Build Advice New PC Build advice, fine tuning last components

[Plexian]

Hey people,

I'm trying to build myself a new rig after my current one of 8 years starts reaching its limits and for that I hope for some input to fine tune the last things, the part list is below.
I hope this is the right place to post this, if you have suggestions where to ask, please let me know.

Use case: Currently just 1080p 144Hz gaming, possibly 1440p in the future and also some software development. I understand my choices are a little overkill, however I want to avoid any upgrades in the next 5+ years and rather spend some extra money now.

Concerns:

• Graphics Card: I dislike the 12 GB of VRAM. Should be fine for 1080p, but I didn't really see an alternative since the Ti also has 12GB and the Ti Super is a little over budget I'm afraid. I considered the RX 7900 GRE 16GB, however I really do prefer NVidia due to DLSS, Raytracing and generally their software.
• RAM Speed: I just chose 6000 CL30 RAM without thinking much about it, but the specs of my CPU claim it only supports up to 5200MHz, is that a problem?
• I want 4TB of storage (currently have 2.7TB in use), the listed M.2 is the best I could find. Is this fine or should I perhaps split this into two 2TB units?

Any other hints are certainly welcome, this is the first time since my last build (which was my first) that I dive back into this topic.

PCPartPicker
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650 GAMING X AX V2 ATX AM5 Motherboard
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory
Storage: Western Digital Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER 12 GB Video Card
Case: be quiet! Pure Base 500DX ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 TT Premium 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
Total: €1880.29



Cheers,
Plexian

 

[Ralston18]

My advice is to be sure to go online and read all available documentation regarding the installation and configuration of the listed components.

Start making an assembly/build plan or checklist as you read with the motherboard's User Guide/Manual as the main reference.

Plan out all of the physical steps but include driver requirements, configuration settings etc. in advance. Do not leave any "questions" hanging.

Pay attention to all fine print, caveats, QVL's, and certainly visit all relevant manufacturer Forums and FAQs (if available).

Look for what is said as well as what is not said.

Do the work in a clean, well lit area, with the proper tools. Do not rush and if something does not fit or otherwise seem right. Stop and resolve before proceding.

The extra time and planning ahead is worth the effort.

 

[Why_Me]

https://geizhals.eu/ <--- check this site for lower prices on PC components.

Example:
https://geizhals.eu/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d-100-100000910-a2872867.html
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D €354,85

You want a ATX 3.0 psu for that card.

PCPartPicker Part List

Motherboard: *Asus TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard (€173.00 @ Computeruniverse)
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€105.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €278.00
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-04-09 17:14 CEST+0200

A better look at that board and psu.

https://www.asus.com/us/motherboards-components/motherboards/tuf-gaming/tuf-gaming-b650-plus-wifi/

https://www.msi.com/Power-Supply/MAG-A850GL-PCIE5

 

[Plexian]

@Ralston18 You are certainly right, better safe than sorry. Hence my post here, I figured I read through most of the things I know of prior to purchasing, but getting a second opinion never hurts.

@Why_Me I'm aware of that website and I'll use it when I actually purchase my things, thanks. Didn't know how known it is outside my country, that's why I used PCPartPicker.
Is there any specific reasoning behind your suggested changes? My selected PSU is ATX 3.0, and both the board and the PSU came up in other builds I checked online, so I settled on those.

Thanks for your responses!

 

[Why_Me]

@Ralston18 You are certainly right, better safe than sorry. Hence my post here, I figured I read through most of the things I know of prior to purchasing, but getting a second opinion never hurts.

@Why_Me I'm aware of that website and I'll use it when I actually purchase my things, thanks. Didn't know how known it is outside my country, that's why I used PCPartPicker.
Is there any specific reasoning behind your suggested changes? My selected PSU is ATX 3.0, and both the board and the PSU came up in other builds I checked online, so I settled on those.

Thanks for your responses!

That Asus board is less expensive and better quality imo and the MSI psu gives you another 100W.

 

[helper800]

@Ralston18 You are certainly right, better safe than sorry. Hence my post here, I figured I read through most of the things I know of prior to purchasing, but getting a second opinion never hurts.

@Why_Me I'm aware of that website and I'll use it when I actually purchase my things, thanks. Didn't know how known it is outside my country, that's why I used PCPartPicker.
Is there any specific reasoning behind your suggested changes? My selected PSU is ATX 3.0, and both the board and the PSU came up in other builds I checked online, so I settled on those.

Thanks for your responses!

Take a look at something like this:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor (€374.61 @ Caseking)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler (€38.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650 EAGLE AX ATX AM5 Motherboard (€167.60 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€128.89 @ Cyberport)
Storage: Crucial P3 Plus 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€243.99 @ Cyberport)
Video Card: PNY VERTO OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER 16 GB Video Card (€849.00 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: Fractal Design Focus 2 RGB ATX Mid Tower Case (€74.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 TT Premium 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€117.30 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €1995.19
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-04-09 18:54 CEST+0200

 

[Plexian]

@Why_Me I understand. I don't see why I'd need 850W, it seems like even 650W are sufficient (barely), but I'll look into the board, thanks.

@helper800 Yeah I see, but as I said, spending +250€ for the Ti Super is not within budget, I'm already exceeding what I wanted to pay a bit. Moreover, the Crucial M.2 has significantly lower read and write speeds, iirc.

---

Any opinions on my mentioned concerns? Is 12GB VRAM really too less for what I'm targeting? And what about the RAM speed?

 

[helper800]

@helper800 Yeah I see, but as I said, spending +250€ for the Ti Super is not within budget, I'm already exceeding what I wanted to pay a bit.

Fair enough.

Moreover, the Crucial M.2 has significantly lower read and write speeds, iirc.

The difference in real world performance is indistinguishable but the price difference is +22%. Neither drive has a DRAM cache either.

Is 12GB VRAM really too less for what I'm targeting? And what about the RAM speed?

12gb of VRAM will be fine for 1080p for probably another 4-5 years but for 1440p and higher resolutions it will become a weakness quicker.

As long as you get a 32GB+ RAM kit with an EXPO profile of 6000-6400 MT/s speeds with less than CL 34 first word timings you will be set with an AMD CPU. I would make sure that the RAM kit you get is on the QVL list for your particular model of motherboard as well.

 

[Plexian]

The difference in real world performance is indistinguishable but the price difference is +22%. Neither drive has a DRAM cache either.

Alright, didn't really think of that. I'll go with the Crucial then, the price difference is quite big.

As long as you get a 32GB+ RAM kit with an EXPO profile of 6000-6400 MT/s speeds with less than CL 34 first word timings you will be set with an AMD CPU. I would make sure that the RAM kit you get is on the QVL list for your particular model of motherboard as well.

Alright. Didn't really check the actual QVL lists, but it seems my board does not work with that particular RAM, so I'll switch to the Gigabyte B650 Eagle AX (I had considered it before already).


I appreciate the help, I guess at some point I have to actually commit to purchasing the stuff.

 

[35below0]

The Fractal Design Focus 2 has only a placeholder USB-C port as far as i know. Actual gubbins have to be bought separately.

Gigabyte Eagle AX has a USB-C port on the I/O panel + 1 header on the motherboard.
So not the end of the world, but i thought i'd mention it.


Some alternatives:
https://de.pcpartpicker.com/product/WTP8TW/antec-nx500m-microatx-mini-tower-case-0-761345-81056-2
https://de.pcpartpicker.com/product/yxjBD3/antec-nx260-atx-mid-tower-case-nx260 [no USB-C]
https://de.pcpartpicker.com/product/6KWBD3/fractal-design-meshify-2-atx-mid-tower-case-fd-c-mes2a-01

https://de.pcpartpicker.com/product/d8WzK8/fractal-design-north-atx-mid-tower-case-fd-c-nor1c-03

Meshify 2 is pricy but comes with 3 140mm fans.
North is North. Hit or miss. does come with 2 140mm fans.
Both are comfortable to work in.
The NX500M is cheapest and decent, but note that you will have to move one front fan in order to accomodate a 310mm GPU.

I would go either with your intial Dark Base choice, or the Meshify 2.

Alright, didn't really think of that. I'll go with the Crucial then, the price difference is quite big.

Crucial is quite a reliable brand too. WD is not bad either.



Any particular reason you're going with G.Skill Flare instead of a Ripjaws kit?

 

[Plexian]

Meshify 2 is pricy but comes with 3 140mm fans.
North is North. Hit or miss. does come with 2 140mm fans.
Both are comfortable to work in.
The NX500M is cheapest and decent, but note that you will have to move one front fan in order to accomodate a 310mm GPU.

I would go either with your intial Dark Base choice, or the Meshify 2.

Thanks for the suggestions! I do have a be quiet! case at the moment, and I like the design a lot, which is why I chose another of their cases. I had a look at some other cases, but in the end I feel like its mostly personal preference, as long as everything fits (and the airflow works as intended).

Any particular reason you're going with G.Skill Flare instead of a Ripjaws kit?

Absolutely not. I looked for 2x16GB 6000MHz CL30 RAM, I saw the G.Skill Flare and Trident used the most in other builds I looked at, so I chose one of them.
Any reason to choose differently?

 

[35below0]

Thanks for the suggestions! I do have a be quiet! case at the moment, and I like the design a lot, which is why I chose another of their cases. I had a look at some other cases, but in the end I feel like its mostly personal preference, as long as everything fits (and the airflow works as intended).

Best if you choose it yourself. Afterall, you look at it, it's in your living space, and it's your computer.
The only cases to avoid are ones that are cheap and miss many quality of life features. They make owning a computer a misery.
I like the look of that beQuiet, i must say.

Absolutely not. I looked for 2x16GB 6000MHz CL30 RAM, I saw the G.Skill Flare and Trident used the most in other builds I looked at, so I chose one of them.
Any reason to choose differently?

Yeah, but i'm an idiot. I forgot you were building with a AMD CPU

FlareX or Trident neo are the correct choice.
BUT!
Your chosen kit is not listed on Gigabyte's memory support page i'm affraid:
https://www.gigabyte.com/us/Motherboard/B650-GAMING-X-AX-V2-rev-1x/support#support-memsup

Unfortunately, the only Flare X kit that is listed is this 2x16 5600 CL36: https://www.gskill.com/product/165/396/1662622737/F5-5600J3636C16GX2-FX5

G.Skill doesn't have info on the V2 version of that motherboard, so it's difficult to know if the kits they tested with the non-V2 B650 Gaming X AX are still compatible. Best to rely on Gigabyte's information.

So, you can:
- roll the dice on an unsupported kit
- pick a slower 5600Mhz CL36 kit
- pick a different G.Skill or other 2x16 kit that is on Gigabyte's list

The fastest supported 6000Mhz G.Skill is: https://www.gskill.com/product/165/393/1661410171/F5-6000J3038F16GX2-TZ5N
Higher clocks mean higher latency, which you will not like. A possible compromise is this 6400Mhz CL32 kit: https://www.gskill.com/product/165/371/1642064878/F5-6400J3239G16GX2-TZ5S-F5-6400J3239G16GA2-TZ5S (black and ARGB variants are also supported)

 

[Plexian]

G.Skill doesn't have info on the V2 version of that motherboard, so it's difficult to know if the kits they tested with the non-V2 B650 Gaming X AX are still compatible. Best to rely on Gigabyte's information.

So, you can:
- roll the dice on an unsupported kit
- pick a slower 5600Mhz CL36 kit
- pick a different G.Skill or other 2x16 kit that is on Gigabyte's list

Thanks for checking, but I was already made aware of that

Alright. Didn't really check the actual QVL lists, but it seems my board does not work with that particular RAM, so I'll switch to the Gigabyte B650 Eagle AX (I had considered it before already).

I chose to change the board from the Gaming X AX V2 to the EAGLE AX from Gigabyte.
I don't really care as long as it works, however I surely can also change from the Flare X5 to the Trident Z5 or Z5 NEO, which are both on my original boards QVL list.
I don't have a reasoning here besides money (Flare 120€, Z5 131€, Z5 NEO 132€ with EAGLE AX 166€, GAMING X AX V2 182€), hence my decision, but correct me if there is something else to consider.