First PC Build Advice/Help

[MarcoPolo360]

Budget (including currency): <~$2300 (not a hard cap, but I don't want to go crazy)

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Beginner when it comes to PC gaming, but I will be using it for City Skylines, Halo, Rocket League, Borderlands, etc.  As far as work/other hobbies, I do some 3d print rendering, so I will be using Fusion 360, TinkerCad, and Slicer tools. I also plan on using Photogrammetry software to help model real-world items.

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 recently purchased a Dell S2721DGF for work/future gaming. I do not have a "gaming" keyboard/mouse/mousepad, but I do have one that I am comfortable with using daily. I have access to a local Micro Center, and would like to get parts from there if possible to eliminate shipping concerns. I used the Custom PC Builder, and came up with the following: https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/custom-pc-builder.aspx?load=22dd4221-b209-4ba7-b3d1-6a6a30bc6ac5

 

CPU: Inel Core i7-11700k

Motherboard: ASRock Z590 Pro4 ATX

RAM: G.Skill Trident Z Neo Series RDG 32GB

Case: NZXT H510i White/Black

Power Supply: EVGA SuperNOVA 850GT

Video Card: I picked one of the NVIDIA 3000 Series, and just to "future-proof", I was looking at a 3070 minimum

2.5" SSD: Samsung 870 EVO 1TB

M.2 SSD: Samsung 980 1TB PCIe 3.0 x4

Heatsink: Micro Center's website was only showing two options...I wasn't sure if that was an error or if only two types of heatsinks could fit. I went with the Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB Black

Operating System: Windows 11 Home

Office Suite: Office Home and Student

Addtional Case Fan: I've read that the NZXT fans can be lacking in this case so I opted to get an additional Noctua 120mm Case fan in case I need to swap out the existing case fan

 

I may have gone a little "Dream Build", but building my own PC is something that I wanted to do for a while so I figured why not go for it. I also wanted to make it "future-proof" as possible. Let me know if I have gone too far overboard, and I appreciate any help given in terms of building my first PC!

 

[danalog]

Welcome to the forums!
That looks like a great system. Only thing I'm confused about is why have an NVMe plus SATA SSD instead of NVMe plus HDD? I assume the SATA SSD is for storing games, you won't see a big speed difference using a WD Black.

[MarcoPolo360]

6 minutes ago, Mel0nMan said:

Welcome to the forums!
That looks like a great system. Only thing I'm confused about is why have an NVMe plus SATA SSD instead of NVMe plus HDD? I assume the SATA SSD is for storing games, you won't see a big speed difference using a WD Black.

Thanks for the warm welcome and quick response! I mostly went for the NVMe plus SATA SSD because…I didn’t know better. If there wouldn’t be that much of a speed drop off, then your advice is what I’ll do. Thanks for letting me know!

[Quickstrike]

Hi!, Welcome to the forum.
Here's my 2 cents.

Bad case for a high end PC, 520i has no airflow to speak of and no Noctua fan will create air opening in the case.
Choose something like the Lan cool II or the P360A or the 4000D or the h510 Flow if you want an NZXT case. Yes they are more expensive but you wont need extra fans and they will be a whole lot quieter. Otherwise you'll have a noisy hot box.

Is your RAM a 4x8 kit (bad) or a 2x16 (better)? Also RAM speed and latency is important. Get at least 3200 mhz.

I would go with ASUS PRIME Z590-P instead of ASROCK, because ASUS hasn't done me wrong in 17 years (and mobo look better) and this is what I put in all my builds.

If you are putting 2 drive in, why not 2 m.2? it's like 10 more bucks and way less cable management. Also, if Microoft come out with Direact storage. You'll be sorry you went with 3ed gen instead of 4th (big if...)

EVGA make some real good graphics card but their track record for power supplies are sketchier... For the same price you can get a fully modular seasonic focus gold that has a way better rep on this forum.here: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1116640-psu-tier-list/

 

A 3070 is ok if you buy a 2K monitor, otherwise it's a waste of $ (especially right now)  and a 3060ti will do fine for most games.

Other general advice: Buy some good thermal past like Mx4, Kryonaut or Nh1 and comppressed air cans or future maintenance. Dont throw away you case's box and the foam so that you can protect your rig if you move. Don't put you rig on the gound, get yourself a good chair and a good desk.

 

Now if you want to future proof (no such thing really) build a new one next year and sell this one. I would go with Intel 12th gen otherwise or wait for AMD'S response because Am4 and DDr4 are done and you are buying into tech that will deprecate fast.
good luck!

[iMr3y]

23 minutes ago, Quickstrike said:

Hi!, Welcome to the forum.
Here's my 2 cents.

Bad case for a high end PC, 520i has no airflow to speak of and no Noctua fan will create air opening in the case.
Choose something like the Lan cool II or the P360A or the 4000D or the h510 Flow if you want an NZXT case. Yes they are more expensive but you wont need extra fans and they will be a whole lot quieter. Otherwise you'll have a noisy hot box.

Is your RAM a 4x8 kit (bad) or a 2x16 (better)? Also RAM speed and latency is important. Get at least 3200 mhz.

I would go with ASUS PRIME Z590-P instead of ASROCK, because ASUS hasn't done me wrong in 17 years (and mobo look better) and this is what I put in all my builds.

If you are putting 2 drive in, why not 2 m.2? it's like 10 more bucks and way less cable management. Also, if Microoft come out with Direact storage. You'll be sorry you went with 3ed gen instead of 4th (big if...)

EVGA make some real good graphics card but their track record for power supplies are sketchier... For the same price you can get a fully modular seasonic focus gold that has a way better rep on this forum.here: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1116640-psu-tier-list/

 

A 3070 is ok if you buy a 2K monitor, otherwise it's a waste of $ (especially right now)  and a 3060ti will do fine for most games.

Other general advice: Buy some good thermal past like Mx4, Kryonaut or Nh1 and comppressed air cans or future maintenance. Dont throw away you case's box and the foam so that you can protect your rig if you move. Don't put you rig on the gound, get yourself a good chair and a good desk.

 

Now if you want to future proof (no such thing really) build a new one next year and sell this one. I would go with Intel 12th gen otherwise or wait for AMD'S response because Am4 and DDr4 are done and you are buying into tech that will deprecate fast.
good luck!

Hey @Quickstrike,

 

Sorry for piggybacking this thread, but I love the input you gave to OP's build. Would you mind if I asked if you could have a quick look at mine? https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Hch4RT

 

I made a thread but has since changed the build a bit from the previous thread based on the input I got. Thank you!

Thread:

 

[Quickstrike]

25 minutes ago, iMr3y said:

Hey @Quickstrike,

 

Sorry for piggybacking this thread, but I love the input you gave to OP's build. Would you mind if I asked if you could have a quick look at mine? https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Hch4RT

 

I made a thread but has since changed the build a bit from the previous thread based on the input I got. Thank you!

Thread:

 

Looks good. I don't see prices in your part of the world however so I can't help you there.

 

The only thing I would do different, because I don't know that psu brand is I would get a Seasonic or a Corsair if they are available in your part of the world. Cheaping out on PSU is not a good idea.

Otherwise seems a well balanced build and i like your choices. 
 

 

[Elisis]

24 minutes ago, Quickstrike said:

The only thing I would do different, because I don't know that psu brand

Rather than commenting on something and defaulting to "just get Seasonic lol" it'd probably be best to keep quiet, no? Especially given that, barring the current price, Leadex III is a pretty fair unit overall.

[iMr3y]

27 minutes ago, Quickstrike said:

Looks good. I don't see prices in your part of the world however so I can't help you there.

 

The only thing I would do different, because I don't know that psu brand is I would get a Seasonic or a Corsair if they are available in your part of the world. Cheaping out on PSU is not a good idea.

Otherwise seems a well balanced build and i like your choices. 
 

 

Thank you, The Super Flower apparently has gotten some good rep based on reddit forums. Anyways there are a few options from other brands in the same price range. Will see what my options are.

 

Thanks for having a look!

[Juular]

16 minutes ago, iMr3y said:

The Super Flower apparently has gotten some good rep based on reddit forums.

LMAO, what about actual professional reviews ?

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/super-flower-leadex-iii-650-w/

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/super-flower-leadex-iii-argb-gold-650-w/

[Somerandomtechyboi]

2 hours ago, Quickstrike said:

ASUS hasn't done me wrong in 17 years

Laughs in bios crippled p5q

 

Stock bios only does a pathetic 530, modded p5qd bios with ebb from maximus ii formula only does 570fsb, some fine tuning gives 585fsb but only 43fsb more than my g31m s2c (542fsb)

 

Unless you bought the top tier stuff then they are pretty eh, lower end stuff is downright garbage like come on stock it gets beaten by an f ing g31 of all things xD

 

 

With my experience id stay away from asus unless you get their high end or top tier stuff, anything else than that and go for a diff brand like msi or asrock or alteast get a lower end boards and flash it to a high end or top tier board like p5b to commando or p5q premium to maximus ii formula, etc.

[Cool Dude 101]

3 hours ago, Mel0nMan said:

you won't see a big speed difference using a WD Black.

Yeah I have a WD Black and its pretty fast, I don't have a ssd though, so I don't know how fast they are.

[iMr3y]

46 minutes ago, Juular said:

LMAO, what about actual professional reviews ?

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/super-flower-leadex-iii-650-w/

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/super-flower-leadex-iii-argb-gold-650-w/

seems to be good reviews too, so I wouldn't have gone wrong reading those reviews on reddit anyway

[MarcoPolo360]

9 hours ago, Quickstrike said:

Hi!, Welcome to the forum.
Here's my 2 cents.

Bad case for a high end PC, 520i has no airflow to speak of and no Noctua fan will create air opening in the case.
Choose something like the Lan cool II or the P360A or the 4000D or the h510 Flow if you want an NZXT case. Yes they are more expensive but you wont need extra fans and they will be a whole lot quieter. Otherwise you'll have a noisy hot box.

Is your RAM a 4x8 kit (bad) or a 2x16 (better)? Also RAM speed and latency is important. Get at least 3200 mhz.

I would go with ASUS PRIME Z590-P instead of ASROCK, because ASUS hasn't done me wrong in 17 years (and mobo look better) and this is what I put in all my builds.

If you are putting 2 drive in, why not 2 m.2? it's like 10 more bucks and way less cable management. Also, if Microoft come out with Direact storage. You'll be sorry you went with 3ed gen instead of 4th (big if...)

EVGA make some real good graphics card but their track record for power supplies are sketchier... For the same price you can get a fully modular seasonic focus gold that has a way better rep on this forum.here: https://linustechtips.com/topic/1116640-psu-tier-list/

 

A 3070 is ok if you buy a 2K monitor, otherwise it's a waste of $ (especially right now)  and a 3060ti will do fine for most games.

Other general advice: Buy some good thermal past like Mx4, Kryonaut or Nh1 and comppressed air cans or future maintenance. Dont throw away you case's box and the foam so that you can protect your rig if you move. Don't put you rig on the gound, get yourself a good chair and a good desk.

 

Now if you want to future proof (no such thing really) build a new one next year and sell this one. I would go with Intel 12th gen otherwise or wait for AMD'S response because Am4 and DDr4 are done and you are buying into tech that will deprecate fast.
good luck!

WOW! Thank you so much for the detailed response!

 

For the case, you are probably right. I saw that the case had some airflow comments in the reviews. The only thing I really was looking for in a case was the color (outside of making sure it could fit an ATX board, of course )

The RAM I am considering is a 2x16 kit and 3200 mhz, so it looks like I am okay there.

I saw that the main YT channel did some testing/review of motherboards recently, and recommended this motherboard. I'll keep an open mind though in terms of changing that though.

As far as the M.2 drives, not having to cable manage is a good thought. As is swapping to a different, more reliable Power Supply.

 

Again, thank you for your feedback! I greatly appreciate it!

[Quickstrike]

6 hours ago, MarcoPolo360 said:

WOW! Thank you so much for the detailed response!

 

For the case, you are probably right. I saw that the case had some airflow comments in the reviews. The only thing I really was looking for in a case was the color (outside of making sure it could fit an ATX board, of course )

The RAM I am considering is a 2x16 kit and 3200 mhz, so it looks like I am okay there.

I saw that the main YT channel did some testing/review of motherboards recently, and recommended this motherboard. I'll keep an open mind though in terms of changing that though.

As far as the M.2 drives, not having to cable manage is a good thought. As is swapping to a different, more reliable Power Supply.

 

Again, thank you for your feedback! I greatly appreciate it!

NP

 

14 hours ago, Elisis said:

Rather than commenting on something and defaulting to "just get Seasonic lol" it'd probably be best to keep quiet, no? Especially given that, barring the current price, Leadex III is a pretty fair unit overall.

It could be the best reviewed unit out there, if it hasn't spent a year in one on my machines with no issue, it's on the gray list. I will probably try it in a future build because I have spare units at home a client has any troubles. I can't do that to a stranger half a world away.

An opinion was asked for as a first build is always stressful.

I don't know the product and I didn't write "don't buy this", I said I would buy different. Knowing the product includes unit size and cable lengths and all those nice little details that can bite a newbie on his first build. I know for a fact he'll be fine with a Seasonic, thus providing reassurance and certainty and reducing stress.