Help please with speccing new system

Tuvoc

Tuvoc

Tuvoc

Soldato
Joined
19 Dec 2002
Posts
3,745
Hi all,

I've been out of the PC buying and building game for a ridiculously long time, my last build was an FX8350! I'm therefore not that familiar with the current state of play but I have seen the noise around Ryzen Zen 2 and Zen 3.

I'm looking at building a new box. I've got a decent new-ish PSU and a graphics card and SSDs to use. I can select a case myself.

It is a computational box not a gaming machine. The more cores the better, even at trade-off of slightly lower clocks. So I'd like recommendations for motherboard, CPU, cooler and 32GB Ram. I'm thinking AMD but whatever works best. I know there are no guarantees, but perhaps a socket that enables a CPU upgrade in future. I'm wondering if AMD, potentially a zen2 if they are cheaper and more available, with Zen3 upgrade later as they expand that range?

Budget flexible but I was thinking max £1,000 for the above, and I'd have to buy the case on top and I might need to review my PSU as well.

Advice appreciated, thanks.
 
Probably an AMD CPU is better for you then, they are as good in games an Intel now, and for production software or anything that really makes use of multiple cores they are smashing Intel.

Currently AMD are running on an AM4 socket, so it'll support 3xxx AMD CPUs and 5xxxx (Zen 3).

So if you get a 5xxx CPU there is no further headroom to upgrade the CPU going forward.

That being said, I think an AMD 5900 would serve your needs well.

If you do go a 5xxx CPU be aware that not all motherboards support them yet, you need an x570 or b550 board, and you will need to flash the bios.

The other thing with AMD CPUs is they run hot so factor in a decent air cooler or AIO if you prefer, there are pros and cons of both but a decent air cooler is probably more practical.

No idea on RAM, I got Corsair LPX stuff which isn't the quickest (all be it runs fine) tou should be aiming for 3600hmz or higher.
 
Mugen Scythe 5 is supposed to be a very good air cooler.

If you want to know a bit more about coolers, some of this is of course opinion (take anythign you read on ehre with a pinch of salt!) AIO's vs air cooler:

Air coolers are cheaper to buy, much simpler, fan and a contact with cooling surface, the only thing that can break is the fan, which you will be easily able to see, plus even if the fan breaks it'll still work to a certain degree (no pun intended). The best air coolers are actually just as good (if not better) in terms of raw cooling power and are generally quieter.

AIOs are far more expensive, more moving parts, you can have a pump failure, software failure, catastrophic liquid explosion failure (but I believe that is VERY rare), so what is the point? Well air coolers are a massivle ugly washing machine like bricks hanging off your motherboard. AIO's look sooooooooooo much better, and also double up as good intake/exhaust for your case.
 
music4mybumhole said:
As far as 'computational' goes, what is it you're actually going to be using it for? Video editing / office work etc?
Click to expand...

Chess analyses and large Excel spreadsheets.

I'm thinking the Ryzen 7 5800X is a reasonable value option. In terms of mother board and RAM, I think I'll look at what OCUK are using in their system builds as that is surely a good recommendation. Still haven't looked at the x570 vs b550 chipsets as to what the difference is.

I've never had water-cooling, I think for simplicity I'll go for a beefy air cooler.
 
The msi tomahawk b550 or x570 are the go to boards the x570 comes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Also you would need a bios flashback to update the motherboard to take the cpu ,the tomahawk has this feature.

Whichever motherboard you choose make sure you get one with bios flashback feature otherwise you will need a cpu to update the bios.
 
mickyflinn said:
The msi tomahawk b550 or x570 are the go to boards the x570 comes Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. Also you would need a bios flashback to update the motherboard to take the cpu ,the tomahawk has this feature.

Whichever motherboard you choose make sure you get one with bios flashback feature otherwise you will need a cpu to update the bios.
Click to expand...

Thanks, yes I've noted the fact that not all motherboards are compatible without a BIOS update, and some can be flashed without a CPU - that is new, wouldn't have thought that possible. Smart move by mobo manufacturers concerned.
 
Tuvoc said:
Thanks, yes I've noted the fact that not all motherboards are compatible without a BIOS update, and some can be flashed without a CPU - that is new, wouldn't have thought that possible. Smart move by mobo manufacturers concerned.
Click to expand...
You could get a 3900x 12 core for the same money as a 5800x if those extra cores are needed.

5900x is within budget.

Case what max cooler hieght ?
 
Thanks for all your help. I think now I'm going to go with a pre-built system, everything new. Unpack the box, turn it on and ready to go. Will have to double the budget, but given that I run my machines for many years the outlay is worth it. (e.g. The FX850 is still in use, although not right at the moment as I'm moving it out into a new case)
 
Tuvoc said:
Thanks for all your help. I think now I'm going to go with a pre-built system, everything new. Unpack the box, turn it on and ready to go. Will have to double the budget, but given that I run my machines for many years the outlay is worth it. (e.g. The FX850 is still in use, although not right at the moment as I'm moving it out into a new case)
Click to expand...

You know what, I dont blame anyone for doing this.

I build all mine, but this current one I built mid december 2020, I had many problems, its sorted and running great now but it took me a good nearly 3 whole days of trial and error testing and reinstalling windows etc and was VERY stressful. Turns out the graphics card that I re-used from the previous build, although working fine in that, didnt work very well in PCIE slot 1 on this motherboard, but worked, just not very well at all, which provided some very unusual symptoms which is why it took me so long to eventually figure it out.

I am actually still not 100% sure if its an issue with my new motherboard, I dont think so, but until I get a new GPU (whenever the stock crysis settles down) I will know for sure then.

I have had builds literally go without a single hitch either.
 
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