• Happy holidays, folks! Thanks to each and every one of you for being part of the Tom's Hardware community!

[SOLVED] Building around a 3080

hayden1911

Distinguished
Aug 31, 2011
72
3
18,635
Hi all. I recently acquired a 3080 (EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB LHR 10 GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING LHR Video Card) and am looking to build a pc around it. I am upgrading from an I5-2500k and RX400 so it will be quite the upgrade.

My focus is performance, reliability and keeping it quiet. Purpose is mainly gaming. I will run some VMs but nothing very demanding, mainly networking oriented. I am aiming to keep the rest of the build below $1500. Does anyone have any input? I am open to any feedback and suggestions for alternate/cheaper parts.

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI PRO Z690-A WIFI DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive - I will have a SATA SSD and HDD carried over from my current PC.
PSU: EVGA G3 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case
Case fans: be quiet! Light Wings PWM 41.51 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack

Thanks for taking a look!
 
  • Like
Reactions: Why_Me
you could save a bit by cutting back to the i5-12400F.
is still great for gaming.

depending on what drives you already have may want to cut the M.2 NVMe back to ~512GB and just use it for OS & applications.
you won't notice any difference in games vs a 2.5" SATA III SSD and just use it strictly for games.

you can cut back the $180 EVGA power supply to a
Super Flower Leadex III Gold for ~$130
or a Seasonic FOCUS Gold for ~$140.
 
Last edited:
you could save a bit by cutting back to the i5-12400F.
is still great for gaming.

depending on what drives you already have may want to cut the M.2 NVMe back to ~512GB and just use it for OS & applications.
you won't notice any difference in games vs a 2.5" SATA III SSD and just use it strictly for games.

you can cut back the $180 EVGA power supply to a
Super Flower Leadex III Gold for ~$130
or a Seasonic FOCUS Gold for ~$140.

Thanks for the input!

I hadn't looked at Seasonic's PSUs. I may go with their FOCUS Gold 850, has good reviews on Newegg. I also want to agree on the NVMe...I haven't had one before so I'm tempted by the shiny lol. May do just the OS and a few games while I keep the majority on my SATA drives.

As for the CPU, I think I'll stick with the 12600k. I was happy using a 2500k from 2011 so I'm find spending on that component.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Why_Me
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor ($294.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI PRO Z690-A WIFI DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($231.84 @ B&H)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ Adorama)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1101.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-01-19 22:54 EST-0500


Add a couple of fans for rear/top rear exhaust.
 
Solution
Hi all. I recently acquired a 3080 (EVGA GeForce RTX 3080 10GB LHR 10 GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING LHR Video Card) and am looking to build a pc around it. I am upgrading from an I5-2500k and RX400 so it will be quite the upgrade.

My focus is performance, reliability and keeping it quiet. Purpose is mainly gaming. I will run some VMs but nothing very demanding, mainly networking oriented. I am aiming to keep the rest of the build below $1500. Does anyone have any input? I am open to any feedback and suggestions for alternate/cheaper parts.

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI PRO Z690-A WIFI DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive - I will have a SATA SSD and HDD carried over from my current PC.
PSU: EVGA G3 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case
Case fans: be quiet! Light Wings PWM 41.51 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack

Thanks for taking a look!
Nice build ^^

Here's a psu to look at if you want to shave off a few dollars.

https://www.newegg.com/corsair-rm850-cp-9020235-na-850w/p/N82E16817139281
CORSAIR RM850 850W 80+ GOLD Modular Power Supply $124.99 + $5 off w/ promo code ACFBNA967, limited offer Save: $15.00 (10%)

And a board to look at if you don't need built in wifi.

https://www.newegg.com/gigabyte-aorus-z690-gaming-x-ddr4/p/N82E16813145347
GIGABYTE Z690 GAMING X DDR4 $229.99

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/Z690-GAMING-X-DDR4-rev-10

.
 
RM for $125, RMx for $130. I'd spend the extra $5 any day and twice on Sundays. The RMx is 2 steps above the RM. The RMx set the bar in the Gold line, it's rarely beat, and then only by a hair in a couple of situations.

I'd take an RMx over many so called Platinum psus.
 
RM for $125, RMx for $130. I'd spend the extra $5 any day and twice on Sundays. The RMx is 2 steps above the RM. The RMx set the bar in the Gold line, it's rarely beat, and then only by a hair in a couple of situations.

I'd take an RMx over many so called Platinum psus.

Agreed. It's good peace of mind on a critical component.

Made some changes. I think this is it:
CPU cooler changes to not cover the RAM: be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler
Storage changed because I can always get it on sale later: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
PSU changes becuase cheaper but still reliable (See above): Corsair RMx (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Case, I like this one. Still provides enough storage, and I can add on NVMe as well: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case

Case fans will be a maybe. The case comes with two already so I may just see how those work out and go from there.

Thanks for the help everyone. All the suggestions helped save a few hundred from my original plan so I'm happy with that!
 
  • Like
Reactions: JohnBonhamsGhost
DarkRock Pro 4 will clear Gskill Trident, RipJaws and of course Corsair LPX. The only issue with shorter ram it does have is with RGB models.

The DarkRock 4 is still a great cooler, but you did specify quiet, and the Pro will be quieter under a load as it's greater capacity means the fans will barely be spinning. Less ramp up.

Just didn't want you finalizing based on incomplete info.
 
DarkRock Pro 4 will clear Gskill Trident, RipJaws and of course Corsair LPX. The only issue with shorter ram it does have is with RGB models.

The DarkRock 4 is still a great cooler, but you did specify quiet, and the Pro will be quieter under a load as it's greater capacity means the fans will barely be spinning. Less ramp up.

Just didn't want you finalizing based on incomplete info.

So I know the Pro will clear the Trident, what I meant is that it will still be blocking the view of that nice RGB. Good point though on greater capacity, I didn't choose their smaller coolers due to this as well.