Help me build my PC 2020 Catch All

polq37 wrote:

This thread is depressing. I've been looking for a 3080 at a reasonable price for most of this year.

It's hard to assess, but it looks as though prices may be easing a little bit. The scalpers seem to be having more trouble getting 2x MSRP right now.

Prices went down over the summer, but started going back up slightly. I think the Ti releases, despite being barely different than the non-Ti cards, helped somewhat with demand.

fangblackbone wrote:

I think it needs to be said that buying a prebuilt does not remove the need or desire to custom build...

I am currently using a pre-built I bought in 2014. With a new video card, an extra SSD and HDD, a new MB and CPU, and new RAM. Oh and a new monitor, webcam, headset, 2 new routers, wireless charger, and on and on...
(new desk, new desk organizer...)

Sounds like you have a custom built PC, not a pre-built.

Shadout, it's not like paying double. I've looked in the past (and even bought one in late 2020), and as I recall, the Alienware desktops run in the mid-2000s. The $2469 build with a 3070 converts to a 3080 for just $200 more. So I think they must have some pricing agreement with Nvidia, honestly.

That said, I upgraded almost everything and went heavy with the specs, so mine cost more. But I fully expect not to have to buy another for at least 5 years.

Sounds like you have a custom built PC, not a pre-built.

I used the prebuilt for 2.5 years as is.
Then I got the rx 580 in 2017 to run an Oculus Rift.
Not soon after I replaced the PSU and then the ball was already rolling. I replaced the MB, CPU, RAM just before the start of the pandemic...

Replacing the graphics card, I'd still consider it a pre-built. Once the MB, CPU and RAM are swapped out, you can surely drop the pre-built moniker.

That's how I plan to go. But in the couple of years I've had Alienwares (one for each of us), the performance and reliability is such that I have not had to replace anything...

Shadout wrote:

4080 is my new hope.

I wouldn't count on a 4000 series appearing before 2023.

*Legion* wrote:
Shadout wrote:

4080 is my new hope.

I wouldn't count on a 4000 series appearing before 2023.

Hopefully the lack of chips have been solved by then :/

Think I'm gonna go with the Ryzen 5 5600X for my current build. Seems like good value?

Anyone recommend a mobo and RAM to go with it? From what I can tell I need B550 or X570 chipset for PCIe 4.0 since I already have an RTX 3060. I suppose it would be nice to have an extra PCIe x16 slot for future flexibility.

Already have a new power supply and a 1TB SATA SSD. I'm considering getting a smaller NVMe boot drive as well.

Any reason not to reuse my 7 year old ATX case? It's well ventilated and I have no complaints with it.

No reason not to use the same case. I think the only issue would be if the power supply needs to be replaced whether it is due to insufficient wattage or age.

Thoughts on Lenovo monitors? I've got a sweet coupon to use and have no idea about the quality their monitors and what to avoid.

RTINGS seems to like this Lenovo me monitor, the only one of their "gaming" monitors they've reviewed. 27", 1440p, 165hz, IPS, FreeSync (and certified G-Sync Compatible) variable refresh.

Definitely compare what the coupon brings you down to vs. the normal price of other competitive screens, but if the deal's good enough, might be a good snag.

https://www.amazon.com/G-Skill-RipJa...

https://www.amazon.com/ASUS-TUF-X570...

Do these seem reasonable with a Ryzen 5 5600X?
Am I missing something on why that RAM is so cheap for a 4000MHz?

Renji wrote:

Am I missing something on why that RAM is so cheap for a 4000MHz?

It looks like it might be because 4000 MHz isn't attainable for a lot of people with that kit.

I wouldn't say that chasing 4000 MHz is really worth it though. 5000-series Ryzen is less impacted by memory speed than earlier Ryzens (and much less so than 1000 and 2000 series Ryzen).

I'm gun-shy about kits using Hynix chips because of my experience with my first Ryzen system, but that was 1st-gen Ryzen, where support was at its worst.

If you buy this kit, I would do it with the assumption that you might have to settle for 3600. (And if you can't at least get 3600, then I would send the kit back.)

Late to the party, but on prebuilts...they're so tempting but all the ones I looked at go for 20% more than the cost of all the parts, so on a high end rig you end up paying 1k+ more. Maybe a problem specific to Australia?

How much of that is warranty/support? Or is that outside of the cost you considered? I definitely added around 20% by going big on support, but then, I want the system to last and don’t want to do it myself.

If it’s just parts, that seems a bit extreme. Although I may be fooling myself…

Given how GPUs are being scalped for way more than 20% of MSRP, I'm struggling to understand how the 20% is a bad deal in the current PC climate.

In normal times with no availability issues, I'd be less inclined to suggest prebuilts. But we don't currently live in those times.

Yeah I had to build my system and wait another month for a 30 series card. Most of that time I was wishing for a prebuilt. If I hadn't got lucky on Newegg, I'd have waited 5 months until that EVGA notice came up last week. That would have sucked.

Unless you go ahead and grab the GPU first to plan for your build, I'd probably go with prebuilt now.

And I just pulled the trigger on an Alienware Aurora R10.

5900x; 3080ti (for the extra 2GB of GDDR); 64GB 3200mhz DDR (I'm doing a lot of 3D CAD, so the extra ram will be nice); 2TB m.2 boot and 2TB data disk (not thrilled with this, but couldn't delete it. It's 6GB/s, so I guess I can use it for movies)

ETA end of November.

Thanks for the enabling, Robear!

You can always replace that second drive, if you want. There are a lot of discussions around the web about compatible drives; I think Dell even publishes the list of qualified drives.

I hope it lives up to your expectations!

Shoot, I'd just pull the drive entirely. Put it in your old computer and use that as a media center.

Then see what M2 slots are left on the motherboard, if any, and if none go with an SSD.

With the Aurora, it would be a 6Gb/sec SSD, which is fine. I do wish they had a faster bus in there for expansion drives, but I get why they did it. Price/perf balance, I suspect.

Robear wrote:

How much of that is warranty/support? Or is that outside of the cost you considered? I definitely added around 20% by going big on support, but then, I want the system to last and don’t want to do it myself.

If it’s just parts, that seems a bit extreme. Although I may be fooling myself…

Usually 1 year warranty, pay even more to increase that further.

*Legion* wrote:

Given how GPUs are being scalped for way more than 20% of MSRP, I'm struggling to understand how the 20% is a bad deal in the current PC climate.

In normal times with no availability issues, I'd be less inclined to suggest prebuilts. But we don't currently live in those times.

Very true, if you must have a 30xx now. I suppose my larger issue was that they've been marked up that level even before GPUs became bonkers expensive.

Moggy wrote:

And I just pulled the trigger on an Alienware Aurora R10.

5900x; 3080ti (for the extra 2GB of GDDR); 64GB 3200mhz DDR (I'm doing a lot of 3D CAD, so the extra ram will be nice); 2TB m.2 boot and 2TB data disk (not thrilled with this, but couldn't delete it. It's 6GB/s, so I guess I can use it for movies)

ETA end of November.

Thanks for the enabling, Robear!

Did you get air cooled or liquid cooled? I've seen some reviews pointing out the air cooled fan is not that great which in turn causes heat related throttling on the cpu. Also read reviews the included case fans are loud and don't push a lot of air.

Gumbie wrote:
Moggy wrote:

And I just pulled the trigger on an Alienware Aurora R10.

5900x; 3080ti (for the extra 2GB of GDDR); 64GB 3200mhz DDR (I'm doing a lot of 3D CAD, so the extra ram will be nice); 2TB m.2 boot and 2TB data disk (not thrilled with this, but couldn't delete it. It's 6GB/s, so I guess I can use it for movies)

ETA end of November.

Thanks for the enabling, Robear!

Did you get air cooled or liquid cooled? I've seen some reviews pointing out the air cooled fan is not that great which in turn causes heat related throttling on the cpu. Also read reviews the included case fans are loud and don't push a lot of air.

Liquid cooled. Standard for the 5900x. Replacing case fans is easy enough. I'll be doing some research on that once I've scoped out inside the case. I'm most worried about the 3080ti's fans being loud.

Apologies for more monitor questions. I'm about to pull the trigger on this Dell monitor. It's got both Freesync (for my current card) and G-Sync (for my future card, eventually) and isn't too large. I'm not interested in 32" monitors until 8K is something I can afford.

I'm not terribly interested in HDR, but the fact it has okay HDR is enough to push me from buying a ~$250 monitor into buying this currently-price $330 monitor.

Any huge negatives yall see? Text clarity on the RTINGS review is less than I'd hope for, but the tradeoff is pretty much everything else scores really high.

Or is the HDR so blasé that I'm wasting my time and should drop down to a solid $250 monitor with all the same stuff but without HDR?

garion333 wrote:

Apologies for more monitor questions. I'm about to pull the trigger on this Dell monitor.

You don't want that. You want the Lenovo.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/okfPEPs.png)

Every time you look at your computer screen, you get to think of me.

IMAGE(https://i.imgur.com/jyi3jjB.gif)

Fair enough, but I'll think of you and this instead:

IMAGE(https://24.media.tumblr.com/96955c81a4392cd0497f5afced56e430/tumblr_mpzza0ZzvF1s7tq4zo1_400.gif)

That's more your *style*.

I recently got the 32'' IPS 1440p LG monitor from Costco for something under $250. It's got Freesync, but not G-sync. It's not a gaming monitor - the refresh rate maxxes out at 75hz.

What I really really wanted was a 32'' IPS 1440p monitor with Freesync, G-sync and a 120hz refresh rate. That combination of factors costs at least $500, and I couldn't justify the price to myself.

At first, the 32'' screen seemed ginormous, but after a couple of months I would not ever want to go back to anything smaller.

I'm pretty happy with my tradeoffs.

IPS screens are a non-negotiable factor for me because of their better color reproduction and reduced color-banding problems.

*Legion* wrote:
Renji wrote:

Am I missing something on why that RAM is so cheap for a 4000MHz?

It looks like it might be because 4000 MHz isn't attainable for a lot of people with that kit.

I wouldn't say that chasing 4000 MHz is really worth it though. 5000-series Ryzen is less impacted by memory speed than earlier Ryzens (and much less so than 1000 and 2000 series Ryzen).

I'm gun-shy about kits using Hynix chips because of my experience with my first Ryzen system, but that was 1st-gen Ryzen, where support was at its worst.

If you buy this kit, I would do it with the assumption that you might have to settle for 3600. (And if you can't at least get 3600, then I would send the kit back.)

3600mhz is the memory sweet spot for the 5xxx series Ryzen processors. There are also benefits to filling the ram slots versus 2 sticks. Gamer's Nexus goes into quite the detail in the youtube link I posted below.

Who still sells video cards at msrp? Best Buy was my goto for "if I get it, I get it, if not, no biggee" and I've barely been trying to get a video card. Now that prices have gone up I simply don't care to keep trying there.