Question $2500-$2600 Build — Game Dev / Content Creation

[Almightynose1]

Hi there,

I am looking to build my first PC and upgrade from my 10 year old prebuilt. I am looking for a machine that can handle game development in Unreal Engine 5, 3D modeling in Blender, video editing (DaVinci Resolve) for content creation and also some light gaming (Valorant / League).

The build I currently had planned out can be found here: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/f3L3Kp

EDIT: New build here: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7Wphnt

I think I'm most concerned about the BIOS versioning as this is a first time build for me and it looks like the MSI Z690 Tomahawk motherboard will need a BIOS upgrade but other than that curious to get your thoughts! Additional information below.

Approximate Purchase Date: I would ideally be purchasing all these parts by next week (I understand cost may fluctuate).

Budget Range: $2500-2600 max

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Game Dev, Video Editing, Light Gaming.

Are you buying a monitor: No

Parts to Upgrade: Building from scratch, prebuilt is going in storage

Do you need to buy OS: Yes

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: No preference here.

Location: Georgia

Parts Preferences: I think for my purposes I'd prefer an Intel CPU and NVIDIA graphics card.

Overclocking: No

SLI or Crossfire: No

Your Monitor Resolution: Currently 1920x1080. Will upgrade in future

Additional Comments: N/A

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Upgrade from prebuilt.

 

[Why_Me]

Looks solid other than you do not want a Z690 board for a DDR5 build due to the inferior memory support vs the Z790 chipset.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/8m6p99/msi-pro-z790-a-wifi-atx-lga1700-motherboard-pro-z790-a-wifi
MSI PRO Z790-A WIFI

PRO Z790-A WIFI

PRO series motherboards tuned for better performance by 16 Duet Rail Power System, DDR5 memory, Lightning Gen5 PCIe, Pre-installed IO, Extended Heatsink, M.2 Shield Frozr, Wi-Fi 6E, 2.5G LAN, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2

www.msi.com

 

[Almightynose1]

Looks solid other than you do not want a Z690 board for a DDR5 build due to the inferior memory support vs the Z790 chipset.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/8m6p99/msi-pro-z790-a-wifi-atx-lga1700-motherboard-pro-z790-a-wifi
MSI PRO Z790-A WIFI

PRO Z790-A WIFI

PRO series motherboards tuned for better performance by 16 Duet Rail Power System, DDR5 memory, Lightning Gen5 PCIe, Pre-installed IO, Extended Heatsink, M.2 Shield Frozr, Wi-Fi 6E, 2.5G LAN, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2

www.msi.com

Thank you for the response. I've gone ahead and updated my build accordingly:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/c6TbFg

Looks like the BIOS issue went away by doing this as well. I appreciate the help!

 

[thestryker]

You can shave off some cost if you're willing to get just an OEM key for windows.

The memory listed has relatively bad timings (with DDR5 subtimings matter significantly more than before) these would both be better choices (I'm assuming you need/want 64GB specifically):
Corsair Vengeance 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory
G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL32 Memory

The NVMe drive you've selected is more of a budget drive which isn't inherently a problem (the one you've selected is the only budget drive I'd consider), but given the amount you're spending it seems like an odd corner to cut this would be far more in line:
Solidigm P44 Pro 2TB

If you're trying to save some money on the build you'd be better off taking aim at the CPU cooler and going air:
Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE
Deepcool AK620

These will work fine since you're not overclocking as would dropping down to the 850W version of the same PSU you've already got listed (if you do think you'll want to overclock you should stick with what you've got listed already).

Looks solid other than you do not want a Z690 board for a DDR5 build due to the inferior memory support vs the Z790 chipset.

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/8m6p99/msi-pro-z790-a-wifi-atx-lga1700-motherboard-pro-z790-a-wifi
MSI PRO Z790-A WIFI

PRO Z790-A WIFI

PRO series motherboards tuned for better performance by 16 Duet Rail Power System, DDR5 memory, Lightning Gen5 PCIe, Pre-installed IO, Extended Heatsink, M.2 Shield Frozr, Wi-Fi 6E, 2.5G LAN, USB 3.2 Gen 2x2

www.msi.com

FWIW memory support has a lot more to do with the RPL memory controller vs the ADL one than it does motherboard support (though this is part of it).

 

[Almightynose1]

You can shave off some cost if you're willing to get just an OEM key for windows.

The memory listed has relatively bad timings (with DDR5 subtimings matter significantly more than before) these would both be better choices (I'm assuming you need/want 64GB specifically):
Corsair Vengeance 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory
G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL32 Memory

The NVMe drive you've selected is more of a budget drive which isn't inherently a problem (the one you've selected is the only budget drive I'd consider), but given the amount you're spending it seems like an odd corner to cut this would be far more in line:
Solidigm P44 Pro 2TB

If you're trying to save some money on the build you'd be better off taking aim at the CPU cooler and going air:
Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE
Deepcool AK620

These will work fine since you're not overclocking as would dropping down to the 850W version of the same PSU you've already got listed (if you do think you'll want to overclock you should stick with what you've got listed already).


FWIW memory support has a lot more to do with the RPL memory controller vs the ADL one than it does motherboard support (though this is part of it).

Thanks for the message! I've gone ahead and updated the current build using some of your suggestions: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7Wphnt

I removed windows and might go the OEM route even though it seems a bit sketchy to me as a first time builder lol. I would prefer to keep the liquid CPU cooler for this build as I've never had one in the past and wanted to give it a try over air.

Really appreciate the insights. If you see anything off with the new parts list I'd love to hear your feedback!

 

[thestryker]

I removed windows and might go the OEM route even though it seems a bit sketchy to me as a first time builder lol. I would prefer to keep the liquid CPU cooler for this build as I've never had one in the past and wanted to give it a try over air.

I totally understand both of those, and honestly I only mentioned getting an OEM key because I've done it myself and had no issues.

The build looks good and ought to perform well.

 

[Anon#1234]

Thanks for the message! I've gone ahead and updated the current build using some of your suggestions: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7Wphnt

I removed windows and might go the OEM route even though it seems a bit sketchy to me as a first time builder lol. I would prefer to keep the liquid CPU cooler for this build as I've never had one in the past and wanted to give it a try over air.

Really appreciate the insights. If you see anything off with the new parts list I'd love to hear your feedback!

Hey I mean I used a sketchy office key and it worked fine.

 

[Why_Me]

Thanks for the message! I've gone ahead and updated the current build using some of your suggestions: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/7Wphnt

I removed windows and might go the OEM route even though it seems a bit sketchy to me as a first time builder lol. I would prefer to keep the liquid CPU cooler for this build as I've never had one in the past and wanted to give it a try over air.

Really appreciate the insights. If you see anything off with the new parts list I'd love to hear your feedback!

Nice build ^^ If you want to bring the cost down you can do something like this.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i7-13700 2.1 GHz 16-Core Processor ($349.99 @ Best Buy)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool LS720 SE 85.85 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($112.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: *MSI B760 GAMING PLUS WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($164.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory ($216.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Solidigm P44 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: MSI GAMING X TRIO GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card ($1229.30 @ Amazon)
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower Case ($106.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Corsair RM1000e (2023) 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2491.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-06-19 15:01 EDT-0400

A better look at that board and cpu.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B760-GAMING-PLUS-WIFI

Intel® Core™ i7-13700 Processor (30M Cache, up to 5.20 GHz) - Product Specifications | Intel

Intel® Core™ i7-13700 Processor (30M Cache, up to 5.20 GHz) quick reference with specifications, features, and technologies.

www.intel.com

 

[Lucky_SLS]

tried to bring down the cost a bit:

6000mhz rams, better AIO, cheaper but chonky GPU, cheaper but airflow oriented case, 850w PSU:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor ($399.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360 56.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($112.52 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI PRO Z790-A WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($239.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL34 Memory ($174.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Solidigm P44 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Zotac GAMING Trinity OC GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card ($1109.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox 540 ATX Mid Tower Case ($83.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Phanteks Revolt Pro 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Case Fan: Thermalright TL-C12C 66.17 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack ($11.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2372.45
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-06-20 02:32 EDT-0400

 

[Almightynose1]

Appreciate all of the responses! I've been traveling a bit but am finally going to be making the purchase and putting this build together soon. I think I'm going to stick with the current setup I have, but greatly appreciate the cheaper options you all suggested.

With Prime Day around the corner as well as Newegg's FantasTech sale event, is it worth waiting the extra 2 weeks before going ahead with this purchase? Any speculation if any of the items in particular will be discounted?