Seeking a critical eye over this build

[tenpinmark]

Can't believe it's been almost 5 years since I last built a system, but now looking for an upgrade.

Currently in the basket is this build. Couple of notes though first

1) I have just selected some Liam Li fans - I know they are the reverse fans which I suspect I don't need and should have looked for the normal fans. I have chosen 4, three to replace the fans on the AIO radiator and one for the back. Should I use a triple and a single instead? I'm not up to speed on how these work, but I like the looks.
2) The 2TB NVME stick is not set in stone, I have others available of a larger capacity but wanted to factor in another stick
3) On the bottom of the case is going to be the 3 Noctura fans.

Anyone care to share their thoughts on the build, point out errors or maybe even make suggestions on changes? As for budget, this is hitting very close to what I want to spend as I'm also looking to swap out my current 49" monitor with a ASUS ROG Strix XG49WCR when they come back into stock (https://rog.asus.com/uk/monitors/above-34-inches/rog-strix-xg49wcr/) and that will be the last £1K of budget spent.


My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Lian Li A3-mATX Tempered Glass Micro-ATX Case (Black) (SKU: CAS-LIA-04811) = £59.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Sixteen Core 5.70GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-04501) = £619.99
• 1 x G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo EXPO RGB 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-GSK-01357) = £599.99
• 1 x ASUS ROG Ryujin III 360 Extreme ARGB Performance Black All In One CPU Cooler with OLED- 360mm (SKU: COO-ASU-03398) = £369.95
• 1 x Asus ROG Loki SFX-L 1000W Platinum Power Supply (SKU: CA-05W-AS) = £239.98
• 1 x Asus GeForce RTX 5080 ROG Astral OC 16GB GDDR7 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-ASU-03929) = £1,499.99
• 1 x Asus TUF Gaming B650M-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6K2-AS) = £184.99
• 4 x Lian Li UNI SL120 INF Reverse Wireless Addressable RGB Black 120mm Fan (SKU: COO-LIA-04663) = £27.95
• 1 x WD Black SN8100 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCIe 5.0 Solid State Drive (WDS100T1X0M) (SKU: STO-WDC-05312) = £179.99
• 1 x WD Black SN850X 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T2X0E) (SKU: HD-591-WD) = £209.99
• 3 x Noctua NF-A12x15 PWM Chromax Black Swap Fan -120mm (SKU: FG-07J-NC) = £23.95

Total: £4,148.51 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

Thanks
Mark

 

[tamzzy]

point out errors or maybe even make suggestions on changes?

are asus sponsoring your build or are you just happy to flush money down the toilet?
for that kind of money i would want no less than a 5090!

also, what are you using the pc that needs a 9950x3d?

 

[Gray2233]

What do you use the system for exactly?

Also, as above but less kindly stated, you'd need to be barmy to spend over £4000 on a PC with a 5080 in it.

Lots of very expensive and poor hardware choices which offer no legitimate benefit, especially if you only game.

 

[tamzzy]

Also, as above but less kindly stated, you'd need to be barmy to spend over £4000 on a PC with a 5080 in it.
Lots of very expensive and poor hardware choices which offer no legitimate benefit, especially if you only game.

my chatgpt translator has arrived!

 

[mickyflinn]

9800x3d is the right choice for gaming.

Pcie5 m2 drive doesn't benefit gaming.

Case takes a ATX PSU.

£370 on a aio cooler isnt wise but pretty.

 

[mattyfez]

Just too add, your spending almost 400 nicker on an AIO, and if that wern't bad enough, some fans to replace the fans on it...

Damn..if a £400 AIO doesn't come with the best fans money can buy already, theres someting amiss there!

 

[Gray2233]

Quick throw together for what you could get for £4000 with a similar build theme, no I would not buy this personally:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core 5.20GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-03517) = £399.95
• 1 x Sapphire Nitro+ B850M WiFi (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-SPR-05690) = £139.99
• 1 x Thermalright Wonder Vision 360 UB ARGB Black All In One CPU Cooler - 360mm (SKU: COO-TLR-05472) = £209.99
• 1 x G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo EXPO RGB 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-GSK-01359) = £569.99
• 1 x Gigabyte Aorus 7300 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-GIG-05732) = £179.98
• 1 x Antec HCG 1200 Pro Platinum 1200W ATX3.1 Full modular Power Supply (SKU: POW-ATC-02747) = £209.99
• 1 x Zotac GeForce RTX 5090 Solid 32GB GDDR7 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-ZTC-04049) = £2,299.99
• 1 x Lian Li A3-mATX Tempered Glass Micro-ATX Case (Black) (SKU: CAS-LIA-04811) = £59.99

Total: £4,081.86 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

- Similar AiO with a big screen on it for a lot less, it's massively overkill and you could save £150 here easily.
- Two 2tb quality Gen 4 drives, Gen 5 drives are useless to almost every use case outside of niche scenarios.
- 9800X3D is ample if only gaming, the 9950X3D will offer no added benefit for that use case and only has the extra L3 cache on half of the cores, which while rare can be problematic at times.
- A far superior GPU in the form of a 5090.*
- Very capable and cheaper B850 motherboard.
- What is probably the best consumer PSU on the market right now, with 200W more under the hood for £30 less.
- Slightly cheaper RAM which will work fine, but for gaming and depending on what you play you probably don't need 64gb.

The above is a good £70-80 cheaper than the OP build, and you could save a good £300-500 + on the above if aiming for on par performance.

*Make sure the 5090 fits in that case, they're big cards.

 

[Tetras]

*Make sure the 5090 fits in that case, they're big cards.

Looks like ~4mm to spare, based on 334mm on Lian Li's website with a 360mm AIO and Zotac's website saying 329.7mm

Anyone care to share their thoughts on the build, point out errors or maybe even make suggestions on changes?

What are you using it for? If I had to guess, it looks like a streamer build, or something along those lines (gaming and video editing)?

What is the purpose of the upgrade, i.e. what performance are you intending to improve, or problems to fix?

A 5 year old PC could be a 5950X and a 3090, which is still very capable for almost everything today, so it would help to know where you want to go from and to.

 

[Gray2233]

Looks like ~4mm to spare, based on 334mm on Lian Li's website with a 360mm AIO and Zotac's website saying 329.7mm

It's the PSU mounting in the case that concerns me more than an AIO tbh, the AiO is top mounted so shouldn't actually effect anything if fitted in a certain way? The case certainly doesn't need an exhaust fan on the backside with most gaming builds so presumably you could fit one with the tubing at the rear

See here (not my photo):

Even a shorter PSU is going to run the risk of cables getting in the way, I think there are different mounting/PSU size options but I've never had to cram a super long card into one.

@tamzzy used/does own an A3 build? Probably could clarify, I love the case but I'd be super hesitant with some 5090's due to depth too tbh. There's a couple of models at the least that would be too thick to fit.

My mind went elsewhere with latter part of the last paragraph and I may need to book myself into therapy.

 

[Tetras]

It's the PSU mounting in the case that concerns me more than an AIO tbh, the AiO is top mounted so shouldn't actually effect anything if fitted in a certain way?

Yeah, I think the only reason the longer AIO cuts the GPU length is because it changes the mounting points of the PSU, which means an ATX PSU is more likely to interfere since it can't be shifted so far upwards.

 

[tamzzy]

@tamzzy used/does own an A3 build?

similar case, jonsbo d31

There's a couple of models at the least that would be too thick to fit.
My mind went elsewhere with latter part of the last paragraph and I may need to book myself into therapy.

i see nothing wrong

 

[Gray2233]

A 5090FE should be fine at 304mm regardless, you'd also save around £400 if you get one in stock.

I slapped one into an M-ATX build earlier this year and its been spot on, albeit in a Corsair 2500X.

As always with a 5090 I'll advocate the following: Power limit to 450, set fan curves, never leave the house with your PC powered on under load.

The easiest M-ATX case to fit almost anything into is probably this tbh:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x PHANTEKS XT M3 Micro-ATX Case, includes 3x 120mm Fans - Black (SKU: CAS-PHK-05735) = £52.90

Total: £60.89 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

 

[tenpinmark]

Wow - thanks all for the replies! A lot to consider here.

What am I using the rig for? Triple A title games, photo editing, Video rendering, Development work including compiling, AI R&D, and virtual machines. Often several of these at the same time.

Current setup is an AMD 3950X with 64GB and a RTX3070 with a boat load of Corsair fans all nestled in a Lian Li Dynamics case. My monitor is an old 49" Philips @ 60Hz. Most of the time, it sits at 50 - 52GB RAM usage!

Storage wise, I have a large NAS system for most of the files, and the PC only holds what I require for the current projects. Games do sit on local NVME drives though.

Reason for so much ASUS is that I've used a lot of their products in the past and never had to RMA anything - not sure if this is just lucky, but you go on what you know I suppose.

My budget is £5K including the monitor, so about £4K for the PC.

Reason for upgrading? Well, why not - I had a decent bonus this year from work, fancy an uplift in performance and capabilities, and the current rig is getting a little old now and will start to need replacements parts within the next few years I suspect.

 

[tenpinmark]

Just too add, your spending almost 400 nicker on an AIO, and if that wern't bad enough, some fans to replace the fans on it...

Damn..if a £400 AIO doesn't come with the best fans money can buy already, theres someting amiss there!

Well, to me, the Lian Li's are so pretty...... I know it's just cosmetics, but for this level of money, the cost of a few fans is not that significant for something I see every single day.

I'd probably change any AIO fans to be the Lian Li's so swapping out the AIO for another similar one with a screen and be able to save money is not a bad idea.

 

[aaronyuri]

£1500 on a 5080 is madness. You're so close to kissing the arse of a 5090 FE (£1800) at that price. That £300 would be taking you a long way in terms of performance and worth every penny.

 

[sastusbulbas]

Not sure if I would want a MicroATX build if your doing long sessions of compiling or rendering.

Don't get me wrong, I was a long time fan of MicroATX but I honestly have never had a small case that did not get excessively warm and or noisy.
That said I have an NZXT H3 aside that RAM prices culled. And keep wanting to buy the Phanteks XT M3 to replace the Enthoo Mini XL case of my old MicroATX build.

I just need to wait until I need something from OC and accidentily drop it in my basket. Once the wife forgets about the four cases bought this last six months.

Not sure about Noctua in the bottom, would it not simply be more aesthetically pleasing to have the reverse flow Lian Li fans in the bottom and get non reverse for the top. I also agree that if using the PC for work, the 5090 makes more sense. The only 5080's worth getting are around the £1000 mark, once you pass that price point and working with the PC and a 16 core CPU, the 5090 is worth considering.

I have seen a video of a similar build in the Lian Li case, using a founders card. It wasn't for me, too messy.

 

[Tetras]

Most of the time, it sits at 50 - 52GB RAM usage!

Yikes, ordinarily I'd have recommended 96GB (2x48) or 128GB (2x64), especially since you have 64GB already and 4 sticks don't often play nice with DDR5, but that's going to cost you £1K+ in this market

Reason for so much ASUS is that I've used a lot of their products in the past and never had to RMA anything - not sure if this is just lucky, but you go on what you know I suppose.

Brand preference is understandable, but if Asus put a ROG label on anything they hike up the price. Just the TUF models were way overpriced for this gen, but Asus have dropped them, I guess because they weren't competitive/selling.

If I did want to go Asus, I'd consider the Prime for the graphics card. From what I've seen in reviews, Asus build these models pretty well and the price is reasonable if you catch one on offer.

Asus TUF models (motherboard) aren't a bad spec, but I'd be reluctant to buy an old board with no PCI-E 5.0 (graphics) when you're spending so much. True that high-end cards don't care, but even so, it doesn't seem worth the small saving to buy B650.

Here's an example spec with mainly Asus and in stock (at the time of posting).

- I like the 216 because it has decent enough stock cooling for most builds and can push the board down for the AIO. I was tempted to spec the big ProArt case, but it is pricey.
- The B850-Plus TUF has a very good VRM so it'll handle the 9950X3D fine at heavy load for extended periods.
- I went down to the 5070 Ti Prime because I thought that's the most reasonably priced model and still a good upgrade on your 3070.
- I know the RAM is insanely expensive, but if you start running out of your new build (likely if you're already hitting 50GB+) it makes the whole thing pointless and you might be desperate enough to grab more at an even worse price.

Note that if you do a lot of file copying, the PCIE 5 drive won't save you if the destination drive is slower... I'm not recommending you buy 2 of the things, but rather consider if you're really bottlenecked by the SSD / SSD bandwidth enough for it to be worth paying.

I did consider getting the 1200 model of the PSU, just in case you wanted to do a mega upgrade later, but SPL's tier list mentions issues with the 1200 watt model that didn't/don't apply to the 1000 watt.

I have no idea if that's a good AIO, but I liked the price better and a 6 year warranty seemed like it probably isn't junk.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Sixteen Core 5.70GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-04501) = £619.99
• 1 x Asus TUF GAMING B850-PLUS WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASU-03844) = £229.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance 96GB (2X48GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel (SKU: MEM-CRS-02844) = £800.00
• 1 x Asus GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Prime OC 16GB GDDR7 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-ASU-04152) = £749.98
• 1 x Crucial T705 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen5 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-01870) = £242.99
• 1 x Team Group G70 PRO 4TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-TMG-02619) = £329.99
• 1 x Lian Li Lancool 216 RGB Mid-tower PC case - Black (SKU: CA-7B8-LL) = £89.99
• 1 x Asus ROG Strix 1000w Platinum 80 Plus Platinum Power Supply (SKU: POW-ASU-03791) = £189.99
• 1 x Asus Prime LC 360 ARGB All In One CPU Cooler - 360mm (SKU: COO-ASU-03187) = £119.99

Total: £3,384.90 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

 

[Drumroll]

For the A3, if using ATX PSU, make sure is the shorter ones. Going SFX or SFX-L will make your life a lot easier, but getting the 3D printed slim bracket for SFX from Etsy (takes a while to arrive as was sent from Canada) will allow 360mm AIO, your GPU and some room for cable management.
Motherboard get the MSI B850M-Mortar. First slot PCI, will allow slim fans under the GPU. They’ll help the PCH and the NVME more than the GPU.
AIO I’m using the Silent Loop and is superb. Pump at 100% is dead silent. Fans are good too.