Question Feedback on my new build before I purchase

[cesto]

hey guys, it's finally time for a new build. my current pc goes into a boot cycle and instead of spending countless hours debugging, i figured its a sign to finally upgrade.

i do a variety of tasks on my pc (MS office, photoshop, some video editing, etc) and am looking for an all around good pc with some future proofing possibilities.

this pc should be mostly geared towards social media content creation so it can handle most tasks, especially video editing, when necessary.

my budge is 1,500-2,000 and here's what i came up with:

• CPU: Intel Core i7-14700K 3.4 GHz 20-Core Processor - $399.99 @ Amazon
• CPU Cooler: Deepcool Assassin 4S 61.25 CFM - $79.99 @ Newegg
• Motherboard: Gigabyte Z790 AORUS PRO X ATX LGA1700 - $329.99 @ Amazon
• Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 - $204.99 @ Amazon
• Storage: Crucial T500 W/Heatsink 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME SSD - $162.99 @ Amazon
• Video Card: Asus DUAL OC GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB - $609.00 @ Amazon
• Case: Fractal Design North XL ATX Full Tower - $179.99 @ Amazon
• Power Supply: Corsair RM750x 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX - $119.99 @ Amazon

a few other things to note:

i'll be using the same monitor i currently have i also have 3 SATA drives. 2 are HDD backups and the one is a SSD that has windows 10 installed with some files i'll need to access.

*as i understand it some mobo's will need a bios update in order to be compatible with some of the latest cpu's. ideally id prefer not to do this since i only have a surface pro 9 atm. since it doesnt have a usb port, it will be cumbersome to create bootable usb drives etc.

any feedback and modifications are welcomed.

thanks in advance!

 

[Tech Junky]

AMD is the better option long term as the current mobo is upgradable through 26. Meaning if you want more CPU later this year or next it's an option. Intel is a dead end right now and not worth spending on.

As to the USB issue you could always download to your phone and use an adapter to copy to the flash drive for $5.

The PA120 cooler is half the price and sufficient. I'm using it on my 7900X and it keeps it cool.

Take a look at the FD Torrent for a case as it has plenty of airflow since you're putting a GPU inside.

 

[cesto]

AMD is the better option long term as the current mobo is upgradable through 26. Meaning if you want more CPU later this year or next it's an option. Intel is a dead end right now and not worth spending on.

As to the USB issue you could always download to your phone and use an adapter to copy to the flash drive for $5.

The PA120 cooler is half the price and sufficient. I'm using it on my 7900X and it keeps it cool.

Take a look at the FD Torrent for a case as it has plenty of airflow since you're putting a GPU inside.

ty for your reply. whats interesting is i post a build last year (never got around to making it) and the recommendation was to go with intel instead of amd hahah

 

[GodisanAtheist]

Intel is also having some issues with silicon degradation and stability thanks to not enforcing stock settings on mobo manufacturers.

Presumably the new "Stock bios settings" they'll release soon will clip their processor's wings a bit, like 1-5% off the top.

Their power consumption is also absurd, although that will presumably drop with the new bios as well.

Right now it's AMD or bust quite frankly, unless there is a workload you'll be using the PC for where Intel is just far and away the superior option.

 

[cesto]

Intel is also having some issues with silicon degradation and stability thanks to not enforcing stock settings on mobo manufacturers.

Presumably the new "Stock bios settings" they'll release soon will clip their processor's wings a bit, like 1-5% off the top.

Their power consumption is also absurd, although that will presumably drop with the new bios as well.

Right now it's AMD or bust quite frankly, unless there is a workload you'll be using the PC for where Intel is just far and away the superior option.

im guessing the ryzen 9 9700X is a comparable cpu?

 

[manly]

Who's going to ask the obligatory, "do you live in the U.S. near Micro Center?"

ty for your reply. whats interesting is i post a build last year (never got around to making it) and the recommendation was to go with intel instead of amd hahah

Link to that thread, out of curiosity?

To be honest, I think the upgradeability argument isn't that strong for most consumers. OP wants to invest now in an i7-14700K. So something like a 7800X3D or 7900X if you're going AMD. I think the chances of replacing that CPU in 2026 are between slim and none. You're already starting off so high so that there's unlikely to be much performance to be gained from a generation forward.

Now if you were starting off with a Ryzen 5 7600 or i5-12600K, then the calculus would be a lot different.

I'm assuming OP's new build will last them a long time, so socket upgradeability is just not that important IMHO. He's already spending a little more to get "future proofing" up front.

Intel is also having some issues with silicon degradation and stability thanks to not enforcing stock settings on mobo manufacturers.

Presumably the new "Stock bios settings" they'll release soon will clip their processor's wings a bit, like 1-5% off the top.

Their power consumption is also absurd, although that will presumably drop with the new bios as well.

Right now it's AMD or bust quite frankly, unless there is a workload you'll be using the PC for where Intel is just far and away the superior option.

Yeah with Alder Lake and later, Intel ramped up the power consumption like crazy just to retake some of the benchmark wins. Their PPW has been terrible for a while. Not to play Devil's Advocate, but all those E cores and power consumption does show up in "productivity" workloads that the OP is targeting. You and I favor AM5, but I wouldn't rule out Intel out of hand without at least doing the analysis.

I live in SoCal and with our power rates, AMD has a clear advantage (in reality it's not a lot of dollars per year, but it steadily adds up).

 

[cesto]

Who's going to ask the obligatory, "do you live in the U.S. near Micro Center?"



Link to that thread, out of curiosity?

To be honest, I think the upgradeability argument isn't that strong for most consumers. OP wants to invest now in an i7-14700K. So something like a 7800X3D or 7900X if you're going AMD. I think the chances of replacing that CPU in 2026 are between slim and none. You're already starting off so high so that there's unlikely to be much performance to be gained from a generation forward.

Now if you were starting off with a Ryzen 5 7600 or i5-12600K, then the calculus would be a lot different.

I'm assuming OP's new build will last them a long time, so socket upgradeability is just not that important IMHO. He's already spending a little more to get "future proofing" up front.



Yeah with Alder Lake and later, Intel ramped up the power consumption like crazy just to retake some of the benchmark wins. Their PPW has been terrible for a while. Not to play Devil's Advocate, but all those E cores and power consumption does show up in "productivity" workloads that the OP is targeting. You and I favor AM5, but I wouldn't rule out Intel out of hand without at least doing the analysis.

I live in SoCal and with our power rates, AMD has a clear advantage (in reality it's not a lot of dollars per year, but it steadily adds up).

yes i live in the US (New Jersey). closets microcenter is about 40min away

here's the thread from last year: https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/new-build-way-over-due.2614259/#post-41055230

 

[manly]

yes i live in the US (New Jersey). closets microcenter is about 40min away

here's the thread from last year: https://forums.anandtech.com/threads/new-build-way-over-due.2614259/#post-41055230

I personally would hop on a 7800X3D deal at Micro Center right away, because I think it's a price mistake (if it hasn't been corrected already):

Scorching hot Ryzen 7800X3D combo prices at Micro Center. The 7800X3D is $196.66 when included.

Credit to Space Lynx and his thread at TechPowerUp - https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/ryzen-7800x3d-196-with-bundle-at-microcenter.322094/ Making room for Zen 5. Also as I have noted before: When schools prepare to start summer vacation, the deals pick up. Space Lynx gives...

forums.anandtech.com

Granted, the 7800X3D won't have as many total cores as Intel i7-14700K, so you'll have to make a judgment call if that's good enough. And yeah, there would be an upgrade path to Zen 5 (and optimists hope even Zen 6 after that).

That is a pretty curious thread compared to this one. I don't mean to rush your decision, esp. if you have to switch platforms completely. I'm just a sucker for insane deals. Good luck with the new build!

 

[Tech Junky]

total cores

But the types of cores matters as well. E cores are single thread and low frequency where AMD are full dual thread cores. Also, the Intel platform is now approaching several years old using the same process nodes and just packing more fluff into the same package and renaming it each year. Arrow lake is going to be something different moving to chiplets and a complete redesign. News seems like the first gen of it might be a step back in terms of performance initially just to get it out the door on time.

 

[VirtualLarry]

News seems like the first gen of it might be a step back in terms of performance initially just to get it out the door on time.

Step back in performance, as compared to 13th and 14th gen?
(conspiracy mode ON)
"Not anymore!"
(conspiracy mode OFF)

 

[Tech Junky]

Step back in performance, as compared to 13th and 14th gen?

The prelim core counts would be a step back but, the efficiency will be an improvement from what I've been seeing.

Of course it only really matters when it finally hits the real world and gets some testing. I would expect the consumption to drop from an energy standpoint and some bigger leaps in improvements once Intel works out the kinks of a new gen of CPU. IRL they've been running 10+++++++++++ for quite awhile and ARL will drop to ~4nm. For the top end dropping from 8P to 6P will be a bit of a shift on the initial release.

I've given up on holding out for Intel on upgrades and giving them more money for the same rebundled tech. The hold out on AMD was getting the same level of MOBO options which happened with AM5. The lateral rebuild from 12700K >> 7900X was ~$800 but, the stability has been good and switching to DDR5 wasn't as painful as the initial release prices back when ADL was released and there was a shortage of inventory where a 16GB set would set you back $125+ if you could even find it and when you did it was jacked up over $300. With the rebuild I picked up 32GB for under $100.

The 7900X gives me 12/24 performance when needed and hits over 5ghz but also idles down under 0.4% where it normally sits waiting for a task as needed. The one hit that did make an impact was QSV not an option on AMD w/o a dGPU but, I fixed that with a cheap A380 card for $100 so I could process video files quicker to be more efficient when it come to the power draw/bill.

As always YMMV as not all solutions are good for everyone which is why we have so many different options.

 

[cesto]

ty for the feedback guys. i'm not sure i'll be able to take advantage of the deal at microcenter since im traveling until saturday.

as another option i was looking to switching from intel to ryzen 9 9700X. i got some warnings about compatibility with the mobo etc.

anyone have any suggestions as to what i should swap out to keep somewhat close to the original setup (or better) for going the amd route? id like to get the parts ordered asap.

thanks in advance!

 

[GodisanAtheist]

ty for the feedback guys. i'm not sure i'll be able to take advantage of the deal at microcenter since im traveling until saturday.

as another option i was looking to switching from intel to ryzen 9 9700X. i got some warnings about compatibility with the mobo etc.

anyone have any suggestions as to what i should swap out to keep somewhat close to the original setup (or better) for going the amd route? id like to get the parts ordered asap.

thanks in advance!

- Uh... make sure you're getting a Ryzen 9 7900x and make sure you have a socket AM5 motherboard. The Ryzen is not going to work in the LGA 1700 board in the original post and I don't see you mentioning another board in the thread unless I missed it.

Don't want you coming back and yelling at us because your $5 Ryzen 9700X off Alibaba doesn't work with your LGA1700 board or whatever

 

[manly]

ty for the feedback guys. i'm not sure i'll be able to take advantage of the deal at microcenter since im traveling until saturday.

as another option i was looking to switching from intel to ryzen 9 9700X. i got some warnings about compatibility with the mobo etc.

anyone have any suggestions as to what i should swap out to keep somewhat close to the original setup (or better) for going the amd route? id like to get the parts ordered asap.

thanks in advance!

If you have some time, consider the Micro Center deal. You place your "reservation" online, and they give you 3 days to pick it up.

My local store didn't seem to have some of the parts available, so I threw some components into a shopping cart for the North Jersey store. Still seems like a strong deal if you asked me (prices are discounted in the cart).

643726 Ryzen 9 7900X $229.49
554972 ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2 $109.99
555466 G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 64GB 2 x 32GB) DDR5-6000 $199.99

Since this isn't an official Micro Center "combo," you should be able to return that motherboard if you wanted something else (in-store or from Amazon). I think you'd still keep the insane price for the CPU itself, but you won't know unless you tried. You can try some different in-stock motherboard in the shopping cart to see if any get discounted.

I still think these are pricing errors on the CPUs, but those mistakes usually don't last for days. So maybe AMD ordered too many chips from TSMC, and is dumping off some inventory quietly.

Another recommendation is to use PCPartPicker to assemble your shopping list; it could help you spot compatibility issues.

Crucial T500 you've selected has good reviews. Another fine option is SN850x for $140 (backordered at Amazon):

WD_BLACK SN850X NVMe M.2 2280 2TB PCI-Express 4.0 x4 (SSD) WDS200T2X0E $139.99

Newegg has WD_BLACK SN850X NVMe M.2 2280 2TB PCI-Express 4.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) WDS200T2X0E on sale for $139.99. https://www.newegg.com/western-digital-2tb-black-sn850x-nvme/p/N82E16 ...

slickdeals.net

 

[cesto]

here's the lastest list from pcpartpicker. assuming i can get on the deal at microcenter and return the other items besides the cpu:

• CPU
  • AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 4.7 GHz 12-Core Processor
• CPU Cooler
  • Deepcool Assassin 4S 61.25 CFM CPU Cooler
• Motherboard
  • MSI MPG X670E CARBON WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard
• Memory
  • G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory
• Storage
  • Crucial T500 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
• Video Card
  • Asus DUAL OC GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card
• Case
  • Fractal Design North XL ATX Full Tower Case (**thinking of switching this for the FD torrent as suggested)
• Power Supply
  • Corsair RM750x (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Suppl

**Edit: i think the wrong mobo was typed above. i was actaully looking at thist one: MSI B650 MPG CARBON WIFI AMD AM5 ATX Motherboard

 

[manly]

I think you have a good idea of what you want to do, so it's just a matter of deciding and executing.

I'm also about 45ish minutes away from a Micro Center, and I very rarely go out that way. I'd try to give them the entire CPU+motherboard+RAM order if possible; but like I said since this isn't an official combo, you shouldn't have a problem jettisoning the motherboard if you truly don't want it.

Having said that, they do have the similar X670E Tomahawk* and it's $250 in the shopping cart. The Ripjaws S5 kit should work but it has Intel XMP 3.0 profiles. The Trident Z5 kit I selected has AMD EXPO profiles, and good reviews.

* I couldn't quite make out why the X670E Carbon is worth $409 (also in stock at MC btw)

 

[Tech Junky]

X670E Carbon

Because they're smoking crack. I got my ASRock PG lightning for $160 on Amazon. Full features and no slot splitting automatically.