[SOLVED] Gaming setup ~$2000 - what do you think?

[Tigro]

So I'm building a PC right now for around $2000 (+- cause I live in Europe so I'm translating the prices and they are a bit different over here) and here's what I came up with:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i9-9900K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($504.99 @ Best Buy)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($86.46 @ B&H)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($189.99 @ B&H)
Memory: Patriot Viper Steel 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: PNY XLR8 CS3030 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($139.99 @ Best Buy)
Video Card: Palit GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER 8 GB GameRock Video Card (~$750)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P400A ATX Mid Tower Case (~$80)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($114.99 @ B&H)
Total: ~$2000
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-07 08:33 EDT-0400

What would you say? The intended purpose is general usage. Mostly gaming & some work-related stuff like game development, programming or video editing sprinkled on top. Does it make sense or should something definitely be changed?

 

[PCEnthusiast9000]

Hello,

The parts you chose for the PC that you are building are compatible and a very good choice. Although, I would recommend upgrading the RAM to 32GB since you have a very powerful CPU and GPU. Finally, I suggest you change the power supply to 800W, just to be safer.

 

[Tigro]

Hello,

The parts you chose for the PC that you are building are compatible and a very good choice. Although, I would recommend upgrading the RAM to 32GB since you have a very powerful CPU and GPU. Finally, I suggest you change the power supply to 800W, just to be safer.

Gotcha, thanks! And would you have any recommendations for the monitor? I was thinking something along the lines of LG 34UC89G or MSI Optix MAG341CQ. They're both ultrawide and curved but the former is also 144Hz as opposed to 100Hz. Does it make any big difference?

 

[PCEnthusiast9000]

Gotcha, thanks! And would you have any recommendations for the monitor? I was thinking something along the lines of LG 34UC89G or MSI Optix MAG341CQ. They're both ultrawide and curved but the former is also 144Hz as opposed to 100Hz. Does it make any big difference?

They're both great monitors. But I would recommend the MSI Optix MAG341CQ just because it has a higher resolution. (3440x1440 vs 2560x1080)

 

[Tigro]

They're both great monitors. But I would recommend the MSI Optix MAG341CQ just because it has a higher resolution. (3440x1440 vs 2560x1080)

Ah, I see, thanks! So I don't need to worry about the 100Hz? Cause I see people being all about the Hz everywhere, often recommending to take 200Hz and nothing else in high-end builds. Is it not the case?

 

[PCEnthusiast9000]

Ah, I see, thanks! So I don't need to worry about the 100Hz? Cause I see people being all about the Hz everywhere, often recommending to take 200Hz and nothing else in high-end builds. Is it not the case?

No, it's not. If your monitor has over 100Hz, I think you're good to go.

 

[Tigro]

No, it's not. If your monitor has over 100Hz, I think you're good to go.

OK great, thanks!

One more question - I just realized the cooler I chose is too big for this case as it can only house 160mm of height and the cooler is 162. I also thought about SilentiumPC Astrum AT6V EVO but that one too is 162 so barely enough to fit with no leeway whatsoever. What other cooler could I change the DRP 4 to, then, so as not to sacrifice the performance and silence but also not go too much up in price?

 

[Phaaze88]

I think you're going to have to make some compromises...
Air coolers really aren't going to cut it with the 9900K - not even the high end ones. It's either a 360mm AIO, or you go with a Ryzen 3700X, which would allow for more flexibility with your budget anyway.
But, if you have something against AMD, well, there's nothing I can do about that.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i9-9900K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($504.99 @ Best Buy)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC LIQUID FREEZER II 360 56.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Patriot Viper Steel 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory ($85.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($109.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB XC ULTRA GAMING Video Card ($549.99 @ Walmart)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P400A ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($119.99 @ Best Buy)
Monitor: Asus TUF Gaming VG35VQ 35.0" 3440x1440 100 Hz Monitor ($579.00 @ B&H)
Total: $2259.93
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-04-08 18:05 EDT-0400
Adjustments I've made:
-cpu cooler is a 360mm AIO
-more affordable SSD
-more affordable gpu
-SLIGHTLY more affordable psu, but it does have more headroom
-Ultrawide monitor that's closer to an actual 100hz refresh without getting too stupid in price. The problem with the MSI Optix MAG341CQ is it's fairly high response time(8ms), which translates to less than the advertised refresh rate

Also, this is all kinda invalid. This really should've been done with your currency and not USD, because some brands are cheaper in one country, while being more expensive in others. Availability of items is also affected.
Can you state whether you use Pounds, Euros, or some other currency?

 

[Tigro]

Air coolers really aren't going to cut it with the 9900K - not even the high end ones. It's either a 360mm AIO, or you go with a Ryzen 3700X, which would allow for more flexibility with your budget anyway.
But, if you have something against AMD, well, there's nothing I can do about that.

Yeah I thought about AIO but the problem with that is a) I'm not gonna do any hardcore OC so I don't know if it's worth the added price and b) from what I read, the maintenance of AIOs is something you definitely have to spend some time on - and honestly I'd rather not have that issue and have something that you can just plug in and forget like the regular coolers. Unless it's not the case?

-SLIGHTLY more affordable psu, but it does have more headroom

But is a 750W one really needed here? From what PC Part Picker told me, the setup at the beginning of this topic used up like 450W so is there really the need for a 750W PSU?

-Ultrawide monitor that's closer to an actual 100hz refresh without getting too stupid in price. The problem with the MSI Optix MAG341CQ is it's fairly high response time(8ms), which translates to less than the advertised refresh rate

Very interesting, didn't know that, thanks!

Also, this is all kinda invalid. This really should've been done with your currency and not USD, because some brands are cheaper in one country, while being more expensive in others. Availability of items is also affected.
Can you state whether you use Pounds, Euros, or some other currency?

Yeah I know but I just figured it would easier for you to operate in USD. My currency is Polish Zloty (PLN) so this would be a nightmare to provide the prices in it here as it'll just make things way harder for everyone

 

[Phaaze88]

Yeah I thought about AIO but the problem with that is a) I'm not gonna do any hardcore OC so I don't know if it's worth the added price and b) from what I read, the maintenance of AIOs is something you definitely have to spend some time on - and honestly I'd rather not have that issue and have something that you can just plug in and forget like the regular coolers. Unless it's not the case?

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGHiRrQ2AAo&t=280s

If you want, skip to 4:40. There's a chart showing 3 different coolers:
-Noctua's NH-D15, regarded as one of the top air coolers available
-a Corsair 240mm AIO
-a 360mm open loop cooler
There are stock and overclocked cpu operations posted under a Blender load, which isn't synthetic like Prime95.

There are people out there running this cpu on air and other 240mm coolers, remarking how their temps are fine, but I can bet you that they never bothered to thermally test the cooler at full load like in the above video.
When the time comes that the cpu actually starts getting pushed, then what?

But is a 750W one really needed here? From what PC Part Picker told me, the setup at the beginning of this topic used up like 450W so is there really the need for a 750W PSU?

Partpicker, sadly, is also providing the wattage based on Intel's rated TDP, so it's WAY off.

Yeah I know but I just figured it would easier for you to operate in USD. My currency is Polish Zloty (PLN) so this would be a nightmare to provide the prices in it here as it'll just make things way harder for everyone

Yes, it is easier for us, but turn it around, and you've made it a little harder for yourself, for reasons I've already explained.

 

[Tigro]

Oooh, that video was immensely helpful, thanks a lot for that!

As for the PSU - so is 750W absolutely crucial here or is it just more of a precautionary measure?
And also about the RAMs - I see people going on about 3600MHz in high end builds; does it really make such a huge difference if I go for 3200 or 3600 in this build here?

 

[Phaaze88]

As for the PSU - so is 750W absolutely crucial here or is it just more of a precautionary measure?

It's my own calculations based on the power draw of the heaviest hitters in the system(cpu + gpu), allowing for some headroom for the other parts, and enough headroom that the psu isn't being pushed too hard - worst case scenario type stuff.
I'll use the list in your first post:
9900K = 250w @ 5.0ghz: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/intel-core-i9-9900k-9th-gen-cpu,5847-11.html
2080 Super Gamerock = 330w: https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/212578/palit-rtx2080super-8192-190702
= 580w
^I'll add-on 20% of that for everything else - fans, mobo, drives, pump, and other peripherals/accessories...
= 696w. The system won't pull that kind of power regularly - again, calculating for the worst case scenario - I'd say you'd be cutting it pretty close on a 650w unit.

And also about the RAMs - I see people going on about 3600MHz in high end builds; does it really make such a huge difference if I go for 3200 or 3600 in this build here?

The current line of Intel cpus scale up with faster memory also, but not in the same manner as Ryzen 1000, 2000, and 3000.

Ryzen is built upon a mulit-die design. The need for faster and lower latency memory is to improve communication speed between said dies.
Ryzen 3000 benefits up until 3733mhz. Any higher, and it switches from 1:1 mode(synchronous) to 2:1 mode(asynchronous) and the benefits drop off.
It can be manually switched back, but system stability isn't guaranteed at 3800 and up. You'd have to do trial and error on your own from there.

Intel cpus are currently built on a single, monolithic die, and continue to scale up in performance even past 3733mhz, but with increasing diminishing returns.

I'd say 3200mhz is the sweet spot for the Ryzen platform. The cheaper 3600mhz kits tend to have looser timings, offsetting their frequency advantage - lower latency is preferred for this platform, but use of Ryzen Dram Calculator can help find tighter timings on those kits.
For Intel, the 3600mhz kit is the sweet spot. Those cpus aren't as sensitive to memory latencies as Ryzen is.

 

[Tigro]

Gotcha, thank you very much for the detailed write-up! As for the RAMs thoug:

For Intel, the 3600mhz kit is the sweet spot. Those cpus aren't as sensitive to memory latencies as Ryzen is.

In that case I have a question - so would it be already way better to go for event the cheapest 3600MHz sets, like Patriot 3600MHz CL17 Viper 4, Patriot 3600MHz CL17 Viper Steel or GOODRAM 3600MHz CL17 IRDM PRO instead of even the better ones of the 3200MHz realm?

 

[Phaaze88]

Gotcha, thank you very much for the detailed write-up! As for the RAMs thoug:

In that case I have a question - so would it be already way better to go for event the cheapest 3600MHz sets, like Patriot 3600MHz CL17 Viper 4, Patriot 3600MHz CL17 Viper Steel or GOODRAM 3600MHz CL17 IRDM PRO instead of even the better ones of the 3200MHz realm?

You can go for those, but I would definitely consider looking into Ryzen Dram Calculator guides later on to see if you can tighten the timings on those kits. That'll be key in optimizing the cpu's performance.