New Build (finally) Need advice.

[Fanatical Meat]

I'm definitely not a fan of PCI-E risers, even the shielded PCI-E x16 cable ones. Too much signal degradation, IMHO. There was a thread on here, some fellow couldn't get his newer GPU to detect properly, older one worked fine. Probably the difference between PCI-E 3.0 and 2.0/2.1, and the riser cable interaction. Worst part was, it was a mini-ITX case, and the riser cable came with the case.

"Hard" PCB-based riser (right-angle (?)/left-angle (?)) ones, IMHO, are better, but still subject to some signal issues.

If your PC is use for "real work", involving GPU Compute applications, I wouldn't use a riser, if I were you. I have enough issues with doing GPU compute on my PCs (*when using dual GPUs), without riser issues.

But if you use it lightly / for gaming, and just want to "show off" with the face of your GPU, then I guess it could be acceptable. Just use the most expensive / highest-quality / best-reviewed riser cable that you can.

The X570 steel legend board has some complaints about the graphics card blocking the chipset fan. Cable or riser card would only be used to move the graphics card to another slot in the case. No other purpose than that.
I really like the Asrock boards so I’d prefer to stick with them below is a picture for reference

Basically I’m thinking if it’s too hot or too noisy in the top slot use a cable to lower it a bit but not sure if that plan would work because of the other stuff on the motherboard

 

[Thunder 57]

I’ll likely pull the trigger this week. Appears a good amount of people don’t like the fan placement on the ASRock boards but I really like the cost and it appears all ASRock x579 boards have t topology which is something I prefer to have.
If it sucks blocking the fan with the graphics card I’ll move my 280x to the bottom 4x slot. Highly doubt there would be a performance loss. For the future I’m thinking I couldn’t use a riser cable (the cables to move the graphics card to 90 degrees for display) to move the card down a slot or two. Can you think of any random issues I may run into. I know you need shielded cables and don’t go super cheap on them. I’m thinking something strange like card won’t fit or block some something critical. I’m not saying move card to 90 degrees, I’m thinking move it to a slot that won’t block the chipset fan


All but positive I’ll use a Phanteks 600s case.

Edit for reference:
Cable like this but not this exact one, they have pcie 4.0 compliant & certified versions. Just grabbed this one because I am lazy.

10 cm - PCIE 3.0 16x Shielded High Speed Riser Cable Premium | Straight Socket

Over 64GB/s via rare shielded Twin-axial wires and dedicated power lines for lossless signals at range.

linkup.one

I was going to say 4x would be a limitation, but since it's PCIe 4 and therefore basically PCIe 3 8x, you should be alright. I don't have any experience with risers so I can't really help you there. I think you should be alright. I can't imagine a major brand/model having a fan that blocks a GPU when you pretty much need one (unless you went with an APU). But, dumb decisions have been made before .

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I was going to say 4x would be a limitation, but since it's PCIe 4 and therefore basically PCIe 3 8x, you should be alright. I don't have any experience with risers so I can't really help you there. I think you should be alright. I can't imagine a major brand/model having a fan that blocks a GPU when you pretty much need one (unless you went with an APU). But, dumb decisions have been made before .

Yeah that’s sort of what I was thinking. New slot has to be at least double the speed of what a 280x was designed for and slower slot is like 1/2 the speed. Maybe a tiny percent degrade but likely nothing noticeable.
I’m also suspicious of internet whiners
I was mainly thinking of if it is a problem and I get a new card, ideally I’d want it connected to the faster slot. Riser cable is just if everything is true last resort thing.

 

[Markfw]

I would forget the riser noi matter what, try it, check the temps before I did anything like that.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

I would forget the riser noi matter what, try it, check the temps before I did anything like that.

Yeah I get into analysis paralysis sometimes....
I’d absolutely only go the riser route if it was required as in the temps are very high or there is some kind of noise because the chipset fan is partially blocked, noise is more than a tiny bit it would need to be a lot of noise.
Mainly I was wondering if it needed to be done could I smoosh the cable in there where one of the small pcie slots are (see the above picture)

 

[Thunder 57]

...I’m also suspicious of internet whiners...

As you should be. People are much more likely to complain than take some time and say that whatever product is great. I mean, how many people call the number on the "How's my driving?" trucks to say "Hey, this guy is doing a very fine job driving". I think you'll be alright. What is the model of your 280X?

 

[Fanatical Meat]

As you should be. People are much more likely to complain than take some time and say that whatever product is great. I mean, how many people call the number on the "How's my driving?" trucks to say "Hey, this guy is doing a very fine job driving". I think you'll be alright. What is the model of your 280X?

ASUS

Again it’s a temporary solution, waiting to see what comes about in graphic cards next year. Very possible I’ll get a 1660ti but just not right now.

 

[Thunder 57]

ASUS

Again it’s a temporary solution, waiting to see what comes about in graphic cards next year. Very possible I’ll get a 1660ti but just not right now.

So I guess it's the heatpipes you are worried about? Hard to tell, but I can't imagine ASRock would be that naive to limit very common GPU's.

Also, you shouldn't have to wait long, if WCCFTech is correct.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

So I guess it's the heatpipes you are worried about? Hard to tell, but I can't imagine ASRock would be that naive to limit very common GPU's.

Also, you shouldn't have to wait long, if WCCFTech is correct.

I think the complaint is the fans or heat pipes or “stuff” block the chipset fan and that causes the chipset fan to run at maximum speed which makes noise and the chipset still runs hot

 

[Fanatical Meat]

@Thunder 57
Good stuff in the wcc link. Pretty much what I’m looking for. Competent $230-$250ish card.
No disrespect to AMD but I’ve had enough of their cards time for a change.

 

[Thunder 57]

I think the complaint is the fans or heat pipes or “stuff” block the chipset fan and that causes the chipset fan to run at maximum speed which makes noise and the chipset still runs hot

Well you seem to be looking at a big case with good airflow, so you should be OK there. However I didn't think about the PCIe thing correctly. That card will be limited to PCIe 3 4x speeds because it was not designed for PCIe 4.That will hurt you in more demanding games. I am GPU-agnostic. When I was last looking to upgrade the two most demanding games I played (Doom/BF1) both were faster on the RX 480 than the 1060, so that's what I went with. NVIDIA is finally becoming more attractive. I'm right there with you in the price range, I paid $240 for the RX 480. I'm probably going to want to upgrade later this year for "Doom 2", it will be interesting to see NVIDIA and ATI/AMD battle it out in that price range.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Well you seem to be looking at a big case with good airflow, so you should be OK there. However I didn't think about the PCIe thing correctly. That card will be limited to PCIe 3 4x speeds because it was not designed for PCIe 4.That will hurt you in more demanding games. I am GPU-agnostic. When I was last looking to upgrade the two most demanding games I played (Doom/BF1) both were faster on the RX 480 than the 1060, so that's what I went with. NVIDIA is finally becoming more attractive. I'm right there with you in the price range, I paid $240 for the RX 480. I'm probably going to want to upgrade later this year for "Doom 2", it will be interesting to see NVIDIA and ATI/AMD battle it out in that price range.

Thank you again, useful stuff.
I’ll likely get hate for this I’m like you as in price performance definitely plays a big roll and while AMD/ati hasn’t necessarily offered the best performance it does offer good enough performance.
I will say I was completely satisfied with my previous gtx260. Rates up there with my 9500 pro agp card.
I’ve had many and/ati cards over the years and I feel it’s time to try nvidia out again to balance things out a bit.
Earlier I saw the Phanteks 600s case does support a vertical Mount for video cards with a $30 kit. Comes with the warning the card will run a few Celsius hotter. Absolute worst case I’ll go that route. Don’t think a 3-6 degree C increase would cause any major problems. I’m confident I could rig some sort of fan in there to help if it did matter. I’m sure it would look ghetto but who cares if it’s not displayed.

Edit: the Asrock chipset fan does appear to sit higher on the motherboard than other vendors which is sort of weird. Looks the same on all Asrock 570 boards

 

[Thunder 57]

Thank you again, useful stuff.
I’ll likely get hate for this I’m like you as in price performance definitely plays a big roll and while AMD/ati hasn’t necessarily offered the best performance it does offer good enough performance.
I will say I was completely satisfied with my previous gtx260. Rates up there with my 9500 pro agp card.
I’ve had many and/ati cards over the years and I feel it’s time to try nvidia out again to balance things out a bit.
Earlier I saw the Phanteks 600s case does support a vertical Mount for video cards with a $30 kit. Comes with the warning the card will run a few Celsius hotter. Absolute worst case I’ll go that route. Don’t think a 3-6 degree C increase would cause any major problems. I’m confident I could rig some sort of fan in there to help if it did matter. I’m sure it would look ghetto but who cares if it’s not displayed.

Not sure why you would get any hate? They both have there moments. The 9700 Pro (I got a 9800 Pro, probably the most expensive card I've ever got). The 8800GT, what an awesome card! The Radeon 4870 was pretty impressive as well. But then they've had their flops, the Geforce FX, the early Radeon HD's. Even the Geforce 480 wasn't well received, it was a bit ahead of it's time.

I don't think temps will be a problem. It's amazing that AMD allows for near boiling, or in some cases (I think) beyond 100C. I would never do that long term though. I like 80-85 as a max temp.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Not sure why you would get any hate? They both have there moments. The 9700 Pro (I got a 9800 Pro, probably the most expensive card I've ever got). The 8800GT, what an awesome card! The Radeon 4870 was pretty impressive as well. But then they've had their flops, the Geforce FX, the early Radeon HD's. Even the Geforce 480 wasn't well received, it was a bit ahead of it's time.

I don't think temps will be a problem. It's amazing that AMD allows for near boiling, or in some cases (I think) beyond 100C. I would never do that long term though. I like 80-85 as a max temp.

Could be why my AMD/ati cards have a tendency to fail after 2 years. Happened to two of them right around the 2 year mark.
XT850(?) and a x1950 I replaced it with from years ago.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Update:
I ordered the Phanteks 600s case today. I like the magnetic front and top. Easy to put back on to keep Cat (El Destructo) from clawing it.
I am very glad I ordered the H115i Pro Friday. I did slow delivery to get some amazon digital credits because its not needed now. While ordering the case I noticed the cost on the cooler has increased from $130ish to $146ish. Stupid tariffs.
**Summertime it was $122ish

I know new egg is $10 cheaper for the case but I had an amazon credit I needed to spend.

If I don't make it to microcenter this week, I will definitely make it next week. Cooler should arrive today and the case on Friday.

Give you all an update once it is complete.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

After a small delay it should be happing this weekend.
One final question what are everyone’s thoughts regarding a 3800x instead of a 3700x.
Currently there is only a $30 price difference at Microcenter.
I know it’s only like 5% better but it’s also about 8% more expensive.
Any additional heat issues I should be aware of?

 

[Muadib]

Save the $30, and put it towards something else. The difference is that small.
Good luck with your build!!

 

[DrMrLordX]

If getting absolutely every bit of clockspeed you can get matters to you, get the 3800x instead of the 3700x. 3800x may also have some spots in the voltage/clockspeed curve where it can run cooler thanks to better binning. Otherwise meh.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Honestly, I would probably save your money, or splurge for the 3900X (pending availability, of course).

What do you plan to do with this rig? 4K video editing? Then get the 3900X (for the extra cores + L3 cache memory).

Gaming? Get the 3600X, or 3700X, and call it a day.

 

[Shmee]

Have you chosen an NVMe drive yet? I would recommend getting a cheaper PCIe 4 drive if possible, like the Sabrent Rocket 4 or the Inland. I also would go with the 3700X over the 3800X. As for GPUs, if buying now I would likely get a 5700 or 5700XT depending on budget, or a 1660 Ti. If not, possibly wait for more mid range AMD offerings like the 5500 series or a possible 5600 series. You could continue using the 280X in the mean time, as mentioned.

If you really want to try Nvidia again, I can recommend the 1660Ti if a good deal, but depending on budget, AMD will likely give you more performance/$. That said, if you can get a really good deal on a 2060 or 2060 Super, than that would be great, but it would have to be a fair amount less than the rough AMD equivalent (5700 and 5700 XT respectively) to really make sense IMO. Thing is, I think that might be hard to do.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Have you chosen an NVMe drive yet? I would recommend getting a cheaper PCIe 4 drive if possible, like the Sabrent Rocket 4 or the Inland. I also would go with the 3700X over the 3800X. As for GPUs, if buying now I would likely get a 5700 or 5700XT depending on budget, or a 1660 Ti. If not, possibly wait for more mid range AMD offerings like the 5500 series or a possible 5600 series. You could continue using the 280X in the mean time, as mentioned.

If you really want to try Nvidia again, I can recommend the 1660Ti if a good deal, but depending on budget, AMD will likely give you more performance/$. That said, if you can get a really good deal on a 2060 or 2060 Super, than that would be great, but it would have to be a fair amount less than the rough AMD equivalent (5700 and 5700 XT respectively) to really make sense IMO. Thing is, I think that might be hard to do.

I’m probably going to do the good inland drive, not sure if I’ll go 3.0 or 4.0 yet.
Wife likes to have all Xmas shopping done by end of November. Told her last night while we were at micro center that would be a good gift for me.
Simply said don’t hate me I’m sticking with my crucial ssd drive for the moment.

I’ll probably get a 1660ti on the soon side, just waiting a bit longer to see what happens with graphics cards. No way I’m waiting a year for a new one. I’ve had enough AMD cards in a row time for a change.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Honestly, I would probably save your money, or splurge for the 3900X (pending availability, of course).

What do you plan to do with this rig? 4K video editing? Then get the 3900X (for the extra cores + L3 cache memory).

Gaming? Get the 3600X, or 3700X, and call it a day.

Pretty much 1/3 games, 1/3 light office stuff, 1/3 everything else.
I have been thinking of taking up a nerd project with scene renders but this is totally a hobby nothing I’d be serious about. I’m at the thinking about it stage.
This is what interested me

KitBash3D | Premium 3D Assets for Movies & Video Games

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But I have no idea where to begin and I’ve spent little time looking at it

 

[VirtualLarry]

Well, the Asus RX 5700 was ~$280 after promo and MIR, before tax. (@ Newegg)

 

[Fanatical Meat]

Well, the Asus RX 5700 was ~$280 after promo and MIR, before tax. (@ Newegg)

Right price range for me. I may end up with this, I have had a long run of AMD cards. I feel it’s time for a change.
No disrespect to AMD.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Right price range for me. I may end up with this, I have had a long run of AMD cards. I feel it’s time for a change.
No disrespect to AMD.

After my long string of RX 570 cards, and R9 270X and R7 260X cards before them, and some HD 7950 cards before them, I thought the same thing, time for a "change".

I bought two MSI Ventus GTX 1660 ti 6GB GDDR6 cards, one for ~$270, one for ~$210 used off of a single-unit seller on ebay. I thought that they were "OK", but they weren't as impressive as I had hoped. Granted, I haven't tried gaming with them yet. But I had both in my PC, mining, and mining output was merely $0.10 more per day than the RX 570 and RX 580 cards I had (around $0.25/day). Yet, they cost like 3x as much. But they do use like 2/3 the power usage, so that's kind of a win. I think. ROI will take some time.

I'm much happier, at least mining-output and ROI-wise with my $290 RX 5700 8GB GDDR6 card. At that price, it seems like a steal, and it's way faster than the GTX 1660 ti, in gaming charts, for similar money, and mining output is like $0.63 / day.

I would love to buy 6x RX 5700 reference blowers for under $300 ea., and output a "proper" mining frame rig with them. Of course, finding PSUs up to the task of powering 6x 6+8 pins, plus risers, plus mobo, might be challenging. Need multiple 1200W or better 80Plus Gold or Titanium PSUs. It could be done.

My (minor) mining is just a few desktop PCs with single cards (was double, but I have the GTX 1660 ti cards split up one per PC now). Put out so little heat that I had to turn the heat on already, I was getting cold.