128 GB RAM + Other Queries

Getting ready to buy a new PC. I've waited for the Intel Alder Lake 10nm Intel CPUs and DDR5-4800 support to come out. Now that it's been out a while I've tried configuring a PC and ideally want 128 GB RAM, but can't get it. When will 128 GB RAM become available? So far you can only buy 32 GB or 64 GB RAM.

Also, I'm going for a Gigabyte motherboard this time around - because it appears they put the CMOS battery in an easily accessible place at the bottom. ASUS stupidly put them in the middle underneath the graphics card meaning you have handle and remove sensitive / expensive components just to replace a battery. Had to buy a ton of anti-static gear just to replace a battery. Never Again.

I'm looking at the Coolermaster Mastercase H500M and the PCS frostflow 200 cpu cooler, which I think will fit? Never had liquid cooling as I don't trust it for the potential of leaks. Also I will probably go with 2 extra case fan option, which might be fitted at the top of the case?
 

Aza

Rising Star
GPU's are hardly sensitive/difficult to remove components, in facts its very very easy and simple to do.... gigabyte however have seen a sharp decline in build quality.... but it is your choice in the end. Why you would want quick and easy access to a cmos battery is a little confusing, most people would hope they never have to touch it... as it would mean something had gone wrong (in most cases)

I would be cautious of DDR5 while its still so new, there is no guarantee that faster speed DDR5 while be supported by the new DDR5 motherboards, and if history is anything to go by, its unlikely that it will be. Its expensive where its brand new, and currently offers very little gain over DDR4 where its CL40

Liquid cooling (AIO) is incredibly reliable these days, its not like it was 15 years ago

I would also recommend caution adding extra fans depnding on what your setup is, more fans can actually impair airflow, not improve it, and it would be well worth looking elsewhere to buy individual fans and get decent quality ones such as ML.

What is the purpose of your build, what do you want to use it for?
 
It's for general high end gaming use. Absolutely no over-clocking. However I do like to make sure the PC has plenty of cooling and runs cool as possible even when playing something demanding (I will often lower resolution, while having everything else maxed out, to make sure graphics isn't too stressed and temps are consistently below ~70 C). I'm not comfortable with high temperatures for prolonged periods.

So the spec I was roughly thinking of is:

H500M gaming case (or something else with very good stock cooling)
Intel i9-12900KS
At least 64GB RAM
NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti
Maybe 2TB SSD main drive + ~ 6TB storage drive
Corsair 850W Power supply

Perhaps the ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 HERO might be the option, as it looks like the CMOS battery is at the bottom?
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
It's for general high end gaming use. Absolutely no over-clocking. However I do like to make sure the PC has plenty of cooling and runs cool as possible even when playing something demanding (I will often lower resolution, while having everything else maxed out, to make sure graphics isn't too stressed and temps are consistently below ~70 C). I'm not comfortable with high temperatures for prolonged periods.

So the spec I was roughly thinking of is:

H500M gaming case (or something else with very good stock cooling)
Intel i9-12900KS
At least 64GB RAM
NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti
Maybe 2TB SSD main drive + ~ 6TB storage drive
Corsair 850W Power supply

Perhaps the ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 HERO might be the option, as it looks like the CMOS battery is at the bottom?
Why do you need so much RAM?
 

Aza

Rising Star
Can you give some details about what types of games you would want to play?

Im very confused why you would want 128GB RAM for gaming, you would be talking very high end professional video editing type use to even get anywhere near that kind of RAM use, few games would use more than 16GB, those that do dont need more than 32GB (such as MSFS 2020)

What monitor are you planning to use?
 

Aza

Rising Star
It's for general high end gaming use. Absolutely no over-clocking. However I do like to make sure the PC has plenty of cooling and runs cool as possible even when playing something demanding (I will often lower resolution, while having everything else maxed out, to make sure graphics isn't too stressed and temps are consistently below ~70 C). I'm not comfortable with high temperatures for prolonged periods.

So the spec I was roughly thinking of is:

H500M gaming case (or something else with very good stock cooling)
Intel i9-12900KS
At least 64GB RAM
NVIDIA RTX 3080 Ti
Maybe 2TB SSD main drive + ~ 6TB storage drive
Corsair 850W Power supply

Perhaps the ASUS ROG MAXIMUS Z690 HERO might be the option, as it looks like the CMOS battery is at the bottom?
A standard RTX 3080 needs a minimum 850W PSU (nvidias own recommendations),, personally would suggest a higher PSU for headroom and future upgrades, and a 12900KS is not a gaming CPU, RAM is a wasted purchase for gaminng at 64GB, it will never use even half.

It may be a better idea to give us a budget idea and some example games, what monitor you plan to use (or bare minimum what resolution/refresh rate) and see what can be spec'd for you.
 
I have a 4K ultra HD monitor. Although I've not utilised the 4K capability in games much until I have a PC that comfortably run at 4K with everything else maxed out. Tend to play Mil Sims and other Sims like Flight Simulators (MSFS 2020). I tend to go for high amounts of RAM because for longest time in the late 90s and 2000s as a kid I remember all the computers I used always seemed to suffer from never having enough RAM (64 MB, 256 MB etc.) and kept maxing out the RAM and being really slow /crashing. That has stuck with me. I'd rather have plenty and be future proofed and the capability to do other stuff than have less.
 

Aza

Rising Star
Im also really confused why you want easy access to a cmos battery...
Have you had issues in the past and needed to wipe your bios?

Even overclocking, a dodgy overclock neednt mean playing with the cmos battery with a lot of modern motherboards, I seem to remember doing it with my own when i played with RAM overclocking, i didnt have to touch the cmos battery once even with dud overclocking setups
 

Aza

Rising Star
I have a 4K ultra HD monitor. Although I've not utilised the 4K capability in games much until I have a PC that comfortably run at 4K with everything else maxed out. Tend to play Mil Sims and other Sims like Flight Simulators (MSFS 2020). I tend to go for high amounts of RAM because for longest time in the late 90s and 2000s as a kid I remember all the computers I used always seemed to suffer from never having enough RAM (64 MB, 256 MB etc.) and kept maxing out the RAM and being really slow /crashing. That has stuck with me. I'd rather have plenty and be future proofed and the capability to do other stuff than have less.
Sorry but thats nonsense.... games have never needed that amount of RAM and only recent titles such as MSFS 2020 have any benefit from more than 16GB.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
I have a 4K ultra HD monitor. Although I've not utilised the 4K capability in games much until I have a PC that comfortably run at 4K with everything else maxed out. Tend to play Mil Sims and other Sims like Flight Simulators (MSFS 2020). I tend to go for high amounts of RAM because for longest time in the late 90s and 2000s as a kid I remember all the computers I used always seemed to suffer from never having enough RAM (64 MB, 256 MB etc.) and kept maxing out the RAM and being really slow /crashing. That has stuck with me. I'd rather have plenty and be future proofed and the capability to do other stuff than have less.
Ok, big misunderstanding of the requirements of RAM.

Just having loads of RAM does nothing for your system. RAM is only necessary if the application you're using calls it.

Even FS2020 won't require any more than 32Gb.

Resolution has no impact on RAM requirement, you may be getting confused with VRAM which is part of the graphics card.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Im also really confused why you want easy access to a cmos battery...
Have you had issues in the past and needed to wipe your bios?

Even overclocking, a dodgy overclock neednt mean playing with the cmos battery with a lot of modern motherboards, I seem to remember doing it with my own when i played with RAM overclocking, i didnt have to touch the cmos battery once even with dud overclocking setups
On modern motherboards there's almost always a physical switch on the motherboard to reset the CMOS, certainly all Asus boards have them. You don't need to touch the battery.
 
About 60 FPS is the refresh rate. Also, the reason for easy CMOS battery access is that my current PC CMOS battery started going dead a while back and I had to replace it. Removing the graphics card seems like unnecessary messing about.
 

Aza

Rising Star
You would reach the stage of the GPU requiring an upgrade to remain relevant long before the cmos battery should need replacing...
Its pretty standard to replace a GPU every 3 years (approx)
 

Aza

Rising Star
60 FPS 4K would also mean a 3080 Ti would be overkill, youd want a 144Hz 4K screen on a 3080 Ti... so if your thinking of a new monitor to match, perhaps a spec like this
Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700KF (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE RTX 3080 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6900MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W HXi SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® PLATINUM
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 7 working days
Price: £3,358.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/0HfYK7RJRg/
 

Aza

Rising Star
If you are sticking with the 60Hz 4K monitor, then a 3070 Ti, or 3080 would be the kind of GPU you would look at.
 
Last edited:

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
With the budget I would meet in the middle and opt for the 3080, you'll get use out of it in MFS2020 at 4k. The CPU will be your limitation though (there isn't a way around this at the moment) so there's no need to press any higher.

The CMOS battery will last 5-10 years. The last time I touched a CMOS battery was due to a motherboard sitting in my loft for 2 years before dusting it off to put in a system for a friend.

I would get advice on the build as a whole. There are a number of things that I think you are sending yourself down rabbit holes with.

DDR4 makes far more sense than DDR5 right now
The 3080 has you more than covered for your uses, even going forwards
Purchasing a sub-par motherboard for CMOS battery location is not a good idea
A PCS Frostflow cooler is never going to be close to enough, never mind overkill. You need to aim way higher just to get by with the 12900k.
Speaking of which, the 12900ks is not a good gaming solution (when factoring in heat & energy). The 5800X3D is the MFS2020 selection that you want, if insistent on DDR5 though the 12700k is the weapon of choice that would typically be recommended.

I would genuinely start again and we can be a bit more pragmatic with the approach. What's actually important?
 
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