Question My new rig. Below $2000.

[Tech Junky]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/HntyFs

This is kind of my total end result at this point. The only issues seem to be with the uefi/agesa releases being finicky about warm reboots occasionally.

Lately I've been playing with compiling kernels and destroying the setup in the rocess but uptime is 24/7 for a couple of weeks at a time. Thankfully precompiled kernels seem to be back on a release schedule and easier to manage.

Trying to nail down getting handbrake working again with qsv enabled and digging through different modules and compatibility at this point.

Windows should be easier to manage until they release some dumb patch that breaks things to fix other things.

 

[MtSeldon]

is this the best cooler "Thermalright Peerless Assassin" for 7900x? Lets see if I can find it in the local markets.

I was able to find FSP Hydro GT Pro HGT-850W 850 W Power Supply. This is the only one with ATX 3.0 support. Will this do?

 

[AnitaPeterson]

Yes, the FSP will serve well.
I have a Peerless Assassin on a 5800x. Excellent cooler, and the fan is super quiet.
See review: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/thermalright-peerless-assassin-120-se

 

[Tech Junky]

best

Certainly effective for the price. My idle temps are usually hovering around 40c. With Intel though I could get the temp lower into the 20's but and AMD runs hot regardless of what you try unless you want to tinker with the voltages to force it to run cooler.

 

[MtSeldon]

How do you plan to keep that under $2000? The CPU is $500, motherboard is $640 and the GPU (4080) is $1200.

That was a fair point. I was unable to keep it under $2000 despite my attempts to cut some corners.

AMD 7900X and Asus B650E with NZXT case, Thermaltake 850W PSU, Kingston 32gb ram etc cost ~$1500. I'm using it with the iGPU. I haven't bought the video card yet and probably it will add another 1000USD.

I am surprised the iGPU is good enough for desktop use. I don't play much games nowadays so I did not even feel any difference than my previous computer which had a discreet gpu.
Also, I haven't used an AMD platform before. It was very easy to setup. Asus app installed all the necessary drivers. So far it is a problem free, stable, fast experience.

Now. I have to add a video card. Nvidia 4700 Super, 4700 Ti Super. Amd 7900XT and the soon to be released AMD 7900 GRE are on my list.

4700 Super looks like it has enough performance for my use. I will do 4k gaming but I'm not competitive or anything. Will the 12Gb ram be enough?
AMD 7900GRE looks like a good option too. It is relatively cheaper, has 16gb ram and enough performance for the price.

Any recommendations for the video card?

 

[Tech Junky]

Any recommendations for the video card?

There's a new CPU coming out this fall that will rival the performance of Nvidia 4xxx GPUs. I would just wait for the release and upgrade the CPU at that point with the higher performance iGPU cores. For what you can get your hands on right now w/ the 8700G it's a significant boost but, the drawback is cores.

https://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/compare_cpu-amd_ryzen_7_8700g-vs-amd_ryzen_9_7900x

There's always the option to go in either direction but, spending $1000 on a GPU just doesn't make sense to me. I wouldn't have even bothered with adding a GPU other than it reduces my processing time on transcoding video files by adding Intel QSV functionality. The time to process them is 1/8th of the CPU only and since dialing in the settings I dropped the load under 10% thus reducing the costs to run it as well. For a $100 A380 it's worth it in the long run when it comes to costs but, it would take forever to recoup the costs of a 4xxx and for transcoding even the upper tier Intel options still perform the same as the lowest card.

 

[manly]

No iGPU is going to be able to handle modern 4k gaming anytime soon. He's already built the system so it hardly makes sense to replace a 7900X with an 8700G APU for shitty 4k frame rates. He'd lose money reselling the 7900X as AMD has been doing some price cutting lately. It feels like they are clearing some inventory (or at least keeping the production line flowing) before a second half Zen 5 launch.

@MtSeldon your description is a bit weird, but understandable. If you want 4k gaming, then RTX 4070 Super is great and you have the option of DLSS and RT. By weird, I mean you also said that you don't game much. But I can relate because I recently built my first gaming PC in about 2 decades, and I still haven't installed Steam on it. If you're budget constrained, you could shave a little cost by waiting for the perfect GPU deal to come along but I don't think that applies to you.

The options would look like:
RX 7700 XT < $370 (at some point, not today. More of a 1440p gaming card)
RX 7900 GRE $550
RTX 4070 Super $600
RTX 4070 Ti Super $800 (if you must have 16GB VRAM, say for ML or you're really worried about being future-proof)

Nvidia fixed its 4080 value problem with the Super, but $1000 still seems like a hard sell unless you know you need it. Because of the Nvidia tax, gamers are willing to pay more relative cost for a graphics card than ever before, but I'm not yet onboard with that new math.

 

[Tech Junky]

8700G APU for shitty 4k

I agree but the next gen CPU coming soon is supposed to be on par with 4xxx GPUs.

 

[manly]

You need an RTX 4070 to credibly handle 4k gaming. I'll bet money that AMD will not ship an APU this year that matches the 4070.
A 4060 competitor is within the realm of possibility and will get you good 1080p gaming.

 

[MtSeldon]

@manly I know its a bit weird. I always buy gaming parts , because they are high performance and stable. But I dont game like "gamers". I like to keep a gaming rig, there are certain series I play whenever a new game is released. Like Far Cry, or Civilization, Anno.

7900 GRE looks like a bit dissapointment. it is almost on part with 4070 Super. but lacks RT performance and it is not cheaper enough. It has more ram on the plus side.
Now the weird thing is 4070 Super is quite cheaper than 7900XT on paper but where I live they are almost the same price. and 7900XT has a better rasterazation performance. I'm not sure about the RT and resolution upscaling performances.
1000 usd looks a bit high for USA prices but both 4070 Super and 7900XT costs about 1000usd here.

if you have to choose between 4070 Super and 7900XT -considering they are about the same price-, which one would you go for?

 

[manly]

@manly I know its a bit weird. I always buy gaming parts , because they are high performance and stable. But I dont game like "gamers". I like to keep a gaming rig, there are certain series I play whenever a new game is released. Like Far Cry, or Civilization, Anno.

7900 GRE looks like a bit dissapointment. it is almost on part with 4070 Super. but lacks RT performance and it is not cheaper enough. It has more ram on the plus side.
Now the weird thing is 4070 Super is quite cheaper than 7900XT on paper but where I live they are almost the same price. and 7900XT has a better rasterazation performance. I'm not sure about the RT and resolution upscaling performances.
1000 usd looks a bit high for USA prices but both 4070 Super and 7900XT costs about 1000usd here.

if you have to choose between 4070 Super and 7900XT -considering they are about the same price-, which one would you go for?

If those were my two choices at $1000, I would take the 7900 XT. BUT keep in mind I don't care about RT or frame generation. If you do, OR you also want to do machine learning, then Nvidia is the better platform. I don't like paying the Nvidia/Apple/luxury brand tax unless absolutely necessary. I like supporting the "little guy" if it makes sense to do so.

Having said that, what is the cost of the 7800 XT or 7900 GRE? How is the used PC market in your area, in terms of volume and pricing? I understand different regions have different prices, but paying $1000 for the 4070 Super sounds like a raw deal.

 

[Tech Junky]

I like supporting the "little guy"

other....

Intel Arc might be an option as well if they're mostly newer titles. A770 <$300 w/ 16GB

Intel® Arc™ 7 Graphics for Desktops

Learn more about the high-performance gaming capabilities of Intel® Arc™ 7 graphics that allows you to create now and into the future.

www.intel.com

A380 does a great job at transcoding media w/o the N/A taxes or even the Intel tax since across the board they all perform the same with this task but the A380 cost me $100. Out of the big 3 Intel is probably the only one aggressively making progressive updates.

 

[MtSeldon]

If those were my two choices at $1000, I would take the 7900 XT. BUT keep in mind I don't care about RT or frame generation. If you do, OR you also want to do machine learning, then Nvidia is the better platform. I don't like paying the Nvidia/Apple/luxury brand tax unless absolutely necessary. I like supporting the "little guy" if it makes sense to do so.

Having said that, what is the cost of the 7800 XT or 7900 GRE? How is the used PC market in your area, in terms of volume and pricing? I understand different regions have different prices, but paying $1000 for the 4070 Super sounds like a raw deal.

7900 GRE is about 800 usd, 7800Xt is somewhere between 650-700usd. I don't know about used pc market much.
At this prices 7900XT makes sense. Probably RT performancewon'tt improve much. I have seen news about Microsoft DirectSR feature lately. Tough its not clear if it wil make AMD's frame generation more competitive.

 

[manly]

7900 GRE is about 800 usd, 7800Xt is somewhere between 650-700usd. I don't know about used pc market much.
At this prices 7900XT makes sense. Probably RT performancewon'tt improve much. I have seen news about Microsoft DirectSR feature lately. Tough its not clear if it wil make AMD's frame generation more competitive.

At those price points, I'd probably choose the 7800 XT for 1440p gaming. And the 7900 XT as you've suggested makes sense as the upsell option for 4k gaming, which is what you want.
With the price premium you've quoted, I'd think about Nvidia only if I had a very good reason, like ML/AI or RT.