For your consideration

[PlaybyEar]

Budget (including currency): $5000.00 +/- USD

Country: United States 

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Games, AAA and otherwise, mostly large scale strategy, cinematic story driven and RPG mostly. A s*** load of storage. Productivity, light video work, medical and prescriptive programs, etc. 

Other details I am upgrading from a core i7 2600, 16gig DDR3, GTX1660. I will be bringing over some 2.5 SSD, but the rest is mostly getting a fresh start. 

 

This system is a gift to myself and a bit past the threshold of "sensible" for my applications, but I tend to run systems for 10 years or so before considering reboots and gosh darn it, it's fun to splurge.

My setup is a den with no desk so think living room gaming with a lap desk or controller. 

I am a little over the budget where I am standing, but I tend to get a little spendy with these things and while I am probably fine being a little over the budget, if you see stupid money somewhere I would love to hear it. I may also end up splitting up the PC from the TV purchase as well. 

Also, if anyone knows if Intel wants to sponsor a total tech upgrade 2022 for me, I am available for video content. HAHAHA!

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/krL6Mb
 

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700K 3.6 GHz 12-Core Processor  ($374.98 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Lian Li GALAHAD AIO 240 RGB 69.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($135.97 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z690 FORCE WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($369.99 @ B&H) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5200 CL40 Memory  ($359.99 @ Newegg) (I would prefer the Dominator white, but I am having difficulty finding it) 
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($219.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($219.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 3070 LHR 8 GB ROG STRIX WHITE OC V2 Video Card  ($1673.97 @ Amazon) 
Case: Lian Li O11 Dynamic Mini Snow Edition ATX Mid Tower Case  ($189.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Cooler Master V SFX Gold 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply  ($128.95 @ Walmart) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($108.78 @ Other World Computing) 
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: LG OLED65C1PUB Alexa Built-in C1 Series 65" 4K Smart OLED TV (2021)  ($1796.99 @ Amazon) 

Total: $5579.59
 

[GeorgeMKane]

I would recommend Corsair over Lian Li. The Lian Li case is an overpriced case for what it is imo. You can also get a 3070Ti for much cheaper, and went with a better PSU too. DDR5 is also super expensive right now, so I wouldn't recommend it just yet.

 

I would've recommended more white components to match the theme you're going for, but that's also pretty tough to do right now. You should be able to do full white cables for the psu too, through Corsair actually. I just added that to the modified list as well.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/pZ7kcb

Edited February 2, 2022 by GeorgeMKane

[GhostRoadieBL]

21 minutes ago, PlaybyEar said:

Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 3070 LHR 8 GB ROG STRIX WHITE OC V2 Video Card  ($1673.97 @ Amazon) 

21 minutes ago, PlaybyEar said:

Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5200 CL40 Memory  ($359.99 @ Newegg)

those are some seriously depressing prices, even scalpers have the RTX3080 for $1500, I did see an EVGA 3080ti XC3 for $1600.

 

this is probably where I would end up with that price range

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/f7Jscb

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-11700K 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($339.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Lian Li GALAHAD AIO 240 RGB 69.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($126.05 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX Z590-A GAMING WIFI ATX LGA1200 Motherboard  ($299.44 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z Royal 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-4400 CL17 Memory  ($359.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Gigabyte AORUS Gen4 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($327.95 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Asus GeForce RTX 3070 LHR 8 GB ROG STRIX WHITE OC V2 Video Card  ($1673.97 @ Amazon)
Case: Lian Li O11 Dynamic Mini Snow Edition ATX Mid Tower Case  ($189.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Cooler Master V SFX Gold 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply  ($128.95 @ Walmart)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 10 Home OEM 64-bit  ($108.78 @ Other World Computing)
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: LG OLED65C1PUB Alexa Built-in C1 Series 65" 4K Smart OLED TV (2021)  ($1796.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $5482.09
 

CPU 12th gen is much faster if you are at 1080p and CPU bound, at 4k it's within 1-5fps and fully GPU limited so it's not real performance gains unless you can use it

 

given the minimal generational upgrade in RAM performance, faster DDR4 will out pace DDR5 kits for the first few years, this DDR4 kit will run circles around a DDR5-5200 kit

 

Having used both 970evos and 980 pros at work, the 980's are a much faster drive, even just loading programs is faster by a noticeable amount (both are lightning fast though)

threw in the Aorus Gen4 for the OS since it offsets the overall storage price and both of these drives will be better than 970evos in raid0 if you were considering that. The latency of Raid NVME wrecks the snappiness of the drives just to give you higher benchmark numbers closer to a gen4 anyway.

 

 

[Somerandomtechyboi]

2 hours ago, PlaybyEar said:

A s*** load of storage.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/j3xypH

5.5x the original storage in your list incase you need 22tb

 

Cooler has been swapped to a drp4 cause if you want it to last long youll have to go with air since you can easily change the fans every decade or 2 when they break unlike aio when the pump breaks you gotta buy a new one

 

Better board, its a content creator board so quite a steal for the price with 3 total usbc and a sht load of i/o, uneccesary but its futureproof

 

ddr4 over ddr5 cause atm ddr5 isnt worth it when heavily overclocked ddr4 will still smash it, ballistix ram should do 4500+ cl18 assuming the gigabyte board ram issues have been fixed, its 32gb but single rank so you have access to ludicrous speed if you ever need to run it that fast for a ram bandwidth sensitive application, a more sensible tune would be 4000 cl15-16 (set freq then set volt 1.4-1.5)

 

Ditched the 2 2tb ssds for 1 4tb ssd so more ssd upgrade room and now theres an 18tb exos drive so no more storage problems i guess

¯\_ (ツ) _/¯ 

 

O11 is more suited to custom water or aio so swapped for a 215 to accomodate the aircooler

 

1000w psu just cause it was cheap and should last you the next decade

 

 

Pretty much prioritized futureproofing over aesthetics since you are gonna use it for 10 years so make it last 10 years and then some, though if you are ok with an annual 20-30$ (assuming an aio dies every 3-5 years) then aio may be worth it to improve aesthetics

[PlaybyEar]

8 hours ago, GeorgeMKane said:

I would recommend Corsair over Lian Li. The Lian Li case is an overpriced case for what it is imo. You can also get a 3070Ti for much cheaper, and went with a better PSU too. DDR5 is also super expensive right now, so I wouldn't recommend it just yet.

 

I would've recommended more white components to match the theme you're going for, but that's also pretty tough to do right now. You should be able to do full white cables for the psu too, through Corsair actually. I just added that to the modified list as well.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/pZ7kcb

Thank you so much for taking your time to help me, I really appreciate you.

 

I am going with the Lian li for the look, but more importantly, the size. My PC sits in a cabinet space and so  I am restricted on the form. The cabinet is openly vented with additional cabinet fans, so cooling / airflow is no factor, but size is. 

I agree with the white components, but of course the whole world has conspired against me (Clearly a world wide pandemic, government incompetence and personal and cooperate greed is all happening to inconvenience me and me alone hahahah!) But I'll definitely be getting a white cabling kit from Corsair or Cablemod or someone. I may also adjust the overall design to lean more to "Stormtrooper" black and white rather than "driven snow" all white. I don't like it quite as much, but the white parts ar eboth extremely difficult to find and much more expensive. 

I do appreciate the DDR4 comment, I have gone back and forth and back and forth on it. Knowing that it is as overpriced as anything right now PLUS the early adopter tax, I'm still not entirely convinced to the DDR4 as 5 provides a more obvious upgrade path down the road, but again, I am flopping like a fish out of water on this one. 

[PlaybyEar]

7 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/j3xypH

5.5x the original storage in your list incase you need 22tb

 

Cooler has been swapped to a drp4 cause if you want it to last long youll have to go with air since you can easily change the fans every decade or 2 when they break unlike aio when the pump breaks you gotta buy a new one

 

Better board, its a content creator board so quite a steal for the price with 3 total usbc and a sht load of i/o, uneccesary but its futureproof

 

ddr4 over ddr5 cause atm ddr5 isnt worth it when heavily overclocked ddr4 will still smash it, ballistix ram should do 4500+ cl18 assuming the gigabyte board ram issues have been fixed, its 32gb but single rank so you have access to ludicrous speed if you ever need to run it that fast for a ram bandwidth sensitive application, a more sensible tune would be 4000 cl15-16 (set freq then set volt 1.4-1.5)

 

Ditched the 2 2tb ssds for 1 4tb ssd so more ssd upgrade room and now theres an 18tb exos drive so no more storage problems i guess

¯\_ (ツ) _/¯ 

 

O11 is more suited to custom water or aio so swapped for a 215 to accomodate the aircooler

 

1000w psu just cause it was cheap and should last you the next decade

 

 

Pretty much prioritized futureproofing over aesthetics since you are gonna use it for 10 years so make it last 10 years and then some, though if you are ok with an annual 20-30$ (assuming an aio dies every 3-5 years) then aio may be worth it to improve aesthetics

Ludacris speed is appealing, though I am certain that I do not wish my PC to go plaid, hahaha!

I have considered going with the air cooling, I have always used air and if I do I will just port my Noctua D15 and switch from the brown to the black fans. I was really only considering the AIO for aesthetic purposes, however, with the insane prices associated with the "Look" I may need to adjust that particular design consideration.

 

As addressed, I am still flopping on the DDR4 / 5 problem. I definitely understand that the 4 is faster now... But in three or four years, that RAM could prove to be a valuable path to upgrade. I think that I have resigned myself to the most technical and well informed method I know of making a bimodal decision... coin flip. 

Regardless, your recommendation of motherboard is interesting, I had not even considered the content creator avenue and I will look into that seriously, thank you for that. 

[GeorgeMKane]

40 minutes ago, PlaybyEar said:

Thank you so much for taking your time to help me, I really appreciate you.

 

I am going with the Lian li for the look, but more importantly, the size. My PC sits in a cabinet space and so  I am restricted on the form. The cabinet is openly vented with additional cabinet fans, so cooling / airflow is no factor, but size is. 

I agree with the white components, but of course the whole world has conspired against me (Clearly a world wide pandemic, government incompetence and personal and cooperate greed is all happening to inconvenience me and me alone hahahah!) But I'll definitely be getting a white cabling kit from Corsair or Cablemod or someone. I may also adjust the overall design to lean more to "Stormtrooper" black and white rather than "driven snow" all white. I don't like it quite as much, but the white parts ar eboth extremely difficult to find and much more expensive. 

I do appreciate the DDR4 comment, I have gone back and forth and back and forth on it. Knowing that it is as overpriced as anything right now PLUS the early adopter tax, I'm still not entirely convinced to the DDR4 as 5 provides a more obvious upgrade path down the road, but again, I am flopping like a fish out of water on this one. 

There is a 280X case that is the Micro ATX version of the 680X case. The cabling kit is in the list btw. It's the second bit under power supply. You can also get white and black cables. Corsair has multiple options, if you go to that link.  

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/szd48r - AMD version.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/HZCscb - Intel version.