New PC Build

[Inkidu]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/BJbnQd

I want some eyes on this other than my own. My current build was designed to be somewhat future proof but I didn't expect some stuff so I started parting out a new PC and a difference of approximately $300 bucks when I'm building a whole new rig is... debatable.

Couple of points I'm generally worried about besides motherboard/CPU stuff and RAM is if I have enough wattage. I've done calculations with an overhead of about 30% just in case so 1k watts seems fine. Also if the GPU might be too long to fit the case (I don't think so as this case is supposed to have larger dimensions than the one my bro picked for a 4090) but I hope it might be able to fit radiator and fans (at least fans) on the front. I'm not 100% onboard with the case either, looking at stuff with some top-mounting options.

[Inkidu]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/VG9FJy

I want some eyes on this other than my own. My current build was designed to be somewhat future proof but I didn't expect some stuff so I started parting out a new PC and a difference of approximately $300 bucks when I'm building a whole new rig is... debatable.

Couple of points I'm generally worried about besides motherboard/CPU stuff and RAM is if I have enough wattage. I've done calculations with an overhead of about 30% just in case so 1k watts seems fine. Also if the GPU might be too long to fit the case (I don't think so as this case is supposed to have larger dimensions than the one my bro picked for a 4090) but I hope it might be able to fit radiator and fans (at least fans) on the front. I'm not 100% onboard with the case either, looking at stuff with some top-mounting options.

EDIT: So what happened two days before this post? Intel presents the new Arrow Lake chips.

[Nyxlplyx]

So now you need to re-evaluate what you wanted, typical Intel

[Inkidu]

So now you need to re-evaluate what you wanted, typical Intel

Yeah, I decided to go AMD with Nvidia GPU on this build. I really like what I researched on the Ryzen 7 6800 x3D. It also has the same projected board life of until 2027, and AMD is still releasing CPUs for AM4 sockets, so I'm hopping that continues into the future. 

Still, I am morbidly curious to see Intel's new GPUs in the wild. 

[Nyxlplyx]

Yeah, I decided to go AMD with Nvidia GPU on this build. I really like what I researched on the Ryzen 7 6800 x3D. It also has the same projected board life of until 2027, and AMD is still releasing CPUs for AM4 sockets, so I'm hopping that continues into the future.

Still, I am morbidly curious to see Intel's new GPUs in the wild.

It is nice that AMD hasn't stopped production on AM4 sockets. I think they were smart enough to realize that's still a majority of their clientele.

With how the last couple of CPUs that Intel put out were handled when things went wrong, I hope they learn their lesson. A lot of people are going to be gun shy after that.

[Beorning]

Yeah, I decided to go AMD with Nvidia GPU on this build. I really like what I researched on the Ryzen 7 6800 x3D. It also has the same projected board life of until 2027, and AMD is still releasing CPUs for AM4 sockets, so I'm hopping that continues into the future.

Still, I am morbidly curious to see Intel's new GPUs in the wild.

Oooooooooh. Interesting to see this thread, as I want to buy a new PC myself.

Any advice? I definitely want to buy something future-proof. My current PC I bought 7 years ago and I designed it to be really good. It wasn't insanely powerful - no crosslinked GPUs or anything like it - but it wasn't "just good" either. Anyway, it's a configuration that worked for me for years - and only last year I noticed there are games it supposedly cannot run at all (Elden Ring, Alan Wake 2).

Now, I want to repeat that and buy a rig that will serve me for years. Without me having to be bothered with whether some new game will run smoothly (or at all). Something that will run all existing games and keep running all of them for the next few years.

What would you recommend? Let's assume I want to buy an Intel CPU.

[Oniya]

My current PC I bought 7 years ago and I designed it to be really good.

{snip}

only last year I noticed there are games it supposedly cannot run at all (Elden Ring, Alan Wake 2).

Now, I want to repeat that and buy a rig that will serve me for years. Without me having to be bothered with whether some new game will run smoothly (or at all). Something that will run all existing games and keep running all of them for the next few years.

What would you recommend? Let's assume I want to buy an Intel CPU.

So, it lasted six years, playing all of the games you wanted it to.  How many more than six is 'a few'?  Because that's actually a pretty decent life span for a computer, considering that each year's model is an opportunity for the AAA studios to push the envelope.

[Beorning]

Hmm. If the next PC lasts (meaning, it will keep running everything nicely) for the next 6 years, I'll be satisfied.

I've set aside around $2000 for this purchase... What would you say I should buy?

[Oniya]

From a friend of mine (can't give you a price breakdown)

Avoid going prebuilts,  unless it's 100% off the shelf parts. The likes of Dell/Alienware, Lenovo, HP, ASUS (Yes, even them), etc. have PC builds that use proprietary parts ensuring those PCs sold can never be effectively upgraded as time goes by.

Go for more RAM than the baseline, and overspec it as well. RAM is dirt cheap compared to some other components. Also dump money into storage and the PSU (850W should be fine, 1000 if you're really paranoid), as those are the next cheapest places you can future-proof.
Spend more on the CPU now and get a decent mid tier graphics card. Game advances over the years have driven and are more dependent on the graphics card than the CPU. A mid to high tier CPU can last a lot longer than its similarly tiered graphics card counterpart. And, for the first time in a long while, there are decently priced cards that have decent performance (If the hype over Intel's Battlemage B580 is to be believed.) And it's far easier to swap graphics cards down the road than it is CPUs.

And if you REALLY want to future proof the PC, consider a CPU and motherboard on the AM5 platform. Unlike Intel, AMD did build the Ryzen platform so that a motherboard could support several generations of chips and vice versa. The AM4 sockets saw four generations of processors on that socket (1000, 2000, 3000, 5000), and AM5 has two so far (7000 and 9000). There's no promise that they'll keep supporting the AM5 socket for as long as they did the AM4, but there's a good bet of at least one more generation. And with the long tail the 5000 series chips have, they might even do the same with the last of the AM5 chips.

[Beorning]

Thanks!

So, the question is... what is considered high tier CPU and GPU these days? I remember that, when I first looked into buying a new PC a year ago, I had trouble how much of "very good" is enough and what would be considered excessive...

[Inkidu]

To show you the tip top of the mountain: 

CPUs

AMD on the AM5 socket: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D (AMD looks to be renaming their CPU naming scheme)

Intel on the LGA 1851: Intel Core Ultra 9 285K

GPUs currently on the market: 

Nvidia 4090 is the top-tier Nvidia option you can buy today. Nvidia does have the 50 Series coming out sometime in January and I think they're introducing up to the 5080 to start but it will eventually go to the 5090. 

AMD has the Radeon RX 7900 XTX

The quick and dirty of it is: Nvidia has the best GPUs in terms of software and ray-tracing tech. AMD GPUs give you lots of video RAM for your money though and can do some RTX (that's ray-tracing's abbreviation) it just does it by having lots of VRAM. 

Then there's the Intel Arc B580 Battlemage, but it's not a top-tier card. It is however a VERY affordable card that runs as good as an NVIDA 4070 and it can do RTX with Intel's architecture. So if you were looking into something like a 4070 (which is the upper-midrange card gaming) then you probably should go with a Battlemage. 

This is a very hotly debated set of things, but in general if you're going for an all new build I would recommend looking into the channel Gamers Nexus. They often have reviews of parts and pre-built PCs that can give you an idea of what you might want to spend. 

For the sake of future proofing I would not build on anything not on the AM5 or LGA 1851 sockets. These are the latest boards and are predicted to be support into 2027. I can't speak for Intel, but if AMD's support of AM5 is like the AM4 then it'll probably support AM5 well past that.  

[Beorning]

AMD on the AM5 socket: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D (AMD looks to be renaming their CPU naming scheme)

Intel on the LGA 1851: Intel Core Ultra 9 285K

OK, I checked some pre-built PCs with Intel Core Ultra 9 + Nvidia 4090. These cost around $6000... Huh.

Are there other CPUs and GPUs that are also powerful, but not as costly? My notes say that, last year, I was leaning toward Intel i7-14700 + Nvidia 4070. But maybe it was too weak?

Edit: Two more questions:

1. Does it even make sense to look at last year's parts, such as i7-14700 or Nvidia 4070 / 80 / 90? Maybe they will become obsolete soon?

2. What the heck is the "liquid CPU cooling"? All pre-built gaming PCs I've seen online seem to have it. Is it something safe? My imagination gives me visions of water leaking into my PC and everything frying to junk...

[Inkidu]

If you're shooting around a 4070 (which is a good card) look into Intel's Battlemage, especially if you're going with a i7 (that's called the Ultra 7 now). I don't know if anyone's using them for pre-builts yet though. ZTT Builds is a smaller PC builder and he was talking about using one. 

Okay, so there are two kinds of liquid cooling options for PC. 

There is an all-in-one option (called AIO for short) and this is what most people need. It's usually for the CPU and uses a pump, radiator, and fans to circulate a non-electroconductive liquid to keep CPUs cooler than air-cooling alone. 

The one sold in most high-end pre-builts are probably custom liquid cooling loops and they have a pump and can cool nearly every component in a build but you have to run the tube and fit the fittings yourself, and they also require regular cleaning. They're really for high-end building enthusiasts, most people (myself included) will never need that kind of solution. 
Most people do absolutely fine on air-coolers and AIOs. An Ultra 7 with a 4070 or 5070 card is probably within your budget. I would wait until sometime after January though prices could go up Nvidia's good for that. Still, the Battlemage is positioning itself into that 4070 space for midrange to upper-midrange PCs. 

https://www.zachstechturf.com/?srsltid=AfmBOopZ_rr1szoCTY9CBwZZnq-cBbrNs7qff6FwNBnnVKV9Ad3K5uqR

This guy is all over Youtube shorts and builds and sells PCs, so give it an idea. He's got very reasonably priced pre-builts and help pages. Even if you're not building he might have explanations for things. From my limited PC building experience he seems more than even and fair. 

Again, can't endorse Gamers Nexus enough as a source for part tests and prebuilt reviews. 

[Beorning]

Again, thank you for all the advice...

I've been digging, reading reviews and here's what I came up with:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qpgdHW

Uhm... does this build look like something that will work for the next 6 years..?

[Revelation]

Again, thank you for all the advice...

I've been digging, reading reviews and here's what I came up with:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qpgdHW

Uhm... does this build look like something that will work for the next 6 years..?

It looks solid but I think you're overpaying for the SSD considerably there. I admit I don't know the situation in your country if you aren't US based, but a 1TB m.2 SSD should run around $50-60.

Edit: You could also do with a cheaper CPU cooler, there are cheaper coolers out there that compete with the D15. Might I suggest the Thermalright peerless assassin or phantom spirit?

[Beorning]

It looks solid but I think you're overpaying for the SSD considerably there. I admit I don't know the situation in your country if you aren't US based, but a 1TB m.2 SSD should run around $50-60.

Edit: You could also do with a cheaper CPU cooler, there are cheaper coolers out there that compete with the D15. Might I suggest the Thermalright peerless assassin or phantom spirit?

I decided to choose the best parts :) There are cheaper SSDs, of course, but I wanted to pick something that has a good opinion. I don't want my system drive to die on my suddenly :)

Wondering about the CPU cooler... I've read the Noctua one is the best air cooler for this CPU. I checked the prices and it's not that much of a difference, to be honest. If I'm paying $3500 or something for the whole PC, then the question of paying additional $60 - $70 becomes kind of academic. I still need to sell a few of my kidneys :)

I'm wondering: will the GPU I chose good for the next few years? Maybe I should invest in a Nvidia 4090 instead... but that's around $1000 more...

[Revelation]

I'm wondering: will the GPU I chose good for the next few years? Maybe I should invest in a Nvidia 4090 instead... but that's around $1000 more...

If you're fine waiting, you can see how the 5000 series shakes out in a few days when they're officially announced.

[Inkidu]

I decided to choose the best parts :) There are cheaper SSDs, of course, but I wanted to pick something that has a good opinion. I don't want my system drive to die on my suddenly :)

Wondering about the CPU cooler... I've read the Noctua one is the best air cooler for this CPU. I checked the prices and it's not that much of a difference, to be honest. If I'm paying $3500 or something for the whole PC, then the question of paying additional $60 - $70 becomes kind of academic. I still need to sell a few of my kidneys :)

I'm wondering: will the GPU I chose good for the next few years? Maybe I should invest in a Nvidia 4090 instead... but that's around $1000 more...

I agree it's a solid build. I would avoid white parts especially if going for pre-builts because white parts usually come at a premium. Companies don't make as many so they tend to be high-price for aesthetic alone.

Also, I'm probably out of touch but a HDD is a blast from the past. I haven't used one since high school. I know people still use them, but I'm so used to gaming being all SSD and NVMEs now.

Though if you're thinking about a 4090 I would wait to see how the 50 series debuts. A 4080 super is a good to great card for 1440p (2K) gaming, and honestly, But I think it'd be better to put that $1000 more toward a 1440p monitor (maybe even OLED though I think they're still over 1k). 4090 is for high end 4K gaming and it'll probably be out-shown by the 50 series. Also, by waiting you might see the 4090 price go down as people go for the new hotness.

[Beorning]

Okay. I looked around, reconsidered some things and changed the build a little. I saved around $250. Here's the build:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/PpVnpK

And, as I wanted to be done with it, I just submitted an order to the shop I use. Let's see if this build works out...

[Inkidu]

Don't use the LGA 1700 board, it's no longer supported used the LGA 1851.

[Beorning]

Argh! Good point.

OK, I emailed the shop that, if possible, I'd like to change i7-14700K to Ryzen 7 9700X (with an appropriate board). Is it better?

Edit: I looked around, checked the prices and... maybe Ryzen 9 7900X?

Here's one more build:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Mwn74p

Please tell me it's OK!

[Inkidu]

That looks solid, also I came to warn you. Don't go with Nvidia's new 50 Series cards. They're using a constant internet connection to run process on the GPU. They actually run worse than the 40 series without it. 

[Beorning]

That looks solid, also I came to warn you. Don't go with Nvidia's new 50 Series cards. They're using a constant internet connection to run process on the GPU. They actually run worse than the 40 series without it.

What???

Anyway, here's what I eventually went with:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xFxgnp

Order made, I'm waiting for the PC. Now, I need to archive a ton of stuff...

[Inkidu]

That's a really solid build. I'm pretty sure that's the same motherboard I picked for mine. Is someone building it for you or are you building it yourself? 

[Inkidu]

Who ended up building your PC, Beorning?