PC spec help...

[anonymous-user]

Hi all, I've ordered the following (from Punch Technology), but as it won't be here for a month, I'm wondering if it's worth changing anything. I'm pretty happy with it (I think) but am wondering if there's any benefit in making the secondary storage an SSD / PCIe drive? Anything else - "swap this for that" etc? TIA! (Casual gamer, Excel hobbyist, PH timewaster etc. but want to get FlightSim 2020)

Ryzen 9 5900X
Be Quiet! Dark Rock 4 Air Cooler
32GB Corsair Vengeance LPX 3600MHz (2x16GB)
RTX 3080
Gigabyte X570 Aorus Ultra
Primary Storage Drive: 1TB Gigabyte Aorus PCIe4 NVMe M.2 SSD (5000MB/R, 4400MB/W)
Secondary Storage Drive: 2TB Seagate BarraCuda 3.5"
PSU: Cougar GX-S 750 80Plus Gold 750W ATX

Edited by anonymous-user on Saturday 5th December 10:56

[deckster]

I'm sure you know this, but that's a hefty build for a 'casual gamer' It's pretty good as is, although I presume you know that the chances of getting a 3080 in the next month are slim to none? Unless your system builder physically has it in their hands right now I wouldn't be at all optimistic that they'll be able get one much before Feb/March next year.

Personally, I would make a couple of tweaks:

• With that motherboard, I presume you're looking to overclock - if not, then you can save yourself £100 instantly. If you are looking to overclock, then I would definitely spec an all-in-one watercooler. Easier to install these days than a big air cooler, performs better, and makes the whole installation much neater. It'll add a hundred quid to the cost but Corsair Platinum series are pretty much the gold standard here and they're awesome.
• Again if you're looking to overclock, and with a 3080 in the mix, I'd be tempted to up the PSU. Cougar isn't an unknown brand but it's not top-tier, and for the modest extra cost I would always go for Seasonic or Corsair. 850 watt will be very comfortable for the build. PSU is the one thing that I never skimp on as it's the only component that has the capacity to fry everything inside the case
• I know they figure in most builds but I never get the point of a mechanical drive these days. Opt for a cloud-first storage model and all your data is both safer and more secure. Even 1TB of primary NVMe storage is plenty for a good few game installations so IMO the days of needing loads of onboard storage are gone, and in any case backups etc. are far better kept on a remote drive & in the cloud. Plus with a decently optimised fan setup, a mechanical drive is the loudest thing in the case so for me, it just has to go.

[anonymous-user]

Thanks Deckster. I last built a pc over 15 years ago, and things have moved on. I'll upgrade the PSU and swap the HDD for something solid state. As for cpu cooling, it comes with a basic Corsair H100x hydro. I just thought it'd be quieter, simpler with a traditional quality fan (and saved £6 ). I'll go and have another look at the options - they offer Corsair and Asus, but no NZXT Z bling.

It is a bit hefty, agreed - I'm so easily price-walked, and my man maths came through in the end. Thanks again.

[mikef]

You don’t mention case or fans. The RTX 3080 is a bit of a beast, so you’ll need space

I just did a build with a Fractal Define 7 case and seven Be Quiet 140mm PWM fans. That keeps CPU and GPU temperatures down without water cooling and if not enough you can add a second 120mm fan to the Be Quiet Dark Rock 4, or go for the Dark Rock 4 Pro

[deckster]

mikef said:

You don’t mention case or fans. The RTX 3080 is a bit of a beast, so you’ll need space

I just did a build with a Fractal Define 7 case and seven Be Quiet 140mm PWM fans. That keeps CPU and GPU temperatures down without water cooling and if not enough you can add a second 120mm fan to the Be Quiet Dark Rock 4, or go for the Dark Rock 4 Pro

Good shout on the case - that is a key part of any build.

I'd challenge however on the fans. They need to be good - I replaced the stock Corsair fans with Noctua in my cooler - but it's genuinely not a competition to see how many fans you can fit it! Precisely the opposite in fact; passive and water cooling are much better in my book than forcing airflow through, and with lots of fans it's also very easy to produce unwanted turbulence which actually detracts from cooling efficiency.

My aim is always to have the minimum number of fans that I can get away with whilst keeping temperatures under control, and in fact my current build (single 1080ti plus 9700K clocked to 4.9GHz) has the sum total of two 120mm fans which exhaust air through the top of the case, over the radiator of the H100i. I've also configured the fans to be silent at all times - the custom fan curve peaks at 65% which is around 1150rpm. With this setup I see peak GPU temps that hit 70 degrees, real-world gaming CPU temps around 60, and peak CPU when running Prime95 of around 80 degrees. Which I accept is hotter than some people like, but there is plenty of headroom there and besides the simplicity of the airflow is appealing - plus it runs completely silent at all times.

[anonymous-user]

mikef said:

You don’t mention case or fans. The RTX 3080 is a bit of a beast, so you’ll need space

I just did a build with a Fractal Define 7 case and seven Be Quiet 140mm PWM fans. That keeps CPU and GPU temperatures down without water cooling and if not enough you can add a second 120mm fan to the Be Quiet Dark Rock 4, or go for the Dark Rock 4 Pro

The case is a Be Quiet! 500DX, which comes with 3 case fans. Thanks for the info re adding a fan to the cpu cooler. If I don't go with deckster's hydro cooling suggestion, I'll do it.

[mikef]

Deckster, that’s exactly the aim, to have multiple fans running slow and quiet. I’ve seen enough water cooling disasters to want to avoid, including someone who thought it would be a good idea to fit an AIO radiator to the bottom of their case. Each to their own though

[mmm-five]

The Zen 3 CPUs also perform slightly better (2-3") in quad-channel RAM config, so 4x8GB may give you a little bit more than 2x16GB.

I also notice the PSU is not modular, so you may want to upgrade to a semi/fully modular PSU for easier future upgrades (GEX or GC-F in Cougar's range)...and the 750W is on the border of acceptable for the 5900X and RTX3080 combo...so you may want to consider going to an 850W fully modular Corsair/Seasonic PSU for £115-£120 (can't seem to find many Cougar PSUs in the UK).

Edited by mmm-five on Saturday 5th December 13:56

[mikef]

DDg, good shout on the case, I like Bequiet fans and coolers (and also use Noctua NF-A12x25’s on my CPU cooler where no-one can see them in a non-window case)

[deckster]

mikef said:

Deckster, that’s exactly the aim, to have multiple fans running slow and quiet. I’ve seen enough water cooling disasters to want to avoid, including someone who thought it would be a good idea to fit an AIO radiator to the bottom of their case. Each to their own though

At this level of detail we're talking small percentage differences and a huge dollop of personal preference - and big slow fans are definitely a good call.

Genuine lol at the bottom-mounted radiator. Fundamental physics fail right there...

[anonymous-user]

But is the general consensus that a hydro cooler will be quieter than a quality (Noctua / Be Quiet!) CPU fan?

[Monty Python]

5600X would be good enough - 5900X is oiverkill.

[mikef]

DDg said:

But is the general consensus that a hydro cooler will be quieter than a quality (Noctua / Be Quiet!) CPU fan?

Both quiet - do you prefer a faint 30 dB hum or gurgling

[mmm-five]

Monty Python said:

5600X would be good enough - 5900X is oiverkill.

I went for the 5800X as a compromise between the 5900X being overkill, and the 5600X not being available before Christmas from by PC builder (have only been waiting since early October).

Didn't cost anything extra in the end as I also had to downgrade to a RTX3070 whilst upgrading to the 5800X...although I think I'd have preferred the extra GPU headroom over the CPU headroom. The RTX3070 will do until I can get a 6800XT/6900XT or a RTX3080 sometime in 2021.

[Monty Python]

mmm-five said:

I went for the 5800X as a compromise between the 5900X being overkill, and the 5600X not being available before Christmas from by PC builder (have only been waiting since early October).

Didn't cost anything extra in the end as I also had to downgrade to a RTX3070 whilst upgrading to the 5800X...although I think I'd have preferred the extra GPU headroom over the CPU headroom. The RTX3070 will do until I can get a 6800XT/6900XT or a RTX3080 sometime in 2021.

5800X is the worst of the lot - it's priced too high for what you get.

[deckster]

DDg said:

But is the general consensus that a hydro cooler will be quieter than a quality (Noctua / Be Quiet!) CPU fan?

They can both be configured to be silent but for sure the H100i made a hell of a racket on the standard "quiet" fan curve, whereas the Noctua NH-D15 that it replaced was silent out of the box. However once I'd replaced the fans and tweaked the curve to be silent (therefore decreasing the cooling efficiency) the H100i reduced peak (Prime95) temps by 10 degrees and in-game temps by 20 so it's definitely the better solution from where I'm sitting. If you're counting the pennies then I agree it's less clear-cut as the H100i plus two replacement fans is double the price of the Noctua. The difference would no doubt be more pronounced with a better AIO - but twin 120mm fans was the biggest I could fit into my case. The big brother H115i with 140mm fans, or even the H150i with three 120mm fans, would I suspect be much quieter without have to faff about like I did.

[mmm-five]

Monty Python said:

5800X is the worst of the lot - it's priced too high for what you get.

Yes, I know, and that's why I specified a 5600X originally.

However, it was either that, or no PC before my 3-week Christmas break...and my company wants proof of delivery this year or I can't submit my £1000 WFH equipment grant.

As I said, the swap was cost-neutral, so I didn't see the prices of the individual components during the swap...just the zero cost to swap & expedite the build..which I'm now happily playing Assassin's Creed Valhalla on (only had it 2 days).

I've got no complaints with it, and it may be slightly more beneficial in Photoshop and transcoding than the 5600X.

[xeny]

DDg said:

But is the general consensus that a hydro cooler will be quieter than a quality (Noctua / Be Quiet!) CPU fan?

Depends how hard you're going to work the CPU. I've not noticed I've left an AIO cooled machine running a CPU hog application. I tend to notice with air cooled machines.

At idle, there's little between them.

[Monty Python]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

My only think you have to be careful of with big air coolers is RAM clearance, or in the case of the DRP4, covering you RAM up making it difficult to change.

[mikef]

For air cooling, I think itdepends how you decide to trade off your configuration between temperature and noise. I can optimise for quiet where the external noise level is 48 dB, rated as a "quiet whisper", but the CPU core temperatures range from 68 to 75, which is hot, but well within operating limits. I could set the fan control to turbo and lower the temperature, but at the cost of noise

However, I really never get close to this when gaming. Incidentally, two case intake fans are coupled to the GPU temperature, so this test doesn't cause them to spin up or cool the CPU

In both normal use and gaming, everything really is "rustling leaf" quiet, low 30's dB. Even the three fans on the GPU are barely audible during games unless I deliberately set them to high speed with the GPU fan control software

Edited by mikef on Sunday 13th December 19:01