- Jun 17, 2022
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I am upgrading my PC / doing a new build. After diving into all the different considerations I could find when picking parts, I'd like to run it by people and see if there's any recommendations / considerations I'm not aware of. I'll go in depth into the parts further down, but to start, here's the info based on FinneousPJ template:
Approximate Purchase Date: In the next month or two
Budget Range: 1k - 2k
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, web browsing, video watching, programming
Are you buying a monitor: Maybe
Parts to Buy: All except HDD
Do you need to buy OS: Yes
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: None. I link to PCPP just because that's where I built it. I'll likely order from Newegg, though.
Location: Mountain Time
Parts Preferences: Not married to any brand, but I typically get intel & nvidia
Overclocking: No - it's a bit beyond the scope of what I'm comfortable with doing, but I'll probably go into the bios and enable a better RAM timing profile; though, I've never done that either.
SLI or Crossfire: No
Your Monitor Resolution: Currently 1920x1080, but (as noted above) I might get new monitors
Additional Comments: I play video games frequently (i.e. I just finished MC Stoneblock2, Wartales, and need to go back and finish Elden Ring). I also use it for work, which involved programming in R, so lots of data computations. I'd like it to be quiet, but it doesn't need to make no noise whatsoever.
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Current PC is okay. I've got GTX 1070, but my bottleneck is the cpu (Intel Core i7-4790, LGA1150). I can't upgrade cpu without upgrading MB, because of the socket. And since I finally have discretionary funds, I'd like to do a full makeover.
CPU:
I started with the CPU. To future proof, I figured I'd go big, and chose the Intel Core i9-12900K 16 core. I figure the extra cores will be useful for work, too since I do a lot of data computations; though, work isn't my priority with my personal machine.
Chipset:
Next I chose the chipset. I decided on the Intel Z690 because it supports:
1.) Since the PCIe config is 1x16+1x4, would I be bottlenecking by doing GPU (16 lanes) and two M.2's (4 lanes each, i.e. one for OS and one for my video games)? One M.2 would need to go to the chipset (see MB below).
2.) Which M.2 would be better to go to the chipset (OS or games, that's assuming I don't put both on the same M.2 SSD).
Motherboard:
With the chipset chosen, I can look at MB's next, the MSI PRO Z690-A DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (or the manufacturer site). In addition to the obvious support for the chipset & cpu, it has:
RAM:
After MB, I turned my attention to the memory. Primarily, given how new DDR5 is, but also expensive, I'm thinking I'll stick with DDR4 for now. With the high end cpu I'm using, I don't think I'll have a problem finding a MB in the future that supports the socket and DDR5 when I want to upgrade. That said, I'm not quite sure what speed and timings to go with. The CPU says "Up to DDR4 3200" and the MB says "Supports 1R 2133/ 2666/ 2933/ 3200 MHz (by JEDEC & POR)" while it's page for supported memory shows ones with speeds up to 5100 (for DDR4). I would assume to not go below the maximum, 'cause that would be a RAM bottleneck, and that going over the max doesn't hurt anything. So, I looked for speed of 4000, 2x16 modules, with CAS = 16 ('cause lower is more expensive), and timings with tRAS <= 36. Comparing to the MB manufacturer's supported memory list, the G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-4000 CL19 fits the bill, albiet a bit expensive, $300. It looks like anything with tRAS > 36 is below $220.
Specific RAM Questions:
1.) Are these speed and timings okay, bad, or overkill?
2.) i.e. would a 16-16-16-40 have no noticeable difference from a 16-16-16-36? And thus save me $80+
SSD:
And on the other side of memory, is SSD and HDD. My current system has a 250 Gb MZ-7TE250 SATA SSD (I think this link matches) for the OS and several internal HDDs (1-2 Tb) for main file storage, and an external 4Tb HDD for scheduled backups. So, I wanted to upgrade the OS SSD to an M.2 like the Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME . Currently my games are all on an HDD and they run alright, but I'd like to put them on an SSD.
Specific SSD Questions:
1.) Since the only SSD I have is for the OS, and I could get an even bigger M.2 SSD, like the Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME, I'm wondering about getting the big SSD and using that for OS and games, or if I should keep the games separate from the OS.
2.) Do I need to worry about heat dissipation? If so, how to?
GPU:
The next part I chose was the GPU. After looking at the GPU Benchmarks and Hierarchy 2022 page, I was interested in getting something in the RTX 30 family. For my three monitors, I need at least 2 HDMI and 1 Display port. I have used Nvidia in the past, so I figured I'd use them again, but that's mostly just to narrow down the selection. I arbitrarily chose 12 Gb memory, a bit more than the smallest. This left me with 3060's and 3080/3080Ti's, the latter being much more expensive. So, I chose the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB GAMING OC Rev 2.0 Video Card which looks like it gives decent fps on ultra based on TH Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 12GB Review, and isn't nearly as expensive, i.e. $440 - $500, as the 3080's, which are around $900 - $1000.
PSU:
And finally the PSU; the part I'm least comfortable / confident picking. Newegg's calculator says 800-900 Watts. Outervisions' says 544W load, rec PSU 594W, and rec UPS 1200 VA - I currently have a CP1000PFCLCD PSU which is 1000VA. Cool master says rec 502W. I know I don't need to max out the 80Plus rating (i.e. titanium or platinum) and bigger PSU isn't always better.
Specific PSU Questions:
1.) ATX (now-a-days) is the same as ATX12V, right? And those are the forms I should be looking at, right? i.e. not BTX, EPS12V, or SFX12V.
2.) The only cables I need to worry about are 20+4 pin is for ATX MB, 6 pin is for PCIe GPU, and SATA cables for SATA drives (HDD and SDD) & optical.
Cooling:
I haven't looked into this much at all, but I like the idea of trying out some liquid cooling. I'm thinking of getting closed loop liquid cooler, because I they're easy to set up - my current system is just stock fan - something like Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360R RGB 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Case:
I figure I'll fit the case to the parts once they're finalized, to make sure I have room and if I'm doing liquid cooling that there's a spot for the fans.
Approximate Purchase Date: In the next month or two
Budget Range: 1k - 2k
System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, web browsing, video watching, programming
Are you buying a monitor: Maybe
Parts to Buy: All except HDD
Do you need to buy OS: Yes
Preferred Website(s) for Parts: None. I link to PCPP just because that's where I built it. I'll likely order from Newegg, though.
Location: Mountain Time
Parts Preferences: Not married to any brand, but I typically get intel & nvidia
Overclocking: No - it's a bit beyond the scope of what I'm comfortable with doing, but I'll probably go into the bios and enable a better RAM timing profile; though, I've never done that either.
SLI or Crossfire: No
Your Monitor Resolution: Currently 1920x1080, but (as noted above) I might get new monitors
Additional Comments: I play video games frequently (i.e. I just finished MC Stoneblock2, Wartales, and need to go back and finish Elden Ring). I also use it for work, which involved programming in R, so lots of data computations. I'd like it to be quiet, but it doesn't need to make no noise whatsoever.
And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Current PC is okay. I've got GTX 1070, but my bottleneck is the cpu (Intel Core i7-4790, LGA1150). I can't upgrade cpu without upgrading MB, because of the socket. And since I finally have discretionary funds, I'd like to do a full makeover.
CPU:
I started with the CPU. To future proof, I figured I'd go big, and chose the Intel Core i9-12900K 16 core. I figure the extra cores will be useful for work, too since I do a lot of data computations; though, work isn't my priority with my personal machine.
Chipset:
Next I chose the chipset. I decided on the Intel Z690 because it supports:
- dual channel DIMMs (I plan on doing a 2x16)
- up to four displays(I currently use three)
- PCIe gen 4
- more than 20 PCIe lanes (I plan on having 1 GPU and at least one M.2 SSD, maybe two)
- PCIe config 1x16+1x4 (same as prev note, GPU + SSD)
- USB 3.2 Gen 2x2, 2, 1
1.) Since the PCIe config is 1x16+1x4, would I be bottlenecking by doing GPU (16 lanes) and two M.2's (4 lanes each, i.e. one for OS and one for my video games)? One M.2 would need to go to the chipset (see MB below).
2.) Which M.2 would be better to go to the chipset (OS or games, that's assuming I don't put both on the same M.2 SSD).
Motherboard:
With the chipset chosen, I can look at MB's next, the MSI PRO Z690-A DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (or the manufacturer site). In addition to the obvious support for the chipset & cpu, it has:
- dual-channel support
- PCIe 4 & 5 (mainly looking for 4, but 5 is good future proofing)
- a few SATA (HDDs, optical, and any others)
- M.2 Gen 4 slots (one processor allocated & one chipset allocated)
- RAID (don't plan to use soon, but maybe in future)
- ATX form factor
- USB Gen 3.2 2x2, 2, 1
- DDR4 (5 is new and expensive)
RAM:
After MB, I turned my attention to the memory. Primarily, given how new DDR5 is, but also expensive, I'm thinking I'll stick with DDR4 for now. With the high end cpu I'm using, I don't think I'll have a problem finding a MB in the future that supports the socket and DDR5 when I want to upgrade. That said, I'm not quite sure what speed and timings to go with. The CPU says "Up to DDR4 3200" and the MB says "Supports 1R 2133/ 2666/ 2933/ 3200 MHz (by JEDEC & POR)" while it's page for supported memory shows ones with speeds up to 5100 (for DDR4). I would assume to not go below the maximum, 'cause that would be a RAM bottleneck, and that going over the max doesn't hurt anything. So, I looked for speed of 4000, 2x16 modules, with CAS = 16 ('cause lower is more expensive), and timings with tRAS <= 36. Comparing to the MB manufacturer's supported memory list, the G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-4000 CL19 fits the bill, albiet a bit expensive, $300. It looks like anything with tRAS > 36 is below $220.
Specific RAM Questions:
1.) Are these speed and timings okay, bad, or overkill?
2.) i.e. would a 16-16-16-40 have no noticeable difference from a 16-16-16-36? And thus save me $80+
SSD:
And on the other side of memory, is SSD and HDD. My current system has a 250 Gb MZ-7TE250 SATA SSD (I think this link matches) for the OS and several internal HDDs (1-2 Tb) for main file storage, and an external 4Tb HDD for scheduled backups. So, I wanted to upgrade the OS SSD to an M.2 like the Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME . Currently my games are all on an HDD and they run alright, but I'd like to put them on an SSD.
Specific SSD Questions:
1.) Since the only SSD I have is for the OS, and I could get an even bigger M.2 SSD, like the Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME, I'm wondering about getting the big SSD and using that for OS and games, or if I should keep the games separate from the OS.
2.) Do I need to worry about heat dissipation? If so, how to?
GPU:
The next part I chose was the GPU. After looking at the GPU Benchmarks and Hierarchy 2022 page, I was interested in getting something in the RTX 30 family. For my three monitors, I need at least 2 HDMI and 1 Display port. I have used Nvidia in the past, so I figured I'd use them again, but that's mostly just to narrow down the selection. I arbitrarily chose 12 Gb memory, a bit more than the smallest. This left me with 3060's and 3080/3080Ti's, the latter being much more expensive. So, I chose the Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB GAMING OC Rev 2.0 Video Card which looks like it gives decent fps on ultra based on TH Nvidia GeForce RTX 3060 12GB Review, and isn't nearly as expensive, i.e. $440 - $500, as the 3080's, which are around $900 - $1000.
PSU:
And finally the PSU; the part I'm least comfortable / confident picking. Newegg's calculator says 800-900 Watts. Outervisions' says 544W load, rec PSU 594W, and rec UPS 1200 VA - I currently have a CP1000PFCLCD PSU which is 1000VA. Cool master says rec 502W. I know I don't need to max out the 80Plus rating (i.e. titanium or platinum) and bigger PSU isn't always better.
Specific PSU Questions:
1.) ATX (now-a-days) is the same as ATX12V, right? And those are the forms I should be looking at, right? i.e. not BTX, EPS12V, or SFX12V.
2.) The only cables I need to worry about are 20+4 pin is for ATX MB, 6 pin is for PCIe GPU, and SATA cables for SATA drives (HDD and SDD) & optical.
Cooling:
I haven't looked into this much at all, but I like the idea of trying out some liquid cooling. I'm thinking of getting closed loop liquid cooler, because I they're easy to set up - my current system is just stock fan - something like Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML360R RGB 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Case:
I figure I'll fit the case to the parts once they're finalized, to make sure I have room and if I'm doing liquid cooling that there's a spot for the fans.
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