UPDATING MY GAMING RIG

[DefensivePepe]

Hello everyone, I have always been reading this forum but now it is time to start checking for your opinions. After long time of hard use, it seems like my CPU needs a refresh, as I have just bought a RTX2070 and it seems like games are not running as smoothly as they should in 4K with that GPU. 

 

1. Budget & Location

I am located in the EU, but I don´t mind to see prices in USD. I do not have an specific budget but something reasonable for a watercooled CPU and motherboard. 

2. Aim

4K Gaming, I play almost all types of games.

3. Monitors

I am running one 4K monitor, no plans to reduce resolution or to change this configuration. 

4. Peripherals

No.

5. Why are you upgrading?

I have the feeling that my pc is getting slower due to the lack of RAM (only 6Gb 1333Mhz). Also, I don´t like the motherboard I currently have (ASUS Rampage IV E) and I would like also to start a new build on a new and bigger case.

 

My intention is to prepare a long term build that will be completed through several stages. Please note I am not into RGB, but I would like a black and red colour scheme. 

 

This is my list of components and prices (components that aren´t in this list is because I am planing to keep from my old PC):

 

- CPU: this is my biggest concern as it affects everything. My plan was an i9 9900K without any doubt but I am not sure right now if choosing an i7 9700K or even considering a Ryzen 9 3900x with a X470 mobo. I only game and maybe stream but the extra cores are a key feature for me as a tech guy. Despite this, 500$ for CPU is quite a lot of money considering how hughe this list is. 

 

- Motherboard: Aorus Z390 Xtreme Waterforce. I can get a used one for less than 700$ which can be a good deal considering it includes the monoblock. I am not sure and my second option is a used Maximus XI Extreme for 350$, which can be a good deal if I can reuse my XSPC Raystorm. In case of Ryzen, I haven´t considering anything yet.

 

- Storage: 2xSabrent Rocket NVMe 1Tb in Raid 0 (260$). I have absolutely no idea about this brand but I am sure I will take the risk. My only concern is that if I stay with the Xtreme Waterforce, I think I should install all 3 m.2 SSD before installing the monoblock, otherwise in case I want to plug a third SSD, I will be forced to drain the liquid and reinstall the monoblock. Therefore, in order to cut cost, my intention was to use a 32Gb (or maybe 16Gb) Optane m.2 drive as cache but after watching reviews and tests it seems quite useless. 

 

- Case: obsidian 1000D, used for 300$. I don´t like it at all due to its lack of front bays but I really like the option for a future itx build. Probably, I will keep using my HAF X and change it to the new one in september.

 

- Cooling: my plan is to add a 480mm old EK radiator to both my 360 mm alphacool and my single 140 mm radiators. Due to the fact that the GPU is not going to be watercooled for a while, I think I can stay only with the 360mm radiator for the CPU. 

 

- RAM: used 2x16Gb Corsair Platinum 3200Mhz for 200$. I think it is very expensive for being used but the deal is RAM+Case for 500$. If I don´t get the 1000D, then I can stick to any brand or RAM configuration. 

 

Those are the changes, I will keep things like fans, pump, PSU, GPU, SSDs, HDDs... I think it is a big and expensive change but depending on the CPU and mother board can be extreme or not. 

 

Please send me your thoughts, I am looking forward to any comment with reference to storage and opinion of the Aorus Xtreme Waterforce. 

 

Yours faithfully, 

Defensivepepe. 

 

 

[Mr.Humble]

Please post according to these guidelines 

 

 

[jerubedo]

47 minutes ago, DefensivePepe said:

it seems like my CPU needs a refresh, as I have just bought a RTX2070 and it seems like games are not runnina as smoothly as they should in 4K with that GPU. 

4K is still almost a completely GPU-bound resolution, so having a 9900K, 3900x, 3700x, or 3800x won't give you any extra FPS in any current titles at 4K, nor will they for any releases in the immediate future. If it was 1080p, or to some extent 1440p, then the CPU would matter more, but not so much at 4K. The 2070 also isn't a great choice for 4K. It's roughly the equivalent of a GTX 1080, which was "passable" for 4K gaming in some titles, however, the 1080 Ti, 2080, and 2080 Ti are really the 4K options to go with, but especially the 2080 Ti.

[DefensivePepe]

9 hours ago, Mr.Humble said:

Please post according to these guidelines 

Sorry for the inconvenience, I read the article before posting and that´s why all the question are included in the text. I have now updated the first post but I am not yet sure if that is correct or not. 

 

9 hours ago, jerubedo said:

4K is still almost a completely GPU-bound resolution, so having a 9900K, 3900x, 3700x, or 3800x won't give you any extra FPS in any current titles at 4K, nor will they for any releases in the immediate future. If it was 1080p, or to some extent 1440p, then the CPU would matter more, but not so much at 4K. The 2070 also isn't a great choice for 4K. It's roughly the equivalent of a GTX 1080, which was "passable" for 4K gaming in some titles, however, the 1080 Ti, 2080, and 2080 Ti are really the 4K options to go with, but especially the 2080 Ti.

I understand and I admit as well that the CPU for gaming is not crucial but there are other facts in here. If I check the reviews, Linus, for instance, I can see a 55 - 60 fps in GTA V on an RTX2070. In my setup, I can not get more than 25 - 30 fps. Despite being the i7 3930k a beast as processor, the platform is very old and my RAM is old and not high capacity (I run 3x2Gb at 1333Mhz). Being this old, I prefer to change the motherboard and CPU rather than spending an extra 100$ on a new RAM that won´t last long. Also, I would like to try m2 nvme ssds that aren´t compatible with my platform. I know the RTX2070 is not the best but my intention is to purchase the RTX2080 ti as soon as it is affordable, that´s the reason why I am not watercooling it, I prefer to wait until the RTX2080ti can be purchased for 500$ and then consider it. 

 

My main doubts right now are with the motherboard, which is the point to start the build. Both the xtreme waterforce and the maximus xi extreme are sold and I am not sure if I could get one or not. Despite this, I found the ASUS Rampage VI Extreme for less than 400$ (NOT THE OMEGA ONE). The problem of X99 is pricing for the CPU, i7 7920x is more than 600$ and the i7 7900X I think underperforms my i7 3930K. 

 

For the Z390 platform, the best deal I can find is the ASUS XI Formula and the MSI Godlike (less than 300$). I think I like the msi more but the brand does not attract too much attention. The aorus xtreme is also available for less than 300$ but I am not sure as well. I was very sure to purchase the i7 9700k + Aorus Xtreme Waterforce and now I am completely lost. 

[jerubedo]

5 minutes ago, DefensivePepe said:

In my setup, I can not get more than 25 - 30 fps.

There's something else wrong with your system then. Most likely software related. This video shows the 3930K still being able to push well over 80 FPS on a pair of GTX 1080s almost all the time:

 

 

I also doubt it's the RAM, as GTA V has always run just fine on 6GB. Anyway, that aside, I still understand the want to upgrade the older platform, and that's fine, but you DON'T need a 3900x or 9900K for 4K gaming. Get something like the 3600 or the 9600K instead for strictly gaming at 4K.

[DefensivePepe]

8 hours ago, jerubedo said:

There's something else wrong with your system then. Most likely software related. This video shows the 3930K still being able to push well over 80 FPS on a pair of GTX 1080s almost all the time:

 

 

I also doubt it's the RAM, as GTA V has always run just fine on 6GB. Anyway, that aside, I still understand the want to upgrade the older platform, and that's fine, but you DON'T need a 3900x or 9900K for 4K gaming. Get something like the 3600 or the 9600K instead for strictly gaming at 4K.

I have also been watching videos with the same CPU but I never considered maybe it is due to a software issue, due to the fact that I have always considered it directly to the RAM. Is there anything you suggest cehcking to double check?

 

I completely agree on what you say about the need of an Intel i9 9900k (teh Ryzen 9 is totally out of my budget) but I can get at almost the same price of the i7 9700k. The problem is that I was quite sure I was going to buy either the Maximus XI Extreme or the Aorus Xtreme Waterforce and now I don´t know what to do and I am afraid maybe the motherboard I am considering gets sold out again. During the last hours I have been even considering Threadripper (lol). 

 

I will sit down in a couple of hours and make a decission. An i7 7800x might be an option as well, I can buy a very good motherboard (ASUS RAMPAGE V OMEGA), continue using my XSPC Raystorm and change the GPU for a proper one as soon as prices drop a bit. 

[jerubedo]

3 hours ago, DefensivePepe said:

I have also been watching videos with the same CPU but I never considered maybe it is due to a software issue, due to the fact that I have always considered it directly to the RAM. Is there anything you suggest cehcking to double check?

 

I completely agree on what you say about the need of an Intel i9 9900k (teh Ryzen 9 is totally out of my budget) but I can get at almost the same price of the i7 9700k. The problem is that I was quite sure I was going to buy either the Maximus XI Extreme or the Aorus Xtreme Waterforce and now I don´t know what to do and I am afraid maybe the motherboard I am considering gets sold out again. During the last hours I have been even considering Threadripper (lol). 

 

I will sit down in a couple of hours and make a decission. An i7 7800x might be an option as well, I can buy a very good motherboard (ASUS RAMPAGE V OMEGA), continue using my XSPC Raystorm and change the GPU for a proper one as soon as prices drop a bit. 

Threadripper and the 7800x are even worse choices for gaming, both from a performance standpoint and price. Seriously, for 4K just look at the likes of the Ryzen 5 3600, i5 9600K, Ryzen 5 2600, or the i5 9400F. All of those chips are still quite overkill for 4K gaming and none of them require such overkill boards like the ones you are looking at. 

 

As for what to do software-wise, the usual suspects: check for viruses, make sure your GPU drivers are up to date, double check what your RAM usage and CPU usage is during gameplay. If either are high, see what background tasks are eating your resources. If all else fails, get a backup drive and put a fresh install of windows on it. Do nothing but install the lateat drivers and the game and see how it runs there. 

[DefensivePepe]

On 7/15/2019 at 10:09 PM, jerubedo said:

Threadripper and the 7800x are even worse choices for gaming, both from a performance standpoint and price. Seriously, for 4K just look at the likes of the Ryzen 5 3600, i5 9600K, Ryzen 5 2600, or the i5 9400F. All of those chips are still quite overkill for 4K gaming and none of them require such overkill boards like the ones you are looking at. 

 

As for what to do software-wise, the usual suspects: check for viruses, make sure your GPU drivers are up to date, double check what your RAM usage and CPU usage is during gameplay. If either are high, see what background tasks are eating your resources. If all else fails, get a backup drive and put a fresh install of windows on it. Do nothing but install the lateat drivers and the game and see how it runs there. 

Yes, it seems like you are right. I have been checking reviews and I have seen how the LGA1151 platform is a beast. I am now considering if staying with my pc and not changing anything rather than storage that I need or to purchase a cheap motherboard and an i9 9900k. I appreciate your thoughts but belive the difference in price between the i5 9600k or the i7 9700k and the i9 9900k is less than 70$ and just in case I stream, it would be anything. 

 

With reference to cheap motherboard, I was considering the Maximus XI Formula for 300$ but I have seen some Gigabyte, Asrock or even Asus variants for a 100$ that to my mind may offer the same performance and characteristics. Despite this fact, I think I am going to wait for a while to check if I can find another good deal on an Xtreme Waterforce. 

 

Finally, it is nothing you mention. I have no idea why, I have now OC the i7 3930k but I am thinking maybe some imcompatibility between Windows 10 and the BIOS. 

 

We´ll see tomorrow. Also, I cannot wait to see Threadripper 3. If AMD manages to set the same single core results as Zen 2 in a Threadripper, then the 2066 is dead. 

 

UPDATE: finally I decided not to buy anything, only storage. I think I will wait until september as I will be travelling during august and probably during october. We´ll see for the black friday or maybe after christmas holidays if there is any new update from Intel or AMD. I still have the belive that Threadripper 3 will keep the single core performance of Zen 2 with an even higher number of cores.