Question First PC Build! - Advice, Suggestions, Changes, Education?

[afsantos]

Hi everyone!
This is my first time building a PC so any advice, suggestions, tips, or education is much appreciated! My knowledge about PCs is very slim, so I was hoping I could get some help through this forum. For years, I have always wanted to build a PC and now I am in a position where I can build one. The PC would mainly be used for gaming at 1440p, with the goal of it being able to run any single-player or multiplayer game. My budget is around $2,000.

I have done some research with appropriate GPU and CPU combinations and I found the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX and the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D to be the most appropriate for my needs. If there are any other combinations that are better for my budget or would better fit my needs please let me know!

The build that I have constructed with my limited PC knowledge around my budget is https://pcpartpicker.com/list/rdHr7R
The decisions on the other parts of the PC build were mainly to try to save money and stay around my budget, but I am still unfamiliar with how well they would work together.

If anyone could give me some tips or suggest a build around my budget it would be much appreciated!

Thank you!

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

list and link your chosen components here and you will get more feedback.
many users would rather not take the time to chase your info down to another site, or multiple sites.

 

[SorryBella]

list and link your chosen components here and you will get more feedback.
many users would rather not take the time to chase your info down to another site, or multiple sites.

Here.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/rdHr7R

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($384.00 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($73.90 @ Newegg Sellers)
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX B650-A GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($262.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX Speedster MERC 310 Black Edition Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24 GB Video Card ($959.99 @ Amazon)
Case: NZXT H5 Flow ATX Mid Tower Case ($84.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($147.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $2088.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-08-23 05:13 EDT-0400

We can cut this build cost down without causing too much ruckus on build quality. Mind you though that PCPartPicker defaults to US pricing, so if you lived in other country, some of the recommendations can be misguided as prices shift about due to various reason like distribution networks, import taxes and customs. If you are outside of US, specify.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qKGtJy

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor ($384.00 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($40.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650 AORUS ELITE AX ATX AM5 Motherboard ($199.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($87.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Video Card: ASRock Phantom Gaming OC Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24 GB Video Card ($939.99 @ Newegg)
Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 TT Premium 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1920.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-08-23 05:13 EDT-0400

I have done some research with appropriate GPU and CPU combinations and I found the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX and the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D to be the most appropriate for my needs. If there are any other combinations that are better for my budget or would better fit my needs please let me know!

Depends on the specific title. 13700 (yes, non K) with RTX 4080 could be another option if your titles are not cache-bounded like in F1 games, Assetto Corsa Competizione, or Star Citizen, and it'll give you a noticeable improvement in productivity tasks like video editing, 3D modelling, and Microsoft Excel. I've seen 4080s going for 100$ less than MSRP, which while still is an extortion in my opinion, it shifted it from just unattainable to barely attainable.

 

[Frag Maniac]

I was wanting to build a rig with a 13700K, but it seems to require a fairly hefty AIO to run at moderate temps. As far as I know AMD's latest chips can run pretty warm too.

 

[SorryBella]

I was wanting to build a rig with a 13700K, but it seems to require a fairly hefty AIO to run at moderate temps.

Yeah it is still spicy but not really AIO tier especially if you don't go with the K SKU and just settle for locked at 65W base TDP. Should be doable with a dual tower cooler on that but yeah if you value quietness and better heat capacity for usage in high ambient, AIO is still the way to go on Intel chips.

 

[Frag Maniac]

Yeah it is still spicy but not really AIO tier especially if you don't go with the K SKU and just settle for locked at 65W base TDP. Should be doable with a dual tower cooler on that but yeah if you value quietness and better heat capacity for usage in high ambient, AIO is still the way to go on Intel chips.

Well, I have considered the F model, which still has a decent max boost, but it's clocked 5% lower at max boost and a whopping 38% lower at base clock! I saw one guy say using an Arctic Freezer II AIO he was hitting 90c. That was on Cinebench though after a 10 min run, so I'm not thinking it would run hot gaming.

I'm not sure I like the idea of giving up the on board graphics, even though I might only use it during a rare GPU RMA. However I tend to hang on to my previous GPUs, so I'd have a EVGA GTX 1080 SC as a pretty decent backup that would easily trounce the onboard graphics. Some have said the on board graphics work great for video editing though, and I do a lot of that. I have to wonder though if it's really better than the onboard encoding architecture in the latest 4000 series GPUs. I'm thinking probably not.

One thing that occurs to me is whether it's possible to disable the on board graphics to lower the TDP? The frustrating thing for me is I can't find any 13700K vs 13700F gaming benches that show CPU temps. If you know of any please post links to them? There are modern games like Jedi Survivor, which I'm told by a reliable source will top 75c in a decent case unless you use something like an Arctic Liquid Freezer II 420. It's not just the cost of that AIO that bothers me, as I can get one for under $135, it's the more difficult dust cleaning maintenance and the fact that they are not as long lasting as a good twin tower cooler with fans.

 

[ARICH5]

i would recommend more than 1 large ssd for everything. get 1 small 256gb for os and programs and 1 large 2gb for the rest.

 

[Frag Maniac]

i would recommend more than 1 large ssd for everything. get 1 small 256gb for os and programs and 1 large 2gb for the rest.

Or just easily make a partition for the OS and progs.

 

[SorryBella]

i would recommend more than 1 large ssd for everything. get 1 small 256gb for os and programs and 1 large 2gb for the rest.

I wont recommend separate boot drive at 256GB until app devs abandon Squirrel Installer base which means basically never. A lot of layman dont know how to redirect Squirrel to not use default C: path and a lot of common massive apps uses it, that 256GB drive just gonna fill up way faster. 512 or even 1TB is more preferable but even then, just focus on bigger 1 nvme drive and save on the Pcie bandwidth.

 

[ilukey77]

personally id go a 1000w psu as default for the 7900xtx and the cl30 6000 ddr5 as it a the sweet spot for AMD cpu's