Question Seeking advice for self-build to rival XPS 8950 2023

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consptheory77

consptheory77

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In response to my previous question "Is Dell a reliable pre-built?" the consensus was that this would be a poor choice, and I'd be better off building a new system myself.

My current system is a Haswell, i5-4690K on a Gigabyte Z97-HD3 board, Cryorig H7, 32GB RAM

My thinking back then is charted here:

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/V6f8TW

After eight years, I think it's time for a new system.

For my new case, I want front facing USB ports, as I got anew desk last year, and the top ports when connected conflict with the desk's keyboard tray.

So I found the Lian Li

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09HZM5618/

and then I found the Vetroo, which is cheaper, more lightweight, and has a design I prefer

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B996N6MW/

Should the chip determine the motherboard or should the motherboard determine the chip, price being equal?

In my Haswell build, I got a Z board so I could initially use the very cheap but overclockable Pentium, and then switch to an i5 when money permitted me.

I have had a stable overclock for years now, but I am unsure of the benefit. It's not even on an overclock now, as I think I pressed the reset button on the case on occasions when the system locked up, and I guess that undid the settings?

In this case, I can afford to start out with i5 chip in the first place, do I really need to overclock?

Should I spend more on an i7?

Yes, I do gaming, and video re-encoding - but very infrequently. I don't care about frame rates. I do care about encoding times. And I might decide one day to play Civilization VI.

But my main use of the PC is web browsing and media consumption, both streaming and (often virtualized) discs. I will maintain that processor speed is at least somewhat relevant to web browsing, as I often have many open tabs in Chrome, with plenty of RAM to spare, and I still get freezes and crashes. I figure an eight year gap in processors is significant enough to have an effect on browser efficiency.

As for the motherboard, do I buy the PRO-A iteration from MSI or the Tomahawk?

Tomahawk has more USB ports, that alone could be the deciding factor for me.

How important is VRM if I want to overclock?

How important is a motherboard's BIOS? I saw review who said the Tomahawk had a beautifully written BIOS and the the PRO-A was just a stock BIOS.

I want a Flash BIOS support because I keep seeing that while these boards support 12500/12700/etc, they don't do so natively, they need an updated BIOS. Which seems like such a pain.

I want onboard Wifi because my apartment complex only offers "free internet" as part of "community WiFi" and I do have my own individual router but it is jammed up into a plastic square enclosure in the wall, so to connect hardwire I have to run an Ethernet cord through the living room to my bedroom. I've tried that, both straight, and abbreviated (ethernet from wifi repeater), and I don't like it, it's ugly and a trip hazard.
But USB dongle has the habit of disconnecting, especially upon reboot. It hasn't done this lately (new drivers?) but in any case, I have a big ugly antenna stick jutting out the front USB panel (there is no room at the back).

Power Supply: The Corsair comes recommended, I don't see a better option.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08R5W27JS/

Cooling: Do I really need a fan different from stock if I'm not overclocking? And if I do overclock, can I get away with the Laminar RH1 instead of a Noctua?

RAM: There's not that much difference in cost between the DDR4 and the DDR5, I figure I should future proof, so the question is, do I need something that's 6000 MT/s?

NVMe M.2 Storage: Well, there's SK Hynix but I feel like I want to stick with Samsung, price being equal
 
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Why_Me said:
What country are you located, what is your budget and what is your monitor resolution?
Click to expand...

United States, I think $1K is reasonable, though I think could get away with $650 minimum - and in either case that excludes any video card, I have an RX 580, I'll upgrade the video card at some later date. The monitor is LG 27UL650-W 4K, using Display Port.
 
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Why_Me said:
https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i5-13400f-core-i5-13th-gen/p/N82E16819118431
Intel Core i5-13400F $209.99
Click to expand...

I'm guessing this is because

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/c...-12600k-like-performance-for-around-dollar240

In terms of clock speeds, the Core i5-13400 has a 4.1 GHz P-core base clock and a 3.3 GHz E-core boost clock. Therefore, the Raptor Lake chip flaunts an 11% higher P-core base clock and 18% higher E-core base clock than the Core i5-12600K. Naturally, the Core i5-13400 doesn't have a higher boost clock than the Core i5-12600K since the first is a 65W chip, whereas the latter is a 125W-class part. Nonetheless, the Core i5-13400 has a 4.6 GHz boost clock speed, which is not too shabby for a 65W processor.

And buying the F version gives a $25 discount, although I like having the IG as a backup in case the video card fails.
 
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consptheory77 said:
I'm guessing this is because

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/c...-12600k-like-performance-for-around-dollar240

In terms of clock speeds, the Core i5-13400 has a 4.1 GHz P-core base clock and a 3.3 GHz E-core boost clock. Therefore, the Raptor Lake chip flaunts an 11% higher P-core base clock and 18% higher E-core base clock than the Core i5-12600K. Naturally, the Core i5-13400 doesn't have a higher boost clock than the Core i5-12600K since the first is a 65W chip, whereas the latter is a 125W-class part. Nonetheless, the Core i5-13400 has a 4.6 GHz boost clock speed, which is not too shabby for a 65W processor.

And buying the F version gives a $25 discount, although I like having the IG as a backup in case the video card fails.
Click to expand...
That cpu was released about a week ago.

IGP

https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i5-13400-core-i5-13th-gen/p/N82E16819118430

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...13400-processor-20m-cache-up-to-4-60-ghz.html

And this cpu will be released before the end of the month.

https://www.newegg.com/intel-core-i5-13500-core-i5-13th-gen/p/N82E16819118429

https://ark.intel.com/content/www/u...13500-processor-24m-cache-up-to-4-80-ghz.html
 
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As you appear to have the budget, I would step up to DDR5 now. It won't be long before DDR4 is done. 14th gen Intel is probably going to be DDR5 only, and AM5 already is. There will be little reason for companies to make more.
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-13400 2.5 GHz 10-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($35.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z790 UD AC ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($159.99 @ Western Digital)
Case: Antec NX410 ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM750x (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $955.84
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-14 08:11 EST-0500

If you want a true future upgrade path, you might want to consider AM5. The Ryzen 7700 isn't all that far behind a 13600k, and probably will be really close to a 13400. It is expected that 14th gen will be a new socket. AM5 has support through at least 2025.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($329.00 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler ($35.90 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock B650M PG RIPTIDE Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard ($169.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory ($135.00 @ Amazon)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($159.99 @ Western Digital)
Case: Antec NX410 ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM750x (2021) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1009.86
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-01-14 08:14 EST-0500
 
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You have a couple good build suggestions up there from @logainofhades , I'm just going to jump in and answer some of your specific questions.

consptheory77 said:
In response to my previous question "Is Dell a reliable pre-built?" the consensus was that this would be a poor choice, and I'd be better off building a new system myself.

My current system is a Haswell, i5-4690K on a Gigabyte Z97-HD3 board, Cryorig H7, 32GB RAM

My thinking back then is charted here:

https://pcpartpicker.com/b/V6f8TW

After eight years, I think it's time for a new system.

For my new case, I want front facing USB ports, as I got anew desk last year, and the top ports when connected conflict with the desk's keyboard tray.

So I found the Lian Li

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09HZM5618/

and then I found the Vetroo, which is cheaper, more lightweight, and has a design I prefer

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B996N6MW/
Click to expand...

Interesting case design, I've never seen one with the PSU mounted upfront like that. Not sure I love it as its extra heat being released inside the case, but without having my hands on one to see how it works in real life that may be an unfounded worry. That said it sure looks like if you use a 360 radiator the PSU is exhausting right into it. I don't love that.

consptheory77 said:
Should the chip determine the motherboard or should the motherboard determine the chip, price being equal?
Click to expand...

You should pick a motherboard to match the perofmance you want from your processor, and the features you want. These days Overclocking is largely dead, I mean sure you can do it yourself, but built in "auto OC" features can do 98% of what you can do yourself with no work. Sure you want to waste a saturday tweaking and testing to get a few more points in an arbitrary test, be my guest. But a better decision is to pick out a CPU and find a board that will allow it to Auto OC to its best potential and use that.

Keep in mind there is a price performance ratio here as well though. You can get the fastest CPU and then you will see these $800 boards (I know this is out of your budget range, just explaning), that sure may get you a bit more, but are you going to get $500 more performance over a $300 board. Subjective, but IMO nope.

In the same respect, there are still plenty of low end boards out there, and ALL of the manufacturers are happy to slap "Gaming" all over boards that aren't necessarily up to the task, so its important to do a bit of research to be sure that fancy looking board can back up its claims. Otherwise it can kneecap the processor a bit in that it won't auto OC and hold it to its maximum potential, and will be worthless for Overclocking.

consptheory77 said:
In my Haswell build, I got a Z board so I could initially use the very cheap but overclockable Pentium, and then switch to an i5 when money permitted me.

I have had a stable overclock for years now, but I am unsure of the benefit. It's not even on an overclock now, as I think I pressed the reset button on the case on occasions when the system locked up, and I guess that undid the settings?

In this case, I can afford to start out with i5 chip in the first place, do I really need to overclock?

Should I spend more on an i7?
Click to expand...

As mentioned above, don't waste the time Overclocking. Also in the case of Intel, I'd suggest buying the best CPU you can afford and living with it, as their generations don't tend to show massive improvements, you will be limited in the performance improvement of replacing the processor for the value of what you spend. AMD with AM4 was significantly different in this respect. I bought an R7 1800X at launch, and just recently replaced it with an R7 5800X3D which was a massive improvment, 5 years later. That performance bump doesn't generally exist in the same socket on the Intel side.

consptheory77 said:
Yes, I do gaming, and video re-encoding - but very infrequently. I don't care about frame rates. I do care about encoding times. And I might decide one day to play Civilization VI.

But my main use of the PC is web browsing and media consumption, both streaming and (often virtualized) discs. I will maintain that processor speed is at least somewhat relevant to web browsing, as I often have many open tabs in Chrome, with plenty of RAM to spare, and I still get freezes and crashes. I figure an eight year gap in processors is significant enough to have an effect on browser efficiency.

As for the motherboard, do I buy the PRO-A iteration from MSI or the Tomahawk?

Tomahawk has more USB ports, that alone could be the deciding factor for me.

How important is VRM if I want to overclock?

How important is a motherboard's BIOS? I saw review who said the Tomahawk had a beautifully written BIOS and the the PRO-A was just a stock BIOS.

I want a Flash BIOS support because I keep seeing that while these boards support 12500/12700/etc, they don't do so natively, they need an updated BIOS. Which seems like such a pain.

I want onboard Wifi because my apartment complex only offers "free internet" as part of "community WiFi" and I do have my own individual router but it is jammed up into a plastic square enclosure in the wall, so to connect hardwire I have to run an Ethernet cord through the living room to my bedroom. I've tried that, both straight, and abbreviated (ethernet from wifi repeater), and I don't like it, it's ugly and a trip hazard.
But USB dongle has the habit of disconnecting, especially upon reboot. It hasn't done this lately (new drivers?) but in any case, I have a big ugly antenna stick jutting out the front USB panel (there is no room at the back).
Click to expand...

The major difference between the Pro-A and the Tomahawk is the power delivery system, the Tomahawk has more power phases. In practice is this going to make a big difference? If you're using an i9 and overclocking this may allow you to eek out a bit more performance, again on a synthetic benchmark. Real world? Nope. Now the other difference is DDR4 vs DDR5. Being that DDR5 is the future, this may be a smarter choice, as you will probably be able to use the memory you buy today in your next build.

You bring up some other factors which may be important to you, that you need to decide on the value to you. USB ports are important, sure you can use a hub as well but those can sometimes be dodgy or reduce performance. Depending what you're using that may or may not be a factor.

The BIOS isn't THAT important unless you plan on spending a lot of time in there messing with settings and trying to overclock. Again if you decide thats your hobby, go for it. But the PRO-A is upgradeable as well, and can be flashed from within the BIOS. Both boards support external flashing, that is you can put a BIOS file on a thumb drive, and hit the flash BIOS button on the back to upgrade it with 1 touch. This is a feature most often on high end boards.

Both use the same LAN, audio, etc. Obviously the Tomahawk has WiFi so if thats a factor for you, it may be the swing choice right there. That said WiFi PCIe adapters are cheap and just as fast as built in WiFi.

consptheory77 said:
Power Supply: The Corsair comes recommended, I don't see a better option.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08R5W27JS/
Click to expand...

Excellent choice but, depending on your GPU and Processor it may not be enough, that said on your budget thats unlikely.

consptheory77 said:
Cooling: Do I really need a fan different from stock if I'm not overclocking? And if I do overclock, can I get away with the Laminar RH1 instead of a Noctua?
Click to expand...

The advantages of a better cooler are more than just overclocking. Running the processor cooler is beneficial for the health of your parts over time. Also its QUIETER. That Intel stock cooler will get loud under heavy loads. Also when using Auto OC features a better cooler will provide the system with more thermal range to push it. If you do decide to overclock, which again IMO is a waste of time, if you do it with a stock cooler you're really limiting yourself. In short you're fine with it, but there are a lot of benefits to buying a better one. This is also something thats super easy to change later if you want to save a few bucks now.

consptheory77 said:
RAM: There's not that much difference in cost between the DDR4 and the DDR5, I figure I should future proof, so the question is, do I need something that's 6000 MT/s?

NVMe M.2 Storage: Well, there's SK Hynix but I feel like I want to stick with Samsung, price being equal
Click to expand...

Do you need the fastest Ram? No, and the overall benefit is debateable. At your budget range, I wouldn't focus on that. But DDR5 in and of itself is a better choice.

And yeah I agree on Samsung, thats all I run these days after some issues with other brands.

IMO Logain's AMD build above is the best use of your budget.
 
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Two things that are different now than in 2015: I already built one desktop, and I have more flexibility about the budget.

I had to work odd jobs in addition to my regular one to incrementally buy the parts. The incremental process was good because it allowed me to research and contemplate why I was buying a particular component, what to look for, what to avoid. (I have a general rule of thumb that if any given product has more than 5% one-star reviews on Amazon, there is some systemic problem with the item, and it may not have shown up for all the buyers, but it may show up for you.)

Once I got everything together, I was afraid of connecting something wrong and destroying a valuable part. But there was some videos by this guy named Carey Holzman and he basically said "don't worry, nothing will explode" (unless one is being obviously reckless). Indeed, my first attempt at booting up failed because I connected a cable wrong. Nothing was damaged, it just didn't work. Fixed the cable, then it booted fine.

Overclocking was an attempt to squeeze value. I'm not invested in doing it this time, though if the board will basically do it for me now, why not?

It was a pain to upgrade from the stock cooler to the Cryorig, hence my resistance to start in on that process again, it's not the inconvenience, it's still the apprehension that I could break something if I do it wrong. But it was worth it.

Now that I'm at a time in my life when I have credit cards, at some point in the year I should be able to buy everything at once and brand new, instead of incrementally and used as before.

DDR5: My father used to say to wait a few years before adopting a new technology, because the early adopters are subsidizing the process of the bugs being worked out.
I suppose DDR5 is old enough now to take the plunge. When I said "future proof" I was thinking of future software utilization, I had not considered I could actually port it over to a new build, but that's a good enough reason for me to skip DDR4, though DDR6 supposedly comes out in 2025, and will I make a new build before 2027?

I loathe USB hubs. Part of the reason for making a new build is consolidation. I've got about 30GB of 3.5 HDDs connected to the desktop, an elaborate sort of Plex media server, but with the advent of streaming services making more content available, I don't need that much, and I want more room on the desk, and so I'm just going to work with a 16TB HDD, 2TB SSD for games, and 2TB boot drive, and migrate over to using all those M2 ports when the capacities increase and the prices decrease.

Thinking about a motherboard with the "Lightning" USB 20G, and I can transfer files to a USB 3.2 thumb drive through that, right?

I don't quite understand why these motherboards that came out contiguous to Alder Lake chips all seem to require a BIOS update for the chips to work.
 
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consptheory77 said:
Two things that are different now than in 2015: I already built one desktop, and I have more flexibility about the budget.

I had to work odd jobs in addition to my regular one to incrementally buy the parts. The incremental process was good because it allowed me to research and contemplate why I was buying a particular component, what to look for, what to avoid. (I have a general rule of thumb that if any given product has more than 5% one-star reviews on Amazon, there is some systemic problem with the item, and it may not have shown up for all the buyers, but it may show up for you.)

Once I got everything together, I was afraid of connecting something wrong and destroying a valuable part. But there was some videos by this guy named Carey Holzman and he basically said "don't worry, nothing will explode" (unless one is being obviously reckless). Indeed, my first attempt at booting up failed because I connected a cable wrong. Nothing was damaged, it just didn't work. Fixed the cable, then it booted fine.

Overclocking was an attempt to squeeze value. I'm not invested in doing it this time, though if the board will basically do it for me now, why not?

It was a pain to upgrade from the stock cooler to the Cryorig, hence my resistance to start in on that process again, it's not the inconvenience, it's still the apprehension that I could break something if I do it wrong. But it was worth it.

Now that I'm at a time in my life when I have credit cards, at some point in the year I should be able to buy everything at once and brand new, instead of incrementally and used as before.

DDR5: My father used to say to wait a few years before adopting a new technology, because the early adopters are subsidizing the process of the bugs being worked out.
I suppose DDR5 is old enough now to take the plunge. When I said "future proof" I was thinking of future software utilization, I had not considered I could actually port it over to a new build, but that's a good enough reason for me to skip DDR4, though DDR6 supposedly comes out in 2025, and will I make a new build before 2027?

I loathe USB hubs. Part of the reason for making a new build is consolidation. I've got about 30GB of 3.5 HDDs connected to the desktop, an elaborate sort of Plex media server, but with the advent of streaming services making more content available, I don't need that much, and I want more room on the desk, and so I'm just going to work with a 16TB HDD, 2TB SSD for games, and 2TB boot drive, and migrate over to using all those M2 ports when the capacities increase and the prices decrease.

Thinking about a motherboard with the "Lightning" USB 20G, and I can transfer files to a USB 3.2 thumb drive through that, right?

I don't quite understand why these motherboards that came out contiguous to Alder Lake chips all seem to require a BIOS update for the chips to work.
Click to expand...
Intel 12 gen boards (Z690, B660, H670) are the boards that need the bios update in order to run 13 gen (Raptor Lake) cpu's. That is a non issue with Gigabyte boards thanks to Gigabyte Q-Flash Plus which allows the user to update the bios with no cpu and RAM installed.

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CujWytnuWRg
 
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PC Part Picker appears to keep suggesting otherwise.

"[This] Motherboard supports the Intel Core i7-12700K 3.6 GHz 12-Core Processor with BIOS version 7D25v11"

suggesting the boards don't ship with the right BIOS

I tried different combinations of 12 Gen motherboard and processors, I still get that incompatibility warning.

Of course the website is not infallible, I just found that to be extraordinary.

Also with the coolers, they "may require a separately available mounting adapter" but I've got to think most of them include what is needed?
 
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consptheory77 said:
PC Part Picker appears to keep suggesting otherwise.

"[This] Motherboard supports the Intel Core i7-12700K 3.6 GHz 12-Core Processor with BIOS version 7D25v11"

suggesting the boards don't ship with the right BIOS

I tried different combinations of 12 Gen motherboard and processors, I still get that incompatibility warning.

Of course the website is not infallible, I just found that to be extraordinary.

Also with the coolers, they "may require a separately available mounting adapter" but I've got to think most of them include what is needed?
Click to expand...

Pcpartpicker has a lot of warnings that are incorrect or outdated. I've even reported the issue sometimes and it never gets changed.

WhyMe is right with gigabyte q-flash you can update the BIOS with no CPU in it. Sometimes there will be a sticker on the box with the BIOS version, but if their isn't just try it, if it doesn't boot, and you've checked everything else, q-flash the BIOS.
 
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Are heat sinks for the M2 drives really necessary? I though the idea of the SSD was to liberate us from yet another heat-producing component and yet I'm given to understand the NVMe controllers produce heat. Yet if the heat produced by them is less that that of a mechanical hard drive, I would think the case fans airflow would take care of the necessary dissipation. Though, admittedly, the motherboards with the heatsinks look nicer. But professional budget builders don't seem to deem them necessary, I've seen them skipped over by Linus Tech Tips and Maximum PC.
 
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Any recommendations for when I get a new graphics card?

I got the RX 580 (2017) in 2020 for $137, and before that , the R9 270 (2013) in 2015 for $120, but since GPU prices have been all over the place the past few years because of crypto and pandemic supply chain distortions, even if I maintain the pattern of being two to three years behind, I believe I would be correct to say that I'd be looking to spend at least $240 for any practical upgrade.

I was thinking RX 6650XT (average price 276). I see 6700XT (average price 321) was voted best budget option in a very recent thread here.

I do intend to have a three 4K monitor set-up. Not for 4K gaming at this point, obviously, but just for the resolution and screen space, and maybe try out ultrawide gaming at 1080p.
Someone recommended the RTX 3070 (average price point 400) for that, but I think I could only manage the 3060 Ti (average price point 330).
 
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logainofhades said:
If you want a true future upgrade path, you might want to consider AM5. The Ryzen 7700 isn't all that far behind a 13600k, and probably will be really close to a 13400. It is expected that 14th gen will be a new socket. AM5 has support through at least 2025.
Click to expand...

The more I think about it, the term "future proof" is a misnomer. It makes more sense to consider what one's upgrade path is. If you asked me two years ago what new desktop I was considering to upgrade to, I would have said AMD, as at that time I think they had the top consumer processors.
Now, Intel seems to be on top. Soon, AMD may be back on top. I remember this "tick-tock" alternation between the two in the aughts. They both seem to have stagnated for a few years in the 10's, although my attention to the industry dropped out after I build my desktop in 2015. Back in the heyday of the netbook, I had a Gateway LT 3103u and it had a AMD, and I was very happy with it; indeed, I learned from it the essential necessity of pixel density. The limitations in what I wanted to do in terms of media consumption were not imposed so much by the processor, as by storage, software, the owners of various IP, and Bill Gates himself. After killing the Courier over a decade ago, it's taken about that long for Microsoft to perfect the Surface configuration.

With phones, there is an upgrade path of about two years, because of operating systems and their security patches. I learned this the hard way when I bought a Galaxy 4 phone for an older friend three years or so after its release, because it was "a quality phone build, and good enough for what they needed". Eventually it stopped working, and the cause was not hardware but network technology. And most people accept the upgrade path because phones have become a household necessity.

With desktops, it's different. If one has the money, one can upgrade every year, and I think enthusiasts do this, and that's ok. For everyone else, they can get by for much longer, especially for office productivity and, nowadays, streaming media. But there's an average changeover of three years per operating system, and the differences are not just cosmetic but "under the hood" and not negligible. So I think everyone has to determine what their "upgrade path" is, in the sense that "what is the point at which you can afford to upgrade again in order to accomplish what you want, or do so more efficiently?". It's not necessarily about "future proofing" (though opting for DDR5 would be a tangible example of this) it's more about "catching up".

I've got two or three candidate short-lists now for the components, including some of what you suggested (thank you). Everything else being equal, or relatively close, between most components, it's now a waiting game of a few months to sit on and see the price patterns.
 
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AM4 provided an upgrade path, for those that bought 1st gen chips, and boards, in 2017, to upgrade all the way to Ryzen 5000, 5 years later, with only a bios update. With AM5, you can keep your platform, and just swap in a CPU for more performance. AM5 has been slated to be around through 2025+ For Intel, you have to get a new board, and CPU, just to upgrade. Next gen will be a new socket, as Intel tends to only do 2 gens, with the same platform. It's not about future proof, it's about spending less, in the long run, in order to upgrade.

Yes, is Intel is on top, but the two are so close, you would never be able to tell the difference, in gaming, without being told, when both are equipped with the same hardware. If you are a gamer, and with there being actual competition, in the CPU space, tech advancements are going to come about much faster, than they were prior to Ryzen first launching. That stagnation, of the 2nd-7th gen Intel era, is long gone. Games are only going to get more demanding, as will other software. I for one like that I can buy into AM5 now, and don't have to buy a new board, in 3 years, when it's time to upgrade again. Bios update, plop in a new CPU, and good to go.
 
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logainofhades said:
Given what you are willing to spend, I would go with a 6700xt
Click to expand...

This fellow here says rule of thumb is to spend twice as much on your GPU as your CPU. And to try to get both within the same generation as the older component can bottleneck the newer one.

Why Your CPU Is Holding Back Your GPU

If then I've settled on getting a 13600K @ $300 I figure it follows I should get maybe a 3080 @ $600.
 
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