[SOLVED] Gaming PC build parts list help

mikeyp89

Honorable
Oct 6, 2014
13
0
10,510
Hi all,

It's been 11 years since I built a PC from scratch, I enjoyed it a lot last time and have upgraded over the years but the time has come for a fresh build. Came here for advice for that back then and wasn't disappointed!

The PC will be used mainly for gaming and some light office work. I want 1440p or 4k if the budget allows.. Budget of around £1700. I considered waiting for the new Nvidia cards but I'm being impatient so will upgrade later if I feel I need to.

Here's the list I've got so far:

Case: NZXT H710i or similar
Motherboard: MSI Z490 Tomahawk
CPU: Intel Core I7 10700k
GPU: RTX 2070 Super
Ram: 32gb (2 x 16gb) Corsair Vengeance Black 3200mhz
Storage: 1tb WD Black SSD M.2 nvme + 1tb Seagate HDD (HDD already owned)
PSU: 650w EVGA hybrid modular


Any suggestions on a cpu cooler and general cost cutting (or otherwise) appreciated!

Thanks
 
Solution
Thank you. After a bit more reading up it seems like I'll get more value for money with an AMD CPU as you suggest.
Yeah, Intel is the route to go for gaming only performance at 1080p or lower, and money is no object.
AMD for an all purpose machine, gaming at 1440p or higher - Intel loses it's speed advantage here - and the user is value conscious.

Is it worth the jump to the 3900 or is the 3700 OK? Obviously I'd like to future proof as much as possible.
That future proof thing is a difficult subject. That really requires a crystal ball, otherwise myself or others would just be speculating/2nd guessing based on past events.
I could make the following claim: "Since there appears to be a frequency wall around 5ghz...

Phaaze88

Titan
Ambassador
Case: NZXT H710i or similar
Motherboard: MSI Z490 Tomahawk
CPU: Intel Core I7 10700k
GPU: RTX 2070 Super
Ram: 32gb (2 x 16gb) Corsair Vengeance Black 3200mhz
Storage: 1tb WD Black SSD M.2 nvme + 1tb Seagate HDD (HDD already owned)
PSU: 650w EVGA hybrid modular
Change motherboard to X570 TUF Gaming, X570 Unify or Tomahawk
Change cpu to 3900X or 3700X
Change ram to 2x 16GB 3600mhz, CL of 16 or 17
Need to be a little more specific with the psu model - EVGA Supernova G3 650w, for example.

Cpu air cooler:
Noctua NH-U14S/ NH-D15S, NH-U12A
be quiet! Dark Rock 4/ Dark Rock Pro 4
Scythe FUMA 2/ Ninja 5
Thermalright Macho Rev. B/ Rev. C/ Le Grand Macho RT
Arctic Freezer 34 eSports Duo

Cpu Liquid cooler(240/280/360mm):
Arctic Liquid Freezer 2
Corsair H100/ H115/ H150
NZXT Kraken X53/ X63/ X73
Cooler Master ML240R/ ML360R
Fractal Design S24/ S28/ S36
 
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mikeyp89

Honorable
Oct 6, 2014
13
0
10,510
Change motherboard to X570 TUF Gaming, X570 Unify or Tomahawk
Change cpu to 3900X or 3700X
Change ram to 2x 16GB 3600mhz, CL of 16 or 17
Need to be a little more specific with the psu model - EVGA Supernova G3 650w, for example.

Cpu air cooler:
Noctua NH-U14S/ NH-D15S, NH-U12A
be quiet! Dark Rock 4/ Dark Rock Pro 4
Scythe FUMA 2/ Ninja 5
Thermalright Macho Rev. B/ Rev. C/ Le Grand Macho RT
Arctic Freezer 34 eSports Duo

Cpu Liquid cooler(240/280/360mm):
Arctic Liquid Freezer 2
Corsair H100/ H115/ H150
NZXT Kraken X53/ X63/ X73
Cooler Master ML240R/ ML360R
Fractal Design S24/ S28/ S36


Thank you. After a bit more reading up it seems like I'll get more value for money with an AMD CPU as you suggest. Is it worth the jump to the 3900 or is the 3700 OK? Obviously I'd like to future proof as much as possible.

How does this look so far - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/PPphNq
 

Phaaze88

Titan
Ambassador
Thank you. After a bit more reading up it seems like I'll get more value for money with an AMD CPU as you suggest.
Yeah, Intel is the route to go for gaming only performance at 1080p or lower, and money is no object.
AMD for an all purpose machine, gaming at 1440p or higher - Intel loses it's speed advantage here - and the user is value conscious.

Is it worth the jump to the 3900 or is the 3700 OK? Obviously I'd like to future proof as much as possible.
That future proof thing is a difficult subject. That really requires a crystal ball, otherwise myself or others would just be speculating/2nd guessing based on past events.
I could make the following claim: "Since there appears to be a frequency wall around 5ghz, software developers are going to push to utilize more threads in their applications, so the 3900X would be the way to go."
But I don't actually know that's going to happen, and I have no way to prove it. It appears that way because of those earlier events.
A few years down the line, and popular apps STILL aren't making use of 12+ threads, and you'll have essentially wasted money because you've got several threads on that 3900X that never saw any real use...

The 3900X would make for a great gaming+streaming cpu if you think you'll ever do that... there's also music production, video editing, virtual machines, graphics rendering and animation...
It's a pretty flexible cpu - not to say that the 3700X can't do those tasks either, but the 3900X would pull ahead if you ever need 8 more threads.

Very nice! 👌
 
Solution

mikeyp89

Honorable
Oct 6, 2014
13
0
10,510
That's great, thanks again for the advice. Think I will stick to that list apart from the psu which seems to be out of stock everywhere. I don't plan on streaming, possibly a little music production (mainly recording) but nothing too heavy so the 3700x sounds good. I do stream via a steam link over ethernet to my TV in another room but imagine that's a lot less cpu intensive? I've also seen the 3800x, is that worth looking at?
 
That's great, thanks again for the advice. Think I will stick to that list apart from the psu which seems to be out of stock everywhere. I don't plan on streaming, possibly a little music production (mainly recording) but nothing too heavy so the 3700x sounds good. I do stream via a steam link over ethernet to my TV in another room but imagine that's a lot less cpu intensive? I've also seen the 3800x, is that worth looking at?

Generally, no. I have one. In gaming there is no difference between the two at all.