New PC build $1.600 to $2.000 - overall feedback welcomed

[Hemzye]

1. Budget (including currency):  35.000 to 45.000,- CZK → 1.600$ USD to 2.000$ USD (will be using $USD equivalent prices to my currency at 1$ = 22.5 CZK)

Country: Czech Republic

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for:  office - architecture, 3D CAD (ArchiCAD), Lumion (GPU Rendering), Photoshop for renders post processing, InDesign, Two 4K Monitors, Adobe premiere – editing rendered videos

 

2. Aim
Current build:
PCpartpicker link

(can run RDR2 at 30-40 FPS on 2K, not on max settings, by which I was surprised)
,it was a custom build in the year 2013, but the originally installed GTX660 TI 2GB was switched for current GTX 1070 in 2017, also the SSD was added with new OS installed - goodbye Windows Vista.

With current setup, with more opened projects simultaneously AND like two chrome tabs, I'm hitting near 15GB RAM used out of 16GB.

So I would be grateful for suggestions related to overkills and possible cheaper alternatives, on my planned build, I will also offer some cheaper versions of some components of the build so you can judge my "cut price" decisions, since I'm not planning to game on this new computer build, and I will be moving entire old build from office to home with some upgrades of it coming later.

I don’t care about RGB, I would choose parts without it if I can.

I will try to describe also my thought process of choosing some of the components, it might help you guys to lead me from some wrong decisions I may have made.

 

New build - thought process:
CPU:

The current and ancient i7-3770, quad core, 8 threads, is actually working pretty okay, or I just got used to it (sometimes it takes few seconds to load the list of folders when I access different HDD...).
The new CPU should be 12th gen, so only question is, if i7-12700 is worth it? The performance increase is extreme between the i7-3770 and even the i5-12400, and it is still going to be substantial upgrade, so it is listed in the second version of the build - your opinions are welcomed.
I'm not planning to deal with overclocking, and OC is not worth it in my case of PC usage I assume. So I'm choosing the "K"less version, as it's cheaper considerably. (90$ to 100$US less than unlocked versions)
The integrated GPU is probably not necessary and I could save another 10$ to 25$, but I think I will just go with integrated GPU, since the price difference is so low, and it is nice to have secondary "backup" GPU I think.

(only because of a slight knowledge of Intel and Nvidia naming system and also past experience, I'm going for this instead of AMD, and also because I've "heard" the 12th gen should be slightly better with the performance x price than AMD at this time.)

Is the Noctua U12S redux cooler enough?

 

GPU:

I was just aiming for the equivalent of my current GTX 1070, with 8GB as minimum, which is pushing me into RTX 3060... so one of my questions is definitely the choice of GPU, are the new GPUs with only 4GB still much better than 1070 with 8GB because of the speed increased? I will list few variants of GPUs that are available to me right now to buy.

 

MB:

Since no OC, and my "Aim" of usage. I believe I could save some money on MB, I'm not planning SLI, so i don't really need 6x PCIe 16x slots etc., Theoretically I should by okay even with only two RAM slots, because 2x16 GB should be enough, but room for upgrading could be nice, I don't know, new version of chrome in Windows 11 may be even hungrier (or new versions of software in the future as well).

 

RAM:

I chose the RAM speed according to the max supported RAM speed of CPU which is 3200 MHz for all CPUs options: 12400, 12600 and 12700, I assume there is no point of going over the limit, correct?

 

Case:

Going for simple, doesn't matter if side panel is transparent or not, I would like easily cleanable dust filters. Minimum of 6 USB slots, at least 2 USB 3.0+ in front, USB C is unnecessary.

 

Storage:

Counting with SSD with OS and main software, with possibility of adding another SSD. Same goes with 4TB HDD used for storage, might add another one.

 

New build list (my currency prices equivalent)
GPU market getting better might wait for a while - the listed 12GB RTX just became available and the 1660 became cheaper by $50 in last few weeks.

PCpartPicker List

CPU: Intel Core I7-12700 2.1 GHz 12-Core ($410)

CPU cheaper alternative: Intel Core i5-12400 2.5 GHz 6-Core ($240)

Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S redux ($62)

MB: Gigabyte B660 GAMING X DDR4 ATX LGA1700 ($168)

RAM: Kingston FURY Beast 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 ($167)

Storage: 
- SSD: 1x Kingston KC3000 512 GB M.2-2280 NVME ($110)

- HDD: 1x Seagate BarraCuda 4 TB 3.5" 5400RPM ($104)

---

GPU: Asus GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB DUAL Video Card ($620)

- or -

GPU cheaper alternative: MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB GAMING X ($445)

---

Case: Cooler Master MasterBox K501L ATX ($60)

PSU: SeaSonic FOCUS GX 650 W ($114)

OS: Microsoft Windows 11 ($124)

 

Summary of CPU and GPU variations:

i7-12700 ($410) + RTX 3060 for $1.939

i5-12400 ($240) + RTX 3060 for $1.769

i5-12400 ($240) + GTX 1660 SUPER for $1.594

 

 

3. Monitors

Current - Dell S2721QS 3840×2160, 60Hz (up to DP 1.2, so now using HDMI 2.0)
Current - DELL U2515H 2560×1440 (probably will upgrade to another 4K later), 60Hz (right now DP 1.2 to mDP)

 

4. Peripherals

I will probably go for the newest Windows 11, because the software I'm using is quickly ditching Windows 7 I currently have.
Current peripherals will be used, no new are necessary.
(I can recommend what I've been using for a while now: Logitech Craft keyboard, and 3D Connexion SpaceMouse if you are also using 3D software, really convenient tool)

 

5. Why are you upgrading?

Basically just the need of another PC so I will use the chance of building new for work and using the old one at home, therefore no salvaging is happening.

While at it, upgrading to Windows 11, increase HDD and SSD capacities, increasing performance in regards of CPU, GPU, RAM.

 

Thanks for feedback.

 

 

[Vibrant._.gamez]

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XqPGqm this is better than what u had it has a 3070 instead of a 3060 and 1tb of nvme because in my experience 512 isn't enough for a boot drive

Ignore the 3060 in the build it is a mistake forgot to take it out

Edited April 8, 2022 by Vibrant._.gamez
Slight mistake

[KaitouX]

2 hours ago, Hemzye said:

CPU:

 

The new CPU should be 12th gen, so only question is, if i7-12700 is worth it? The performance increase is extreme between the i7-3770 and even the i5-12400, and it is still going to be substantial upgrade, so it is listed in the second version of the build - your opinions are welcomed.

If you want/need CPU MT performance, you shouldn't consider the 12400 if your budget allows for the 12600K or 12700. In the i5 line up only the 12600K includes the E-cores, while on the i7 and i9, even the non-K CPUs include them. So I would recommend looking at the 12600K and above.

Basically look at the price of the 12600K(F), 12700(F), 12700K(F) and look at the numbers of those CPUs in the graphs in this review, then decide which one is the better value for you. The most important point is likely the price difference between the 12600K and the 12700, if it isn't that big go for the 12700.

 

2 hours ago, Hemzye said:

Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S redux ($62)

I personally would look into the Scythe Fuma 2 or Deepcool AK620, they probably aren't that different price wise but perform better. Also be aware that the 12600K can go to 150W, and the 12700 might need a bit more than that to achieve similar performance to the 12700K, it can go up to 180W. There's a good chance that the NH-U12S might not be able to deal with 150W+ without getting a bit louder. They might not use the full power budget they have, but you can expect ~120W from the 12600K, ~140W from the 12700 and ~160W from the 12700K.

2 hours ago, Hemzye said:

GPU:

I was just aiming for the equivalent of my current GTX 1070, with 8GB as minimum, which is pushing me into RTX 3060... so one of my questions is definitely the choice of GPU, are the new GPUs with only 4GB still much better than 1070 with 8GB because of the speed increased? I will list few variants of GPUs that are available to me right now to buy.

GPU: Asus GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB DUAL Video Card ($620)

- or -

GPU cheaper alternative: MSI GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB GAMING X ($445)

The 1070 is about as fast, or slightly faster than the 1660 Super, so definitely do not get that. The 3060 is close to being 50% faster than the 1070, but the 3060Ti could be a better deal, at least in gaming, as it's about 30% faster than the 3060. But maybe your other workloads would take advantage from the 12GB of VRAM on the 3060.

 

2 hours ago, Hemzye said:

RAM:

I chose the RAM speed according to the max supported RAM speed of CPU which is 3200 MHz for all CPUs options: 12400, 12600 and 12700, I assume there is no point of going over the limit, correct?

No, memory can go well over what the CPU is rated for, on 12th gen you can probably go well past 4000MHz without issues. Memory that is at least 3200Mhz CL16 or 3600Mhz CL18, is usually the cheapest that performs well, so look for something from those speeds or better that isn't too expensive.

[Hemzye]

20 minutes ago, Vibrant._.gamez said:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/XqPGqm this is better than what u had it has a 3070 instead of a 3060 and 1tb of nvme because in my experience 512 isn't enough for a boot drive

Ignore the 3060 in the build it is a mistake forgot to take it out

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, i will consider better SSDs, and higher wattage PSU, because I'm starting to lean to i7 12700 + 3060 12GB VRAM option now, with that i will be around or little over the $2.000.

 

With 3070 Ti you are suggesting - they are priced around $1.080 here so that would be increase of $450.

[Vibrant._.gamez]

On 4/8/2022 at 10:59 AM, Hemzye said:

Thanks for the reply!

Yeah, i will consider better SSDs, and higher wattage PSU, because I'm starting to lean to i7 12700 + 3060 12GB VRAM option now, with that i will be around or little over the $2.000.

 

With 3070 Ti you are suggesting - they are priced around $1.080 here so that would be increase of $450.

Looks like something went up in price lol because I think it was 2000 when I made the list buutttt you could do that yes if you could make a part picker list I will look at it

[Guest]

I recommend installing a brand new cr2032 battery during initial build.