Build Advice Feedback on my $2000 content creation/gaming PC

[Jimbo81]

Hi All!

Looking for some feedback or possible changes to my build that I created below... I already have a friend giving me his 1440p monitor.
The build runs 2 SSDs since I need one for OS + programs & the other for projects/assets.. (and maybe a 3rd just for gaming)

My List
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/YCpRbK

I did have a few questions to get the most bang my buck and keep my build future proofed since I seem to upgrade every 2-3 years and get a whole new build every 8+ years.

Questions

1. I rarely see anyone recommend the 6950 XT despite front what I have researched that it outperforms the 3090 ti & its much cheaper? is there something I am missing? I'm not married to it, just curious is there is a better/different option.
2. DDR4 or DDR5? will DDR5 take 4-5 yrs before it gets full support? Am I better off with 64gigs of DDR4 ram & mobo for the same price?
3. i7-12700k vs i7-13700k? I like the extra 4 cores & higher clock speed the 13 brings but it seems the 12 is hailed as the best budget cpu for mid range builds, am I missing something?

Let me know what you think!

Thanks

 

[kanewolf]

Hi All!

Looking for some feedback or possible changes to my build that I created below... I already have a friend giving me his 1440p monitor.
The build runs 2 SSDs since I need one for OS + programs & the other for projects/assets.. (and maybe a 3rd just for gaming)

My List
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/YCpRbK

I did have a few questions to get the most bang my buck and keep my build future proofed since I seem to upgrade every 2-3 years and get a whole new build every 8+ years.

Questions

1. I rarely see anyone recommend the 6950 XT despite front what I have researched that it outperforms the 3090 ti & its much cheaper? is there something I am missing? I'm not married to it, just curious is there is a better/different option.
2. DDR4 or DDR5? will DDR5 take 4-5 yrs before it gets full support? Am I better off with 64gigs of DDR4 ram & mobo for the same price?
3. i7-12700k vs i7-13700k? I like the extra 4 cores & higher clock speed the 13 brings but it seems the 12 is hailed as the best budget cpu for mid range builds, am I missing something?

Let me know what you think!

Thanks

The one question I would ask is if your software would benefit from CUDA cores? Obviously an AMD graphics card won't give you CUDA compute cores.

 

[Jimbo81]

The one question I would ask is if your software would benefit from CUDA cores? Obviously an AMD graphics card won't give you CUDA compute cores.

honestly I am not sure. I use Photoshop and Sony Vegas/DaVinci Resolve currently but eventually will do adobe premiere pro & after effects.

Edit - I also so livestreaming as well, thats where I do most of my recording as well.

 

[kanewolf]

honestly I am not sure. I use Photoshop and Sony Vegas/DaVinci Resolve currently but eventually will do adobe premiere pro & after effects.

Your choice of an AMD graphics card may make sense for a gamer, but for a content creator, maybe not.

 

[Jimbo81]

Your choice of an AMD graphics card may make sense for a gamer, but for a content creator, maybe not.

I heard the same but intel is better for the content creation, juggling lots of large files, video rendering etc (i could be wrong)

Its not my full time job, more of a hobby I do a lot, so maybe all of this is overkill. thats why I am here to ask lol

 

[DavidM012]

A conversation was had here however I think some customers were also complaining about the lack of nvidia's nvenc encoder for streaming as well on amd 6000 series.

There's another one here that shows that the 3090ti has a clear edge in adobe and blender.

Could get a slight edge with ddr 5 as well but it's not worth crying about. (puget systems) If you went with a ddr 5 13700k with a 3090ti build it would be more buff than a ddr 4 12700k with a 6950xt build, but also more expensive and it would lack the kind of video encoding hardware that you want for streaming.

With a ddr 4 or 5 mobo you'll get pci-e 5.0 which might be handy when pci-e 5.0 nvme ssd's and gpus hit the market going forwards though currently the samsung 990 pro is top of the charts for performance and power usage and is pci-e 4.0.

Pci-e 5.0 4x is the same speed as pci-e 4.0 8x or pci-e 3.0 16x which is 15.754 gb/s so there's room for some insanely fast ssds once the technology catches up somehow. Also pci-e 5.0 8x is double that and 16x is double 8x so there's also more bandwidth for future gpus.

So you could do most of those things with a ddr 4 build but you probably wouldn't be happy without the 3090ti's nvenc hardware for streaming.

You would probably also want a 1000w psu to use with a 3090ti, such as a Corsair hx1000i.

Basically you're simply paying for the buff edge and there is only a compromise to be made since while the 6950xt has an edge in gaming benches the 3090ti is clearly a superior all rounder and since you want the streaming functionality that tips the scale in favor of the 3090ti.

You could maybe peel back the price a bit with a ddr 4/12700k combo to go with the 3090ti but I think the mobo lineup on ddr 4 kinda sux so stick with ddr 5 and later on they will probably release even faster ddr5 memory - what sux about that is paying twice for the memory later on.

I don't see any supported qvl compliant 64gb kits for ddr 5 at the moment I don't know what the thinking is behind that haven't seen any documentation or explanations of it yet. So stick with 32gb since you don't want to be the beta tester of that. I have always been told NOT to mix 2 different memory kits even if they are of the same model and manufacturer - though it can work sometimes it isn't strictly qvl list compliant.

Amd got around the memory by offering free ddr 5 memory with zen 4 7000 series cpu but, it was a limited while stocks last promotion and the zen4 has a very thick ihs which pushes operating temps up to 95c without mods that invalidate the warranty such as lapping it thinner or delidding the cpu (which also carries the risk of cracking the cpu die).

So, yeah just go 13700k, ddr 5, 3090ti, samsung 990 pro and corsair hx1000i you'll probably be happy with everything besides the price.

 

[Jimbo81]

A conversation was had here however I think some customers were also complaining about the lack of nvidia's nvenc encoder for streaming as well on amd 6000 series.
......
So, yeah just go 13700k, ddr 5, 3090ti, samsung 990 pro and corsair hx1000i you'll probably be happy with everything besides the price.

Thanks for the reply David!

I should have put my budget in the the original post. Around $2000 is my limit, getting a 3090ti would be about 70% of my budget alone. lol I only referenced the 3090ti due to the 6950xt performing better benchmark-wise on the tomshardware article.

That information was really helpful and I might even consider holding off a bit longer to see how 7900s do (maybe if the 7800s?). See if prices continue to fall tho it seems like people are already buying up stuff. I think for now I am buy things like my SSDs or pull trigger on the i7-13700k and then figure out he mobo/GPU/RAM etc later.

 

[DavidM012]

Not too much to figure, I wouldn't expect prices to move on gpus much though you could go with a 3060 or ti which also has nvenc or maybe if you can find at a good price, a 2080 super or something. All nvidia gpus I think have the hardware video encoder.

Only thing to bear in mind if you select a cheaper gpu it won't be quite as buff for your dabbling in adobe etc.

Buying a cpu now and buying the board mem and gpu later... uh not sure it could go either way after all prices could go up from hi demand and short supply or down from low demand and hi supply, while gpus have certainly been in the former category for a long time, and obsolete 2nd hand gear has also defied gravity.

It's probably best to buy your entire system in one go and start using it immediately.

So if you aren't going 3090ti, you probably won't need the corsair hx 1000i either. Back in the budget zone the main thing it looks like you still need the nvidia hardware video encoder. So it can only be 3060 or ti, or maybe 70 or ti. for GPU.

 

[Jimbo81]

Not too much to figure, I wouldn't expect prices to move on gpus much though you could go with a 3060 or ti which also has nvenc or maybe if you can find at a good price, a 2080 super or something. All nvidia gpus I think have the hardware video encoder.

Only thing to bear in mind if you select a cheaper gpu it won't be quite as buff for your dabbling in adobe etc.

Buying a cpu now and buying the board mem and gpu later... uh not sure it could go either way after all prices could go up from hi demand and short supply or down from low demand and hi supply, while gpus have certainly been in the former category for a long time, and obsolete 2nd hand gear has also defied gravity.

It's probably best to buy your entire system in one go and start using it immediately.

So if you aren't going 3090ti, you probably won't need the corsair hx 1000i either. Back in the budget zone the main thing it looks like you still need the nvidia hardware video encoder. So it can only be 3060 or ti, or maybe 70 or ti. for GPU.

Thanks again David!

I decided that I might just buy my GPU used on ebay. I know it can be riskier than brand new but I am only buying it if the seller has great reviews, pics of the GPU, hopefully not used for crypto-farming and the original box/receipt is included etc. I was surprised that you can actually get 3080s for about $500-600 used with shipping included.

I think I will be able to keep my DDR5 build with that used 3080 and still stay within budget. Nice thing too is that I can always upgrade the GPU in 1-2ish years and not feel guilty I paid full price.