[SOLVED] intel 19 build: Suggestions?

[dg27]

I've been putting off building or even buying a pre-built machine for a few years now. It's time...

I put together an an Intel i-9 build on pcpartpicker, located here:

2021_intel i9

This machine will be used for audio production (Pro Tools) and photo editing, but no gaming whatsoever.

The two areas I'm unsure of are the GPU and the cooler.

The other area that has me a bit baffled is the MOBO: I want as many SATA ports(preferably 6) and PCIe slots as possible; the latter seem to have gone the way of the floppy...I don't need 2 x16s; would rather have 1 x16, 1 x8 and 3 x1.

Any other comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

dg

 

[Eximo]

No need for a discrete network card, onboard 2.5Gbps. That will free up a PCIe slot for you.

M.2 slots take up a lot of real estate these days. Keep in mind that your top M.2 slot will not work with a 10th gen CPU, only the 11th gen has the extra lanes coming off the CPU.

I might suggest a larger CPU cooler. 250W is not uncommon out of an overclocked 10900K. Or drop down to the i9-10900F, quite a bit cheaper and doesn't lose much in terms of clock speed without overclocking.

P400 is an older card, and not super powerful. Don't think it does much for photo and video editing being a 'workstation' card. Some 3D modeling programs benefit. Better off tracking down a used GTX1070/RTX2060 Super with 8GB of VRAM, or getting a newer RTX3060 which has 12GB of VRAM. (GPUs are hard to find right now, but a little patience can pay off on ebay)

I will do a little part searching for a better fit motherboard and suggest an alternative cooler.

 

[Eximo]

On second thought, not likely to see any motherboards with a better PCIe layout.

Graphics card tends to block the first 1x slot, which is why many boards omit it. So the most common configuration is

2 16x (And the second 16x is always only wired for 8x on consumer boards, with a few exceptions that use PLX chips) and 3 1x with potentially one blocked off. Also not uncommon to share bandwidth the SATA ports and M.2 slots.

If you really need lots of PCIe devices, HEDT is the way to go. That would be Intel's X299 platform or AMDs Threadripper.

 

[Eximo]

10850K is cheaper at the moment, comes with integrated graphics, which makes the GPU optional until you can find a decent one.

Put a 4GB 1050Ti in there instead, it is available (still overpriced), but available. At $400 there are some GTX1650 available as well. $600 and you can get a 1660Ti 6GB. For that you can start looking at GTX1070 on ebay.

This is a slightly different motherboard, I don't think there is much wrong with your first choice.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i9-10850K 3.6 GHz 10-Core Processor ($399.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler ($69.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z490-A PRO ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($279.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB Phoenix Video Card ($233.99 @ Amazon)
Case: be quiet! Pure Base 600 ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.90 @ Newegg Sellers)
Power Supply: Super Flower Leadex III Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg Sellers)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0 DVD/CD Writer ($22.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit ($139.88 @ Other World Computing)
Total: $1780.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-09-02 16:45 EDT-0400

 

[dg27]

No need for a discrete network card, onboard 2.5Gbps. That will free up a PCIe slot for you.

Thanks; had not realized that.

Keep in mind that your top M.2 slot will not work with a 10th gen CPU, only the 11th gen has the extra lanes coming off the CPU.

Had no idea--thanks.

I might suggest a larger CPU cooler.

I was also considering a Noctua.

...drop down to the i9-10900F, quite a bit cheaper and doesn't lose much in terms of clock speed without overclocking.

Will check that out--thanks.

Better off tracking down a used GTX1070/RTX2060 Super with 8GB of VRAM, or getting a newer RTX3060 which has 12GB of VRAM.

Will check these out--thanks.

I will do a little part searching for a better fit motherboard and suggest an alternative cooler.

Thank you!

On second thought, not likely to see any motherboards with a better PCIe layout.

I spent quite a bit of time on that part; only saw one MSI that looked a bit better.

Graphics card tends to block the first 1x slot, which is why many boards omit it. So the most common configuration is 2 16x (And the second 16x is always only wired for 8x on consumer boards, with a few exceptions that use PLX chips) and 3 1x with potentially one blocked off. Also not uncommon to share bandwidth the SATA ports and M.2 slots.

My current (ancient) board has one x16, one x8, and three x1s.

If you really need lots of PCIe devices, HEDT is the way to go. That would be Intel's X299 platform or AMDs Threadripper.

I may not need all of those. I current have two PCIe cards for external eSATA and two PCI cards with 5 USB3 ports each.

Thanks for all of your help.

 

[dg27]

10850K is cheaper at the moment, comes with integrated graphics, which makes the GPU optional until you can find a decent one.

Put a 4GB 1050Ti in there instead, it is available (still overpriced), but available. At $400 there are some GTX1650 available as well. $600 and you can get a 1660Ti 6GB. For that you can start looking at GTX1070 on ebay.

This is a slightly different motherboard, I don't think there is much wrong with your first choice.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i9-10850K 3.6 GHz 10-Core Processor ($399.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler ($69.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI Z490-A PRO ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($279.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($144.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 1050 Ti 4 GB Phoenix Video Card ($233.99 @ Amazon)
Case: be quiet! Pure Base 600 ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.90 @ Newegg Sellers)
Power Supply: Super Flower Leadex III Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg Sellers)
Optical Drive: LG GH24NSC0 DVD/CD Writer ($22.98 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Pro OEM 64-bit ($139.88 @ Other World Computing)
Total: $1780.60
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-09-02 16:45 EDT-0400

Thank you so much.

The MSI mobo is the one I was originally looking at.

Since it's be quiet! case, the be quiet cooler makes much more sense.

I've heard of Super Flower, but wasn't sure on that one.

And shopping for CPUs makes my head hurt, with zillions of options.

Thanks again--this saves a lot of hassle ans poking around things I'm no expert in.

 

[logainofhades]

A 980 pro is a bit of a waste, when using a CPU, and motherboard that cannot fully utilize it.

 

[dg27]

A 980 pro is a bit of a waste, when using a CPU, and motherboard that cannot fully utilize it.

Thanks.

What would suggest to replace it?

I've always used Samsung's Pro line and defaulted to that. (My circa 2010 Dell has an 840 Pro.)

 

[mdd1963]

970 Evo Plus is plenty....

(If you feel you will be routinely writing 100 TB per year, then there is the 970 Pro)

 

[dg27]

970 Evo Plus is plenty....

(If you feel you will be routinely writing 100 TB per year, then there is the 970 Pro)

No--not likely. I was of the belief that the Pro line was more durable and just better overall.

Thanks.