Question Help me choose the best configuration

[regiment96]

Hi all,

This forum has been immensely helpful in the past, so as I'm starting to spitball a new system, I thought I'd ask the crowd for their thoughts on three potential configurations. My setup will be used for work (data intensive), about 70% of the time. I do enjoy playing games, and will do a fair amount of it on this machine. Note that other than memory, I don't intend on overclocking my system...I'm a bit older and my excitement for this type of thing has waned recently.

• Config #1 -
  • Intel Core i7-13700
  • nVidia RTX 4070
  • DDR5-6000. Unsure on specifics yet.
• Config #2
  • AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
  • nVidia RTX4070
  • DDR5-6000
• Config #3
  • AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
  • Radeon RX 6800 XT

Some notes:

• If I go with the AMD CPU, I was leaning toward the 6800 XT GPU to leverage 15% performance gains through Smart Access Memory. Is this realistic? Any reason to forget this and go with the newer generation card from nVidia, even if I stick with the AMD CPU?
• I was originally thinking that if I went Intel CPU I could use air cooling, and I would use liquid cooling with the AMD option, but after seeing the recent AMD review, it looks like it is more thermally efficient, so I wonder if I should use liquid cooling either way?

I'd love everyone's thoughts on this!

 

[punkncat]

Based on future upgradability alone, since AMD has suggested they are going to support AM5 as long as they did AM4, it is a super smart choice IMO to go with the new Ryzen right now. I would suggest getting a robust and high quality motherboard.

 

[Why_Me]

Hi all,

This forum has been immensely helpful in the past, so as I'm starting to spitball a new system, I thought I'd ask the crowd for their thoughts on three potential configurations. My setup will be used for work (data intensive), about 70% of the time. I do enjoy playing games, and will do a fair amount of it on this machine. Note that other than memory, I don't intend on overclocking my system...I'm a bit older and my excitement for this type of thing has waned recently.

• Config #1 -
  • Intel Core i7-13700
  • nVidia RTX 4070
  • DDR5-6000. Unsure on specifics yet.
• Config #2
  • AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
  • nVidia RTX4070
  • DDR5-6000
• Config #3
  • AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D
  • Radeon RX 6800 XT

Some notes:

• If I go with the AMD CPU, I was leaning toward the 6800 XT GPU to leverage 15% performance gains through Smart Access Memory. Is this realistic? Any reason to forget this and go with the newer generation card from nVidia, even if I stick with the AMD CPU?
• I was originally thinking that if I went Intel CPU I could use air cooling, and I would use liquid cooling with the AMD option, but after seeing the recent AMD review, it looks like it is more thermally efficient, so I wonder if I should use liquid cooling either way?

I'd love everyone's thoughts on this!

If your primary purpose was gaming then I'd say the Ryzen otherwise the 13700 for a solid all around cpu.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B31PwSpClk8

 

[bniknafs9]

if you are not looking for stability intel optane and such non-sence go with AMD . they simply give you more value for your money (budget ) and last longer .
intel issues a new generation with every new iPhone.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

Nvidia also implemented the Smart Access Memory after AMD released theirs. Just update to the latest bios and you will have the same feature on both AMD and Nvidia GPUs.

The 4070 is not launched yet. But it will definitely be performing on-par or better than 6800XT as the leaked slides till now point it as a 3070ti/3080 replacement. So if you have the option to choose 4070, i would choose that.

 

[GarrettL]

Food for thought;

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOi0aFLH9HE

 

[geofelt]

Reviews I have read suggests that the X3D processors are very good for gaming, but not as good as their non X3D equivalents for production work.

If you now have a Intel based pc, I would stick with intel and the 13th gen processor.
There is a learning curve going to amd, particularly as relates to ram compatibility and performance.

Ryzen responds to fast ram; Intel not so much.
DDR4 vs.DDR5 performance is comparable with Intel,
and DDR4 parts are cheaper.

The same suggestion applies to the graphics card.
If you are now using an amd card, stick with that.
If you are using a nvidia card, stick with that.

It would seem that at the 4070 or 6800Xt level, performance will be comparable.

Modern motherboards and processors try to run at the max performance that the situation permits.
Here is an interesting article on how that works with a I9-13900K:
https://www.tomshardware.com/features/intel-core-13900k-cooling-tested
I think much may be applicable to the i7-13700.

The thermal limits of Intel are 100c.
I think ryzen is more like 95c.
Not that big of a difference.
If you have a well ventilated case, and sufficient room for a top air cooler, I would go with air.
Noctua maintains a cooler suitability list for various processors.
Here is the one for the i7-13700:
https://ncc.noctua.at/cpus/model/Intel-Core-i7-13700-1657

 

[GarrettL]

I did not experience a "learning curve" with Ryzen cpu's. Install it, turn on PBO and you're done.

The 13700k and 5800x3d have similar perfeormance when gaming as seen in the link above. Either is fine.

The 13700 does draw more power vs the 5800x3d under full load equating to heat.

The 5800x3d is $320 and the 13700K is $419.

I have a $36 Peerless Assassin 120 (highly rated) cooler on the 5800x3d. The Noctua D15 is over $100.

 

[regiment96]

Thanks for the replies everyone. I wasn't aware that nVidia now enables the same Smart Access Memory. Is there a marketing name they use? I think SAM is an AMD term. Would I need to use an AMD processor for this, or does Intel work also.

I am leaning toward the intel platform, actually. My purpose for this machine is about 70% work (productivity), and while I recognize that the 7800x3D can do better in some gaming applications, I'm not sure the gaming increase is worth the hit to my daily (work) life. I also think the 4070 is going to give me enough power for my gaming use case....yes, there will situations where I am sacrificing some gaming performance but I'm simply not going to be pushing the hardware enough that this will make or break the experience for me.

I need to look into thermals and decide air/water cooling. Money isn't a huge consideration here, I've just never worked with water cooling, so it'll be a new thing for me.

Thanks again for the replies. Everyone here is very knowledgable and it's very appreciated.

 

[Eximo]

Resizeable Bar is part of the PCIe standard. That is AMD's 'branding' for it, they just implemented it first on their cards. ReBar is the somewhat common shortening. Intel GPUs also support it (need it)

I always opt for air cooling for dual purpose machines. If the pump fails on an AIO you basically have instant overheating. With a big heatsink/fan, you can still have chassis fans and passive cooling if the CPU fan fails.

Water coolers can leak, they can clog up, and the pumps can fail. Expect to replace it within five years vs an air cooler you can use as long as it fits the socket, just replace the fan every once in a long while.