Hello!
I'm building a new rig for myself to accomplish a few things, and would like some advice on my part selection and feedback on reasoning errors, please! Items are underlined and hyperlinked (or should be at least).
Goals:
1) Play single player Mouse and Keyboard (M&K) games like Skyrim on max quality (with 250+ mods).
1.1) Multitask web-based video watching (Youtube, Netflix, Funimation, etc.) while M&K gaming.
2) Play single player games on VR (Valve Index, specifically). I have not been able to research on Google if VR does better on single-core focused or multi-core focused rigs.
3) Host multiplayer games for myself, my family (3 others), and maybe one or two friends (6 people tops). Games like Minecraft (Currently playing Twitch's "All The Mods 3"), 7 Days to Die (7DtD), and Ark.
3 - Subnote) Now, with games like 7DtD and Minecraft I can just open the LAN in the options menu and play my hosted game, but games like Ark I have to run a dedicated server instance and a player instance, on my single computer, in order to not have everyone tethered to my character.
4) Uploading videos to Youtube. I don’t stream on Twitch, but I do upload gaming vids to Youtube and do Discord streams to friends who need help with things in-game. Instead of just telling them, I can stream my screen and show them (like how to build a wall configuration in 7DtD).
So here are the main components of my possible build and why I chose them, along with the competing options:
//BEGIN BUILD (Sorry for wall of text!)
=CPU=
-CPU: This came down to single core capes vs multi-core handling, and not really wanting to overclock (because I’m scared of failing and shortening the life of my rig). Additionally, I don’t really want to spend hours looking at BIOs screens which I don’t really understand them to begin with (even though, apparently, I’m fine with staring at Skyrim Mod Organizer for hours trying to figure out which mod broke my game…).
1 - Single-Core focus) Intel i9 9900K. Faster framerate than Ryzen, with highest single-core capes. Not COMPLETELY lacking in Cores (with 8 cores/16 threads if I understand correctly), but not as many as Ryzen’s option – but that doesn’t seem to matter if most games are only utilizing single-core capes anyway... An Intel con is that the i9 will also throttle RTX2080s if I have multiple GPUs in SLI later, but performs better than the Ryzen 9 for a single GPU. Another Intel con is this chip is usually benchmarked at overclocked speeds, which I don’t really want to do, so I probably won’t get the same performance as the Youtube benchmarks.
1.1 Sidenote) I’m 35 and grew up with Intel, so I’m a pretty hard-core blue player. A friend of mine told me that AMD has come back into the game recently, and while I was skeptical, it’s been about 10 years since I last looked at AMD. Some research provided intriguing results in AMD’s favor, which leads me to:
2 - Multi-Core focus) Ryzen 9 3950X. Fewer single-core focused capes than Intel, but will handle multiple applications like the Ark, Ark’s Server, Discord’s Stream, and Funimation all running at the same time (which I will be doing). Also to consider is that the Ryzen won’t perform as well as Intel with a single GPU, but when all gates will be open for Crossfire configuration, later, the Ryzen will outperform Intel’s capability to handle all the GPUs (but again, that won’t happen until I get more GPUs). Another pro is that this chip comes out of the box (apparently) relatively close to what overclocking can accomplish, so I won’t be missing much by not overclocking.
=MOTHERBOARD=
-Motherboard: These are specced for the Ryzen, so if we go Intel I’ll just choose the Intel equiv. of the winning MB.
1 - MB-Best[IMO]) MSI MEG X570 Ace: Has the ports I want, doesn't have ports I won't use, and has a heatpipe feature for CPU cooling, which I think is “neat”.
2 - MB-Alternates) Asus Crosshair VIII Hero X570, X570 Aorus Master
=GRAPHIC PROCESSING UNIT=
-GPU: Asus GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB ROG Strix Gaming OC Video Card. w00t!
=THERMAL COMPOUND=
-Thermal Compound: Linus’ reviewed thermal pad. I don’t see a reason not to use it since it works and I don’t have to worry about the amount/size of the stripe of gel. If you have better options, I'm all ears.
=POWER SUPPLY UNIT=
-PSU: Corsair AX760 80+P. Should cover my wattage needs, 80+Plat certified, trusted brand as I personally have never had an issue with Corsair. If you have better options, I'm all ears.
=STORAGE=
-Storage: Corsair MP510 1.92 TB M.2-2280 SSD. Not too concerned about the memory. Again, no issues with Corsair. Want to use M.2 slots, and 2TBs seems a reasonable amount of storage. I currently use 1.2TB and feel it’s a little small (music, games, game mods, etc.). If you have better options, I'm all ears.
=CPU HEATSINK=
-CPU Heatsink: Going with air cooled rigs. Water cooled rigs look prettier, yes I’m a sucker for water-based RGB, but after Linus’ Air vs AIO comparison vid, I’m fine with air.
1 – Best[IMO])be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler. Of the three listed here, this one outperforms on both the sound (24.3DBs) and cooling capability (250 TDP).
2 - Alternatives) be quiet! Dark Rock TF Low Profile Silent Wings CPU Cooler - 220W TDP (still silent at 26.7DBs, 220W TDP, smallest [apparent] footprint), and Cooler Master MA410M (loudest of the three at 31DBs, but this one might be the one chosen because I’m a sucker for RGB, sue me). Side note: I also looked at Linus’ choice of the Noctua fans, but holy cow those are ugly to me. They won’t fit with my black/RBG theme at all.
=RAM=
-RAM: Normally I go with Corsair Vengeance RGB or Dominator, but these looked good for how cheap they were… On a side note, I understand that CL is a function of how many clock cycles happen per data motion (in layman’s terms), and that lower is better, but I don’t understand what all four numbers mean. Additionally, I’ve noticed that the 3200MHz sticks have a CL of 14-14-14-34 at $210 more. At what point does the low CL outweigh the high clock speed?
1 – Primary idea) G.Skill Trident Z Neo (For AMD Ryzen) 64GB (4x16GB) DDR4-3600 CL16-19-19-39. These look really good for only $369.99.
2 – Lower clock speed, but lower CL) G.Skill Z Neo DDR4-3200 CL 14-14-14-34. $579.99
=CASE FANS=
-Case fans: To RGB or to not RGB...? That is the question. Maybe a mix of both?
1 - RGB) Cooler Master. 360mm 3xfan square frame.
2 – Silent) be quiet! Silentwings 3 140mm single fan.
=CASE=
-Case: Huge fan of Razer, and the LIAN LI PC-011 Dynamic case has rave reviews. If you have better options, I'm all ears.
//END BUILD
Thanks again for everyone who is willing to help me out! Again, sorry for the wall of text.
As an added question, does anyone know of a good program to help manage drivers to make sure they stay up to date? I don't mind manually downloading the drivers individually, but sometimes I forget which drivers I need to check on.
Thank you!
v/r
Thanks for the recommendations Streetguru! I can't tell if your post's lower half is directed at me, or like a signature block, but: 1) My budget/country is around $4,500/USA. 2) I haven't shopped around for monitors yet, currently at 1080p, but these are like 8 years old. Goal is 2 "fitting" monitors and Valve Index VR headset. 3) Skyrim Standard Edition with about 250 mods, All the Mods 3 Minecraft, 7DtD, Ark, and their respective servers for my friends to join. v/r