New here and new build thread of course...

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Hi all,

I'm new here because I want a new PC so no surprises there....

I want it for astro image processing, mainly for PixInsight if anyone is aware of it. At the moment 99% of the application won't use a GPU which is why you won't see one in my build but will use all the CPU cores you can throw at it.

With that in mind I have cobbled together the list below but would welcome thoughts on where I could do better given my comments re GPU etc. No doubt I will add one at some point but not right now. I also went with this particular processor because there is no GPU on my list plus for the number of cores etc.

Anyway this is where I am at the minute if you could advise please:

QuantityStock IDDescriptionPriceTotal
1MB-6J9-ASAsus TUF Gaming X670E-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard£349.99£349.99
1CP-3DE-AMAMD Ryzen 9 7950X Sixteen Core 5.70GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail£629.99£629.99
1MY-4DF-CSCorsair Vengeance EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK32GX5M2D6000Z36)£199.99£199.99
1HD-248-SASamsung 980 Pro 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive£119.99£119.99
1SW-18K-MSMicrosoft Windows 11 Pro 64-Bit DVD - OEM (FQC-10528)£164.99£164.99
1HS-01C-BQbe quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 CPU Cooler£79.99£79.99
1BU-00B-LLLian Li Lancool II ARGB Midi-Tower Case - White with Corsair RM Series RM650£149.75£149.75
£1,694.69

Many thanks in advance.
 
They all seem to be quality components so not much to add. Mobo seems expensive but all AM5 mobos are a kick in the danglies at the moment. You do seem really light on storage so just think about what you actually need and get enough, you may have a NAS set up already but just get what you need. RAM, adding a further 2 sticks to get 64gb is not really an option with Ryzen4 , you would have to significantly reduce the speed to get it to run with 4 sticks so if you will ever need 64gb get it now or in the future sell your current ram and buy new kit. I personally would source Win11 from other means but if you want to pay the MS tax thats upto you. PSU is good but will limit what gpu you could use in the future.
 
That's great thanks and yes I have a NAS already so purposely left off the storage. I didn't realise the memory limitation with the CPU and yes was thinking I'd buy more later if needed so that is definitely good to know.
My thoughts on GPU was maybe something like a 3060 as and when so would I need a better PSU for one of those. Happy to add it now if you have a suggestion.
For the OS do you mean another supplier or something else? I probably could do "something else" if I give it some thought. Not that it's relevant but will make it dual boot with Linux too.

On reading a few threads I started to see mentions of size with coolers so does that look ok or should I consider something else, even water, although that would generate some more questions for sure.
As it is I think the case comes with three fans so would I still need another anyway for getting rid of the warm air?

Thanks again for the feedback.
 
A 3060 would be fine with that psu. I just saw the price of the tower cooler you have gone for and it is expensive. If you got an Artic Liquid freezer II 240mm it is about the same price and you could mount it in the top to help expel air. If you want a cheaper tower cooler for simpilicity then the Thermaltake Silent Assassin SE 120 performs excellently and is around £40-45, not stocked on ocuk so you would have to shop around.

Forums rules means I cant talk to much about other means to get Win11 licences. I use Win10 and it is free and available to download from MS website and runs perfectly well without a license.

EDIT- AMD have announced the new cpus recently so you may be able to save a chunk by going for the 7950 without the X. I have no idea how the software you use is programmed but if a lot of the calculations are done in the cache then the 7950x3d could be a lot faster. If you look for benchmarks with your applications in mind comparing 5800x vs 5800x3d you will have an idea how the new X3d chips will run, no idea if anyone has done relevant benchmarks.
 
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Thanks again and now you have me looking at liquid coolers. I know you mentioned a specific one but assuming that was price comparison related would there be any advantage to getting a cooler the same make as the case? Just thinking compatibility/ease of fitting etc....

Also just for my education and going back to the 2 vs 4 DIMMs I had sort of assumed the AMD5 supporting motherboards were just that so if those processors cannot use 4 x DIMMS why does the MB have the slots for them?
 
okey dokey I amended the kit and ignored your cooler suggestion ;) but is this one ok? Given the memory question too I had a look on the AMD site so have changed the memory to slightly slower as I read these CPUs only officially support 5200 so now have this:

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £1,643.80 (includes delivery: £14.10)​



 
You can get a Lian Li Galahad aio , it is a very good aio but can be expensive. I picked the Artic LF II because it is reasonably priced and the best performer , it has a thicker radiator than other AIO so it performs better but it can be more difficult to fit into some cases. I think it would be ok in the lancool but you will have to find out ourself when you fit it. If it does not fit at the top then you can always fit it at the front so it will definitely fit somewhere.

The Ryzen 4 cpus will work with 4 dimms but you will have to significantly reduce the memories speed to get it to work. If your work is photo processing then that can be very memory speed sensitive which is probably why you went for the 6000mhz ram.

I cannot see any issues with the above build.
 
Thanks again for that. I did post my updated list with the Galahad but it's awaiting approval plus I changed the memory to 5200 as I saw on the AMD site that was the speed supported for 2 DIMMs
 
Sorry for the continued questions but just looked again and am I limited to a 240mm cooler in the top of the case I selected?

The Lian Li Lancool II? According to the description on OCUK's website, you can have 360 or 280mm in the front, or 240mm in the cover (I don't know what the cover is, is it the roof?).
 
Thanks both I read exactly that and assumed they must mean the top. I guess it means I should change to the 240mm version so will that be sufficient or should I look at a different case?
 
You can mount the 360 AIO in the front and move the 3 fans to other spots to help with airflow but it would be simpler with a 240 in the top. 7950x and all the Ryzen 4 cpus have weird thermal behaviour, they all boost as much they can until they hit 95C and then chug along at that temp. What this means is if you have better cooling you get slightly better performance.

In the BIOS there is an eco mode where you can get 95% of the performance whilst using just 105w and a 240 aio is easily enough to dissipate that amount heat. I am about to watch some vids on the standard Non X Ryzen chips that came were reviewed today , they are going to be a little cheaper and run eco mode by default so may be worth considering.
 
I am new to this, not new to computing per se, but it's a long, long time since I built a machine so you'll to forgive me if some things are a bit off.... I've read that having a cooler at the front can be an issue, at least for GPU cooling, which I know I don't have yet, but when you say better cooling do you mean better than a 240 in the roof?

For my use, at the minute, the processor is important so I'm assuming I wouldn't want eco mode on the whole so I'm reading into this a bigger case and roof mounted 360. Looking at cases I see that a lot at this price level won't support a 360mm in the roof so what am I trying to do different here compared to the norm as plenty of folk must be using these cases?
 
If you have a front mounted AIO that drops the cpu heat into the case then you will have slightly lower cpu temps and slightly higher gpu temps. If you mount an AIO in the roof it will be the reverse and comparitively higher cpu temps and lower gpu temps. The difference in performance is very very minor and you could have 2 identical systems alongside each other and not notice a difference unless you were actively checking the temps and benchmarking. If you were to go for a relatively low power gpu such as the 3060 it would not make a lot of difference if the aio was mounted in the front or top

You can go for a larger case where you can mount a 360 ( or even the Artic Liquid Freezer II 420 which is the best AIO you can get ) in the roof but I think you would be perfectly good with my original suggestion of the Arctic LF II 240.

Better cooling means whatever dissipates heat at a faster rate. Faster you remove the heat from the cpu the more performance you will get but I would not get hung up on this area because there are diminishing returns.
 
If you have a front mounted AIO that drops the cpu heat into the case then you will have slightly lower cpu temps and slightly higher gpu temps. If you mount an AIO in the roof it will be the reverse and comparitively higher cpu temps and lower gpu temps. The difference in performance is very very minor and you could have 2 identical systems alongside each other and not notice a difference unless you were actively checking the temps and benchmarking. If you were to go for a relatively low power gpu such as the 3060 it would not make a lot of difference if the aio was mounted in the front or top

You can go for a larger case where you can mount a 360 ( or even the Artic Liquid Freezer II 420 which is the best AIO you can get ) in the roof but I think you would be perfectly good with my original suggestion of the Arctic LF II 240.

Better cooling means whatever dissipates heat at a faster rate. Faster you remove the heat from the cpu the more performance you will get but I would not get hung up on this area because there are diminishing returns.
ok that all makes sense and appreciated. I'll take your advice and also swap out the galahad for the arctic. Are they generally better performing devices then?
 
The Artic Freezer II AIO use 35mm radiators whereas all other AIO use 28mm radiators. This means they are 25% thicker and have 25% more fin area so they dissipate more heat with the same airflow. "we canna change the laws of physic Captain".

TBH with the Ryzen 4 chips hitting 95C by design I do not know how coolers handle this. Do they automatically hit 100% fan speed because they think the cpu is overheating? Guess you will have to find out the hard way lol
 
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