Question Building new pc, questions about modern hardware.

[Dilbert41]

I am building a new gaming pc, and there are several components that I have no experience with.

What I have so far:
MSI MEG B550 Unify mobo
Ryzen 7 5800x
32 GB Corsair Dominator memory
Corsair RM850X psu
Lian Li PC-011 Dynamic Evo

First, I was considering an RTX 3080 ti gpu, but someone told me that an AMD card would work better with my cpu. If this is true, what does AMD have that is comparable to a 3080?

Second, I want to use all NVME drives, and I have seen videos that say I'd be as well off with 3rd gen drives for gaming. I'm planning on using a 500 GB drive for the OS, and a 2TB for games. If I need heat sinks, am I going to have trouble getting them to fit on this mb?

Third, I am going to be using an AIO, and am trying to avoid the Lian Li Galahad because the cpu block is large and is hard to fit on some mobos. I really like the look of the Lian Li ARGB fans, so is it possible to use those on a non Lian Li cooler?

This is not my first build, but I don't know much about NVMEs, AIOs, and ARGB lighting.

Any help you can give will be appreciated.

Thank you.

 

[punkncat]

NVME- My MSI Unify board has a built in heat sink and setup for 2X m.2 drives to go under the same cover, but is also m-ITX. You should be able to figure that aspect out with a close look at the mobo on it's site. IMO, even a decent 2.5" SSD is fine for game storage and cost is attractive for them.

AIO- you can typically use any same size fan on any same size AIO cooler. IE 240 rad is 2X 120mm fans. The aspect to pay attention to would be the RGB control itself and what it is compatible/works with. This can be a subject all its own.

The 6900XT is probably as close as you will get to 3080ti, which is still nearly 20% faster. I am not aware of the performance levels of some of the newer editions that are out (the xx50 versions). Both AMD and Nvidia are on the verge of new GPU releases.

 

[Vic 40]

someone told me that an AMD card would work better with my cpu. If this is true, what does AMD have that is comparable to a 3080?

Just not true.

 

[KananX]

The 6900XT is probably as close as you will get to 3080ti, which is still nearly 20% faster.

They are pretty comparable and 6900XT is faster in 1080 and 1440p while 5%ish slower at 4K. However you can use whatever you want, it doesn’t matter if Nvidia or AMD.

 

[Why_Me]

For the same price as that board + cpu you have in your build you can do something like this.

https://www.newegg.com/asus-tuf-gaming-z690-plus-wifi-d4/p/N82E16813119506
ASUS TUF Gaming Z690-Plus WiFi D4 $234.83

TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 | Motherboards | ASUS Gloabl

TUF Gaming series distills essential elements of the latest AMD and Intel® platforms, and combines them with game-ready features and proven durability. Engineered with military-grade components, an upgraded power solution and a comprehensive set of cooling options, this motherboard delivers...

www.asus.com

https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i7-12700f-core-i7-12th-gen/p/N82E16819118359
Intel Core i7-12700F $312.96

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...2700f-processor-25m-cache-up-to-4-90-ghz.html

Intel Core i7-12700 + Intel B660 Review

Today we have a combo review of all-new Intel hardware, our first look at the affordable Intel B660 platform, the non-K Core i7-12700 and Intel's latest box...

www.techspot.com

i7 12700 / 12700F gaming benchmarks.

 

[Zerk2012]

They are pretty comparable and 6900XT is faster in 1080 and 1440p while 5%ish slower at 4K. However you can use whatever you want, it doesn’t matter if Nvidia or AMD.

Not really it all depends on the game.

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

 

[KananX]

Not really it all depends on the game.

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

Yes really, 50 game average and the 3080 12 GB is same speed as 3080 Ti, you’re just not well informed here. 20%? Sorry, nonsense. 5% at 4K as i said.

 

[Zerk2012]

Yes really, 50 game average and the 3080 12 GB is same speed as 3080 Ti, you’re just not well informed here. 20%? Sorry, nonsense. 5% at 4K as i said.

50 Game average still depends on the games.

The 3080 is in no way the exact same as the 3080ti.
Sorry! The 3080ti has more cuda cores than the 3080 even the 12GB version.

 

[Why_Me]

I am building a new gaming pc, and there are several components that I have no experience with.

What I have so far:
MSI MEG B550 Unify mobo
Ryzen 7 5800x
32 GB Corsair Dominator memory
Corsair RM850X psu
Lian Li PC-011 Dynamic Evo

First, I was considering an RTX 3080 ti gpu, but someone told me that an AMD card would work better with my cpu. If this is true, what does AMD have that is comparable to a 3080?

Second, I want to use all NVME drives, and I have seen videos that say I'd be as well off with 3rd gen drives for gaming. I'm planning on using a 500 GB drive for the OS, and a 2TB for games. If I need heat sinks, am I going to have trouble getting them to fit on this mb?

Third, I am going to be using an AIO, and am trying to avoid the Lian Li Galahad because the cpu block is large and is hard to fit on some mobos. I really like the look of the Lian Li ARGB fans, so is it possible to use those on a non Lian Li cooler?

This is not my first build, but I don't know much about NVMEs, AIOs, and ARGB lighting.

Any help you can give will be appreciated.

Thank you.

What games do you plan on playing and do you have a monitor ... if so what resolution is it?

 

[KananX]

50 Game average still depends on the games.

The 3080 is in no way the exact same as the 3080ti.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d4L7KMzgaXg


Sorry!

Oh yes it pretty much is:

Negligible difference.

 

[Zerk2012]

Oh yes it pretty much is:

Negligible difference.

Difference in close and no cigar the 3080ti has more cuda cores.

 

[KananX]

Difference in close and no cigar the 3080ti has more cuda cores.

Useless CUDA cores that amount to 1% more fps, yes. Are you actually informed on the shortcomings of Ampere? It has a unusually high amount of cores that can’t be used since it has not enough ROPs and TMUs that can back it up. They simply doubled the cores without doubling anything else with it, and that’s why the 3080 is barely slower than the 3090, same with 3080 12 vs 3080 Ti and even less difference because the 3080 12 has the same 384 Bit bus. Just inform yourself a bit better.

The 6900 XT is absolutely comparable to the best Nvidia has, it’s just a bit slower in 4K and that’s it.

 

[Zerk2012]

Useless CUDA cores that amount to 1% more fps, yes. Are you actually informed on the shortcomings of Ampere? It has a unusually high amount of cores that can’t be used since it has not enough ROPs and TMUs that can back it up. They simply doubled the cores without doubling anything else with it, and that’s why the 3080 is barely slower than the 3090, same with 3080 12 vs 3080 Ti and even less difference because the 3080 12 has the same 384 Bit bus. Just inform yourself a bit better.

The 6900 XT is absolutely comparable to the best Nvidia has, it’s just a bit slower in 4K and that’s it.

Still 100% depends on the game played.

 

[KananX]

Still 100% depends on the game played.

Still a 50 game average is pretty significant, so not really, no. This is why he made a 50 game average so any discussions like these would be settled.

 

[Stephanie_Sy]

it doesn’t matter if Nvidia or AMD

 

[Phaaze88]

If someone's 50 game benchmark run shows that Gpu A is faster than Gpu B by 20%(or whatever you want to insert) on average across those titles, but if the OP:
1)Doesn't play all the games listed, it's not 20% average anymore, is it?
2)Should the OP expect ~20% more performance in their games that weren't listed?
3)If they were the type to only play 1 game, and in that title, Gpu A was 10% faster, or 40% faster... then, for them, Gpu A is faster by that much, right?

Please don't think I'm trolling or anything, I'm really trying to understand the argument here.
I don't play any of the titles Steve benchmarked, so the numbers may as well not apply unless I am able to benchmark those 2 cards myself in what I play side by side.

Doesn't do any good to get too hung up on benchmarks - they can, at times be nothing more than smoke n' mirrors.

First, I was considering an RTX 3080 ti gpu, but someone told me that an AMD card would work better with my cpu. If this is true, what does AMD have that is comparable to a 3080?
Second, I want to use all NVME drives, and I have seen videos that say I'd be as well off with 3rd gen drives for gaming. I'm planning on using a 500 GB drive for the OS, and a 2TB for games. If I need heat sinks, am I going to have trouble getting them to fit on this mb?
Third, I am going to be using an AIO, and am trying to avoid the Lian Li Galahad because the cpu block is large and is hard to fit on some mobos. I really like the look of the Lian Li ARGB fans, so is it possible to use those on a non Lian Li cooler?

I'd like to try tackling these.
1)That someone was probably referring to SAM(Smart Access Memory). It does work better than resizable bar in its current state; it's a hack-job in comparison. SAM, you can probably turn on and forget about it.
The current resizable bar? Heck no; it can bring benefits, detriments, or do nothing in games, so you have to turn it on/off based on what you will play, which would get annoying fast - you're going to leave it off, I'd bet...

What does AMD have that's comparable? Keep in mind that some games are optimized for AMD, some for Nvidia - soon Intel will be in the game, so they'll have games that will run better on their hardware. Can't win 'em all...

2)Going from HDD to SSD is HUGE. SATA SSD to M.2? Not nearly as much - with an exception.
Imagine someone driving on a 120km/h highway in a Toyota Avalon or whatnot, and then one day they win big with a BMW M5... but they're still driving 120km/h on that same highway. Well, at least the ride is nicer...
Those M.2s benefit enterprise and work machines. The packets of data involved in those applications are much higher than the piddly amount games present, but hey, if the pricing between an M.2 drive and SATA SSD are close for the capacity you're looking for, I'm not going to tell you to not get the M.2.

If you look at images of the MSI MEG B550 Unify, those sections with a screw at each end ARE M.2 heatsinks, so there's 4 provided heatsinks on that board, but the one above the primary x16 slot is the worst place to install one, especially if you want to put a Gen 4 drive there.
That never should've been a thing: M.2 slot above the primary x16 needs to die.

3)Is it really that big? Can't be any bigger than what's on these:
Arctic Liquid Freezer II
Msi MEG Coreliquid
Asus Ryujin I and II

Lian Li's UNI fans should fit on other radiators.

 

[KananX]

1)Doesn't play all the games listed, it's not 20% average anymore, is it?
2)Should the OP expect ~20% more performance in their games that weren't listed?
3)If they were the type to only play 1 game, and in that title, Gpu A was 10% faster, or 40% faster... then, for them, Gpu A is faster by that much, right?

1. not aware of any game that is 20% faster, unless you wanna search for some outdated benchmarks and cherry pick. AMD recently updated their DX11 and Open GL driver to make even these cases of older titles that weren’t running fine disappear.
2. absolutely not, these GPUs are comparable in performance in anything beside strictly Ray Tracing.
3. so you buy a GPU to play one game with it? I don’t. You buy a GPU to play the same game on it for years? I don’t. Even for one day this argument barely makes sense, much less so, for years down the road. And again, the GPUs are comparable anyway.

Im pretty sure anyone who seriously says the 3080 Ti is 20% faster is 100% Nvidia biased, sorry there’s no sane argument for it. Keep the idiotic biases out of tech forums, it’s a disease i watched for years brooding and I frankly have enough of it. Nvidia doesn’t pay you to do free ads for them nor does AMD, they don’t deserve your loyalty.

 

[Dilbert41]

What games do you plan on playing and do you have a monitor ... if so what resolution is it?

I want to be able to play Elden Ring. I also have Red Dead Redemption 2 which runs a bit slow on my current rig. Everything else I've got runs okay on current rig.
As for the monitor, it will be either 144 or 165 hz, haven't chosen one yet. Right now I only have 1080p.

 

[Phaaze88]

1. not aware of any game that is 20% faster, unless you wanna search for some outdated benchmarks and cherry pick. AMD recently updated their DX11 and Open GL driver to make even these cases of older titles that weren’t running fine disappear.
2. absolutely not, these GPUs are comparable in performance in anything beside strictly Ray Tracing.
3. so you buy a GPU to play one game with it? I don’t. You buy a GPU to play the same game on it for years? I don’t. Even for one day this argument barely makes sense, much less so, for years down the road. And again, the GPUs are comparable anyway.

Im pretty sure anyone who seriously says the 3080 Ti is 20% faster is 100% Nvidia biased, sorry there’s no sane argument for it. Keep the idiotic biases out of tech forums, it’s a disease i watched for years brooding and I frankly have enough of it. Nvidia doesn’t pay you to do free ads for them nor does AMD, they don’t deserve your loyalty.

1)Your video link in post #7, in the section 50 game head to head, has samples on the provided charts where the Radeon is 20% faster and slower. There's way more than 50 games out there unaccounted for that'll lean for and against the gpus in that same manner.
2)Affirmative.
3)Hey, I'm just saying, some people really do this. Can't give 'em the benefit of the doubt anymore. I was not agreeing that the 3080Ti is 20% faster(than what, and in where). That straight up lacks details.
The last thing I had any loyalty to was Noctua fans and coolers, but even that slowly fell back to earth.

 

[Dilbert41]

If someone's 50 game benchmark run shows that Gpu A is faster than Gpu B by 20%(or whatever you want to insert) on average across those titles, but if the OP:
1)Doesn't play all the games listed, it's not 20% average anymore, is it?
2)Should the OP expect ~20% more performance in their games that weren't listed?
3)If they were the type to only play 1 game, and in that title, Gpu A was 10% faster, or 40% faster... then, for them, Gpu A is faster by that much, right?

Please don't think I'm trolling or anything, I'm really trying to understand the argument here.
I don't play any of the titles Steve benchmarked, so the numbers may as well not apply unless I am able to benchmark those 2 cards myself in what I play side by side.

Doesn't do any good to get too hung up on benchmarks - they can, at times be nothing more than smoke n' mirrors.




I'd like to try tackling these.
1)That someone was probably referring to SAM(Smart Access Memory). It does work better than resizable bar in its current state; it's a hack-job in comparison. SAM, you can probably turn on and forget about it.
The current resizable bar? Heck no; it can bring benefits, detriments, or do nothing in games, so you have to turn it on/off based on what you will play, which would get annoying fast - you're going to leave it off, I'd bet...

What does AMD have that's comparable? Keep in mind that some games are optimized for AMD, some for Nvidia - soon Intel will be in the game, so they'll have games that will run better on their hardware. Can't win 'em all...

2)Going from HDD to SSD is HUGE. SATA SSD to M.2? Not nearly as much - with an exception.
Imagine someone driving on a 120km/h highway in a Toyota Avalon or whatnot, and then one day they win big with a BMW M5... but they're still driving 120km/h on that same highway. Well, at least the ride is nicer...
Those M.2s benefit enterprise and work machines. The packets of data involved in those applications are much higher than the piddly amount games present, but hey, if the pricing between an M.2 drive and SATA SSD are close for the capacity you're looking for, I'm not going to tell you to not get the M.2.

If you look at images of the MSI MEG B550 Unify, those sections with a screw at each end ARE M.2 heatsinks, so there's 4 provided heatsinks on that board, but the one above the primary x16 slot is the worst place to install one, especially if you want to put a Gen 4 drive there.
That never should've been a thing: M.2 slot above the primary x16 needs to die.

3)Is it really that big? Can't be any bigger than what's on these:
Arctic Liquid Freezer II
Msi MEG Coreliquid
Asus Ryujin I and II

Lian Li's UNI fans should fit on other radiators.

Thanks for the info! One of the reasons I want to use M.2s is because there will be fewer cables for me to deal with.

 

[KananX]

1)Your video link in post #7, in the section 50 game head to head, has samples on the provided charts where the Radeon is 20% faster and slower. There's way more than 50 games out there unaccounted for that'll lean for and against the gpus in that same manner.
2)Affirmative.
3)Hey, I'm just saying, some people really do this. Can't give 'em the benefit of the doubt anymore. I was not agreeing that the 3080Ti is 20% faster(than what, and in where). That straight up lacks details.
The last thing I had any loyalty to was Noctua fans and coolers, but even that slowly fell back to earth.

Yea noctua is great, I have the same D14 for over 10 years now, still works great. I thought you’re working for Noctua? Not sure what the “Ambassador” tag means otherwise. I can easily understand if anyone is a fan of Noctua, they never did anything wrong.

 

[Phaaze88]

Thanks for the info! One of the reasons I want to use M.2s is because there will be fewer cables for me to deal with.

With multiple M.2s, they come at the cost of bandwidth.
https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/mb/MEGB550UNIFY.pdf
Check out pages 21 and 22. They show what configs you can/can't do with that motherboard.

I thought you’re working for Noctua?

Oh, not at all. I had put that avatar there due to the fanboyism. I do need to change this to something else, but I keep putting it aside...
Noctua does have good products, but some of them I've found overrated, or leave me torn inside. A few examples:
1)NF-F12, lauded as a high SP radiator fan, is in fact, not a radiator fan. It's pretty weak when not being run at max, but is bloody noisy doing so.
The IPPC 2000 and 3000 versions are more appropriate for radiators, but if one couldn't stand how annoying the F12 was at 1000rpm, how the heck is one going to use the other 2 properly?

2)NH-U12A. This is a darn nice cooler. I get why it's priced like that. Few 120mm class competitors are as well balanced as this thing is - performance, sound, compatibility, support... it's got it, but that price is so hard to swallow... UNGH...

3)This one's more of a complement than a complaint: if the user can afford it and fit it in their case, the NH-D15S is currently the most cost effective cooler of Noctua's entire lineup. The single fan doesn't hurt it very much at all compared to the original - but top exhaust fans do more 'damage' to either, or any tower air cooler, for that matter. It can fit in more cases.


The ambassador thing is a big yellow crosshair as far as I'm concerned...

 

[Dilbert41]

If someone's 50 game benchmark run shows that Gpu A is faster than Gpu B by 20%(or whatever you want to insert) on average across those titles, but if the OP:
1)Doesn't play all the games listed, it's not 20% average anymore, is it?
2)Should the OP expect ~20% more performance in their games that weren't listed?
3)If they were the type to only play 1 game, and in that title, Gpu A was 10% faster, or 40% faster... then, for them, Gpu A is faster by that much, right?

Please don't think I'm trolling or anything, I'm really trying to understand the argument here.
I don't play any of the titles Steve benchmarked, so the numbers may as well not apply unless I am able to benchmark those 2 cards myself in what I play side by side.

Doesn't do any good to get too hung up on benchmarks - they can, at times be nothing more than smoke n' mirrors.




I'd like to try tackling these.
1)That someone was probably referring to SAM(Smart Access Memory). It does work better than resizable bar in its current state; it's a hack-job in comparison. SAM, you can probably turn on and forget about it.
The current resizable bar? Heck no; it can bring benefits, detriments, or do nothing in games, so you have to turn it on/off based on what you will play, which would get annoying fast - you're going to leave it off, I'd bet...

What does AMD have that's comparable? Keep in mind that some games are optimized for AMD, some for Nvidia - soon Intel will be in the game, so they'll have games that will run better on their hardware. Can't win 'em all...

2)Going from HDD to SSD is HUGE. SATA SSD to M.2? Not nearly as much - with an exception.
Imagine someone driving on a 120km/h highway in a Toyota Avalon or whatnot, and then one day they win big with a BMW M5... but they're still driving 120km/h on that same highway. Well, at least the ride is nicer...
Those M.2s benefit enterprise and work machines. The packets of data involved in those applications are much higher than the piddly amount games present, but hey, if the pricing between an M.2 drive and SATA SSD are close for the capacity you're looking for, I'm not going to tell you to not get the M.2.

If you look at images of the MSI MEG B550 Unify, those sections with a screw at each end ARE M.2 heatsinks, so there's 4 provided heatsinks on that board, but the one above the primary x16 slot is the worst place to install one, especially if you want to put a Gen 4 drive there.
That never should've been a thing: M.2 slot above the primary x16 needs to die.

3)Is it really that big? Can't be any bigger than what's on these:
Arctic Liquid Freezer II
Msi MEG Coreliquid
Asus Ryujin I and II

Lian Li's UNI fans should fit on other radiators.

On 3) I was going by what other users have said. Also Galahad is not the best perfomer.

 

[Dilbert41]

With multiple M.2s, they come at the cost of bandwidth.
https://download.msi.com/archive/mnu_exe/mb/MEGB550UNIFY.pdf
Check out pages 21 and 22. They show what configs you can/can't do with that motherboard.



Oh, not at all. I had put that avatar there due to the fanboyism. I do need to change this to something else, but I keep putting it aside...
Noctua does have good products, but some of them I've found overrated, or leave me torn inside. A few examples:
1)NF-F12, lauded as a high SP radiator fan, is in fact, not a radiator fan. It's pretty weak when not being run at max, but is bloody noisy doing so.
The IPPC 2000 and 3000 versions are more appropriate for radiators, but if one couldn't stand how annoying the F12 was at 1000rpm, how the heck is one going to use the other 2 properly?

2)NH-U12A. This is a darn nice cooler. I get why it's priced like that. Few 120mm class competitors are as well balanced as this thing is - performance, sound, compatibility, support... it's got it, but that price is so hard to swallow... UNGH...

3)This one's more of a complement than a complaint: if the user can afford it and fit it in their case, the NH-D15S is currently the most cost effective cooler of Noctua's entire lineup. The single fan doesn't hurt it very much at all compared to the original - but top exhaust fans do more 'damage' to either, or any tower air cooler, for that matter. It can fit in more cases.


The ambassador thing is a big yellow crosshair as far as I'm concerned...

Thanks. So it looks like I'd be better off with one M.2 for the os, and a SATA SSD for games?

 

[Vic 40]

Elden

I want to be able to play Elden Ring. I also have Red Dead Redemption 2 which runs a bit slow on my current rig. Everything else I've got runs okay on current rig.
As for the monitor, it will be either 144 or 165 hz, haven't chosen one yet. Right now I only have 1080p.

Elden ring seems to favor Nvidia, but not by that much where RDR seems to favor AMD by quite abit it seems,
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-radeon-rx-6950-xt-reference-design/24.html
elden ring is also amongst the titles tested,
https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-radeon-rx-6950-xt-reference-design/15.html
seems to be that AMD fits you more with the games you talk about.