Planning a new 3000 build for the living room.

[Gdourado]

Budget (including currency): 1200 to 1500 euros

Country: Portugal

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for:  mostly gaming. AAA games mainly.

Other details The objective is to do a build for the living room, to have next to the TV and use as a console replacement. I am thinking ITX, but mATX could also work if I could find a case small and aesthetically pleasing.

 

Hello,

So with the NVidia 3000 series announced, it is time for me to go back to PC.

I want to build a new living room PC.

 

The GPU will either be the 3070 or the 3080.

I will make my decision once the reviews start to go online.

 

But it is time to plan the rest of the build.

I am thinking about an AMD Zen 8 core platform.

But these are my main questions at the moment.

 

CPU.

is the 3700 the best choice or is the added cost of the 3800XT worth it?

I am thinking about getting the 3700 and then upgrade to a 4000 zen cpu down the line.

 

Memory.

for the 3700 or 3800 is 3200 CL16 good enough?

or would the system benefit greatly from faster ram like 3600 or lower latency ram like cl14?
 

Board.

Should I go b550? Or can I save some money and get a cheaper b450 like the gigabyte Aorus B450 itx?

 

if I go b550, is something like the Asrock b550m itx enough?

or is it worth it to spend more on the b550 phantom gaming itx?

 

I guess this is it at the moment.

 

I would love to have your input to plan the build and have it ready to pull the trigger when the 3000 cards go on sale.

 

cheers!

 

 

 

[marmour]

5 minutes ago, Gdourado said:

is the 3700 the best choice or is the added cost of the 3800XT worth it?

I am thinking about getting the 3700 and then upgrade to a 4000 zen cpu down the line.

Dont bother with the 3800XT. I would say for your needs a 3600 would probably be best suited, as 6 cores and 12 threads is plenty for gaming.

 

 Then upgrade to 4000 series if you want.

7 minutes ago, Gdourado said:

Should I go b550? Or can I save some money and get a cheaper b450 like the gigabyte Aorus B450 itx?

 

if I go b550, is something like the Asrock b550m itx enough?

or is it worth it to spend more on the b550 phantom gaming itx?

 

Try and go B550. I havent seen any review of the ITX boards yet, but hardware unboxed said they are working on a roundup.

 

Just remember that these new cards are likely going to be rather large, so a ITX system may be a challenge. Just make sure to check the dimensions, and whether the case offers adequate cooling for such a high power card

 

[Gdourado]

28 minutes ago, marmour said:

Dont bother with the 3800XT. I would say for your needs a 3600 would probably be best suited, as 6 cores and 12 threads is plenty for gaming.

 

 Then upgrade to 4000 series if you want.

Try and go B550. I havent seen any review of the ITX boards yet, but hardware unboxed said they are working on a roundup.

 

Just remember that these new cards are likely going to be rather large, so a ITX system may be a challenge. Just make sure to check the dimensions, and whether the case offers adequate cooling for such a high power card

 

thank you for your reply.

I was thinking about the 3700 with 8 core and 16 threads as to mimic the cpus on the next gen consoles, the Ps5 and Xbox Sex.

I think when we go deeper into next gen, and after the cross gen period, most games will be developed wih the consoles hardware in mind as the lead platforms, so 8 cores seems the way to go.

But I agree that a 3600 would be way cheaper.

 

As for case, yes, it could prove a challenge.

my 

last pc build was an itx with a 1080ti.

i built on a RVZ02 and used a blower style gpu and it was awful in regard to noise and thermal performance.

i definitely don’t want to repeat the same mistake.

but the wife doesn’t let me have a standard computer tower on the living room, so I am currently looking at cases also. Leaning towards the InWin A1 Plus.

we’ll see...

 

Cheers

[SupaKomputa]

AMD will release the new chips in a month or two. So best if you wait, you don't wanna endup like all the recent buyers of RTX20 series.

3800XT is not worth it. It only adds 100mhz from the original chip which is obtainable with a small overclocking.

If you wanna throw money for a temporary chip, the best option is to get a 2600, the price is so damn low, once you have the 4000 chip, you can just sell it with minimum damage.