Help me build my PC: 2024 Catch-All

According to their website it fits the case and MOBO. Keeping my fingers crossed.

Finished the build and almost everything fit but the Lian Li HD wall mounts have no space for the Corsair power connectors, with a wires coming out of the side, to fit. The end 90 degree pieces were also oriented in the wrong direction to hook up correctly. I need to find something that will be flush so I ordered a couple HD power connector extensions. Fingers crossed!

FWIW: I have been pretty good about moving OS install over to new builds with minimal issues but Windows 10 has a few new features for better and worse. I used to uninstall every driver in the "add/remove programs" and device manager before cloning the OS but now that's not needed*. I cloned the SSD over to the new nvme and it auto detected the new hardware with no BSODs!

The catch is that the Asus AI sweet freaked out with error messages and wouldn't even uninstall. I had to use Revo Uinstaller to wipe it out. I looked it up and it just sounds like it is a pretty garbage program that causes more issues than it's worth so no harm there.

Unlike previous OS moves Windows did not like my answer of "I'm just moving to some new components." when activating. I'm pretty sure it was an OEM key so I had to bite the bullet and get a new license. I know I could have probably called and hashed it out but I part time work at home so I can chalk it up as a work expense.

I have a failing 1TB NVMe WD drive (Not the manufactures fault, I messed with it). I am looking to replace it with a 4TB. I generally get WD drives but this is an opportunity to expand my horizons. Anyone have any recommendations?

That's tough because I have heard some sketchy sh*t going down with companies selling NVME drives that have had their quality reduced from the original spec after all the reviews are out. So drives aren't as fast as they are advertised anymore. So what ever you go with double check to make sure you get what you paid for.

It sounds weird, but get an NVMe drive from a high-end systems vendor - Dell/Alienware, HPE, Lenovo, etc. They actually spot-check their stock and work with reputable vendors. You probably won't get a huge discount but that drive will roll on year after year.

I am currently running an Intel 4690k i5 processor with a 1080 graphics card. Without a lot of details... I'm a touch overdue for an upgrade.

A good friend who works in tech has recommended AMD Ryzen 5600x, 5700x, 5800x and Radeon 6xxx -ish (availability led me to RX 6950 XT. I spec'd out a build with all the trimmings.

I've never owned anything other than Intel processors and Nvidia graphics cards.

I can certainly post my proposed build, but before that is there anything I should know about before going all in on AMD?

Thanks!

What's your budget?

Here is what I have so far...

AMD Ryzen 7 5800x Processor
Noctua DH15 CPU Fan
ASRock OC Radeon RX 6950 XT Video Card
ASUS ROG Strix B550-F Mobo
Samsung 970 EVO plus 2TB NVME
Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB RAM 2x16
Corsair RMx Series RMx1000 PSU Full Modular

At NewEgg this is about $1700. I'm in the ballpark, would maybe like to see something go on sale (GFX car AHEM) to get down to $1500.

Looking at benchmarks, it may be a viable option to buy the 5600x CPU without much of a performance loss.

I have no idea what would be equivalent on the Intel/Nvidia side.

PSA: NewEgg got bought out several years ago, and has gone downhill since then. Buy there at your own risk.

CrawlingChaos wrote:

I can certainly post my proposed build, but before that is there anything I should know about before going all in on AMD?

Not really, other than the fact that AMD GPUs are still at a disadvantage when it comes to raytracing performance. That may not matter to you if, like me, you consider RT still too framerate-impacting to enable even on NVIDIA hardware.

Make sure to enable SAM (Smart Access Memory, AMD's name for Resizable BAR) in your BIOS. You'll get a small extra boost from having an all-AMD platform.

WizKid wrote:

PSA: NewEgg got bought out several years ago, and has gone downhill since then. Buy there at your own risk.

Where do you recommend buying from?

Honestly, if you're ordering new parts (not open box/refurb), you're still reasonably safe buying from NewEgg.

NewEgg definitely is no longer the awesome "I should buy everything from here" vendor it once was, and there really hasn't been anyone else stepping up to fill that gap. My biggest purchases in recent years have been from Best Buy, who at least took some steps to try and get GPUs to reach real people and not just scalpers.

I would love for MicroCenter to be the new NewEgg, but their online store is mostly a "reserve stuff to pick up in person" tool.

Until someone does, it'll continue to be Amazon, Best Buy, and occasionally NewEgg for me.

Here is what I have so far...

You may want to go down to a 6800 or 6700XT depending on what your monitor is and what resolution you plan to game at. The idea is you will lose less money upgrading in a year when the RX 7000 series is fleshed out and discounted.

Those GPUs are quite capable 1400p and 4K cards provided you don't need to game at 100's of FPS. I only mention this because it is possible that the 7900XTX could be marked down to within $50-100 of a 6950 in ~12 months. (with far superior rasterization and ray tracing)

I switched over to pre-builts from reputable gaming system vendors. The work is done for you and there are good support options. Building a system at my age... Well, life really *is* too short lol

fangblackbone wrote:
Here is what I have so far...

You may want to go down to a 6800 or 6700XT depending on what your monitor is and what resolution you plan to game at. The idea is you will lose less money upgrading in a year when the RX 7000 series is fleshed out and discounted.

Those GPUs are quite capable 1400p and 4K cards provided you don't need to game at 100's of FPS. I only mention this because it is possible that the 7900XTX could be marked down to within $50-100 of a 6950 in ~12 months. (with far superior rasterization and ray tracing)

I have a 32" LG 2k monitor. What would work best?

Robear wrote:

I switched over to pre-builts from reputable gaming system vendors. The work is done for you and there are good support options. Building a system at my age... Well, life really *is* too short lol :-)

It's tempting. Don't think I haven't entertained it.

RE: New Egg, I did notice that they have a button to view only things sold by New Egg. I've heard MANY horror stories about disappointing experiences. I will likely be watching Micro Center once I dial in the specs.

I have one last question. Going back to the CPU, is there is big jump between the 5600x, 5700x, and 5800x? I think I can do the 5600x and it will work fine. It looks like with the video card I am currently looking at, I can go 2k video on my monitor with ease.

The wild card will be if I go with a 6800 or 6700... want to make sure I can stay with healthy FPS in 2k at high/ultra.

Thoughts on this?

CrawlingChaos wrote:
fangblackbone wrote:
Here is what I have so far...

You may want to go down to a 6800 or 6700XT depending on what your monitor is and what resolution you plan to game at. The idea is you will lose less money upgrading in a year when the RX 7000 series is fleshed out and discounted.

Those GPUs are quite capable 1400p and 4K cards provided you don't need to game at 100's of FPS. I only mention this because it is possible that the 7900XTX could be marked down to within $50-100 of a 6950 in ~12 months. (with far superior rasterization and ray tracing)

I have a 32" LG 2k monitor. What would work best?

Robear wrote:

I switched over to pre-builts from reputable gaming system vendors. The work is done for you and there are good support options. Building a system at my age... Well, life really *is* too short lol :-)

It's tempting. Don't think I haven't entertained it.

RE: New Egg, I did notice that they have a button to view only things sold by New Egg. I've heard MANY horror stories about disappointing experiences. I will likely be watching Micro Center once I dial in the specs.

I have one last question. Going back to the CPU, is there is big jump between the 5600x, 5700x, and 5800x? I think I can do the 5600x and it will work fine. It looks like with the video card I am currently looking at, I can go 2k video on my monitor with ease.

The wild card will be if I go with a 6800 or 6700... want to make sure I can stay with healthy FPS in 2k at high/ultra.

Thoughts on this?

If you have a micro center near you just do what I did. AMD 7900x , Asus Gaming Wifi B650e-f, & 32 GB DDR 5 RAM for $600. I doubt you will be able to beat that and you will be on the latest generation. You just need to make sure to reserve for pickup to secure stock.

They have other bundles too:

https://www.microcenter.com/site/con...

If Crawling is still in LA, there is the Tustin Microcenter. That deal is incredibly hard to beat.

I would say a 6800 is just fine for 2K. It averages 90 FPS at that resolution.

The 6700XT would do fine in 1440p but would average closer to 60 FPS.
Of note, I have both a 6650XT and 6800 gpu and game on both at 4K.

A youtube tech streamer is saying Best Buy is clearing out Nvidia founders editions. The 3070 was selling for $300 but is gone (gone gone). If you hurry, you can get a 3080 for $420. (a steal)

Aaaaaannnddd gone!
Sorry for the false alarm

EvilDead wrote:

If you have a micro center near you just do what I did. AMD 7900x , Asus Gaming Wifi B650e-f, & 32 GB DDR 5 RAM for $600. I doubt you will be able to beat that and you will be on the latest generation. You just need to make sure to reserve for pickup to secure stock.

They have other bundles too:

https://www.microcenter.com/site/con...

Man, that's a great deal, and we be even better if the closest store wasn't 103 miles away. Just be aware of the reviews on the RAM. I'm not sure if the newer MB resolve the issue, but I saw a few reviews using AM4 boards saying you either had to sit through a slow boot every time, or the system would be really unstable.

mrtomaytohead wrote:
EvilDead wrote:

If you have a micro center near you just do what I did. AMD 7900x , Asus Gaming Wifi B650e-f, & 32 GB DDR 5 RAM for $600. I doubt you will be able to beat that and you will be on the latest generation. You just need to make sure to reserve for pickup to secure stock.

They have other bundles too:

https://www.microcenter.com/site/con...

Man, that's a great deal, and we be even better if the closest store wasn't 103 miles away. Just be aware of the reviews on the RAM. I'm not sure if the newer MB resolve the issue, but I saw a few reviews using AM4 boards saying you either had to sit through a slow boot every time, or the system would be really unstable.

Haven't had this problem. I even cloned an existing intel installation of Windows 10 and it booted up the first time in 30 seconds. Subsequent times have been around 10 seconds with most of that being the BIOS stuff.

Windows 7 that would have caused BSOD without uninstalling every single driver first. Asus bloatware is still crap though. I had to use Revo uninstaller to clear the old stuff.

I’ve been using Nvidia's GPU overclocking feature in GFE to get a bit more speed from my GPU. Has anyone seen a comparison of what that tool can achieve vs relaxing power limits with other tools?

I’m still pretending that one day GPU prices might not suck again so I should try pushing my 2060 a bit harder until then. 3070s we’re a bit more reasonable a few months ago but not quite what I was going to spend. Now I sorta wish I did.

Woot has a deal on Windows 11 Pro (or Win 10 Pro). $50.

Does it still matter retail vs OEM? I don't know for sure which this is, but I read somewhere they may now just be tied to your MS account and it doesn't matter the same way for moving the OS?

I really should build a new box, as it's been years. Probably will pick this up.

Another question, is RDP still limited in Home versions? My laptop has Home, but I haven't tried to RDP into it. Used to use that a lot and it was one of the benefits of Pro.

EDIT: In the comments, it looks like a Woot rep replied it's OEM.

Performance on AMD's 7000 series X3D chips is not earth shattering, the 7950X3D trades blows with Intel's i9, but it does it while using like a third of the wattage for the same performance in gaming.

I'm probably not in for the 7950X3D, but the 7800X3D is probably my entrance to the new platform when that releases.

pandasuit wrote:

I’ve been using Nvidia's GPU overclocking feature in GFE to get a bit more speed from my GPU. Has anyone seen a comparison of what that tool can achieve vs relaxing power limits with other tools?

I’m still pretending that one day GPU prices might not suck again so I should try pushing my 2060 a bit harder until then. 3070s we’re a bit more reasonable a few months ago but not quite what I was going to spend. Now I sorta wish I did.

Right there with you, but I managed to fall backwards into a 1080 thanks to a sweet deal from a Goodjer selling a used system. It's still doing ok, but I had to dial stuff back in Spiderman Remastered to keep frame rates from going into the low 40s. I just haven't overclocked b/c I figure whatever tiny gains I would get wouldn't be worth the time and risk. Actually, I've never successfully overclocked anything.

Reviews I've read said that at the 7900+ level, it makes more sense to go with the 7900 X rather than the 7950 X3D. You trade better productivity performance vs worse gaming performance. But at that gaming performance, the extra % is much less meaningful than the -% in productivity. And you save $$$ to boot.

But the 7800 X3D posts some impressive benchmarks and seems the best deal at $450.

fangblackbone wrote:

Reviews I've read said that at the 7900+ level, it makes more sense to go with the 7900 X rather than the 7950 X3D. You trade better productivity performance vs worse gaming performance. But at that gaming performance, the extra % is much less meaningful than the -% in productivity. And you save $$$ to boot.

But the 7800 X3D posts some impressive benchmarks and seems the best deal at $450.

This gives me so much "buyers relief" since I went with that microcenter deal. I know the 7900x is a power/heat hog so I'm currently "underclocking" it by cutting the watts to 105W as I read the performance dip isn't that significant. Those new 65W processors would have been perfect but much more expensive. Maybe in a few years I can throw a new version in and get the best of both worlds.

Edit: Also, a shout out to Legion and others for directing me towards this build. Been great so far. Going mostly NVMe, I just need to figure out a way to keep explorer from waking up my noisy cold storage drives.

I've come to the conclusion that this is the year I must upgrade, and I've been eyeing those Microcenter deals despite living almost exactly 2 hours from the closest one. I do have reason to be within 1 hour each way fairly often. How long do those bundle deals at Microcenter typically last? Do they just keep rolling new ones in and out?

My biggest problem with the current 7900x deal is the RAM would be useless to me. Would anyone want to buy it off of me to offset the nearly $300 I would be spending on a low latency 64GB kit?

My other concern with buying now is I have a GTX 1080 (bought used from a GWJ'er) and it seems to get a significant bump in performance and VRAM I have to get an RX 6800 or higher, which is another $500+. I feel weird not getting a bump in VRAM when jump 3 or 4 generations newer on the Nvidia side and cannot get over that mental hurdle. Maybe I should just replace everything but the video card until later this year.

Does anyone have thoughts on my VRAM hangup? The question came up on Hardware Unboxed recently where they said it certainly could start to be an issue, so my confirmation bias is screaming that it really is a big deal. Add to it, this will be a combo work computer and I'll be getting a 4K monitor for my job - most likely a Gigabyte M32U and keeping a 2nd 1080p screen. I imagine I'll be using whatever tech is available to run 1080p or 1440p scaled up to 4K. Ideally I'd like to keep my GPU below $500, and maybe get that RX 6800, but it's looking like it may push up to as much as $650 for a 6950xt at Microcenter. $500 is WAY beyond my comfort zone, but work will be reimbursing most of this upgrade.

As long as you have 8GB, you should be ok. Most games I play the VRAM usage is between 4-6. Haven't seen one that really needs more unless you are using really high res 3rd party texture packs.

When the rx 7700 and 7800 are announced, you should probably see a price drop for 6800 - 6950 gpus.
The 6800 non XT is $500 now and while that is a lot of money, I feel like that is a good deal compared to the market. Depending on how close the rx 7600 performs to an rx 6800, its price could be in the $400-450 range. So you could see a corresponding drop to $450 for the 6800. It will get smoked in ray tracing however by the newer gen gpu.

6700 XTs are $350 right now and offer an ~80% boost over your 1080. So if you can't wait and don't want to pay $500, that is an option. Its got 12GB vram too since you mentioned that as a concern.

Thanks for the responses, kazar and fang. They're helpful. I think I'll be waiting until at least those announcements and the Ryzen 7800X3D to see where things land all around. But now that I've got the bug, waiting is gonna be tough.