Upgrade Time

[DataVampire]

So after a long time i have decided to make the change and treat myself to a new system. I would just like to say I didn't need to upgrade, I was getting decent frame rates in games ect, just fancied a change and some new shiny parts.

I will be going from an Intel system to an AMD one.
I had some money saved up, so I didn't really think about a budget. I game at 1440p atm, but want to go to 4k, eventually.
My current rig is in my sig. It hasn't changed, bar for the fact i sold my 4070 ti to help fund it. And I'm currently using a 2080ti while i wait.

The only parts I will be keeping from my current rig are my case, fans, and possibly my sound card. (Although I will be changing this eventually to a smaller case).

This is a list of what I purchased so far.(Yes, I am aware I could have gotten different, cheaper parts. I'm a sucker for white computer parts, Am are aware of the white tax lol)
As a side note, I have decided to ditch custom watercooling this time.

Case:
Corsair iCUE 7000x(from current build)
PSU:
CORSAIR RM1200x SHIFT
Motherboard:
GIGABYTE X870E AORUS MASTER X3D ICE.
Cpu:
AMD Ryzen™ 9 9950X3D.
Cooling:
Lian Li HydroShift II LCD-S 360CL
Graphics:.
GIGABYTE AORUS GeForce RTX 5080 Master ICE
Storage:
Main drive:
Crucial T705 1TB SSD PCIe Gen5 NVMe
miscellaneous
Case fansFrom current build)
Corsair iCUE QL140
Corsair iCUE QL120
Thermal Grizzly AM5 Contact Sealing Frame - Contact Frame & CPU Guard Combination.
Thermal Grizzly Duronaut.

Now for the advice, if possible please.
I don't know if you can guess, but aesthetics is big on my list. (It has to look nice. Well, to me anyhow lol )
Memory:
I am still saving for this OMG the prices have gone up lol, but anyhow.
This is what i am thinking of getting (This will be my first DDR5 kit, moving from DDR4)

CORSAIR VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 RAM 32GB (2x16GB) Up to 6000MHz CL30-36-36-76 1.4V AMD EXPO & Intel XMP(White)
Does anyone have this ? is there a big difference between the CL30 kits to cl36 kits ?.

I currently have a PCIe sound card (Which is amazing)
ASUS Xonar Essence STX II 7.1. What is motherboard audio like nowadays ? I listen to a lot of lossless audio, Flac ect.


I am thinking of getting some Lian Li Strimer Wireless cables. What is the one I would need for the GPU I have bought ? There are quite a few to choose. I also see overclcokers sel kits of 24 pin pcie (cpu) and graphics. i was thinking of getting one of those sets.

Or i might get some sleeved braided cables as well. What are the go-to ones people use? I might buy both stimer cables and braided cables and see what I like the most.

Anyhow thank you for reading.

 

[tamzzy]

is there a big difference between the CL30 kits to cl36 kits ?.

not if you're using an X3D CPU

 

[Gray2233]

I currently have a PCIe sound card (Which is amazing)
ASUS Xonar Essence STX II 7.1. What is motherboard audio like nowadays ? I listen to a lot of lossless audio, Flac ect.

It very much depends on the motherboard.

In this instance, and especially for headphone use, the onboard is likely to be a serious downgrade over the STX II. You'd be best off looking at an external solution if you're not happy with the way the card looks in the case.

Is this build purely for gaming? Do you mind if I ask how much its set you back so far? I realise aesthetics are important to you, but even while heavily considering them you appear to have spent a mammoth amount of money on some components for no notable benefit.

 

[DataVampire]

It very much depends on the motherboard.

In this instance, and especially for headphone use, the onboard is likely to be a serious downgrade over the STX II. You'd be best off looking at an external solution if you're not happy with the way the card looks in the case.

Is this build purely for gaming? Do you mind if I ask how much its set you back so far? I realise aesthetics are important to you, but even while heavily considering them you appear to have spent a mammoth amount of money on some components for no notable benefit.

Thank you for the reply. It's not just gaming. And I think around £2700 or so( I think). Also, not all components were purchased at once. Also, at the time of buying each item i spent a considerable amount of time finding the cheapest place to buy. (Also finding them in stock).
Sometimes after trolling through reviews ect you set your heart on an item, and you have to have it. be it the features you want/need or how it looks. And you yes, sometimes that costs more. and since the money i spent on them was available. i just got them lol.

 

[dfour]

I tried my onboard sound on my x870E crosshair board but it wasnt as good as my soundblaster AE5 especially using headphones.

 

[hornetstinger]

Isn't 9 9950X3D pointless? Go for 9800X3d

1tB? Useless, need bigger drive, and ideally 3.5" for mass storage
Don't bother Gen 5 NVME, even gen 3 is fast enough. I tried playing a game from NAS over gigabit LAN cable, apart from loading screen, it was fine!

 

[DataVampire]

Isn't 9 9950X3D pointless? Go for 9800X3d

I have already purchased the CPU. And as I stated, I do not just game. And as I said, the cost wasn't a problem, and in theory it should last longer than a 9800x3d so why not?

1tB? Useless, need bigger drive, and ideally 3.5" for mass storage
Don't bother Gen 5 NVME, even gen 3 is fast enough. I tried playing a game from NAS over gigabit LAN cable, apart from loading screen, it was fine!

I know plenty of people who manage with 1 tb so not useless, and as it's my os drive perfectly fine, and I do have another NVMe as in my sig, I just forgot to put it up there. i also have external storage (NAS).

BTW thank you for the reply.

 

[DataVampire]

I tried my onboard sound on my x870E crosshair board but it wasnt as good as my soundblaster AE5 especially using headphones.

Ah, that doesn't sound good lol. you would have thought by now onboard audio would be a lot better than it used to be. I wonder if that is due to external DACs.

 

[Gray2233]

Ah, that doesn't sound good lol. you would have thought by now onboard audio would be a lot better than it used to be. I wonder if that is due to external DACs.

I think they're more or less just going for "good enough" for the average person.

Anyone actually serious about audio will be using third party devices anyway, if anything I wish companies would offer an option to buy a mobo without the onboard sound, give me a discount or some extra ports or something instead.

I've been running external audio since around 2012 or something at this point, and even prior dating back to the late 90's I always installed a soundcard to replace the onboard.

 

[DataVampire]

I think they're more or less just going for "good enough" for the average person.

Anyone actually serious about audio will be using third party devices anyway, if anything I wish companies would offer an option to buy a mobo without the onboard sound, give me a discount or some extra ports or something instead.

I've been running external audio since around 2012 or something at this point, and even prior dating back to the late 90's I always installed a soundcard to replace the onboard.

Thank you for the reply, I have got a fiio k3 i can temp use. i will most probably still use the soundcard, although I have not yet read up on using the bottom PCIe slot for the sound card and whether it affects the main slot or NVMe drives, etc.

Other than that. Look for a desktop dac/amp for both desktop speakers and headphones.