Question A new gaming build for 2024

[dbzlotrfan]

-PC Use:

-- Diablo 1/2/3, Warcraft 2/3. Stardew (Modded, with SVE if I can get it working), Bloodstained, grim dawn, various Sony games releases on Steam. https://steamcommunity.com/id/DlfC/games/ If you want to see what I've played and or my wishlist. Also, GOG. If possible, I'd like to try to pass a GPU through to a Virtual Machine to use Windows for some easier games (that wouldn't run through Linux (probably mint or some 'buntu variant) or are just cumbersome.

-- Web browsing

-- Maybe folding@home

-- Eventually want to rip my blu-rays for an internetless home theater PC. [Though that's a different topic to make]



- Budget: At least 800 (US) I'd think should be a baseline, at most like 1500.

- Country: US, Southern states.

- Brand preference. Nope. Although I think I'm more limited with AMD CPU's than intel for GPU-passthrough, would like to trying a Ryzen though.

- Current parts:

-- CORSAIR RM750X FM 80+G ATX 2021 for power supply

-- A 2070 Super (although assuming 8 GB of VRAM ain't enough, I might get something newer)

-- Maybe various internal Hard drives/SSDs, albeit right now they are out of the case, and some are being used by SATA -> USB bays (to a steam deck).

- Overclocking - nope, I don't trust my self, nor do I need the heat (summer in the southern states is brutal.

- When I plan building - Next few months [like go to microcenter by late March, buy the parts build soon after], I'd hope (shouldn't rely on the deck forever). Would like to move the deck between two monitors and have a HDMI (and/or) a display port splitter between my switch my deck and computer to use one monitor for any of the three systems.

- Resolution - Right now 1440p, eventually buy a new 4k monitor, would like to try 120 - 144 (or 160) hz refresh rate).

- RAM: At least 16 (or 32) GB ddr4 (or 5) should probably be a baseline.

- Other things. Good airflow, pretty quiet (since it will basically be in a room below where someone sleeps)

-- Case should probably have some USB 3(/c) on the front. Any cases that have a front (and/or bottom/top(?)) Removable cleanable mesh filter (or something like that)?

- Motherboard should have wi-fi & bluetooth. Would like to try an NVME ssd for the OS, probably SATA for the games that recommend and are 100% dependent on a SSD over hard drive).
Yes there is a microcenter about 13–20 minutes from me BTW.
I've been suggested the following from someone else: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2W6pVW What say you all?

 

[Tech Junky]

MC isn't always the best deal. I usually source most stuff through Amazon due to price matching and lowest price typically.

AMD is a good option. I just did a 7900X from the ground up for ~$800 and then for media conversion added an A380 GPU for $100 to speed things up considerably by using Intel QSV provided by the card.

Noise is usually related to the fan size and how fast it has to spin but, even under 100% load someone in another room wouldn't hear it. Though you will while playing games. Larger fans spin slower to move the same amount of air though. I went with a FD Torrent case and it has dual 180mm fans in the front with room to add additional fans in other locations if you really need more air movement.

If you look around though you can get a X670E board for about the same price which unlocks additional options to extend the life of the board as tech progresses like using a Gen 5 NVME for faster speeds or getting a cheap quad NVME adapter for the slot and being able to use multiple drives beyond the on board M2 slots.

The Torrent case does have a C port on the top along with dual A ports. I have my C port hooked up to the onboard header which in my case does 20gbps.

The parts market though seems to be in flux right now w/ the holidays in regards to pricing. AMD also is expected to release the next gen CPU options in the next couple of months as well which will impact current stock / prices. Being 90 days out though no one knows where things will end up. Though dual 1TB NVMEs work just fine you can get 4TB options for under $200.

As to WIFI / BT though you're better off just adding a card yourself as it's cheaper than buying a board with one already included. I added a WIFI 7 card recently for under $40 from AliExpress. QCNCM865 /// The thing about AMD though is you need a PCIE based option which excludes some of the cutting edge Intel options beyond the AX200/210 or BE200 options which are fine and 1/2 the price of the QCA card.

https://www.mouser.com/c/embedded-solutions/wireless-rf-modules/multiprotocol-modules/?q=be200&sort=pricing

For the HTPC use the GPU will be helpful in speeding those rips up. For NVME speed but capacity you'll likely want to look at the U.2 / U.3 drives which bring the price down considerably. An 8TB M2 would run about $800 but the U version is 50% of that. Plus the U drives go beyond the 8TB max you see with the consumer drives. I added a 16TB one for $1000 where that capacity would have been $1600 w/ M2 drives and would also need to Raid them to get a single logical space of 16TB. The U drives ted to run a bit cooler though too due to being 2.5" format which simply has more surface space to dissipate heat better.

For now though I would concentrate on the foundation to build off of before diving into the GPU / drives / etc. Just upgrade the core components mobo/cpu/cooler/ram/etc. and port over the existing items to see how it runs with more horsepower. If you want to bundle more options into the box then adding more drives to use as a NAS is easy to do. If you want to keep the storage inside the PC case you might be able to connect the handheld using a USB cable to it to share storage vs using enclosures. I added a TB card and can hookup my laptop to the server using a TB cable and get ~1.5GB/s out of it instead of dealing with 10GE NIC/dongle. It all depends on how creative you want to get and of course budget.

 

[manly]

At Micro Center, the Ryzen 7 7800X3D kit (with B650 and 32GB RAM) is still $500.
Not counting a hard to reproduce open box deal, how do you beat this on Amazon or Newegg? I'd like to see actual links. I have nothing against open box, but it has to be something you can reproduce even if it takes two weeks of waiting. Some of the crazy deals I got 6 weeks ago are long gone now, so it's not worth my bringing them up.

Most people will say that Micro Center's store policy is that you must return the entire bundle if you have one bad component. There is at least one report here in the Zen 4 builders thread that you can return just the motherboard (quite frankly I believe the Flare RAM kit has worse reviews). If it is possible to return just the motherboard, that is $160 back to you.

I would stick with your GPU for now, as it sounds like it's still getting the job done. The main reasons are:

1. It sounds like you want to move to 4k gaming in the future, and today that requires a big GPU investment. In 2025, that could be a mid-range card.
2. The 750W PSU limits you a bit. A true 4k GPU likely wants a 1000W PSU.

I can't speak to PCIe passthrough but one reason I chose AMD Zen 4 over Intel is because of power efficiency. Good luck!