[SOLVED] Time for a massive upgrade - freelancer/gamer combo

Nov 26, 2022
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So,

I'll start with the career description. I am a University teacher at a School of Arts in Belgium. My main activity consits in teaching students everything Motion Design related, ranging from Cinema 4D, Adobe CC - and looking into Blender and Unreal for the near future.
Since our school is heavy Mac-biased (network, support, printing service, server-related), i'm all covered with a decked out 2021 M1 MBP.

Aside this assignment, which covers about 4/5th of my income - I'm still very active as a freelancer. My toolkit exists of the full Adobe CC and Maxon array - Cinema 4D and After Effects mostly. Blender, Unreal engine and ZBrush will play a major part in extending my parttime freelance business. But... equally important - my hobby is simulation (aside darts and mountainbiking) . I spend a lot of time in VR (HP-reverb G2) on titles as iRacing, MFS2020, DCS World,... I haven't found the sweet spot yet.

So I'm looking towards best of both worlds.

My current system is:

X570 Gigabyte Aorus Elite
AMD Ryzen 9 5950x
Noctua D15 cooler
64Gb DDR 4 3600 Mhz
RTX 3090

I already ordered a RTX 4090 - it's a no brainer for Redshift rendering in C4D

I did a lot of research, which raised following questions: Team red or team blue? Money is an issue...

If Team Red: 7950x3D? Or wait for 7800x3D?
If Team Blue, only one option... 19300k - which is very power hungry.
I want to avoid investing in a new PSU, mine is Corsair hx1000i
Cooler will be a corsair h150i
The 13900k is compatible with a mobo that supports DDR4 (have 64Gb now), cutting the price, but may be not future proof? So I need a new Mobo anyhow...

So many choices...

I wan't to stay under 2K for the upgrade (4090 excluded)
Any thoughts appreciated - I'll do the build myself ;-)

Thanks for the advice!
 
Solution
If you want the highest MFS performance an X3D CPU will get you the best performance. Since you also need productivity performance the 7950X3D seems perfect for you. If you are willing to get a new motherboard and RAM you mind as well do this:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4.2 GHz 16-Core Processor (€797.90 @ Alza)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360 A-RGB 48.8 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (€140.90 @ Alza)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX (rev. 1.0) ATX AM5 Motherboard (€316.90 @ Alza)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€310.99 @ Alternate)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid...
At any given price point there is price/performance parity between amd and intel.
So, normally, I would suggest the top amd offering, namely the 7950X.
There is definitely a learning curve in changing systems.
I would pass on the X3D options since the benefit is targeted to gaming and normal workload does better on the 7950X.
But, since budget is an issue and you already have 64gb of DDR4 you make a good case for Intel.
Here is a tom's side by side comparison of 7950x vs. i9-13900K:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-ryzen-9-7950x-vs-intel-core-i9-13900k
Seems close to me.

The current Intel I9 processors are a bit different ,
Here is a study of the i9-13900K using a range of cpu coolers.
There may be no need to abandon your excellent NH-D15 cooler:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-ryzen-9-7950x-vs-intel-core-i9-13900k
 
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I would do something like this. If you do not need the extra 4tb storage just discard it from the build:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i9-13900 2 GHz 24-Core Processor (€599.75 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15S chromax.black 82.51 CFM CPU Cooler (Purchased For €0.00)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€292.90 @ Alza)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory (Purchased For €0.00)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€99.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€379.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB Video Card (Purchased For €0.00)
Case: Fractal Design Pop XL Air ATX Full Tower Case (€124.90 @ Alza)
Power Supply: Corsair HX1000i (2022) 1000 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For €0.00)
Total: €1497.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-06 19:05 CET+0100
 
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I want to avoid investing in a new PSU, mine is Corsair hx1000i
You're advised to have at least a 1.2KW unit to power a build with an RTX4090 in it.

If you go with AM5, you will need to get DDR5 ram. If you go with Intel, you can retain your existing ram kit. You can also retain the air cooler, if it didn't come with the mounting hardware for your platform.
Thanx for your answer,

Both your options are futureproof, I'd rather spend the extra buck now in a single upgrade, than two extra bucks afterwards. Sidenote, I can pass the ddr4 ram to my kids computer - which is also due for an update. He doesn't need 64Gb ram though. I'll settle with selling 32Gb 4DDR which would compensate for an 1.2Kw PSU. Any advice on a good price/quality brand?
 
At any given price point there is price/performance parity between amd and intel.
So, normally, I would suggest the top amd offering, namely the 7950X.
There is definitely a learning curve in changing systems.
I would pass on the X3D options since the benefit is targeted to gaming and normal workload does better on the 7950X.
But, since budget is an issue and you already have 64gb of DDR4 you make a good case for Intel.
Here is a tom's side by side comparison of 7950x vs. i9-13900K:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-ryzen-9-7950x-vs-intel-core-i9-13900k
Seems close to me.

The current Intel I9 processors are a bit different ,
Here is a study of the i9-13900K using a range of cpu coolers.
There may be no need to abandon your excellent NH-D15 cooler:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/amd-ryzen-9-7950x-vs-intel-core-i9-13900k
Thanks for the reply,

Please do bear in mind that I'm a dedicated iRacer and Flight Simmer. But if the x3D isn't worth it - this would be a very good argument, regarding the difference in price range between the 7x and the 7x3d
my 5950x delivered everything in needed for C4D, adobe and Unreal, but lacklustered MFS2020 in VR
 
Thanx for the reply all!

So, if I'm correct, with a 4090GPU, an upgrade to a 13900 will be better for productivity/sim combo (also VR)? But needs a beefy PSU.
Allthough the 7950x3D looks promising and is much less power hungry (I think the 7800x3D would be more bang for the buck) the extra 3D will only benefit for a slightly better VR performance in MFS2020?

Best of both worlds would be team blue then...?

Correct me if I'm wrong - need to change Mobo anyhow, i want to go for futureproof 5DDR. After Effects's gonna hate me, but I'll start with 16Gb and expand after a few more projects. 13th Mobo will be much cheaper than AM5?

Sorry for the nagging, but I want to do things right for the next 5 years of productivity/simming.
 
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The 7900x on the AM5 platform for productivity and more effecient.

True!

But my 5950x lacklustered on the VR front, but delivered an astounishing performance on C4D and After Effects. So maybe the 7900x - 4090 combo would do very well?
I read about the minor difference between 7950x and 7950x3d. Regarding price, it's a no brainer then for the 7950 x
 
Thanks for the reply,

Please do bear in mind that I'm a dedicated iRacer and Flight Simmer. But if the x3D isn't worth it - this would be a very good argument, regarding the difference in price range between the 7x and the 7x3d
my 5950x delivered everything in needed for C4D, adobe and Unreal, but lacklustered MFS2020 in VR
Everything is lackluster in MFS.
 
I would do something like this. If you do not need the extra 4tb storage just discard it from the build:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i9-13900 2 GHz 24-Core Processor (€599.75 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15S chromax.black 82.51 CFM CPU Cooler (Purchased For €0.00)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z790 AORUS ELITE AX DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€292.90 @ Alza)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory (Purchased For €0.00)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€99.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€379.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB Video Card (Purchased For €0.00)
Case: Fractal Design Pop XL Air ATX Full Tower Case (€124.90 @ Alza)
Power Supply: Corsair HX1000i (2022) 1000 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (Purchased For €0.00)
Total: €1497.44
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-06 19:05 CET+0100

I actually listed the upgradekit from amazon.de - with roughly the same specs. But it doesn't exist anymore. I feel sad now.
 
I just did my first ever full build with a 4090 and total price with a 700$ monitor and some peripherals only came to 4000$ and some change so honestly if you are excluding the 4090 from you upgrade price I could give you a part list for what I have it works quite amazing imo. I have a ddr5 mobo but it also comes in a ddr4 version if you really want to stick with your ram kit. I saw a comment stating that the recommendation is for 1200w psu and I know that sort of is the case but I'm also under the impression Initially nvidia stated it would be a 600w card but then released it as 450, you can pull 600w while overclocking though if thats what youre planning at least thats my understanding of it. Also some 4090 (depending which you went with) are locked at 450 and don't even offer bios to go past that. If you are only using 450w the 1000w psu should be fine and I've seen very many builds using 4090s with 1000w psu's. I myself actually went with a corsair rm1000x shift because the different orientation for wiring made it so much simpler, and have had no issues as of yet ( like i said earlier this is my first full build and im no expert in all this by any means. All the info i have comes from what ive read from people with way more knowledge than myself and what others used and reviewed once they completed) . Aside from all that I would say with a 2000$ budget it should be fairly simple to achieve what you want to do. For reference this is what I got:

This is my basically completed build minus some fans i was still waiting to recieve on pcpartpicker
https://pcpartpicker.com/b/3DkXsY#cx4205128

Like I said above the mobo has 2 versions a d4 and d5 one supports ddr4 and the other ddr5 ram. The cooler has been working exceptionally did stress tests on aida64 and some others and never went over 68° just figured I'd throw the suggestion in there even though you have one in mind. If you were to just get the mobo, cooler, and i9 13900k I think total for all 3 would have you set around 1300$ which is under that budget if those are all you're looking to include in the upgrade. Hope this helps.


Edit: I also saw you were possibly thinking about a psu change and from my experience and the experience I read from others if you are getting a 4090 the cable supplied by nvidia sucks and has been melting and also causing fit problems in cases. I know all the corsair atx 3 psu come with a different cable that is more flexible and fixes all those problems. I'm not sure if other brands also supply that cable but I can say the corsair do and that saves you some money and time having to get it seperate.
 
Last edited:
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If you want the highest MFS performance an X3D CPU will get you the best performance. Since you also need productivity performance the 7950X3D seems perfect for you. If you are willing to get a new motherboard and RAM you mind as well do this:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4.2 GHz 16-Core Processor (€797.90 @ Alza)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360 A-RGB 48.8 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (€140.90 @ Alza)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX (rev. 1.0) ATX AM5 Motherboard (€316.90 @ Alza)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€310.99 @ Alternate)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€99.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€379.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB Video Card (Purchased For €0.00)
Case: Fractal Design Pop XL Air ATX Full Tower Case (€124.90 @ Alza)
Power Supply: Corsair HX1200 Platinum 1200 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€241.69 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €2413.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-06 23:25 CET+0100
 
Solution
If you want the highest MFS performance an X3D CPU will get you the best performance. Since you also need productivity performance the 7950X3D seems perfect for you. If you are willing to get a new motherboard and RAM you mind as well do this:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4.2 GHz 16-Core Processor (€797.90 @ Alza)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360 A-RGB 48.8 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (€140.90 @ Alza)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX (rev. 1.0) ATX AM5 Motherboard (€316.90 @ Alza)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€310.99 @ Alternate)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€99.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€379.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB Video Card (Purchased For €0.00)
Case: Fractal Design Pop XL Air ATX Full Tower Case (€124.90 @ Alza)
Power Supply: Corsair HX1200 Platinum 1200 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€241.69 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €2413.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-06 23:25 CET+0100



Isn't this excessively more expensive considering his budget? The 7950x3d and the 13900k perform basically the same according to benchmarks depending where you look they can flip flop but on the majority the 13900k takes the win by a decent margin. I think the 7950x3d wins the fps battle but only by slim margins. With one being 700$ and the other being 579$ and the fact that atleast for me I can't even find an available 7950x3d unless you're willing to pay 1100$( maybe they are available in another country that im unsure of). Also in this example you have for him the ssd's you have I don't understand when you could get 2 2tb sk hynix p41 for less than just the single 4tb WD you selected and thier performance is way better than both options isnt it? I'm strictly speaking from a budget to performance ratio here.
 
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Isn't this excessively more expensive considering his budget? The 7950x3d and the 13900k perform basically the same according to benchmarks depending where you look they can flip flop but on the majority the 13900k takes the win by a decent margin. I think the 7950x3d wins the fps battle but only by slim margins. With one being 700$ and the other being 579$ and the fact that atleast for me I can't even find an available 7950x3d unless you're willing to pay 1100$( maybe they are available in another country that im unsure of). Also in this example you have for him the ssd's you have I don't understand when you could get 2 2tb sk hynix p41 for less than just the single 4tb WD you selected and thier performance is way better than both options isnt it? I'm strictly speaking from a budget to performance ratio here.
I already suggested a budget build with the parts he can reuse. By the way the user is from Belgium. The wd black 850x is within margin of error compared to the p41 from sk hynix, so if you have a better link for a deal on storage, by all means, share it. The 7950X3D is within a couple percent of the 7950x in productivity tasks and blows the 13900k out of the water for Microsoft flight simulator. There are certainly slightly cheaper ways to go about a build for him but I already posted one that takes that into account.

It can be done a bit cheaper like this, although if he did not need the additional storage he could have saved a lot by discarding it from the list:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4.2 GHz 16-Core Processor (€797.90 @ Alza)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360 A-RGB 48.8 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (€140.90 @ Alza)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650 GAMING X AX ATX AM5 Motherboard (€223.50 @ Galaxus)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€310.99 @ Alternate)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€99.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€140.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB Video Card (Purchased For €0.00)
Case: Fractal Design Pop XL Air ATX Full Tower Case (€124.90 @ Alza)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS GX 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€182.89 @ Caseking)
Total: €2021.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-07 00:54 CET+0100
 
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I already suggested a budget build with the parts he can reuse. By the way the user is from Belgium. The wd black 850x is within margin of error compared to the p41 from sk hynix, so if you have a better link for a deal on storage, by all means, share it. The 7950X3D is within a couple percent of the 7950x in productivity tasks and blows the 13900k out of the water for Microsoft flight simulator. There are certainly slightly cheaper ways to go about a build for him but I already posted one that takes that into account.

It can be done a bit cheaper like this, although if he did not need the additional storage he could have saved a lot by discarding it from the list:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4.2 GHz 16-Core Processor (€797.90 @ Alza)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360 A-RGB 48.8 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (€140.90 @ Alza)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650 GAMING X AX ATX AM5 Motherboard (€223.50 @ Galaxus)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€310.99 @ Alternate)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€99.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€140.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB Video Card (Purchased For €0.00)
Case: Fractal Design Pop XL Air ATX Full Tower Case (€124.90 @ Alza)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS GX 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€182.89 @ Caseking)
Total: €2021.88
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-07 00:54 CET+0100


I'm not sure I would use the term blown out of the water for a 5-7 average fps difference especially when it's 130$ price point difference. Also if we were to stick at the 700$ price point, correct me if I'm wrong but from the few things I saw the 13900ks outperformed the 7950x3d in MFS and basically everything else? I will say one thing for sure the 7950x3d does it all at a drastically lower power cost. As for the SSD's I'm not to sure about Belgium but here at least Amazon had the 2tb P41 for 150 if it's the same there I'd say that seems like a better deal for what's widely considered a better performing SSD.
 
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I just did my first ever full build with a 4090 and total price with a 700$ monitor and some peripherals only came to 4000$ and some change so honestly if you are excluding the 4090 from you upgrade price I could give you a part list for what I have it works quite amazing imo. I have a ddr5 mobo but it also comes in a ddr4 version if you really want to stick with your ram kit. I saw a comment stating that the recommendation is for 1200w psu and I know that sort of is the case but I'm also under the impression Initially nvidia stated it would be a 600w card but then released it as 450, you can pull 600w while overclocking though if thats what youre planning at least thats my understanding of it. Also some 4090 (depending which you went with) are locked at 450 and don't even offer bios to go past that. If you are only using 450w the 1000w psu should be fine and I've seen very many builds using 4090s with 1000w psu's. I myself actually went with a corsair rm1000x shift because the different orientation for wiring made it so much simpler, and have had no issues as of yet ( like i said earlier this is my first full build and im no expert in all this by any means. All the info i have comes from what ive read from people with way more knowledge than myself and what others used and reviewed once they completed) . Aside from all that I would say with a 2000$ budget it should be fairly simple to achieve what you want to do. For reference this is what I got:

This is my basically completed build minus some fans i was still waiting to recieve on pcpartpicker
https://pcpartpicker.com/b/3DkXsY#cx4205128

Like I said above the mobo has 2 versions a d4 and d5 one supports ddr4 and the other ddr5 ram. The cooler has been working exceptionally did stress tests on aida64 and some others and never went over 68° just figured I'd throw the suggestion in there even though you have one in mind. If you were to just get the mobo, cooler, and i9 13900k I think total for all 3 would have you set around 1300$ which is under that budget if those are all you're looking to include in the upgrade. Hope this helps.


Edit: I also saw you were possibly thinking about a psu change and from my experience and the experience I read from others if you are getting a 4090 the cable supplied by nvidia sucks and has been melting and also causing fit problems in cases. I know all the corsair atx 3 psu come with a different cable that is more flexible and fixes all those problems. I'm not sure if other brands also supply that cable but I can say the corsair do and that saves you some money and time having to get it seperate.

Thanks! very useful reply!
 
If you want the highest MFS performance an X3D CPU will get you the best performance. Since you also need productivity performance the 7950X3D seems perfect for you. If you are willing to get a new motherboard and RAM you mind as well do this:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4.2 GHz 16-Core Processor (€797.90 @ Alza)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 360 A-RGB 48.8 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler (€140.90 @ Alza)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX (rev. 1.0) ATX AM5 Motherboard (€316.90 @ Alza)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€310.99 @ Alternate)
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€99.90 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN850X 4 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€379.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB Video Card (Purchased For €0.00)
Case: Fractal Design Pop XL Air ATX Full Tower Case (€124.90 @ Alza)
Power Supply: Corsair HX1200 Platinum 1200 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€241.69 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Total: €2413.17
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-06 23:25 CET+0100

I'm actually curious what the upcoming 7800x3d will deliver, and at what pricepoint.
I think the wait could be worth while... like begin April if I'm correct?