help questions about pc

[matan2244]

i would like to buy a new desktop pc, and it is very hard to me to decide what to buy because i have many questions.

the use: programming and data science.

cpu: intel alder lake i5 12600k or 12700/12700k

ram: 64gb ddr4

storage: ssd pcie 4.0 1TB (probably western union sn850)

maybe in future: gpu (currently thinking about using the one from the cpu)

1. i probably won't be doing overclocking, but i am concerned about the base frequency of non k (12700) 2.10 GHz compared to 12700k 3.60 GHz. does looking at the base matter, or will it always be at max speed anyway (turbo) without overclocking? can't decide between k and non k series.

2. it is very hard to me to choose the right cooling for the cpu, i do know that i don't want to do maintenance very often i am afraid of water spilling out ruining my pc, but the alder lake cpu's heat easily and i really don't want cpu throttling,

can i get advice on choosing cpu cooling?

3. also very hard to choose motherboard, conflicted between H670 and B660. one has 4 lanes of DMI and the other has 8 lanes, does it matter?

4. do i need heatsink for western digital sn850 ssd, should i buy a motherboard with heatsink or thermal guard or something like that?

 

thanks a lot !

 

[Dr0idGh0sT]

2 hours ago, matan2244 said:

1. i probably won't be doing overclocking, but i am concerned about the base frequency of non k (12700) 2.10 GHz compared to 12700k 3.60 GHz. does looking at the base matter, or will it always be at max speed anyway (turbo) without overclocking? can't decide between k and non k series.

Base speed doesn't matter, Performance difference between K and non K variant is about 2%.

2 hours ago, matan2244 said:

2. it is very hard to me to choose the right cooling for the cpu, i do know that i don't want to do maintenance very often i am afraid of water spilling out ruining my pc, but the alder lake cpu's heat easily and i really don't want cpu throttling,

can i get advice on choosing cpu cooling?

Best coolers for I7 would be Deepcool AK620 or Scythe Fuma 2, Both should be around 65$-ish. Depends on country, If those aren't available you may look for alternatives.

2 hours ago, matan2244 said:

3. also very hard to choose motherboard, conflicted between H670 and B660. one has 4 lanes of DMI and the other has 8 lanes, does it matter?

If you are going to connect lot of USB devices and add in cards, It does matter, If not, It doesn't. 

2 hours ago, matan2244 said:

4. do i need heatsink for western digital sn850 ssd, should i buy a motherboard with heatsink or thermal guard or something like that?

It preffered to have heatsink on it. Most motherboards you should be looking at do have heatsink for SSD. 

[brob]

Base clocks just allow the cpu to keep within its power budget more easily. Core speeds are ramped up at need provided adequate cooling is provided. 

 

With Alder Lake there are a number of non oc related factors that may affect choice. The i5-12600 has 6 performance cores. The i5-12600K has an additional 4 efficiency cores. As a result with some workloads the K cpu will perform significantly better.

 

The i7-12700 has a max turbo power just 10W under the i7-12700K. Suggesting a need for similar cooling and performance. It becomes an interesting question then as to which of the two is a better choice. I fall on the side of the i7-12700 using a good quality B660 or H670 motherboard and excellent cooling.

 

NH-D15, NH-U12A, Dark Rock Pro 4, and NH-D15S are coolers that should allow full exploitation of an i7-12700(K). If one plans to push performance limits, a 280 or 360 AIO would likely be better.

 

I wouldn't worry about fewer DMI lanes using B660. Much more important in motherboard selection is the VRM and its cooling.

 

Good quality motherboards tend to provide heatsinks for one or more m.2 positions.

 

[igormp]

On 4/5/2022 at 6:35 AM, matan2244 said:

i would like to buy a new desktop pc, and it is very hard to me to decide what to buy because i have many questions.

the use: programming and data science.

cpu: intel alder lake i5 12600k or 12700/12700k

ram: 64gb ddr4

storage: ssd pcie 4.0 1TB (probably western union sn850)

maybe in future: gpu (currently thinking about using the one from the cpu)

1. i probably won't be doing overclocking, but i am concerned about the base frequency of non k (12700) 2.10 GHz compared to 12700k 3.60 GHz. does looking at the base matter, or will it always be at max speed anyway (turbo) without overclocking? can't decide between k and non k series.

2. it is very hard to me to choose the right cooling for the cpu, i do know that i don't want to do maintenance very often i am afraid of water spilling out ruining my pc, but the alder lake cpu's heat easily and i really don't want cpu throttling,

can i get advice on choosing cpu cooling?

3. also very hard to choose motherboard, conflicted between H670 and B660. one has 4 lanes of DMI and the other has 8 lanes, does it matter?

4. do i need heatsink for western digital sn850 ssd, should i buy a motherboard with heatsink or thermal guard or something like that?

 

thanks a lot !

 

I'd say to ignore the K options (unless we're talking about the i5, where the K version is a completly different CPU). What exactly are you going to be programming with? If you're going to be doing lots of compile, then the 12700 would be the best option.

Otherwise, if it's mostly python or R stuff (since you mentioned data science), then the i5 would be more than enough.

 

As for you ram, remember to go with 2x32gb so you can upgrade to 128gb later on.