Question Bundle Purchase (i7-13700K/ASUS Z790/32GB RAM), need advice on other components for Custom Build

nutshellml

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Purchasing Bundle for $550: Intel i7-13700K, ASUS Z790-P PRIME WiFi 1700 ATX Motherboard, and G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32GB DDR5-6000 Bundle for $550.

Approximate Purchase Date: This Month
Budget Range: $1500-2000
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Photo editing, home video editing and compilations (no major 3d rendering). I mainly use Adobe Lightroom, Photoshop, Premier - although once upgraded would explore other software
Are you buying a monitor: Not at moment
Parts to Upgrade: Entire Custom PC Build
Do you need to buy OS: Yes
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: Newegg or MicroCenter
Location: Northern New Jersey or Houston. I'm close to MICROCENTERs
Parts Preferences: Intel i7-13700K, ASUS Z790-P PRIME WiFi 1700 ATX Motherboard, and G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32GB DDR5-6000 Bundle for $550.
Need Advice: Case, GPU, Heatsinks, Power Supply, Quieter Fan, No Water Cooled, two M.2 NVMe
Overclocking: Unsure
SLI or Crossfire:
Your Monitor Resolution:
Ultimately will upgrade to 4k
Additional Comments: Prefer a quieter PC, no gaming.
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Current PC old and needed upgrade Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-4770 CPU @ 3.40GHz, 3401 Mhz, 4 Core(s), 8 Logical Processor(s), 16GB RAM
 

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
These are what I thought you could go with;
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK620 ZERO DARK 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler ($71.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Corsair MP600 GS 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Corsair MP600 PRO LPX 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING OC GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB Video Card ($389.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Focus 2 ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $806.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-06-04 12:08 EDT-0400
 
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nutshellml

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Jan 10, 2017
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These are what I thought you could go with;
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK620 ZERO DARK 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler ($71.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Corsair MP600 GS 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Corsair MP600 PRO LPX 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING OC GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB Video Card ($389.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Focus 2 ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $806.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-06-04 12:08 EDT-0400

Can I ask why you picked Corsair vs. Samsung EVO? and 500GB (just for OS and no programs or programs too??) seems little, as i have 500GB SSD now and it's almost full w/ programs and the pagefile.sys etc...
 
Beware of putting Windows and programs on different drives.

You are the best authority on your drive capacity requirements. You might want a so-called "fast" drive for the OS and possibly a lower level drive for the other drive, but you might not notice any performance difference. Maybe PCIe 4.0 for OS, but PCIe 3.0 for storage?

You have 950 to 1450 dollars to spend beyond the motherboard/CPU/RAM. That should enable you to get a top quality air cooler, but you need to ensure that your case is wide enough for it to fit.

Power supplies; look at upper level Corsair, Seasonic, or Super Flower; 650 to 850 watts; 5 year or longer warranty.

Microcenter may be your best bet for all parts, but I'd price check against Amazon or Newegg.

I'd likely give up on any idea of overclocking.
 

nutshellml

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Jan 10, 2017
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Beware of putting Windows and programs on different drives.

You are the best authority on your drive capacity requirements. You might want a so-called "fast" drive for the OS and possibly a lower level drive for the other drive, but you might not notice any performance difference. Maybe PCIe 4.0 for OS, but PCIe 3.0 for storage?


Power supplies; look at upper level Corsair, Seasonic, or Super Flower; 650 to 850 watts; 5 year or longer warranty.

Microcenter may be your best bet for all parts, but I'd price check against Amazon or Newegg.

I'd likely give up on any idea of overclocking.

Thanks, no I plan to put Windows and Programs on same drive, was wondering why other poster only reocmmended 500GB i'm almost at max now. I would like OS/Programs 1TB minimum fast PCIe 4.0, then definately another one for storage. Assuming like you said i can go with a PCIe 3.0 for storage and wont notice any difference. Also, I do photo and plan to do light video editing, so potentiall three drives.
Drive 1 - OS/Programs
Drive 2 - Scratch drive for photo imports/video editing (light)
Drive 3 - For storage, data/pictures/etc.
 
Thanks, no I plan to put Windows and Programs on same drive, was wondering why other poster only reocmmended 500GB i'm almost at max now. I would like OS/Programs 1TB minimum fast PCIe 4.0, then definately another one for storage. Assuming like you said i can go with a PCIe 3.0 for storage and wont notice any difference. Also, I do photo and plan to do light video editing, so potentiall three drives.
Drive 1 - OS/Programs
Drive 2 - Scratch drive for photo imports/video editing (light)
Drive 3 - For storage, data/pictures/etc.

That board has 3 M.2 drive ports; all 3 support PCIe 4.0 and one of them also supports SATA. I wouldn't necessarily get wound up in using all 3 M.2 ports. You might consider ordinary 2.5 inch SATA for the large storage drives unless you have a major aversion to cables.

I'd look at Noctua coolers if you are noise conscious. The best ones are up around 165 mm tall going from memory, so your case needs to accommodate that.

GPU? I don't know. I don't use them.
 

nutshellml

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Jan 10, 2017
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That board has 3 M.2 drive ports; all 3 support PCIe 4.0 and one of them also supports SATA. I wouldn't necessarily get wound up in using all 3 M.2 ports. You might consider ordinary 2.5 inch SATA for the large storage drives unless you have a major aversion to cables.

I'd look at Noctua coolers if you are noise conscious. The best ones are up around 165 mm tall going from memory, so your case needs to accommodate that.

GPU? I don't know. I don't use them.
No specific Aversion for all M.2 ports. Happy to do 1x M.2 for OS/Programs, 1x M.2 for scratch or storage, then can go w/ 2.5mm SSD for the scratch or storage... thoughts?
 
No specific Aversion for all M.2 ports. Happy to do 1x M.2 for OS/Programs, 1x M.2 for scratch or storage, then can go w/ 2.5mm SSD for the scratch or storage... thoughts?

That sounds plausible. Standard recommendation for 2.5 inch SSD would be Crucial MX500, but there are certainly other suitable choices like Samsung 870 EVO or WD Blue.

I'm unclear on requirements for "scratch" drives. I'm a Photoshop user, but strictly a very rank amateur still on CS2.
 

nutshellml

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That sounds plausible. Standard recommendation for 2.5 inch SSD would be Crucial MX500, but there are certainly other suitable choices like Samsung 870 EVO or WD Blue.

I'm unclear on requirements for "scratch" drives. I'm a Photoshop user, but strictly a very rank amateur still on CS2.
So basically a fast drive that's not on the OS/program drive where i can initially import the files, cull them, work on them, or use for video editing. Once final pictures are done or video then just move them to storage drive. Not essential to have but with new system would like too.
 
So basically a fast drive that's not on the OS/program drive where i can initially import the files, cull them, work on them, or use for video editing. Once final pictures are done or video then just move them to storage drive. Not essential to have but with new system would like too.

OK.

I'm not sure you'd need PCIe 4.0 for that.

You are getting a 13700K. That can certainly be air cooled, but heat would start to become a consideration.

I don't know what GPU you have in mind, but that's more heat.

You mention wanting quiet PC. That points to relatively low speed fans, which implies more interior heat.

PCIe 4.0 runs hotter than 3.0.

All of which means maybe you make a compromise in favor of less heat when sensible.

I have no idea at what point temperatures would alarm you. The 13700K can certainly be de-tuned for less heat if need be, with little loss of performance.
 

nutshellml

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OK.

I'm not sure you'd need PCIe 4.0 for that.

You are getting a 13700K. That can certainly be air cooled, but heat would start to become a consideration.

I don't know what GPU you have in mind, but that's more heat.

You mention wanting quiet PC. That points to relatively low speed fans, which implies more interior heat.

PCIe 4.0 runs hotter than 3.0.

All of which means maybe you make a compromise in favor of less heat when sensible.

I have no idea at what point temperatures would alarm you. The 13700K can certainly be de-tuned for less heat if need be, with little loss of performance.
I'm set on PCEe 4.0 for at least the OS/Program drive, GPU thinking 3060 Ti possible, prefer quieter but not compromising overheating so happy balance. But don't want it running like AC window unit on High, haha...
 
I'm set on PCEe 4.0 for at least the OS/Program drive..................happy balance.
That's probably where I'd leave it. PCIe 3.0 or SATA elsewhere. Me personally.

But I have no idea about where your "happy balance" lies nor where you are on the second guessing/tendency to buyer's remorse spectrum.

At some point, you have to make a leap of faith and see if anything unpleasant hits the fan after the PC is built and then possibly make alterations at that time. You can't accurately anticipate how it will all play out due to the many variables.
 
Much discussion on fast ssd drives.
Here are my thoughts.
First of all, I like a single large C drive space for windows and apps.
A single large space is easier to manage.
A single 2tb m.2 pcie ssd would be a good starting point.
I see no performance advantage in a second ssd for work files.
On the performance front,
Do not be much swayed by vendor synthetic SSD benchmarks.
They are done with apps that push the SSD to it's maximum using queue lengths of 30 or so.
Most desktop users will do one or two things at a time, so they will see queue lengths of one or two.
What really counts is the response times, particularly for small random I/O. That is what the os does mostly.
For that, the response times of current SSD's are remarkably similar. And quick. They will be 50X faster than a hard drive.
In sequential operations, they will be 2x faster than a hard drive, perhaps 3x if you have a sata3 interface.
6X with a pcie interface.
Larger SSD's are preferable. They have more nand chips that can be accessed in parallel. Sort of an internal raid-0 if you will.
Also, a SSD will slow down as it approaches full. That is because it will have a harder time finding free nand blocks
to do an update without a read/write operation.
Larger ssd devices have more endurance.
I find it amusing that these experts could not tell if an otherwise identical pc was using a sata ssd,or a fast pcie device.
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4DKLA7w9eeA


That said, since the prices per gb of each are comparable, I would buy a gen4 pcie m.2 device
The difference between gen 3/4/5 is in the sequential benchmark performance.
When reading a ssd sequentially, it can heat up and possibly throttle. A long virus scan might be a typical situation.
That is not all bad, it is the device slowing down a bit to protect itself from heat damage.
A cpu will do the same.
Gen 5 devices can indeed generate heat and many will come with cooling attachments
Such cooling heat sinks will need airflow to let them do their job.

On brands, I favor Intel or samsung.
They make their own controllers and nand chips.
That lets them control quality and integration better.
That is why a well ventilated case is a good thing. Not only for the ssd, but for the cpu cooler, motherboard and graphics card as well.
The bundle looks like a very good deal.
The ripjaws S5 looks to be a good low profile ram kit.
Low profile lets you use the best air cooler out there, namely the Noctua NH-D15.
You will need a case with 165mm headroom for it.
If you need a dvd drive, you will find that most modern cases do not allow for one.
Otherwise, look for a case with at least two front 140mm fan intakes.
140mm fans move more air quietly.
Lian Li makes top quality cases. Something like the O11 Air mini might be good:

Look to the photoshop hardware requirements as to what gpu can be useful.
I think it is the number of CUDA cores that is more relevant than the gaming prowess.
You might find this discussion on photoshop hardware relevant.

The wattage you need will be mostly determined by the gpu requirements.
Here is a handy chart:
I have no problem overprovisioning a PSU a bit. Say by 30%.
It will allow for a stronger future graphics card upgrade.
It will run cooler and quieter.
Modern graphics cards can have high power demand spikes that need to be handled.
A PSU will only use the wattage demanded of it, regardless of it's max capability.
You will find small price differences as you go from 650w/750w/850w.
The key thing you want is quality.
I find the best metric for quality is the warranty.
You will find seasonic prime/focus units and Corsair RMx units with 10 year warranties.
 
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These are what I thought you could go with;
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK620 ZERO DARK 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler ($71.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Corsair MP600 GS 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($34.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Corsair MP600 PRO LPX 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING OC GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB Video Card ($389.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Focus 2 ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM750e (2023) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $806.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-06-04 12:08 EDT-0400

I think we can all start updating our GPU recommendation for 400 USD.

 

nutshellml

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Jan 10, 2017
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Thanks all this is helpful... regarding the Case (wanting a Mid tower) assume with the fans you can't have accessable bays in the front? ie, if i wanted to put card reader in there? or really want a Hot Swap Rack/Bay for 2.5 SSD or 3.5 mechanical. Was just thinking for my offsite backups, would be super easy just popping an internal drive into the bay, do the backup, pop it out and done. the external drive readers are clunky and hit or miss.

I'm assuming with today's cases/airflow the hot swap isn't really option anymore. I just had bad luck with the external sata docking stations.
 
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^ take a look at the Lian-li O11 dynamic evo. it has hot swap bays at the rear above the PSU area.