Question New system build - i9 13900 based - and review of my planned setup

[James Blonde]

Looking for a sense check on this please!

I'm looking to replace my i7 9700K / RTX 3070Ti / 64Gb DDR4 based system. I've always tended to go with decent spec, overclockable components, but then never overclocked. My initial thoughts for my new system are to do the same (and pretend I might overclock at some point in the future) but given how much components are now, I'm worried I might be getting carried away here.

Initial thoughts are:
i9 3900K
Gigabyte Z790 AORUS Master DDR5
Probably 64Gb DDR5 - not sure on model / spec yet, probably Corsair something or other
RTX 4070Ti - it seemed the reviews suggested it might be the sweet spot in the 40 series - good performance, not astronomically expensive. Can I, or do I want to justify a 4080 for a few hundred £ more?
I've got some M2 drives I'll carry over to the new system
Probably a Corsair water cooler and fans - I'll take some of my RGB fans over from my current system
Fractal Design North case with the wood accenting, but not sure whether these cases are big enough for the motherboard / graphics card?
I've got a 1000w Corsair PSU in my current system that I can swap out for a spare 750w I've got

It's a real general purpose, do everything as well as I can PC - Main use cases are photography (photoshop, etc), video (Resolve when I finally get off my rear and start processing my video!), general productivity and browsing, sims / gaming (mostly things like Cities Skylines, Transport Fever, Flight Sim, GTA type games - very little online gaming)

I'll be selling my current PC to part fund. Price isn't the biggest consideration here. I've gone Gigabyte because it's what I've currently got, and the spec seems suitable.



I've got a backup PC (an i5 3570K, 32Gb DDR3, GTX 1070, ton of hard drives) that I've used as a Plex media server, a print server (not needed any more) and for downloading. I'm thinking of maybe downgrading this, shifting the hard drives to the NAS, selling the graphics card, making it more efficient and maybe put it in a smaller case, just to use for torrenting. Not really seeing any point buying new components when I already have them.

I do have a 40Tb NAS (QNAP TS-453D) that I'm using just for file backups / storage and as a Plex media server. I was hoping I could replace my backup PC with it, but not familiar enough with non-windows systems to use it properly and realising that downloading on it was probably just a risk not worth taking. So may just add spare hard drives to the QNAP expansion bay I bought for it and use it as my main file storage / media server.


Is this sensible??

 

[Lucky_SLS]

The 13th gen i9 13900k are pretty much factory oc'ed to the max. You just have to release the limits in bios for your OC experience - by that i mean 250W power usage and heat output to match.

So for those reasons, i would suggest a 360 AIO cooler. This one: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360 A-RGB 48.8 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (ACFRE00101A) - PCPartPicker
The above cooler uses a 38mm thick rad with 25m thick fans - perfect for i9 13900k

So effectively you are looking for a gpu that is not more than 290mm long. For a 4070ti/4080 class gpu, thats is tough...So i would suggest another case.

You would also need Z690/Z790 mobo. I would suggest looking for a model that uses DDR4 rams so u can reuse them if u would like to.

If the corsair 1000w PSU is not more than 5 years old, i would reuse that as well...

The GPU choice depends on which monitor you are gonna pair it with. For 4k, i would suggest 4080. For 2k 144hz, i would say 4070ti is good enough...

 

[James Blonde]

Thanks - I was worried the case might be a bit small. My current Define R6 is quite tight on my 3070Ti, and suspected the other Fractal Design cases might be the same. Shame, as I really like them! So any recommendations on a nice, different (I do like the idea of wood) case?

Dunno why I've been so scared of overclocking - my suspicion is I wouldn't need to do anything to my system other than make a few, probably simple, BIOS tweaks. Just never done it!

Ahh I put the wrong motherboard in - my bad - have edited. Meant the Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Master.

The PSU is less than 5 years old, but are you asking that on the grounds of general use / wear and tear? I don't tend to turn my systems off....

I'm suspecting I'd be running at 2K rather than 4K. Sure, future proofing is a consideration, but I guess it's "easy" to upgrade a graphics card rather than the whole system, so could start smaller and upgrade later maybe? Or not!

 

[Lucky_SLS]

If you are interested in OC, i would suggest ryzen 7900X3D or the upcoming 7800X3D.

1 - The ryzen 3D chips are the current cpu gaming kings
2 - AM5 platform would be upgradeable. But this means u cant use your current ram sticks
3 - U can genuinely have some fun playing with curve optimiser and undervolting. gives you the satisfaction of fine tuning your system

You could still go with the FD North case if you use ryzen chips. They dont require a top of the line AIO cuz they draw less power n run relatively cool. Top mount the AIO and you can fit the GPU.

I was thinking a corsair 1000w psu would be a RM series or higher tier. If so, then a5 year old good corsair PSU can be reused for your new build.

The monitor is a 600nits HDR600 certified model.

Place holder for 7800X3D - April 6th launch

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 4.7 GHz 12-Core Processor ($432.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool LT520 85.85 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($113.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: ASRock X670E Pro RS ATX AM5 Motherboard ($279.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Force Delta RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory ($121.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GAMING X TRIO GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB Video Card ($829.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design North ATX Mid Tower Case ($134.34 @ Amazon)
Monitor: MSI Optix MPG321QRF-QD 32.0" 2560 x 1440 175 Hz Monitor ($379.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2292.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-21 14:52 EDT-0400

If you want to stick with intel, i would suggest you to go for 13700k, not much performance gains from going to an i9

If you want to reuse your DDR4 rams:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-13700K 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor ($392.94 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool LT520 85.85 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($113.98 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: MSI PRO Z790-A WIFI DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($259.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GAMING X TRIO GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB Video Card ($829.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Fractal Design North ATX Mid Tower Case ($134.34 @ Amazon)
Monitor: MSI Optix MPG321QRF-QD 32.0" 2560 x 1440 175 Hz Monitor ($379.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2111.23
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-21 15:05 EDT-0400

 

[James Blonde]

I guess I'm being quite conscious about future proofing if I can, and not leaving myself wishing I'd just gone a little bit bigger.... Though I guess I do have the option of upgrading processor / RAM / here too. Also, I've been fairly loyal to Intel for a while (dunno why - I'm sure they dont care about me! ) so what would you do for a Z790 / DDR5 / I9 13900K? (and what do I actually lose with the KF or the stock 13900?)

 

[Eximo]

F doesn't have onboard graphics. 13900 lacks the extreme peak turbo speeds and has a limited boost duration stock. But should use a lot less power on average and require somewhat less cooling.

I would probably pick up a 7950X rather than a 13900k. As mentioned, Z790/LGA1700 is already done. No upgrades coming.

If you are going DDR5, makes sense to go with AMD as this is a new socket and you are probably going to get 3 generations of CPUs on it at least.

AM4 : Zen, Zen+, Zen2, Zen3
LGA1151v2 : 8th/9th, LGA1200: 10th, 11th, LGA1700: 12th, 13th, LGA1851: 14th ...
AM5: Zen 4 ....

 

[James Blonde]

Ok then.... gulp ... will have a look! Think I've only ever gone team red once in the 27 years I've had a PC, and that was a bought system rather than a self build!

FWIW, PSU is a modular HX1000, so I think reusable?

I'm likely to go for 64Gb RAM on the basis that Cities Skylines (...yeh yeh, I know) uses it! but that could be cos the game / player has badly optimised the system. Also helps with my larger RAW image processing in Photoshop / large Lightroom catalogue. I did ask in the Memory forum though, is faster memory better than more memory? On the basis that Corsair sell 2 x 48Gb DDR5 5600mhz DIMMs? But that was on the basis that I was going intel and the motherboard supported 6000mhz, where I think AMD is lower? So might be a moot point now? So more of the same speed is better than less - easy!)

I guess AMD would solve my case issues, so could go with the Fractal Design North. Any other cases worth considering?


and any thoughts on downsizing my backup PC? Is my logic fair? And any suggested cases?

 

[Lucky_SLS]

The HX1000 is a great PSU, u can definitely reuse it!

Corsair has wood front panels sold separate as an accessory for their 4000/5000 series cases.

I would suggest the 5000D : The wood front panel has cutouts, so dont spend extra for the airflow version of the case if u decide to get it.

5000 Series Wooden PC Case Panel - Bamboo (corsair.com)
Corsair 5000D ATX Mid Tower Case (CC-9011209-WW) - PCPartPicker

As for DDR5 rams, i found this info in DDR, DDR2, DDR3, DDR4, DDR5 - Data transfer speed (softwareok.eu)

DDR5 data transfer rates:
DDR5 4800: 38.4 GB / s
DDR5 5200: 43.2 GB / s
DDR5 6000 48,0 GB / s
DDR5 6400: 51.2 GB / s
DDR5 7000 56,0 GB / s
These are the values for single channel in dual channel twice as an example: DDR5 6400: 51.2 GB/s x 2 = 102 GB/s.
So u can make an educated guess on how much is too premium for bump in the ram speeds. a CL36 vs CL40 wont be that huge of a difference in performance, so dont stress it out.

Regarding ur NAS setup, i am unfortunately not the expert in that subject...

 

[James Blonde]

Thanks @Lucky_SLS and @Eximo - helps a lot.

I'd clocked the Corsair case yesterday - might be a good call there!

I'm confident enough to plug things into a motherboard and hope they all work when I turn it on, but I suspect it's not that I know what I'm doing, and can't really say I know why one component is better than another. That little RAM explainer helped, so thanks! What is it they say? I know just enough to be dangerous....?

 

[Eximo]

2x32GB is certainly a normal configuration. Haven't seen anyone use 48GB sticks on AMD yet, only 24GB.

Getting 4 sticks to work generally means sticking to 4800 though. So if you wanted 128GB, you will have to settle for lower speeds (typically) your results may vary.

 

[James Blonde]

Gut feeling is 64Gb will be fine, so 2 sticks of 32 will be enough, and I'm sure if I decide I need more at a later date, they'll have caught up on speed by then.

 

[Eximo]

Possibly through BIOS updates it will be easier to get 4 sticks running, but for now it is quite problematic.

 

[James Blonde]

System bought! Should arrive tomorrow - how exciting!

Decided not to buy a graphics card and at least temporarily use my 3070Ti - I don't think it was the limiting factor in my 9700K system, and everyone keeps suggesting it would be mad to buy a higher end graphics card at the current prices - so I won't! Yet! Though if the manufacturers aren't going to budge and prices aren't going to come down, then maybe that's stupid.... meh! We'll see!

Obviously though would be easier to sell my 9700K system with a 3070Ti than with the GTX1070 that'll be coming out of my backup system :/ So maybe this decision might not last....