Help with cooling solution

[Ulnagar]

Budget (including currency): $AUD $5000+

Country: Australia

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: GTA V, Diablo Resurrected, Minecraft, Cities Skylines

Other details No current system (using Surface Book 2 from work). 
 

I am looking to buy/build a system that will last me a number of years before needing an upgrade, so willing to pay a bit more for something over-powered for my current needs. I am a tech professional, working mostly with servers and software development these days. I have put together this system: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/8QQFRT

 

My problem is that the last time I built a computer was when the Pentium was a brand name that Intel still used. I’ve zero experience with water cooling and similar with AMD processors. 
 

Any advice you can provide in general would be appreciated, but I am most specifically looking for help when it comes to selecting an appropriate cooling solution. 

Cheers!

[GeorgeMKane]

If you don't care about RGB, go for the Noctua NH-D15 cpu cooler. It's one of the highest recommended air cpu coolers. Comes with thermal paste, but I recently re-pasted my cpu with the NT-H2 and temps are so much better, so that's why I added that. I think the cooler comes with NT-H1, which you can of course use instead, but the h2 is newer and supposedly better.

 

I don't really recommend PNY gpu's as they're probably the cheapest brand for a reason. Also, a RTX 3070 Ti should be more than enough for your needs. Extra case fans are for the front of the case, which should be mounted as intake fans. The case fan that was mounted at the front of the case should be mounted at the top of the case, as an exhaust fan.

 

Hope it helps!

 

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/sM9sdD

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 3.7 GHz 12-Core Processor  ($799.00 @ Amazon Australia)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler  ($188.00 @ Umart)
Thermal Compound: Noctua NT-H2 3.5 g Thermal Paste  ($25.00 @ Scorptec)
Motherboard: MSI MAG X570 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM4 Motherboard  ($295.00 @ Umart)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory  ($310.90 @ Newegg Australia)
Storage: Western Digital SN750 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($163.72 @ Amazon Australia)
Storage: Samsung 870 QVO 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  ($251.41 @ Amazon Australia)
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ti 8 GB GAMING X TRIO Video Card  ($1799.00 @ Mwave Australia)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case  ($124.77 @ JW Computers)
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($169.00 @ PC Byte)
Case Fan: Corsair ML140 Pro 97 CFM 140 mm Fan  ($33.00 @ Umart)
Case Fan: Corsair ML140 Pro 97 CFM 140 mm Fan  ($33.00 @ Umart)
$4191.80

[crakddx]

Unlike what george said, I would get a full ek loop for maximum silence

[Bombastinator]

28 minutes ago, Ulnagar said:

Budget (including currency): $AUD $5000+

Country: Australia

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: GTA V, Diablo Resurrected, Minecraft, Cities Skylines

Other details No current system (using Surface Book 2 from work). 
 

I am looking to buy/build a system that will last me a number of years before needing an upgrade, so willing to pay a bit more for something over-powered for my current needs. I am a tech professional, working mostly with servers and software development these days. I have put together this system: https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/8QQFRT

 

My problem is that the last time I built a computer was when the Pentium was a brand name that Intel still used. I’ve zero experience with water cooling and similar with AMD processors. 
 

Any advice you can provide in general would be appreciated, but I am most specifically looking for help when it comes to selecting an appropriate cooling solution. 

Cheers!

The big issue is because intel laziest around with 14nm for so long computers had a period where they lasted longer than expected.  This seems right now to be over.  Solely because of consoles though it is expected that specifically for gaming building an 8/16 machine with a big gpu that has access to fast storage will mean that machine will play games as long as the current consoles live, which some people are projecting to be 5-8 years.  That’s just for gaming though.  Fast 4/8 was where intel14 got to with intel14, and is good enough for 90% of everything non-gaming though. Nonx86 stuff is starting to emerge though (such as the Apple m1 which often runs x86 stuff as fast or faster in emulation than some x86 machines) so x86 is to some degree imperiled.  No one knows to what degree though.  This happened once before and x86 came roaring back.  Might happen twice.  It’s unknown.

 

As far as x86 goes intel and AMD chips behave a little differently.  AMD can be faster. It’s more sensitive to memory latency and speed though. Generally you have to treat them differently.  AMD stuff tends to need more bios updates in general, though this seems to be growing less true over time as more companies are paying more attention to AMD stuff.  Ryzen3 seems to have fewer issues with this than ryzen2.  Ryzen1 and ryzen+ have more troubles. Ryzen1 is apparently also not going to be compatible with win11 so it’s sort of out the door.  

[Ulnagar]

14 hours ago, GeorgeMKane said:

 

Hope it helps!

 

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/sM9sdD

 

Thanks George! I’ll have a look at that system for sure. I wasn’t too fussed with the R9 specifically, as I figured the 5000 series R7 would be enough for a while. Any particular reason you recommend the MSI motherboard vs the ASUS? I think the specs are close, but I understand brand can make a difference. 

[Ulnagar]

14 hours ago, Bombastinator said:

The big issue is because intel laziest around with 14nm for so long computers had a period where they lasted longer than expected.  This seems right now to be over.  Solely because of consoles though it is expected that specifically for gaming building an 8/16 machine with a big gpu that has access to fast storage will mean that machine will play games as long as the current consoles live, which some people are projecting to be 5-8 years.  That’s just for gaming though.  Fast 4/8 was where intel14 got to with intel14, and is good enough for 90% of everything non-gaming though. Nonx86 stuff is starting to emerge though (such as the Apple m1 which often runs x86 stuff as fast or faster in emulation than some x86 machines) so x86 is to some degree imperiled.  No one knows to what degree though.  This happened once before and x86 came roaring back.  Might happen twice.  It’s unknown.

 

As far as x86 goes intel and AMD chips behave a little differently.  AMD can be faster. It’s more sensitive to memory latency and speed though. Generally you have to treat them differently.  AMD stuff tends to need more bios updates in general, though this seems to be growing less true over time as more companies are paying more attention to AMD stuff.  Ryzen3 seems to have fewer issues with this than ryzen2.  Ryzen1 and ryzen+ have more troubles. Ryzen1 is apparently also not going to be compatible with win11 so it’s sort of out the door.  

Thanks for the advice. My recent experience has been with mostly lower end Core i3/i5 “netbooks” so it’s nice to have some comparison to AMD. 

[GeorgeMKane]

33 minutes ago, Ulnagar said:

Thanks George! I’ll have a look at that system for sure. I wasn’t too fussed with the R9 specifically, as I figured the 5000 series R7 would be enough for a while. Any particular reason you recommend the MSI motherboard vs the ASUS? I think the specs are close, but I understand brand can make a difference. 

I must have edited it out by mistake. I actually had the 5000D Airflow case in my list, but I must have copied the wrong one. That's why I went with the MSI motherboard instead. The ASUS motherboard didn't have enough USB headers for the front panel connectors, and to add one that did would definitely have not warranted the significant price jump from MSI to ASUS. This was also a highly anticipated motherboard, and is very popular still.

 

EDIT: I just added more fans for the case. You can add another splitter and 3-pack of those AF120 fans if you want. Wanted that mainly for the top of the case (as exhaust fans), but you can also add another 3-pack to mount them next to the motherboard (as exhaust fans). The 2 140mm fans should be mounted at the front of the case, as intake fans.

 

https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/JsQj68

Edited September 2, 2021 by GeorgeMKane