Question building a computer later this month, some feedback?

[QueBert]

I was set to go with Ryzen 7000, but the more I'm reading up the more I'm thinking Raptor Lake. I liked the gen 5 m.2 on the X670e boards, but there are no gen 5 drives out. And what I buy will be my system for the next 7 years. So I probably wouldn't be adding gen 5 NVME, assuming there's even any noticeable real-world difference. I'm looking at the Asus Rog Strix z790-A Gaming Wifi D4 with a 13700k. I know AMD had said a few future gen cpu's will work on AM5 boards. But if I'm going to stick with the build for 5+ years by then I'm sure I'd probably want a newer chipset MB if I upgraded my CPU. I priced out 2 builds on pcpartpicker and was shocked they were so close, AM5 $1084 and Raptor Lake $1132. 7700x/13700k, 32gb (ddr4 for the Intel) Asus ROG board for both. I figured one would be a good deal cheaper and BOOM I'd have my answer. Like I said I won't be upgrading for who knows how long and right now the benchmarks I've seen the 13700k beats the 7700x in most category.

I read a few articles on DDR4 vs DDR5 and it doesn't seem like it matters much with current chipsets and cpus. And fast DDR4 was even edging it out in some of the benchmarks. But I know synthetic benchmarks don't = real world. And I probably wouldn't notice a difference. Strangely, the Z790 MB I'm looking at's ddr4 whereas Asus has a bunch of much cheaper Z790 boards that are DDR5.

I did a ton of reading on AM5 and LGA1700, I know there's no right answer here, both are great and both sides have an army of fanboys. But I just can't make my mind up so I thought I'd ask here. Maybe there is a reason or 2 I'm overlooking that'll get brought up. And if I manage to get 3 replies with AMD or Intel that's what I'll buy. I'm ordering around Xmas because I was told BF like deals are probably gonna pop up around then. If I don't get any replies by then, I guess I'll go to my backup plan and flip a coin 3 times lol.

If anyone has any thoughts here, thanks.

 

[In2Photos]

What are you going to use the PC for?

 

[DAPUNISHER]

I vote you flip the coin. Otherwise it just looks like you are tossing out red meat for the usual suspects. Because it isn't like you haven't done the required reading, or have questions about DDR generations, platform longevity, performance, price, or any of that.

 

[QueBert]

What are you going to use the PC for?

Eventually gaming, but I'm waiting on the Radeon 7000 cards and to save up some more $$$ because I don't have multiple 6 figure bank accounts like a lot on ATOTers lol. Aside from gaming, Serato (DJ) and other things that will probably only use 20% of a current gen CPU. I don't even need an i7 or 7700x, the 13500k or 7600k would be good, hell even an 11th gen Intel or 5800g would be a huge upgrade for me.

I vote you flip the coin. Otherwise it just looks like you are tossing out red meat for the usual suspects. Because it isn't like you haven't done the required reading, or have questions about DDR generations, platform longevity, performance, price, or any of that.

I thought maybe somebody might bring up a point I hadn't considered, and if nothing else this is the equivalent of the online trend of video-taping yourself at the drive-thru and letting the person behind you pick what you eat. The only difference here it's not totally random and I know either choice would be good. I'm just too conflicted to make the choice myself. Since last night I'm sorta leaning more towards Intel, not for a solid reason. Just because I think the motherboard looks nicer lol. Asking or making a poll should at least be more interesting than flipping a coin.

I added a poll, now the fate of my pc potentially lies in the hands of ATers.

 

[igor_kavinski]

If anyone has any thoughts here, thanks.

If you want to use DDR5-7000 and higher speed memory, go with Raptor Lake.

Or get a Z790 mobo and put in a cheap i5-12400 until you save up the money for getting a 13900KS on discount, whenever that happens to be.

If platform longevity is more important for you, get a Ryzen 7700X with the cheapest mobo I could find: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/7pytt6/gigabyte-b650m-ds3h-micro-atx-am5-motherboard-b650m-ds3h from BestBuy.

RAM you could get https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Js...-ddr5-5200-cl36-memory-f5-5200j3636c16gx2-fx5

OR

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/t7Fbt6/gskill-ripjaws-s5-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr5-5200-cl36-memory-f5-5200j3636c16gx2-rs5k

 

[QueBert]

If you want to use DDR5-7000 and higher speed memory, go with Raptor Lake.

Or get a Z790 mobo and put in a cheap i5-12400 until you save up the money for getting a 13900KS on discount, whenever that happens to be.

If platform longevity is more important for you, get a Ryzen 7700X with the cheapest mobo I could find: https://pcpartpicker.com/product/7pytt6/gigabyte-b650m-ds3h-micro-atx-am5-motherboard-b650m-ds3h from BestBuy.

RAM you could get https://pcpartpicker.com/product/Js...-ddr5-5200-cl36-memory-f5-5200j3636c16gx2-fx5

OR

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/t7Fbt6/gskill-ripjaws-s5-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr5-5200-cl36-memory-f5-5200j3636c16gx2-rs5k

AM5's nice because AMD says they'll support the socket for a few generations. I know Intel so I don't expect 14th gen chips will work on LGA1700. I do want to keep this base system for a good while, and both MB's I'm looking at have a PCIE 5 slot and gen 5 m.2. The Intel's only DDR4, but I'm not seeing a lot different when I looked at benchmarks between the same Raptor Lake chip on DDR4 vs DDR5. Since I plan to keep the system for a good while, I'm kind of leaning toward the 13700k. The 13900k seems kind of pointless for how much $$$ it costs for not a ton of performance over the i7. I won't be doing anything super core intensive where I'd notice the i9.

Not worried about longevity, if I end up wanting a new system in 5 years I'd want a new MB with a better chipset. I can't imagine x670e still being the premium AM5 chipset in 5 years. With PCIE 5 slots on both I'm looking at, I can still upgrade the main 2 things GPU and m.2. Outside of upgrading the GPU I don't see wanting a new CPU in 5 years. My current desktop's a 3750k, the CPU's still usable and they came out what a decade ago?

I think it's tough for me here because both are excellent and left as is both would hold up well. I can't go wrong with either so I can't decide. Maybe I'll get replies here and that will end up making the choice for me.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I can't go wrong with either so I can't decide. Maybe I'll get replies here and that will end up making the choice for me.

You could wait till March-2023. The 7950X3D is rumored to have 192MB V-cache. Best bang for buck if you care mainly about gaming.

 

[Muadib]

Gen 5 m.2 drives are due out this month. You can use your current m.2 drive in the mean time. As for motherboards, my AMD x570 board lasted all through AM4, and AMD says that the same will occur with AM5. What feature did AM4 have that wasn't in x570? Now that 7950X3D is a thing, I may give my 7950 away, and give the 7950X3D a go. Perhaps you should wait a bit.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Do you need AVX-512? Then go 7000-series Ryzen.

 

[QueBert]

Much obliged to the people who replied, unless AMD has some crazy deals on Ryzen 7000's around Xmas I'll be going Raptor Lake, well, and an AMD GPU a few months down the road.


PCPARTSLIST

That's what's in my cart on Amazon. Hopefully, at least a few of the things will go on sale for Xmas. I was shooting for $1k without the video card, I'm not too far off for once.

 

[igor_kavinski]

PCPARTSLIST

DDR4-3600 CL14: https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820374090

MSI mobo: https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813144572

Faster RAM with a much cheaper mobo. Still Z790.

 

[QueBert]

DDR4-3600 CL14: https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-32gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820374090

MSI mobo: https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813144572

Faster RAM with a much cheaper mobo. Still Z790.

I probably should have mentioned in my OP this was going to be a white build. And unfortunately, options are very limited for MB's and components. I should probably consider forgetting the white build idea and just build a good system. All I've ordered so far is the case, and black components would look fine in a white case.

Well, I still got a few weeks to dwell on it yet.

 

[In2Photos]

I probably should have mentioned in my OP this was going to be a white build. And unfortunately, options are very limited for MB's and components. I should probably consider forgetting the white build idea and just build a good system. All I've ordered so far is the case, and black components would look fine in a white case.

Well, I still got a few weeks to dwell on it yet.

White builds are always more expensive due to less options unfortunately. Just wait until you start pricing the GPU!

 

[igor_kavinski]

Well, I still got a few weeks to dwell on it yet.

DDR4-3600 CL14 is almost as good as DDR5-6800!

 

[QueBert]

White builds 2080 is are always more expensive due to less options unfortunately. Just wait until you start pricing the GPU!

I did, and that's where I'm drawing the line. There are 2 Radeons, a 6650 that's kind of weak and overpriced, and a 6700 that I can only find used and costs more than a 3080. And even if I was going Nvidia, the $1600 white Gigabyte 3080 costs more than my entire budget, so no. So if I go white, it'll be a mostly white build with black accents via the video card.

 

[In2Photos]

I did, and that's where I'm drawing the line. There are 2 Radeons, a 6650 that's kind of weak and overpriced, and a 6700 that I can only find used and costs more than a 3080. And even if I was going Nvidia, the $1600 white Gigabyte 3080 costs more than my entire budget, so no. So if I go white, it'll be a mostly white build with black accents via the video card.

I'm planning a new build soon and have both a white and black build spec'ed out. I allowed a "silver" card in the white build as that adds a couple more options. I'm hoping that some of the AIBs release a white card for the AMD 7000 series as they are lacking on the 6000 series. There was a white 6950XT, but it was tough to find.

 

[QueBert]

I'm planning a new build soon and have both a white and black build spec'ed out. I allowed a "silver" card in the white build as that adds a couple more options. I'm hoping that some of the AIBs release a white card for the AMD 7000 series as they are lacking on the 6000 series. There was a white 6950XT, but it was tough to find.

Hell most of the white motherboards aren't even white, they're silver with some a few tiny white accents. Except for the stunning ROG Maximus Formula, which is $800 and the beautiful NZXT boards. But NZXT's are all looks with meh specs. I know NZXT's releasing a Z790 board any time now, but I suspect it'll be the same as all their others and not worth buying. Maybe I'll smarten up and do a black build and save $$$ and have a selection of components.

Have you seen the new Fractal North case? The white one would make a really beautiful white build.

 

[QueBert]

Kudos to anyone who can make an all white built, it's only possible for rich ass people and YT tech influencers who get everything for free for a sponsored build. And even if you have $$$ to burn, you're still super limited in your component choices. Corsair makes a white 240mm AIO, but their 280mm AIO's only black. They have 32gb sticks of Vengeance ram, but only in black. Mostly everything else is not available in white, and it seems 95% of what I find when I'm looking for white components... silver. Silver's not white. I've come to my senses and will be doing a black gold and white build.

I already bought the white case and at least white and black don't clash. Amusingly enough, 15 minutes into redoing my components list I found the perfect ram aesthetically for the black/gold MB I added, but the board's DDR5 and the rams DDR4 *of course* Not surprisingly, gold ram isn't very common.

basically, it seems regardless, any themed build is going to screw with me. I'm best off throwing the case away and getting something with no window and no worries about RGB, the color of the component and s**t matching.

 

[In2Photos]

Keep in mind you're trying to build in the middle of platform changes and GPU generations. DDR5 is still relatively new, only 4 new GPUs have been released and lots of the previous generation cards are no longer available.

 

[QueBert]

Keep in mind you're trying to build in the middle of platform changes and GPU generations. DDR5 is still relatively new, only 4 new GPUs have been released and lots of the previous generation cards are no longer available.

Yes, I always seem to have the most pristine timing when I decide to build a new PC. I've pretty much decided on an Acer ARC A770 card, I'm not too worried about current gen GPUs, my system budget (minus GPU) is less than a 4090 and not much more than a 7900 XTX. DDR4 Vs DDR5 is a struggle because DDR5 doesn't seem to offer any performance benefits over good DDR4. I have narrowed it down to 1 DDR4 system (x790) and 1 DDR5 system (x690) They're within $100 of each other so price isn't a factor. I find it ironic the board I'm looking at with the newer chipset's DDR4 lol.

I know here and 1 other place it was recommended I wait a couple of months and check out the Ryzen X3D chips. But I'm far too impatient for that, and if I wait 3 months for that Then I might as well wait a few more months to see what 14th gen Intel chips are like. The only thing the 2 board's I'm looking don't have I wish they did is gen 5 M.2. But even the high-end Asus boards gen 5's thru an add-on PCIE card they include. If that's the case 1 of the 2 boards I have on my list has 2 5.0 x16 PCIE slots. So I could buy an Asus Hyper M.2 card in the future if I wanted to add gen 5 M.2. They're probably going to be far too expensive for me to even start thinking about for 3 or 4 more years anyways lol.

 

[Tech Junky]

@QueBert

DDR4 works just as well and it's not quirky like DDR5 is still.

A770/16gb is a nice budget friendly option at $350

Unless you're running highly transactional data gen5 is a waste of money.

Take what you're planning and put it into PCPartPicker.com and share the build link for suggestions.

 

[QueBert]

@QueBert

DDR4 works just as well and it's not quirky like DDR5 is still.

A770/16gb is a nice budget friendly option at $350

Unless you're running highly transactional data gen5 is a waste of money.

Take what you're planning and put it into PCPartPicker.com and share the build link for suggestions.

DDR4 13600k Build
DDR5 13600k Build
Zen4 build

I love that the Proart board has TB4 on the IO, just wish it was DDR4. I don't really love DDR5 from the reading I've done on it, but it wouldn't keep me from buying the 2nd or 3rd system, or some modified list of either. I could save a ton on all of those by using a different brand of motherboard lol. I'm also leaning towards G.Skill Z5 for the DDR5 systems over the Corsair. I still have about 2 weeks before I buy anything. I'm not rushing, but I do want to have it built by New Years. And it's not on any of the lists but I'm leaning toward an Acer Predator Bitfrost ARC A770 graphics card. Because even with my extensive research I still lack common sense sometimes. My other GPU choice would be an XFX 6650 XT. But I'll probably wait a bit on the GPU to see what happens to 6000 card prices after the 7900's are actually on the market.

 

[igor_kavinski]

I'm also leaning towards G.Skill Z5 for the DDR5 systems over the Corsair.

Are you a human?

www.newegg.com

You can go with this kit and it should give you comparable latency to a DDR4-3200 CL16 kit:



This should be a good starting point for decent DDR5 performance and few years later, you can get a low latency DDR5-7800 or faster RAM kit to make your system snappier. My problem with DDR4 is that it's ok for now but for future, it will not go beyond DDR4-4000 with Intel's memory controller so you will need to change your mobo to give your CPU more bandwidth with speedier DDR5.

 

[In2Photos]

There's also this MSI board for AM4

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/wkFbt6/msi-mpg-b650-edge-wifi-atx-am5-motherboard-mpg-b650-edge-wifi

The G Skill ram uses Samsung dies I believe so they are a good choice.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/HMddnQ/gskill-ripjaws-s5-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr5-5600-cl36-memory-f5-5600j3636c16gx2-rs5w

 

[Tech Junky]

TB4

I went with a board w/o TB4 and saved quite a bite and circled around to it later with a TB4 card off Amazon for $60 w/ 2 ports and 100w charging via the SATA power connector to the card.

Don't fall for the must have everything on the board rabbit hole. By adding the card later it still probably saved me $200+ off the board that has the ports built in.

The RAM version isn't too important either since when it comes time to rebuild you'll need a new mobo anyway.