Build Advice Build Guidance/Compatibility/Alterations?

[Reso]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-13600K 3.5 GHz 14-Core Processor (£361.95 @ Technextday)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black 55 CFM CPU Cooler (£74.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI MAG B660M MORTAR WIFI DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (£171.49 @ Box Limited)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory (£74.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Samsung 980 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (£85.99 @ Technextday)
Video Card: NVIDIA Founders Edition GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB Video Card
Case: MSI MPG GUNGNIR 110R ATX Mid Tower Case (£89.99 @ Currys PC World)
Power Supply: MSI MPG A750GF 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£90.25 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £949.63
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-10-26 21:19 BST+0100

Not particularly an expert; definitely at the top end of my budget without any peripherals - any changes / guidance is welcome regarding compatibility / cheaper parts that are better value for the money etc etc..

Thanks

 

[Lafong]

https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/case/GUNGNIR110R_110M_110L_111R_111M.pdf

Case manual above; have you looked at it?

Max cooler height acceptable is 170mm.

That means you can get a taller Noctua (U12 series; U14 series) if within your budget.

If not, try the U9S. Did you choose Chromax version intentionally? I have the non-Chromax version and am happy with it.

U12 or U14 might give you 4 or 5 degrees lower temps?

Motherboard and RAM look OK.

SSD: you might be able to save a bit by going non-Samsung, but not a big deal. I might do that if it freed up money to get a taller and slightly better cooler. Hard to say if you'd actually "need" the taller cooler until you actually observe temps with the shorter U9S.

Don't know about that PSU. No knowledge.

Don't know the case either. Might be fine; might have mediocre airflow, which might be important on a 13600K. Search for reviews.

 

[Reso]

https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/case/GUNGNIR110R_110M_110L_111R_111M.pdf

Case manual above; have you looked at it?

Max cooler height acceptable is 170mm.

That means you can get a taller Noctua (U12 series; U14 series) if within your budget.

If not, try the U9S. Did you choose Chromax version intentionally? I have the non-Chromax version and am happy with it.

U12 or U14 might give you 4 or 5 degrees lower temps?

Motherboard and RAM look OK.

SSD: you might be able to save a bit by going non-Samsung, but not a big deal. I might do that if it freed up money to get a taller and slightly better cooler. Hard to say if you'd actually "need" the taller cooler until you actually observe temps with the shorter U9S.

Don't know about that PSU. No knowledge.

Don't know the case either. Might be fine; might have mediocre airflow, which might be important on a 13600K. Search for reviews.

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black 55 CFM CPU Cooler (£74.98 @ Amazon UK)

The U12S above is only a tiny bit more expensive, is it worth it over the U9S? The chromax.black version just looked cooler there's no other reason tbh.

I'll look into a cheaper SSD if possible; but with the 13600K would it be worth getting a Z mobo for OC or is it perfectly capable stock?

 

[Lafong]

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S chromax.black 55 CFM CPU Cooler (£74.98 @ Amazon UK)

The U12S above is only a tiny bit more expensive, is it worth it over the U9S? The chromax.black version just looked cooler there's no other reason tbh.

I'll look into a cheaper SSD if possible; but with the 13600K would it be worth getting a Z mobo for OC or is it perfectly capable stock?

That 13th gen CPU will not work on that 12th gen motherboard as far as I know. You would have to update the BIOS. I don't think you can update the BIOS on that board without a 12th gen CPU....which I doubt you have on hand.

Solution:

1; get a 12th gen 12600K rather than a 13600K. The 12600K will work on the B660M board

or

2; get a 13th gen Z790 board that you probably don't otherwise need.

or

3; wait till probably January when 13th generation B series motherboards are supposed to be released.

OC on recent Intel CPUs is of little value. If you MUST do it, get a Z. I definitely would go with B unless you need a particular Z for some features it has other than overclocking. Possible, but not likely.

"Worth it" on the cooler? I'd probably get the U12 to gain the 4 or 5 degrees improvement because your temps in that case with that processor aren't knowable in advance. Temps might be higher than you guessed, in which case you might be glad you got the U12. Or maybe temps make you very nervous..even if you don't need to be.

I will likely build a 13600K with a U9S myself...because my case won't accept a U12S and because temps don't make me very nervous. I'm waiting till January at least and will use a 13th gen B series board.

 

[Reso]

That 13th gen CPU will not work on that 12th gen motherboard as far as I know. You would have to update the BIOS. I don't think you can update the BIOS on that board without a 12th gen CPU....which I doubt you have on hand.

Solution:

1; get a 12th gen 12600K rather than a 13600K. The 12600K will work on the B660M board

or

2; get a 13th gen Z790 board that you probably don't otherwise need.

or

3; wait till probably January when 13th generation B series motherboards are supposed to be released.

OC on recent Intel CPUs is of little value. If you MUST do it, get a Z. I definitely would go with B unless you need a particular Z for some features it has other than overclocking. Possible, but not likely.

"Worth it" on the cooler? I'd probably get the U12 to gain the 4 or 5 degrees improvement because your temps in that case with that processor aren't knowable in advance. Temps might be higher than you guessed, in which case you might be glad you got the U12. Or maybe temps make you very nervous..even if you don't need to be.

I will likely build a 13600K with a U9S myself...because my case won't accept a U12S and because temps don't make me very nervous. I'm waiting till January at least and will use a 13th gen B series board.

God that's a nightmare; are Z790's the only boards that currently support 13th gen Intel because they're uh pretty expensive - January is a long time to wait and the benchmarks of the 13600k vs the 12600k seem insane considering there isn't much of a difference between pricing.

 

[Lafong]

God that's a nightmare; are Z790's the only boards that currently support 13th gen Intel because they're uh pretty expensive - January is a long time to wait and the benchmarks of the 13600k vs the 12600k seem insane considering there isn't much of a difference between pricing.

Yeah; everybody's in the same boat: use a 12th gen CPU; wait for 13th gen B, get a Z, or find a way to update BIOS on 12 gen B.

How do you feel about buyer's remorse...if you bought a 12600k? My buyer's remorse is strong enough that I'd never forgive myself for not waiting to get the ~10% improvement.

But I don't need to build right away. If you do, do the necessary.

There is such a thing as H series boards; don't know if there are any 13th gen yet and don't know if they need a BIOS update.

January date is not certain, but the current rumor.

 

[Reso]

Yeah; everybody's in the same boat: use a 12th gen CPU; wait for 13th gen B, get a Z, or find a way to update BIOS on 12 gen B.

How do you feel about buyer's remorse...if you bought a 12600k? My buyer's remorse is strong enough that I'd never forgive myself for not waiting to get the ~10% improvement.

But I don't need to build right away. If you do, do the necessary.

There is such a thing as H series boards; don't know if there are any 13th gen yet and don't know if they need a BIOS update.

January date is not certain, but the current rumor.

Awful timing to be building a PC eh, yeah no way I can get a 12600k now after seeing the 13600k's benchmarks for basically the same price; it seems light and day.

I also suppose getting the 13600k & a Z790 board is fairy future proof for the next 5 years so I guess it isn't too horrific financially; the only thing is that DDR5 will be pretty mainstream in a couple years and I'll be stuck with an expensive DDR4 board but I'll live.

 

[Lafong]

Awful timing to be building a PC eh, yeah no way I can get a 12600k now after seeing the 13600k's benchmarks for basically the same price; it seems light and day.

I also suppose getting the 13600k & a Z790 board is fairy future proof for the next 5 years so I guess it isn't too horrific financially; the only thing is that DDR5 will be pretty mainstream in a couple years and I'll be stuck with an expensive DDR4 board but I'll live.

I've bitten the RAM bullet...decided I'm going with DDR 5. I can get 16 GB of DDR 5 for under 100 dollars. 5600 speed. The price differential continues to narrow.

I figure that's the reward I get for going with a B board rather than a Z.

Another wrench/spanner in the works: non-K processors will probably be out in January. If you wait till then, you'll have to agonize over 13600 versus 13600K versus 13700. The latter will be the most expensive, but may use a bit less power.

The 12th gen 12600 non-K did not have any E cores. The 13th gen replacement 13600 is said to have 6 E cores....just like the 13600K.

I'm considering 13700, which supposedly will have 8 P cores and 8 E cores...compared to 6 P cores and 8 E cores on the 13600K....for probably 50 dollars more. Kinda doubt I'll go for the 13700 even though I don't need overclocking and might appreciate the slightly lower (?) power use.

 

[Reso]

I've bitten the RAM bullet...decided I'm going with DDR 5. I can get 16 GB of DDR 5 for under 100 dollars. 5600 speed. The price differential continues to narrow.

I figure that's the reward I get for going with a B board rather than a Z.

Another wrench/spanner in the works: non-K processors will probably be out in January. If you wait till then, you'll have to agonize over 13600 versus 13600K versus 13700. The latter will be the most expensive, but may use a bit less power.

The 12th gen 12600 non-K did not have any E cores. The 13th gen replacement 13600 is said to have 6 E cores....just like the 13600K.

I'm considering 13700, which supposedly will have 8 P cores and 8 E cores...compared to 6 P cores and 8 E cores on the 13600K....for probably 50 dollars more. Kinda doubt I'll go for the 13700 even though I don't need overclocking and might appreciate the slightly lower (?) power use.

Wow, this is a slippery slope isn't it, it's always just an extra 50 dollars here and there; it soon mounts up; I'll probably just bite the bullet now even though I'll definitely regret it in January when I can possibly get a non k cpu & a 13th gen mobo all for like $100 less with similar performance, but waiting 3/4 months would kill me just as much.

 

[Lafong]

Wow, this is a slippery slope isn't it, it's always just an extra 50 dollars here and there; it soon mounts up; I'll probably just bite the bullet now even though I'll definitely regret it in January when I can possibly get a non k cpu & a 13th gen mobo all for like $100 less with similar performance, but waiting 3/4 months would kill me just as much.

You'll probably go with 13th gen Z790 and 13600K and U12S?

If you do, please resurrect this thread or make a new one detailing your temperatures or any annoying hassles you encountered.

I'd try to research more on that MSI power supply and MSI case. They may be fabulous or horrible. I have no knowledge.

 

[Reso]

You'll probably go with 13th gen Z790 and 13600K and U12S?

If you do, please resurrect this thread or make a new one detailing your temperatures or any annoying hassles you encountered.

I'd try to research more on that MSI power supply and MSI case. They may be fabulous or horrible. I have no knowledge.

Yeah, I'm fairly set on the 13600k, U12S & the Z790 - I think I'd regret skimping out on their 12th gen counterparts & I have little patience to wait until 2023, unsure as to when this build will be complete but I may take my merry time as this is a first build; I'll resurrect this thread in a couple of weeks once everything is in order. I still need an OS, and a semi-decent keyboard and mouse.. god.

I've seen some reputable people use the above case & power supply in their mid ranged builds but I'll still look around for more information on them.

 

[Lafong]

Yeah, I'm fairly set on the 13600k, U12S & the Z790 - I think I'd regret skimping out on their 12th gen counterparts & I have little patience to wait until 2023, unsure as to when this build will be complete but I may take my merry time as this is a first build; I'll resurrect this thread in a couple of weeks once everything is in order. I still need an OS, and a semi-decent keyboard and mouse.. god.

I've seen some reputable people use the above case & power supply in their mid ranged builds but I'll still look around for more information on them.

OS...likely you have no over-riding reason to get Pro version of Windows and no reason to pay more for Windows 11, barring some strange requirement.

Windows 11 said to be better at dividing tasks up between E cores and P cores, millisecond by millisecond. Not sure how noticeable that is in actual practice. If you have valid 10 license, you should be able to upgrade to 11 at no cost.

Get a grip on return privileges with your vendor if you have issues in the first few weeks.

Good luck.

 

[Reso]

I've heard that Z690 & Z790 motherboards are the only 2 of which support the new 13th gen Intel processors.

I'll soon be building my first PC with an i5 13600k - am I able to get a Z690 board or am I forced into a Z790 because I don't have a 12th gen CPU to update the BIOS?

Thanks

 

[Zerk2012]

I've heard that Z690 & Z790 motherboards are the only 2 of which support the new 13th gen Intel processors.

I'll soon be building my first PC with an i5 13600k - am I able to get a Z690 board or am I forced into a Z790 because I don't have a 12th gen CPU to update the BIOS?

Thanks

Some boards you can flash the BIOS without a supported processor. Different manufacturers call it a different name.
Example a MSI board that has a BIOS flash button on the back of it.

3rd down on the left of this pic.
https://c1.neweggimages.com/productimage/nb1280/13-144-487-V80.jpg

 

[Reso]

Some boards you can flash the BIOS without a supported processor. Different manufacturers call it a different name.
Example a MSI board that has a BIOS flash button on the back of it.

I've heard about that; could I just build the PC as usual with my 13600k and a suitable Z690 and flash and update the bios to support the CPU or is there a completely different method?

 

[Zerk2012]

I've heard about that; could I just build the PC as usual with my 13600k and a suitable Z690 and flash and update the bios to support the CPU or is there a completely different method?

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

 

[Reso]

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

This will save me about £100, lovely. Thanks

 

[Reso]

That 13th gen CPU will not work on that 12th gen motherboard as far as I know. You would have to update the BIOS. I don't think you can update the BIOS on that board without a 12th gen CPU....which I doubt you have on hand.

Solution:

1; get a 12th gen 12600K rather than a 13600K. The 12600K will work on the B660M board

or

2; get a 13th gen Z790 board that you probably don't otherwise need.

or

3; wait till probably January when 13th generation B series motherboards are supposed to be released.

OC on recent Intel CPUs is of little value. If you MUST do it, get a Z. I definitely would go with B unless you need a particular Z for some features it has other than overclocking. Possible, but not likely.

"Worth it" on the cooler? I'd probably get the U12 to gain the 4 or 5 degrees improvement because your temps in that case with that processor aren't knowable in advance. Temps might be higher than you guessed, in which case you might be glad you got the U12. Or maybe temps make you very nervous..even if you don't need to be.

I will likely build a 13600K with a U9S myself...because my case won't accept a U12S and because temps don't make me very nervous. I'm waiting till January at least and will use a 13th gen B series board.

Update on the Z690/Z790 problem - you're able to update the BIOS on some Z690 boards without the need for a CPU if it has a flash/flashback feature - meaning I can get a Z690, save £100, and update the BIOS to get support for my 13600k without the need for a 12th gen Intel / Z790

 

[Zerk2012]

This will save me about £100, lovely. Thanks

Not all boards have this feature so make sure the one you buy does.

 

[Lafong]

Update on the Z690/Z790 problem - you're able to update the BIOS on some Z690 boards without the need for a CPU if it has a flash/flashback feature - meaning I can get a Z690, save £100, and update the BIOS to get support for my 13600k without the need for a 12th gen Intel / Z790

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNi0Y0CFDEI