Build Advice Which CPU/MOBO Combo Makes the Most Sense for My First Build in 10 Years?

drakrhal

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Approximate Purchase Date: Within a Month

Budget Range: $1,500 without GPU and Case

System Usage from Most to Least Important: Gaming, and basically only gaming.

Are you buying a monitor: No, have the Alienware 34" 1440p Ultrawide

Parts to Upgrade: (e.g.: CPU, mobo, RAM) Include Power Supply Make & Model If Re-using

Do you need to buy OS: No

Preferred Website(s) for Parts: NewEgg, Amazon, BHPhoto

Location: Pittsburgh, PA

Parts Preferences: No real preference. Mainly looking AMD CPU

Overclocking: Maybe

Your Monitor Resolution: 3440 x 1440 (DisplayPort: 175 Hz HDMI: 100 Hz)

Additional Comments: Planning a build that would have upgradability in 3-5 years (thus why I am looking at the AM5 platform). Basically trying to decide whether the combo of CPU/MOBO should be higher MOBO due to the want to upgrade easily in the future, or better CPU for current needs. Eventual plan would also be to add a new GPU, somethin around a 4080.

And Most Importantly, Why Are You Upgrading: Current system is running a 3570K so I am in need of a new pc for gaming. Mainly playing AAA style PC games and trying to get at least 100FPS.

Build One: 7700x and AsRock Taichi

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor ($336.53 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($98.50 @ Newegg Sellers)
Motherboard: ASRock X670E Taichi Carrara EATX AM5 Motherboard ($513.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory ($116.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($159.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: EVGA Founders Edition GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB Video Card Already Have
Case: Fractal Design Torrent ATX Mid Tower Case Already Have
Power Supply: SeaSonic VERTEX GX-1000 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($249.99 @ B&H)

Build 2: 7800x3D and MSI 670 Tomahawk

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7800X3D 8-Core Processor ($450)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler ($98.50 @ Newegg Sellers)
Motherboard: MSI 670E Tomahawk AM5 Motherboard ($300)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory ($116.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($159.99 @ Adorama)
Video Card: EVGA Founders Edition GeForce GTX 1070 8 GB Video Card Already Have
Case: Fractal Design Torrent ATX Mid Tower Case Already Have
Power Supply: SeaSonic VERTEX GX-1000 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($249.99 @ B&H)

Both options are around the same price due to bundle deals on Newegg. If you have any other suggestions for combos that would be good now and for an eventual upgrade, I would enjoy reading about them.
 
1) Don't pay $100 for the Dark Rock Pro 4

2) The 2nd option with the MSI Tomahawk and 7800X3D is certainly the better choice of these two. I honestly wouldn't dismiss a 7700X + MSI Tomahawk.

3) The RTX4080 draws around 320W under load and the 7800X3D will likely be around 100-150W depending on tweaks. Something like a 750W or 850W PSU ought to be enough.

Rant: Prices have been horrible since Black Friday 2022. It's like they sold out the world supply of PC parts and never recovered.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor ($336.53 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 280 A-RGB 68.9 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($124.89 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI MAG X670E TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL32 Memory ($123.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($149.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $1170.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-28 14:47 EDT-0400
 
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punkncat

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IDK how far you are from a Microcenter, but they are hands down unbeatable for the CPU/mobo combo pricing they do. I find much of their other stuff is competitive to high, according to what it is. Totally worth checking into.

I also agree that AM5 is going to be the (current) way to go for that nice long upgrade support promised.
 

punkncat

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Looks like Mayfield Heights or Columbus Ohio in a quick look. Both of those are about 2 hours out.
We have two in Atlanta, they are both on Northside and the map shows them an hour away. You can NEVER make it there and back in under 3 minus store time, traffic here stinks.

Pretty good haul and still worth it to me, particularly when they are clearing something out.
 

drakrhal

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Sep 22, 2018
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1) Don't pay $100 for the Dark Rock Pro 4

2) The 2nd option with the MSI Tomahawk and 7800X3D is certainly the better choice of these two. I honestly wouldn't dismiss a 7700X + MSI Tomahawk.

3) The RTX4080 draws around 320W under load and the 7800X3D will likely be around 100-150W depending on tweaks. Something like a 750W or 850W PSU ought to be enough.

Rant: Prices have been horrible since Black Friday 2022. It's like they sold out the world supply of PC parts and never recovered.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X 4.5 GHz 8-Core Processor ($336.53 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 280 A-RGB 68.9 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($124.89 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI MAG X670E TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($299.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL32 Memory ($123.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($134.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($149.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $1170.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-03-28 14:47 EDT-0400
  1. I would like to stick with an Air Cooler personally as I don't trust AIOs. I know intellectually that they are fine and would basically never fail, but it still just weirds me out.
  2. The main reason for comboing the 7700X and Taichi was that there is a savings on the taichi of around $120 when you buy both together. This just brought the price down and basically I was moving the savings from the lower CPU to a better MOBO.
  3. I agree with your assessment on the PSU, just really liked the new Seasonic ones and figured going a bit over on wattage allows me to use it longer, or for a bigger upgrade down the road.
 

drakrhal

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What exactly does the Taichi have that the Tomahawk doesn't that's making you need it? Just a higher price tag = better?

$500 for a mobo is pretty expensive, even in today's market. Heck, even $300 is a lot.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NQHkDEcgDPm34Mns3C93K6SJoBnua-x9O-y_6hv8sPs/edit#gid=0
I was mostly looking at it as better parts and more “future proof” so that in 3-5 years I can just drop in a new cpu and have a good base for that cpu to go into.

Like I said earlier, it’s been 10 years since I built my original pc and I am not used to this idea of planning for a future upgrade. I don’t know if pcie need to be 5 or 4, but was making the assumption of longevity through price.
 
I would lean on a beefier aircooler for the X3D chips. Although the power draw is about 150W, the 3D cache makes the CPU hit 95C with a 150W cinebench run. Games use these cache so expect the X3D chips to be 10c hotter when compared to non X3D chips...

So a Noctua NH D15 chromax, Deepcool AK620 or Thermalright peerless assasin is what i would suggest...
 
There is no such thing as "future proofing"
In two years, you needs may change.
Or, new products will emerge with better price/performance.
As an example your I5-3570K system was "future proof" back when, in that you could simply upgrade to a I7-7700K yet, you subsequently did not see the value in that.

Today, both Intel and AMD have comparable price/performance offerings at every price bracket. Current gen is the way to go when buying new. AM5 or Intel 13th gen.
Buy what you think will do you for the next two years.
Plan on a beefy quality power supply to accommodate a graphics upgrade.

I would agree with using an air cooler. Games do not stress cpu cooling the way multithreaded apps do. Overclocking is no longer a way to get something for nothing. Parts are now binned so a golden chip is unlikely.
AIO coolers do not last forever. In time, air intrudes or the mechanical pump faile or gets clogged.
When you bought a aio 10 years ago, you would likely be looking today at a third replacement.

I might add that changing to amd will have a learning curve that you could avoid with Intel 13th gen. Ryzen is very picky about ram.
On these forums, I see many issues with ryzen and ram.
Look at the current 13th gen intel alternatives.
 
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drakrhal

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There is no such thing as "future proofing"
In two years, you needs may change.
Or, new products will emerge with better price/performance.
As an example your I5-3570K system was "future proof" back when, in that you could simply upgrade to a I7-7700K yet, you subsequently did not see the value in that.

Today, both Intel and AMD have comparable price/performance offerings at every price bracket. Current gen is the way to go when buying new. AM5 or Intel 13th gen.
Buy what you think will do you for the next two years.
Plan on a beefy quality power supply to accommodate a graphics upgrade.

I would agree with using an air cooler. Games do not stress cpu cooling the way multithreaded apps do. Overclocking is no longer a way to get something for nothing. Parts are now binned so a golden chip is unlikely.
AIO coolers do not last forever. In time, air intrudes or the mechanical pump faile or gets clogged.
When you bought a aio 10 years ago, you would likely be looking today at a third replacement.

I might add that changing to amd will have a learning curve that you could avoid with Intel 13th gen. Ryzen is very picky about ram.
On these forums, I see many issues with ryzen and ram.
Look at the current 13th gen intel alternatives.
I think with this in mind the 7700x and cheaper Taichi are what I will probably do, with a good air cooler.
 
I was mostly looking at it as better parts and more “future proof” so that in 3-5 years I can just drop in a new cpu and have a good base for that cpu to go into.

Like I said earlier, it’s been 10 years since I built my original pc and I am not used to this idea of planning for a future upgrade. I don’t know if pcie need to be 5 or 4, but was making the assumption of longevity through price.
Both/all X670E boards are basically at feature parity in the sense you're considering. There may be slight differences in PCIe usage (USB ports/speeds), fan/rgb headers, etc that you can view in the linked spreadsheet above.

Pretty safe to say that even the $300 Tomahawk board is going to have more than what you need for the perceived future CPU upgrade that's socket/chipset compatible.
 
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Zerk2012

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I was mostly looking at it as better parts and more “future proof” so that in 3-5 years I can just drop in a new cpu and have a good base for that cpu to go into.

Like I said earlier, it’s been 10 years since I built my original pc and I am not used to this idea of planning for a future upgrade. I don’t know if pcie need to be 5 or 4, but was making the assumption of longevity through price.
Don't count on that 3 to 5 years.
AMD said AM 5 will be supported to 2025 and maybe longer.
Motherboard manufacturers hate long term support they make money selling boards.
 
Not to mention that, while AM4 had 4 generation compatibility period it's not as black-and-white as it seems on the surface.
Although you could drop 5th gen CPUs into (some) 1st gen boards, you don't necessarily get the benefit of all the features/tech that are available on the new chips. PCIe revisions, USB speeds and types, thunderbolt, networking speeds, RAM speeds (yes, the controller is on the CPU, but the board traces have to be good enough to hit higher speeds also) are obvious mobo-related improvements. But AFAIK, I don't believe PBO/curve optimizer is available on older boards. Stuff like that.