First Build Recommended Adjustments

[Osumman]

Budget (including currency): ~1500 USD (flexible)

 

Country: USA

 

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: 

I would like to be able to play AAA games on reasonable settings (no need to max out) as well as an array of indie and esports titles. However, the main reason I am building a PC is because my work laptop is just not doing it for me. Work laptop is i7-9850H @ 2.6, NVIDIA Quadro T2000 and 64gb RAM. I work with large datasets mostly in MATLAB and Python, and I tend to use >32gb on any given day, but that can be resolved by just closing programs for projects I am not actively working on. 32GB should be good. Most computation is done on a single thread, but when I have a particularly heavy load I can dish that out to multiple processors (I do this whenever it will take 5+ minutes to run). For the heaviest workloads I can run my programs on a research cluster. NVIDIA turing+ is a must so that I can do GPU compute in Python.

 

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 currently have a 4k/60hz monitor from work, so being able to use that at 60+ fps would be nice. I am thinking about getting a 1440p/144hz monitor, but that is something I am willing to postpone until a great deal comes up. Here is my PCPartPicker build so far:

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/qbNtmg

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($294.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B550M-PLUS (WI-FI) Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($179.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: Team T-FORCE VULCAN Z 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  ($99.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Lexar NM500 256 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $39.99)
Storage: Crucial P2 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($224.99 @ B&H)
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 3070 8 GB DUAL Video Card  ($499.00)
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL II-X ATX Mid Tower Case  ($89.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Corsair CXM 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply  ($94.99 @ Best Buy)
Total: $1522.94
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-26 19:44 EDT-0400

 

The graphics card is a sticking point for me. I want to buy this ASAP, and I would be willing to fork out the extra $200 for a 3080 if they were available. I wouldn't mind getting an older-gen GPU, but it needs to be NVIDIA (for CUDA compute), and I would really like to be able to run this 4k monitor.

 

I plan on daily driving Linux since I am much more comfortable there. I hadn't used Windows on a regular basis for about 8 years until recently when I started this new job. I may partition the 256gb SSD in half and use it for a dual-boot setup so I can use Windows to install games that I can't get to work on Linux.

 

I am looking for tips as to where I can reallocate dollars in the build. I am willing to spend up to a few hundred more if there are significant value/performance upgrades. GPU suggestions are welcome.

 

[AndreiArgeanu]

This is an overall good build. I don't see issues with it. You may want, if possible to get 3600mhz memory instead of 3200mhz, it's not a deal breaker if you don't, but it can help the CPU provide the best performance it can.

[Osumman]

@AndreiArgeanu Any suggestions for GPU other than just waiting for the 3080? Could I get by with an older card for 4k/60hz?

[koptr]

9 hours ago, Osumman said:

@AndreiArgeanu Any suggestions for GPU other than just waiting for the 3080? Could I get by with an older card for 4k/60hz?

What about waiting for Big Navi?

[Osumman]

1 hour ago, koptr said:

What about waiting for Big Navi?

Radeon isn't an option if I want to use the gpu for computation. The libraries just don't exist yet.