Upgrade path to custom loop

[Beechy]

Overview: I have been wanting to build a custom loop for a long time and am finally in a position where I have some savings and some hardware that warrents it, I recently bought a 2080ti and have found that my CPU is struggling to keep up and know that I'm not getting the most out of my GPU.  For example the CPU sits at like 100% and the GPU is at like ~80% usage.

 

Budget (including currency): $2000-4000 AUD

Country: Australia

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Mostly gaming (I mostly play FPS), playing a lot of COD Warzone atm but also play other stuff like CIV6 and Total war from time to time to.  I also do the occasional bit of video editing (hobby mostly) and photoshop etc but nothing to the point where I care about the render taking a minute longer to complete.

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc):
I play at 1440p on a 165Hz display and have a second vertical 1080p display on the side.  I am looking to buy in the next 6 months.
Current set up:

CPU: Intel i58600k  4.8Ghz OC

Cooler: GammerMaXx Tower cooler (can't remeber the exact name atm)

MOBO: Gigabyte Z370 Aorus Gaming 5 Wifi

RAM: 2x8gb Corsair Vengence RGB 3200Mghz

GPU: Gigabyte Aorus 2080ti

PSU: Seasonic 850W gold rated

Storage: Samsung 860 evo 250gb M.2

Intel 660p M.2 1TB

WD 2TB spiny disk one

Case: Fractal Design Meshify C

Fans: 6 Corsair LL120s + comander pro

 

So as I said my two main reasons to upgrade are that I have a CPU bottleneck but also I just really want to try and build a custom loop water cooled set up.  Below is my current thoughts on the upgrades I am considering, any advice is gratefully recieved.

 

CPU: i9 9900kf or R9 3900x seem like the main contenders from what I have seen 10th gen intel doesn't seem all that worth it unless I'm missing something?

Cooling: I like the Corsaid HydroX line partly because its targeted at reltive novices to water cooling like me and partly because I already have a 6 ll120s and a commander pro so it seems like it would all work well together.  I also know EK are very highly regarded in general and have look at some of their stuff (some very cool distro plates etc).  Side note: I really like the idea of doing copper pipes but I don't know if this is running before I can walk...?

MOBO: Basically CPU dependant but pretty much whatever buildzoid recomends lol.

RAM: Don't know if it's really worth the upgrade but I might consider sticking another 2 sticks in, partly as I feel it will help with premier, partly because I have noticed I'm at least close to using all of the memory when gaming at times and finally partly if I'm being honest because I think the RGB looks cool (don't judge me...I'm owning it lol).

GPU: No upgrade required.

PSU: I think this should be able to handle everything without any problems?

Storage: Thinking about swapping out the spinny disk for a cheapish 2TB ssd just so I don't need to have a hard drive cage mounted for that one drive.

Case: Considering the bigger brother of the meshify C and just going to the S2 as I just liked the case a lot.  I also like the look of the Dynamic O11 but I'm open to suggestions too.

 

So what do you think? I know I need to do the CPU as a must and if I have to I can wait on the water cooling and continue to save but this is the end goal for me.  Thanks for taking the time to read and thanks in advance for all your thoughts and ideas .  I have tried to be as detailed as I can but if I am missing anything then please do just let me know.

 

[KGGaming]

9 minutes ago, Beechy said:

Overview: I have been wanting to build a custom loop for a long time and am finally in a position where I have some savings and some hardware that warrents it, I recently bought a 2080ti and have found that my CPU is struggling to keep up and know that I'm not getting the most out of my GPU.  For example the CPU sits at like 100% and the GPU is at like ~80% usage.

 

Budget (including currency): $2000-4000 AUD

Country: Australia

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Mostly gaming (I mostly play FPS), playing a lot of COD Warzone atm but also play other stuff like CIV6 and Total war from time to time to.  I also do the occasional bit of video editing (hobby mostly) and photoshop etc but nothing to the point where I care about the render taking a minute longer to complete.

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc):
I play at 1440p on a 165Hz display and have a second vertical 1080p display on the side.  I am looking to buy in the next 6 months.
Current set up:

CPU: Intel i58600k  4.8Ghz OC

Cooler: GammerMaXx Tower cooler (can't remeber the exact name atm)

MOBO: Gigabyte Z370 Aorus Gaming 5 Wifi

RAM: 2x8gb Corsair Vengence RGB 3200Mghz

GPU: Gigabyte Aorus 2080ti

PSU: Seasonic 850W gold rated

Storage: Samsung 860 evo 250gb M.2

Intel 660p M.2 1TB

WD 2TB spiny disk one

Case: Fractal Design Meshify C

Fans: 6 Corsair LL120s + comander pro

 

So as I said my two main reasons to upgrade are that I have a CPU bottleneck but also I just really want to try and build a custom loop water cooled set up.  Below is my current thoughts on the upgrades I am considering, any advice is gratefully recieved.

 

CPU: i9 9900kf or R9 3900x seem like the main contenders from what I have seen 10th gen intel doesn't seem all that worth it unless I'm missing something?

Cooling: I like the Corsaid HydroX line partly because its targeted at reltive novices to water cooling like me and partly because I already have a 6 ll120s and a commander pro so it seems like it would all work well together.  I also know EK are very highly regarded in general and have look at some of their stuff (some very cool distro plates etc).  Side note: I really like the idea of doing copper pipes but I don't know if this is running before I can walk...?

MOBO: Basically CPU dependant but pretty much whatever buildzoid recomends lol.

RAM: Don't know if it's really worth the upgrade but I might consider sticking another 2 sticks in, partly as I feel it will help with premier, partly because I have noticed I'm at least close to using all of the memory when gaming at times and finally partly if I'm being honest because I think the RGB looks cool (don't judge me...I'm owning it lol).

GPU: No upgrade required.

PSU: I think this should be able to handle everything without any problems?

Storage: Thinking about swapping out the spinny disk for a cheapish 2TB ssd just so I don't need to have a hard drive cage mounted for that one drive.

Case: Considering the bigger brother of the meshify C and just going to the S2 as I just liked the case a lot.  I also like the look of the Dynamic O11 but I'm open to suggestions too.

 

So what do you think? I know I need to do the CPU as a must and if I have to I can wait on the water cooling and continue to save but this is the end goal for me.  Thanks for taking the time to read and thanks in advance for all your thoughts and ideas .  I have tried to be as detailed as I can but if I am missing anything then please do just let me know.

 

Op go with the r9 3900x as for what you want to do its very good for video editing I know that the 9900k is the best for gaming performance the the ryzen is better for an all round build

[Beechy]

1 minute ago, KGGaming said:

Op go with the r9 3900x as for what you want to do its very good for video editing I know that the 9900k is the best for gaming performance the the ryzen is better for an all round build

Yeah I feel a little like Intel are offering the best value for money in general tbh in comparison to AMD.

 

[GoodEnough]

Just now, Beechy said:

Yeah I feel a little like Intel are offering the best value for money in general tbh in comparison to AMD.

 

really, intel is awfully overpriced to what they deliver, most people would agree with me.

[KGGaming]

Just now, Beechy said:

Yeah I feel a little like Intel are offering the best value for money in general tbh in comparison to AMD.

 

But I wouldn't at all recommend the 9900K as for that money it is not worth it what your getting is a £500 for which you could get a for £430 ryzen 9 3900x which has 12 cores whilst the intel has 8 cores

[GoodEnough]

Just now, KGGaming said:

But I wouldn't at all recommend the 9900K as for that money it is not worth it what your getting is a £500 for which you could get a for £430 ryzen 9 3900x which has 12 cores whilst the intel has 8 cores

i would have to agree with you, intel just isnt worth it anymore.

[KGGaming]

1 minute ago, GoodEnough said:

i would have to agree with you, intel just isnt worth it anymore.

the ryzen has 33% more threads than the intel as quotes by linus its just not worth the money intel also has a 12 core cpu but that cost 1200 usd and is i9 9920xe at the moment amd is better value for money

[marmour]

19 minutes ago, Beechy said:

Yeah I feel a little like Intel are offering the best value for money in general tbh in comparison to AMD.

 

If you really want intel, get the i5 10600K. It performs very nearly as well as the 10900K in games, making it almost the best gaming cpu. However, I would still recommend the 3900X or 3700X for better all round performance and value

[Hairless Monkey]

I second 10600K for the best gaming experience.

 

As for water cooling parts. I considered Corsair HydroX, but instead saved a bunch of money by using a mix of EK parts, HWLabs Rads, and Barrow fittings purchased when on-sale from the EK store, Modmymods, and Performance-PCs. July 4th may be the next good sale event.

 

I also considered the Fractal S2 before ultimately choosing the Phanteks Evolv X because I wanted to use 140mm width Rads (420mm, 280mm, 140mm) and the S2 didn't have enough space above the motherboard to comfortably fit a 420mm Rad.

 

My build is in my sig.

[Hairless Monkey]

8 minutes ago, HairlessMonkeyBoy said:

EK store, Modmymods, and Performance-PCs.

I started planning my build at about this time last year, and bought most of my parts on Black Friday. If you can wait that long, these 3 stores tend to have very good sales, upwards of 30% off store wide.

[Beechy]

20 hours ago, HairlessMonkeyBoy said:

I started planning my build at about this time last year, and bought most of my parts on Black Friday. If you can wait that long, these 3 stores tend to have very good sales, upwards of 30% off store wide.

Thanks and nice build! Looks awesome!

 

Yeah I'm not in a huge rush to be honest but just want to start planning at least.  EK has an australian store but not sure about the other two I'll have to check them out.

Couple of follow up questions if I may, I noticed you have OC'd, how was the Asus BIOS? I found the gigabyte interface a bit of a pain to find all the settings I was looking for!

 

Also any advice on good water cooling tutorials etc? Anything you found particularly useful?

 

Thanks again

[Beechy]

21 hours ago, marmour said:

If you really want intel, get the i5 10600K. It performs very nearly as well as the 10900K in games, making it almost the best gaming cpu. However, I would still recommend the 3900X or 3700X for better all round performance and value

Yeah I have only just started looking at the reviews and it does seem pretty good, it just feels like half an upgrade tbh because it would still be 6 core CPU even though its hyper threaded and I could probably boost the frequency up to like 5.2ghz I'm guessing but I don't know how much that would give me in real world gains for the money especially Vs 12 core 14 thread and only slightly slower clocks.  If games move more towards multithreading then it seems like AMD is the way to go. 

[marmour]

23 minutes ago, Beechy said:

Yeah I have only just started looking at the reviews and it does seem pretty good, it just feels like half an upgrade tbh because it would still be 6 core CPU even though its hyper threaded and I could probably boost the frequency up to like 5.2ghz I'm guessing but I don't know how much that would give me in real world gains for the money especially Vs 12 core 14 thread and only slightly slower clocks.  If games move more towards multithreading then it seems like AMD is the way to go. 

Yep, unless you want to play at 200+ fps at 1080p in competitive titles, then upgrading to the intel doesn't make any sense. 3900X really seems to make the most sense here

[Hairless Monkey]

2 hours ago, Beechy said:

how was the Asus BIOS

The Asus bios is best in class. Many people buy Asus just for the bios. Some esoteric settings are a bit buried, but they tend to be where you expect them to be.

 

3 hours ago, Beechy said:

Also any advice on good water cooling tutorials etc? Anything you found particularly useful?

I've absorbed a lot of info over the years watching Youtubers like Jayztwocents, Bitwit, etc. EK has a nice guide blog thing that I found pretty helpful.

 

https://www.ekwb.com/guides/

 

3 hours ago, Beechy said:

Thanks and nice build! Looks awesome!

Thanks!