High-Productivity, Video Editing, Adobe-Centric Photo/Video/Audio, Occasional Gaming

[TripH]

Budget (including currency): $5K - $10K, whatever it takes -- you tell me...

 

Country: USA

 

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: General Purpose Productivity, Some Video Editing, Compositing, etc. Solid Works (engineering design), AutoCad Fusion 360, Some C++ programming, some ripping, some transcoding. Basically, a general-purpose productivity-centric system 95% of the time with occasional heavy use.

 

Other details

 

New User. First Post. Thanks in advance!

 

Help with a [mostly] new build . Budget is not an issue. Timing is not an issue (I can wait on Rocket Lake, 3090 availability, etc). Won’t start the build until I sober-up after hitting ‘Enter’ on April 15^th... Can't risk a flaky computer until after tax season...

 

Done a few builds over the years, but the last was in 2014 – so a bit out of practice... In truth, haven’t kept-up at all, so I’ve no idea what’s up in today’s hardware landscape... I’m a user, not a computer hobbyist/builder.

 

I’m going to keep my case, PSU and water-cooling loop ---- but donate the rest to the local high-school for their archeology department: Intel x86, 24Gb RAM, Quadro GTX, two 32” 2K displays. Right now, I’m entirely SATA SSD: Samsung 960 Pro 1Tb System SSD, 960 Pro 2Tb for working data, 960 Pro 4Tb for backups. I’ll sell these and go M.2 NVMe.

 

Usage: As I type this, I’ve got 4k video playing on one monitor (streaming), 10 active brave sessions, one Excel workbook, and one MS word document on the other monitor.... Some small junk running in the background. Existing build has been solid, but as the footprint of standard apps has grown, the system is no longer snappy. At the moment, the CPU is 15% busy with nothing happening... Just some 4K video and a bunch of open windows (but Brave has 30 tasks active). Two years ago, this was 4%... When built, it was 1%... If I fire-up Photoshop or PP, the system really starts to lag... CPU can easily get to 45% and stay there without much going on...

 

Case: Corsair 650d modified to accept two 240 radiators (bottom and top). So, the front 200mm inlet fan, 2x120mm bottom pull-to-in through rad and 2x120 top pull-to-out through rad. Single 120 push-to-out rear fan. Case modded with sound-dampening foam on most interior surfaces (makes a big difference when editing audio tracks). Custom Koolance-centric water loop for CPU and GPU. All stable with occasional overclocking needed when transcoding, etc. I plan to keep all this – yea, it’s dated, but it works... Unless I shouldn't -- you tell me...

 

PSU: Silverstone 850 Gold (platinum edition?). Worth Keeping?

 

Monitors: 2x27” or 2x32” 4K monitors with decent gamut and blacks for photo editing (Lightroom and Photoshop), Video editing (Premiere Pro), Compositing (After Effects), etc... My existing 2K monitors are old, Dual-DVI-D, and are developing an annoying persistence (ghosting). While I don’t game much, when I do, I’d want as immersive an experience as reasonable – so, I don’t know if that translates to 120 or 240Hz with quick refresh, low latency and low persistence. Hay, my last monitors were $4K each, so willing to spend on decent monitors...

 

Assume I need a processor with enough cores for productivity, but fast enough for snappy loads (my current complaint). I’m not sure if that drives me to a Ryzen 9 or Rocket Lake. I certainly don’t need Threadripper... But I want fast loads – again, my current complaint is that win10/app footprint is ever-increasing. I probably need a fast clock, quick memory, and M.2 PCI MVMe to take to get me where I want to go. So, a lot of slower cores probably isn’t what I need – I don’t transcode all that often... But the system still needs to be snappy with Bridge, Photoshop, Lightroom and Premiere Pro all doing their thing on 4K/6K RAW source, 10 brave sessions, and a 4k video streaming on the side...

 

I plan to move everything to M.2 MVMe: Probably Samsung 980 Pro 2Tb system with a second mirror 2Tb MVMe for the system backup and a third 2Tb MVMe for a scratch/working drive. I’ll keep the existing 4Tb SATA Samsung as a data backup and sell the remaining SSDs.

 

GPU: Don’t know that I need. I can wait for a 3090 or whatever is appropriate. I’ve got a Quadro GTX HYDRO that I can use until something becomes available. Obviously, I’d rather get it all on day-1, but not sure how realistic that is, April

16th?

 

CPU/MB: I’ve got ASUS RoG, so that’s what I’m used to... I've also done GigaByte... So, something in a z590 and wait for Rocket Lake? Don’t have any experience with AMD. I’m a beta-tester for Adobe, Sketchup, AutoCAD, and formally for Microsoft, so I’ve been Intel-centric. Open to AMD, but know nothing about it... Don't care about bang/buck. Compatibility with latest Adobe Apps and stability is the key. Traditionally, that was Intel... First and last... It was Intel... Today? You tell me...

 

Memory: Probably want 32Gb (2x16) or 64Gb (2x32). Since I only build once every four or five years, 64Gb may future proof me a bit...

 

I’m not interested in benchmarks or chasing the overclocking dragon. I can spend whatever it takes to get something decent. I’m assuming this is somewhere in the $5K - $10K range and that’s OK. Again, I’m a user and not a builder, so only do this once every four or five years... I want to over-build a bit now, so that my setup is still snappy in a few years... But I don’t want to needlessly over-build for the sake of over-building or bragging rights...

 

Thanks in advance...

 

[JohnDeereBro]

Ryzen 9 5900x has 12 cores and 9 5950x has 16. If you wanna go top of the line, then go with the 5950x. Other than that, 5900x is perfect

[JohnDeereBro]

Yes, go 3090 as well. If you want absolute performance for that go kingpin from evga.

[brob]

Case design has evolved significantly. Don't bother keeping the case. Take a look at Fractal Design and Phanteks. They have some good cases with room for custom loops and sound dampening panels.

 

Since Rocket Lake will be out before you plan to buy and perhaps even an AMD response, there is no point in developing a build right now. I'd suggest posting again sometime after April 1.

 

You can probably keep the psu. Although I'd be tempted to replace it just because it's a few years old .

 

Is the plan to get 3 x 2TB Samsung 980 Pro?

 

Do you care about bling?

 

At the moment AMD 5xxx would be the more suitable cpu choice for the outlined workload. Given the rumours it will probably remain so if you want more than 8 cores unless you opt for Cascade Lake-X. 

 

[TripH]

==>Don't bother keeping the case. Take a look at Fractal Design and Phanteks

I had not realized there was much to evolve in case design. I'll take a look at the two you recommend. Thanks.

 

==>Although I'd be tempted to replace it just because it's a few years old

If PSU age is a thing and I should replace it, then no problem. What would be a good recommendation?

 

==>Since Rocket Lake will be out before you plan to buy and perhaps even an AMD response, there is no point in developing a build right now. I'd suggest posting again sometime after April 1.

 

Of course, now that I'm into a new case and PSU, I might as well get another loop and then I could start the build right away and not worry about disrupting my existing setup before the tax man cometh...

 

My existing loop/components are Koolance. I've been happy with it. I could easily source another loop from them and just build a new setup. Any reason to switch brands? I forget who my radiators/fans are from, but could easily just get new ones for a new case. What brand rads/fans are people going with these day?. I seem to remember springing for very quite fans and high-quality rads, so certainly willing to do that again... Recommendations? 

 

I suppose starting from scratch while my existing system is up and running has an upside -- if it goes pare-shaped, then I've still got a working system.  I'll just donate the entire old rig when the new build is stable.

 

==> Is the plan to get 3 x 2TB Samsung 980 Pro?

I was thinking along the lines of multiple M.2 drives -- basically for the improved access/data transfer advantage provided by PCIe. Right now, I've got one SSD for a system volume, a second identical SSD as a ghost backup of the system volume in case 'something happens' to the system volume --- I just switch BIOS boot order to the ghost volume. I've only had to do this a couple of times, but it was worth it. I keep my working data files on a third SSD and use the fourth 4Tb SSD as the target for nightly backups. All the backups and ghost volumes are managed by nightly Paragon jobs.

 

So, I was thinking of transitioning the existing SATA SSD setup in the new system as M.2 PCIe. Unless I can't get a MOBO with 3 M.2 MVMe slots, then I'd use as many MVMe as the MOBO allows and use SSD for the rest.

 

The only reason I was thinking about Samsung MVMe is that I've used Samsung PRO-series SSDs for years and never had a problem. So I figure, why change what works? Unless their drives are NFG?

 

==>Do you care about bling?

No, lights, camera, action.. No RGB, no bling... very boring. Don't need/want glass case sides. Don't need to see the water cooling. Just needs to work...

 

==>At the moment AMD 5xxx would be the more suitable cpu choice for the outlined workload.

Pretend I'm from Mars (or maybe 1973 London), which AMD 5xxx would I be interested in? I know nothing about AMD... I'm assuming it's between the 5900 at 12 cores and 5800 at 8 cores? I believe the new Intel is going to be a fast 8 cores coupled with faster memory access, but that's from a TomsHardware article -- YMMV. So, the new Intel is pitting it's 8 cores against 5900's 12 cores. I'm not sure what the extra 4 cores will do for me under normal 'productivity-centric' workload. Yea, if I fire-up AE and start a render or three, then the more cores the better... I'm tempted to go for the 5900 just to do something different... Assuming I go that route, what MOBOs do folks recommend? I don't need WiFi or anything like that, but I'd like something decent. Again, I'm not into overclocking or benchmarks so I don't need something crazy with RGB on top.

 

Thanks again.

 

h

 

 

[TripH]

==>Ryzen 9 5900x has 12 cores and 9 5950x has 16. If you wanna go top of the line, then go with the 5950x. Other than that, 5900x is perfect

==>go 3090 as well. If you want absolute performance for that go kingpin from evga.

 

So, I've got another vote for 5900 series. I'll have to do some reading on the impact of more cores for my workflow... I suspect my workflow won't change much over the planning horizon, but the footprint of the underlying applications will increase. I suspect it'll be more about speed and memory access rather than more cores... I don't want to provision more hardware than I can really use, so I'll take a closer look at the 5900 -v- 5950... thanks.

 

A lot of folks seem to recommend the 3090, availability in a month or so? What cooling blocks are folks using?

 

Thanks,

 

h

[brob]

My personal psu preferences are Corsair RMX, and Seasonic Focus GX or PX. Seasonic Prime TX, PX, and GX are excellent. See the psu tier list for more options:

 

For custom loop advice you might ask in

https://linustechtips.com/forum/36-custom-loop-and-exotic-cooling/

 

Overall your storage plan seems sound. The Samsung 980 Pro supports PCIe 4.0. AMD motherboards typically support at least one PCIe 4.0 m.2 connection (direct to the cpu). The chipset generally provides support for the other m.2 drives. It's a mixed bag of PCIe 3.0 and 4.0. Rocket Lake on Z590 looks to be roughly the same. 

 

Do you need Thunderbolt?

[TripH]

==>psu preferences are Corsair RMX, and Seasonic Focus GX or PX. Seasonic Prime TX, PX, and GX are excellent

Thanks, I'll look at these.

 

==>See the psu tier list for more options

I've found it. My current PSU is 2 rail. I've forgotten why I went that way. At one point, I had an SLI setup and high-end SAS controller so my MOBO was fully populated, but moved away from SLI because it wasn't as stable as a single Quadro. I also ditched the SAS controller as SSD prices fell... Any preference on single -vs- multi-rail?

 

==>For custom loop advice you might ask in

Thanks, I'll look at that...

 

==>AMD motherboards typically support at least one PCIe 4.0 m.2 connection (direct to the cpu). The chipset generally provides support for the other m.2 drives. It's a mixed bag of PCIe 3.0 and 4.0. Rocket Lake on Z590 looks to be roughly the same. 

 

That's a good point. I've got to look at the MOBOs a bit more closely to see if I'd get PCIe 3.0 or 4.0 on my M.2 storage slots. Obviously I'd want as much storage access via CPU as opposed to via the chipset. I'm going single GPU and no other cards on the MOBO, so less concerned about the shared PCI lanes on the board and can focus more on the M.2 slots. Don't know if any boards are built that way...

 

I'd wait for Rocket Lake to get PCI 4.0 on Intel, or go 5900x to get PCI 4.0 right away.

 

==>Do you need Thunderbolt?

Nope...

 

Thanks,

 

h

[TripH]

Couple of follow-up questions:

 

==>psu preferences are Corsair RMX, and Seasonic Focus GX or PX. Seasonic Prime TX, PX, and GX are excellent

Assuming 5900x, 64 Gb, 3090, 3x M.2 SSD, 2x SATA SSD, some fans (maybe 6?), and a cooling loop -- what wattage?

 

==>For custom loop advice you might ask in

I see that many folks like to run the CPU with an AIO and leave the multi-fan 3090s stock

 

Before I embark on another custom loop. If I'm not overclocking, should I just look at AIO and a multi-fan 3090 and be done with it? It's more about noise than benchmarks... And with a new-gen CPU/GPU, I'll feel little need to overclock for my workload...

 

Thanks again,

 

h

[brob]

For a 5900X with RTX 3090 an 850W psu has a fair bit of headroom. 

 

I've never cared that much about the single vs multi-rail debate. Bequiet has some very well regarded multi-rail models.

 

If you decide not to go with a custom loop you might consider using an air tower on the cpu rather than an aio. Something like an NH-D15, Dark Rock Pro 4, or NH-U12A will do a very good job relatively quietly. 

 

There are RTX 3090 with aio. Very hard to get. I haven't seen any data on noise levels. I expect a good air cooled unit like the EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra or MSI RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio will be inaudible most of the time.

[TripH]

==> For a 5900X with RTX 3090 an 850W psu has a fair bit of headroom. 

Thanks. When I had a fully populated MOBO (SLI and SAS setup), the guy I was working with suggested a 1000W multi-rail unit -- forgot exactly why. When I down-scaled, I went with the 850W because I was getting intermittent BSOD and a new PSU cured it...

 

I see some PSUs in the 700/800W range are available fanless (is this a word?). Aside from being silent, any other advantage?

 

==> air tower on the cpu rather

I've seen those and they look intriguing. I suppose an air tower goes hand-in-hand with the newer gen cases designs with increased emphasis on through air flow that you mentioned above... I've got an environmental space allocation issue that limits me to a Mid-Tower footprint for at least the mid-term. Something like my 600d case is about as large as I can go -- maybe a little taller, but not much more than an inch or three... I'll certainly look into an air-only solution, but worried about airflow and internal space allocation for a large GPU and an air tower CPU in a mid-tower footprint.

 

==> There are RTX 3090 with aio. Very hard to get. I haven't seen any data on noise levels.

Didn't realize such a thing existed... Of course, once one goes AIO on the CPU and GPU, then a custom loop starts to look like the better solution...

 

==> I expect a good air cooled unit like the EVGA RTX 3090 FTW3 Ultra or MSI RTX 3090 Gaming X Trio will be inaudible most of the time.

I watched a builder's video where he had to really pound on the EVEGA to get the fans going at all, so I'll consider it... Is there and difference between the EVEGA, MSI, ASUS, et al offerings? Don't care about RGB and the like, so are all these cards the same and I should just get the first one that's 'in stock'? I did see some video that if you get an MSI MOBO and their 3090 you could use a single dashboard integrated approach to overclocking, but I don't remember who's channel and could have been too late at night to understand what was being said... Note: I tend to do my YouTube research late at night (after the wife goes to bed) -- and hide the resulting Amazon boxes when they arrive...

 

Which brings me to another point... Where does everyone get their kit? Part of me just wants to shop price/availability (Amazon, NewEgg, etc) and part of me want's to go 1-stop shopping for a single point of contact if something doesn't work... When I did my last build, I went to a single-source reseller/integrator, but looked at his website and it's no-longer up... Are their component resellers/integrators out there? Is this still a thing? I see some custom-build shops, but there seems to be a lot of bling, hard piping, etc. and I'd be just as happy with a black sealed steel case and a gerbil inside if I could get the performance that I want. This thing is going on a bracket under a desk -- all one sees is the front panel...

 

Further consideration, I see quite a few video editing builds with 3 monitors -- two 4K for productivity and a wide panel above for streaming/gaming (ex. C9). The advantage appears to be (from what I've read -- YMMV) that one can source color-correctable high-contrast 4K Adobe-RGB Gamut panels (photo editing), but only in 60Hz (poor immersive gaming). So they add something like a C9 for the opposite reason. While I don't necessarily need/want something like this, it looks intriguing -- maybe a future upgrade. Would a 5900x/3090 drive such a setup? I mean, I wouldn't be gaming and photo editing at the same time -- I'm good at multi-tasking, but not that good... So, I suspect that CPU isn't much of an issue. But I may stream 4K video on the C9 to free-up one of the 4K monitors to increase productivity. That's a more likely scenario...

 

Thanks,

 

h

 

 

 

 

 

 

[brob]

All of the psu models I've suggested, (as do most current higher end models), ramp fan rpm based on temperature and/off draw. Usually the fans don't spin until they get over ~30% draw. Seasonic Prime models boast even quieter operation.

 

There is actually a fair bit of open space in a modern mid-size case like the Define 7 or Meshify 2. Drives are either under the psu shroud or on the right side of the case. While it's possible to obstruct the motherboard cavity, one actually has to work at it.

 

The real difference as far as you are likely concerned is cooling and related noise output. From a performance perspective clock speeds pretty much dictate performance and most models are within 5% of the average. Big differences in cooling however. The two models I mentioned previously are around 33 dB @ 1m. Noise levels on other models can go as high as 48 dB. Although most will stay under 43 dB. Most RTX 3090 will not spin fans until active cooling is necessary.

 

Puget Systems is a custom workstation builder. They can likely build you a custom system. The company has extensive knowledge of design and editing software requirements and routinely publish software performance comparisons on various cpu and gpu.

 

[TripH]

First of all, want to thank you for all the help... I’m learning quite a bit from my dumb-ass questions...

 

Looks like our posts are crossing... 

 

Looked at the cases mentioned above, but I’ve yet to dive deep into either brand... Two mid-sized tower cases immediately caught my eye from Fractal: Meshify 2 and Define 7 and one from Phanteks: Enthoo Evolv ATX.  But again, I haven’t looked deeply into either company’s product lines... However, a couple of questions quickly arise that may help refine my research...

 

==> fair bit of open space in a modern mid-size case like the Define 7 or Meshify 2

Funny you mentioned both that caught my eye...

 

First, I can see why AIO is so popular. From their demo videos, you can basically plug-play the top with AIO, get a bank of 3x120 in the front and get nice airflow across the GPU and out the top rad. Very sexy...

Again, If I go AIO and a 3-fan 3090, I should be OK... Assuming the 3090 fits. And that's my next question...

Obviously, the 3090 is a big card. From a ‘specs’ point of view, the card will fit the cases... But from previous builds, I’ve learned that there is big difference between ‘the card will fit’ and ‘fit will fit with straight-forward cable routing’. I suspect I won't need drive cages, so perhaps not a big issue... But, I did notice all the demo videos were sans GPU... From their demo reels, it looks like both the Fractal cases are geared for AIO. I could be wrong in my viewing, but it looked like if you want the front fan bank you’re limited to AIO. The only reason I think that is that neither video showed examples of front fan bank and a large GPU... It's pretty obvious that a custom loop would be really tight with the front fan bank and large GPU, so I'm back to AIO.

 

Just wish their demo video showed AIO along, the front fan bank and a large GPU -- would give me more confidence that the tin snips won't be needed.

 

One other point. None of the videos show CPU air tower configs. Is this just a space issue with mid-tower 240mm case width?

 

Suppose I’m also asking about build quality... I found the 650d to be pretty spotty on build quality. Some of it is decent-gauge sheet well-formed sheet metal, some is cheap plastic and feels like it would snap if looked-at sideways... Don’t know if much has changed. If a high-quality case is an extra $100 - $200, then I’m OK with that... Considering how much I’ll be into this already, I’m not going to quibble...

 

==> Drives are either under the psu shroud or on the right side of the case. While it's possible to obstruct the motherboard cavity, one actually has to work at it.

Yes, that impressed me right away. Assuming I can get at least 2 M.2 MOBO slots, I can hide my 4Tb SATA out of the way.

 

==> The real difference as far as you are likely concerned is cooling and related noise output. From a performance perspective clock speeds pretty much dictate performance and most models are within 5% of the average. Big differences in cooling however. The two models I mentioned previously are around 33 dB @ 1m. Noise levels on other models can go as high as 48 dB. Although most will stay under 43 dB. Most RTX 3090 will not spin fans until active cooling is necessary.

 

This is good info, thanks. the 33db @ 1m is from the integrated foam dampening?

 

==>Puget Systems is a custom workstation builder. They can likely build you a custom system. The company has extensive knowledge of design and editing software requirements and routinely publish software performance comparisons on various cpu and gpu.

 

Thanks, I'll look them up... Don't really need someone to build it for me, but I'm willing to spend a bit more to source everything from a single point of contact... I had a bad experience with NewEgg and it took quite a bit of effort involved to return a very expensive component -- a $7K SAS array controller...

 

Well, I’m certainly a long way from reusing my case, PSU, and cooling loop... Yea, it’s going to cost me, but I’ll at least be able to build alongside a working setup... Thanks for nudging me in that direction...

 

Let me pull a couple of items together on PartsPicker... 

 

h

 

 

[brob]

There are cutout in the psu shrouds to accommodate aio. They are not easily visible as there are cover plates when not in use. See the picture in https://www.kitguru.net/components/cases/leo-waldock/fractal-design-define-7-xl-review/.

 

Without storage in the motherboard compartment there is enough room for a 330mm gpu (MSI Trio) and 55mm aio (including fans).

 

Sound levels are from https://www.techpowerup.com/review/evga-geforce-rtx-3090-ftw3-ultra/31.html. See the Noise Testing Details button.

 

Air towers are not sexy so the marketing people like to show rgb aio. There is a picture of a Define 7 build with a CPU tower cooler in https://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/3558-fractal-define-7-case-review.

 

Fractal Design Define and Meshify are good quality cases. As is the Phanteks Evolv. 

[TripH]

Thanks for the video links... Interesting viewing. I’m sure I’ll chew-up loads of time on their channels...

 

From the content, it looks like AIO is the way to go for the Define-7 case. The reviewer was concerned about CPU airflow using an air tower.

 

I haven’t looked at the Meshify-2 yet... That’ll be next...

 

In any case, I’ve created a PartPicker list:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Tgy4vf

 

The choice of GPU, MOBO and Memory are totally random.

 

The AIO was based on a compatibility warning for ASUS MOBO and non-ASUS AIO. Don't know if this is real or not. Don't much care about the brand of AIO if it works well...

 

I’m not sure about the memory at all other than I’ve seen 3600 CL16 suggested with the x570/5900x because some have reported issues getting 3200MHz with 3200 bin sticks. Don’t know...

 

I picked the GPU at random. I assume I’ll just get whatever 3090 is available in-stock at the time. I’ve read that inventory is expected to be better in April, but don’t know if that is real or wishful thinking.

 

What’s the deal with 5900x inventory? It seems back-ordered everywhere. I get the GPU situation w/ mining, but CPUs? The 5950x seems available, but at a very high premium... If I have to get the 5950x, then so be it. But I hate to pay a premium due to MFG stocking issues. Sort of rubs me the wrong way...

 

Getting more than two 2280 M.2 slots seems to be an issue. I tried several MOBOS, and PP raised compatibility with all until I removed the third M.2 stick. I’ll have to look more deeply into MOBOS. I just picked the ASUS because I’ve got experience with them. I’m open to any choice...

 

I upped the PSU to 1000W because I received a power warning from PP, added the bigger PSU, then discovered that I added two GPUs. I removed the second GPU and kept the bigger PSU – just because... PP says I’m at 627W at the moment. I may back-off to the 850 once the MOBO is selected and the other M.2 is added...

 

Any thoughts on the config so far? I saw one review that criticized the stock fans used in the Define-7... I could replace them, if needed...

 

Thanks,

 

h

[brob]

While you were working on a list I took a stab at it. When I came to post I saw your post .

 

Unless you are pushing heavy oc on the cpu and gpu the system is not likely to draw more than 700W.

 

I've kept the air tower cooler. It isn't that big and will do a nice job in the Meshify 2 case. If you are going with an aio the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 is a decent unit.

 

The X570 Unify motherboard supports three PCIe 4.0 m.2 drives. One off the cpu and two from the chipset. I'm generally a big Asus fan but MSI has improved it's offerings in the last few years. Power distribution on its higher end motherboards is excellent.

 

CPU, gpu, and psu are all experiencing shortages and consequently significant price bloat. The cpu shortage is mostly down to the incredible demand. Mindfactory.de claims that AMD 5xxx cpu are outselling Intel!

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 3.7 GHz 12-Core Processor 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12A 60.09 CFM CPU Cooler  ($99.90 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI MEG X570 UNIFY ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($392.37 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($347.95 @ B&H) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($399.99 @ B&H) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($399.99 @ B&H) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($399.99 @ B&H) 
Storage: Samsung 860 Pro 4 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 24 GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING Video Card 
Case: Fractal Design Meshify 2 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($129.99 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic PRIME PX 850 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($352.94 @ Amazon) 
Total: $2523.12
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-03-02 19:09 EST-0500

[TripH]

==> While you were working on a list I took a stab at it. When I came to post I saw your post :)

Great minds and all that...

 

==> Unless you are pushing heavy oc on the cpu and gpu the system is not likely to draw more than 700W

Got it. Changed to PSU.

 

==> The X570 Unify motherboard supports three PCIe 4.0 m.2 drives.

Thanks. I'm not sure how long it would have taken me to get to MSI... Absolutely no history there...

 

==> I'm generally a big Asus fan but MSI has improved it's offerings in the last few years

Historically I've been ASUS and GigaByte, but I'm willing to try MSI...

 

==>CPU, gpu, and psu are all experiencing shortages and consequently significant price bloat

Hopefully things get a bit better. Now that I'm circling around a build, I'd kinda like to get started. I'd have to wait around a month or more for availability. It's also a procurement issue -- if I start buying parts now, how do I test them if I can't get critical components for a month or two. Could get dicey trying to return MOBO 60 days from now when the GPU arrives and I learn that a PCI slot is dead...

 

What are folks doing at the moment? Paying the exorbitant prices or just cooling their heals waiting on availability?

 

I've updated my PP config:

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/TripH/saved/GprqRB

 

BTW: what's the trick to cut/paste the config in plain text. I tried via Brave and it wrapped the text, even on a small font...

 

I believe your suggestions correctly made their way into my saved PP config.

 

I also added some monitors to verify this config can drive them... I'm thinking:

4K streaming on the C9

Photoshop on one monitor, or maybe PP

Bridge, Word, Excel and a bunch of Brave sessions on the other.

 

I added some place-holder pricing for the CPU and GPU, but have no idea if they are realistic.

 

Do I need to add a couple of 120s or 140s to the top of the case to drive the CPU tower? If so, what would you recommend?

 

==>  Mindfactory.de claims that AMD 5xxx cpu are outselling Intel!

Interesting. Intel has a lot more MFG capacity and with prices as they are, the AMD bang/buck value proposition is kida shot... Wonder if Intel is dedicating line time to the new chipset so AMD is more available in quantity? Or maybe AMD just underestimated demand? With COVID, a lot of folks are establishing home offices, so there is a lot of demand out there... Almost everyone I know has/is purchasing new setups -- but pre-built Dell, HP, etc. Who knows. Certainly Intel/AMD aren't going to talk...

 

Anyway, believe I'm circling around a pretty nice rig -- unless someone out there is going to poke at it a bit... Since I can't source two prime components, I can certainly entertain a change or three...

 

Thanks again,

 

h

[brob]

Waiting is always tough. But you are right to wait until it can all be acquired around the same time.

 

You list is marked private.

 

On the toolbar above the build list use BB. Copy & paste the contents of the popup.

 

The Meshify 2 case comes with 3 fans. Should be enough to establish good airflow. If it isn't, fans are easily added later.

 

Intel had some fab issues a few months back which may account for some of its demand issues. Supply logistics are difficult these days and a lot of resources are being diverted to handle pandemic related problems. And I suspect you are right about the increase in demand.

 

Look forward to seeing your list.

[TripH]

==> You list is marked private.

Sorry about that... Should be fixed with commenting enabled...

 

==>On the toolbar above the build list use BB. Copy & paste the contents of the popup.

Got it... Thanks...

 

 

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

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 3.7 GHz 12-Core Processor  ($750.00) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12A 60.09 CFM CPU Cooler  ($99.90 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI MEG X570 UNIFY ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($392.37 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($347.95 @ B&H) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($399.99 @ B&H) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($399.99 @ B&H) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($399.99 @ B&H) 
Storage: Samsung 860 Pro 4 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For $0.00) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 24 GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING Video Card  ($1800.00) 
Case: Fractal Design Meshify 2 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($129.99 @ B&H) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic PRIME PX 850 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($352.94 @ Amazon) 
Monitor: BenQ SW271 27.0" 3840x2160 60 Hz Monitor  ($1099.00 @ Adorama) 
Monitor: BenQ SW271 27.0" 3840x2160 60 Hz Monitor  ($1099.00 @ Adorama) 
Monitor: Samsung Odyssey G9 49.0" 5120x1440 240 Hz Monitor  ($1399.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $8671.11
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-03-02 22:06 EST-0500

 

The CPU & GPU prices are placeholders... The monitors are added to verify I can drive them with the CPU/GPU configured...

 

==>fans are easily added later.

Good point. It's just that I'm used to cases from yesteryear... Adding fans with a case that doesn't have removable panels after the cooling loop is installed -- that's what I'm used to...

 

==>And I suspect you are right about the increase in demand.

Yea,  know quite a few folks that have purchased a new system in the last few months... We've already purchased a couple of laptops for the home office over the summer. A lot of local contractors are busy on our street building/renovating spare bedrooms as home offices. A lot of cabinet makers, trim carpenters, etc are really busy... Part of it may also be retail therapy... The FIOS guys have been really busy. Talked to a technician working down the road and he said that now every home on the street is either 400M or Gig... That's a lot of fiber... It seems everyone is provisioning bandwidth and kit... Wife's office has 7K employees (excuse me, team members) and they won't be reopening the office until Q1'22... Think folks are looking for the long haul...

 

Anyway, tell me what you think of the latest PP config... Tell me where I'm stuffed...

 

h

[brob]

I can't really comment on the displays other than to note they represent a huge work space.

 

The build looks pretty good. Perhaps others can chime in.

[TripH]

==>I can't really comment on the displays

I'm hoping to get some feedback from someone on the displays to verify that this config would drive them (or something similar)... 

 

==>they represent a huge work space

I've got a large workspace, so it shouldn't be a problem. I've seen setups where the productivity monitors are mounted side-by-side and a large display is mounted above for gaming/streaming/etc. I'm not heavily into gaming -- I fire-up the occasional FPS when I want to strangle someone at work, but I'm not a 'gamer'. But I may just do it as a target for 4K streaming -- which I do a lot and it occupies one of my existing 2K monitors that would be better served with a PP timeline or the like. My only real concern is that the CPU/GPU combo won't drive such a setup and I'll need to get something else...

 

==>Perhaps others can chime in.

I'm hoping to get feedback from others. You've been extremely generous with your time, but hate to build-away without sufficient feedback when I have so little recent domain knowledge/experience. If I'd been building every year or two, that would be one thing -- but it's been about six years -- so I basically I only know enough to be dangerous....

 

If I don't get feedback in this thread, I may wait a week and post the current config in a new thread and solicit feedback.

 

I suppose one area of knowledge gap is specific brand/config of 3090. Do I really care? They all look like tweaks on a basic spec sheet. I could see a competitive gamer wanting the best advantage, but is anyone but a benchmark program going to notice 100MHz of extra overclock? I get the 3-fan advantage over the factory GPU, so I'm looking at EVEGA, MSI, ASUS, etc over the stock Nvidia. But is there really a difference between them? Why wouldn't I source the first 'in stock' available -- assuming they aren't price gouging. I've read that some of the GPU/MOBO configs overclock well together, but don't know if that is real or not. If I source the MSI MOBO, should I be leaning towards an MSI GPU? Again, I've got no knowledge here -- just a dumb question... I just added the EVEGA 3090 to my config because it was the fist one I stumbled on in PP.

 

I guess the other area is overclocking 5900x/3090 setups. I'm not planning to overclock much, if at all... But occasionally I've needed a big render to run overnight and crank-it-up to make sure I've got something to look at in the morning. Now, this new config should be fine for 8K/120 -- but -- I shoot underwater video and 16K/120 is becoming more of a requirement. So, I'd want to be able to OC this config at some point within the planning horizon, but only once in a while. I've got zero experience with AMD -- and even less than zero on OC AMD. Maybe the OC mavens will point me in the right direction.

 

Anyway thanks again for all the help,

 

h

 

 

[NinJake]

6 minutes ago, TripH said:

I suppose one area of knowledge gap is specific brand/config of 3090.

 

6 minutes ago, TripH said:

I just added the EVEGA 3090 to my config because it was the fist one I stumbled on in PP

Good choice. I did the same thing back 6 years ago as well and have been pleasantly surprised with how excellent their customer service is/was.  My GPU just gave up on me one day and they sent me a newer generation card of equal to or better quality. (980ti died, sent me 1070ti.) As for min-maxing the extra 50mHZ of clock speed... that's up to you if you want a "top of the line" binned card. You could potentially get a much cheaper GPU and OC yourself but at least the advertised specs are guaranteed.

 

I also vote for 5950x as the cpu if you can pick one up.

[TripH]

==>As for min-maxing the extra 50mHZ of clock speed... that's up to you if you want a "top of the line" binned card

I suppose my issue is lack of practical experience. I really don't want 'top of the line' unless it'll shave time from long 16K/120 renders. I'm not sure what the extra Mhz is going to do for me --- I've got no 'feel' for what an extra 50Mhz is -- like a scaler number without origin/reference. If someone with NLE experience could say, yea the 50Mhz would shave 10mins on a 1hr 16K/120 render, then I'd understand that language. Sorry to be a pain -- it's just my lack of experience. Of course 24K/120 and 32K/120 video is coming, but not within my planning horizon. The next-gen video is why I was thinking about OC. I could see dropping some serious coin on this build and suddenly 24K/120 hits and I'm SOL without OC.

 

==> also vote for 5950x as the cpu if you can pick one up.

I wasn't sure what the extra 4 cores would do for me, so I stuck with the 5900x. I'm not running large transcoding jobs. If it'll improve my workflow, then fine -- it'll be $500 well spent... I don't run benchmarks, so unless my workflow is improved, I won't necessarily notice the difference at all... I'm all for investing in improved productivity, but  I don't want to provision hardware without noticeable benefit... I guess stocking is the big issue at the moment. If the 5950x is all that I can get, then I'll get that... It is what it is...

 

Anyway, thanks for taking a look at the config,

 

h

[brob]

I came across https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.nvidia.com/content/dam/en-zz/Solutions/geforce/ampere/pdf/NVIDIA-ampere-GA102-GPU-Architecture-Whitepaper-V1.pdf&sa=U&ved=2ahUKEwiY_d2MzJTvAhVGeKwKHSUPAv0QFnoECAQQAg&usg=AOvVaw1udyQEYG6pOJMjpneETSuX. Page 33 may prove useful vis a vis high definition displays. 

 

You will have to verify the gpu outputs and monitor inputs, but I think the configuration should work. Although I doubt the G9 will get to 240 Hz.

 

As far as choosing a particular gpu model ultimately any RTX 3090 is going to work for you with little perceptible difference in performance. However there are significant differences in cooling and noise levels.

[TripH]

==> Page 33 may prove useful vis a vis high definition displays.

Yes it was, thanks...

 

Looks like 4K/120 and 8K/60 isn’t an issue, but think you’re probably right about the 4K/240 -- looks like it uses pixel compression. I bet cabling can get pretty harry when you start pushing it... I’m not sure how this works for really high-end setups --- I’ve got a dive buddy with access to beta HW, so I’ll have to ask. Thunderbolt? Don’t know... I think 8K is pretty sexy, but there are some professional setups with really impressive capabilities (and cost). I think she’s been rocking 16K capture/multi-8K display in production for a while, and who knows what in beta. But the cost of this stuff is out of site...

 

==> You will have to verify the gpu outputs and monitor inputs, but I think the configuration should work. Although I doubt the G9 will get to 240 Hz.

Yea, I’ll do the cabling check... As you say, it should be fine.

 

==> significant differences in cooling and noise levels

That’s good to know. I’ll research the noise/cooling info. I want something low-noise. But at the end of the day, stocking issues may force me to take what I can get...

 

I suppose I'll just have join the frustrated masses waiting on stocking levels... I can see where the all the frustration on the forums is coming from... One you get the hankering to build and pull-together a config --- you just want to get on with it...

 

Thanks again,

 

h