Question Been out of it for a while, new build suggestions please

[Wildstar-2020]

Hi All - actually, a long while since I posted here.

BL3 and OW are okay but starting to struggle with performance. It's been a few years since I've posted so I'd appreciate recommendations for a full overhaul to the tune of $1,500 - 2,000 USD.

FYI, I'm thinking Ryzen for CPU and Nvidia for GPU. The thing that really confounds me are these multi-hundred dollar mobos, what's the deal with that?

Here are my current specs:

CPU: Intel i7-3770K @ 4.4 (1.211v @ load; 0.030 offset; Medium LLC)
CPU Cooling: Thermalright TRUE + Scythe SFF21F
Motherboard: ASUS Sabertooth Z77 (BIOS 2104)
Memory: G.SKILL F3-1600C9D-16GXM Ripjaws (2 x 8GB)
GPU: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 970 (+150 core, +400 memory)
PSU: PCP&C 750w
Monitor: Acer GN246HL (1920x1080; LightBoost @ 120Hz)
Storage: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB SSD (OS), OCZ Vertex 2 120GB SSD, WD Caviar Black 1TB HDD (x2), Seagate FreeAgent 500GB HDD (external)
Sound: Realtek ALC892 (Onboard)
Case: Antec 1200
OS: Windows 10 Pro 64 (Build 1903)

Thanks,
WS-OCT

 

[lobz]

Be prepared to get mostly AMD CPU recommendations
Normally it should be fine to recommend what's best for a given budget, but somehow it seems to set some people off when they see either brand. )

 

[mikeymikec]

Storage: Why do you have 2 SSDs?

 

[richaron]

First do the thing.

Sometimes parts are dependent on temporary sales. But if you put together a list as well as ^do the thing then someone might something helpful...

 

[UsandThem]

Hi All - actually, a long while since I posted here.

It's apparently been so long your post count has gone back to 1.

Be prepared to get mostly AMD CPU recommendations
Normally it should be fine to recommend what's best for a given budget, but somehow it seems to set some people off when they see either brand. )

Not sure why that's a even a thing at this point in time. Outside of their currently available mobile CPUs, their entire CPU lineup offers a great $/performance. People here are free to recommend products they believe will benefit the person asking.

The CPU camp diehards tend to keep their non-stop arguing insults drama discussion in the CPU and Overclocking sub-forum.

 

[Steltek]

The CPU camp diehards tend to keep their non-stop arguing insults drama discussion in the CPU and Overclocking sub-forum.

Yeah, they ought to build a wall around that place and just throw hunks of meat over it from time to time to ensure that bunch doesn't starve to death. There be dragons (or geeks wearing dragon cosplay outfits)...


Anyway OP, you're at the fun point now - deciding what to get. Any recommendations you get here will depend on your focus (is system for gaming, general use, photo/video editing, or other use cases?).

A good place to start is to flesh out your proposed system build using PC Part Picker. It is pretty easy to use, and is even good for ensuring basic component compatibility (outside of DRAM - don't trust its recommendations for DRAM compatibility as it is wrong more times than not. Better to consult the memory QVL list on the support website for the motherboard you pick) and tracking build cost. It will also flag some component sale prices and parts with active rebates.

Ryzen and Nvidia are fine - if you decide to go with AMD on the video card, you might want to look at the newer XT GPUs. Were it my build, I'd pick a motherboard that supports PCIe 4.0 and Ryzen 3 compatibility out of the box.

Beyond that, the world is your oyster (within your budget, anyway).

 

[Wildstar-2020]

Here's where I am with my build, welcome any feedback on improving it. Thanks.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken X62 Rev 2 98.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: ASRock X570 Taichi ATX AM4 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA G3 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
(GPU: Nvidia GTX 970, will upgrade mid-2020)

FYI, system is for gaming and general usage. Looking for a solid platform that will last a few years like my current build which has lasted a long time and has been very faithful to me over the years.

 

[Steltek]

I presume you are planning to overclock given the water cooling. Any reason you didn't go with DDR4-3600 memory?

 

[Wildstar-2020]

I presume you are planning to overclock given the water cooling. Any reason you didn't go with DDR4-3600 memory?

Yes I plan to OC. Re: memory, I was thinking if you take into account the lower latency of a DD4-3000 kit vs higher speed of DDR-3200 or 3600, it's pretty much a wash in real-world performance. But I'm thinking in terms of my old, current Intel platform where this was the case. Would a Ryzen-based system benefit from higher memory speeds?

 

[Campy]

Get some 3600 CL16 memory, it's not all that expensive and should run without trouble on 3rd gen Ryzen. It will let you overclock your Infinity Fabric more.

 

[Steltek]

You can go either way, and there is evidence that even with Ryzen 3 that slower, very low latency memory can provide a decent boost. However, using lower latency but slower memory is a gamble because how successful you will be depends solely upon how good a CPU you end up with. If you don't get a really good one, you may not be able to ramp up the infinity fabric far enough to make up the difference with higher clocked memory.

DDR4-3600 OTOH is fast and pretty much a guaranteed success at a 1-1 ratio with the infinity fabric with any decent CPU. If you can get lower latency DDR4-3600 and you end up with a really good CPU, you may be able to crank it up even higher by again decoupling the DRAM from the infinity fabric and ramping up the fabric as far as you can while maintaining system stability. You may also be able to play around with the DRAM timings to squeeze out a little more.

It all depends upon how you want to do it. Least risky method is with good DDR4-3600, though.

 

[jhansman]

Anyway OP, you're at the fun point now - deciding what to get. Any recommendations you get here will depend on your focus (is system for gaming, general use, photo/video editing, or other use cases?).

This. I spent over a month figuring out what components I would go with (and yeah, Intel was never under consideration) and once decided upon, each part was ordered and added to the pile. Once it was all here, it took me all of 3 hrs. to assemble it. Had a bit of trouble getting the Sammy 970 PRO drive set as the boot drive, but aside from that, it all has been perfect. I learned plenty along the way and honestly, I wish I could do it again (and....again!). Enjoy the trip.