Build update

[NephtisSeibzehn]

Budget (including currency): about $4000

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: mostly gaming, some photoshopping 

 

Hi everyone

 

I am planning to upgrade my current build, these are the components on their way out:

 

 

- EVGA 1080ti ftw3

- i7 7700k

- Gygabyte AORUS z270x Gaming 7

- EVGA SuperNOVA 850 G2

- Swiftech H320 X2 Prestige (360mm rad)

 

So the swiftech is going to go away and I'll replace it with a blackice gtr 360 so I can have one loop instead of 2. (currently have the swiftech+gtr360 on top for the cpu, 2x 480mm on front for the gpu).  I want to make my next build AMD, so that + motherboard will be the last things I will switch out.  This leaves the PSU and GPU. I was considering buying an EVGA 3080ti ftw3 hydro since they're going for about $1099 right now, but should I wait for the 4000 series since they're around the corner? I also hear that towards the end of the month the 3080s will be going down in price further.  The biggest thing I worry about is the PSU. I thought about getting the EVGA 1600 1600 T2 but it looks like that Corsair AX1600i (or HX1500i if I want to stay in the same price range) are better. My system has a Corsair 1000D for a case and 24 fans (noctua NF-A12x25), so this thing is going to be drawing a lot of power and I don't think my PSU will be able to cut it anymore. I don't think it'll be able to handle the GPU upgrade alone, much less that + the new ryzen cpus. 

 

Anyway, sorry about the ramble. I hope this makes sense. Any help / advice would be appreciated, thank you.

 

[RONOTHAN##]

38 minutes ago, NephtisSeibzehn said:

but should I wait for the 4000 series since they're around the corner?

That's a tricky one. The RX 7000 series from what I've seen is looking pretty on track for a late October/early November launch, but every week there seems to be a new headline saying that Nvidia is delaying the 40 series yet again, and that they're gonna be increasing prices as well. If you're already rocking a 1080 Ti, that card can likely hold you over until they inevitably launch the 4080/4090, but it's still likely quite a few months away, and we don't know if we'll end up with a repeat of the 30 series launch (it's not looking likely, but if these new cards are exceptionally great at mining it is still a possibility). 

 

I wouldn't pay $1100 for a 3080 Ti anyway, you can get those cards are going for closer to ~$900 anyway that will perform identically. Yeah the Hydro is water cooled, but you're already going for a custom loop, and for that price you can actually just buy a 3080 Ti XC3 and a water block, add it into the loop, and end up with a better cooled card overall for $100 less without the reliability concerns of an AIO cooled GPU. 

[RandomlyEpic103]

1600w is pretty overkill imo. Save your money and get 1200w, should run your system fine, even with enough fans to cool a nuclear reactor. But, if you've got the money, and you want a 1600, go for it. As for the GPU, I've never been a fan of waiting when prices are decent. I know we're not quite back to msrp yet, but there's no guarantee that the 4000 series won't sell out instantly. I'd got for it now, rather than risk having to wait another 2 years for stock to come back, but that's just me. 

[NephtisSeibzehn]

25 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

I wouldn't pay $1100 for a 3080 Ti anyway, you can get those cards are going for closer to ~$900 anyway that will perform identically. Yeah the Hydro is water cooled, but you're already going for a custom loop, and for that price you can actually just buy a 3080 Ti XC3 and a water block, add it into the loop, and end up with a better cooled card overall for $100 less without the reliability concerns of an AIO cooled GPU. 

 

Hi, thank you for replying! 

 

Yeah, the only reason I'd go with the hydro at all is because it already has a waterblock installed so I can just add it to my loop. I could go with a FTW3 or XC3 as you mentioned, but wouldn't the card + waterblock (unsure if an active backplate would be needed too) be more expensive in the end? 

 

19 minutes ago, RandomlyEpic103 said:

1600w is pretty overkill imo. Save your money and get 1200w, should run your system fine, even with enough fans to cool a nuclear reactor. But, if you've got the money, and you want a 1600, go for it. As for the GPU, I've never been a fan of waiting when prices are decent. I know we're not quite back to msrp yet, but there's no guarantee that the 4000 series won't sell out instantly. I'd got for it now, rather than risk having to wait another 2 years for stock to come back, but that's just me. 

 

Hi! Thanks for replying!

I figured 1200w would be enough but the 1600 seemed to be pretty well regarded in reviews, plus in the psu tier list the 1600 seems to be best in class.  The savings would be substantial though. Which 1200w psu would you recommend? Also, I failed to mention: I have about $400 in gift cards from work so I'd be using that towards the purchase or either the gpu or cpu. Normally I'd go for the cheaper option but since I was given that I figured why not lol 

 

Consensus seems to be to just go for purchasing the gpu so far. hmm. 

 

[RONOTHAN##]

8 minutes ago, NephtisSeibzehn said:

I could go with a FTW3 or XC3 as you mentioned, but wouldn't the card + waterblock (unsure if an active backplate would be needed too) be more expensive in the end? 

Nope, it's actually cheaper right now to get an air cooled card and a water block. An EVGA XC3 3080 Ti is $850 currently, and a waterblock is $150, plus you still have an air cooler for the card (really helps with resale value, water blocked from factory cards are super hard to sell compared). An active backplate isn't necessary for a 3080 Ti since it doesn't have memory chips on both sides of the card, so might as well save your money and not get one. 

[NephtisSeibzehn]

43 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Nope, it's actually cheaper right now to get an air cooled card and a water block. An EVGA XC3 3080 Ti is $850 currently, and a waterblock is $150, plus you still have an air cooler for the card (really helps with resale value, water blocked from factory cards are super hard to sell compared). An active backplate isn't necessary for a 3080 Ti since it doesn't have memory chips on both sides of the card, so might as well save your money and not get one. 

 

True. I was looking at the active backplates from heatkiller and holy crap they look awesome, haha. I typically go with ek waterblocks, and I do need to buy new tubing and coolant anyway...

[RandomlyEpic103]

1 hour ago, NephtisSeibzehn said:

 

Hi, thank you for replying! 

 

Yeah, the only reason I'd go with the hydro at all is because it already has a waterblock installed so I can just add it to my loop. I could go with a FTW3 or XC3 as you mentioned, but wouldn't the card + waterblock (unsure if an active backplate would be needed too) be more expensive in the end? 

 

 

Hi! Thanks for replying!

I figured 1200w would be enough but the 1600 seemed to be pretty well regarded in reviews, plus in the psu tier list the 1600 seems to be best in class.  The savings would be substantial though. Which 1200w psu would you recommend? Also, I failed to mention: I have about $400 in gift cards from work so I'd be using that towards the purchase or either the gpu or cpu. Normally I'd go for the cheaper option but since I was given that I figured why not lol 

 

Consensus seems to be to just go for purchasing the gpu so far. hmm. 

 

Personally, I'd go with the Corsair HX Platinum 1200w or Seasonic Prime PX 1300w. Both are 80 plus platinum and extremely reliable.