Build Advice New system after a decade USA

vaironl

Distinguished
Mar 11, 2010
63
1
18,535
My first build was done back in 2013 and I have only replaced components when old ones start failing. Recently I’ve run into a very odd issue I’m having trouble diagnosing, which has made me begin a new build as I’ve been wanting that for a while. I’m reusing my SSDs as I have 3 of them from over the years in good health checks, the GPU as it’s good for my needs and saves on the biggest expense for me.

I mainly do software development, non graphics related, but still dable in many different games though it’s usually Minecraft funny enough which is CPU hungry. I haven’t decided a total budget probably around $600-$800 total. I’m not going for a budget build but am still budget consious and don’t need a crazy build, just enough to let me play some video games at decent settings and do AWS work (which doesn’t needs me to have a beefy PC). I’m not in a rush and can wait weeks to a couple of months but not half a year or more.


I already reserved the CPU and MOBO at microcenter based on a bundle deal from buildapcsales or Reddit. Am unsure about the case, PSU, and MOBO cooling to use. I do think PSU is probably another important component I should spend most of my budget on. The part list is as follows right now:


PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/49PWd9

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor ($258.00 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.15 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($234.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($86.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 120 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Samsung 850 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Samsung 870 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 580 8 GB Video Card
Total: $744.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-12-06 07:44 EST-0500
 
I haven’t decided a total budget probably around $600-$800 total. .............................. I’m not in a rush and can wait weeks to a couple of months but not half a year or more.


I already reserved the CPU and MOBO at microcenter based on a bundle deal from buildapcsales or Reddit. Am unsure about the case, PSU, and MOBO cooling to use. I do think PSU is probably another important component I should spend most of my budget on. The part list is as follows right now:



CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor ($258.00 @ B&H)

CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler ($74.15 @ Amazon)

Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700

Motherboard ($234.99 @ Amazon)

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($86.99 @ Amazon)

Storage: Samsung 870 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Amazon)

Looking at your new parts only...as shown above:

Those parts total 744.

No case, no power supply. If needed, those 2 will probably put you up around 900.

Is 900 OK?

Comments and questions:

You say "reserved the CPU and mobo at Microcenter". No way out of that, you are locked in?

So locked in that 13th generation parts are off-limits?

I'd try to wait till at least January to take a look at upcoming new Intel CPUs and motherboards that are not available today. UNLESS you are locked in to that chosen CPU and motherboard.

Have you rejected DDR 5 for any particular reason...possibly because you are committed to that motherboard?

Have you rejected micro ATX motherboards entirely?

Do you demand a Z series motherboard chipset?

Some might complain about your Cooler Master Hyper 212, but it is "adequate" in most situations.

If push comes to shove on the budget, I might drop back to 16 RAM, possibly spending that saved money elsewhere. But you may have a clear-cut situation where 16 is known inadequate.
 

vaironl

Distinguished
Mar 11, 2010
63
1
18,535
Looking at your new parts only...as shown above:

Those parts total 744.

Thank you a lot for helping me in the process, even though I am software developer I don't keep up with the latest hardware improvements. Sorry it has been a while since I used PCPartPicker and it seems I did not save/overwrite my progress. I had selected a PSU and case, though they may not be the best, I updated the parts list again.

I definitely don't want to keep inching up in the budget as I can easily end up going above what I am comfortable spending but going up to $900 is not bad at all. I am worried that waiting for the next gen will only yield marginal improvements and the CPU + MOBO deal gets me both for the price of a CPU only. Also, I am not locked on any of these parts and they are mainly based on current deals, sales, etc. but I just started researching and gathering parts so I can easily update if better things come along.

Updated Parts:

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yG4Qnt

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor ($258.00 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55 CFM CPU Cooler ($69.94 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($234.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($86.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 840 120 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Samsung 850 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive
Storage: Samsung 870 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire NITRO+ Radeon RX 580 8 GB Video Card
Case: NZXT H510i ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ NZXT)
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 750 GT 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($83.99 @ GameStop)
Total: $933.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-12-06 09:59 EST-0500
 
Few more comments:

NZXT case cooler height maximum said to be 165 mm here:

https://nzxt.com/product/h510i

The Noctua U12S is 158 mm tall, so about 1/3 inch clearance. Should be plenty.

Good choice on the Noctua U12S. It will include thermal paste.

Your CPU and motherboard as shown above total 493 from B and H and Amazon. What will you in fact pay on your Microcenter "bundle deal"?

Ignoring the Microcenter bundle deal........I'd strongly consider a micro ATX motherboard, quite possibly with a B660 chipset to save circa 50 bucks that I could allot elsewhere....a notch better case, a notch better power supply, or DDR 5 RAM rather than DDR 4.

I know nothing about that power supply. Could be good, bad or average. Look for reviews.

Ditto on the case. Don't know it's possible shortcomings, airflow, build quality, etc.

Reasonably sure I have heard of some issues with Samsung 870 EVO. Can't recall details, but I think they were significant if you are one of the unlucky. Might consider another Samsung or a Crucial MX500 or a WD.

You're on the right track. You can of course scale the CPU as necessary....down to the i3-12100 or up into the i7-12700K area as you see fit.

You are right, no over-riding reason to wait around for January parts. You might get an 8 to 10 percent boost that you'd rarely notice and it might cost you another 50 to 100 bucks.
 
If you have access to micro center just go in and talk to the guys there. This is one retail store where the sales guys actually do know what they are talking about.
Only issue would be if you wanted something that micro center does not carry or is out of stock.

For people that don't want to build their own micro center is one of the cheapest ones that will assemble things for you.
 

vaironl

Distinguished
Mar 11, 2010
63
1
18,535
Few more comments:

NZXT case cooler height maximum said to be 165 mm here:

https://nzxt.com/product/h510i

The Noctua U12S is 158 mm tall, so about 1/3 inch clearance. Should be plenty.

Good choice on the Noctua U12S. It will include thermal paste.

Your CPU and motherboard as shown above total 493 from B and H and Amazon. What will you in fact pay on your Microcenter "bundle deal"?

Ignoring the Microcenter bundle deal........I'd strongly consider a micro ATX motherboard, quite possibly with a B660 chipset to save circa 50 bucks that I could allot elsewhere....a notch better case, a notch better power supply, or DDR 5 RAM rather than DDR 4.

I know nothing about that power supply. Could be good, bad or average. Look for reviews.

Ditto on the case. Don't know it's possible shortcomings, airflow, build quality, etc.

Reasonably sure I have heard of some issues with Samsung 870 EVO. Can't recall details, but I think they were significant if you are one of the unlucky. Might consider another Samsung or a Crucial MX500 or a WD.

You're on the right track. You can of course scale the CPU as necessary....down to the i3-12100 or up into the i7-12700K area as you see fit.

You are right, no over-riding reason to wait around for January parts. You might get an 8 to 10 percent boost that you'd rarely notice and it might cost you another 50 to 100 bucks.

The microcenter price is 299.99 pre-tax. If I am not incorrect the CPU alone is usually $50-80. My plan was to buy the bundle and build around that. Since I was gathering most of the other parts in a bit of a rush (bad idea) and building strictly around the CPU and MOBO I should go back and check for potential clearance issues, etc. again as I have been so busy I forgot those. Will take a deeper look at the case and PSU. I have a fractal R2 case from my first build but want to go to a mid for easy of moving and less space taken, though I have to admit am scared about component clearance and airflow.

Thank you for pointing out the 870 potential issue. I was having issues with my 850 and bought this one, but do not recall potential issues. Funny enough I keep having my PC slow down to a crawl and needing to do hard shut downs which results in startup repair and usually I have to reinstall Windows, but it's been happening to often recently.

If you have access to micro center just go in and talk to the guys there. This is one retail store where the sales guys actually do know what they are talking about.
Only issue would be if you wanted something that micro center does not carry or is out of stock.

For people that don't want to build their own micro center is one of the cheapest ones that will assemble things for you.

Thanks for pointing this, I am pretty close to one so may do just that. Although I have little time, I did enjoy the thrill of hunting down the parts for my first one so may do that for this second build.
 
It is good to have a list of what you want when you go into micro center. The sales guy can help you decide if that is optimum or if he has a better suggestion.
The stores are extremely busy but the sales staff always seems helpful....sometime more than you really need when you know exactly what you are there to buy.
 

vaironl

Distinguished
Mar 11, 2010
63
1
18,535
Microcenter has a deal on AM5 Ryzen 7 and 9. You get a free 32gb kit of ddr5 6000, and $20 off motherboard. The R7 7700x is down to $348, plus you get those bundle deals. That deal is pretty hard to beat.

https://www.microcenter.com/product...-8-core-boxed-processor-heatsink-not-included
Thanks for providing that! I recall a decade ago I was recommended the intel processor in my first build as Intel was overwhelmingly ahead. I think that has not been the case for a while based on the few videos I’ve seen over the years. Would you say this is absolutely worth it over the intel bundle? I’ll have to go over these a as I want to also continue learning how to compare specs rather than just basic numbers (i.e cores and clock speed).
 

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
I say it is worth it, given the free ram. Also, you will have more potential upgrade options, as AMD has stated AM5 will be supported till 2025+. Intel's current platform is sticking to their 2 gen formula, so 13th gen is the end of the line, already. Also ram upgrades are going to be easier as DDR5 is the new standard.
 

DavidM012

Distinguished
but it sux to pay twice for: Ram, CPU and GPU because new tech is emerging after January and you can't get qvl compliant 64gb ddr 5 memory when one of the chief advantages of ddr 5 is support for larger capacity dimms and I'm still baffled that they only have 32gb kits when I've also always been told not to mix 2 kits for 64gb so basically to do one drop and it's done it seems like wait until at least after january before it's clear what decisions to make for the best value.

Power supply boring but generally around here people will say corsair, corsair or corsair rmx or txm of what capacity, or hx 1000i for a 3080ti. The radeon rx580 is olde and obsolete.


Sata 3 ssd instead of an NVME drive?

samsung 980pro

Gaming NVME review the samsung 980pro is the most power efficient whilst the wd_black sn850 is fasterer.

whilst the samsung 990 pro is both fast and power efficient.

All depends upon the price and there is a world of choices out there such as adata, crucial, kingston etc. So you could go budget friendlier on the ssd since practically any nvme will be fasterer than a sata 3 such as those 800 series evos.

Also you need to know that the larger capacity drives tend to be also more durable 2tb is more durable than 1tb and 1tb is more durable than 500gb so rather than buy 3 2.5 inch sata 3 ssds of low capacity why not simply buy one 2tb Nvme and done?


also generally speaking nvidia 3000 series GPU's tend to beat out radeon 6000 series in productivity benchmarks such as adobe apps and also have nvidia's nvenc hardware video encoding which simply can't be substituted with anything else so

it all depends on what your demands are well back to the drawing board I've still got my thinking cap on about the whole show because it's going to be difficult to squeeze everything in on a tight budget

meanwhile amd 7000 series gpu is emerging so is the 4070ti so market shuffling events are looking quite likely in the next couple of months it just so happens right now is a kind of interesting but icky time to build a new pc.

It would be nice for ddr 5 to emerge a bit more quickly if they are going to up the speed but of course AMD got around the problem with that bundle of free ddr5 to give it a push but that also depends on availability and also some people complain about the Zen 4 cpu having the 3.6mm thick integrated heat spreader lets try to balance opinions on this though

first is a like and then a bit of a loathe from Jayz 2 cents since delidding the 7000 series cpu for better thermals voids your warranty and also carries the risk of cracking the cpu die which of course isn't something that one time average non-techie mod buyers want to take a chance on. The chip is hard to cool so you'd probably need a 360mm aio cooler for it.

Also some puget systems articles and benchmarks to read around - an intel and nvidia combo basically has an edge here it looks a lot like though more in the 13th gen and also probably this time next year we'll be talking about intel's 14th gen so amd's pledge to keep up am5 socket support 'til at least 2025 gives them the opportunity to maybe feedback on user experience and drop one or two generations of new cpu at most in that time, only 2 years to go so not that strong of a selling point in the big picture particularly if you pay now for a CPU, memory and GPU, and then chuck them out and upgrade again only the cpu, memory and gpu in a few years once everything has hatched.

Some more benches from puget systems well ok the 7000 series zen 4 has a slight edge in some apps while 13th gen intel has an edge in others but it doesn't look like your budget will stretch to the top performers anyway if you're going with a 12600 it's settled just so you know it isn't top of the charts but basically beats zen 3 in the benchmarks.

So basically just whether you can buy a micro atx ddr 5 b660 mobo here's a roundup of 86 boards reviewed last time I looked the gigabyte b660 Gaming x AX seemed budget friendly and far as gpu is concerned the only choice at the moment is probably a 3060ti if you want the full set of features with nvenc hardware video encoding so you can then get an affordable 650w or 750w corsair power supply to go with it. Evga may also have something competitively priced in that range.

while further gpu upgrades will need a stronger power supply and so push up the overall cost. Not trying to be definitive here yet just trying to pass on some hopefully relevant info -lately building a productivity rather than a gaming pc isn't the simplest most straighforward undertaking at the moment.

another nvida vs amd gpu review - that's all going to shuffle the deck a bit more with the 4070ti from nvidia and 7000 series from amd so it's get your mind around the facts and figures.

Because with the 12600 cpu well it's pretty good but not top of the charts and it could also be overclocked - I think it's one of the intel cpus that overclocks better but if you plonk it in a b660 board there is no overclocking with it - so what's the point? Just get a 12700 instead or maybe a 12400 or just wait until january's releases and take some time to think about it. 'Cos if you're going to go z690 for overclocking well then why not go z790 for more up to the minute tech but then the budget starts to creak a bit more.

Also could probably get a better cooler than the hyper 212 for the same price anyway if you search around eg. thermalright peerless assassin but there's again a world of choice there gammamax deepcool, noctua, vetroo 5- basically whatever you can stuff into your budget. There can be only one so take a look at some reviews. The person who needs to be content with it is you.
 
Last edited:

vaironl

Distinguished
Mar 11, 2010
63
1
18,535
Almost nobody needs 64gb ram. 32gb is plenty. They are reusing their current SSD and GPU, for now.
Yup, for most of my software development I rarely go above 8-10GB RAM so while I will probably go for 32GB, 64 GB is overkill for me. The cooler I selected was also Nocturna but that was updated and mentioned on the second post. I think I may have found the issue with my first build. It seems windos kept using the wrong ssd to install boot manager there and the rest of the OS on the disks I selected. I may have the ability to wait and gather the parts now.
 

DavidM012

Distinguished
OK yes windows 10 can install the bootloader on another drive here's the clean install tutorial so basically power off and disconnect the other drives.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor ($166.98 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 White 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($46.36 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B660M GAMING X AX DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($149.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($84.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: XFX GTR XXX Radeon RX 580 8 GB Video Card ($149.99 @ Best Buy)
Case: NZXT H510i ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ Best Buy)
Power Supply: Corsair RM650x (2021) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.95 @ B&H)
Total: $938.24
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-12-08 07:35 EST-0500


Well OK I'm finding it hard to find better suggestions but here it is with just one nvme drive also the price of the rmx seems to have gone up if you compare it to where it was in this thread but that was a 2018 model and this is a 2021 model. Basically seems to have eaten the savings from a 12400f cpu and the thermalright assassin being $20 cheaper well I don't know where about $200 dollars disappeared to I simply do not understand

How the mobo is $100 less the cpu is $100 less the cooler is $25 less so why is the total $5 more?

Oh now I do - Your Sapphire Nitro doesn't have a price on it so your total is misleading and will be higher anyway

anyway whatever $10 bucks for a 10x fasterer nvme 1 tb drive over sata 3 ssd might as well. Or just add $91.02 to the total if you still want a 12600 for a total of $1030. Or just wait and see how the deck shuffles by january when the next batch of cpu's and gpus should've emerged. Maybe could get a corsair rm850e for $105 which I've seen suggested in another thread but doesn't appear in my pc partpicker

just illustrates that the power supply capacity locks you in as far as gpu upgrades go. An 850w might give you room for a 3070 or 3080 although as I said some might prefer a 1000w unit for a 3080 or 3090, because of the transient power spikes going over capacity see the brewing problem with gpu power design from gamer's nexus so it's psu+gpu that would push the price up.
 
Last edited:

logainofhades

Titan
Moderator
Yup, for most of my software development I rarely go above 8-10GB RAM so while I will probably go for 32GB, 64 GB is overkill for me. The cooler I selected was also Nocturna but that was updated and mentioned on the second post. I think I may have found the issue with my first build. It seems windos kept using the wrong ssd to install boot manager there and the rest of the OS on the disks I selected. I may have the ability to wait and gather the parts now.

The NU12s is a decent cooler, but overpriced. A Deepcool AK620 is a bit cheaper, and a superior cooler, that holds its own up really well against Noctua's biggest and best coolers.