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.

 

[QueBert]

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.

That's true, but the board I'm looking at with TB's only $50 more than the one without, and the TB4 cards from Asus are $125. So I'd be saving money if I bought that Proart board with built in TB4. Of course, I would save like $150 if I bought the MSI board that was suggested ha. Like I said I'm wouldn't be buying a DDR5 board so I can reuse the ram for my next build. It's just what's on 2 of the boards I'm looking at. The DDR5 I have in my lists is nothing crazy.

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

That's a nice looking board, if I end up going AMD that could be a good choice.I am looking for RGB ram though so I can pointlessly make the built flash. But I did do a lot of research and at least both kits I'm considering have Hynix-A ram. Which is the top shelf according to everything I'm finding online. Even with me going for aesthetics, stuff like performance is still the most important thing. I know a lot of people say Samsung's the best ram. I'm not trying to win benchmark wars and I wouldn't notice a 1-2% difference in speed. So any ram from Hynix or Samsung would be basically the same. I do think I'll go G.Skill though.

Thanks for the replies guys. Maybe I'll sit back and mull over it and figure out I don't need RGB and stuff TB4 ports on the IO.

 

[In2Photos]

That's true, but the board I'm looking at with TB's only $50 more than the one without, and the TB4 cards from Asus are $125. So I'd be saving money if I bought that Proart board with built in TB4. Of course, I would save like $150 if I bought the MSI board that was suggested ha. Like I said I'm wouldn't be buying a DDR5 board so I can reuse the ram for my next build. It's just what's on 2 of the boards I'm looking at. The DDR5 I have in my lists is nothing crazy.




That's a nice looking board, if I end up going AMD that could be a good choice.I am looking for RGB ram though so I can pointlessly make the built flash. But I did do a lot of research and at least both kits I'm considering have Hynix-A ram. Which is the top shelf according to everything I'm finding online. Even with me going for aesthetics, stuff like performance is still the most important thing. I know a lot of people say Samsung's the best ram. I'm not trying to win benchmark wars and I wouldn't notice a 1-2% difference in speed. So any ram from Hynix or Samsung would be basically the same. I do think I'll go G.Skill though.

Thanks for the replies guys. Maybe I'll sit back and mull over it and figure out I don't need RGB and stuff TB4 ports on the IO.

Keep in mind that rgb ram is taller and may impede on the fan on your CPU cooler.

 

[QueBert]

I stumbled upon the Gigabyte Z590 Vision D. wow, it's got so much white and is so stunning looking...

I thought about what I'll be doing with the computer, I don't need PCIE 5 or gen 5 NVME. And by the time I actually buy a video card that can actually take advantage of PCIE 5.0 it'll be 5 years down the road and I'll be ready to build a new PC. And I don't need a MB that has like 6-8 USB 3.2 gen whatever 10gb ports. It has 2 10gb and 4 5gb USB's, which seems like a lot. I don't even have a single device that'll use even a fraction of 5gb. And it has 2x TB4 on the rear IO which for whatever reason I feel I really need. So the new idea's to buy the Z590 and put a 11700 or 11900k on it. Would be a lot "slower" than a 13600k, but slow's all relative. It would be a Bugatti compared to my 3570k or the 5800u laptop that has a measly 8gb of solder ram.

And I'd be able to get 64gb of ram instead of 32 and a 2tb M.2 instead of 1 with the same budget.

I think for my purposes an 11th gen would be really good. Now I just need to go read up and see if the i9's worth the extra $$$ over the i5 or i7.

*NOTE* I got about 5 days before I actually order anything so this build might totally change again by then who knows lol.

 

[Tech Junky]

I9 vs 11700K isn't worth the 10% bump in benchmarks.

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/VW3gXL,mDcG3C/

 

[QueBert]

I9 vs 11700K isn't worth the 10% bump in benchmarks.

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/VW3gXL,mDcG3C/

Hell it looks like for close to $100 less the 11600k would be really close to the 11700k. Another $100 to my budget. Oh wait I'll want to put 3 fans in this hot a$$ case I bought. I forgot to add those to my list. And the Corsair QL's I want are around $120 for a 3 pack. welp, there goes my $100 savings.

*EDIT*

11600k build... maybe *shrug*

Would be a pretty good system for a bit of everything, and with the video card it's under my $1500 budget. Looks like this MB's currently on a $200 off sale, it's older so I'm guessing it'll be discontinued after they're sold out so I better decide on it quick. $189s good, almost $400 for a Z590s crazy.

 

[VirtualLarry]

And the Corsair QL's I want are around $120 for a 3 pack. welp, there goes my $100 savings.

How did fans move from a relatively obscure sort of commodity item, to some sort of pricey designer thing?

 

[In2Photos]

How did fans move from a relatively obscure sort of commodity item, to some sort of pricey designer thing?

Three letters...R G B

 

[QueBert]

Three letters...R G B

7 letters Corsair, I see no name Chinese brand RGB fans that look similar. And could even be unbranded Corsair. 6 of them, with a controller + remote + a few light strips for $90. From Corsair that much would be close to $300. Their stuff in general's pretty overpriced. I will say their iCUE software's decent from the bit I played with it.

Originally I wanted Corsair fans because their software works with Asus's RGB software, but now I'm probably getting a Gigabyte MB I might ditch Corsair.

Also RGB is about looks and oftentimes actually worse performing. The heatsink I'm looking at the non RGB fan version benchmarked 5c cooler in the review I saw. It's the same heatsink just with an RGB version of the fan.

 

[Tech Junky]

@QueBert

What exactly are you shooting for? Performance or Glitz?

If you drop the idea of making it a disco ball and put it in a decent solid panel case it will save you more money.

This is the cooler I'm using on my 12700K - https://www.amazon.com/ID-COOLING-SE-226-XT-LGA1700-Heatpipes-All-Black/dp/B09FDXJV3M

I put on a couple of Arctic P12 PWM PST fans and under 100% CPU stress it keeps things in the 130-150F / 50-55C

I have it in a Meshify 2 case w/ 6 additional PWM PST fans. The fans for a 5-pack are $40ish for 120/140 sizes.

 

[QueBert]

@QueBert

What exactly are you shooting for? Performance or Glitz?

If you drop the idea of making it a disco ball and put it in a decent solid panel case it will save you more money.

This is the cooler I'm using on my 12700K - https://www.amazon.com/ID-COOLING-SE-226-XT-LGA1700-Heatpipes-All-Black/dp/B09FDXJV3M

I put on a couple of Arctic P12 PWM PST fans and under 100% CPU stress it keeps things in the 130-150F / 50-55C

I have it in a Meshify 2 case w/ 6 additional PWM PST fans. The fans for a 5-pack are $40ish for 120/140 sizes.

I'm going for both, that's why the price is higher than it should be. The memory I'm looking at has the best timings I've seen and can be OC'ed a crazy amount. Sure it's 2x the price of non RGB stuff with similar timings, but it's still some of the best ram out there. Outside of the CPU fan being nice but not super, the rest is all speced for performance 1st. I'm not going to risk thermal throttling just to get a disco show, but I'm also not worried about if I could shave a few degrees off with a Noctua cooler. I'm attempting to make a build that performs and I can look at.

Which is doable, but it'll cost ya. Your Meshify route is nice and very sensible. I'm not really sensible though lol. And that's not even factoring in the custom PSU cables I'm looking at from Ensourced. Now that's overkill and completely unsensible.

 

[Tech Junky]

PSU cables

Yeah $100-150 for some cables in nonsense. Hence the solid side panel.

 

[In2Photos]

Yeah $100-150 for some cables in nonsense. Hence the solid side panel.

Some would argue that a $1000+ server in a home is nonsense, or spending $5000+ on a home theater, or $40,000+ on a swimming pool. To each, their own.

 

[Tech Junky]

@In2Photos perspective I suppose.

 

[QueBert]

Linky to my final parts list before I order, probably anyways.

My budget was $1500, I hit $1501.91!

I wasted like 2 damn hours today playing with Ensourced.net's cable configuration worksheet trying to come up with a color pattern for the cables. At this rate, it'll take me a month just to come up with the damn design for them. WHY do they offer like 500 different colors & patterns of sleeving?

Oh yeah because people like me. I wish, I wish, I WISH I could be like Tech Junky and just build in a solid panel case like a normal person. I envy you man lol. At least I got the parts list finalized, I think.

 

[BoomerD]

Why go with the z590 and the i5-11600? The i5-13600 is MUCH better and only about $100 more. Yes, you'd be back to finding matching white motherboard and RAM, but you'd have a MUCH better PC.

 

[igor_kavinski]

Why go with the z590 and the i5-11600?

I can relate. Sometimes you just fall in love with something and then you stop listening to reason

 

[QueBert]

Why go with the z590 and the i5-11600? The i5-13600 is MUCH better and only about $100 more. Yes, you'd be back to finding matching white motherboard and RAM, but you'd have a MUCH better PC.

Well, I can't argue with you. But if I go the 13600k route the only way I could pull it off would be to really go cheap on the MB and half the memory, both of which I'd hate to do. And I'd probably still have to drop the GPU, which I'll be moneyless for until mid March. But what you said made me rethink this build *again*. I went and messed around with the 2 13600k lists I made. Both would fit my budget when I removed the video card. I suppose having to wait until March to be able to buy that would be a #1stworldproblem.

And I just relooked at the benchmarks between the 11 and 13600k, you're right they pretty damn large. As much as I hate waiting, you did make a lot of sense. And the system would still be usable, just not for gaming. I haven't looked at any benchmarks for Xe or whatever the iGPU is, I know I couldn't run anything new. But I could play some classics in the meantime lol.

And as far as the white MB thing, I'm kinda over it. The ROG I'm looking at has some white isn't really what I'd call a white MB, and I think the Proart looks nice with the black and gold. I still don't know how I feel about DDR5 though.

13600k 1
13600k 2

Thanks to the Boomer's wisdom, 1 of those 2 will be what I order, with maybe a small change to the memory or something. When I have my funds lined up in a few days maybe I'll just flip a coin and best of 3 gets ordered.

So I guess I'll update this thread again when I actually place the order next week.

 

[BoomerD]

How about this?

Z690 AERO G DDR4 (rev. 1.x) Key Features | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-Z690-AERO-DDR4-Motherboard/dp/B09L9DY4L1

 

[QueBert]

How about this?

Z690 AERO G DDR4 (rev. 1.x) Key Features | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

https://www.amazon.com/GIGABYTE-Z690-AERO-DDR4-Motherboard/dp/B09L9DY4L1

Thanks for that, while I don't love the silver, it's not too bad looking, and has DDR4, It would still leave me well off the video card though. I made a 3rd list with it. Since I'm not ordering until next week I still might get some more suggestions here. You certainly saved me from ordering an 11th gen system just so I could have a GPU.

 

[igor_kavinski]

You certainly saved me from ordering an 11th gen system just so I could have a GPU.

Disaster averted!

 

[Tech Junky]

@QueBert We've all been where you are right now with the options and ruminating on how to cobble together the best budget option. Hell, I rebuild my 8700k setup 3-4 times over a couple of years before settling down and just leaving it alone. I went through a couple of different cases and mobos to tinker with different things. I went into ADL with a different mindset and goal to do it once and not touch it after the initial tweaking of things. I've stuck to it for over a year now.

Budgets are a guideline and goal when it comes to a build though. Expect to go a bit beyond though as the market dictates prices and you might not have 100% of the components listed that are needed. Yes, a 13th vs 11th gen is a big difference. Getting stuck on the color of the PCB though vs performance / price is kind of silly. If you can get an ASRock board for ~$200 vs a pretty one for $350 which makes more sense?

 

[BoomerD]

@QueBert We've all been where you are right now with the options and ruminating on how to cobble together the best budget option. Hell, I rebuild my 8700k setup 3-4 times over a couple of years before settling down and just leaving it alone. I went through a couple of different cases and mobos to tinker with different things. I went into ADL with a different mindset and goal to do it once and not touch it after the initial tweaking of things. I've stuck to it for over a year now.

Budgets are a guideline and goal when it comes to a build though. Expect to go a bit beyond though as the market dictates prices and you might not have 100% of the components listed that are needed. Yes, a 13th vs 11th gen is a big difference. Getting stuck on the color of the PCB though vs performance / price is kind of silly. If you can get an ASRock board for ~$200 vs a pretty one for $350 which makes more sense?

on the last bit...maybe it's the quality of the OEM ASRock Phantom Gaming 4 that came in my pre-built, but, IMO, I'd rather spend a bit more for an ASUS or Gigabyte.
Since I'm having a difficult time finding a decent Z390 board to replace the ASR that's dying, I'm in a similar situation. I've been prowling all the "deal sites" that I can find...MOST of the CPU/mobo combos available are 11th/12th gen processors with medium (at best) boards.
Unlike most here, I'm retired on a tight fixed income...I don't have thousands of $$$ to blow on a PC upgrade...so I have to shop hard.
I'm kicking around a couple of the microcenter combos on Amazon and a couple of combo deals on Newegg, but leaning towards the i5-13600k and either the 690 or 790 version of the ASUS ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi D4.
Both have DDR4, and I THINK both will use the 32gb Corsair RAM I have now. (saving me $150 or more compared to having to buy DDR5)
Basically, I need CPU, board, and a better cooler.

 

[igor_kavinski]

ASUS ROG Strix Z790-A Gaming WiFi D4.

Should be a good choice. You could also save a bit of money now by putting in an i3-12100 and upgrading next year to a Raptor Lake Refresh CPU which should be drop-in compatible with Z790.

 

[BoomerD]

Should be a good choice. You could also save a bit of money now by putting in an i3-12100 and upgrading next year to a Raptor Lake Refresh CPU which should be drop-in compatible with Z790.

No "upgrade next year" for me. I don't WANT to do it now...but...

 

[QueBert]

@QueBert We've all been where you are right now with the options and ruminating on how to cobble together the best budget option. Hell, I rebuild my 8700k setup 3-4 times over a couple of years before settling down and just leaving it alone. I went through a couple of different cases and mobos to tinker with different things. I went into ADL with a different mindset and goal to do it once and not touch it after the initial tweaking of things. I've stuck to it for over a year now.

Budgets are a guideline and goal when it comes to a build though. Expect to go a bit beyond though as the market dictates prices and you might not have 100% of the components listed that are needed. Yes, a 13th vs 11th gen is a big difference. Getting stuck on the color of the PCB though vs performance / price is kind of silly. If you can get an ASRock board for ~$200 vs a pretty one for $350 which makes more sense?

You make a good point, I have been looking at some ASRock boards. I have an ASRock Z77 board in my system now and it's been super solid. And I'm not only worried about looks, if that was the case I'd definitely get an NZXT Z690 which is beauty with no brains lol. I've read a lot of MB reviews for a lot of MBs and watched a ton of YT unboxing videos recently. I saw a few things I want that won't really matter to me because I don't plan to swap components in this system. But Asus has added a quick-release PCIE button on some of their new ROG boards. WHERE has this been? The 4 or 5 times I had to take the video card out of my Z77 I almost crapped myself because it was so frustratingly difficult lol (ITX board) And my system before that, I actually broke the latch on the PCIE slot trying to take the card out and lacking patients.

You're telling me I can press a button that's easy to access and then just lift the card out with zero effort? I think if I had this I'd take the video card out once a week just because it's so easy. Asus also has something like this for memory. Which again where was this 10 years ago? I'm actually looking at the ASRock Sonic board, it looks really good for the price. No q-release button though, and as ultimately unimportant as that is. I just want it so I can experience the wonderfulness of it.

Your point about sense, well I'm going to drop $240'ish on either custom PSU cables, or $175 on the Lian Li Strimmer Plus V2 RGB cables. So sense isn't really one of my strong points. ASRock does have some very nice-looking boards, unfortunately the one I like the most visually is $500, and EATX which wouldn't fit in my case even if I wanted to buy it lol. So yeah I'm admitting I lack sense, but at least I did my research and the Asus I'm looking at while on the pricey side is a solid board.

And I still might get over wanting the quick-release latch and go with the ASRock Sonic board. Interestingly enough it has a 5.0 x4 m.2 slot where the ROG doesn't. ASRock definitely gives you more bang for your buck.