Build Advice What is your opinion on this DDR4/AM4 build?

[klavs]

What is your opinion on the following build?

Chassis           Lian Li Lancool 216
                  Lian Li LAN216-2X Dust Filter
PSU               Seasonic Prime PX 850 Platinum
Motherboard       ASUS TUF Gaming X570-Plus
CPU               AMD Ryzen 7 5700X 3.4GHz
GPU               ASUS GeForce RTX 4070 Ti TUF Gaming OC
CPU Cooler        Noctua NH-D15S
RAM               2x16GB G.Skill Trident Z Neo DDR4 3600MHz CL14
SSD               Samsung 990 Pro 2TB

My own notes and questions for the build are:

• Do you know if there are any issues that I am unaware of or have any suggestions?
• I am not looking to safe a couple of bucks on the motherboard. I know I can get a board that's $100 or more cheaper, but the ones I've checked all lack stuff that the X570-Plus has, that I need.
• I looked at alternatives with DDR5 and the prices are just too high for the motherboards and top RAM, compared to the performance gain.
• I considered buying a 3000-series card, but prefer the 4000-series due to the lower power consumption vs performance.
• I looked at alternative SSD's, but could not find any that performed better for the same price.
• I looked at alternative motherboards, but they either include WIFI (which I don't need) or lacked in features vs the X570-Plus. It would be nice with an alternative with better USB connectivity.
• I wonder if the motherboard and CPU supports the 3600MHz RAM, because the spec for the motherboard says 3200Mhz and the spec for the CPU says 3200Mhz. Do I need another CPU or motherboard to support the 3600MHz RAM?
• The RAM is the best I could find. Do you have a link to better DDR4 RAM?
• I looked at alternative cases, but have had good experience with Lian Li.
• Does anyone know where to get a good filter that fits at the top of the Lancool 216, or that can be mod'ed to fit it?
• I plan to undervolt the GPU a little to keep it silent, to keep the temperature low and to lessen the power it draws. I know I selected an overclocked TUF, but I prefer Asus TUF cards, compared to the other graphic cards I have bought during the years.
• I wonder if the motherboard still needs a BIOS upgrade for the Ryzen 7 5700x CPU, or if the retailers have gotten updated boards with a newer BIOS that supports the chip. Do you know?
• Do the CPU and GPU work well together?

 

[Lafong]

Were your opinions on SSD and RAM based on:

Published specifications

or

Benchmark performance found on the Internet somewhere

or

Some type of "real world" testing other than benchmarks

or

Something not directly related to performance

or ?

 

[klavs]

Were your opinions on SSD and RAM based on published specs, benchmarks, or performance in selected games?

Thank you for replying. It's based on all of the above, plus the claim that Neo RAM is made to support Ryzen CPUs better than older types of RAM, plus I have VERY good experience with the quality of Samsung SSD's. I spend a lot of time researching before posting here, but many of my choices are also based on prior experience with the brands I have selected.

Do you have any input regarding my questions?

 

[Lafong]

Wondering what the price tag is on the items on your list.

I certainly don't see anything wrong with it, but don't know how sensitive you are to price or where you are on the diminishing returns curve.

You could likely substitute other parts, but would still have to deal with buyer's remorse and second guessing yourself, despite any of us saying you'd never notice the difference for less money.

Pretty tough to make decisions based on someone else's anecdotes or off-hand opinions. I'd rather just have a little luck on quality control.

I'd assume you spent quite a bit of time selecting those parts and we would be mostly nit-picking. The cooler and PSU are highly important and those are good choices.

 

[klavs]

Thank you for your feedback.

Wondering what the price tag is on the items on your list.

The price tag for the components listed is approximately $2,840, where the biggest expense is the GPU at $1,135. But if I had opted for a similar DDR5 system, the price would be much higher.

I'd rather just have a little luck on quality control.

I tried to select quality components and did a fair bit of research.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

Few takes on your parts selection:

PSU - Thats a very good PSU, but u can settle down on a cheaper gold rated model. If you tell the location/website, we can look into it and suggest alternatives

CPU - If you are set on am4, i would suggest 5800X3D.

SSD - Unless you are doing video editing, u dont need all that performance. a cheaper 970evo drive or corsair MP600, sabrent rocket, WD850X all give good performance. The difference between a 3000mbps read drive and a 7000mbps read drive is 1 second of loading time in most games and 3-5 sec in windows bootup...

 

[klavs]

Thank you for your comments.

PSU - Thats a very good PSU, but u can settle down on a cheaper gold rated model. If you tell the location/website, we can look into it and suggest alternatives

I plan to use the system for many years, which is why I opted for a platinum PSU. The money spend, will be earned in power saving. Or maybe you know of a similar platinum PSU? I have had bad experiences with many PSU's (including fan noise, strange ticking, etc), so I really want a very good PSU this time. The reason I went for 850 Watt PSU, is because I want to be sure I can re-use it.

I haven't decided yet, where to buy the components, but will stick to sites with the .dk domain, because it will enable me to visit the retailers and get better support and easier RMA if needed.

CPU - If you are set on am4, i would suggest 5800X3D.

I considered the 3D chip, but it seems to have problems with unreal engine development. Do you know if this has been fixed? I couldn't find any indication that it has been fixed.

The other reason I went for the 3700X, and not the 3800X or 3800X3D, is because it draws a lot less power, ie. better temps and less noise. Also, the power consumption of the 3D chip is too high when it is idle.

The build is primarily intended for gaming, but I plan to develop software too - so it's important that the system works with the development tools I plan to use. This includes video editing and the like.

SSD - Unless you are doing video editing, u dont need all that performance. a cheaper 970evo drive or corsair MP600, sabrent rocket, WD850X all give good performance. The difference between a 3000mbps read drive and a 7000mbps read drive is 1 second of loading time in most games and 3-5 sec in windows bootup...

Thank you very much for the advice, I will look into it.

 

[Lucky_SLS]

general guide: Discussion - PSU recommendations and power supply discussion thread - Tom's hardware | Tom's Hardware Forum (tomshardware.com)

 

[logainofhades]

I would change the PSU to something like a Corsair RM850x, for less money, a deepcool AK620, and a Crucial P5 plus to save a bit more. Take those savings, and put them towards a 5900x, if you do not want a 5800x3d.

 

[geofelt]

You can build as is.

To address your questions:

I like the Samsung ssd devices.
With the 2tb models, verify that you get the latest firmware updates to avoid premature wear.

DDR4 ram is fine.Today, there is very little difference in performance between DDR4 and DDR5.

A motherboard will boot to bios at default speeds, regardless of the speed of the stick. 3600 is an overclocked speed which you will need to set up in the bios.
Ryzen is very dependent on fast ram for performance and is picky about compatibility.
Is the selected kit on the motherboard QVL list for your processor?
Or, on the g.skil supported list?

Love the lian li quality, and the 216 seems like a very good case for air cooling.

Motherboard bios will be the current one at time of manufacture.
Since the 5600x has been around for a year, I would not expect a problem
Unfortunately, it does not have the update w/o cpu capability.

CPU and gpu are very independent of each other.
I see no problems there.

Love the NH-D15s, I am using one. It is needed to clear the tall ram heat spreaders.

Did you look at the alternative 13th gen Intel processors?
Usually, they do a better job in gaming because of the better single thread performance.
Here is a review of the 13400:
https://www.tomshardware.com/news/intel-core-i5-13400-core-i5-13400f-cpu-review
13500 is even stronger.
Most any lga1700 motherboard will be fine except the lowest level chipsets.
Z690/Z790 are not necessary.
B660/B760 is fine. MATX is usually cheaper.
How many expansion slots do you actually need?

Intel does not depend on fast ram for performance. 32gb of ripjaws 3600 speed would be cheaper.
As a plus, the integrated graphics of the 13400/13500(non F) processors will include quick sync that can help video editing:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...uick-sync-video/quick-sync-video-general.html

 

[klavs]

Thank you very much for very detailed feedback. I really appreciate it.

Is the selected kit on the motherboard QVL list for your processor? Or, on the g.skil supported list?

I found a compatibility list for the RAM where the motherboard was included. I also read some articles from people that claims it works / or that got it to work, although these were all for the CL16 version of the same RAM.

Did you look at the alternative 13th gen Intel processors [...] with better single thread performance? Usually, they do a better job in gaming because of the better single thread performance. And there are chep boards.

Yes. I really wanted a DDR5 system, but didn't like any of the configurations that I could come up with, with regards to the quality of the components, power consumption and the cost of the total build.

How many expansion slots do you actually need?

I selected the motherboard primarily because it fully supports PCIe 4.0 for the SSD, it's audio chipset, it's cooling and more. Every other motherboard that I could find, at the same price or lower, didn't meet my requirements. I only expect to plugin an extra audio card, two more cheap disks and some extra fans. The rest of my auxiliary components (which I haven't listed above) will run via USB.

As a plus, the integrated graphics of the 13400/13500(non F) processors will include quick sync that can help video editing:
https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...uick-sync-video/quick-sync-video-general.html

Thank you, I didn't know that. I will attempt to pick parts for an intel system again.

 

[klavs]

I would change the PSU to something like a Corsair RM850x, for less money, a deepcool AK620, and a Crucial P5 plus to save a bit more.

Thank you very much. I haven't looked at these yet.

 

[klavs]

Ryzen is very dependent on fast ram for performance and is picky about compatibility.
Is the selected kit on the motherboard QVL list for your processor?
Or, on the g.skil supported list?

Here is the RAM compatibility list for the ASUS TUF Gaming X570-Plus for the Ryzen 5000 series;

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/PRIME_X570-PRO/Memory_QVL_for_AMD_Ryzen_5000_Series_Processors_X570_0423.pdf?model=TUF GAMING X570-PLUS

The 2x16GB RAM I selected is not on the list (F4-3600C14D-32GTZN), but the 2x8GB version is (F4-3600C14D-16GTZN). Do you think it will work with the 32GB version? I'd assume it does work.

 

[logainofhades]

I would choose this ram, if wanting the rgb. CL14 vs CL16, on 3600, isn't going to gain you much performance, and is much cheaper than CL14 stuff.

PCPartPicker Part List

Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Neo 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $119.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-02-28 08:04 EST-0500

 

[geofelt]

Here is the RAM compatibility list for the ASUS TUF Gaming X570-Plus for the Ryzen 5000 series;

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/SocketAM4/PRIME_X570-PRO/Memory_QVL_for_AMD_Ryzen_5000_Series_Processors_X570_0423.pdf?model=TUF GAMING X570-PLUS

The 2x16GB RAM I selected is not on the list (F4-3600C14D-32GTZN), but the 2x8GB version is (F4-3600C14D-16GTZN). Do you think it will work with the 32GB version? I'd assume it does work.

I would NOT assume that it would work.

Go to g.skil and check out their compatibility list.

 

[klavs]

I would NOT assume that it would work. Go to g.skil and check out their compatibility list.

Thank you for pushing me. The motherboard is on the compatibility list;

https://www.gskill.com/qvl/165/326/1604306130/F4-3600C14D-32GTZN-QVL

 

[helper800]

That is a good build, but it all comes down to price and since you said it was about 2850 dollars I know for a fact you could do significantly better for the same price like so:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor ($298.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK620 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler ($64.98 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650 AORUS ELITE AX ATX AM5 Motherboard ($199.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($145.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($159.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PNY XLR8 Gaming VERTO EPIC-X RGB OC GeForce RTX 4090 24 GB Video Card ($1649.99 @ GameStop)
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower Case ($115.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($148.88 @ Amazon)
Total: $2783.80
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-02-28 14:15 EST-0500

Even if I were picky about brands, colors, and PSU efficiency you could do this with a 4080 instead of a 90:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor ($298.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15S chromax.black 82.51 CFM CPU Cooler ($99.95 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($147.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($159.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card ($1199.00 @ Newegg)
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower Case ($115.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic PRIME TX-850 850 W 80+ Titanium Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($249.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2570.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-02-28 14:22 EST-0500

 

[geofelt]

What are the specs of your current pc?
I ask because it is an easier change and a shorter learning curve if you stick with your current Intel or AMD product line.
Today, there is parity at every price point between Intel and AMD.

 

[klavs]

My current gamer PC is 10+ years old and crashes if I jump next to it - it's going in the bin.

I plan to undervolt the GPU on my new build, to make sure it's energy efficient. I want a PC that is power efficient, which is also why I chose the Enermax PSU, the X5700 and the 4000 series GPU, instead of the 3000 series GPU. I have always had driver/opengl problems with ATI graphic cards, and avoid them like the plague. I plan to keep the new PC for years, without changing anything, except maybe adding some components like more disks, fans, an Intel LAN card, a professional sound card, etc. My only concern at the moment is:

• The motherboard doesn't seem to have a 'revert to previous bios' functionality
• The motherboard doesn't seem to support front USB-C
• The SSD was not listed in the compatibility list for the motherboard

So I am still browsing motherboards, but can't find any satisfactory motherboard / RAM combos for the same price, but am considering an expensive Asus ROG motherboard, but the ones I've considered, seem to require different RAM.

 

[klavs]

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor ($298.99 @ Newegg)

Thank you very much for the input, but the reason I chose the 5700X is because it's 65W compared to the 7700X's 110W or more, which is also why I didn't go Intel.
I am really not worried about having to pay $300 more, for a quality and/or power efficient build (although I am not going to spend more than $2999 for a build). I plan to undervolt the 4070 Ti GPU.

My main reason for posting was to find out if the components were a good fit/compatible or if there was something they couldn't do, like front panel USB C, and the like. And your hunch is correct, I am kinda religious with regards to the Noctua 15, the Enermax and the Samsung SSD - the one you recommended looks interesting.

 

[logainofhades]

The 7700 non x is 65w, and I believe there is also an eco mode, for the 7700x, that you can enable in the bios.

 

[klavs]

That is a good build, but it all comes down to price and since you said it was about 2850 dollars.

I did a more thorough search and the total price for the build I posted is $2625 (including a Windows Retail).

I would NOT assume that it would work.

I have checked all the specs, and all the components are compatible and fits in the chassis with room to spare.

I want to say thank you to everybody that participated in this thread. Thank you for helping out.