New Build Advice

[Mint_Sauce]

I'm looking for advice on a new build, I'm coming from an AM4 build: a 5950X, 3080 and 96GB DDR4. I do indie game dev (Unreal 4.27 / C++) and like to play some games on the side (rumours of HL3 makes me want a build ready to go ).

I've been out the scene a bit so I'm not sure exactly what to go for but I'm thinking...

9950X3D
5080
64GB RAM (the 96GB in my current build is probably a little unnecessary)

I have a Corsair RM850x PSU, is 850 going to be enough?

I'm wondering if there's any stand out mobos, ram and 5080s to aim for over others? Or brands to avoid?

Thanks for any help on this!

 

[Tetras]

64GB RAM (the 96GB in my current build is probably a little unnecessary)

Unreal development can eat a lot of RAM (though think that's mainly 5, not 4?), so might be worth buying one of the cheap 96GB kits, since if you aren't bothered about speed (and the X3D CPUs are not) they're decent value. DDR5 PCs don't much like running 4 sticks either, so it could save you a future headache.

5950X3D

9950X3D?

 

[tamzzy]

what is your budget?

 

[Mint_Sauce]

Unreal development can eat a lot of RAM (though think that's mainly 5, not 4?), so might be worth buying one of the cheap 96GB kits, since if you aren't bothered about speed (and the X3D CPUs are not) they're decent value. DDR5 PCs don't much like running 4 sticks either, so it could save you a future headache.


9950X3D?

Yep, 9950X3D, I think I was having a stroke.

ok, that's interesting - I'll opt for the 96GB then thanks.

 

[Mint_Sauce]

Budget fades out when we start getting to £3k+, £4k is more than I want to be spending.

 

[tamzzy]

Budget fades out when we start getting to £3k+, £4k is more than I want to be spending.

not familiar with the coding scene, do you need lots of cpu cores, or gpu horsepower?
(more ram is a given)

 

[Mint_Sauce]

More CPU, Unreal seems a bit mystical when compiling but I think basically throwing more CPU at it the faster it crunches through. I can do a full compile in around 45 seconds on my 5950X, I'm really hoping to bring that down some with the 9950X3D

 

[Mint_Sauce]

How's about something like?

MOBO: MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (Has the 5Ghz LAN port which would be handy for connecting to my NAS)
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Sixteen Core 5.70GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail
RAM: Crucial Pro 96GB (2x48GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C46 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit
GPU: Gainward GeForce RTX 5080 Phantom GS 16GB GDDR7 PCI-Express Graphics Card

 

[tamzzy]

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Sixteen Core 5.70GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-04501) = £699.95
• 1 x MSI MAG B850 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI (AMD AM5) B850 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-MSI-03993) = £218.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance 96GB (2X48GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel (SKU: MEM-CRS-02844) = £239.98
• 1 x NVIDIA - DOOM: The Dark Ages Premium Edition Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-NVI-05178) = £0.00
• 1 x Zotac GeForce RTX 5080 Solid Core OC 16GB GDDR7 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-ZTC-04821) = £999.95
• 1 x Super Flower LEADEX III GOLD UP 1000W 80 PLUS Gold Power Supply PCIe 5.1 ATX 3.1 (SKU: POW-SFL-04172) = £149.99
• 1 x UK Mains Plug with 13A Fuse to IEC C13 Socket Lead, 10A, 2m (SKU: ACC-OCS-01709) = £0.00

Total: £2,308.86 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

you've not said if you needed any other parts so i've not specced them

i would opt for a 1kw psu tbh
the 9950x3d tdp is 170w which means it can pull up to 230w with PBO
the peak power spikes of the 4080 is 420w
that's 650w peak 100% draw, not accounting for all other components (~100w or so)
so, if you fully blast the computer at 100% for hours on end, i would want a bit more headroom than 100w that may have degraded over the years

b850 chipset is fine unless there's something specific you need from x870
the b850 tomahawk's vrm is up there with the best of them and will handle a 9950x3d running for hours on end no issues

i would also get a 360mm aio to cool the beast

 

[Tetras]

MOBO: MSI MPG X870E CARBON WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (Has the 5Ghz LAN port which would be handy for connecting to my NAS)

If I were to spend that much, I think I'd rather buy the ProArt for 10Gb LAN. It also has the older style sound instead of the USB connected one, though the lack of SPDIF on a creator board is boggling.

MSI put 5Gb on many of their boards now.

 

[tamzzy]

(Has the 5Ghz LAN port which would be handy for connecting to my NAS)

MSI put 5Gb on many of their boards now.

yep, the b850 tomahawk has 5gb lan too, so no reason to get the x870e carbon
(and wifi 7 )

 

[Mint_Sauce]

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Sixteen Core 5.70GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-04501) = £699.95
• 1 x MSI MAG B850 TOMAHAWK MAX WIFI (AMD AM5) B850 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-MSI-03993) = £218.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance 96GB (2X48GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel (SKU: MEM-CRS-02844) = £239.98
• 1 x NVIDIA - DOOM: The Dark Ages Premium Edition Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-NVI-05178) = £0.00
• 1 x Zotac GeForce RTX 5080 Solid Core OC 16GB GDDR7 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-ZTC-04821) = £999.95
• 1 x Super Flower LEADEX III GOLD UP 1000W 80 PLUS Gold Power Supply PCIe 5.1 ATX 3.1 (SKU: POW-SFL-04172) = £149.99
• 1 x UK Mains Plug with 13A Fuse to IEC C13 Socket Lead, 10A, 2m (SKU: ACC-OCS-01709) = £0.00

Total: £2,308.86 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

you've not said if you needed any other parts so i've not specced them

i would opt for a 1kw psu tbh
the 9950x3d tdp is 170w which means it can pull up to 230w with PBO
the peak power spikes of the 4080 is 420w
that's 650w peak 100% draw, not accounting for all other components (~100w or so)
so, if you fully blast the computer at 100% for hours on end, i would want a bit more headroom than 100w that may have degraded over the years

b850 chipset is fine unless there's something specific you need from x870
the b850 tomahawk's vrm is up there with the best of them and will handle a 9950x3d running for hours on end no issues

i would also get a 360mm aio to cool the beast

Thank you, that all looks great. I don't really need anything else as I'll be swapping things out from my current system. I'm assuming my old AM4 AIO water cooling will be ok. It's a Corsair AIO, I'll need to check that though and see if I need to change the mounting plate or whatever.

I'll go with your option of the B850 board as that still has the faster LAN port and saves a fair amount.

I will probably get a larger SSD drive, I have two 1TB SSDs which are fine but a bit limiting as I like to keep them half full for optimal performance. Maybe I'll go for 1 x 4TB drive or maybe 2 x 2TB drives to spit the load of OS and game installs.

 

[tamzzy]

I'm assuming my old AM4 AIO water cooling will be ok. It's a Corsair AIO, I'll need to check that though and see if I need to change the mounting plate or whatever.

AM4 mounting = AM5 mounting

I will probably get a larger SSD drive, I have two 1TB SSDs which are fine but a bit limiting as I like to keep them half full for optimal performance. Maybe I'll go for 1 x 4TB drive or maybe 2 x 2TB drives to spit the load of OS and game installs.

if you do a lot of large, single file transfers then it may be worth getting a pcie 5 drive (one of the rare use case scenarios a pcie 5 ssd makes complete sense)

 

[Mint_Sauce]

Also, I'll get some fresh Thermal Grizzly Duronaut - 2g for the install.

 

[Quartz]

ok, that's interesting - I'll opt for the 96GB then thanks.

You can get 128 GB kits - 2x 64 GB - these days.

 

[Mint_Sauce]

I don't really do lots of large file transfers, I do some photo editing on 60mp photos in Lightroom so going from one photo to the next and then Lightroom rendering the full res image can be a bit laggy, not sure if a pcie 5 drive would help with that or not?

 

[Tetras]

yep, the b850 tomahawk has 5gb lan too, so no reason to get the x870e carbon
(and wifi 7 )

Tomahawk is even 8-layer too, which might help with thermals / heatsoak for extended load. Though I haven't seen any roundups for B850.

 

[Mint_Sauce]

You can get 128 GB kits - 2x 64 GB - these days.

I'll see how much extra it is to jump from 96GB to 128GB, if it's not much then why not.

EDIT: Just checked and it's quite a jump in price plus ends up being 4 sticks rather than 2 for the Corsair, so possibly worth sticking with the 96GB

 

[tamzzy]

I do some photo editing on 60mp photos in Lightroom so switching between them and Lightroom rendering the full res image can be a bit laggy, not sure if a pcie 5 drive would help with that or not?

it may well do, seeing as intel optane (RIP) did help with this

also how old is your aio, and what is the rad size?
nowadays aios are pretty cheap so if your current aio isn't a 360 or is kinda old, i'd just get a new one

Thermalright Aqua Elite 360 Black ARGB V3 All In One CPU Cooler

Order Thermalright Aqua Elite 360 Black ARGB V3 All In One CPU Cooler now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

I use one of the thermalrights too

Guess my 7800X3D deserves some more cooling (upgrading from the Liquid Freezer II 240mm )
And my motto of not recommending PC components that I would never use myself...

 

[tamzzy]

Though I haven't seen any roundups for B850.

AM5 Motherboards Sheet (X870/X670/B850/B650/B840/A620)

docs.google.com

14 (@ 2x7) 80A for the vcore VRMs
outside of the halo-tier boards, basically top end