[SOLVED] PC Parts Good/Compatibility

[ultrautoob]

So I'm just trying to get a godlike PC that can run any game. Beforehand I had decided to get a GTX 3090 with an i7 9900F but my friend suggested I get a GTX 3080 with a i9-9900k. With that I was able to save a lot of money. Is the GTX 3090 worth it for being double the price of the GTX 3080 with barely noticeable difference? Is there any changes to this list or anything that I am missing and should get. I'm willing to spend up to $3,000 if there are necessary changes, but of course I'd prefer not to pay much more than $2,500 if possible. Here's a list of the PC parts I've picked out:

I9-9900k CPU
Intel Core i9-9900 Desktop Processor 8 Cores up to 5.0GHz LGA1151 300 Series 65W
-$403.00

NVIDIA RXT 3080
MSI GEFORCE RTX 3080 VENTUS 3X 10G - $700.00

ASUS 165hz
Asus VG278QR 27” Gaming Monitor, 1080P Full HD, 165Hz (Supports 144Hz), G-SYNC Compatible, 0.5ms, Extreme Low Motion Blur, Eye Care, DisplayPort HDMI DVI - $249.00

Be Quiet Case
be quiet! Pure Base 500 Window Metallic Gray, ATX, Midi Tower, tempered glass window - $84.90

EVGA 850W
CORSAIR RMX Series, RM850x, 850 Watt, 80+ Gold Certified, Fully Modular Power Supply - $150.02

LED COSAIR Fans
Corsair LL Series, LL120 RGB, 120mm RGB LED Fan, Single Pack- White - $38.99

Asus Prime Motherboard
Asus Prime X570-Pro Ryzen 3 AM4 with PCIe Gen4, Dual M.2 HDMI, SATA 6GB/s USB 3.2 Gen 2 ATX Motherboard - $234.99

Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 64GB
Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 64GB (2x32GB) DDR4 3200 (PC4-25600) C16 Desktop Memory–Black - $300.00

Samsung SATA 2TB SSD
SAMSUNG 870 QVO-Series 2.5" SATA III Internal SSD Single Unit Version 2TB (MZ-77Q2T0B/AM) - $220.78

Blue Snowball
Blue Snowball iCE USB Mic for Recording and Streaming on PC and Mac, Cardioid Condenser Capsule, Adjustable Stand, Plug and Play – Black - $50

Razer Ornata Keyboard
Razer Ornata Chroma Gaming Keyboard: Hybrid Mechanical Key Switches - Customizable Chroma RGB Lighting - Individually Backlit Keys - Detachable Plush Wrist Rest - Programmable Macro Functionality - $80

Razer DeathAdder V2
Razer DeathAdder v2 Gaming Mouse: 20K DPI Optical Sensor - Fastest Gaming Mouse Switch - Chroma RGB Lighting - 8 Programmable Buttons - Rubberized Side Grips - Classic Black - $70

Glorious Large Mousepad
Glorious Large Gaming Mouse Mat/Pad - Stitched Edges, White Cloth Mousepad | 11x13" (GW-L) - $14

Clovertale
Clovertale Braided ATX Sleeved Cable Extension Kit for Power Supply Cable Kit, PSU Connectors, 24 Pin, 8 Pin, 6 Pin 4 + 4 Pin, 6 Pack, with Cable Comb 24 Pieces Set 24-Pin, 8-Pin, 6-Pin (Black) - $26.99

End Price:
$2624.07

 

[Archaic59]

So I'm just trying to get a godlike PC that can run any game. Beforehand I had decided to get a GTX 3090 with an i7 9900F but my friend suggested I get a GTX 3080 with a i9-9900k. With that I was able to save a lot of money. Is the GTX 3090 worth it for being double the price of the GTX 3080 with barely noticeable difference? Is there any changes to this list or anything that I am missing and should get. I'm willing to spend up to $3,000 if there are necessary changes, but of course I'd prefer not to pay much more than $2,500 if possible. Here's a list of the PC parts I've picked out:

I9-9900k CPU
Intel Core i9-9900 Desktop Processor 8 Cores up to 5.0GHz LGA1151 300 Series 65W
-$403.00

NVIDIA RXT 3080
MSI GEFORCE RTX 3080 VENTUS 3X 10G - $700.00

ASUS 165hz
Asus VG278QR 27” Gaming Monitor, 1080P Full HD, 165Hz (Supports 144Hz), G-SYNC Compatible, 0.5ms, Extreme Low Motion Blur, Eye Care, DisplayPort HDMI DVI - $249.00

Be Quiet Case
be quiet! Pure Base 500 Window Metallic Gray, ATX, Midi Tower, tempered glass window - $84.90

EVGA 850W
CORSAIR RMX Series, RM850x, 850 Watt, 80+ Gold Certified, Fully Modular Power Supply - $150.02

LED COSAIR Fans
Corsair LL Series, LL120 RGB, 120mm RGB LED Fan, Single Pack- White - $38.99

Asus Prime Motherboard
Asus Prime X570-Pro Ryzen 3 AM4 with PCIe Gen4, Dual M.2 HDMI, SATA 6GB/s USB 3.2 Gen 2 ATX Motherboard - $234.99

Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 64GB
Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 64GB (2x32GB) DDR4 3200 (PC4-25600) C16 Desktop Memory–Black - $300.00

Samsung SATA 2TB SSD
SAMSUNG 870 QVO-Series 2.5" SATA III Internal SSD Single Unit Version 2TB (MZ-77Q2T0B/AM) - $220.78

Blue Snowball
Blue Snowball iCE USB Mic for Recording and Streaming on PC and Mac, Cardioid Condenser Capsule, Adjustable Stand, Plug and Play – Black - $50

Razer Ornata Keyboard
Razer Ornata Chroma Gaming Keyboard: Hybrid Mechanical Key Switches - Customizable Chroma RGB Lighting - Individually Backlit Keys - Detachable Plush Wrist Rest - Programmable Macro Functionality - $80

Razer DeathAdder V2
Razer DeathAdder v2 Gaming Mouse: 20K DPI Optical Sensor - Fastest Gaming Mouse Switch - Chroma RGB Lighting - 8 Programmable Buttons - Rubberized Side Grips - Classic Black - $70

Glorious Large Mousepad
Glorious Large Gaming Mouse Mat/Pad - Stitched Edges, White Cloth Mousepad | 11x13" (GW-L) - $14

Clovertale
Clovertale Braided ATX Sleeved Cable Extension Kit for Power Supply Cable Kit, PSU Connectors, 24 Pin, 8 Pin, 6 Pin 4 + 4 Pin, 6 Pack, with Cable Comb 24 Pieces Set 24-Pin, 8-Pin, 6-Pin (Black) - $26.99

End Price:
$2624.07

I only have a couple things.

• The 870 QVO SSD would be fine as a storage drive but you should be using a faster m.2 NVME drive for OS and apps. Samsung 970 EVO NVME or Adata XPG XS8200 Pro NVME would be my choices.
• Have you ever sat close to a 27" 1080p monitor? It's not that great looking, pixels and all. I bet you'd be a lot happier with the visuals of a 1440p monitor.
• I didn't see a CPU cooler listed. The 9900k can get hot at high loads. You'll need a good air cooler unless you go with AIO liquid cooler. Check your BeQuiet! case specs to verify proper fit for whatever you decide to use.
• Power supply: Great choice for power capacity and a good quality unit.
• Your case comes with two Pure Wings 2 140mm fans, 1 in front and 1 in back. You'll want another up front, especially since the closed front style of the case will limit airflow.

 

[Darkbreeze]

You are WAY overkill for 1080p gaming with any of those graphics cards. An RTX 2060 Super is probably just about the highest end graphics card anybody needs for ultra gaming on any game title at 1080. In fact, the 2060 Super can ALMOST handle Ultra 1440p on the majority of games and then high or a mix of high-ultra on a lot of others. The 2070 Super is a much better choice for 1440p and these new 30 series cards are pretty much 4k cards, across the board, with the 3070 outperforming the 2080 ti which was and is strictly a 4k card. There is absolutely no need for a card that powerful for lower resolutions unless you are gaming on multiple screens, drastically raising the amount of pixels that need to be driven.

I'm fine with gaming or using a 27" 1080p monitor Archaic. Not everybody sits close, and for anybody at 2.5ft or more, it might be fine depending on your personal preferences. Personally, I don't particularly like very high resolutions on smaller displays. I think 1080p is fine up to 27". Then 1440p from 27-34" and then 4k for larger models. But that too, is only MY opinion, and personal preference is going to reign in this area.

I'd plan to add TWO more fans, not just one. But that might also depend on what CPU cooler is going to be used as well, which I do not see listed.

 

[ultrautoob]

I only have a couple things.

• The 870 QVO SSD would be fine as a storage drive but you should be using a faster m.2 NVME drive for OS and apps. Samsung 970 EVO NVME or Adata XPG XS8200 Pro NVME would be my choices.
• Have you ever sat close to a 27" 1080p monitor? It's not that great looking, pixels and all. I bet you'd be a lot happier with the visuals of a 1440p monitor.
• I didn't see a CPU cooler listed. The 9900k can get hot at high loads. You'll need a good air cooler unless you go with AIO liquid cooler. Check your BeQuiet! case specs to verify proper fit for whatever you decide to use.
• Power supply: Great choice for power capacity and a good quality unit.
• Your case comes with two Pure Wings 2 140mm fans, 1 in front and 1 in back. You'll want another up front, especially since the closed front style of the case will limit airflow.

By air cooler do you mean a fan? Because I did include a fan, along with the cases fan. Are you suggesting I buy more? If so how many and can you link me any good fans for a cheap price? And I’ll take a look at the suggestions for SSD cards. Also, any 1440p monitors you can suggest? Curved preferred but doesn’t really matter. Thanks for the reply!

 

[ultrautoob]

You are WAY overkill for 1080p gaming with any of those graphics cards. An RTX 2060 Super is probably just about the highest end graphics card anybody needs for ultra gaming on any game title at 1080. In fact, the 2060 Super can ALMOST handle Ultra 1440p on the majority of games and then high or a mix of high-ultra on a lot of others. The 2070 Super is a much better choice for 1440p and these new 30 series cards are pretty much 4k cards, across the board, with the 3070 outperforming the 2080 ti which was and is strictly a 4k card. There is absolutely no need for a card that powerful for lower resolutions unless you are gaming on multiple screens, drastically raising the amount of pixels that need to be driven.

I'm fine with gaming or using a 27" 1080p monitor Archaic. Not everybody sits close, and for anybody at 2.5ft or more, it might be fine depending on your personal preferences. Personally, I don't particularly like very high resolutions on smaller displays. I think 1080p is fine up to 27". Then 1440p from 27-34" and then 4k for larger models. But that too, is only MY opinion, and personal preference is going to reign in this area.

I'd plan to add TWO more fans, not just one. But that might also depend on what CPU cooler is going to be used as well, which I do not see listed.

Alright, I’m not planning on getting a worse graphics card so I’ll look into a better monitor. Any monitors you suggest? I’m not looking for anything too expensive or even a monitor that’ll match my GPU, I just want a decent enough one. Also, you look like you know a lot about graphics cards, do you think that the 3090 is worth it for being 2x as much cost wise than the 3080? Or do you think that the 3090 is worth the money. Thanks for your reply!

 

[thepersonwithaface45]

Alright, I’m not planning on getting a worse graphics card so I’ll look into a better monitor. Any monitors you suggest? I’m not looking for anything too expensive or even a monitor that’ll match my GPU, I just want a decent enough one. Also, you look like you know a lot about graphics cards, do you think that the 3090 is worth it for being 2x as much cost wise than the 3080? Or do you think that the 3090 is worth the money. Thanks for your reply!

I would not get a 3090 if you aren't planning on 4k gaming. Even a 3080 is a bit of a stretch since you aren't going 4k, but it will definitely do the job at 2k, just some diminishing returns. The 3070 looks like it would be a really good card for 2k resolutions.
I myself would just go for the 3080 and a 4k monitor.
https://www.tomshardware.com/review...ming-monitor-review-jumbo-screen-extra-bright
That's probably the one I'm gonna grab if nothing else comes out soon.
2k- Well, there's a ton of those. But if you want "god-like", shoot, bite the bullet, save the wallet, and jump into the world of 4k with the rest of us!
Plus, look at it this way, for the price of a 3090 you can get that 4k monitor and a 3080!

...soon as those 3080s restock...

 

[Archaic59]

By air cooler do you mean a fan? Because I did include a fan, along with the cases fan. Are you suggesting I buy more? If so how many and can you link me any good fans for a cheap price? And I’ll take a look at the suggestions for SSD cards. Also, any 1440p monitors you can suggest? Curved preferred but doesn’t really matter. Thanks for the reply!

- The i9-9900k does not come with a CPU cooler. What are you using for the CPU? I see nothing on your list.

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/F3gzK8,84MTwP/

- Here's a monitor worth checking out:
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/2jqBD3/asus-rog-strix-xg279q-270-2560x1440-170-hz-monitor-xg279q

- For installing windows, apps, games:
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/JLdxFT/samsung-970-evo-10tb-m2-2280-solid-state-drive-mz-v7e1t0baw

 

[Darkbreeze]

- Here's a monitor worth checking out:
https://pcpartpicker.com/product/2jqBD3/asus-rog-strix-xg279q-270-2560x1440-170-hz-monitor-xg279q

That monitor is out of stock everywhere except Amazon, where it's 850 dollars. That's pure stupidity to pay that kind of money for a monitor like that, Not even an option IMO.

@ultrautoob , how far away from where you sit will the monitor be placed? Do you have room for a 34" monitor? A 34" monitor will only be about 3/4" taller than a 27" and about 1.25" wider, or thereabouts. Mainly, for a 27-34" display you want to be sure the monitor is going to be sitting about 2.5ft or more away from you.

 

[ultrautoob]

That monitor is out of stock everywhere except Amazon, where it's 850 dollars. That's pure stupidity to pay that kind of money for a monitor like that, Not even an option IMO.

@ultrautoob , how far away from where you sit will the monitor be placed? Do you have room for a 34" monitor? A 34" monitor will only be about 3/4" taller than a 27" and about 1.25" wider, or thereabouts. Mainly, for a 27-34" display you want to be sure the monitor is going to be sitting about 2.5ft or more away from you.

I sit around 2-3 feet away from my monitor. I'd say either 27" or 32" would do the job for the desk I have, 34" might be a bit too large. Here's a monitor I found, do you think it's a good monitor? If not or even if it is, feel free to suggest me a different one: https://www.amazon.com/GFV27DAB-Col...086ZZBPY9/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

 

[Genr8]

So I'm just trying to get a godlike PC that can run any game. Beforehand I had decided to get a GTX 3090 with an i7 9900F but my friend suggested I get a GTX 3080 with a i9-9900k. With that I was able to save a lot of money. Is the GTX 3090 worth it for being double the price of the GTX 3080 with barely noticeable difference? Is there any changes to this list or anything that I am missing and should get. I'm willing to spend up to $3,000 if there are necessary changes, but of course I'd prefer not to pay much more than $2,500 if possible. Here's a list of the PC parts I've picked out:

I9-9900k CPU
Intel Core i9-9900 Desktop Processor 8 Cores up to 5.0GHz LGA1151 300 Series 65W
-$403.00

NVIDIA RXT 3080
MSI GEFORCE RTX 3080 VENTUS 3X 10G - $700.00

ASUS 165hz
Asus VG278QR 27” Gaming Monitor, 1080P Full HD, 165Hz (Supports 144Hz), G-SYNC Compatible, 0.5ms, Extreme Low Motion Blur, Eye Care, DisplayPort HDMI DVI - $249.00

Be Quiet Case
be quiet! Pure Base 500 Window Metallic Gray, ATX, Midi Tower, tempered glass window - $84.90

EVGA 850W
CORSAIR RMX Series, RM850x, 850 Watt, 80+ Gold Certified, Fully Modular Power Supply - $150.02

LED COSAIR Fans
Corsair LL Series, LL120 RGB, 120mm RGB LED Fan, Single Pack- White - $38.99

Asus Prime Motherboard
Asus Prime X570-Pro Ryzen 3 AM4 with PCIe Gen4, Dual M.2 HDMI, SATA 6GB/s USB 3.2 Gen 2 ATX Motherboard - $234.99

Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 64GB
Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 64GB (2x32GB) DDR4 3200 (PC4-25600) C16 Desktop Memory–Black - $300.00

Samsung SATA 2TB SSD
SAMSUNG 870 QVO-Series 2.5" SATA III Internal SSD Single Unit Version 2TB (MZ-77Q2T0B/AM) - $220.78

Blue Snowball
Blue Snowball iCE USB Mic for Recording and Streaming on PC and Mac, Cardioid Condenser Capsule, Adjustable Stand, Plug and Play – Black - $50

Razer Ornata Keyboard
Razer Ornata Chroma Gaming Keyboard: Hybrid Mechanical Key Switches - Customizable Chroma RGB Lighting - Individually Backlit Keys - Detachable Plush Wrist Rest - Programmable Macro Functionality - $80

Razer DeathAdder V2
Razer DeathAdder v2 Gaming Mouse: 20K DPI Optical Sensor - Fastest Gaming Mouse Switch - Chroma RGB Lighting - 8 Programmable Buttons - Rubberized Side Grips - Classic Black - $70

Glorious Large Mousepad
Glorious Large Gaming Mouse Mat/Pad - Stitched Edges, White Cloth Mousepad | 11x13" (GW-L) - $14

Clovertale
Clovertale Braided ATX Sleeved Cable Extension Kit for Power Supply Cable Kit, PSU Connectors, 24 Pin, 8 Pin, 6 Pin 4 + 4 Pin, 6 Pack, with Cable Comb 24 Pieces Set 24-Pin, 8-Pin, 6-Pin (Black) - $26.99

End Price:
$2624.07

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this but why do you have an x570 motherboard with an intel chip? x570 is for amd processors. Get a good z390 board for your 9900k

 

[Darkbreeze]

Well, good catch. I didn't even notice that, and it's certainly a problem. Can't use that board with an Intel build.

This would be a good starting place, or even final product. Just add whatever graphics card you want, when and if they become available, to this build and you'd be good to go with really not much need to look at or worry any more about part selection except where you have a preference for something different aesthetically or if you prefer to go with an air cooler rather than water.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-10700K 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor ($377.77 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Corsair iCUE H115i RGB Pro XT 63 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus PRIME Z490-A ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($214.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL14 Memory ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX500 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($114.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($169.99 @ Adorama)
Case: be quiet! Pure Base 500DX ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.90 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Corsair)
Case Fan: be quiet! Pure Wings 2 160 CFM 140 mm Fan ($11.09 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Razer Ornata Chroma RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard ($79.00 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder v2 Wired Optical Mouse ($69.98 @ Amazon)
Custom: Blue Microphones Snowball Black iCE Condenser Microphone ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Custom: Glorious Large Gaming Mouse Mat/Pad - Stitched Edges, White Cloth Mousepad | 11x13 (GW-L) ($13.99 @ Amazon)
Custom: CableMod PRO ModFlex Cable Extension Kit - 8+8 Series - Black/White [CM-PCAB-BKIT-88KKW-3PK-R] ($49.90 @ Amazon)
Total: $1756.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-10-07 15:59 EDT-0400

 

[ultrautoob]

Well, good catch. I didn't even notice that, and it's certainly a problem. Can't use that board with an Intel build.

This would be a good starting place, or even final product. Just add whatever graphics card you want, when and if they become available, to this build and you'd be good to go with really not much need to look at or worry any more about part selection except where you have a preference for something different aesthetically or if you prefer to go with an air cooler rather than water.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-10700K 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor ($377.77 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: Corsair iCUE H115i RGB Pro XT 63 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($139.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus PRIME Z490-A ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($214.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL14 Memory ($219.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Crucial MX500 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($114.99 @ Adorama)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($169.99 @ Adorama)
Case: be quiet! Pure Base 500DX ATX Mid Tower Case ($99.90 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Corsair)
Case Fan: be quiet! Pure Wings 2 160 CFM 140 mm Fan ($11.09 @ Amazon)
Keyboard: Razer Ornata Chroma RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard ($79.00 @ Amazon)
Mouse: Razer DeathAdder v2 Wired Optical Mouse ($69.98 @ Amazon)
Custom: Blue Microphones Snowball Black iCE Condenser Microphone ($49.99 @ Amazon)
Custom: Glorious Large Gaming Mouse Mat/Pad - Stitched Edges, White Cloth Mousepad | 11x13 (GW-L) ($13.99 @ Amazon)
Custom: CableMod PRO ModFlex Cable Extension Kit - 8+8 Series - Black/White [CM-PCAB-BKIT-88KKW-3PK-R] ($49.90 @ Amazon)
Total: $1756.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-10-07 15:59 EDT-0400

Yes I found a good motherboard that's compatible with my i9 9900k. Also I'd probably never get water cooling, heard too many bad stories and seen too many bad videos. Can you suggest any good fan CPU coolers?
Is this one good enough for the PC?: https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Maste...lja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1

I've changed the case to this, which has 6 fans: https://www.amazon.com/MUSETEX-Mid-...07QKV6HP9/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?ie=UTF8

Would I still need the CPU cooler on top of the single separate fan I listed? Thanks.

 

[ultrautoob]

I don't know if anyone has mentioned this but why do you have an x570 motherboard with an intel chip? x570 is for amd processors. Get a good z390 board for your 9900k

Thanks so much for the save! Would've sucked to put it all together and realize the motherboard doesn't work with the CPU. I'll give you best answer after I get my other question answered just because you saved me a lot of time with that reply 😊

 

[Darkbreeze]

No, that cooler is not even half of what you need for that CPU. In fact, that cooler is about the bottom of the pile for my recommendations when it comes to ANY kind of tower cooler. Absolutely not even remotely close to being enough for the 9900k.

You need to look at one of these, if you want to stick to air with a CPU like that.


Below is my list of preferred CPU AIR coolers, also known as Heatsink fans (HSF).

Do not look here for recommendations on water/liquid cooling solutions. There are none to be found.

BEFORE seriously considering ANY cooler, make sure to compare it's height with the maximum CPU cooler height supported by your case. If a cooler won't fit, then there isn't much point in looking at it anyhow unless you are willing to replace the case with a larger, more accomodating model. It should probably go without saying that the recommendations below are NOT intended for systems that incorporate small form factor or mini ITX type enclosures. These are generally for standard ATX tower cases. For recommendations on coolers for very small enclosures, there are many of us around here that can offer some suggestions based on the use case.

A good air cooler works just as well for most applications. There are very few instances I can think of where an AIO will work better than a good air cooler, and even fewer where an AIO will outperform an air cooler if you are willing to buy the right air cooler and then level up by adding some even higher end fans to it.

Loops leak. Heatsinks don't. Pumps fail, FAR more often and usually with far worse consequences, than fans do.

And unlike a heatsink fan assembly, when your pump fails for 99% of AIO coolers, you will be replacing the whole thing, for another 100+ dollars, rather than just a 25 dollar investment for the failure of a fan. Especially since I've rarely seen dual fan coolers have both fans fail at the same time, but even if you factor in two fan failures that's still only about fifty bucks compared to the 100+ it will cost to replace an AIO with a failed pump. And you WILL have a failed pump on most AIO coolers within three years of purchase. Seeing one last longer than five years is possible, but it is not particularly common and we often, very often, see them fail at around the 3 year mark. Sometimes much sooner.

Pump quality and longevity is an area that needs GREAT improvement before AIO coolers will become a primary recommendation for me.

I see a lot of AIO coolers leak and damage hardware as well.

Certainly there are situations where an AIO is called for, or even preferred, but those are MOSTLY aesthetic considerations, because let's face it, a build with an AIO or custom loop generally "looks" a lot cleaner than one that has a big heatsink taking up half the real estate inside your case. When that is the case, I have recommendations for those as well, but I don't offer them unless somebody is specifically asking to go that route.[/B]

They are basically listed in order of preference, from top to bottom. To some degree that preference is based on known performance on similarly overclocked configurations, but not entirely. There are likely a couple of units that are placed closer to the top not because they offer purely better performance than another cooler which is below it, but potentially due to a variety of reasons.

One model might be placed higher than another with the same or similar performance, but has quieter or higher quality fans. It may have the same performance but a better warranty. Long term quality may be higher. It may be less expensive in some cases. Maybe it performs slightly worse, but has quieter fans and a better "fan pitch". Some fans with equal decibel levels do not "sound" like they are the same as the specific pitch heard from one fan might be less annoying than another.

In any case, these are not "tiered" and are not a 100% be all, end all ranking. They are simply MY preference when looking at coolers for a build or when making recommendations. Often, which HSF gets chosen depends on what is on this list and fits the budget or is priced right at the time due to a sale or rebate. Hopefully it will help you and you can rest assured that every cooler listed here is a model that to some degree or other is generally a quality unit which is a lot more likely to be worth the money spent on it than on many other models out there that might look to be a similarly worthwhile investment.

Certainly there are a great many other very good coolers out there, but these are models which are usually available to most anybody building a system or looking for a cooler, regardless of what part of the world they might live in. As always, professional reviews are usually an absolutely essential part of the process of finding a cooler so if you are looking at a model not listed here, I would highly recommend looking at at least two or three professional reviews first.

If you cannot find two reviews of any given cooler, it is likely either too new to have been reviewed yet or it sucked, and nobody wanted to buy one in order to review it plus the manufacturer refused to send samples out to the sites that perform reviews because they knew it would likely get bad publicity.

IMO, nobody out there is making better fans, overall, than Noctua, followed pretty closely by Thermalright. So if you intend to match case fans to the same brand on your HSF, those are pretty hard to beat. Of course, Corsair has it's Maglev fans, and those are pretty damn good too, but they tend to be more expensive than what are in my opinion better fans by these other two, so while they are good products they don't have the same noise characteristics and are probably better suited for configurations where sheer brute force is preferred over low noise that still gives good performance. Also, as with most fan models out there, don't look at the specifications for the non-RGB Maglev fan models and think that you'll be getting the same specs on any RGB versions, because you won't. Fans with RGB tend to sacrifice both maximum CFM and static pressure for the right to stuff the RGB electronics under the hood.


Noctua NH-D14 (Replace stock fans with NF-A14 industrialPPC 2000rpm)
Noctua NH-D15/D15 SE-AM4
Noctua NH-D14 (With original fans)
Thermalright Silver arrow IB-E Extreme
Cryorig R1 Ultimate or Universal
Be Quiet Dark rock Pro 4
Thermalright Legrand Macho RT
Phanteks PH-TC14PE (BK,BL, OR or RD)
Deepcool Assassin III
[/FONT]


It may not be obvious, but is probably worth mentioning, that not all cooler models will fit all CPU sockets as aftermarket coolers generally require an adapter intended for use with that socket. Some coolers that fit an AMD platform might not fit a later AMD platform, or an Intel platform. Often these coolers come with adapters for multiple types of platforms but be sure to verify that a specific cooler WILL work with your platform before purchasing one and finding out later that it will not.

 

[Genr8]

No, that cooler is not even half of what you need for that CPU. In fact, that cooler is about the bottom of the pile for my recommendations when it comes to ANY kind of tower cooler. Absolutely not even remotely close to being enough for the 9900k.

You need to look at one of these, if you want to stick to air with a CPU like that.


Below is my list of preferred CPU AIR coolers, also known as Heatsink fans (HSF).

Do not look here for recommendations on water/liquid cooling solutions. There are none to be found.

BEFORE seriously considering ANY cooler, make sure to compare it's height with the maximum CPU cooler height supported by your case. If a cooler won't fit, then there isn't much point in looking at it anyhow unless you are willing to replace the case with a larger, more accomodating model. It should probably go without saying that the recommendations below are NOT intended for systems that incorporate small form factor or mini ITX type enclosures. These are generally for standard ATX tower cases. For recommendations on coolers for very small enclosures, there are many of us around here that can offer some suggestions based on the use case.

A good air cooler works just as well for most applications. There are very few instances I can think of where an AIO will work better than a good air cooler, and even fewer where an AIO will outperform an air cooler if you are willing to buy the right air cooler and then level up by adding some even higher end fans to it.

Loops leak. Heatsinks don't. Pumps fail, FAR more often and usually with far worse consequences, than fans do.

And unlike a heatsink fan assembly, when your pump fails for 99% of AIO coolers, you will be replacing the whole thing, for another 100+ dollars, rather than just a 25 dollar investment for the failure of a fan. Especially since I've rarely seen dual fan coolers have both fans fail at the same time, but even if you factor in two fan failures that's still only about fifty bucks compared to the 100+ it will cost to replace an AIO with a failed pump. And you WILL have a failed pump on most AIO coolers within three years of purchase. Seeing one last longer than five years is possible, but it is not particularly common and we often, very often, see them fail at around the 3 year mark. Sometimes much sooner.

Pump quality and longevity is an area that needs GREAT improvement before AIO coolers will become a primary recommendation for me.

I see a lot of AIO coolers leak and damage hardware as well.

Certainly there are situations where an AIO is called for, or even preferred, but those are MOSTLY aesthetic considerations, because let's face it, a build with an AIO or custom loop generally "looks" a lot cleaner than one that has a big heatsink taking up half the real estate inside your case. When that is the case, I have recommendations for those as well, but I don't offer them unless somebody is specifically asking to go that route.[/B]

They are basically listed in order of preference, from top to bottom. To some degree that preference is based on known performance on similarly overclocked configurations, but not entirely. There are likely a couple of units that are placed closer to the top not because they offer purely better performance than another cooler which is below it, but potentially due to a variety of reasons.

One model might be placed higher than another with the same or similar performance, but has quieter or higher quality fans. It may have the same performance but a better warranty. Long term quality may be higher. It may be less expensive in some cases. Maybe it performs slightly worse, but has quieter fans and a better "fan pitch". Some fans with equal decibel levels do not "sound" like they are the same as the specific pitch heard from one fan might be less annoying than another.

In any case, these are not "tiered" and are not a 100% be all, end all ranking. They are simply MY preference when looking at coolers for a build or when making recommendations. Often, which HSF gets chosen depends on what is on this list and fits the budget or is priced right at the time due to a sale or rebate. Hopefully it will help you and you can rest assured that every cooler listed here is a model that to some degree or other is generally a quality unit which is a lot more likely to be worth the money spent on it than on many other models out there that might look to be a similarly worthwhile investment.

Certainly there are a great many other very good coolers out there, but these are models which are usually available to most anybody building a system or looking for a cooler, regardless of what part of the world they might live in. As always, professional reviews are usually an absolutely essential part of the process of finding a cooler so if you are looking at a model not listed here, I would highly recommend looking at at least two or three professional reviews first.

If you cannot find two reviews of any given cooler, it is likely either too new to have been reviewed yet or it sucked, and nobody wanted to buy one in order to review it plus the manufacturer refused to send samples out to the sites that perform reviews because they knew it would likely get bad publicity.

IMO, nobody out there is making better fans, overall, than Noctua, followed pretty closely by Thermalright. So if you intend to match case fans to the same brand on your HSF, those are pretty hard to beat. Of course, Corsair has it's Maglev fans, and those are pretty damn good too, but they tend to be more expensive than what are in my opinion better fans by these other two, so while they are good products they don't have the same noise characteristics and are probably better suited for configurations where sheer brute force is preferred over low noise that still gives good performance. Also, as with most fan models out there, don't look at the specifications for the non-RGB Maglev fan models and think that you'll be getting the same specs on any RGB versions, because you won't. Fans with RGB tend to sacrifice both maximum CFM and static pressure for the right to stuff the RGB electronics under the hood.


Noctua NH-D14 (Replace stock fans with NF-A14 industrialPPC 2000rpm)
Noctua NH-D15/D15 SE-AM4
Noctua NH-D14 (With original fans)
Thermalright Silver arrow IB-E Extreme
Cryorig R1 Ultimate or Universal
Be Quiet Dark rock Pro 4
Thermalright Legrand Macho RT
Phanteks PH-TC14PE (BK,BL, OR or RD)
Deepcool Assassin III
[/FONT]


It may not be obvious, but is probably worth mentioning, that not all cooler models will fit all CPU sockets as aftermarket coolers generally require an adapter intended for use with that socket. Some coolers that fit an AMD platform might not fit a later AMD platform, or an Intel platform. Often these coolers come with adapters for multiple types of platforms but be sure to verify that a specific cooler WILL work with your platform before purchasing one and finding out later that it will not.

Agree with this one

 

[ultrautoob]

No, that cooler is not even half of what you need for that CPU. In fact, that cooler is about the bottom of the pile for my recommendations when it comes to ANY kind of tower cooler. Absolutely not even remotely close to being enough for the 9900k.

You need to look at one of these, if you want to stick to air with a CPU like that.


Below is my list of preferred CPU AIR coolers, also known as Heatsink fans (HSF).

Do not look here for recommendations on water/liquid cooling solutions. There are none to be found.

BEFORE seriously considering ANY cooler, make sure to compare it's height with the maximum CPU cooler height supported by your case. If a cooler won't fit, then there isn't much point in looking at it anyhow unless you are willing to replace the case with a larger, more accomodating model. It should probably go without saying that the recommendations below are NOT intended for systems that incorporate small form factor or mini ITX type enclosures. These are generally for standard ATX tower cases. For recommendations on coolers for very small enclosures, there are many of us around here that can offer some suggestions based on the use case.

A good air cooler works just as well for most applications. There are very few instances I can think of where an AIO will work better than a good air cooler, and even fewer where an AIO will outperform an air cooler if you are willing to buy the right air cooler and then level up by adding some even higher end fans to it.

Loops leak. Heatsinks don't. Pumps fail, FAR more often and usually with far worse consequences, than fans do.

And unlike a heatsink fan assembly, when your pump fails for 99% of AIO coolers, you will be replacing the whole thing, for another 100+ dollars, rather than just a 25 dollar investment for the failure of a fan. Especially since I've rarely seen dual fan coolers have both fans fail at the same time, but even if you factor in two fan failures that's still only about fifty bucks compared to the 100+ it will cost to replace an AIO with a failed pump. And you WILL have a failed pump on most AIO coolers within three years of purchase. Seeing one last longer than five years is possible, but it is not particularly common and we often, very often, see them fail at around the 3 year mark. Sometimes much sooner.

Pump quality and longevity is an area that needs GREAT improvement before AIO coolers will become a primary recommendation for me.

I see a lot of AIO coolers leak and damage hardware as well.

Certainly there are situations where an AIO is called for, or even preferred, but those are MOSTLY aesthetic considerations, because let's face it, a build with an AIO or custom loop generally "looks" a lot cleaner than one that has a big heatsink taking up half the real estate inside your case. When that is the case, I have recommendations for those as well, but I don't offer them unless somebody is specifically asking to go that route.[/B]

They are basically listed in order of preference, from top to bottom. To some degree that preference is based on known performance on similarly overclocked configurations, but not entirely. There are likely a couple of units that are placed closer to the top not because they offer purely better performance than another cooler which is below it, but potentially due to a variety of reasons.

One model might be placed higher than another with the same or similar performance, but has quieter or higher quality fans. It may have the same performance but a better warranty. Long term quality may be higher. It may be less expensive in some cases. Maybe it performs slightly worse, but has quieter fans and a better "fan pitch". Some fans with equal decibel levels do not "sound" like they are the same as the specific pitch heard from one fan might be less annoying than another.

In any case, these are not "tiered" and are not a 100% be all, end all ranking. They are simply MY preference when looking at coolers for a build or when making recommendations. Often, which HSF gets chosen depends on what is on this list and fits the budget or is priced right at the time due to a sale or rebate. Hopefully it will help you and you can rest assured that every cooler listed here is a model that to some degree or other is generally a quality unit which is a lot more likely to be worth the money spent on it than on many other models out there that might look to be a similarly worthwhile investment.

Certainly there are a great many other very good coolers out there, but these are models which are usually available to most anybody building a system or looking for a cooler, regardless of what part of the world they might live in. As always, professional reviews are usually an absolutely essential part of the process of finding a cooler so if you are looking at a model not listed here, I would highly recommend looking at at least two or three professional reviews first.

If you cannot find two reviews of any given cooler, it is likely either too new to have been reviewed yet or it sucked, and nobody wanted to buy one in order to review it plus the manufacturer refused to send samples out to the sites that perform reviews because they knew it would likely get bad publicity.

IMO, nobody out there is making better fans, overall, than Noctua, followed pretty closely by Thermalright. So if you intend to match case fans to the same brand on your HSF, those are pretty hard to beat. Of course, Corsair has it's Maglev fans, and those are pretty damn good too, but they tend to be more expensive than what are in my opinion better fans by these other two, so while they are good products they don't have the same noise characteristics and are probably better suited for configurations where sheer brute force is preferred over low noise that still gives good performance. Also, as with most fan models out there, don't look at the specifications for the non-RGB Maglev fan models and think that you'll be getting the same specs on any RGB versions, because you won't. Fans with RGB tend to sacrifice both maximum CFM and static pressure for the right to stuff the RGB electronics under the hood.


Noctua NH-D14 (Replace stock fans with NF-A14 industrialPPC 2000rpm)
Noctua NH-D15/D15 SE-AM4
Noctua NH-D14 (With original fans)
Thermalright Silver arrow IB-E Extreme
Cryorig R1 Ultimate or Universal
Be Quiet Dark rock Pro 4
Thermalright Legrand Macho RT
Phanteks PH-TC14PE (BK,BL, OR or RD)
Deepcool Assassin III
[/FONT]


It may not be obvious, but is probably worth mentioning, that not all cooler models will fit all CPU sockets as aftermarket coolers generally require an adapter intended for use with that socket. Some coolers that fit an AMD platform might not fit a later AMD platform, or an Intel platform. Often these coolers come with adapters for multiple types of platforms but be sure to verify that a specific cooler WILL work with your platform before purchasing one and finding out later that it will not.

Thanks for the insightful reply! I thought I could get away with a cheaper RGB cpu cooler because of the 6 fans that my case has lol. Out of the options you gave me, I think I'm leaning towards the Be Quiet Dark Rock Pro 4. Would that fit in this mid tower case?: https://www.amazon.com/MUSETEX-Mid-Tower-Computer-Pre-Installed，-Control（907）/dp/B07QKV6HP9/ref=cm_cr_arp_d_product_top?tag=georiot-us-default-20&ie=UTF8&ascsubtag=tomshardware-us-5809251767816335000-20

The CPU Cooler: https://www.amazon.com/quiet-Dark-Rock-BK022-Cooler/dp/B07BY6F8D9/ref=sr_1_2?dchild=1&keywords=Be+Quiet+Dark+rock+Pro+4&qid=1602261723&sr=8-2&th=1

Thanks again!

 

[Darkbreeze]

You don't want that case. Yeah, it might LOOK like a good deal, but I assure you that it is a "swap meet/flea market" type of product. In fact, it is the VERY FIRST time I've ever even heard of that brand/manufacturer and considering I've been doing this for more than 30 years, and pretty much daily for the last six years on this site, that doesn't speak well for the company to have never been heard of before.

Anytime you see an "RGB" or "LED" controller that looks like this:

You can be pretty damn sure that it's an extremely cheap product, likely with a fully Chinese product ownership and manufacturing. At least with most of the decent known brands that are still usually Chinese manufactured, they are manufactured to specifications laid out by the actual company.

If you want a decent case that you are not going to regret having purchased later, you ABSOLUTELY will want to stick to cases made by Fractal Design, Corsair, Phanteks, Lian Li, Be Quiet, a few Cooler master and Thermaltake models (Most of them aren't much better than these strictly chinese brands though, so be aware of what you are getting if you look at one of their, or any, products, and be sure to look at professional reviews because it really DOES make a difference to the build. Cases aren't "just a case".) and even a few models from Antec, Rosewill and Cougar are pretty decent. I would avoid most cases from Chinese brands, as they tend to be cheap, warp, use low quality electronics that might fail early or be fire hazards, have sharp edges rather than finished rolled ones, not always sit square, have flaws or other defects and are just generally best avoided.

To some degree the same can be said for a LOT of budget case manufacturers. Newegg's Rosewill cases aren't terrible, but they lack many features found on higher quality models, and their cheaper lines are just garbage.

 

[ultrautoob]

You don't want that case. Yeah, it might LOOK like a good deal, but I assure you that it is a "swap meet/flea market" type of product. In fact, it is the VERY FIRST time I've ever even heard of that brand/manufacturer and considering I've been doing this for more than 30 years, and pretty much daily for the last six years on this site, that doesn't speak well for the company to have never been heard of before.

Anytime you see an "RGB" or "LED" controller that looks like this:

You can be pretty damn sure that it's an extremely cheap product, likely with a fully Chinese product ownership and manufacturing. At least with most of the decent known brands that are still usually Chinese manufactured, they are manufactured to specifications laid out by the actual company.

If you want a decent case that you are not going to regret having purchased later, you ABSOLUTELY will want to stick to cases made by Fractal Design, Corsair, Phanteks, Lian Li, Be Quiet, a few Cooler master and Thermaltake models (Most of them aren't much better than these strictly chinese brands though, so be aware of what you are getting if you look at one of their, or any, products, and be sure to look at professional reviews because it really DOES make a difference to the build. Cases aren't "just a case".) and even a few models from Antec, Rosewill and Cougar are pretty decent. I would avoid most cases from Chinese brands, as they tend to be cheap, warp, use low quality electronics that might fail early or be fire hazards, have sharp edges rather than finished rolled ones, not always sit square, have flaws or other defects and are just generally best avoided.

To some degree the same can be said for a LOT of budget case manufacturers. Newegg's Rosewill cases aren't terrible, but they lack many features found on higher quality models, and their cheaper lines are just garbage.

Thanks for your continuous help! I've done some more research on the case and watched a few youtube videos and you were right, the case didn't perform very well in both a quality test and extreme heat test. I've taken into account the brands you suggested, and here's a list of a few I've found. If you could give me a yes/no (Y/N) on each of the cases depending on my chosen PC specs and CPU cooler, that would be great. I know they are all RGB and you said RGB is worse, but to be honest this case isn't for me and it's a requirement for the person it's for haha.

Corsair iCUE 4000X RGB Mid-Tower: https://www.amazon.com/Corsair-iCUE...rgb+case&qid=1602280719&s=electronics&sr=1-12

Corsair Carbide Series Mid-Tower ATX: https://www.amazon.com/CORSAIR-Carb...=rgb+case&qid=1602280719&s=electronics&sr=1-9

Rosewill ATX Mid Tower:

https://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-Computer-Tempered-Supports-Pre-Installed/dp/B077232WC2/ref=sr_1_11_sspa?dchild=1&keywords=rgb+case&qid=1602280719&s=electronics&sr=1-11-spons&psc=1&spLa=ZW5jcnlwdGVkUXVhbGlmaWVyPUEyMUdQVUo4NUxQMkxEJmVuY3J5cHRlZElkPUEwNzY5MjkyMlNRNDFUTUtXRE4zTyZlbmNyeXB0ZWRBZElkPUEwODAzOTY1MTI1OUdLWEUyNEJDMCZ3aWRnZXROYW1lPXNwX210ZiZhY3Rpb249Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Segotep Phoenix ATX Black Mid Tower: https://www.amazon.com/Segotep-Comp...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Apevia Predator-BK Mid Tower: https://www.amazon.com/Apevia-Preda...rgb+case&qid=1602280719&s=electronics&sr=1-31

LIAN LI LANCOOL 2 WHITE: https://www.amazon.com/LANCOOL-Whit...9Y2xpY2tSZWRpcmVjdCZkb05vdExvZ0NsaWNrPXRydWU=

Apevia Crusader-F-BK Mid Tower: https://www.amazon.com/Apevia-Crusa...rgb+case&qid=1602281294&s=electronics&sr=1-76

Cooler Master Masterbox TD500: https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Maste...id+tower&qid=1602281564&s=electronics&sr=1-21

Zalman S5 White, ATX Mid Tower:

Amazon.com: Zalman S5 White, ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer/PC Case with Pre-Installed 2X 120mm Fans, Tempered Glass with RGB LED Control Button, One USB 3.0, Two USB 2.0 Port, Airflow, Dust Filter: Computers & Accessories

Buy Zalman S5 White, ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer/PC Case with Pre-Installed 2X 120mm Fans, Tempered Glass with RGB LED Control Button, One USB 3.0, Two USB 2.0 Port, Airflow, Dust Filter: Computer Cases - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases

www.amazon.com

 

[Darkbreeze]

Nothing wrong with RGB, it's THAT kind of RGB, with the handheld cheapo button controls that you want to avoid. Those are exactly like what comes on three dollar RGB "candles" and five dollar rolls of LED lighting. On a quality case, with integrated RGB lighting and fans, it's totally fine, per se.

Based on what I can see is your preference, the Lian Li Lancool II and 4000X RGB are the only two cases there that I'd even consider.

Truthfully, you'd be MUCH wiser to buy a good case, that DOESN'T come with RGB, and ADD your own RGB components, including fans or lighting strips if you desire, afterwards, so that you can get a quality case AND quality fans. RGB fans that come included with cases are not going to be very good quality unless the case is pretty expensive. These things, when they are not cheap junk, are somewhat expensive and nobody is going to give a quality fan, especially one with RGB, away for free on a case that already has a very small profit margin.

The Lancool II is pretty decent. So is the Lian Li Dynamic 011. The Fractal design Meshify C and Meshify S2, Define R6 and Define 7 are also good. The Phanteks cases are mostly all good. And most of Corsair's cases are good, if you stay away from the cheap gimmicky models like most of the carbide series units.

The rest of those cases, I'd completely avoid.