUs). My existing PC will be moved to server/Plex duties, here is the info I am looking at for my new PC

What will this new PC be used for:
A bit of everything. Some light photo editing (Luminar/Lightroom); light gaming, I mostly play older games so I don't need anything cutting edge; some programming, interested in doing more with AI/ML so Nvidia seems to be a pre-requisite for this. Most importantly, I am looking for a stable build that will last many years without giving me headaches.

What YOUR budget is:
3000ish CAD/2300ish USD, no monitor, no keyboard mouse, I am carrying these over

What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
Canada

IF you're buying parts OUTSIDE the US, please post a link to the vendor you'll be buying from.
Using PC Part Picker, see below.

IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
Don't care about about brands except for the fact that running any AI/ML seems to require Nvidia? I usually prefer to buy slightly more expensive but reputable brands (eg Corsair, Asus, etc). One brand I will unconditionally buy forever is Seasonic for the PSU

If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Reusing my monitor, keyboard, mouse, Mellanox NIC.

IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
No overclocking, if anything possibly underclocking to keep power down for both heat and noise. I fully intend to run my CPU below in ECO mode or similar.

What resolution, not monitor size, will you be using?
Currently running an older Dell 30" 1440p/60 Hz monitor, will probably upgrade to a 1440/144Hz OLED in a year or two.

WHEN do you plan to build it?
Once I get parts sorted out, the only question mark for now is PCIe 5.0 SSDs and ATX 3.0 PSUs

Do you need to purchase any software to go with the system, such as Windows or Blu Ray playback software?
Windows 11

Other considerations
  • I have a Mellanox ConnectX-3 40G NIC in my current build and the appropriate switch to get 40G LAN speed to my desktop so that effectively my server SSD will be almost identical to my local SSD. The NIC is a PCIe 3.0 x16 card that I want to reuse. I don't think it would be an issue to run at PCIe x4 speed (which isn't quite 40g but the Windows networking stack probably won't handle 40G anyway. I do need an x16 slot available to plug it in somewhere. Ideally I would like to use the GPU and the NIC in x16 mechanical slots, both running in x8 electrical mode.
  • I want this to be quiet, I have 0 interest in a screaming loud PC.
  • I put a GPU here but in reality, I will be buying the GPU second hand on eBay or FB. 3070s tend to go for ~500ish CAD so the total build comes in under 3k CAD.
  • I am interested in thoughts on ATX 3.0 PSUs, I can limp along with a spare PSU for a little while (I have a 750W seasonic in my current build which I can reuse temporarily)
  • same for the PCIe 5.0 SSD storage, I have a spare SSD that I can use temporarily if need be.

Here is the proposed build:
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 4.7 GHz 12-Core Processor ($571.95 @ shopRBC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 82.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($109.95 @ Amazon Canada)
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX B650E-E GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($473.99 @ PC-Canada)
Memory: Kingston Fury Renegade RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory ($249.99 @ Canada Computers)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN850X 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($224.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC Rev 2.0 GeForce RTX 3070 LHR 8 GB Video Card ($799.00 @ Canada Computers) bought a used RTX 3080 for CAD650 / USD500 on ebay
Case: Fractal Design Torrent Compact ATX Mid Tower Case ($219.99 @ Memory Express)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS PX 850 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($277.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Pro OEM - DVD 64-bit ($155.25 @ Vuugo)
Total: $3083.09
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-19 10:20 EST-0500
 
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RaynorWolfcastle

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Feb 8, 2001
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igor_kavinski said:
8GB GPUs will age very badly, from what we are seeing in some recent games.

This is great value for the price: https://www.newegg.com/acer-predator-bifrost-intel-arc-a770-oc/p/N82E16814553001

You may want to wait a month for the 7900X3D to come out. The V-cache will really help games and also the overall smoothness of the system.
Click to expand...
Interesting, would 8GB VRAM matter at 1440p though or is it only a concern at 4k?

V-Cache should be interesting but I suspect it will push me out of my budget for marginally better performance The 7900X3D also looks like it will have a wonky configuration where the the extra cache is on the slower chiplet, not sure how this will play out in the real world. I would will be curious to see 7800X3D vs 7900X benchmarks, not sure I have any need for 12 cores on the 7900X right now, this is more future proofing since I will never bother to upgrade my CPU in the many years I will run this system.
 
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igor_kavinski

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igor_kavinski

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RaynorWolfcastle said:
V-Cache should be interesting but I suspect it will push me out of my budget for marginally better performance
Click to expand...
All the new Ryzens have iGPU so you can hold off on buying the GPU and get it later when you are less financially constrained. Skimping and squeezing in less than ideal hardware into your build just doesn't seem wise, at least to me, especially since you tend to keep hardware for a long time.
 
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RaynorWolfcastle

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igor_kavinski said:
Zen 4 works much better with EXPO RAM: https://www.newegg.ca/g-skill-32gb/p/N82E16820374429

Going above DDR5-6000 on Ryzen 7900X would be frustrating, to say the least. If you want stable and quick, "plug it in and use" operation, EXPO RAM kits are the way to go.
Click to expand...
Good catch on the RAM, I will make the change!

igor_kavinski said:
Future games will increase texture sizes and raytracing also increases the demand on VRAM capacity. Since the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles already have 16GB VRAM, a lot of console ports will punish 8GB cards.
Click to expand...
I guess the other option is to look at the 12GB AMD cards (6700xt or 6800), the problem is that all AI/ML runs on CUDA.

igor_kavinski said:
All the new Ryzens have iGPU so you can hold off on buying the GPU and get it later when you are less financially constrained. Skimping and squeezing in less than ideal hardware into your build just doesn't seem wise, at least to me, especially since you tend to keep hardware for a long time.
Click to expand...
I could also take the RX 470 from my current system temporarily. I'm just not seeing GPU prices going down much farther from here, Lovelace and RDNA 3 cards are all horrible value, not sure there is much improvement coming in the sub 500 USD GPU market.
 
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Tech Junky

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RaynorWolfcastle said:
RX 470
Click to expand...
Considering the rig you're retiring doesn't need a GPU as it has one built into the CPU....

Plex would only use it if you're transcoding files on the fly. I use MCEBuddy to convert everything to MP4 to avoid the situation but, also when it does need to scan / transcode files the ADL knocks it out easily w/o any additional GPU.

Another savings option would be going Intel... not sure why you're switching at this point to spend more money on similar or less performance. I could come up with some uses though for AMD but, not at the current prices they want for the CPU/MOBO. The use would be more for the ability to bifurcate the PCIE slots vs needing a PLX switch on the card to do so on the Intel side.

Seems like you're paying dearly for that PSU as well. I pick up 850W PSU's for around $100 though they've been going up in price which forced a switch from one model to another but, same 10 year warranty and most of the specs looked the same. I've used EVGA now for few years after getting burned by another company / DOA.
 
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RaynorWolfcastle

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Tech Junky said:
Considering the rig you're retiring doesn't need a GPU as it has one built into the CPU....

Plex would only use it if you're transcoding files on the fly. I use MCEBuddy to convert everything to MP4 to avoid the situation but, also when it does need to scan / transcode files the ADL knocks it out easily w/o any additional GPU.

Another savings option would be going Intel... not sure why you're switching at this point to spend more money on similar or less performance. I could come up with some uses though for AMD but, not at the current prices they want for the CPU/MOBO. The use would be more for the ability to bifurcate the PCIE slots vs needing a PLX switch on the card to do so on the Intel side.

Seems like you're paying dearly for that PSU as well. I pick up 850W PSU's for around $100 though they've been going up in price which forced a switch from one model to another but, same 10 year warranty and most of the specs looked the same. I've used EVGA now for few years after getting burned by another company / DOA.
Click to expand...
Re:Intel, the main reason I want to go AMD is that I can run the CPUs in 140W mode and retain most of the performance. I could save a few bucks by going Intel but then I would have many years of sitting next to a space heater!

Good point regarding the PSU: mostly I put that model as a stand-in for an ATX 3.0 PSU, not that I wanted that model specifically. I could just change it back to a normal one and save a chunk. I would prefer to stick with Seasonic for the PSU as stated in the original post, however
 
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igor_kavinski

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Tech Junky

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RaynorWolfcastle said:
AMD is that I can run the CPUs in 140W mode and retain most of the performance
Click to expand...
Well, the 12700K runs up to 125W at full tilt and might hit 50-55C with an air cooler / graphite pad like I have setup. Most of the time though running 24/7 it sits at room temp w/ 6 fans + 2 on the cooler.

RaynorWolfcastle said:
Seasonic for the PSU as stated in the original post, however
Click to expand...
You know they provide the guts to other brands...

ATX 3 / 12VHPWR are not really a concern at this point but, something to keep in the back of your head. Just like PCIE 5 / M2 Gen5 don't have products to use their bandwidth and when it comes to GPU's coders have quite a bit to catch up on to make use of the bandwidth and taking into consideration most systems will slice that to an X8 using a secondary slot. M2's not really needing 14GB/s speed as it only pertains to your boot and game load to a GPU and then the GPU takes over the bandwidth needs on its own. Sure, if you're running a transactional DB on your M2 then faster speeds make sense but, everyday use won't feel much quicker than a Gen3/4 drive.
 
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RaynorWolfcastle

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Just picked up the rest of the pieces after seeing the release of the timing and price for the X3D, here are the remaining picks:

  • RTX 3080: Installed it temporarily in my old rig, it runs great with a reduced Vcore curve and a lowered power target. Plan is to sacrifice a bit of performance in exchange for better thermals and noise
  • I went with the Asus B650 ProArt motherboard because it is one of the very few cards that supports 8x/8x PCIe (only Gen 4, but I don't see too many use cases for Gen5 PCIe slots anytime soon).
  • 7900X was too cheap relative to the 7700X to ignore so I went with that for the CPU
  • Thermalright Peerless Assassin for the cooler (will be running the 7900X in ECO mode anyway), too good for too cheap to pass up
  • RAM went with DDR5 6000 CL32 with EXPO as suggested above
  • PSU: Reusing my existing 650W Seasonic for now. It works totally without issue with the reduced Vcore RTX 3080 which was my primary concern.

Looking forward to putting this thing together, should be a big step up from my i7 3770/RX 580 rig!
 
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RaynorWolfcastle

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igor_kavinski said:
Understatement! Prepare to be blown away!
Click to expand...
There may be an obvious answer to this but my power supply only has a single 8 pin CPU power cable while the motherboard has 8+4 pin sockets, I can't imagine that a standard 7900X needs 12 pins of +12V but the manual isn't very helpful (connect 4+4, or 8, or 8+4). Is there any reason to use 8+4 instead of just 8?
 
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