Planning a new build

PlaybyEar · January 30, 2022

Budget (including currency): $4000 +/- US

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Gaming, AAA and otherwise as well as some very light video editing and general light PC use.

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 am upgrading from an Intel i7 2600 / GeForce 1660 riding on an ASUS P8P67 LE

Looking for a somewhat smaller case design in white / white lighting for a very cool, clean look. This will be my first fore into any sort of water cooling, I have always been an air cool guy and would still consider sticking with my Noctua DHD15 (Though I would likely replace the brown fans for black (No hate against the brown, they just don't go with anything)

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700K 3.6 GHz 12-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Lian Li GALAHAD AIO 240 RGB 69.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 3070 LHR 8 GB ROG STRIX WHITE OC V2 Video Card
Case: Lian Li O11 Dynamic Mini Snow Edition ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Cooler Master V SFX Gold 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit
Case Fan: Lian Li UNI SL120 58.54 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack
Case Fan: Lian Li UNI SL120 58.54 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack
Custom: LIAN LI STRIMER Plus Triple 8 PINs -Addressable RGB VGA Power Cable
Custom: LIAN LI STRIMER Plus Triple 8 PINs -Addressable RGB VGA Power Cable
Total: $4037.70

I really appreciate any feedback on this system.

rileyakirk · January 30, 2022

19 minutes ago, PlaybyEar said:

Budget (including currency): $4000 +/- US

Country: United States

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Gaming, AAA and otherwise as well as some very light video editing and general light PC use.

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 am upgrading from an Intel i7 2600 / GeForce 1660 riding on an ASUS P8P67 LE

Looking for a somewhat smaller case design in white / white lighting for a very cool, clean look. This will be my first fore into any sort of water cooling, I have always been an air cool guy and would still consider sticking with my Noctua DHD15 (Though I would likely replace the brown fans for black (No hate against the brown, they just don't go with anything)

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700K 3.6 GHz 12-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Lian Li GALAHAD AIO 240 RGB 69.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (4 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 3070 LHR 8 GB ROG STRIX WHITE OC V2 Video Card
Case: Lian Li O11 Dynamic Mini Snow Edition ATX Mid Tower Case
Power Supply: Cooler Master V SFX Gold 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit
Case Fan: Lian Li UNI SL120 58.54 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack
Case Fan: Lian Li UNI SL120 58.54 CFM 120 mm Fans 3-Pack
Custom: LIAN LI STRIMER Plus Triple 8 PINs -Addressable RGB VGA Power Cable
Custom: LIAN LI STRIMER Plus Triple 8 PINs -Addressable RGB VGA Power Cable
Total: $4037.70

I really appreciate any feedback on this system.

I have put the black fans on the D15. Definitely worth it if you stick with air.

If you plan on upgrading the CPU to a newer generation on that motherboard, then you probably do not want to get the DDR4 version since the newer CPUs will likely drop support for it. I have read that 13th gen might retain support, but it is not likely to exist on generations past that. Just something to keep in mind. Who knows if Intel will support more than 2 generations on the Z690 chipset anyway.

dizmo · January 30, 2022

Not bad, but what's the reason for the 2 2TB drives? If you're going to RAID them, do you have a backup?

Nice choice on the fans. They'll make cable managing so much easier.

PlaybyEar · January 30, 2022

12 hours ago, rileyakirk said:

I have put the black fans on the D15. Definitely worth it if you stick with air.

If you plan on upgrading the CPU to a newer generation on that motherboard, then you probably do not want to get the DDR4 version since the newer CPUs will likely drop support for it. I have read that 13th gen might retain support, but it is not likely to exist on generations past that. Just something to keep in mind. Who knows if Intel will support more than 2 generations on the Z690 chipset anyway.

The DDR5 issue is a really really good point, thank you for that. I have been waffling on that exact issue for a bit, largely due to availability (I know, what a unique problem to have right now! LOL) but as someone who tries to build ten year systems with good upgrade paths, I had completely spaced that particular consideration. You likely saved my bacon there.

PlaybyEar · January 30, 2022

12 hours ago, dizmo said:

Not bad, but what's the reason for the 2 2TB drives? If you're going to RAID them, do you have a backup?

Nice choice on the fans. They'll make cable managing so much easier.

In truth, I have another 6TB of SSD porting from my current system into my new for a total of 10TB across four drives. This is in part due to the fact that I am an unrepentant data hoarder who likes to keep things in their respective places and in part due to the nature of my work. I am an audiologist and I do quite a bit of prescriptive work from home so all my patient files are on a totally separate drive so my drive system will end up looking like

C: Boot and productivity (2TB) Fully aware that 2TB is overkill, but the cost difference in minimal and if I ever wish to set up RAID, I'm preset.
D: Games and Entertainment (2TB) Here's where the hoarder kicks in, Jay over at two cents talks about deleting games he isn't playing... I take a different approach.
P: Patient files (4TB) a bit overkill on the sizing, but I have ample expansion room.
V: Video work (2TB) Again, overkill, but I like things being on sperate drives.

I am very happy to hear about the fan choice, I went back and forth on those for a while. I really don't think I care all that much about the RGB, but I do want light which knocked Noctua out of the running which would have been my first choice. I also thought about just doing Noctuas with some strips, but honestly it seemed like more trouble than it's really worth.

dizmo · January 31, 2022

11 hours ago, PlaybyEar said:

In truth, I have another 6TB of SSD porting from my current system into my new for a total of 10TB across four drives. This is in part due to the fact that I am an unrepentant data hoarder who likes to keep things in their respective places and in part due to the nature of my work. I am an audiologist and I do quite a bit of prescriptive work from home so all my patient files are on a totally separate drive so my drive system will end up looking like

C: Boot and productivity (2TB) Fully aware that 2TB is overkill, but the cost difference in minimal and if I ever wish to set up RAID, I'm preset.
D: Games and Entertainment (2TB) Here's where the hoarder kicks in, Jay over at two cents talks about deleting games he isn't playing... I take a different approach.
P: Patient files (4TB) a bit overkill on the sizing, but I have ample expansion room.
V: Video work (2TB) Again, overkill, but I like things being on sperate drives.

I am very happy to hear about the fan choice, I went back and forth on those for a while. I really don't think I care all that much about the RGB, but I do want light which knocked Noctua out of the running which would have been my first choice. I also thought about just doing Noctuas with some strips, but honestly it seemed like more trouble than it's really worth.

Yeah, I feel you, I'm the same way with a Windows vs game vs mass storage drive. Just wanted to make sure you weren't just getting it for RAID, as RAID, especially with NVME drives, is very, very rarely worth it and just increases the points of potential failure.

RGB is wonderful because it lets you pick whatever colour you want to your build, or change it at your own whim. It's also exponentially cheaper for manufacturers, because instead of having 10 different SKUs for different colours, they only have to have one. Fun fact; you can get RGB fans to run in white. Fans are definitely a better choice for providing colour, as adding strips just adds mess, uneven lighting most of the time, and even more cables. The LianLi fans seem like a delight compared to even the non RGB lit fans I had to wire into my buddies build. So. Many. Wires.