PC for gaming and software development

[Scotty123]

Hello all.

I am looking to build a new pc. Been several years since I last did this and that is what my current pc is from - 2013. Been using the work pc at home since covid but need to give that back as moved to a new job. I am a bit out of the loop with components but have a rough idea from some initial research.

The use of it will be gaming (including vr), lots of development work involving game (main job) and engineering applications (secondary job) as well. So compiling speed is important (including game engines, Linux images and more) which can use a lot of RAM. The requirements are:-

• No GPU needed, I have a 1080 to use until the new 4000 series is out.
• 64gb RAM a requirement - DDR5?
• I am interested in the Intel Core i9-12900KS.
• Two 4k high quality monitors as well. Probably 144hz refresh?
• Budget is around £5k.
• High capacity main SSD (4GB?).
• High capacity mechanical drive (4GB again?).
• I do not want a case that is full tower, so big and heavy.
• Reasonably quiet under idle.

Thanks a lot!

 

[Tetras]

If you look at TPU's review of the 12900KS and 12700K, the 5900X or 12700K are very competitive indeed (@ Unreal Engine and Visual Studio) for their price.

The 12900KS costs a lot more and it doesn't offer performance that justifies the premium, unless you're in a rather extreme "time is money" scenario here (in which case, I'd assume you'd be considering HEDT or server parts, too).

DDR4/DDR5, in TPU's review, there didn't seem to be any benefit to DDR5 for the same tasks mentioned above. Since DDR5 costs twice as much, you could fit 128GB DDR4 for the same money and if you need that RAM, I think it'll be more worthwhile.

 

[Chris Beard]

Hello all.

I am looking to build a new pc. Been several years since I last did this and that is what my current pc is from - 2013. Been using the work pc at home since covid but need to give that back as moved to a new job. I am a bit out of the loop with components but have a rough idea from some initial research.

The use of it will be gaming (including vr), lots of development work involving game (main job) and engineering applications (secondary job) as well. So compiling speed is important (including game engines, Linux images and more) which can use a lot of RAM. The requirements are:-

• No GPU needed, I have a 1080 to use until the new 4000 series is out.
• 64gb RAM a requirement - DDR5?
• I am interested in the Intel Core i9-12900KS.
• Two 4k high quality monitors as well. Probably 144hz refresh?
• Budget is around £5k.
• High capacity main SSD (4GB?).
• High capacity mechanical drive (4GB again?).
• I do not want a case that is full tower, so big and heavy.
• Reasonably quiet under idle.

Thanks a lot!

If the budget is panels and a rig look at 5950x, DDR4 and B550 (tomahawk probably).

If the budget is rig alone look at ThinkStation P620.

/edit: corrected 5900x to 5950x

 

[JollyJamma]

• High capacity main SSD (4GB?).
• High capacity mechanical drive (4GB again?).

You sure you want such high capacity drives? 4gb is a lot haha.

What about a 2tb SSD and a 6tb mech drive?

 

[Scotty123]

If you look at TPU's review of the 12900KS and 12700K, the 5900X or 12700K are very competitive indeed (@ Unreal Engine and Visual Studio) for their price.

The 12900KS costs a lot more and it doesn't offer performance that justifies the premium, unless you're in a rather extreme "time is money" scenario here (in which case, I'd assume you'd be considering HEDT or server parts, too).

DDR4/DDR5, in TPU's review, there didn't seem to be any benefit to DDR5 for the same tasks mentioned above. Since DDR5 costs twice as much, you could fit 128GB DDR4 for the same money and if you need that RAM, I think it'll be more worthwhile.

Okay not much difference really. I guess it makes the top one not good value for money, unless you want to throw it away or brag. Would definitely consider those then. I do a lot of Unreal compiling and custom engine work.

You sure you want such high capacity drives? 4gb is a lot haha.

What about a 2tb SSD and a 6tb mech drive?

Yes! One of the projects I work on is 1.5tb from the Perforce repository (and that is not even the whole lot..just what I need to do my job). I also have several vms a few hundred gb each belonging to several different projects.

 

[JollyJamma]

Hmmm OP, I think you might need a NAS as well.

I’d say 2 by 6tb hard drives and a 2tb SSD might be prudent.

That gives you I/O capacity to have different projects on the spinning rust which won’t slow each other down.

You might also consider an Intel Optane disk as a scratch disk. It won’t make a ton of difference for a VM but if you run into RAM limits, it could be useful / not as expensive as buying more ram.

I could easily justify you buying a Samsung 980 Pro 2tb SSD but it’s up to you. I have a 970 evo plus and find it really great for the speed to price.

What I find with the 970 evo plus is that I can smash it with I/O requests it just keeps on with its good performance. I can’t say the same for some of the cheaper SSDs I have.