Question 7 years since last Build - Time for a New One

lucas122478 · Monday at 3:38 AM

It's been a long journey. I built my last custom computer in 2017 and have run it continuously, despite occasional brownouts. Over time, the LAN port failed, multiple USB ports stopped functioning, and the reboot and power buttons ceased to work. I now have to use the BIOS reset button on the motherboard to turn the PC on. Despite these issues, the system still performs well. However, I believe it is time to retire this build and construct a new one. I will come from an Intel 8700K processor, a Z370 Aorus Gaming 7 motherboard, and a 1070 TI GPU.

Notice: I edited this with chatGPT because I was too lazy to fix my grammar

POSSIBLE NEW COMPUTER BUILD

Ryzen 7 7800X3D
Gigabyte X670E Aorus Pro X (WHITE)
Corsair Dominator Titanium DDR5 6600 (White) 64GB 4x16GB
Corsair RMx Shift White Series (750 or 850W?)
Corsair iCUE H150i RGB Elite 360MM
Lian Li 011 Dynamic EVO XL (White)

Estimated Price $1700

PC PARTS TO RE-USE

32" Samsung G7 Odyssey Monitor
PNY RTX 4070 TI 12GB White Edition

PC USAGE

Programming, Graphic Design, Stable Diffusion, Movies, Gaming, Browsing, Take over the World, etc.

PC BUDGET

I don't have one.

LOCATION

Metro Manila, Philippines

I was considering the build above. However, I am now seriously reconsidering because:

Firstly, I am no longer young, and my attention span is diminishing. I find myself less interested in modern games and spending more time on retro games. Although I continue to purchase new games, most of them merely occupy space. The newest game that has captured my interest is SATISFACTORY. Nevertheless, I want to keep my options open.

Secondly, my back has been in poor condition since a severe fall in 2020. Managing a full-size computer, such as the Lian Li I listed above, will be burdensome. The case I currently use is already a chore to handle.

Thirdly, I have decided that bling is rather pointless. This might be another consequence of aging. Although it seems almost impossible to avoid RGB lighting on everything nowadays, I am no longer interested in such features.

Fourthly, electricity costs in Metro Manila are exorbitantly high. This concern feels somewhat futile given that I am using a 32" G7 Odyssey monitor and a 4070 TI GPU. However, the high power consumption of the latest Intel CPUs is a significant turn-off for me, even though I have used Intel exclusively my entire life, except for once in 2000 when I used AMD Thunderbird.

In summary, I am seeking a more streamlined setup without all the unnecessary bells and whistles. I want to focus on acquiring only what I truly need and avoid superfluous extras. It's common to see discussions fixated on ever-increasing specifications, such as extremely high refresh rates and massive curved OLED displays. However, I am more interested in practical, essential features that genuinely enhance my experience, rather than chasing after the latest and greatest specs that often go beyond what is realistically necessary.

I would like to stick with a clean, white build. I plan to replace my monitor eventually, but not for quite some time. I need a substantial amount of RAM because I habitually keep over 50 browser tabs open, log into multiple Gmail sessions, and run several instances of Chrome simultaneously while working.

So, can we fine-tune, drop the fluff, and reel in the above to meet all of these old fart requirements?

In2Photos · Monday at 7:44 AM

Your new build certainly would have no trouble doing all the things you want to do with it. My suggestions based on your last few sentences.

If you need to keep the size and weight down you don't need the XL version of the O11. In fact, you really only need that if you plan to water cool IMO. The non-XL EVO is plenty big enough for what you are planning. You can see that I have an all white build in that case in my signature, there is even a build thread here if you want. Or you could go with a mATX motherboard and get the O11 Dynamic Mini which is even smaller. You will need some extra fans as the case will not come with any.

Corsair Dominator is beautiful looking RAM, but quite expensive. There is other white RAM available at much lower cost with same performance. I would also opt for 2x32GB instead of 4x16GB. New systems do better running 2 sticks instead of 4. Also, you may have trouble running 6600 so I would opt for something like 6000CL30-CL34.

Same with the AIO. Corsair is expensive, there are other options that cool just as well at a fraction of the price if you want to stick with an AIO. You could also go with an air cooler.

For the PSU I would go 850W if the price isn't much more. Gives you more flexibility down the road.

One other thing you can do is use PCPartPicker.com to put your components together. You can make it public and share the link here with us and we can modify it based on our feedback.

Tech Junky · Monday at 8:17 AM

lucas122478 said:
Estimated Price $1700

Seems a bit high. I did a 7900X / 32GB / 850W for $800 a little under a year ago. Things not included ~drives~ ~GPU~. I added a cheap A380 for $100 though for media conversion using QSV which cut the load / time taken to convert the media files to about 1/8th the time it took using the AMD CPU. The difference was the ability to use QSV to do the job w/o being tied to the Intel CPU.

CPU shouldn't be a huge hit since the prices are coming down
RAM shouldn't be a big deal either
GPU - you already have

So, you're getting pegged for the "WHITE" option.

For dives I don't know what your capacity requirement is other than the mention of needing the system to be light. For my OS I'm just using dual SN850/770 to run it w/ a backup running to the 770 using rsync. For the storage side though I switched to using a 2.5" NVME from prior use of a Raid 10 w/ 5*8TB WD Red drives. Same usable capacity but, a lot less weight and don't have to monitor Raid anymore. Not the most economical conversion but, definitely a boost in speed from ~400MB/s >> 6.5GB/s and the single drive is a few ounces where the spinners were 8-10lbs of extra weight.

For cases I went with a FD Torrent because the goal was to drop the weight while rebuilding and get a little more compact if possible. The Torrent does it w/ dual 180mm fans on the front and basically 3 sides are mesh bringing the weight down to ~17.5# just for the case where your typical case is easily over 25#.

I dropped things down from a loaded system w/ spinners - 39# down to about 20# using the case/dropping the spinners. The switch to the Kioxia CD8 drive was a big factor in weight but also 10X+ the speed / quieter w/ no moving parts. I couldn't hear the spinners though anyway but, nice to replace them as they were hitting 8 years even though they weren't showing any signs of age. The CD8 though will run about $1250 for 15.36TB but, you could also go to a 30.72TB for ~$2500 if you need more space.

lucas122478 · Tuesday at 11:09 AM

Thanks for the reply guys. It looks like the Lian Li O11D Mini Snow Edition will work fine. Corsair didn't have any PSUs that would fit in the LO11D Mini that were white at least, so I went with the Cooler Master V850 SFX GOLD 850. Appears everything above will still fit in the Mini as well.

As for costs, before the tariffs Trump enacted years back, PC parts typically were cheaper in the Philippines than in the States. However, for some oddball reason after the tariffs went into effect, which holds no grounds in the Philippines, prices went up and now hardware tends to be more expensive than in the States.

I bought the PNY 4070 TI last December 2023 and at the time we paid around $1000 USD or so when converted from PHP. I suspect its equivalent in the states would have been $600 - $700. Link to it below:

PNY GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12GB LED Verto White Edition-PNY

WHITE | LED | Triple Fan

www.pny.com.tw

Tech Junky · Tuesday at 11:16 AM

lucas122478 said:
tariffs

That explains a bit but, going with a white setup means more cash. Why? Because they can. Doesn't matter the market it's always higher to deviate from black

GPUs got a taste of higher profit and won't come back down until we rebell and quit buying them and cause a glut in supply. There's no reason to pay more than $350 for a top end GPU.

Brainonska511 · Tuesday at 11:55 AM

Personally, I'd skip the AIO for the 7800x3D. You'd have no problem keeping that chip cool using a cheap air cooler, like the Thermalright Peerless Assassin.

---
However, if big cases are a problem for handling, have you considered mITX? Lots of great little cases on the market today that can handle full size GPUs, and accommodate a decent range of air and AIO coolers.

In2Photos · Tuesday at 2:15 PM

lucas122478 said:
Thanks for the reply guys. It looks like the Lian Li O11D Mini Snow Edition will work fine. Corsair didn't have any PSUs that would fit in the LO11D Mini that were white at least, so I went with the Cooler Master V850 SFX GOLD 850. Appears everything above will still fit in the Mini as well.

As for costs, before the tariffs Trump enacted years back, PC parts typically were cheaper in the Philippines than in the States. However, for some oddball reason after the tariffs went into effect, which holds no grounds in the Philippines, prices went up and now hardware tends to be more expensive than in the States.

I bought the PNY 4070 TI last December 2023 and at the time we paid around $1000 USD or so when converted from PHP. I suspect its equivalent in the states would have been $600 - $700. Link to it below:

PNY GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12GB LED Verto White Edition-PNY

WHITE | LED | Triple Fan

www.pny.com.tw

The O11 cases are dual chamber so the PSU is not visible at all. The PSU resides behind the motherboard. So the only thing you will see is the cables. You can always buy white extensions. So don't feel like you have to get a white SFX PSU. I'm using a black PSU in my build with Lian Li strimer cables on the 24 pin and regular white cable extensions for the 8 pin EPS and PCI cables.

manly · Tuesday at 4:27 PM

Any reason not to wait for Ryzen 7 9800X3D?

Brainonska511 · Tuesday at 7:57 PM

manly said:
Any reason not to wait for Ryzen 7 9800X3D?

I thought the rumors said the 7800x3D will still be the gaming value champ.

Hans Gruber · Tuesday at 8:05 PM

manly said:
Any reason not to wait for Ryzen 7 9800X3D?

You didn't read that ghost account is using Chat GTP?

manly · Tuesday at 8:09 PM

Brainonska511 said:
I thought the rumors said the 7800x3D will still be the gaming value champ.

Yes, because AMD hasn't announced the Ryzen 9000 X3D variants yet. So the gaming comparison for now was between 7800X3D and 9700X.

But we know that Zen 5 is about a 10% IPC uplift (I'm rounding down from AMD's marketing figures), so it's safe to think that's what you'll get if you wait for the 9800X3D.

OP's current system has some annoying problems at the edges, but still performs well. I'm reading between the lines and imagine that he's not in a rush to build a new system tomorrow. Granted you will have to pay more for X870E + 9800X3D, so it does depend on OP's true budget.

Tech Junky · Tuesday at 8:13 PM

manly said:
X870E

minor update to add USB4 ports / charge more / Sept release

manly said:
9800X3D

can be applied to X670E board / End of the month release

The other thing would be the price.... Think it will run about $700 vs current pricing ~$300-400

lucas122478 · Wednesday at 9:40 PM

Hans Gruber said:
You didn't read that ghost account is using Chat GTP?

What exactly are you trying to convey? Are you trying to marginalize my question because I used chatGPT in the original post to edit grammar and insinuate I'm not real flesh and blood? Do you want me to upload an image of this morning's finger prick while checking my blood sugar?

manly said:
Yes, because AMD hasn't announced the Ryzen 9000 X3D variants yet. So the gaming comparison for now was between 7800X3D and 9700X.

But we know that Zen 5 is about a 10% IPC uplift (I'm rounding down from AMD's marketing figures), so it's safe to think that's what you'll get if you wait for the 9800X3D.

OP's current system has some annoying problems at the edges, but still performs well. I'm reading between the lines and imagine that he's not in a rush to build a new system tomorrow. Granted you will have to pay more for X870E + 9800X3D, so it does depend on OP's true budget.

Yep, that was one of my choices in building soon versus later. The X3D variants from what I read were not coming out until next year.

And yes the current problems with the PC are extremely annoying. I was short on my explanations. However, other facts that play into this:

Brownouts aren't as bad as they were a decade ago but still happen often, and even with a UPS they last longer than the UPS has in stored juice. Getting to the PC is a pain in the butt because of how tiny the room is, and I have all kinds of stuff surrounding the bed to help with me working from bed which I do because my back problems are that severe. (I work lying down.) I would move the PC, but the problem is additionally compounded due to the fact that the Router is downstairs because the ISP wouldn't run it upstairs. Since the onboard network does not work anymore, I use WIFI. WIFI works for the most part "okay" but there are drops in packets which is noticeable quite often sometimes especially when playing online games such as Diablo 4 for example. Houses are typically made of concrete here. I have wifi-repeaters, and still same problem. The repeaters themselves having issues repeating because of the layout of the house. So anyways... lol

Tech Junky said:
minor update to add USB4 ports / charge more / Sept release

can be applied to X670E board / End of the month release

The other thing would be the price.... Think it will run about $700 vs current pricing ~$300-400

Which I don't find appealing at all. Everything is already fast enough, I don't see the point in waiting till next spring/summer (?) for the X3D variants just for USB4.0. Even if I did, it can be applied to the current chipset correct?

The only annoyance I have in speed atm is with my girlfriend's micro sdcards from her camera. (Anyone have a solution for that? lol)

One got corrupted last month and I spent 3 days transferring the data (bc 100MB transfer speeds are like watching the paint peel off walls) ... in order to clone the 512GB worth of videos and photos in order to run from one of my m2 drives in order to recover all of the media.

So, yes. I don't see the point in waiting. The parts are cheaper, the updates from what I understand are already possible with the current platform and going to USB4 isn't really something I care to wait for.

Which brings me to this... Is there really a huge real-world difference between DDR4 and DDR5? I currently use 32GB DDR4, 64GB of DDR5 here would run me $300 - $400 depending on the manufacturer and the equiv. in DDR4 would run me $150 - $200. or $75 - $100 if keep the same 32GB.

Tech Junky · Wednesday at 10:01 PM

X3D - CPU only not the mobo and those are being released end of the month. the 800 boards are being released Sept
USB4 - only matter if you have devices that can hit those speeds / ASRock makes a dual port card you can put into a slot for ~$60
SD card... get a newer camera that uses SDExpress - https://www.sdcard.org/developers/sd-standard-overview/speed-class/
DDR5 vs 4.... on paper runs faster and you can only use 5 on AM5 as 4 isn't an option / 64GB should only be about $150 not 3-400

If you don't want to wait then grab the current X3D 7 series CPU. The difference between what's coming and what's already here isn't a huge jump in tech being used when you look at them side by side. With the 9 series CPUs coming out the prices will keep dropping on the exiting HW.

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/bwxRsY,XccgXL/

The only real difference is the L3 cache being larger and the TDP being lower. Price for either right now is the same where when they were released there was a ~$100 difference. The L3 cache will hardly make a difference unless you're doing competitive gaming.

In2Photos · Wednesday at 10:09 PM

Tech Junky said:
X3D - CPU only not the mobo and those are being released end of the month. the 800 boards are being released Sept
USB4 - only matter if you have devices that can hit those speeds / ASRock makes a dual port card you can put into a slot for ~$60
SD card... get a newer camera that uses SDExpress - https://www.sdcard.org/developers/sd-standard-overview/speed-class/
DDR5 vs 4.... on paper runs faster and you can only use 5 on AM5 as 4 isn't an option / 64GB should only be about $150 not 3-400

If you don't want to wait then grab the current X3D 7 series CPU. The difference between what's coming and what's already here isn't a huge jump in tech being used when you look at them side by side. With the 9 series CPUs coming out the prices will keep dropping on the exiting HW.

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/bwxRsY,XccgXL/

The only real difference is the L3 cache being larger and the TDP being lower. Price for either right now is the same where when they were released there was a ~$100 difference. The L3 cache will hardly make a difference unless you're doing competitive gaming.

The X3D line for 9000 has not yet been announced. We don't know when it's going to be released. There's speculation that AMD could announce it and release it with the 800 series boards but no confirmation on that.

Tech Junky · Wednesday at 10:49 PM

@In2Photos I was clarifying the CPU vs mobo

9000X3D will likely not be until next year but, AMD could pull a fast one and release it with the new boards in Sept. The cadence has changed with the releases obviously.

lucas122478 · Thursday at 1:26 AM

Tech Junky said:
X3D - CPU only not the mobo and those are being released end of the month. the 800 boards are being released Sept
USB4 - only matter if you have devices that can hit those speeds / ASRock makes a dual port card you can put into a slot for ~$60
SD card... get a newer camera that uses SDExpress - https://www.sdcard.org/developers/sd-standard-overview/speed-class/
DDR5 vs 4.... on paper runs faster and you can only use 5 on AM5 as 4 isn't an option / 64GB should only be about $150 not 3-400

If you don't want to wait then grab the current X3D 7 series CPU. The difference between what's coming and what's already here isn't a huge jump in tech being used when you look at them side by side. With the 9 series CPUs coming out the prices will keep dropping on the exiting HW.

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/compare/bwxRsY,XccgXL/

The only real difference is the L3 cache being larger and the TDP being lower. Price for either right now is the same where when they were released there was a ~$100 difference. The L3 cache will hardly make a difference unless you're doing competitive gaming.

X3D - CPU
if everything drops by SEPT then sure can wait, probably take me 2 months to get around to doing everything anyhow.

SD CARD
I just looked up SD Express and from what I understood it is backwards compatible with UHS-I formats so should work fine with her current camera? Nikon D7200, IIRC.

Premier Extreme SDXC SD 7.0 Express Card | ADATA

www.adata.com

Prices stink here nowadays. Regarding costs.. if you're curious..

the Top 3 local companies for PC parts in Metro Manila are below.

PCHUB

pchubonline.com

Easy PC

EasyPC - Philippines Best Online Computer Store

Shop computer & tech deals at EasyPC - the best online computer store in the Philippines. Find the latest gaming laptops, graphics cards and more at unbeatable prices.

easypc.com.ph

DynaQuest PC

DynaQuest PC

Computer retail store in the Philippines selling computer products including hardware, software, upgrades, accessories and more.

dynaquestpc.com

Current exchange rate is 58.63 to the $1. But, just to make things easier I typically just base it in increments of 50 and round up or down to the nearest $10.

I'm not even really seeing much of an option for 64GB. If I go for 2x32GB instead of 4x16GB it looks like it's going to be special ordered. I could go for other brands but I'm loving this sleek design on the new dominators.

Blazer7 · Thursday at 4:23 AM

I don't know and don't care about design but you can't go wrong with dominators. For the past years I've been running my old dominators at all kinds of speeds and timings and always undervolted. I would go for 2 sticks though. Less strain on the memory controller and an open path for future upgrades.

Tech Junky · Thursday at 10:16 AM

lucas122478 said:
Nikon D7200

CFexpress

In September of 2016, the new CFexpress standard was announced, which is capable of utilizing NVMe storage for low overhead and latency, capable of pushing almost 2 GB/sec. The first iteration of CFexpress uses the XQD form factor, but requires a CFexpress capable reader/writer on the host. Some cameras, such as the Nikon Z6 and Z7 were initially released only with XQD memory card support despite having a CFexpress compatible memory card slot. Nikon subsequently released a firmware update to bring CFexpress compatibility to these cameras (firmware version 2.20), and promised to release similar firmware for other Nikon DSLRs with XQD cards. Considering the technology present in CFexpress cards, they will become the gold standard for most high-end devices in the future. Quick Summary: CFexpress is currently the fastest and the most capable memory card format on the market, and will likely be the default choice for future-generation stills and video cameras.

Memory Cards and Everything You Need to Know About Them

In this article, we go through everything you need to know about memory cards, their types, specifications, speeds and which format is here to stay.

photographylife.com

There's a table listing the 7200 as UHS... if it physically fits it should work the limitation is the camera bus speed won't hit over 100MB/s but, the pain of copying files with a reader will go away with the higher speed. Seems like the camera has a limit of about 80MB/s though with cards being able to transfer at ~300MB/s on some review / comparison tables I found. It depends on how much you value your time vs costs. I swapped out he HDD in my car system for a mSATA due to age of the OE HDD and wanting the car to be a bit snappier. Problem being that the bus speed of PATA is horrible in comparison to SATA and thus a bottleneck still but, working with the drive outside of the car made things more tolerable in terms of time.

I would probably plan / consider a swap of the camera to something a bit newer that can take advantage of the speed improvements on both internal/external transfer speeds. I think you'll both be happier with the snappiness.

Question 7 years since last Build - Time for a New One

Junior Member

PC PARTS TO RE-USE​

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PC USAGE​

PC BUDGET​

LOCATION​

Golden Member

Diamond Member

Junior Member

Diamond Member

Lifer

Golden Member

Lifer

Lifer

Platinum Member

Lifer

Diamond Member

Junior Member

Diamond Member

Golden Member

Diamond Member

Junior Member

Golden Member

Diamond Member

CFexpress​

PC PARTS TO RE-USE

PC USAGE

PC BUDGET

LOCATION

CFexpress