Building a new PC. Need help figuring out what parts to get, besides GPU

DonPablo · February 19, 2022

Hello, i'm looking to build a pc. I already purchased a 6800, wanted to get the highest price part out of the way. I have some sort of an idea for other parts.

If anyone can help me with some of the parts, Pretty confirm on the CPU cooler, and case. everything else I need help with on what I should get or be looking for.

GPU: Radeon 6800

CPU: either ryzen 7 5800x or i7 10700k

Motherboard: don't know since idk what cpu to get

CPU Cooler: Corsair iCue H150i Elite LCD

RAM: Corsair Vengance RGB 32 GB

Storage: i wanna go NVMe ssd for both boot drive and then to put games on. So was thinking a 500g boot drive then a 2tb drive for games

Power Supple: don't know, was thinking at 850 just to safe, will probably overclock a little bit

Case: Corsair ICue 5000x

All suggestions for everything, besides gpu obvi, is greatly appreciated! The plan also is to not have to upgrade anything really for years

I did put all the parts together on pcpartpicker with the ryzen 7 and a asus tuf gaming x570 plus, and the main problem would just having to update the bios

NotanTech · February 19, 2022

For an SSD, I would recommend a WD_Black SN750, it's pretty speedy and reasonable priced.

RONOTHAN## · February 19, 2022

1 hour ago, DonPablo said:

CPU: either ryzen 7 5800x or i7 10700k

Would be hesitant to go 5800x since the 12600k exists for cheaper and performs a little better, and unless you get it for dirt cheap the 10700k doesn't make any sense in today's market. The i5 12400 outperforms it in single core and is only a hair behind in multi core performance.

Personally, I'd recommend either going with a 12600k or if you aren't gonna do anything besides game and don't care about overclocking, step down to a 12400(f).

1 hour ago, DonPablo said:

Motherboard: don't know since idk what cpu to get

For the 12600k: MSI Z690-A Pro DDR4, get it with or without WiFi depending on if you need WiFi/Bluetooth or an extra $20 in your pocket.

For the 12400(f): There are a couple options, depending on exactly what you need. The 4 big ones off the top of my head are ASUS B660(M)-Plus D4, ASUS H670-Plus D4, MSI B660M-A Pro DDR4, and the ASRock H670 PG Riptide. The PG Riptide is usually the best deal among each of those, but prices change so frequently in this industry that one of the other boards would be better depending on your needs and when you buy it.

1 hour ago, DonPablo said:

CPU Cooler: Corsair iCue H150i Elite LCD

If you go for the 12400, don't get this. That chip does not get anywhere near hot enough for an AIO to make any sense, so you'd be spending $200 purely for looks when the stock cooler will keep the CPU cool.

If you go 12600k, still don't get this. The Arctic Freezer II lineup is half the price and performs better. The 12600k still doesn't really need an AIO, a good dual tower air cooler like the Scythe Fuma 2 will be plenty, but it at least makes a little bit of sense. It's not that the H150i is necessarily bad, it's just not as good as other AIOs (not by a ton but measurable) but costs twice as much. Only get it for aesthetics and you don't mind spending a ton of money on it.

1 hour ago, DonPablo said:

RAM: Corsair Vengance RGB 32 GB

Corsair memory is a bit of a weird one. It is either a really good deal and you end up with Samsung B Die, or it's really overpriced any other memory chip. You're better off going with another kit of a better speed bin for less money. Even with RGB you can get other kits for less or the same price but faster (usually).

1 hour ago, DonPablo said:

Storage: i wanna go NVMe ssd for both boot drive and then to put games on. So was thinking a 500g boot drive then a 2tb drive for games

I'd change that to 1TB boot SSD and 4TB HDD for games. The difference between a good 500GB SSD and a 1TB SSD is about $30-40, and the difference in price between a 2TB drive and a 4TB drive is $20, so for about $60 you can get double the storage, and usually the higher capacity drives (within the same memory type, SLC, TLC, QLC, etc.) will perform better. It's not that there's anything wrong with the 500GB and 2TB method, it's just that doubling your storage for ~40% more money (in the storage category itself, it's probably like 5% extra on the entire build) is a pretty good idea. Besides, games are getting much larger, so the extra space will likely come in handy unless you want to be constantly uninstalling and reinstalling games.

1 hour ago, DonPablo said:

Power Supple: don't know, was thinking at 850 just to safe, will probably overclock a little bit

Even overclocked a 6800 machine should do just fine on a 750w PSU. That said, the difference in price between a good 750w and a good 850w is pretty minimal, so you might as well.

1 hour ago, DonPablo said:

Case: Corsair ICue 5000x

Go for the airflow version of that case, the 5000D, while it may look pretty, has glass covering every one of its holes for airflow, so temps inside are pretty warm. The airflow version looks very similar, costs a lot less (though it loses RGB) and is the same interior stucture. If you want the RGB you can always buy it separately and add it in.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/dB7WXy

All the suggestions I made (no RGB was added, don't know about/care enough to learn all the different types)

Akira Shimazu · February 19, 2022

Continuing from @RONOTHAN## Corsair kinda expensive i meant every ram is kinda identitical on performance. Adata also offer decent ram. i personally have double storage one for file and one for booting depending on how the pc mostly use. but as far as i know there would not be huge differece in render when booting game with SSD or HDD. i like double SSD but i have less game than you.

DonPablo · February 19, 2022

1 hour ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Would be hesitant to go 5800x since the 12600k exists for cheaper and performs a little better, and unless you get it for dirt cheap the 10700k doesn't make any sense in today's market. The i5 12400 outperforms it in single core and is only a hair behind in multi core performance.

Personally, I'd recommend either going with a 12600k or if you aren't gonna do anything besides game and don't care about overclocking, step down to a 12400(f).

For the 12600k: MSI Z690-A Pro DDR4, get it with or without WiFi depending on if you need WiFi/Bluetooth or an extra $20 in your pocket.

For the 12400(f): There are a couple options, depending on exactly what you need. The 4 big ones off the top of my head are ASUS B660(M)-Plus D4, ASUS H670-Plus D4, MSI B660M-A Pro DDR4, and the ASRock H670 PG Riptide. The PG Riptide is usually the best deal among each of those, but prices change so frequently in this industry that one of the other boards would be better depending on your needs and when you buy it.

If you go for the 12400, don't get this. That chip does not get anywhere near hot enough for an AIO to make any sense, so you'd be spending $200 purely for looks when the stock cooler will keep the CPU cool.

If you go 12600k, still don't get this. The Arctic Freezer II lineup is half the price and performs better. The 12600k still doesn't really need an AIO, a good dual tower air cooler like the Scythe Fuma 2 will be plenty, but it at least makes a little bit of sense. It's not that the H150i is necessarily bad, it's just not as good as other AIOs (not by a ton but measurable) but costs twice as much. Only get it for aesthetics and you don't mind spending a ton of money on it.

Corsair memory is a bit of a weird one. It is either a really good deal and you end up with Samsung B Die, or it's really overpriced any other memory chip. You're better off going with another kit of a better speed bin for less money. Even with RGB you can get other kits for less or the same price but faster (usually).

I'd change that to 1TB boot SSD and 4TB HDD for games. The difference between a good 500GB SSD and a 1TB SSD is about $30-40, and the difference in price between a 2TB drive and a 4TB drive is $20, so for about $60 you can get double the storage, and usually the higher capacity drives (within the same memory type, SLC, TLC, QLC, etc.) will perform better. It's not that there's anything wrong with the 500GB and 2TB method, it's just that doubling your storage for ~40% more money (in the storage category itself, it's probably like 5% extra on the entire build) is a pretty good idea. Besides, games are getting much larger, so the extra space will likely come in handy unless you want to be constantly uninstalling and reinstalling games.

Even overclocked a 6800 machine should do just fine on a 750w PSU. That said, the difference in price between a good 750w and a good 850w is pretty minimal, so you might as well.

Go for the airflow version of that case, the 5000X, while it may look pretty, has glass covering every one of its holes for airflow, so temps inside are pretty warm. The airflow version looks very similar, costs a lot less (though it loses RGB) and is the same interior stucture. If you want the RGB you can always buy it separately and add it in.

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/dB7WXy

All the suggestions I made (no RGB was added, don't know about/care enough to learn all the different types)

Thank you for all the info, i really appreciate it. Would you change anything if i said I dont mind how much a part costs, mainly the cpu. Im looking to not have to upgrade anything for yearrrss

RONOTHAN## · February 19, 2022

Just now, DonPablo said:

Thank you for all the info, i really appreciate it. Would you change anything if i said I dont mind how much a part costs, mainly the cpu. Im looking to not have to upgrade anything for yearrrss

That is a very loaded question. For the most part, no, everything I said I stand by. Those parts will last you years and be great. That said, if you don't really care about costs and want to mainly go for longevity sake, there are a couple tips

For the most part, it makes more sense to upgrade more frequently than to buy once and not upgrade for 5+ years. Upper mid range components upgraded every 2-3 years compared to top end components upgraded every 5-6 will cost about the same and you'll get better overall performance going with the more frequent upgrades. Plus, you get to play with new components more frequently, which for a hardware geek like me is awesome.
There are a couple features that are really really useful that if you don't care about price are generally pretty useful. The main one I'd recommend you look into getting is a POST code readout (the 7 segment displays found on the mid to high end motherboards). Those are incredibly useful for troubleshooting, overclocking, and helping keep the system running with the least amount of effort as possible. Unfortunately with LGA 1700, there is only one board with DDR4 support that has it (Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Pro) and that board has issues with it's memory support (3600MHz is not guaranteed to be stable like on basically every other LGA 1700 motherboard), meaning that in order to get that feature you have to go DDR5. DDR5 currently costs double what comparable DDR4 costs and performs slightly worse in most gaming scenarios, and DDR5 has it's own issues with memory support since it's a first generation memory technology. Basically, you can't win, and if that's a deal breaker feature like it is for me (with the exception of super cheap used gear I don't consider buying a board unless it's got a POST code), you're best option is to wait for AM5 and see how that turns out.
Avoid AIOs. For the most part, a big air cooler will perform about the same, and because there's less parts, they'll be more reliable. In fact, outside of physically breaking it with blunt force trauma, there isn't really a way for a tower air cooler to break outside of needing a replacement fan. AIOs, on the other hand, are more likely to break because they have a pump, and most of the time the pumps aren't really that good. There are a couple exceptions like the ones from EK and Arctic, but even those I would not expect the pump to last 10 years like I would with a good tower air cooler. If your system is high enough thermal output that water cooling is necessary, custom loops are usually the way to go, since they'll perform better than AIOs due to their superior block design and water flow, and since it's custom, you can actually replace parts like the pump when they inevitably fail so you aren't stuck throwing everything away when the pump fails. Granted, if this is your first build, a custom loop is generally not recommended due to both its high price and it's added complexity. Tl;Dr: Get a dual tower air cooler.
Make sure to not skimp on the PSU. A good PSU will last you about 10 years before it's time to think about replacing it, so spending the extra $20 on a higher wattage and better quality unit is usually a pretty worthwhile investment.

There are probably more things that I didn't go into, but that sums up most of it. If I were building a system today, it would look very similar to the one I recommended, with the only difference being since I live near a Micro Center I can get CPUs for dirt cheap (I know a guy who got an open box 12700k there for $240) I'd probably get a higher tier CPU because the prices are so similar.

Somerandomtechyboi · February 19, 2022

40 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Unfortunately with LGA 1700, there is only one board with DDR4 support that has it (Gigabyte Z690 Aorus Pro) and that board has issues with it's memory support (3600MHz is not guaranteed to be stable like on basically every other LGA 1700 motherboard), meaning that in order to get that feature you have to go DDR5.

I think there are some mini pcie or pcie post cards you can get off ebay, unsure of whether or not mini pcie cards are compatible though they are pcie unlike most post cards which are pci, the pcie debug cards do cost quite abit

Yea having no post card is a massive dealbreaker, atleast i work with 775 so shoving a pci post card is pretty easy and even if pci slot gets blocked i can use a pcie to pci adapter anyways. Extremely useful for troubleshooting and overclocking, heck if i hadnt bought a pci post card it would take me a very long time to overclock cause idk what the hell is going on

Pcie post cards on ebay are ~30$ for black ones but theres a 22$ one but its in a god awful yellow color, the mini pcie cards are 5$ but those are also in god awful yellow color, and youll also need a pcie to mini pcie adapter for those not to mention not having those useful status leds

50 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Avoid AIOs. For the most part, a big air cooler will perform about the same, and because there's less parts, they'll be more reliable. In fact, outside of physically breaking it with blunt force trauma, there isn't really a way for a tower air cooler to break outside of needing a replacement fan. AIOs, on the other hand, are more likely to break because they have a pump, and most of the time the pumps aren't really that good.

Good enough aios like liquid freezer 280/360 will outperform aircoolers but thats only when the cpu warrants that kind of cooling like 12900k

Yea aircoolers will last forever since they literally are just a pile of copper and aluminum, just replace the fans every decade or 2 when they break and you can keep using that aircooler, if mounting doesnt exist then theres always diy mounting like zipties. I always reccomend aircooler just because of how long they last and how cheap they are, though personally im going ghetto waterloop just because i dont think aircooling will keep my cpu under 60c at high volt like 1.6v or 1.7v (775 wolfdales really like low temps so rip oc if temps too high esp at high volt where you need <60c temps)

Aircoolers last forever and cheap asf

Aios have great performance assuming you get a good aio and not a pile of trash

Custom water varies alot but if you are like me and intend on using motorcycle or car rads, they will completely annihilate air and aio, they do have the advantage of swapping parts so if pump dead that isnt the end of the world, but poorly built ones like mine will most likely leak (mine just outright yeets water if the return tube gets misplaced and goes outside the res). not to mention unless you use antifreeze combining aluminum and cooper in a loop is a horrible idea cause galvanic corrosion. If you arent like me and would rather have a proper pc custom loop then expect your wallet to start burning cause youll need alot of money to get any decent performance thats actually worth it over an aio or aircooler

Jonathan Lee · February 19, 2022

18 hours ago, DonPablo said:

CPU: either ryzen 7 5800x or i7 10700k

Whichever is cheaper. The difference really doesn't matter as much as people like to say it is. At the same price, go for 5800x. These two chips are not the best value as many has mentioned.

Cheapest I would go with for 6800:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-10700F 2.9 GHz 8-Core Processor ($254.90 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: Scythe Mugen 5 Black Edition 66.47 CFM CPU Cooler ($59.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($145.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: Team T-FORCE DARK Za 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory ($109.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Silicon Power A80 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($184.99 @ Amazon)
Case: Corsair 4000D Airflow ATX Mid Tower Case ($94.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: EVGA G5 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($154.99 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: be quiet! Pure Wings 2 65.51 CFM 120 mm Fan ($12.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1018.83
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-02-19 15:09 EST-0500