Question What would you buy at Microcenter? $800 to $900

[helper800]

Ok so here is what I actually ordered to pick up this afternoon:

I went with an I7-12700k/z790/16gb DDR4 bundle for $299. By dropping to the i7 I saved $100 which let me order this GPU:

Zotac 4070
https://www.microcenter.com/product...ked-dual-fan-12gb-gddr6-pcie-40-graphics-card

With the extra $50 that was left from downgrading the processor I also bought a better PSU.

-------------

I watched videos about the 4070 vs 7800xt. I understand the 7800xt is a little better in raw performance but I think the extra benefits of Nvidia like DLSS/Frame gen/ and ray tracing will make up for it. I haven't owned an AMD GPU since the r9 290 (a long time ago...) but I had huge issues with that card at the time. (overheating bad drivers)

What is the exact PSU you ordered? Nvidia is also perfectly capable of outputting buggy graphics drivers and cards that overheat. The 7800XT also has more VRAM, FSR a DLSS equivalent, AMD has frame gen, and AMD also has access to ray tracing.

 

[nonewsgoodnews]

I ordered this one since the 4070 uses less power than the 7800xt:
https://www.microcenter.com/product...-fully-modular-power-supply-atx-31-compatible

When I looked at review comparisons of the two cards, every reviewer noted that DLSS looks better than FSR and that ray tracing worked better on the 4070. I also looked at a digital foundry video for their PS5 pro comparison and a 4070 was the card they said most closely matched it spec wise which was kind of the performance target I wanted since that will be what a lot of games will do.

Thanks for the help.

 

[helper800]

I ordered this one since the 4070 uses less power than the 7800xt:
https://www.microcenter.com/product...-fully-modular-power-supply-atx-31-compatible

When I looked at review comparisons of the two cards, every reviewer noted that DLSS looks better than FSR and that ray tracing worked better on the 4070. I also looked at a digital foundry video for their PS5 pro comparison and a 4070 was the card they said most closely matched it spec wise which was kind of the performance target I wanted since that will be what a lot of games will do.

Thanks for the help.

That PSU is new and does not have any reviews on it yet. Normally this is a huge red flag for a PSU, however, SuperFlower is a good OEM and it comes with a 10 year warranty, which is standard for high end PSUs.

DLSS and FSR do look slightly different, however, unless you compare screenshots side by side they look nearly identical in live usage. Ray tracing performance on the 4070 vs the 7800 XT the 4070 is definitely faster, however, neither card can deliver performance that is usable even at 1080p with a full featured ray tracing game. The 4080S is really the minimum for 1440p if you want to use ray tracing. This is all my opinion, just to be clear.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

My personal opinion as well, not that the 4070 is a bad card, a quite good card actually. But one gripe I've got with Nvidia, look at their track record with the last couple of generations. You will notice for example they bring out a new version of DLSS and then lock the older cards out of getting the new version of DLSS, as well as downgrading the vram, example would be the 3060 12gb vs the 4060 and 4060ti.

However what is funny, you notice on the older cards that Nvidia locks out of the new versions of DLSS, that AMD's FSR technology works just fine. Nvidia just comes across at times as too money hungry. But on the thought of them locking older cards out of features, they do have newer cards coming right around the corner.

Not that the cards themselves are bad, but some thoughts.

 

[nonewsgoodnews]

Thanks for the info. My only interaction with FSR is on my steam deck. I understand that its a low powered device but every time I've ever followed a graphics guide for a game that says to enable it, it looks terrible and I just choose to lower settings for better FPS instead. I'm sure it works better on the higher powered cards.

I was watching LTT videos about DLSS and they are claiming its hard to tell its even enabled most of the time, so I'm going see if that's true soon I guess.

 

[helper800]

Thanks for the info. My only interaction with FSR is on my steam deck. I understand that its a low powered device but every time I've ever followed a graphics guide for a game that says to enable it, it looks terrible and I just choose to lower settings for better FPS instead. I'm sure it works better on the higher powered cards.

I was watching LTT videos about DLSS and they are claiming its hard to tell its even enabled most of the time, so I'm going see if that's true soon I guess.

It depends on what resolution your monitor is. The lower the resolution of monitor the worse FSR and DLSS will look on the different quality levels. Same goes for the steam deck. Luckily you can use FSR on the 4070 as well. You can switch back between FSR and DLSS quality and see if there is a significant difference yourself.

 

[nonewsgoodnews]

So I went to Microcenter and got my parts after work today. Here is the final build.

Total Cost (before tax) $1070

CPU/Motherboard/RAM ($299 bundle)
i7-12700k
MSI z790-P Pro Motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws 16gb

Other Parts From Microcenter
Zotac 4070 $500
Thermaltake Ceres 300TG case $80
Samsung 990 Evo 1TB $70
Thermaltake GF A3 750w PSU $90

I forgot to order a CPU cooler and when I got to microcenter they didn't have a good selection of air coolers. They had a $50 NZXT one and the Noctua ones. So I ordered this off Amazon:

Thermalright Royal Knight $32
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DCNV5NHP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Unfortunately it wont be here until Sunday so I probably wont get to build the pc this weekend (amazon usually delivers super late here) but I can probably do it after work one day. I'll post a picture when I'm done. Thanks again everyone.

 

[helper800]

So I went to Microcenter and got my parts after work today. Here is the final build.

Total Cost (before tax) $1070

CPU/Motherboard/RAM ($299 bundle)
i7-12700k
MSI z790-P Pro Motherboard
G.Skill Ripjaws 16gb

Other Parts From Microcenter
Zotac 4070 $500
Thermaltake Ceres 300TG case $80
Samsung 990 Evo 1TB $70
Thermaltake GF A3 750w PSU $90

I forgot to order a CPU cooler and when I got to microcenter they didn't have a good selection of air coolers. They had a $50 NZXT one and the Noctua ones. So I ordered this off Amazon:

Thermalright Royal Knight $32
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0DCNV5NHP/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Unfortunately it wont be here until Sunday so I probably wont get to build the pc this weekend (amazon usually delivers super late here) but I can probably do it after work one day. I'll post a picture when I'm done. Thanks again everyone.

That PSU is not as great as the Superflower PSU I would assume. Its a B tier PSU, but up to you if you want to save 10 dollars.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Found a review on it.

https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-com.../thermaltake-toughpower-gf-a3-750w-psu-review

Not an nvidia fan personally but that’s me. However the 4070 is a great card and it looks like you made decent choices. I’ve got the i5 12600kf in my own pc and it’s still capable.

I think my board is the msi z690-a WiFi. I want to say it has at least 4 nvme slots on it. Nice feature to have. Wonder if yours has that.

Let us know how it turns out. I think you’ll definitely be happy with it and with the ability to tinker and add later as needed.

 

[nonewsgoodnews]

I think when the 7800xt and 4070 came out the Nvidia was $100 more. Now the price is only $50 apart.

This is the video that pretty much convinced me:

View: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ry8OJTnMhKs&pp=ygUPNDA3MCB2cyA3ODAwIHh0


The cards are super close and the extra features and lower power draw seemed like enough of a reason to go 4070.

The thing that almost got me to go amd was Linux support. I don’t like windows 11 very much but I really like my steamdeck so I thought about going with bazzite on an amd card. However some games just don’t work so I’m going to stick with windows.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Yeah they are pretty much direct competitors. Like I said I’m not personally an nvidia fan, but that said, it’s still a fine card and I think you’ll definitely enjoy the setup. Should be a nice rig once it’s set up.

 

[helper800]

Yeah they are pretty much direct competitors. Like I said I’m not personally an nvidia fan, but that said, it’s still a fine card and I think you’ll definitely enjoy the setup. Should be a nice rig once it’s set up.

Yeah, they are close cards. the 4070 is show to be about 7% slower than the 7800XT but has slightly better features and 4gb less VRAM. Personally, I would go with the 7800XT because the extra 4gb VRAM will allow the card to stay more relevant, IMO.

 

[nonewsgoodnews]

Yesterday I went back to Microcenter to switch out for that other PSU. While I was there I looked around a little more at the coolers and found one that did support LGA 1700 that wasn't that NZXT one. I still have the thermaltake one coming in the mail later today but at least this one let me get everything set up. Took me about 3-4 hours from starting to having windows installed.

Pictures!

Parts:

https://imgur.com/0juaVTu

View: https://imgur.com/0juaVTu


Side:

https://imgur.com/a/rsF39h6

View: https://imgur.com/a/rsF39h6


Front:

https://imgur.com/8lnylQE

View: https://imgur.com/8lnylQE


My only issue now is dialing in the fans. Its a little louder than I would like.

 

[helper800]

Yesterday I went back to Microcenter to switch out for that other PSU. While I was there I looked around a little more at the coolers and found one that did support LGA 1700 that wasn't that NZXT one. I still have the thermaltake one coming in the mail later today but at least this one let me get everything set up. Took me about 3-4 hours from starting to having windows installed.

Pictures!

Parts:

https://imgur.com/0juaVTu

View: https://imgur.com/0juaVTu


Side:

https://imgur.com/a/rsF39h6

View: https://imgur.com/a/rsF39h6


Front:

https://imgur.com/8lnylQE

View: https://imgur.com/8lnylQE


My only issue now is dialing in the fans. Its a little louder than I would like.

Looks great! Head into BIOS and setup the fans how you like. Just know it may not be the fans that are loud, but the air coming through the case making the noise. Try different RPM ranges, especially for the two intake fans!

 

[nonewsgoodnews]

MSI had a smart fan utility. I was able to edit the fan curve and get the noise down. PC runs great.