Please review and improve my build

Brok

Brok

Brok

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Joined
9 Mar 2004
Posts
1,637
Hi folks,

Looking for some advice on how to improve this build please. I will be putting together a new rig with a 30x0 GPU once released and wanted to get a head start on the other components. Main usage will be for games at 1440p 144hz (for now) and VR.

I've been out of the build game for a few years so my knowledge is severely lacking, so my main questions are

1) Is the PSU sufficient and are Corsair still reliable or is there a better choice?
2) Same for AIO, am I as well with a decent air cooler? I don't want to go custom loop.
3) I'm set on the case as I have an R4 that has served me well and I like the uncomplicated look.
4) SSDs - this seems like a total minefield. I have picked a fast nvme for boot/key apps and then a standard SATA SSD for game storage. Is there a better configuration that is also not insanely expensive?
5) Motherboards - no idea here, I saw this one recommended in another thread so went with it. I will only be using a single GPU so i think the benefits of X570 will be wasted on me? Happy to be told otherwise. Also I am confused by the description of the USB ports. I would ideally like all 5 on the case top to work, as well as a minimum of 4 at the back. I have many input devices and some are fussy about hubs.

I don't need OS or fans etc included as I have most of what I need there already.

In terms of budget, I can move a bit from this but I think the parts demonstrate the level of spend I'm willing to put in to the build, minus the gfx card which I know is going to add signficantly.

Any advice would be appreciated!


My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,468.54 (includes shipping: £14.70)​
​
 
Thanks for the advice guys I really appreciate it. I was kind of hoping to give AMD a chance this time around, is it worth holding fire until the new CPUs are announced as I'm not in a desperate hurry to do this build? Or do you think in single threaded performance Intel is still going to be king? Or I could hedge my bets with a 3700x as pointed out further up it seems to be the sweet spot on price/performance and look to move to a 4 series Ryzen later.
 
@orbitalwalsh I have gone for a build largely based on your AMD suggestion above, with a few tweaks based on other information present in this thread so thanks to all who have contributed. I had a change in circumstances that meant waiting another few months was no longer an option. My wallet now waits in fear of the Nvidia card release prices, not to mention availability!
 
orbitalwalsh said:
What's did you drop your cash on it in the end ?

And get your finger on the trigger if you do go 3***. You wait, supply and demand will drive prices up along with Covid outbreaks for logistics etc
Click to expand...

I did some shopping around to make sure I got the best price per component, including looking at my options as far as SSDs go. Let's leave it at that ;) I went 3900x in the end and will wait and see what AMD come up with for Zen 3. I can always sell on if I feel like taking a bit of hit to step up or just wait and upgrade for cheap in a couple of years when people are moving theirs on.

I had to wait several weeks last time I went for a card at launch (EVGA 1080 GTX FTW) which I'm still using now so I can deal with that if I have to but will see what tomorrow's announcement brings and make a call. It will take me a bit to get the rest of the rig put together to my liking anyway.
 
orbitalwalsh said:
hope parts assemble nicely and what you thiinking of 3*** pricing and performance ?

@Plec Fortnite about too get its RTX game on... now doubt that will make her game pretty and work a biit harder!
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Funny you should mention it, just had a delivery so all the bits except the GFX card are now in my hands. Hopefully I'll get some spare time at the weekend to put it together and get it ready for a card to slot in.

I'm impressed with the 3080 price/performance and that is the likely pick for me. They are not much more than I paid for a Pascal card at launch 4 years ago. The only slight niggle is that I am hoping in the medium term to move into a bigger office/mancave with a 4k OLED and not sure whether I should go all-in on this generation and go 3090 or if that is just burning money. Then of course there's the likelyhood of a Ti not too far down the line...decisions not made any easier without any real world benchmarks to go on.
 
orbitalwalsh said:
2080ti was first 4k card that ran well , 3080 is enough to handle - 3090 would take advantage if TV supported higher rates when 60hz .

Would look into TVs with G-Sync support though!!!!!!

and order quiick, before demand jacks up pricing
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It would be an LG OLED CX most likely so should support VRR over HDMI 2.1. and 120hz at 4k. Hence the dilemma, lol!
 
We have a 65 C8 in the lounge so I know what I'm letting myself in for. I was taken aback when it first came out but now just looks normal.
 
Really bad photo inc..

UPRPWRk.jpg

It's a windowless case so I don't care what it looks like inside, so long as the airflow is good! Here is what I've ended up with

Fractal Design Define R7
AMD Rzyen 9 3900X
Gigabyte X570 Auros Elite
32GB 3200mhz DDR4
2 x 2TB NVME SSD
Alphacool Eisabar 360mm AIO
Corsair RM850 PSU

It's also wearing my daughters old GTX960 until I get a new GFX card for it, hence the reason I have 2 PCI-E power cables pulled through until I sort what I'm getting. I will also sort the case headers at the same time.

I may do a replace of the stock fans as its a little louder than I might like, not that's its bad just that it could be more quiet. The constant change in clocks really confused the cooler so I have to peg it to the VRM temps and set a custom fan curve to keep the CPU fans stable at around 900rpm but that's fine now. Goes from idle around 40c to a max of about 70 without them having to ramp up which I'm happy with. I can get a 4.6ghz boost also which is nice to see given this can be a bit of a lottery.

The Gigabyte windows software is poor and looks horribly outdated, they need to sort this out really. However I just uninstalled it and either used direct BIOS updates or other tools to achieve what I wanted.

The SSDs are blisteringly quick, not sure really if there is any need for quicker drives now? Maybe the new direct read tech that Nvidia revealed with Ampere is the way forward.

Now just waiting on the 30x0 cards to release so I can do the rest of the rig justice.
 
Plec said:
Have you got the case fans on a curve, too?

I've built a few specs using that case and have found them to be OK - even with my fussy ear. Or, are you after a particular idle/load temp?

EDIT: Although, i use high end air cooling - so your AIO opening may be contributing to more noise escaping via the top.
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The case fans are not PWM so they don't report an RPM. I'll have a fiddle and see if setting a curve makes any difference but tbh the case fands aren't that bad. I also have some noctua 140mm PWM fans that I will try and see if that helps. I'm sure you are right that some of it is the upward facing fans on the AIO as my previous build (in a Define R4) is on air and whilst they are at a similar noise level the air setup is less intrusive. It's partly the frequency of the sound rather than the noise level which I am picking up on. Perhaps I just need to adjust to the change! Again, I have some spare 120mm Noctuas that I will try out and see if that helps.

I want the lowest temps I can get at the noise level I can tolerate is the answer. I understand that the Ryzen starts to limit voltage/boost clocks once it goes past 75c so I would want to keep it below this at all times which the current setup seems more than capable of, just need to see if I can dial it in on the noise front too. Of course it may all change once it has a beefier gfx card venting a load more hot air inside the case...

orbitalwalsh said:
Looks good.
Yes the eisbaer fans are basic . Other set uses BeQuiet fans . The Fin Per Inch isn't high on the eisbaer AIO, unlike other AIO it's based all in copper like custom water set ups, so you can run really slow RPM fans and go for silence !

Heads up if you haven't. Plug pump cable into pump header/another fan header that isn't CPU one but run at 100% !!! And set failure warning !
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It's plugged into the CPU header at the moment, any particular reason I can't just set that to 100%?
 
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orbitalwalsh said:
Just personally the way I set it up. I have radiant fans plugged into CPU header so it controls the speed . And then SEP header to control 100% the pump .
Each to their own.

But pump at 100% and warning set :)
Click to expand...

OK thanks for the tip. The problem I had with the AIO fans plugged into the CPU header and set to auto was that they just ramped up and down constantly as the CPU boosted.
 
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