Which build makes more sense?

[YellowJersey]

Budget (including currency): $2900 CAD

Country: Canada

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Photoshop CS5, Affinity Photo, Capture 1 Pro 21, (light to medium gaming)

Other details: Upgrading from 2012 Lenovo T530, Upgrade year 2021, 1440p at 60fps (no ray tracing).

 

 So I'm thinking of doing a new build and am wondering which build makes more sense.

$2900(ish) CAD build:

Ryzen 5800X (cooled by Noctua NH-D15)

RX 6800XT
32gb RAM  at 4000mhz
Samsung 980 Pro NVMe M.2 PCI-E x4 SSD - 500GB

Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 850 80+ Gold 850W

Asus TUF Gaming X570-Pro

(I have a case, extra storage, and all the peripherals I need)

$2100(ish) CAD build

Ryzen 5600X (stock cooler)
RX 6800

32gb RAM at 3600mhz
Samsung 980 Pro NVMe M.2 PCI-E x4 SSD - 500GB

Seasonic Focus Plus Gold 850 80+ Gold 850W

Asus TUF Gaming X570-Pro

 

 As you can see, it's the processor, graphics card, and RAM that differ between the builds and that's what I'm focusing on in this post. (I'm not married to the motherboard, power supply, or SSD) My biggest application is going to be photo editing while my girlfriend would be more gaming-focused. I generally try to get 10 years out of my PCs (my current T530 is over 8 years old now) and my general philosophy is to go a step higher than what I need (hence the $2900 build) as it gives me room to grow. However, given the price difference between the two builds, would it make more sense to go with the $2100 build? Is the more expensive build worth the additional $700(ish) CAD? Or would the more expensive build make more sense given I aim for 10 years of use?

 Please advise oh gurus of computer wisdom.
 

 

[Moonzy]

if you're eye-ing on a 5800x, maybe go for the 5900x

it's generally better value, if you can leverage the threads

 

5800x is overly expensive for what it is, at least in my location

 

does your software leverage CUDA?

 

14 minutes ago, YellowJersey said:

I generally try to get 10 years out of my PCs

a bit of a hard thing to do now i reckon, given how fast cpu have improved since ryzen

[RONOTHAN##]

Ram beyond 3600MHz doesn't make much of a difference. HardwareCanucks made a pretty good video on it about a week ago, and in games it was within 2 fps of each other, while in productivity workloads only a very select few would benefit from the higher speeds. As for the CPU, if you need the 8 cores the 5800x provides, you might as well step up to a 5900x for 12 cores, especially if you want the system to last 10 years. However, at the time, the 5600x will have more than enough performance for you to use for the next few years no problem, and if I were in your situation, I would just stick with the 5600x, as by the time you will need more than 6 cores, the CPU will be long in the tooth and you would be able to pick up a 5950x for relatively cheap secondhand. As for the GPU, I would go for the 6800 XT (assuming you can even find one), as it provides enough of a performance bump to justify its extra $70. That is, of course, related to whether or not you can find one for MSRP, as either one would be a good choice and whichever is the first you can find is stock is fine.

[YellowJersey]

1 hour ago, Moonzy said:

if you're eye-ing on a 5800x, maybe go for the 5900x

it's generally better value, if you can leverage the threads

 

5800x is overly expensive for what it is, at least in my location

 

does your software leverage CUDA?

 

a bit of a hard thing to do now i reckon, given how fast cpu have improved since ryzen

I don't know if my software leverages CUDA.

1 hour ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Ram beyond 3600MHz doesn't make much of a difference. HardwareCanucks made a pretty good video on it about a week ago, and in games it was within 2 fps of each other, while in productivity workloads only a very select few would benefit from the higher speeds. As for the CPU, if you need the 8 cores the 5800x provides, you might as well step up to a 5900x for 12 cores, especially if you want the system to last 10 years. However, at the time, the 5600x will have more than enough performance for you to use for the next few years no problem, and if I were in your situation, I would just stick with the 5600x, as by the time you will need more than 6 cores, the CPU will be long in the tooth and you would be able to pick up a 5950x for relatively cheap secondhand. As for the GPU, I would go for the 6800 XT (assuming you can even find one), as it provides enough of a performance bump to justify its extra $70. That is, of course, related to whether or not you can find one for MSRP, as either one would be a good choice and whichever is the first you can find is stock is fine.

I was thinking the 5600X seems perfect for me right now, but I was considering the 5800X as an attempt to account for future needs. Same thing with the RX6800 vs RX6800XT.

 

"Assuming you can even find one." Yeah, that's the big asterix hanging over all of this.

If I go with 5600X, RX6800XT, and 3600mhz ram could be a good balance. Just priced it out on Memory Express and it brings it down to $2330(ish)

[Moonzy]

10 minutes ago, YellowJersey said:

I don't know if my software leverages CUDA.

well, you could find out and decide if you want to get nvidia GPU

unless you have other reasons against nvidia's GPU then sure