Does this setup... like... make sense?

MrPlum111 · August 11, 2022

So I currently daily drive a m1 pro macbbok pro and i use a ipad as my second display. I am looking to upgrade soon and I'm just collecting thoughts of what i should do. Am i making a fatal flaw that will just make this completely not work? or just feedback id really appreciate

Ok, so first off a PC.

I wanna build a mid-tier tower around the $1000 to $1500 price range ideally staying not much higher then $1300. These are a general outline of components im looking to get

CPU: I'd like to go intel 12th gen. Ideally a i7 but idk if that would fit in the budget.

GPU: I'm looking at a 3060 that seems adequate but if ARC is out by the time i build it that seems like a better price to performance

MOB: i dont really care just not terrible

RAM: 32gigs, 2 sticks, just not terrible

Storage: probably just a 1TB 970 evo m.2 or something like that

CPU cooler: the stock cooler might be fine? i dont really know much about 12th gen thermals but maybe an AIO?

Case: honestly anything

PSU: also anything

idk if thats possible in that price range

I would like to go single monitor with PC problaby 1440p 120htz cuz that will be mostly for gaming and another 1440p or 4k, 60htz connected up to my mac. Ima have a thunderbolt dock so its just one or two cables to my mac and ill use that as a third display off to the side.

My real issue is what im going to do with keyboards. I want to have enough desk space do like write on paper and i have a keyboard tray so i am conflicted on if i should get two keyboards or do somethign to like switch between them or what. What would you recomend?

Also i want to use my gopro as a webcam because i barely use it and Ill problaby get the cable that i need and a capture card but does anyone know if it really works? (btw i have a hero 7 black)

RONOTHAN## · August 11, 2022

5 minutes ago, MrPlum111 said:

CPU: I'd like to go intel 12th gen. Ideally a i7 but idk if that would fit in the budget.

A 12700F is definitely doable for a roughly $1300 budget, though it might require sacrificing a little on the GPU. Depending on what you're doing will determine whether that's a good decision or not.

That said, we're close enough to the announcement and release of AM5 and 13th gen intel that it's probably a good idea to, if possible, wait a month and build the system then, prices on current gen stuff should drop pretty hard, and next gen stuff should be a pretty good price to performance bump.

10 minutes ago, MrPlum111 said:

GPU: I'm looking at a 3060 that seems adequate but if ARC is out by the time i build it that seems like a better price to performance

If you care about price to performance in the ~3060 price range, AMD GPUs are currently the best option. For the price of a 3060 you can get a 6600 XT or maybe even a 6700 non-XT, both cards that are pretty far ahead in anything that isn't Ray Tracing and raw compute, but if you cared about that you wouldn't be considering Arc.

12 minutes ago, MrPlum111 said:

My real issue is what im going to do with keyboards. I want to have enough desk space do like write on paper and i have a keyboard tray so i am conflicted on if i should get two keyboards or do somethign to like switch between them or what. What would you recomend?

KVMs are cheap enough that I'd probably end up just investing in one of those. There are also keyboards out there that allow for switching between two systems, though the couple I know of are all really expensive and do it over Bluetooth so the KVM might still be the better option.

Dukesilver27- · August 11, 2022

My recommendation: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/b4wNY9

Excluding monitor since you did not mention monitor to be included in the budget, otherwise you need to go a lot lower on CPU and GPU to fit a decent monitor in $1500 budget.

Do you do any particularly CPU intensive workloads? If not, for gaming on 1440p 120+ fps (AAA games), you need more GPU horsepower than that.

CPU, I'd go with an i5 like i5-12400 or 12600k, and reallocate the budget to GPU. Decent air cooler.

RAM, unless you do professional workloads that require RAM, then 16gb is plenty, you could always upgrade it later.

Mobo, decent Z690 to go with the 12600k, in case you'd like to OC, if not then go with B660M.

SSD, a great value and quality SSD, no need to go with 970 evo for gaming or general task.

GPU, RTX 3070 for excellent 1440p gaming, cheapest one, you could go higher price ones if you like more bling.

Case, a great performer for the price, if you would like to go cheaper, Phanteks P360A is good.

PSU, high quality PSU, you do not want to cheap out on PSU, 850w for potential future upgrade.

LogicalDrm · August 12, 2022

On 8/11/2022 at 6:15 AM, MrPlum111 said:

My real issue is what im going to do with keyboards. I want to have enough desk space do like write on paper and i have a keyboard tray so i am conflicted on if i should get two keyboards or do somethign to like switch between them or what. What would you recomend?

You have 4 options here. Eiher manually plug (or get something from Logitech with switch to multiple profiles), use Synergy, buy KVM, or buy USB switcher. Disclaimer, I have the latter, have had for over year. Works perfectly.

On 8/11/2022 at 6:15 AM, MrPlum111 said:

Also i want to use my gopro as a webcam because i barely use it and Ill problaby get the cable that i need and a capture card but does anyone know if it really works? (btw i have a hero 7 black)

Would you be switching that too? Capture card is option, and it would work. But I'm not sure how their software do with macOS. Or how software dependant it would be when used for webcam function. According to GoPro manual, it can be connected to monitor for live preview so it should work.