£1200 Ryzen build, partial basket - DAW and gaming

[helmet]

Hi, I’m looking for some help please.

My i7 920, 8GB DDR3, Asus P4t, and MSI R9 270X is finally not able to post. I have a Sandisk 1tb SSD on there and a 7200 WD black also. I can’t complain, some of it is ten years old.
I almost got a Ryzen back when they released the 3x range last year but didn’t. I’ve put together many baskets but after this basket that I’ll post, I’m a bit out of the loop on what to get.
I hardly game nowadays, although I still enjoy DCS, Elite Dangerous, CS and Starcraft 2. I mostly use music apps, digital audio workstation type stuff for guitar, some coding and some video ripping/encoding.
Budget is ~£1200
The only thing I have my eye on is the new Microsoft flight sim which will not be VR based. I also don’t think it’s worth shelling out on a high end graphics card before the game is even released, so I’m holding off with a RX 590.
I have dual 1920x1080 Benq monitors with DVI (and HDMI but DVI for now). I don’t need keyboard, OS or audio, but I do need firewire. I'll reuse the sandisk as storage but want an Nvme drive, I'll also use the WD 7200 black.


This is the basket to begin with:
My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £289.99
• 1 x PowerColor Radeon RX 590 Red Dragon 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card *BLACK FRIDAY DEAL*= £154.99
• 1 x Fractal Design Define S Midi Tower - Black= £74.99
• 1 x **B Grade** Startech PCI1394MP Texas Instruments (TI) Chipset 4 Port PCI Firewire Card= £19.99

Total: £552.26 (includes shipping: £12.30)
​

The questions I have are:
1. Should I get an X570 board? I really only need ethernet 5.1 audio (ideally a dedicated chip) and as many pcie and usb slots as I can muster.
2. What mobo manufacturers are good now? I mean, keep with updates long after getting the sale?
3. Brand loyalty, the Asus board I had for ten years, that's astounding, should I stick with them?
4. Same goes for my BeQuiet PSU, never had to replace it yet.
5. I see only one DVI on that RX590, is dual DVI out still a thing? My monitors have HDMI ports but I've never used them. How does that sit with a dual desktop display?
6. Should I up my PSU rating given that I'm using firewire and most of the USB ports?
7. I want to use the Sandisk and WD 7200 again, I can't get into the Sandisk SSD as the current machine won't post, can I attach, grant everyone permissions and browse? It's Win 10 OS just now and intend to put Win 10 back on.


Sorry for such quirky/targeted questions. I don't mind finding other information out myself if you could guide on the motherboard, memory and cooling options.
Thanks for reading.

 

[Journey]

I'll say one thing you aren't going to be able to install that PCI Firewire card in any AM4 motherboard, as none of them have PCI slots, only PCI-E.

 

[helmet]

Thanks for that, didn't even notice it was only PCI.

 

[helmet]

Hi,

I've put a basket together, could someone in the know give it a check please?
I've stolen links from advice in other posts, hopefully all this fits together.
Thanks

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x MSI MAG Vampric 010 Midi Tower ARGB Gaming Case - Black Tempered Glass= £49.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core 4.5GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £364.99
• 1 x PowerColor Radeon RX 590 Red Dragon 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card *BLACK FRIDAY DEAL*= £154.99
• 1 x Gigabyte 1TB M.2 PCIe x4 NVMe SSD/Solid State Drive= £98.99
• 1 x MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £106.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 16GB 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Kit= £95.99
• 1 x Seasonic Prime Ultra Snow Silent 650W 80 Plus Platinum Modular Power Supply= £92.99
• 1 x Startech 3 Port 2b 1a 1394 PCI Express FireWire Card Adapter= £59.99

Total: £1,038.12 (includes shipping: £13.20)​

​

 

[lee32uk]

Save some money and go with the 3700X.

This Team Group RGB Ram is cheaper, or if you want the Corsair then the 3000MHz kit saves money.

There is this cheaper Firewire card, but don't know if it fits the bill ?


My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £299.99
• 1 x Team Group Night Hawk RGB 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - RGB Black (TF1D4= £69.95
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit= £82.99
• 1 x Dynamode PCI Express 3-Port FireWire Adapter (PCIX3FW)= £11.99

Total: £474.82 (includes shipping: £9.90)
​

 

[helmet]

Hi @lee32uk, thanks a lot for that reply. Much appreciated.
Despite what you see I'm not sold on RGB, this thing will sit under a desk with a wooden panel, I just saw the Corsair being mentioned in another post and that it was 3600 speed, the CPU spec said RAM between 3200 and 3600 so went top of the scale. With the saving on using 3200 I've took it up to 32GB.

I made your suggested changes but ditched the RGB altogether, I'd no idea who Team Group were but they look to be a solid manufacturer.
As for the Firewire card, the vendor of my device calls out the Startech chip-set I listed as compatible, although for £12 I was tempted .

I made the other adjustments to the basket. Would there be any need for more 120mm fans, is that a done thing nowadays? Bear in mind my last build has IDE cables in it :

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x MSI MAG Vampric 010 Midi Tower ARGB Gaming Case - Black Tempered Glass= £49.99
• 1 x PowerColor Radeon RX 590 Red Dragon 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card *BLACK FRIDAY DEAL*= £154.99
• 1 x Gigabyte 1TB M.2 PCIe x4 NVMe SSD/Solid State Drive= £98.99
• 1 x MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £106.99
• 1 x Seasonic Prime Ultra Snow Silent 650W 80 Plus Platinum Modular Power Supply= £92.99
• 1 x Startech 3 Port 2b 1a 1394 PCI Express FireWire Card Adapter= £59.99
• 2 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Grey (TLGD= £59.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £299.99

Total: £997.11 (includes shipping: £13.20)​

​

 

[lee32uk]

If you are going with 32GB then a 2 x 16GB makes more sense.

This kit is 3000MHz but you can easily overclock it using Ryzen Dram calculator. There won't be much difference though between 3000 and 3200 anyway.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C15 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK32GX4M2B3= £109.99

Total: £118.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)​

​

You can add a couple of 140mm fans to the front as it looks like that MSI only has a rear fan installed.

Something like these if you want cheapish fans:


My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 2 x Arctic Cooling P14 PWM PST Black Fan - 140mm= £6.95

Total: £22.60 (includes shipping: £8.70)​

​

 

[lee32uk]

If you want to mess about tweaking the ram:

 

[helmet]

Brilliant stuff @lee32uk thank you very much for that help. I'll go with the 2x16.

 

[Danny75]

@helmet

Just a little thing but the Tomahawk doesn't have an ARGB/DRGB header for the case's rear fan. Only RGB headers.

 

[Tyrion2]

I added a few of those arctic cooling P14 pwm fans to a 3700x build a couple of months ago. Decent fans at a nice price.

ps, one thing though, those fans come with screws (short screws). I'm not familiar with that case, but, before you start installing the front fans, check the screws which come with the case. I went with: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phan...i-tower-case-with-window-black-ca-031-pt.html and that comes with longer front fan screws which are so much easier to use than the short screws when it comes to mounting the front fans.

lol, just realised you're also coming from an i7920 - I had an i7920 p6t 6gb before switching to the 3700x. 3700x is a really nice upgrade

 

[lee32uk]

@helmet

Just a little thing but the Tomahawk doesn't have an ARGB/DRGB header for the case's rear fan. Only RGB headers.

He doesn't seem bothered about the RGB anyway, as it is going under a desk.

You would need something like the hub below though otherwise ? RGB isn't my strong point.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Lamptron SP101 10x Addressable RGB Hub for Aura, Fusion and Mystic= £8.99

Total: £11.73 (includes shipping: £2.74)​

​

 

[Danny75]

He doesn't seem bothered about the RGB anyway, as it is going under a desk.

Thanks Lee, just read back and saw. Matters even less then.

You would need something like the hub below though otherwise ? RGB isn't my strong point.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Lamptron SP101 10x Addressable RGB Hub for Aura, Fusion and Mystic= £8.99

Total: £11.73 (includes shipping: £2.74)
​

In this example the hub cannot (safely) connect to the motherboard as it has 3-pin 5v connector and the board only has 4-pin 12v headers. I'm not terribly up-to-date with RGB stuff either, to know if there's a workaround for that.

 

[helmet]

@Danny75. @lee32uk , @Tyrion2 thanks for those comments and pointers guys. Sorry I didn't have a minute to get on and reply until now.
Losing the RGB isn't a big deal at all, it's probably better not powered. I take it the RGB header can still power the fan though?

Yeah @Tyrion2, for about 7 years of i7 920 I thought I'd never need to buy a new PC again. That mobo is well and truly shot now.
Really appreciate all of your help in this so thanks. Actually looking forward to building something again. Those BIOS'es look better than Windows 7.

 

[Danny75]

I take it the RGB header can still power the fan though?

Well, just connect the normal fan power connector to a normal fan header on the board, and don't use the RGB connector at all. There've been a few reports now and then of fried boards because of inserting RGB connector into ARGB header or vice versa.

 

[Tyrion2]

Yeah @Tyrion2, for about 7 years of i7 920 I thought I'd never need to buy a new PC again. That mobo is well and truly shot now.
Really appreciate all of your help in this so thanks. Actually looking forward to building something again. Those BIOS'es look better than Windows 7.

speaking of bios', the bios on the tomahawk max looks a lot better than the bios on the asus p6t (with the i7 920)

 

[helmet]

hi guys, just placed the order. The motherboard was out of stock so had to go elsewhere (sorry OcUK).
Thanks so much to all of you @lee32uk, @Tyrion2, @Danny75. I hardly come on these forums now but happy to see it's still the place it was, at least in terms of help.
I've no doubt I'll be back here asking what modular cable I use. Until then, thanks a lot for your help!
Can't wait to see what all the Ryzen hype was about.

 

[Seearbe]

There is this cheaper Firewire card, but don't know if it fits the bill ?

The Texas Instruments XIO2213B chipset is well proven for audio, which is on the Startech card but not the cheap one you've found.

I have a Digitus Firewire 800 card which is around £35 and had no issues.

 

[lee32uk]

The Texas Instruments XIO2213B chipset is well proven for audio, which is on the Startech card but not the cheap one you've found.

I have a Digitus Firewire 800 card which is around £35 and had no issues.

I guessed there would be some reason why it was so cheap. Thought I would suggest it though just in case

 

[helmet]

Folks, @lee32uk, @Danny75, @Tyrion2, @Seearbe.
Just wanted to follow up and say thanks so much for the help.
I just got the RAM tuned tonight, got a fright in the build when the Spire had little plugs in it, other than that all hanging together nicely, Firewire card and all. With your help. So thanks folks, really much appreciated.