Question First build. Un-cooled i9-9900K

Apr 16, 2019
17
0
10
Hey all!

So, I am embarking on my first PC build.

CPU: i9-9900K
MB: MSI Maximus Hero XI
RAM: 32gb 3200Mhz Ripjaws V
HD: 1tb 970 Pro
PSU: Corsair RX1000i
Case: Dark Pro 900 r2

GPU: RTX 2080ti (SOON)
Cooling: NZXT Kraken x62

In order to avoid an even more ridiculous lump sum cost, I decided to wait till my tax return comes in to get the RTX 2080ti. But I wanted to at least get the build done and start setting things up before then. A good friend of mine has an old GTX 960 2gb that he said I could pull out and slot in my rig for the time being.

I know this will bottleneck the PC and wont be utilizing the full capabilities, but I was wondering about any potential damages? I assumed that because its going to be bottlenecked by the GPU the CPU wont be sucking down a ton of power. Is that a correct assumption? Can I get away with not going for the water cooling until I get the RTX? Or is it going to be the exact opposite and actually make it work harder?

I’m, relatively impatient and want to get it up and running as soon as possible, but obviously not at the risk of damaging anything. Should I just be patient? Or do you think I can get away with some lower settings gaming?

Appreciate the help!
 
The i9-9900K should be water cooled with a high end AIO or a custom loop. If that's not practical then you will need a large high performance air cooling heat sink like a Noctua NH-D14 or better. If the NVidia GTX 960 2GB is in good working order it will absolutely do no damage to your new space heater - CPU or motherboard.
 
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NEVER run a CPU without cooling. That 9900K is probably going to run at 95 degrees Celcius, if not overheat by simply sitting idle.

An older graphics card being added into your computer isn't going to break anything, bottlenecking doesn't break anything.
 
Apr 16, 2019
17
0
10
NEVER run a CPU without cooling. That 9900K is probably going to run at 95 degrees Celcius, if not overheat by simply sitting idle.

An older graphics card being added into your computer isn't going to break anything, bottlenecking doesn't break anything.

Is the x62 going to be beefy enough for cooling? or should I step to the x72? or another brand entirely?
 
If it's an 8 dollar difference, always go higher, if your case fits it. In Holland where I live, there's a 50 dollar difference between the two.

I get what you're saying with the price, and I get that its $50 dollars difference for you. I would say if you're getting top of the line components that run as hot as the i9-9900k runs, then well you kind of need the best CPU cooler too. I've seen these things go well beyond their TDP of 95W to the point that it seems disingenuous that Intel rated them at 95W. A 170W TDP Peak would have been closer to the truth. If you overclock then you can get to 500W at the extreme, where a more realistic overclock will get you close to ~200W TDP.

https://www.anandtech.com/show/13400/intel-9th-gen-core-i9-9900k-i7-9700k-i5-9600k-review/21
 

Flash Cloud

Honorable
Jul 18, 2015
15
0
10,510
Hey all!

So, I am embarking on my first PC build.

CPU: i9-990K
MB: MSI Maximus Hero XI
RAM: 32gb 3200Mhz Ripjaws V
HD: 1tb 970 Pro
PSU: Corsair RX1000i
Case: Dark Pro 900 r2

GPU: RTX 2080ti (SOON)
Cooling: NZXT Kraken x62

In order to avoid an even more ridiculous lump sum cost, I decided to wait till my tax return comes in to get the RTX 2080ti. But I wanted to at least get the build done and start setting things up before then. A good friend of mine has an old GTX 960 2gb that he said I could pull out and slot in my rig for the time being.

I know this will bottleneck the PC and wont be utilizing the full capabilities, but I was wondering about any potential damages? I assumed that because its going to be bottlenecked by the GPU the CPU wont be sucking down a ton of power. Is that a correct assumption? Can I get away with not going for the water cooling until I get the RTX? Or is it going to be the exact opposite and actually make it work harder?

I’m, relatively impatient and want to get it up and running as soon as possible, but obviously not at the risk of damaging anything. Should I just be patient? Or do you think I can get away with some lower settings gaming?

Appreciate the help!

I finished a new build with a i9-9900k and a z390 aorus master mobo. If cost is an issue then get a flagship air cooler. I got a NH-d15s and currently am running over clocked at 5.0 ghz and it's stable. Its temps right now while browsing responding to you are 36-37 degrees Celsius. The air cooler costs 80 bucks on amazon. The AIO liquid cooler you are looking costs about 150 bucks on amazon. Make of it what you will.
 
Hey all!

So, I am embarking on my first PC build.

CPU: i9-990K
MB: MSI Maximus Hero XI
RAM: 32gb 3200Mhz Ripjaws V
HD: 1tb 970 Pro
PSU: Corsair RX1000i
Case: Dark Pro 900 r2

GPU: RTX 2080ti (SOON)
Cooling: NZXT Kraken x62

In order to avoid an even more ridiculous lump sum cost, I decided to wait till my tax return comes in to get the RTX 2080ti. But I wanted to at least get the build done and start setting things up before then. A good friend of mine has an old GTX 960 2gb that he said I could pull out and slot in my rig for the time being.

I know this will bottleneck the PC and wont be utilizing the full capabilities, but I was wondering about any potential damages? I assumed that because its going to be bottlenecked by the GPU the CPU wont be sucking down a ton of power. Is that a correct assumption? Can I get away with not going for the water cooling until I get the RTX? Or is it going to be the exact opposite and actually make it work harder?

I’m, relatively impatient and want to get it up and running as soon as possible, but obviously not at the risk of damaging anything. Should I just be patient? Or do you think I can get away with some lower settings gaming?

Appreciate the help!

As others said, you need to keep the CPU cool and using a 960 wont hurt a thing.

Is this a gaming PC? If so, you really dont need to spend so much money. There are a couple of parts that could be changed out and would save you a boat load of cash and only cost you a couple of fps.

Additionally, what monitor are you using? You will be wasting the 2080ti if you are not playing on a 4k/144hz monitor.
 
Apr 16, 2019
17
0
10
As others said, you need to keep the CPU cool and using a 960 wont hurt a thing.

Is this a gaming PC? If so, you really dont need to spend so much money. There are a couple of parts that could be changed out and would save you a boat load of cash and only cost you a couple of fps.

Additionally, what monitor are you using? You will be wasting the 2080ti if you are not playing on a 4k/144hz monitor.

Gaming, maybe some streaming now that I have the capability.
I know it's probably one of the least value rigs possible, but I would rather shell out now, and still have it be top of line and relevant half a dozen or more years from now, than have to worry about its capabilities in the future.

I currently have a 55" 4K OLED from LG with 120hz. But my roommate, who does more competitive gaming is probably going to buy a 27" 1440p 144hz for it, and then he can use the rug whenever he needs.
 
Gaming, maybe some streaming now that I have the capability.
I know it's probably one of the least value rigs possible, but I would rather shell out now, and still have it be top of line and relevant half a dozen or more years from now, than have to worry about its capabilities in the future.

I currently have a 55" 4K OLED from LG with 120hz. But my roommate, who does more competitive gaming is probably going to buy a 27" 1440p 144hz for it, and then he can use the rug whenever he needs.

I'd recommend the 2700x over the 9900k. It is about half the price and at 4k your fps you will have a 1% difference in fps. Even at 1440p there is a less than 5% difference in fps. No one can see a 1-5% difference, but the extra $300+ will definitely be noticed.

I would also look at the 970 EVO over the Pro. For gaming/streaming there will be no real world difference between the EVO and the Pro. While the Pro does have a longer warranty, a drive failure does not matter as much for steam games as all that can be downloaded from the cloud.

You could save even more money by going with the 860 EVO over the NMVe drive. While the NMVe drives are fast on paper, unless you are doing large file transfers, you wont see a difference. Gaming/streaming you wont be doing any large file transfers. The large downloads will be limited by steam and/or your download speed much more than write speed of the drive. A 1tb 860 EVO is $200 cheaper than the 970 Pro and you wont see a difference.

No game on the market today uses more than 16gb of RAM. Any unused RAM will just sit idle doing nothing. 32gb is just not needed for gaming/streaming. If you need more down the road, you can always upgrade, but I expect 16gb will be enough for good while.

You dont need a 1000 watt PSU for that rig. For a 9900k/2080ti a 650 watt would be more than enough, but if you stick with the 9900k, you will probably need another EPS cable for the CPU and most 650 watt units dont have the extra connection. I would look for a 750 watt unit. But if you go with a 2700x, go with a 650watt and you will be fine.

The Be Quiet 900r2 is a great case and if you like it, then go for it (I am a case snob myself). But spending $250+ on a case is still a lot. Checkout the Fractal Design Define R6 or Phanteks Enthoo Evlove X or Enthoo Luxe TG. Those are also top of the line cases that are below the $200 mark. I have the Define R6 in my rig and it is one heck of a case for $120.

Unless you are a serious overclocker, you dont need a ultra highend motherboard like the Maximus Hero. Considering this is your first rig, you dont know if your a serious overclocker. Even if you are, a $100 difference in motherboard at best may only equate to a 100mhz difference in a overclock. I would go with a solid midrange board as it will have all the features you would use.

I would go with this high-end gaming/streaming rig and save yourself a pile of cash as your fps will be 1-5% difference from what you selected above.


PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hw6JLJ
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hw6JLJ/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($294.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: NZXT - Kraken X62 Rev 2 98.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($152.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - X470 AORUS GAMING 5 WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard ($174.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($89.29 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($147.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB Black Video Card ($1098.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design - Define R6 Blackout TG ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.97 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($72.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $2151.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 16:27 EDT-0400

Vs. your built that is $800 more.

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LL2JLJ
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LL2JLJ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i9-9900K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($479.99 @ Walmart)
CPU Cooler: NZXT - Kraken X62 Rev 2 98.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($152.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($283.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($184.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($345.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB Black Video Card ($1098.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: be quiet! - Dark Base Pro 900 | Black rev. 2 ATX Full Tower Case ($269.00 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($159.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $2975.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 16:32 EDT-0400
 
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Reactions: Flash Cloud
Apr 16, 2019
17
0
10
I'd recommend the 2700x over the 9900k. It is about half the price and at 4k your fps you will have a 1% difference in fps. Even at 1440p there is a less than 5% difference in fps. No one can see a 1-5% difference, but the extra $300+ will definitely be noticed.

I would also look at the 970 EVO over the Pro. For gaming/streaming there will be no real world difference between the EVO and the Pro. While the Pro does have a longer warranty, a drive failure does not matter as much for steam games as all that can be downloaded from the cloud.

You could save even more money by going with the 860 EVO over the NMVe drive. While the NMVe drives are fast on paper, unless you are doing large file transfers, you wont see a difference. Gaming/streaming you wont be doing any large file transfers. The large downloads will be limited by steam and/or your download speed much more than write speed of the drive. A 1tb 860 EVO is $200 cheaper than the 970 Pro and you wont see a difference.

No game on the market today uses more than 16gb of RAM. Any unused RAM will just sit idle doing nothing. 32gb is just not needed for gaming/streaming. If you need more down the road, you can always upgrade, but I expect 16gb will be enough for good while.

You dont need a 1000 watt PSU for that rig. For a 9900k/2080ti a 650 watt would be more than enough, but if you stick with the 9900k, you will probably need another EPS cable for the CPU and most 650 watt units dont have the extra connection. I would look for a 750 watt unit. But if you go with a 2700x, go with a 650watt and you will be fine.

The Be Quiet 900r2 is a great case and if you like it, then go for it (I am a case snob myself). But spending $250+ on a case is still a lot. Checkout the Fractal Design Define R6 or Phanteks Enthoo Evlove X or Enthoo Luxe TG. Those are also top of the line cases that are below the $200 mark. I have the Define R6 in my rig and it is one heck of a case for $120.

Unless you are a serious overclocker, you dont need a ultra highend motherboard like the Maximus Hero. Considering this is your first rig, you dont know if your a serious overclocker. Even if you are, a $100 difference in motherboard at best may only equate to a 100mhz difference in a overclock. I would go with a solid midrange board as it will have all the features you would use.

I would go with this high-end gaming/streaming rig and save yourself a pile of cash as your fps will be 1-5% difference from what you selected above.


PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hw6JLJ
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/hw6JLJ/by_merchant/

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 7 2700X 3.7 GHz 8-Core Processor ($294.89 @ OutletPC)
CPU Cooler: NZXT - Kraken X62 Rev 2 98.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($152.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte - X470 AORUS GAMING 5 WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard ($174.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Crucial - Ballistix Sport LT 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($89.29 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($147.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB Black Video Card ($1098.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Fractal Design - Define R6 Blackout TG ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.97 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - FOCUS Plus Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($72.98 @ Newegg)
Total: $2151.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 16:27 EDT-0400

Vs. your built that is $800 more.

PCPartPicker part list: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LL2JLJ
Price breakdown by merchant: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/LL2JLJ/by_merchant/

CPU: Intel - Core i9-9900K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($479.99 @ Walmart)
CPU Cooler: NZXT - Kraken X62 Rev 2 98.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($152.89 @ OutletPC)
Motherboard: Asus - ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO (WI-FI) ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($283.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Memory: G.Skill - Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($184.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung - 970 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 Solid State Drive ($345.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB Black Video Card ($1098.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: be quiet! - Dark Base Pro 900 | Black rev. 2 ATX Full Tower Case ($269.00 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair - RMx 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply ($159.89 @ OutletPC)
Total: $2975.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2019-04-16 16:32 EDT-0400

It honestly came out closer to $3,500..
Honestly is that the smarter money choice? 100% But, more than performance right now, I'm looking for lasting power. When I got my last computer, the guy at the store said essentially the same thing about getting 16gb of RAM or going with the first dual GPU (one dedicated) in a Macbook. I played WoW a ton at the time and my guild laughed at me for gaming on a Mac, but it outperformed 95% of their PCs back then, and up until very recently it was near equivalent to much newer dedicated gaming laptops.

Are you probably (definitely) right about not needed to shell out for the top of the line components in every category? Yea. Even keeping the i9 and only downgrading the RAM, HD, case, and power puts me close to being able to SLI another RTX 2080ti. But, for my purposes, I would rather spend that now, SLI another 2080ti in the future and still have a decent PC 10 years from now.

Honestly, the most compelling argument I've heard so far about not going overboard. But the i9 and the Corsair RM1000i already arrived today, and the rest of the components are coming in throughout the week.
I haven't opened anything, so if those who know more than me really believe that even going all out wont keep the rig near top of the line for 5 years, I could always return it.

Really appreciate your insight and response, thanks!!
 
Spend $3500 on a PC today, it will be a potato in 5-10 years. You are looking at this the wrong way. Besides customization, the best part of building your own rig is upgrade ability. Unlike a Macbook, you can upgrade all the components to your rig with better and faster parts that are not available today.

Get 16gb of RAM now as it is what you need. If you need more later, upgrade to 16gb more. Who knows, DDR5 may be the way to go before 32gb is necessary. Then you'll be stuck with 32gb that you never used. Go with a nice Ryzen 2700x now. If the Ryzen 2's are amazing (all signs point to that), upgrade to that down the road. Why sit around and watch your $3500 PC turn into a dinosaur. I'd rather spend 2k now and use the extra $1500 upgrading the system as new and better components are released. That is how your system will be "future proof".

Technology moves so fast that any part you buy today will be a budget option in a few years. You want to keep your rig top of the line for 5 years? In 2014 the top of the line GPU was the 980. Today the 980 compares to a 1060, which is not top of the line.

I did not realize you already bought the parts. So it is all moot in the end. The parts you bought are all top of the line and anyone who is a diehard PC fanatic has bought parts they did not need. Hell, I have (2) 1080ti's in SLI and the majority of the time the second one is useless. So enjoy your rig and get your money's worth.
 
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Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Still kicking a i7-3770k and gtx970, gets me 60+ fps in anything I play.

A cpu is good for 20+ years, I still own a PII 350 (oc'd to 400MHz) on an Asus P2b mobo that works just fine. The realistic life of a pc is measured by software, not hardware. Apart from a couple of very old, hard to find and unsupported games and Antivirus etc, that PII is useless. Can't run even windows XP, not enough ram capacity.

What you have is going to last 20 years. It could be obsolete (to your opinion) in 6 months when new games only get the best fps on 10th gen Intel. You can't really 'future proof' a pc, in 6 years that 9900k will still be getting 1% better fps than a 2700x build at 4k, but you'll be looking at the same thing I am now, a i7-3770k vrs i9-9900k, gtx970 vs RTX2080ti. That 1% won't mean diddly by comparison when you are 50% behind current cpu/gpus.
 

Flash Cloud

Honorable
Jul 18, 2015
15
0
10,510
Still kicking a i7-3770k and gtx970, gets me 60+ fps in anything I play.

A cpu is good for 20+ years, I still own a PII 350 (oc'd to 400MHz) on an Asus P2b mobo that works just fine. The realistic life of a pc is measured by software, not hardware. Apart from a couple of very old, hard to find and unsupported games and Antivirus etc, that PII is useless. Can't run even windows XP, not enough ram capacity.

What you have is going to last 20 years. It could be obsolete (to your opinion) in 6 months when new games only get the best fps on 10th gen Intel. You can't really 'future proof' a pc, in 6 years that 9900k will still be getting 1% better fps than a 2700x build at 4k, but you'll be looking at the same thing I am now, a i7-3770k vrs i9-9900k, gtx970 vs RTX2080ti. That 1% won't mean diddly by comparison when you are 50% behind current cpu/gpus.
Even though the conversation has taken a tangent, you nailed it. I used a first gen i7 for ten years. It worked fine. So did the mobo. But with the advent of windows 10, dx 12, games getting more demanding, browsers getting more demanding (it might not seem like they are but if you do a lot of web based work they have), office productivity software getting more demanding, etc. It was time to upgrade and retire the i7-940. The i9 is doing the same things but the stress on the components is noticeably less.
 
Apr 16, 2019
17
0
10
Still kicking a i7-3770k and gtx970, gets me 60+ fps in anything I play.

A cpu is good for 20+ years, I still own a PII 350 (oc'd to 400MHz) on an Asus P2b mobo that works just fine. The realistic life of a pc is measured by software, not hardware. Apart from a couple of very old, hard to find and unsupported games and Antivirus etc, that PII is useless. Can't run even windows XP, not enough ram capacity.

What you have is going to last 20 years. It could be obsolete (to your opinion) in 6 months when new games only get the best fps on 10th gen Intel. You can't really 'future proof' a pc, in 6 years that 9900k will still be getting 1% better fps than a 2700x build at 4k, but you'll be looking at the same thing I am now, a i7-3770k vrs i9-9900k, gtx970 vs RTX2080ti. That 1% won't mean diddly by comparison when you are 50% behind current cpu/gpus.

This is really great to hear. I don't mind if it is 50% behind the newest tech. Anything can happen in those 10 years; maybe I stop gaming, maybe I make enough money that I could buy the newest tech every year, hey, maybe I'm dead and none of it matters. Over that time span, I will have spent $29 dollars a month on the PC. Thats really a price I can live with.

Thanks for everyones help!
 

guskline

Distinguished
Aug 25, 2006
431
2
18,795
I just built a 9900k with the Kraken X72 cooler and am Very pleased with it.
I used an ASrock Z390 Taichi mb, 16g (2x8) GSkill DDR4-3200 Flare-X, EVGA GTX2080TI Black edition, Corsair MP500 NVME 480g ssd and a Scandisk II 960g ssd. Windows 10-64 Home with an Acer ET430k monitor. I'm using a Thermaltake V51 case.