RTX Supers, New AMD CPUs -- New build help -- Here we go

[marvir]

Hey folks,

As everyone on this forum and YouTube has mentioned, waiting to get any new builds is the smart thing to do, and here we are. So I'd like some advice on how to go about my new build. Apologies in advance as this'll likely be a bit of a long one.

As for use, it'll be mainly used for gaming, with a little bit of Photoshop, 3D animation (Maya, Zbrush) some sound production (Ableton) and some light editing (Premiere). These are all at a hobby level rather than professional however I will likely get some more RAM down the line, though at the moment I'm happy with 16GB. Max budget at a push would be at £2000, although ideally around £1800. I currently already have a 1080p monitor, although in time (maybe 6-ish months) I'd like to upgrade to a 1440p monitor. I also already have my own retail copy of Windows 10 (Home).

So below was the build I was thinking of initially, with the 2070 Super thrown in:

Case
NZXT H500 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 AORUS PRO: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!

Get Control & Wolfenstein: Young Blood w/ select GeForce RTX GPUs!
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Price: £1,808.00 including VAT and Delivery


CPU/MOBO/RAM - What would be the comparable AMD CPU to the 9700K? I know pretty much nothing about AMD, so I wouldn't know where to start. Is there anything I should be aware of if I'm not going the Intel route? I'm assuming I'd be replacing the motherboard and RAM if I do? Should I be waiting for a certain period of time before I make any moves for, I dunno, stability issues, drivers etc? Am I also correct that the new AMD CPUs are the ones to get?

GPU - Before the announcement of the Supers, I was planning/debating on getting either the 2070 or the 2080 but struggled with the price to performance ratio. From what I've seen the 2070 Super seems to perform almost as good as the 2080 at a lower price point, so that's what I think I'm going with.

HDD - With regards to the hard drive (TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE), I would probably prefer 4GB of space but I don't actually know what difference the RPM and the cache makes, as the 4GB is 256MB cache and 5400RPM. Could someone advise?

Power Supply - My current PC (in my sig) actually already has a modular PSU, and as I won't have a use for my old PC, is it possible for me to post my PC to PCS and ask them to take the "usable" parts from my old PC to stick into my new one? Specifically the PSU and maybe transfer my old HDDs in as well?

Sound Card - After owning systems with the onboard and some entry-level-ish sound cards, I definitely want a better sound card than the onboard one -- what's the best value sound card I should go for, more specifically, the cheapest one that I should consider that would make an actual difference?

Case - Lastly, I've chosen the NZXT purely based on aesthetics, although I have seen some videos of people making builds using this case and not having anything bad to say about it. Does anyone have a suggestion of a better case at a similar or close-to-similar price point? It's something I'm definitely happy to spring a bit extra for if it means much better airflow/ventilation.


That's all that I can think of at the moment to ask. As always, appreciate any help folks can give, and thanks in advance!

Martin

 

[Oussebon]

I currently already have a 1080p monitor, although in time (maybe 6-ish months) I'd like to upgrade to a 1440p monitor.

This is the big alarm bell for me.

You're buying a 2070 Super, which is similar to a 1080 ti in performance, for a 1080p monitor and you might upgrade early next year. By which time, newer / cheaper / faster GPUs with more mature RTX tech could be out or on the horizon. i.e. you're doing going to get any mileage out of such an expensive purchase until it's already on the verge of being superseded.

No point getting something that's like a 2080, or even like a regular 2070, if it's going to be stuck on a low end screen.

You have £200 spare in your budget. You can get an RTX 2060 6gb for £200 less that offers excellent 1440p performance.

You could probably economise another £100-200 by going with an AMD R5 3600(x).

That's upto £600 which will let you pick from a range of very nice, high end monitors (check out the Gigabyte AORUS one for instance).

So I'd really suggest getting a new PC and new monitor now, rather than a new PC that's going to have gone stale by the time you actually get around to really using what you bought.

 

[marvir]

So I'd really suggest getting a new PC and new monitor now, rather than a new PC that's going to have gone stale by the time you actually get around to really using what you bought.

Hmm I thought about this as well when I was watching benchmark videos of the new cards. I guess I was thinking along the lines of "futureproofing", although I know it's not really the most realistic thing.

Do you really believe that the 2070 Super would be both overkill and not worth the investment in the longer term for 6 months of 1080p and then 1440p use?

I thought I would also be able to make use of it for my 3D usage, although I've not seen a lot of real world benchmarks of how much difference the jump from 2060 super to the 2070 super would be in my workflow. It also is just on a hobby level and the main use would still be gaming, so I guess I'm still stuck on the "get the best GPU you can afford" mentality, but if it really won't benefit me enough I guess it is just like throwing my money away. In this regard though I don't think I'll be taking down my CPU choice.

Thank you very much, the more I think about it the more sense it makes. It used to always be a get-what-you-can-afford type deal, and probably still is, but if I'm not planning on going 4k any time soon there isn't really a point.


Any advice on the other parts of the PC? Namely on the motherboard-side as I don't quite know when it comes to AMD builds. Actually I'll like my adjusted spec below to see what people say.

Case
NZXT H500 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK) -- accepting suggestions for a better case choice, unless this one is ok. I hate RGB
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
Gigabyte X570 GAMING X: ATX (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE --is there a noticeable performance difference between this and the 3GB 7200RPM, 64MB cache? Does one perform slower than the other?
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY will be sending in my old CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD from my current PC - planning to send in the whole thing to PCS and take out useable parts -- older SSD and HDD, Blu Ray drive - any idea if they'd let me do that?
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler -- is this necessary? Would the PCS one suffice or should I maybe source something in between?
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy Rx -- Probably have to do some more research on the sound card
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Price: £1,682.00 including VAT and Delivery -- Should be a bit less as I can't not select a PSU

Thanks again Oussebon, I wasn't sure anyone would reply to my post, walls of text aren't easy for quick replies, really appreciate it!

Edit: Is the Gigabyte AORUS the best monitor? I've never spent loads on my monitors before, but is it worth the £500+ investment?

 

[Oussebon]

it'll be mainly used for gaming, with a little bit of Photoshop, 3D animation (Maya, Zbrush) some sound production (Ableton) and some light editing (Premiere)

Those are some of the bits that grabbed me from your first post, and as you go on to say:

It also is just on a hobby level and the main use would still be gaming,

So yeah, I do think the 2070 Super's a bit too much for this build.

CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY will be sending in my old CORSAIR 650W CS SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD from my current PC - planning to send in the whole thing to PCS and take out useable parts -- older SSD and HDD, Blu Ray drive - any idea if they'd let me do that?

I don't think they will let you send old parts in (at a guess, too much hassle for them to have to take responsibility for random bits sent in by customers). Other than the case; there is a "send in your own case" option. In case you want something they don't have on offer.

But - they do let you replace / upgrade / add components without it affecting the warranty.
See 7.7 and 7.8 here: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/terms/
i.e. you can mostly do what you want as long as you don't break stuff while doing it.

So you can add storage, even replace the PSU if you want.

2 things though to warn you about:

1) you'll have a fresh, new PC with cleanly routed and tied cables. Replacing the PSU will probably cause you to undo most of the cable management. That's not a problem per se, but it may be a little hassle and take some of the shiny newness off it.

2) The case you've selected doesn't support internal DVD drives. Like many cases these days, it opts for a clean front panel, so no drive bays. Cases with space for regular size DVD etc drives include the Fractal Focus G and Fractal Define R6. The Focus is more budget. The R6 is more expensive, a very good case, though the version PCS sell has no side window.

4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE --is there a noticeable performance difference between this and the 3GB 7200RPM, 64MB cache? Does one perform slower than the other?

The 7200rpm one is probably (?) faster. Drives can get faster as they get larger, though the 3TB one is 7200rpm. Assuming all your files that benefit from faster storage are on the SSD (e.g. the OS, favourite games, project files, etc) then how fast your HDD is may not matter so much. You're getting

Sound Card
Creative Sound Blaster® Audigy Rx -- Probably have to do some more research on the sound card

Don't bother with a sound card. Onboard audio is fine. If it's not, then you might be after something other than a random gamer-oriented soundcard anyway.

Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet Performance CPU Cooler -- is this necessary? Would the PCS one suffice or should I maybe source something in between?

AMD's stock coolers are quite decent. It's not worth replacing with a cheap cooler. If getting a 3rd party cooler, get something high end for a more significant improvement in cooling (e.g. Noctua, H100x) and/or acoustics. But you could stick with the stock AMD cooler.


Be aware:

Motherboard
Gigabyte X570 GAMING X: ATX (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - RGB Ready!

PCS have listed that as having USb 3.1 Gen 2. It doesn't, only USB 3.2 Gen 1.

X570 GAMING X (rev. 1.0) Specification | Motherboard - GIGABYTE Global

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE.GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ motherboards bring together a unique blend of features and technologies that offer users the absolute ...

www.gigabyte.com

If you haven't been following the utterly mental USB renaming shenanigans, USB 3.2 Gen 1 = USB 3.0
That may not matter to you, but do be aware.

If you're not massively bothered about having PCIe 4.0, you could go with the X470 motherboard and save a bunch. If you want PCIe 4.0 and you want the 10gbps USB in case useful in the future, the TUF X570 plus is an option.

Edit: Is the Gigabyte AORUS the best monitor? I've never spent loads on my monitors before, but is it worth the £500+ investment?

"Best" is pretty subjective, as it depends what one wants from a monitor. Things like response time, panel type, colours, HDR, and freesync/gsync/gsync compatible.

The AORUS is a very solid contender and I'm thinking of getting one myself to go with my RTX 2060 (I currently have a 1440p 75hz monitor). It's IPS, made on a newer, Innolux panel than many of the more established 1440p 144hz gsync monitors like the Asus PG279Q. It's gsync compatible.

LG are on the cusp of releasing their 27GL850 which looks quite interesting. There's a site with it listed for preorder at £450. Although never pre-order anything... There's some info about it on my favourite monitors website:

LG 27GL850 144Hz WQHD Nano IPS model with Adaptive-Sync | PC Monitors

THe LG 27GL850 features a 27" 2560 x 1440 (WQHD) Nano IPS panel with support for Adaptive-Sync and a 144Hz refresh rate.

pcmonitors.info

For photoshop, you may prefer an IPS type monitor to a TN one. However there are good TN monitors like the Dell S2716DG out there.

Wherever you buy any monitor from, make sure you buy it from a place with a generous returns policy. So if you have a problem or you plain don't like it, you can send it back. Since it's a big investment and you'll want to be sure you're happy with it of course