[SOLVED] A PC build with a graphics card planned for the future ?

Oct 18, 2021
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Hello to experts here at Tom's Hardware, I am planning a build which I'll get the components in three steps.
I live in Iran, so the prices here are a little different compared to the US or other parts of the world, so I will give some examples below.
I currently use a pretty old laptop for my work and games and I'm getting pretty tired of it and it's really slow.
The uses I will have for this PC will be:
  • Light, story based games which I don't need high FPS in, but I do like playing on high/ultra, games like Red Dead Redemption 2, Assassins Creed, Grand Theft Auto, Far Cry and etc...
  • Programming, Mostly mathematical calculations so I do like to have a pretty fast single core performance.
  • Vey small amount of Machine learning and AI training which will benefit a lot from a large number of threads.
  • Spreadsheet work.
  • A windows XP virtual machine which I use on Hyper-V, because of an old software I work on and it only works on Windows XP and it uses a good amount of ram, so a 16gb of RAM is a must.
  • Watching movie.
The first step with a budget of around 1000$'s I will be getting the crucial parts:
  • CPU, Which I do like to have a fast one with high core count.
  • Motherboard,
  • Boot drive (very fast SSD), preferably a gen4.
  • Ram (or maybe only one stick), 16 or 2x8
  • PSU,
  • A pretty low-end GPU, or maybe get a CPU with an i-GPU
  • I have a pretty old PC case and I intend to use that to go for a "sleeper" style PC.
  • I have a 900p 21 inch display also so I don't intend to get a display at step 1.
The second step, I'll most probably get a display, a large SSD, and another stick of RAM, which I believe will be about 2-3 months after the first step
And on the third step I'll get a decent GPU, which this will be whenever I feel the GPU prices have dropped low enough and if it doesn't happen in the next 1-1.5 years, I'll most probably get the equivalent of the now 3060, and a good keyboard.

The price here for some of the parts in here are like so, and every 29-31K is about 1000$'s.
  • Ryzen 7 5800X: 12,849
  • Ryzen 5 5600X: 8,799
  • Ryzen 7 5700G: 12,299
  • Ryzen 5 5600G: 9,399
  • Intel core i7 11700k: 9,899
  • Intel core i9 11900k: 15,099
  • Intel core i9 10850k: 10,545
  • Asus Nvidia GEFORSE GT 1030: 3,790
  • Zotac Nvidia GEFORE GT 730: 2,199
  • Asus Nvidia GEFORE GTX 1050Ti: 9,995
So, this is my current plan, and my questions are:
  1. What CPU should I get, should my CPU have an i-GPU like a 11700K or a 5700G, or should I get a 5800x with a pretty cheap GPU like a 1030 or a 730? or even a 11900k instead of all of those? and use it's IGPU? based on the price, a 5800x+1030 is about 10% more than a 11900k.
  2. About the RAM, I'd like to have 32gb's on the system in the future but I don't know about 64gb's, should I get a single 16gb stick and get another one on the second step or, get 2x8 and get another 2x8 later?
  3. Based on my usage and the areas I need performance in, and the fact that I'll most probably keep this PC for the next 4-5 years, what CPU do you think is best to get? and about the CPU upgradability, do you think the motherboards that support Ryzen 5000, will support the next gen Ryzen or not?
  4. What chipset should I get for the motherboard? I may overclock in the future but I'm not sure.
  5. What are your suggestions on improving my plan and my build? what do you think I'm doing wrong here?
Thanks in advance, Sahand.
 
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Solution
10850k is looking pretty good price wise. That would get you some fast cores for gaming and plenty of threads for other tasks. Has onboard graphics that aren't amazing.

Advantage of that over the 5700G would be that you aren't sacrificing any PCIe lanes, the onboard Vega graphics chips consumes 8x lanes, so that any motherboard will only ever have 8x PCIe lanes to the primary x16 slot. Though that only matters if you plan on a high end GPU.

I like the idea of getting a GT1030 more than relying on integrated graphics and shared memory.

Both Intel and AMD are at end of life for their respective sockets. Alder lake will launch soon with a new LGA1700 (LGA1800 socket) AMD will launch sometime next year with LGA1718. Both of these will be...

Eximo

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10850k is looking pretty good price wise. That would get you some fast cores for gaming and plenty of threads for other tasks. Has onboard graphics that aren't amazing.

Advantage of that over the 5700G would be that you aren't sacrificing any PCIe lanes, the onboard Vega graphics chips consumes 8x lanes, so that any motherboard will only ever have 8x PCIe lanes to the primary x16 slot. Though that only matters if you plan on a high end GPU.

I like the idea of getting a GT1030 more than relying on integrated graphics and shared memory.

Both Intel and AMD are at end of life for their respective sockets. Alder lake will launch soon with a new LGA1700 (LGA1800 socket) AMD will launch sometime next year with LGA1718. Both of these will be DDR5 systems (and support for PCIe 5.0). AMD should be launching new revisions of the 5000 series with additional cache that should be compatible with current boards, but that only matters if you plan to upgrade the CPU in the next few months.
 
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Only if available and cheaper. India is sometimes a weird market when it comes to the chips that are popular. Still, paired with a GT1030, it would be okay and leave some budget for your 32GB of memory.

Still if you are after a 7 year PC, not sure the 10th gen hex core is the way to go.

I only plan to keep this i9-10900F probably for 3-4 years, and I considered it a pretty good bargain at time of purchase. A little cheaper than the 11700k, high boost clocks (like the 10850K), and an extra two cores for some added longevity. The extra cache won't hurt either. (With proper cooling and power limits removed, i9-10900F will run 4.6Ghz all core)

Maybe compromise and look at the 10700 or 11700. Don't hold yourself to getting the K class chips, there isn't much headroom to overclock. 5800X with a GT1030 also a fine choice, though the most expensive.
 
Oct 18, 2021
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0
10
10850k is looking pretty good price wise. That would get you some fast cores for gaming and plenty of threads for other tasks. Has onboard graphics that aren't amazing.

Advantage of that over the 5700G would be that you aren't sacrificing any PCIe lanes, the onboard Vega graphics chips consumes 8x lanes, so that any motherboard will only ever have 8x PCIe lanes to the primary x16 slot. Though that only matters if you plan on a high end GPU.

I like the idea of getting a GT1030 more than relying on integrated graphics and shared memory.

Both Intel and AMD are at end of life for their respective sockets. Alder lake will launch soon with a new LGA1700 (LGA1800 socket) AMD will launch sometime next year with LGA1718. Both of these will be DDR5 systems (and support for PCIe 5.0). AMD should be launching new revisions of the 5000 series with additional cache that should be compatible with current boards, but that only matters if you plan to upgrade the CPU in the next few months.

Only if available and cheaper. India is sometimes a weird market when it comes to the chips that are popular. Still, paired with a GT1030, it would be okay and leave some budget for your 32GB of memory.

Still if you are after a 7 year PC, not sure the 10th gen hex core is the way to go.

I only plan to keep this i9-10900F probably for 3-4 years, and I considered it a pretty good bargain at time of purchase. A little cheaper than the 11700k, high boost clocks (like the 10850K), and an extra two cores for some added longevity. The extra cache won't hurt either. (With proper cooling and power limits removed, i9-10900F will run 4.6Ghz all core)

Maybe compromise and look at the 10700 or 11700. Don't hold yourself to getting the K class chips, there isn't much headroom to overclock. 5800X with a GT1030 also a fine choice, though the most expensive.

But the problem is that the 10850k doesn't have PCIe 4.0, I don't know how much of an effect it has on performance and as far as I know it is only effective on high-end graphics cards like the 3080ti or 3090, but what about storage speed's? I do like to be able to get a 4.0 SSD, like the Samsung 980pro, a small one but only use it for programs I use on a daily basis and get a 1-2tb 3.0 SSD for mass storage.
If PCIe 4.0 is a big deal, then I think the only choices left are the 5600x, 5800x and the 11700 or the 11900, the price of 11700 is the same as 5600x and even a little less here.
I did some research and found out that the 5800x isn't a CPU worth the price and compared to the 5900x with just 100$'s less the performance isn't worth it. What are your thoughts on this? but the price of the 5900x is about 43% more than the 5800x with a price of about 18,500 compared to 12,850 and I think that'll go a little over budget.
Based on the prices I believe the prices in Iran are a little inflated for AMD chips and Intel prices are more acceptable here.
The price of 11900 here is about 12,000 even a little less than the 5800x, what do you think about that? instead of the 5800x? is it worth it to get it for PCIe 4.0? but I'm a little worried about the power consumption and I may have to get a more beefy PSU for that too.
And the last and least desired option is to wait for Intel 12'th gen or AMD next gen (which I don't think neither of them will be available here in Iran with an acceptable price in the next one year) and when the prices for the 11'th gen or 5000 series comes down, get them, or even get the new gen CPU but the mid-range one, like the 12600 and get the refresh as an upgrade.
 

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I'm using a 3080Ti with a 10900F, we are talking a percent or two off the very top graphics card. AMD users were in the same boat for years running PCIe 2.0 when PCIe 3.0 graphics cards were the norm. Chasing after PCIe isn't exactly a good plan. The new chips will support PCIe 5.0 and they just released the specifications for PCIe 6.0. If you are planning on extremes in the future, wait for Alder Lake to launch in about 3 weeks, not sure how long it will take to go global though, and the prices might not be good. AMD is claiming PCIe 5.0 support as well for Zen4, however, that is 6 months off at least.

As for storage speed, to make use of that bandwidth you need multiple drives running PCIe 4.0. Makes sense if you go for a higher end platform like Threadripper or Intel's X boards and CPUs and are constantly moving large files around. For the most part an NVMe is more than fast enough for anyone, even SATA III SSDs are enough for the average user.

5800X is a compromise, not a huge jump over the 5600X and certainly not as good as a 5900X, but that is how the pricing has aligned. Those extra two cores might come in handy.

11700 is an okay processor, with excellent cooling it performs similarly to the 5800X. 11900 is not worth the extra money over the 11700. Same eight cores, just a higher boost potential.
 
May 21, 2021
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66
170
10850k is looking pretty good price wise. That would get you some fast cores for gaming and plenty of threads for other tasks. Has onboard graphics that aren't amazing.

Advantage of that over the 5700G would be that you aren't sacrificing any PCIe lanes, the onboard Vega graphics chips consumes 8x lanes, so that any motherboard will only ever have 8x PCIe lanes to the primary x16 slot. Though that only matters if you plan on a high end GPU.

I like the idea of getting a GT1030 more than relying on integrated graphics and shared memory.

Both Intel and AMD are at end of life for their respective sockets. Alder lake will launch soon with a new LGA1700 (LGA1800 socket) AMD will launch sometime next year with LGA1718. Both of these will be DDR5 systems (and support for PCIe 5.0). AMD should be launching new revisions of the 5000 series with additional cache that should be compatible with current boards, but that only matters if you plan to upgrade the CPU in the next few months.
Didn’t Steve at Gamers Nexus prove that shutting off the 5700g’s IGPU frees up all 16 pci-e lanes to the discrete graphics slot?
 
Oct 18, 2021
3
0
10
I'm using a 3080Ti with a 10900F, we are talking a percent or two off the very top graphics card. AMD users were in the same boat for years running PCIe 2.0 when PCIe 3.0 graphics cards were the norm. Chasing after PCIe isn't exactly a good plan. The new chips will support PCIe 5.0 and they just released the specifications for PCIe 6.0. If you are planning on extremes in the future, wait for Alder Lake to launch in about 3 weeks, not sure how long it will take to go global though, and the prices might not be good. AMD is claiming PCIe 5.0 support as well for Zen4, however, that is 6 months off at least.

As for storage speed, to make use of that bandwidth you need multiple drives running PCIe 4.0. Makes sense if you go for a higher end platform like Threadripper or Intel's X boards and CPUs and are constantly moving large files around. For the most part an NVMe is more than fast enough for anyone, even SATA III SSDs are enough for the average user.

5800X is a compromise, not a huge jump over the 5600X and certainly not as good as a 5900X, but that is how the pricing has aligned. Those extra two cores might come in handy.

11700 is an okay processor, with excellent cooling it performs similarly to the 5800X. 11900 is not worth the extra money over the 11700. Same eight cores, just a higher boost potential.
What are your thoughts on waiting on intel 12'th gen, I read a lot of stuff about it having really good performance, the release date is in 10 days should I wait for that? some say it may not be a lot good or be buggy because of the new DDR5 or it being a lot more expensive compared to the current gen (with DDR5 memory having high prices and PCIe 5 motherboards being expensive). Is the performance difference really that much? But the availability here in Iran is very bad and I expect for the 12'th gen to have a shortage in the international markets and that'll reflect badly on the market in Iran and the prices will be a lot more inflated here.