Haven't kept up with PC components and planning on a new build (finally)

[Dudenstein]

Hey yall, finally ready to get back into gaming.  I haven't built a PC since the Sandy Bridge and Fermi days so it's been a while and I'm totally out of the loop about what current hardware is good compared to another. Current daily driver is a laptop from 2018 (i7 7820HK, GTX 1080 max-q, 32GB ram) so naturally it is time to upgrade. 

 

1. Budget & Location

My budget is roughly $US 2500-3000. Naturally located in the United States and have access to Microcenter and the Newegg warehouse. I will probably be purchasing the components all at Microcenter as it's basically an all in one place convenience thing and they do price matching.

 

2. Aim

Primary use for the PC would be gaming and video editing. I'll be using Adobe Premier Pro for editing (1440p to 4k depending on the project), and games would be a mix ranging from Cities Skylines and Planet Coaster type of sims, strategy games like Stellaris, to your general shooters like Warzone (i hate it but my friends like it lol) and whatever AAA games are coming up. I have access to Gamepass PC so upcoming things like Stalker 2 and Starfield come to mind. I do lots of modding in games so that eventually becomes an issue. 

 

3. Monitors

Ill be using a 4k 120hz panel (I already use an LG CX) for this system. Personally hitting 120hz is nice but with the games that I mostly play it isn't a make or break situation. I'm happy with anything over 60hz but it would be nice to approach the 120hz if my friends want to play something twitchy. 

 

Potentially VR in the future but it's not even close to a priority at the moment. Worth mentioning but not worth building around.

 

4. Peripherals

No peripherals needed. OS will be Windows so that's already a given for me.

 

5. Why are you upgrading?

My GTX1080, especially since its the max-q variant can't drive my current display. it's great to have while on the go and travelling and I want to play or have to do video editing, but at home it's definitely bottlenecking my gaming and to an extent my work. 

 

6. Additional info

The case I'm very partial to, the LIan Li 011 Air Mini in black since I don't really want something too big. 

I would much much much rather do air cooling just for simplicity, I want to avoid AIO water cooling just because its just several more points of failure (i know they are pretty reliable nowadays but its just less to worry about) and I would prefer a low maintenance lifestyle for the PC.

I prefer not to have RBG, I don't really want lights all over the place. 

A clean industrial look would be my preference, so like black primary with silver or just black. Preference but not required, I'm not going to be showing off the internals and the window will be facing the wall anyway. 

I know nothing about the motherboard. it has wifi and wasn't too expensive so yeah...

 

So just a quick rundown, AAA gaming at 4k 120hz, video editing 1440p to 4k in Premier Pro, LG CX as the display, 2500-3500 $USD, Located in the United States. No peripherals needed. 

I'm planning to see what the Nvidia 40xx series has in store so I'll be using the 3080/3090 as placeholders for the time being. undecided on whether to go 4080 or 4090, whichever comes out first I guess?

 

Edited: No longer waiting for the 40 series cards.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xK6vbK

CPU: Intel Core i9-12900K 3.2 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($539.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler  ($109.95 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus PRIME Z690-P WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($223.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory  ($122.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($259.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($259.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate EXOS Enterprise 8 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($190.46 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 12 GB GAMING X TRIO Video Card  ($1009.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Lian Li O11 Air Mini ATX Mid Tower Case  ($104.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair HX1200 Platinum 1200 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($244.99 @ Newegg) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM 64-bit  ($119.98 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan: Noctua A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan  ($26.95 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan: Noctua A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan  ($26.95 @ Amazon) 
Total: $3241.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-07-07 20:50 EDT-0400

 

 

I know i went into quite a bit of detail but too much info is better than not enough right? 

Any input or suggestions is more than welcome and thank you for your time!

 

Edited July 8, 2022 by Dudenstein

[Guest]

I agree with everything here personally. But as a change I would wait til the new 40XX from NVIDIA and 6XXX comes out in a few months if you have the possiblity to wait as of it won't be as chaotic as this year I think

[brob]

Given the preference for black, you might consider an MSI Tomahawk motherboard.

 

Consider a locked CPU. With good cooling i7-12700(F) performance can be close to that of an unlocked variant.

 

Consider a smaller size PSU. The HX1000 is 180mm long. A 140mm long PSU leaves much more room for cables.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700F 2.1 GHz 12-Core Processor  ($312.96 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler  ($109.95 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG B660 TOMAHAWK WIFI DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($214.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($289.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 24 GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING Video Card  ($1699.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Lian Li O11 Air Mini ATX Mid Tower Case  ($119.99 @ Newegg Sellers) 
Power Supply: SeaSonic FOCUS GX 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($206.98 @ Newegg) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM 64-bit  ($119.98 @ Amazon) 
Total: $3194.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-06-05 22:31 EDT-0400

 

[DLSdufer]

PCPartPicker list

 

This should be good enough for all your requirements.

I've thought of a 3080ti, but still decided that the 24 gigs of vram is better for your pc

I have same thoughts as @brob, who thinks that the hx1000 is pretty big and overkill for a 650W pc, so I decided that the corsair rmx 2021(160mm)850W.

Also, I changed the storage to a sabrent rocket q2tb nvme m.2, which fits into your budget and very similar to the samsung.

The cooler, though, me myself thought it was a bit overkill, but you could still change it back to what you originally thought of.

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/RQv7wc

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700F 2.1 GHz 12-Core Processor  ($312.96 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler  ($47.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte B660 GAMING X AX DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($169.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket Q 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($189.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 24 GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING Video Card  ($1699.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Lian Li O11 Air Mini ATX Mid Tower Case  ($119.99 @ Newegg Sellers) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($134.99 @ Amazon) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM 64-bit  ($119.98 @ Amazon) 
Total: $2915.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-06-06 04:53 EDT-0400

[Guest]

1 hour ago, DLSdufer said:

PCPartPicker list

 

This should be good enough for all your requirements.

I've thought of a 3080ti, but still decided that the 24 gigs of vram is better for your pc

I have same thoughts as @brob, who thinks that the hx1000 is pretty big and overkill for a 650W pc, so I decided that the corsair rmx 2021(160mm)850W.

Also, I changed the storage to a sabrent rocket q2tb nvme m.2, which fits into your budget and very similar to the samsung.

The cooler, though, me myself thought it was a bit overkill, but you could still change it back to what you originally thought of.

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/RQv7wc

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700F 2.1 GHz 12-Core Processor  ($312.96 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition 42 CFM CPU Cooler  ($47.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte B660 GAMING X AX DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($169.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory  ($119.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket Q 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($189.99 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: EVGA GeForce RTX 3090 24 GB FTW3 ULTRA GAMING Video Card  ($1699.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Lian Li O11 Air Mini ATX Mid Tower Case  ($119.99 @ Newegg Sellers) 
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($134.99 @ Amazon) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM 64-bit  ($119.98 @ Amazon) 
Total: $2915.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-06-06 04:53 EDT-0400

He (Brob) was referring to physical dimensions not the wattage. 

 

A Hyper 212 isn't going to cut it with an i7 when the power limits are removed. 

 

The Sabrent Q is not in the same league as the 980 Pro. The 980 Pro is a Gen 4 SSD. I would go with the regular Sabrent Rocket 2TB for $10 more or even cheaper options like the Silicon Power A80 if sticking with a Gen 3 SSD. 

[Dudenstein]

On 6/5/2022 at 4:47 PM, AxS said:

I agree with everything here personally. But as a change I would wait til the new 40XX from NVIDIA and 6XXX comes out in a few months if you have the possiblity to wait as of it won't be as chaotic as this year I think

Definitely waiting for the 40 series from nvidia. The 30 series I have listed are just placeholders for pricing and wattage estimates. I'm in no major rush to build, just hoping for the build to be ready be end of the year. Currently planning on 4080 or 4090 depending on which comes first and release dates. 

 

On 6/5/2022 at 7:38 PM, brob said:

Given the preference for black, you might consider an MSI Tomahawk motherboard.

 

Consider a locked CPU. With good cooling i7-12700(F) performance can be close to that of an unlocked variant.

 

 

I'll take a look at the motherboard for sure! In regard to the CPU, I honestly have no idea how much benefit as OC is with the Alder Lake (or potentially Raptor Lake) when paired with a 4080/4090. Last time I did an OC was back in Sandy Bridge because you can OC the snot out of those babies and did well paired with an OC'd Fermi card. I'm going to have to look at how they OC and motherboards to pair if I do decide to OC

[Dudenstein]

Thanks for the notes everyone! And the reasoning for the 1000 watt PSU for the time being is because of the rumors of the power draws of the upcoming Lovelace cards. Since I'm planning for a 4080 or a 4090, I feel like going 1000 watts for the overhead in case of power spikes can alleviate potential headaches and would allow for further expansion and upgrades if later cards have insane power requirements as well. If my plan is unsubstantiated please let me know lol I'm open to constructed criticism any day!

[cmndr]

Hyper 212 EVO is NOT a good cooler at $50ish. In 2011 it was a solid budget suggestion at $30ish.
I was thrilled to buy one for $15ish a few years back but it's NOT 2010 anymore and there are stronger options at most price price.

I haven't really kept up with the heatsink market but - https://www.relaxedtech.com/reviews/noctua/nh-u12s-redux/
Noctua redux is a similar price to the referenced 212 EVO, cools the CPU in this review several degrees cooler and is a few dB quieter.
 

 

[planetary problem]

4 hours ago, Dudenstein said:

Thanks for the notes, everyone! And the reasoning for the 1000 watt PSU for the time being is because of the rumors of the power draws of the upcoming Lovelace cards. Since I'm planning for a 4080 or a 4090, I feel like going 1000 watts for the overhead in case of power spikes can alleviate potential headaches and would allow for further expansion and upgrades if later cards have insane power requirements as well. If my plan is unsubstantiated please let me know lol I'm open to constructed criticism any day!

you may actually need more if you plan on upgrading to rtx 4090 and i9 13900k

[Dudenstein]

Updated my plan for the build. Planning on building this in the next 2 weeks ish

I'm no longer waiting for the 40 series from Nvidia as honestly I just don't want to wait (I got a 15% raise at work) and I'm expecting the 40 series to sell out quickly upon release and I don't want to deal with waiting around for a preorder or drops. I'll just build now and if i choose to upgrade to 40 series or even later on in the 50 series then so be it. 

Bumped up to an i9 12900k.

Dropped down to a 3080ti instead of 3090 because the extra vram would be nice but I honestly don't think I'll be utilizing that much vram in my usage. That freed up more money for additional storage. 

One M.2 drive for my OS and games/general programs. 

Second M.2 for Unreal Engine development and active video editing projects.

HDD for general storage for plugins and video files not currently used for projects.

Added 2 bottom intake fans to help the gpu breathe and help push hotter air upwards toward the exhaust. Might add more exhaust fans in the future if I see any issues with temps

On 6/9/2022 at 10:47 PM, shreshta said:

you may actually need more if you plan on upgrading to rtx 4090 and i9 13900k

Upgraded to a 1200w PSU to help with future upgrades and transient power spikes that GN made a video about

 

On 6/5/2022 at 7:38 PM, brob said:

Given the preference for black, you might consider an MSI Tomahawk motherboard.

I decided to stick with the Asus Prime just because it's cheaper. The black preference isn't enough for me to spend more money on just getting a blacker mobo lol

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xK6vbK

CPU: Intel Core i9-12900K 3.2 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($539.99 @ Newegg) 
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler  ($109.95 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Asus PRIME Z690-P WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($223.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory  ($122.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($259.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  ($259.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Seagate EXOS Enterprise 8 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($190.46 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 3080 Ti 12 GB GAMING X TRIO Video Card  ($1009.99 @ Newegg) 
Case: Lian Li O11 Air Mini ATX Mid Tower Case  ($104.98 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: Corsair HX1200 Platinum 1200 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($244.99 @ Newegg) 
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM 64-bit  ($119.98 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan: Noctua A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan  ($26.95 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan: Noctua A14 PWM chromax.black.swap 82.52 CFM 140 mm Fan  ($26.95 @ Amazon) 
Total: $3241.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-07-07 20:52 EDT-0400

 

What do yall think of this updated build? I truly do appreciate everyone's input for this build. It's been really helpful so far