CPU Heavy, Multitasking, By Mid January

wisnoskij · December 15, 2021

Hello all, I really need a new PC, and was really hoping I could get some general suggestions. Been researching hard for the last couple months so I think I have a decent idea but have a few questions and I am sure I still don't know some things.

Budget (including currency): None, but going to been a very good justification to spend over $2k CAD. Willing to pay a premium for quality that could probably be reused in 10 years for another build.

Country: Canada, London area

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Minecraft (and other physics simulation heavy games), Multitasking, Want to try out VR ()

Other details:

Existing parts:

Monitors, keyboard, mouse, speakers, case.
4ish old sata HDDs with enough storage space to be worth saving.
Upgrading from: i3-4150 with HD 4400 integrated graphics and 8 gigs ram in the wrong slots.

2. Aim

Want to be able to run anything (modern AAA titles).
A focus on multitasking and CPU heavy workloads.
Scrap mechanic, dwarf fortress.
Want the ability to try out VR.
Can do without a good GPU for awhile.

3. Monitors

I have 2 1050p DVI monitors. Eventually will probably upgrade to 4K monitor or TV and a 1440p 144hz as a main monitor, with probably 1 or 2 secondary monitors

5. Why are you upgrading?

3D games used to run pretty decent, but now the computer just hard shutdowns when I run them.

Questions:
Am a little confused about MB shopping. Multiple channels have shown that a lot of performance is lost or gained by the MB you use, but you dont see many MB benchmarks with most reviews just being about how many USB ports it has. Specifically I really could not find much out about Alder Lake MBs. MY understanding is that Alder lake MBs are supposed to be more expensive, but I was already not spending the bare minimum so ended up picking a similarly priced one (should I pick out a 3-4 hundred dollar one?)

Buying? What should I do for buying? Should I wait for boxing day? Should I stand in line in some store? Do I get in some waiting list?

I really don't know what I am doing for a graphics card (ideal evga 3070-3070ti range), so I should probably get something with onboard as a stop gap.
The 5700g is sort of a low performing CPU, but it is priced like the GPU is thrown in for free (sitting right between the 56x and 58x). And the APU is probably more than I need for 99% of what I want to do with it.
But the 12700K seems like just a far better CPU with a serviceable iGPU that would probably do 80% of the things I need it for.

Here are some test builds I have done, note that the AMD build does not have any sort or graphics output ability. And I picked the seasonic before it went on sale, everything I have heard about them is great.

Quote

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor ($365.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: *Noctua NH-D15S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.95 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING (WI-FI) ATX AM4 Motherboard ($184.99 @ GameStop)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($83.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Platinum 850 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($110.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $993.89
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-12-15 11:53 EST-0500

Quote

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700K 3.6 GHz 12-Core Processor ($404.78 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: *Noctua NH-D15S 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler ($89.95 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI PRO Z690-A DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($209.00 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($78.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($83.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS Plus Platinum 850 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($110.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1056.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-12-15 11:54 EST-0500

Edited December 15, 2021 by wisnoskij

Jonathan Lee · December 15, 2021

40 minutes ago, wisnoskij said:

Am a little confused about MB shopping. Multiple channels have shown that a lot of performance is lost or gained by the MB you use, but you dont see many MB benchmarks with most reviews just being about how many USB ports it has. Specifically I really could not find much out about Alder Lake MBs. MY understanding is that Alder lake MBs are supposed to be more expensive, but I was already not spending the bare minimum so ended up picking a similarly priced one (should I pick out a 3-4 hundred dollar one?)

Rule of thumb is to buy a mobo about 50% price of CPU. That will generally give you a decent mobo for the CPU. Exceptions are the low end CPU's or one's on sale. Very cheap motherboards are typically not worth it due to lack of good vrms and features. For Ryzen 5000, around the $150+ B550 boards tend to be good enough for even the top of the line ryzen 9's. For Intel 12 gen, normally you want to spend around $200+ for decent board.

43 minutes ago, wisnoskij said:

Buying? What should I do for buying? Should I wait for boxing day? Should I stand in line in some store? Do I get in some waiting list?

GPU's you would have to get on a waiting list or just buy from scaplers on ebay. Yea, it's a rough GPU market right now.

Everything else though, should be available on amazon, newegg or any other retailer.

45 minutes ago, wisnoskij said:

The 5700g is sort of a low performing CPU, but it is priced like the GPU is thrown in for free (sitting right between the 56x and 58x). And the APU is probably more than I need for 99% of what I want to do with it.
But the 12700K seems like just a far better CPU with a serviceable iGPU that would probably do 80% of the things I need it for.

So interestingly, 5700g does have a decent iGPU for older games and is better (to my knowledge) than the 12700K iGPU. However, the 12700K is a much better CPU and has more a future than 5700g. 12th gen has more of a upgrade path due to future 13th gen being supported on the same mobo. If you're playing only minecraft with it, the 12700K should be fine until you get a GPU and will age better over time.

49 minutes ago, wisnoskij said:

I really don't know what I am doing for a graphics card (ideal evga 3070-3070ti range), so I should probably get something with onboard as a stop gap.

It would really depend on what resolution you plan to play in. Since you are looking into AAA games (assuming future ones too), I would get the best GPU you can afford. AAA games tend to eat GPU resources more as we progress. For example, a gtx 1080TI (about 4 year old card) is still a good for 1080p AAA games for today and it was the top of the line back then.

I would go with a build like this:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700K 3.6 GHz 12-Core Processor ($519.99 @ Newegg Canada)
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 280 72.8 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($124.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Motherboard: MSI PRO Z690-A DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($279.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($142.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: ADATA XPG GAMMIX S11 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: XFX Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB Speedster QICK 319 BLACK Video Card ($1266.56 @ Amazon Canada)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case ($119.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Power Supply: MSI MPG A-GF 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($144.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Total: $2719.49
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-12-15 13:07 EST-0500

wisnoskij · December 15, 2021

Thanks so much Jonathan Lee

brob · December 15, 2021

1 hour ago, wisnoskij said:

Am a little confused about MB shopping. Multiple channels have shown that a lot of performance is lost or gained by the MB you use, but you dont see many MB benchmarks with most reviews just being about how many USB ports it has. Specifically I really could not find much out about Alder Lake MBs. MY understanding is that Alder lake MBs are supposed to be more expensive, but I was already not spending the bare minimum so ended up picking a similarly priced one (should I pick out a 3-4 hundred dollar one?)

Motherboard performance differences are usually within the margin of error for motherboards at the same price point. And unless one plans to seriously overclock, performance differences are not important. Much more of the performance profile will be decided by cpu, cooling, memory, storage, and graphics.

There is still not a lot of experience with Alder Lake. Being an entirely new platform, it will be a while before detailed motherboard evaluations start to appear.