[SOLVED] $2000-$2500 4k gaming rig

[Avanju]

Looking for any suggestions before I pull the trigger on this tentative build

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($329.00 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($88.09 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX X470-F Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard ($198.85 @ OutletPC)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($74.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Intel 660p Series 1.02 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($94.89 @ OutletPC)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 7K3000 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($46.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 8 GB Black Video Card ($629.99 @ Walmart)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case ($78.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G2 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ B&H)
Monitor: LG 27UD58-B 27.0" 3840x2160 60 Hz Monitor ($279.00 @ B&H)
Monitor: LG 27UD58-B 27.0" 3840x2160 60 Hz Monitor ($279.00 @ B&H)
Total: $2199.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-23 22:03 EDT-0400

Approximate Purchase Date: Within a week or two

Budget Range: $2000-$2500 before tax, shipping, etc.

System Usage from Most to Least Important: 1. Gaming

Are you buying a monitor: Yes, 2 4k monitors @60hz

Parts to Upgrade: New build

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Prefer Amazon (prime), but any reputable merchant that has the best price

Location: US, UT (no Microcenter)

Parts Preferences: See tentative build.

Overclocking: Yes (any good comprehensive guides you all recommend?)

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: 4k

Any suggestions are most welcome!

 

[MrN1ce9uy]

I have a Hitachi Ultrastar 2TB.. it's really loud and it vibrates abnormally so. But, it's not too bad if your case has sound dampers on the hard drive bays. I'm not familiar with the Fractal Design cases, but I hear good things about them.

I wouldn't worry about overclocking the CPU since you will be gaming at 4K. No real advantage to OCing the CPU when gaming at 4K.

I would recommend ensuring that the 4K monitors you get are capable of adaptive sync with your Nvidia GPU. Those say Freesync compatible, but that doesn't necessarily mean they will work with Nvidia. My 4K Freesync monitor does not work with my Nvidia GPU, but my 1080p Freesync monitor does. At 4K, you will definitely want adaptive sync working.

 

[Avanju]

Thank for the reply. Very good to know about the hitachi-I'll probably opt for a different HDD. Also, I had no clue FreeSync was still recommended for 60hz gaming.

 

[drivinfast247]

2080ti is needed for 4k gaming.

 

[w_o_t_q]

if for gaming I would go for at least 140 Hz or better 240 Hz one monitors second can be 60 Hz and I will be checking TV panel for the same monitor price much more real estate with the same 60Hz refresh rate. Why check LinusTechTips about 240Hz monitor advantages over 60Hz ones. CPU go for Intel if this build is for gaming ... if believe Gamer Nexus AMD is better for productivity which is not your priority at least mentioned here. Cooler replace with custom loop set for example this one https://www.alphacool.com/shop/new-...rricane-copper-45-2x140mm-komplettset?c=20541 . Around 170 euros = delivery You will get everything for custom loop include special fluid. Strongly advice order one of their colored long term ones really good looking system will be assembled (Red or Yellow). Beside in future You can buy additional radiator and GPU cooler to add to loop to keep it cool and do some nice overclocking.

 

[jeremyj_83]

if for gaming I would go for at least 140 Hz or better 240 Hz one monitors second can be 60 Hz and I will be checking TV panel for the same monitor price much more real estate with the same 60Hz refresh rate. Why check LinusTechTips about 240Hz monitor advantages over 60Hz ones. CPU go for Intel if this build is for gaming ... if believe Gamer Nexus AMD is better for productivity which is not your priority at least mentioned here. Cooler replace with custom loop set for example this one https://www.alphacool.com/shop/new-...rricane-copper-45-2x140mm-komplettset?c=20541 . Around 170 euros = delivery You will get everything for custom loop include special fluid. Strongly advice order one of their colored long term ones really good looking system will be assembled (Red or Yellow). Beside in future You can buy additional radiator and GPU cooler to add to loop to keep it cool and do some nice overclocking.

Do you have any idea how much a 120Hz+ 4K monitor costs? The cheapest on pcpartpicker is $780 and you cannot even get one that is 240Hz.
When it comes to 4K gaming the CPU plays second fiddle to the GPU. Basically you won't see any difference in frame rates between an Athlon X4 970 and an i9-9900k. The reason is you are severely GPU limited at that resolution. Also with the release of the Ryzen 3000 series the difference in FPS is now less than 5% with a high end GPU at 1080p.

 

[SgtScream]

My suggestion is to take off the extra 4k panel, go with the next tier down (less expensive) for the bequiet! cpu cooler because the TDP is less than the 3800x. This will allow budget for a RTX 2080 ti.

 

[w_o_t_q]

My advice was taking 240Hz 27 FHD and any 4k TV or monitor with 60Hz

 

[hftvhftv]

I'd save a little more on the motherboard and CPU cooler to budget for a 2080 Ti, or at least try to get a 2080 Super. You could even go for a Ryzen 5 3600 + 2080 Ti if all you're doing is gaming.

 

[TJ Hooker]

What's the 2nd 4K display for?

 

[Avanju]

My suggestion is to take off the extra 4k panel, go with the next tier down (less expensive) for the bequiet! cpu cooler because the TDP is less than the 3800x. This will allow budget for a RTX 2080 ti.

I’ve heard it’s not super beneficial to OC the 3700x; If I’m not OCing the cpu, do I still need an aftermarket cooler?

 

[Avanju]

What's the 2nd 4K display for?

Mostly preference to have two screens the same size. It would drive me nuts to have a 2nd screen with no continuity when dragging from screen to screen

 

[Avanju]

I'd save a little more on the motherboard and CPU cooler to budget for a 2080 Ti, or at least try to get a 2080 Super. You could even go for a Ryzen 5 3600 + 2080 Ti if all you're doing is gaming.

I have read that the gains on the 2080 super are achieved by getting a 2080 on sale and overclocking it. Not true?

 

[SgtScream]

I’ve heard it’s not super beneficial to OC the 3700x; If I’m not OCing the cpu, do I still need an aftermarket cooler?

You are correct. There's no substantial benefit to overclock Ryzen third gen. For Precision Boost Overdrive to work effectively, yes you'll need an aftermarket cooler. If you're going to leave the processor stock with just precision boost 2 enabled then the stock cooler is fine.

 

[Avanju]

2080ti is needed for 4k gaming.

I don’t need ultra or even high settings in every game so long as I can hit 60 FPS in most games on medium-high. Some benchmarks I looked at showed 57- 90 FPS on modern AAA games at 4k high settings. I have heard this before, but there doesn’t seem to be collective agreement on this.

 

[Avanju]

Thanks everyone for your replies so far. Very helpful. I’m concerned about getting a good motherboard with bios flashback or pre-updated for the 3700x. Any boards you recommend? Or vendors that will bios update before they send it to me?

 

[SgtScream]

I don’t need ultra or even high settings in every game so long as I can hit 60 FPS in most games on medium-high. Some benchmarks I looked at showed 57- 90 FPS on modern AAA games at 4k high settings. I have heard this before, but there doesn’t seem to be collective agreement on this.

That is as of this time. You have to try to factor in performance demands for future triple A title releases. I'd rather play higher graphical detail now and dial back the settings in the future with the RTX 2080 ti, then dial back settings now and have to upgrade in the near future. When going 4k, your graphics card upgrade path will be expensive and frequent. If you were to opt for the 2080/2080 super now, my recommendation is to go 1440p or 1440p ultra wide at most in resolution.

 

[SgtScream]

Thanks everyone for your replies so far. Very helpful. I’m concerned about getting a good motherboard with bios flashback or pre-updated for the 3700x. Any boards you recommend? Or vendors that will bios update before they send it to me?

So far MSI is one of the only, if not the only that has bios flashback without utilizing a processor.

 

[jeremyj_83]

Thanks everyone for your replies so far. Very helpful. I’m concerned about getting a good motherboard with bios flashback or pre-updated for the 3700x. Any boards you recommend? Or vendors that will bios update before they send it to me?

Currently the X570 supports the 3000 series out of the box. MSI is making the MAX motherboards that are going to have Ryzen 3000 series support without BIOS updates.

 

[junglist724]

Thanks everyone for your replies so far. Very helpful. I’m concerned about getting a good motherboard with bios flashback or pre-updated for the 3700x. Any boards you recommend? Or vendors that will bios update before they send it to me?

There's motherboards that can update bios without a CPU installed. If you want to go through the hassle you can also contact AMD support and have them lend you an Athlon 200GE you can install just to update the bios.

 

[SgtScream]

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTkXunUAriE

 

[SgtScream]

PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($329.00 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Asus PRIME X570-P ATX AM4 Motherboard ($169.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($64.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Intel 660p Series 1.02 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($94.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 3 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($79.89 @ OutletPC)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB XC GAMING Video Card ($1189.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case ($78.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G3 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($85.88 @ OutletPC)
Monitor: LG 27UD58-B 27.0" 3840x2160 60 Hz Monitor ($279.00 @ B&H)
Total: $2372.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-07-24 16:18 EDT-0400

 

[King_V]

Let me step back a bit on this and ask: particularly at such a relatively small screen size, why do you want/need 4K?

 

[EndEffeKt_24]

I personally would never ever pay 1200 dollars for a gpu. Thats just nuts. For the human eye the pixel density of 30" 1400p and 4k at a normal viewinc distance is visually nearly identical . Whole different story on a 65" tv though.

I would buy a good 1440p 144 hz ultrawide display for having a big ass workspace without borders. Then I would take the rest of the 1200 dollars and buy a radeon 5700 xt.

The remaining money would still suffice for a nice dinner to celebrate smarter buying decisions.

 

[Avanju]

I personally would never ever pay 1200 dollars for a gpu. Thats just nuts. For the human eye the pixel density of 30" 1400p and 4k at a normal viewinc distance is visually nearly identical . Whole different story on a 65" tv though.

I would buy a good 1440p 144 hz ultrawide display for having a big ass workspace without borders. Then I would take the rest of the 1200 dollars and buy a radeon 5700 xt.

The remaining money would still suffice for a nice dinner to celebrate smarter buying decisions.

I’ve also heard that the human eye can’t see more than 60 frames per second anyway, and no one will ever need more than 128 mb of ram, yet here we are. That said I am also generally against paying exorbitant amounts for minor performance increases, so I would prefer to make it work with a sale price 2080.