Is this motherboard / processor / RAM a good choice?

[ToKo1188]

After putting off building a new PC for the last couple years, I thought now… when there are shortages of just about all the main parts, would be the smartest time to build one! 

 

My current PC is now 9 years old, and though it runs like a champ, is not quite up to the task for the newest top tier games at 1080p. That is despite having had a mid-life upgrade to a GTX1070.

 

Budget & Location – around £1,500 & UK (excluding graphics card, monitors, or parts that I already have)

 

Aim – The PC will used 50/50 for both work (basic stuff – web based/MS Office/PaintShop Pro) and for AAA gaming like Cyberpunk/Red Dead 2/MS Flight Sim. I also spend a lot of time playing games like Cities Skylines, Anno 1800, and Transport Fever 2 and this is where my current PC struggles with large asset heavy maps. So the new PC needs to run all the above without breaking a sweat at minimum of 1440p and solid FPS for quite a few years to come.

 

Monitors – Currently running a 2-monitor setup with the main monitor being the Acer Predator XB271H Gaming Monitor and then an old Dell monitor as the secondary. Both 1080p. This would change to 2 x 1440p 27” monitors or better, though I haven’t quite found something I like.

 

Accessories – Retaining current setup with Corsair K70 mechanical keyboard, Corsair M65 mouse, and Logitech G560 speakers.

 

New PC - The build is going into a Corsair 5000D Airflow case that has 4 x 120mm Noctua NF-F12 PWM Chroma fans. It will also house 2 x nearly new 4TB WD Black drives from the old PC when all the other parts are in.

 

The parts that I am now considering to purchase are:

 

ASUS ROG Strix X570-E ATX Motherboard

AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Processor

Noctua NH-U12S 120mm Single-Tower CPU Cooler

Samsung 980 PRO 1 TB PCIe 4.0 M.2

Crucial Ballistix 32GB (2 x 16) 3600 MHz, DDR4, DRAM (BL2K16G36C16U4B)

Corsair HX1000 1,000 W Platinum Fully Modular PSU (once available this summer)

 

…and 3080 or 3080Ti (if I manage to get my hands on one this year…)

 

However, the question I have is really about the motherboard/processor/and DRAM. Are these good options? Though these are big and well-known brands, are they solid quality parts? Will they work well together? Anything I have overlooked?

 

I am considering that motherboard as it seems like good mid-range option with just enough USB ports for me and it has wi-fi 6, 2.5 Gigabit LAN, etc.

 

I know the 5800X hasn’t really been recommended by the tech reviewers but it has more cores and threads without then going into the crazy prices.

 

And for the RAM, I am totally undecided. Just looking for something decent, fast, and low profile. This is a non-RGB build so nothing flashy, just plain black for less than £250 for 32GB.

 

Any constructive suggestions are appreciated!

 

Many thanks.

 

ToKo

 

 

[Lurick]

The X570-E is a great motherboard, solid all around, has been serving me well since I built my system and continues to do so since I recently upgraded to a 5900X as well. I'm not 100% sure on the cooler though, maybe something a bit beefier might be good or if you'll use two fans you should be fine but I'd definitely get more feedback on that to be sure you're not going to run too hot/loud.

If you could get a 5900X at or just a tad over MSRP that might be better value but the 5800X is still pretty good. You might need to do a bios flashback on the motherboard but that can be done on the X570-E without a CPU installed so no worries.

[ToKo1188]

I did think that the X570-E would be a good choice and it's good to hear that people are happy with it.

 

I briefly looked at the 5900x, though I wasn't sure I would really need a CPU that powerful but I will look into this some more as in the grand scheme of things another £100 is not all that much more to spend.

 

Thanks for flagging that the cooler might not be enough! I will look into that as well and yeah I can upgrade that to the 2 fan option instead. 

 

Do you have any suggestions on the RAM brands and optimal speed?

 

Many thanks!

[Guest]

Unless you need the 2nd pcie 4.0 M.2 slot I would go with a B550 board. 

 

So something like this for example:

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 3.7 GHz 12-Core Processor  (£489.59 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
CPU Cooler: Scythe FUMA 2 51.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (£64.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: MSI MPG B550 GAMING EDGE WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£139.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  (£148.47 @ Ebuyer) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 4.0 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (£150.46 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£109.99 @ Currys PC World Business) 
Total: £1103.46
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-06-05 18:30 BST+0100

[MultiGamerClub]

U12S is good enough, it beats the stock.

 

Ive had it on a 1700 and a 3600 cpu before i moved to 360m aio. (overkill.)

[ToKo1188]

22 minutes ago, MultiGamerClub said:

U12S is good enough, it beats the stock.

 

You are correct, I have managed to find a definitive answer on the Noctua sites compatibility page, where they confirmed that the cooler is more than enough for my standard use as I don't expect to overclock any of these parts. At least not to start anyway. 

 

Noctua confirmed that the NH-U12S is compatible with the 5800X even with "medium turbo/overclocking headroom". They give it their NSRP rating of 129 which is pretty good for this stock CPU.

 

[ToKo1188]

2 hours ago, lee32uk said:

Unless you need the 2nd pcie 4.0 M.2 slot I would go with a B550 board. 

Thank you for that suggestion. I have been looking into the B550 and comparing it to the X570 and though I am not planing on getting a second M.2 at the moment, I may want to down the line. I also prefer the better I/O and built in cooling on the X570 so I will stick with that. 

 

Good shout though as that would have saved me a decent amount.

 

Otherwise the suggested PCPartPicker list is pretty interesting so i  will go through that next.

 

Thanks!

[ToKo1188]

I think I am pretty much there with most of the parts except for the RAM.

 

Are there any mainstream brands that are better than others? I had Corsair RAM until now and it never let me down, but looks like G.Skill or Crucial are perhaps more popular? Is that just because of the bling / RGB? (Which I do not want)

 

Would my choice of Crucial Ballistix 32GB (2 x 16) 3600 MHz, DDR4, DRAM (BL2K16G36C16U4B) be a good choice to complement the other parts above?

 

Should I look for something better? Though would anything faster be actually noticable in games or basic work load?