help $4000 PC Build Help

[Z_iggs]

Hi all,

I am new to the PC world and after looking at pre-built vs building a PC myself I think I can do it and save some money vs having someone else supply and put it together for me. That being said, I am not sure on the parts I need per say and want to make sure that what I am getting is going to work as a cohesive unit. So any help or recommendations would be greatly appreciated. The biggest points of concern are making sure everything will fit in the form factor (Lian Li case) that I have chosen. I also want to make sure that the PSU I have chosen will work. If I can go lower on the Watts then that would be good to know as well.

Thanks in advance and look forward to hearing from you all!

 

Budget (including currency): $4000 (USD)

 

Country: United States

 

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for:
Cinema 4D + Redshift, Blender 3D + Cycles (maybe octane eventually), Adobe Creative Suite

If any gaming is done it will be Fortnite

 

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): 

Parts list that I have picked out:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/3JWBY9

 

CPU:

AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 4.7 GHz 12-Core Processor  ($549.00 @ Amazon) 

CPU Cooler:

EK AIO 240 D-RGB 66.04 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($107.09 @ Newegg Sellers)

Motherboard:

Asus ROG STRIX X670E-I GAMING WIFI Mini ITX AM5 Motherboard  ($469.99 @ Amazon)

Memory:

Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory  ($162.99 @ Newegg)

Storage:

Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($219.00 @ Amazon)

Video Card:

NVIDIA Founders Edition GeForce RTX 3090 Ti 24 GB Video Card  ($1499.99 @ Amazon)

Case:

Lian Li A4-H20 X4 Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($154.99 @ Newegg)

Power Supply:

Silverstone SX1000-LPT 1000 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply

Operating System:

Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit  ($119.98 @ Amazon)

Case Fan: Noctua Ax25 chromax 60.09 CFM 120 mm Fan  ($32.90 @ Amazon) 
Case Fan: Noctua Ax25 chromax 60.09 CFM 120 mm Fan  ($32.90 @ Amazon)

Total: $3348.83

Peripherals:

Monitor: LG ultrawide 34" 2K resolution.
Mouse: MX Master 2S + Wacom Intuos Pro

Keyboard: NONE

 

I am currently using a Macbook Pro M1 Max fully spec'd out, but need the rendering power that comes with a dedicated GPU. I would ideally like to buy in the next week-2 weeks. I need this PC for work
 

 

 

[dizmo]

I'd take a look at the new Intel CPUs, they might work better for your applications.

Don't skimp on watts for the PSU. I'd keep that one. I'd also check to make sure it can take SFX-L over SFX.

I'd maybe take another look at the motherboard but I doubt there's many options in the ITX space.

Are the fans for the AIO? IIRC Arctic fans are better and quieter.

 

Welcome to the forum.

[Z_iggs]

31 minutes ago, dizmo said:

I'd take a look at the new Intel CPUs, they might work better for your applications.

Don't skimp on watts for the PSU. I'd keep that one. I'd also check to make sure it can take SFX-L over SFX.

I'd maybe take another look at the motherboard but I doubt there's many options in the ITX space.

Are the fans for the AIO? IIRC Arctic fans are better and quieter.

 

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks for the feedback! I will check those and see. Is the intel CPU's as good as AMD multithread? I havent kept up much with it, but remember in the past few years AMD was really leading the charge in CPU performance.

What is the difference between SFX-L vs SFX?

 

Yes, I can change the fans. just added what I thought would work

 

And thanks mate and cheers!

[dizmo]

3 hours ago, Z_iggs said:

Thanks for the feedback! I will check those and see. Is the intel CPU's as good as AMD multithread? I havent kept up much with it, but remember in the past few years AMD was really leading the charge in CPU performance.

What is the difference between SFX-L vs SFX?

 

Yes, I can change the fans. just added what I thought would work

 

And thanks mate and cheers!

So I'm not 100% sure, as I only ever look at gaming performance, but from what I have seen it's top of the pack in almost everything, and it's only $40ish more than the CPU you have in your build. On top of that you should be able to find cheaper motherboards, some of which can use DDR4 to shave down some cost (not sure how it'd affect overall performance). TechPowerUp is great when it comes to reviews, if these tests don't help you can go through the pages via the drop down at the bottom, they've done lots.

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/intel-core-i9-13900k/7.html

 

SFX-L is longer than SFX. I don't think it'd matter a ton in that case, but you never know.

 

Yeah, check out the HardwareCanucks fan reviews. They had one that was specific to AIO testing, and that's why I picked Arctic for mine. They were also considerably cheaper; about $12 per fan. Most of the time I can't even tell they're spinning.

 

With some tweaks it brought the cost down to a little cheaper than yours (the CPU is higher than list right now).

 

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K 3 GHz 24-Core Processor  ($659.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: EK AIO 240 D-RGB 66.04 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($107.09 @ Newegg Sellers)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z690I AORUS ULTRA PLUS DDR4 (rev. 1.0) Mini ITX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($309.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-4400 CL19 Memory  ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P3 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($38.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($219.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: NVIDIA Founders Edition GeForce RTX 3090 Ti 24 GB Video Card  ($1475.00 @ Amazon)
Case: Lian Li A4-H20 X4 Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Silverstone SX1000-LPT 1000 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit  ($119.98 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan  ($12.41 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan  ($12.41 @ Amazon)
Total: $3239.84
 

DDR5 adds about $150 - $200 to the cost of the build, not really sure if that's worth it but in the grand scheme of things it's not a huge added cost.

I added an OS drive along with the 2TB for storage. Alternatively you can add $100 and get 64GB of RAM.

I'm assuming you need an Nvidia card for your workflow? The 6900XT is considerably cheaper, and the 7900 XTX will be not much more ($999) at launch.

 

Also, if you wait for Black Friday you should see discounts on parts. Though that's a different kind of shopping entirely.

[Z_iggs]

8 hours ago, dizmo said:

So I'm not 100% sure, as I only ever look at gaming performance, but from what I have seen it's top of the pack in almost everything, and it's only $40ish more than the CPU you have in your build. On top of that you should be able to find cheaper motherboards, some of which can use DDR4 to shave down some cost (not sure how it'd affect overall performance). TechPowerUp is great when it comes to reviews, if these tests don't help you can go through the pages via the drop down at the bottom, they've done lots.

https://www.techpowerup.com/review/intel-core-i9-13900k/7.html

 

SFX-L is longer than SFX. I don't think it'd matter a ton in that case, but you never know.

 

Yeah, check out the HardwareCanucks fan reviews. They had one that was specific to AIO testing, and that's why I picked Arctic for mine. They were also considerably cheaper; about $12 per fan. Most of the time I can't even tell they're spinning.

 

With some tweaks it brought the cost down to a little cheaper than yours (the CPU is higher than list right now).

 

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i9-13900K 3 GHz 24-Core Processor  ($659.99 @ B&H)
CPU Cooler: EK AIO 240 D-RGB 66.04 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($107.09 @ Newegg Sellers)
Motherboard: Gigabyte Z690I AORUS ULTRA PLUS DDR4 (rev. 1.0) Mini ITX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($309.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-4400 CL19 Memory  ($129.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Crucial P3 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($38.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($219.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: NVIDIA Founders Edition GeForce RTX 3090 Ti 24 GB Video Card  ($1475.00 @ Amazon)
Case: Lian Li A4-H20 X4 Mini ITX Desktop Case  ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: Silverstone SX1000-LPT 1000 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular SFX Power Supply
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 11 Home OEM - DVD 64-bit  ($119.98 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan  ($12.41 @ Amazon)
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fan  ($12.41 @ Amazon)
Total: $3239.84
 

DDR5 adds about $150 - $200 to the cost of the build, not really sure if that's worth it but in the grand scheme of things it's not a huge added cost.

I added an OS drive along with the 2TB for storage. Alternatively you can add $100 and get 64GB of RAM.

I'm assuming you need an Nvidia card for your workflow? The 6900XT is considerably cheaper, and the 7900 XTX will be not much more ($999) at launch.

 

Also, if you wait for Black Friday you should see discounts on parts. Though that's a different kind of shopping entirely.

I appreciate this so much! I will definitely take a deep dive into all of this and see what makes sense now that I have the feedback. I think if I can I might wait a bit longer to see if parts go on sail, but I might just have to go ahead and purchase the GPU. Unfortunately the render engines for my workflow only use CUDA and therefore limits me to use only Nvidia, which is a bummer because I know the 7900 XTX is going to come out with some amazing performance for the price. Thanks again though for all this information! If I have any questions I will for sure post on here and ask.

[brob]

If you haven't read it yet, you might find https://www.pugetsystems.com/labs/articles/13th-Gen-Intel-Core-Processors-Content-Creation-Review-2369/ useful.

 

Do you really need such a small case? I realize it's convenient, but current gen CPU performance is affected by its cooling system's performance. A 240 AIO is really a minimum.