New PC for work and gaming

[AndyJB]

Thanks for all the help everyone! Think I'm going to go for the AMD. Sounds like it's better for productivity which is what I'll primarily be using it for.
Can I ask what the difference in thermal paste is? You've selected standard but for £9 is the arctic a big upgrade to it?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks for all the help everyone! Think I'm going to go for the AMD. Sounds like it's better for productivity which is what I'll primarily be using it for.
Can I ask what the difference in thermal paste is? You've selected standard but for £9 is the arctic a big upgrade to it?

The Corsair coolers come pre applied with very high quality paste, so no need for the upgrade, the arctic is actually a step down.

 

[AndyJB]

So waiting for payday but the CORSAIR iCUE H150i ELITE RGB High Performance CPU Cooler (280W) is out of stock until mid June So what's the difference between that one, the downgrade of CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE RGB High Performance CPU Cooler (250w) or the CORSAIR iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX XT RGB High Performance CPU Cooler (280W)
Is it worth upgrading for a little extra or is the 'downgrade' sufficient?

 

[Scott]

The 7950X isn't particularly hot, but you get more out of it the cooler you can keep it. The difference is as suggested really, the H150i will have slightly more cooling capacity. This basically means it'll use less fan speed to keep the temps in check.

I think it's worth the upgrade. I would happily middle with the H115i, but not sure if that's available?

 

[Steveyg]

The 7950X isn't particularly hot, but you get more out of it the cooler you can keep it. The difference is as suggested really, the H150i will have slightly more cooling capacity. This basically means it'll use less fan speed to keep the temps in check.

I think it's worth the upgrade. I would happily middle with the H115i, but not sure if that's available?

The H115i is ridiculously good too, definitely up to the task of cooling pretty much any chip bar the terrible 12900 that was warping itself

 

[Scott]

The H115i is ridiculously good too, definitely up to the task of cooling pretty much any chip bar the terrible 12900 that was warping itself

Yeah it's a really good piece of kit. I had the older Platinum model and it was phenomenal even with an overclocked 9900k. So quiet under normal loads as well.

 

[PompeyFC]

The AMD build only has the OC version of the GPU

Here's the config links:
Intel: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-z790-ddr5-pc/2569359/
AMD: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/amd-am5-overclocked/2569608/



I've changed the cooler from the Capellix h100i to the h150i, but what's the difference between the standard and capellix variants?

For balance I have the 13900K Intel and CORSAIR iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX XT RGB High Performance CPU Cooler and I have had no issues with temperature at all. Also using the CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE

 

[Scott]

For balance I have the 13900K Intel and CORSAIR iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX XT RGB High Performance CPU Cooler and I have had no issues with temperature at all. Also using the CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE

It depends on use case. If the 13900k is used to maximum potential it will have issues with temps. Gaming on a thread or 2 won't cause temp spikes so always be mindful of offering advice without stipulating the usage that you have done the testing under.

For example, gaming on a 13900k won't stress it, but rendering will. Always need to note the users needs

 

[AndyJB]

The 7950X isn't particularly hot, but you get more out of it the cooler you can keep it. The difference is as suggested really, the H150i will have slightly more cooling capacity. This basically means it'll use less fan speed to keep the temps in check.

I think it's worth the upgrade. I would happily middle with the H115i, but not sure if that's available?

So the H150i seems to be back in stock but now the question is that or the upgraded version 'ELITE CAPELLIX XT'

 

[Scott]

There won't be a difference in performance. It's just the type of RGB that you want to have

 

[Steveyg]

Well I mean RGB does increase performance, Red makes everything faster and run hotter. Green is more eco friendly and Blue helps everything run cooler. Come on everyone knows this

 

[AndyJB]

Haha I'll be honest I've always found RGB a bit tacky, but if not so in your face it can look pretty cool.

The H115i is ridiculously good too, definitely up to the task of cooling pretty much any chip bar the terrible 12900 that was warping itself

So it's payday tomorrow so going to make final decisions and order tomorrow but the H115i Cappellix is in stock now. Is it better than the h150i or is there not much difference?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Haha I'll be honest I've always found RGB a bit tacky, but if not so in your face it can look pretty cool.


So it's payday tomorrow so going to make final decisions and order tomorrow but the H115i Cappellix is in stock now. Is it better than the h150i or is there not much difference?

The H150i is a 360mm radiator, 3 x 120mm fans.

The H115i is 280mm, 2 x 140mm fans

The 150 is probably only about 10% better but will be a bit louder due to the smaller fans running at higher rpm.

The H115i is still an excellent cooler.

 

[AndyJB]

The H150i is a 360mm radiator, 3 x 120mm fans.

The H115i is 280mm, 2 x 140mm fans

The 150 is probably only about 10% better but will be a bit louder due to the smaller fans running at higher rpm.

The H115i is still an excellent cooler.

When you say 'a bit louder', is it noticeable or would I have to get a decibel meter?

I see your tacky and I raise you a "there's no accounting for taste"

Seriously though, I was never a fan of RGB...up until my previous PC bought back in 2020, all my cases were solid with no RGB at all. Previous system had a Focus G case which had 2 white fans at the front and I was quite happy with it....then, with my recently bought system, I decided to go all out and I am now in love with all things RGB.

I mean, how can you say this looks tacky?

View attachment 37009

Hah to be fair I was thinking of when it started to make an appearance years and years ago

 

[SpyderTracks]

When you say 'a bit louder', is it noticeable or would I have to get a decibel meter?

In all honesty, with how good the fans are that come on them nowadays, you'd be hard pressed to hear a difference.

 

[Scott]

I had the H115i, it's seriously quiet and I was hard pressed to even hear it on "Quiet" mode. The pump was easily the loudest part of the kit when not on quiet.

I now have a 360mm cooler, just because, and it's not far off being as quiet. I didn't need one, don't get me wrong, but I liked the aesthetic of filling the space with a 360mm cooler.

For cooling the 7950X, both coolers are going to be far past what's required. It purely comes down to the aesthetic and price. I wouldn't worry about how audible they are as you would need to measure to notice the difference.

 

[AndyJB]

Options you could take:

• If you don't mind giving up some rendering performance, the 7950X3D would offer better performance in games.
• You could go for the 4x16GB RAM and go for, say, the Asus Strix X670E motherboard. But DDR5 and four sticks of RAM and AMD isn't a great combination at the moment.

Ok one more sanity check (maybe ). Given the 4x16GB RAM in the build and @sck451 comment, is the combination that bad? Or is it just that there are better combinations of RAM, AMD etc?

 

[Scott]

Ok one more sanity check (maybe ). Given the 4x16GB RAM in the build and @sck451 comment, is the combination that bad? Or is it just that there are better combinations of RAM, AMD etc?

It depends on necessity. If you need 64GB of RAM to get the best out of your processes then go with it, otherwise you will get more performance with 2 sticks. Higher performance RAM is limited in frequency with 4 slots being used. There are a number of other stock limitations as well.

All of these shortcomings can be worked around, but you need to venture into the BIOS and know what you're doing with voltage control.

 

[AndyJB]

It depends on necessity. If you need 64GB of RAM to get the best out of your processes then go with it, otherwise you will get more performance with 2 sticks. Higher performance RAM is limited in frequency with 4 slots being used. There are a number of other stock limitations as well.

All of these shortcomings can be worked around, but you need to venture into the BIOS and know what you're doing with voltage control.

Well I'd just like to futureproof it for the long haul, I'm not one to upgrade every few years, I mean I bought my current PC back in 2014 and I only started to feel the need to get a new one recently haha But in any case, the option for 4x16GB has disappeared 😩 so guess I'll wait a few days to see if it's back, maybe ran out of stock?

 

[Scott]

RAM isn't really a good future proofing solution. The best thing to do is get what you need, if you need more you can add it later and be no worse off than you are now.