Looking to upgrade and have a rough idea, wondering if it's a good idea.

[Vennaya]

Budget (including currency): £1000-1400 or so. Perhaps a bit more depending on GPU prices this black friday.

Country: UK

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Gaming, Art (CSP/Photoshop)

I plan on upgrading my ancient PC to future proof and i have a rough idea of what i should get, but i've been out of the PC building space for several years due to prices and so i'm a bit behind in a lot of respects, and need some advice.

 

Current build is as follows

 

CPU: Intel i7-8700k

GPU: MSI GTX 980Ti

PSU: 6~ year old 750W Corsair.

Motherboard: ASUS PRIME Z370-A

RAM: 32GB Total. Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3000C15 (DDR4 3000Mhz) 2x 8GB Sticks. Two kits for a total of 4 sticks (4x8GB 3000mhz...Basically).

 

As mentioned, due to pricing i have been out of the PC building space, the last time i built properly was before Ryzen was a thing.

I'm looking to perhaps buy some parts over black friday.

The main uses i plan on using this for is mostly gaming, and some art programs such as ClipStudio paint and Photoshop in the future. I also might end up using a little bit of blender and while i realise Nvidia is generally better for Blender, i doubt i'll be using it that much so probably a non-issue. Several of the games i play are fairly CPU heavy.

My main screen is a 2560x1440 144hz screen. I intend on playing in native res, and don't mind the frames going lower...I've been stuck with that for years already xD

 

This is the rough build i have come up with, with some basic one-night research:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/tWQZPX

 

Ignore the RAM and Storage on the link. I intend to keep what i already have for a new build.

I DO need a new case, as my current one is half-broken.

I have also put an AIO liquid cooler there, despite having no experience with them, as i have heard that they are generally quieter than air coolers. I do not intend to overclock my CPU all that much if at all.

 

My goal with this build is to make it last as long as possible, as my current one has. I do not want to spend more than £600 or so on a GPU however, unless these new GPUs from AMD that are coming out next month will be worth the extra few hundred or so in terms of longevity. Obviously as i want to make it last as long as possible, i want to aim to get the best GPU i can get for that kind of price (I bought a 980Ti for £600 the year it came out and it was the flagship then. Why can't i now, damnit? 3080RRP was £650 or so, but i've never seen it that low.) Currently, GPU prices are still well over launch RRP in the UK. Not sure how that's going to change if at all at black friday.

Ideally looking to get a RTX 3080 (or AMD equivalent...like i said, kinda outa the loop a bit) or better, again, so it lasts as long as possible.

 

is the CPU i have chosen a good idea for these tasks, at that price? Will the socket remain relevant or might i need to upgrade the motherboard for the next build as well for a new socket? Would another type of CPU be a better idea?

Will the GPU i have chosen last me a good 7 years or so, as my current GPU has, gaming at my desired resolution? Which one might be better? Is it worth waiting for the new GPUs instead of buying a current one on black friday?

 

The CPU and GPU (And perhaps the PSU, due to its age and maybe not having the right PCIE power connectors for current GPUs) is definately the things i need the most advice on. Like i said earlier, my last build was both before Ryzen came along, and before mining was big.

 

Thanks for any advice given!

 

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Vennaya
Updated my stated budget based on replies

[podkall]

I summon you @RONOTHAN##

 

and few answers while more help comes:

 

10 minutes ago, Vennaya said:

is the CPU i have chosen a good idea for these tasks, at that price?

It might be, idk personally if it's the best option though

 

10 minutes ago, Vennaya said:

Will the socket remain relevant or might i need to upgrade the motherboard for the next build as well for a new socket?

The socket is AM4, while AMD already has AM5 newer socket which means not much new will be available on AM4,

 

11 minutes ago, Vennaya said:

Would another type of CPU be a better idea?

There's always options,

 

what exact CPU games are you talking about are CPU heavy?

 

13 minutes ago, Vennaya said:

Is it worth waiting for the new GPUs instead of buying a current one on black friday?

it probably might be, but don't take my word for it

 

13 minutes ago, Vennaya said:

I have also put an AIO liquid cooler there, despite having no experience with them, as i have heard that they are generally quieter than air coolers.

some air coolers are quieter/similarly quiet as an AIO, ever heared of Noctua?

 

if you have more questions don't be affraid to ask

[PDifolco]

Cleaning up your list and keeping your PSU (because it's good enough), you're already way over budget...

You should maybe rather get a 3070 (better at productivuty software and cheaper)

Then the 5800X isn't a great chip, the good option is 13600K, but it's £100 More and will put you even more over budget...

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/Bh8xC6

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor  (£239.25 @ NeoComputers) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240L RGB 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£67.06 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£169.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL15 Memory  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL15 Memory  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Storage: Samsung 870 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Storage: Samsung 870 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Storage: Samsung 870 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING OC V2 GeForce RTX 3080 10GB LHR 10 GB Video Card  (£748.49 @ Box Limited) 
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL II-X ATX Mid Tower Case  (£81.26 @ CCL Computers) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM750 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Total: £1305.06
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-11-07 19:35 GMT+0000

[podkall]

14 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Cleaning up your list and keeping your PSU (because it's good enough), you're already way over budget...

You should maybe rather get a 3070 (better at productivuty software and cheaper)

Then the 5800X isn't a great chip, the good option is 13600K, but it's £100 More and will put you even more over budget...

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/Bh8xC6

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor  (£239.25 @ NeoComputers) 
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master MasterLiquid ML240L RGB 66.7 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£67.06 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£169.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL15 Memory  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 CL15 Memory  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Storage: Samsung 870 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Storage: Samsung 870 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Storage: Samsung 870 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING OC V2 GeForce RTX 3080 10GB LHR 10 GB Video Card  (£748.49 @ Box Limited) 
Case: Lian Li LANCOOL II-X ATX Mid Tower Case  (£81.26 @ CCL Computers) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM750 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Total: £1305.06
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-11-07 19:35 GMT+0000

 

OP said they can buy a GPU on Black Friday or wait for new GPUs to be released,

 

(or not just GPU but components in general probably lol)

 

which one would you recommned for OP?

Edited November 7, 2022 by podkall
eeeeeeeeedit

[RONOTHAN##]

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/qjQLKp

 

The 13600K would be a much better CPU, the AIO was chosen because it's a little cheaper, and the motherboard was just the cheapest one with a decent VRM and BIOS Flashback so you could update it. Ryzen CPUs, while fine, are generally just worse than 12th and 13th gen chips are just a much better value. The GPU was upgraded to a 6900 XT because it's a bit faster and it's currently cheaper than the 6800 XT you picked, so you might as well. PSU was picked because it was a lot cheaper. 

[podkall]

3 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/qjQLKp

 

The 13600K would be a much better CPU, the AIO was chosen because it's a little cheaper, and the motherboard was just the cheapest one with a decent VRM and BIOS Flashback so you could update it. Ryzen CPUs, while fine, are generally just worse than 12th and 13th gen chips are just a much better value. The GPU was upgraded to a 6900 XT because it's a bit faster and it's currently cheaper than the 6800 XT you picked, so you might as well. PSU was picked because it was a lot cheaper. 

I'll ask you same question, pardon me:

 

OP said they can buy a GPU on Black Friday or wait for new GPUs to be released,

 

(or not just GPU but components in general probably lol)

 

which one would you recommned for OP?

Edited November 7, 2022 by podkall
eeeeeeeeedit

[PDifolco]

11 minutes ago, podkall said:

 

OP said they can buy a GPU on Black Friday or wait for new GPUs to be released,

 

(or not just GPU but components in general probably lol)

 

which one would you recommned for OP?

13600k CPU and 3080 GPU as he's using Blender 

[RONOTHAN##]

3 minutes ago, podkall said:

which one would you recommned for OP?

Given they're planning on doing a fair bit of Photoshop, a 3080 is probably the better pick over an RDNA2 card, though if it's only once in a while (once a week at most) a 6900 XT would make the most sense. 7900 XT would be a good GPU as well, but odds are unless you play at 4K 144Hz you won't really notice a difference. 

[podkall]

@PDifolco

I'm not asking about components, I'm asking

 

1. Wait for Black Friday in case they discount 13600k or 3080

 

2. Wait for AMD's new cards

 

4 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

7900 XT would be a good GPU as well, but odds are unless you play at 4K 144Hz you won't really notice a difference. 

Wow really? Does that settle it then?

[PDifolco]

Just now, podkall said:

@PDifolco

I'm not asking about components, I'm asking

 

1. Wait for Black Friday in case they discount 13600k or 3080

 

2. Wait for AMD's new cards

 

Wow really? Does that settle it then?

I've no idea of what Black Friday will offer, and AMD new cards wil be in the £1000 range so way more than OP's budget

 

[Vennaya]

1 hour ago, podkall said:

what exact CPU games are you talking about are CPU heavy?
...
The socket is AM4, while AMD already has AM5 newer socket which means not much new will be available on AM4,

Thanks for getting back to me.

As for the CPU heavy games, i'm talking along the lines of Stellaris and...honestly drawing a blank on all the others but suffice it to say, i'm not really all that interested in many big AAA games these days. The only real big games i plan on playing over the next year are Darktide and Starfield. Any additional GPU power over that would pretty much just be for longevity and the ability to play future games at "not 15fps" like my current GPU does xD

 

And thanks for the info about the socket. I just looked up articles about some of the better CPUs this year and that one was mentioned a lot and over the years i had heard good things about Ryzen CPUs.

 

1 hour ago, PDifolco said:

Cleaning up your list and keeping your PSU (because it's good enough), you're already way over budget...

You should maybe rather get a 3070 (better at productivuty software and cheaper)

Then the 5800X isn't a great chip, the good option is 13600K, but it's £100 More and will put you even more over budget...

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/Bh8xC6

 

Thanks for this!

 

And i was wondering about that actually - the PSU on that list actually seems to be the same one i have, i think? Not sure if its the same one EXACTLY but it seems to have the same name. Is it not a good idea to replace a PSU that is as old as mine (6 years)?

And yea... the budget was probably a little low, i realise now, especially if i'm buying a new case alongside. I'd say £1400 is probably about as high as i'd go now that i think about it based on the replies i've gotten so far.

 

Just how much better at "productivity" would a 3070 be over an equivalent AMD card? As i mentioned, i would probably only use blender once in a blue moon though i would use CSP/Photoshop semi-regularly, but that's mostly limited by RAM, right?

1 hour ago, RONOTHAN## said:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/qjQLKp

 

The 13600K would be a much better CPU, the AIO was chosen because it's a little cheaper, and the motherboard was just the cheapest one with a decent VRM and BIOS Flashback so you could update it. Ryzen CPUs, while fine, are generally just worse than 12th and 13th gen chips are just a much better value. The GPU was upgraded to a 6900 XT because it's a bit faster and it's currently cheaper than the 6800 XT you picked, so you might as well. PSU was picked because it was a lot cheaper. 

Thanks!

 

So i'm hearing that...Ryzen CPUs generally aren't all that amazing right now and would be worth going for an intel CPU instead? How would an upgrade path look like for that? I remember hearing some vague tellings a few months ago about intel being scummy with sockets between generations or something?

 

Also, question about the CPU you listed - It seems to have a lower boost clock than my current CPU? Will it really be better?

As i mentioned in this post somewhere else, i'm a bit ignorant to CPUs a lot of the time so i'm honestly not sure.

And i'm not sure about that AIO you put in the list. I can't say i've ever heard of that brand before and the reviews seem a bit sparse. Would you recommend it, over something from a bigger brand like Corsair or coolermaster? 

1 hour ago, PDifolco said:

13600k CPU and 3080 GPU as he's using Blender 

 

Well as i mentioned, i would only use blender very occasionally, and only generally for basic things at least at the moment. The main use case would definitely be gaming and illustration software. 

Hearing a lot of recommendations for the 13600k though. I admit, even before i did my last big build i was fairly ignorant of CPUs, still am, as i was always told that clock speed both matters and doesn't, all by different people. Very confusing.

 

1 hour ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Given they're planning on doing a fair bit of Photoshop, a 3080 is probably the better pick over an RDNA2 card, though if it's only once in a while (once a week at most) a 6900 XT would make the most sense. 7900 XT would be a good GPU as well, but odds are unless you play at 4K 144Hz you won't really notice a difference. 

It would certainly be more than once a week i should think. Is an Nvidia card really that much better for illustration programs? Aren't these kinds of programs, like photoshop and CSP, mostly dictated by RAM?

 

1 hour ago, PDifolco said:

I've no idea of what Black Friday will offer, and AMD new cards wil be in the £1000 range so way more than OP's budget

 

Weren't the prices announced to be 1k dollars? So it would probably be like...£800 or so? And if they are that much better than current gen i might be convinced to spend that much, if they last for a long long time. But i suppose that's something we won't know until they're released, right?

And yea...Hard to tell what Black friday would offer. I mostly asked to see if someone might say a particular card at a roughly particular price would be a steal for my use case xD

 

 

-------

 

Thanks for all the replies so far!

So i've gathered that...an intel CPU is generally better at the moment and would be much more worth it?

Recommendations for GPUs seem to be a bit mixed though.

 

 

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Vennaya
Added a few things

[PDifolco]

1 hour ago, Vennaya said:

Thanks for getting back to me.

As for the CPU heavy games, i'm talking along the lines of Stellaris and...honestly drawing a blank on all the others but suffice it to say, i'm not really all that interested in many big AAA games these days. The only real big games i plan on playing over the next year are Darktide and Starfield. Any additional GPU power over that would pretty much just be for longevity and the ability to play future games at "not 15fps" like my current GPU does xD

 

And thanks for the info about the socket. I just looked up articles about some of the better CPUs this year and that one was mentioned a lot and over the years i had heard good things about Ryzen CPUs.

 

Thanks for this!

 

And i was wondering about that actually - the PSU on that list actually seems to be the same one i have, i think? Not sure if its the same one EXACTLY but it seems to have the same name. Is it not a good idea to replace a PSU that is as old as mine (6 years)?

And yea... the budget was probably a little low, i realise now, especially if i'm buying a new case alongside. I'd say £1400 is probably about as high as i'd go now that i think about it based on the replies i've gotten so far.

 

Just how much better at "productivity" would a 3070 be over an equivalent AMD card? As i mentioned, i would probably only use blender once in a blue moon though i would use CSP/Photoshop semi-regularly, but that's mostly limited by RAM, right?

Thanks!

 

So i'm hearing that...Ryzen CPUs generally aren't all that amazing right now and would be worth going for an intel CPU instead? How would an upgrade path look like for that? I remember hearing some vague tellings a few months ago about intel being scummy with sockets between generations or something?

 

Also, question about the CPU you listed - It seems to have a lower boost clock than my current CPU? Will it really be better?

As i mentioned in this post somewhere else, i'm a bit ignorant to CPUs a lot of the time so i'm honestly not sure.

And i'm not sure about that AIO you put in the list. I can't say i've ever heard of that brand before and the reviews seem a bit sparse. Would you recommend it, over something from a bigger brand like Corsair or coolermaster? 

 

Well as i mentioned, i would only use blender very occasionally, and only generally for basic things at least at the moment. The main use case would definitely be gaming and illustration software. 

Hearing a lot of recommendations for the 13600k though. I admit, even before i did my last big build i was fairly ignorant of CPUs, still am, as i was always told that clock speed both matters and doesn't, all by different people. Very confusing.

 

It would certainly be more than once a week i should think. Is an Nvidia card really that much better for illustration programs? Aren't these kinds of programs, like photoshop and CSP, mostly dictated by RAM?

 

Weren't the prices announced to be 1k dollars? So it would probably be like...£800 or so? And if they are that much better than current gen i might be convinced to spend that much, if they last for a long long time. But i suppose that's something we won't know until they're released, right?

And yea...Hard to tell what Black friday would offer. I mostly asked to see if someone might say a particular card at a roughly particular price would be a steal for my use case xD

 

 

-------

 

Thanks for all the replies so far!

So i've gathered that...an intel CPU is generally better at the moment and would be much more worth it?

Recommendations for GPUs seem to be a bit mixed though.

 

 

 

 

For budget builds AMD CPU are great now (5600), but not for mid/hi range builds, where the 13600K is king; on high end there's still a choice between 13900K and 7950X

 

Re GPU if you don't mind losing NVidia software the 6700XT is a good 1440p at nice price. The $1000 7900XTX will end up at £870 (conversion) +20% VAT + 10% AIB addon/scalping so rather around £1150

 

[RONOTHAN##]

3 hours ago, Vennaya said:

So i'm hearing that...Ryzen CPUs generally aren't all that amazing right now and would be worth going for an intel CPU instead? How would an upgrade path look like for that? I remember hearing some vague tellings a few months ago about intel being scummy with sockets between generations or something?

There are some Ryzen chips that make sense (the 5600, 5800X3D, 7900X, and 7950X can all make sense in certain use cases at certain price ranges, and if you live near a Micro Center they're doing enough sales on Ryzen 7000 series CPUs that a 7700X can be a pretty good value in the right situation), but anything in between those chips generally doesn't make a whole lot of sense compared to the 13th gen CPUs, and the 5800X3D specifically only makes sense if you're already using an AM4 motherboard. 

 

For an upgrade path, there really isn't one (maybe a 13900K, but that barely qualifies as one unless you're heavy into workstation tasks), but I'd argue that likely doesn't matter that much. By the time you'd want to upgrade, odds are the socket will be at the end of its life span anyway, so there wouldn't be a ton of point to upgrading anyway, plus AM4 (the CPU platform originally picked) is also isn't getting new CPUs either so it's not like you'd get the benefit on there. If you want an in socket upgrade path, AM5 is your only option, but it's also a fair bit slower than its price competitive Intel CPUs that you could actually just put the money saved and get a new motherboard in ~4 years once you need a new upgrade. 

 

4 hours ago, Vennaya said:

It would certainly be more than once a week i should think. Is an Nvidia card really that much better for illustration programs? Aren't these kinds of programs, like photoshop and CSP, mostly dictated by RAM?

The reason I said that is more because the Adobe suite tends to be a bit less stable with AMD cards than Nvidia cards, plus Nvidia's workstation numbers are leagues ahead of where AMD is currently. AMD has caught up on game driver stability and game performance, but in workstation tasks they've still got some work to do to get in the ball park of Nvidia. 

 

4 hours ago, Vennaya said:

Also, question about the CPU you listed - It seems to have a lower boost clock than my current CPU? Will it really be better?

My apologies, that was a misclick, you want to go for the 13600K or 13600KF, not the 12600K if you can afford it. The 12600K is still a solid CPU, but the 13600K is a lot faster. 

 

4 hours ago, Vennaya said:

And i'm not sure about that AIO you put in the list. I can't say i've ever heard of that brand before and the reviews seem a bit sparse. Would you recommend it, over something from a bigger brand like Corsair or coolermaster? 

IIRC it's an Asetek rebrand like most AIOs you'd get from Cooler Master or Corsair, so performance should be about the same, and it's just a bit cheaper instead. I'd either get that or a big air cooler like an NH-D15 or Deepcool AK620. 

[Vennaya]

15 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

.... 

Great thanks, that is good to know. Honestly most of my workload at least at the moment is on CSP and not photoshop but i imagine that with them being fairly similar programs it will be about the same story?

 

Also no i don't have a microcenter near me, considering that is an american store xD

In the UK, its almost impossible to get PC parts from an actual store, it all needs to be purchased online.

 

----

 

I put together a new list based on the replies i have gotten here

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/CRhT3y

Obviously its over my budget but i suppose i'm just going to have to cross my fingers at a good deal over black friday?

 

I'm also unsure as to if the motherboard i chose has a flashback feature, or whatever its called, to allow me to update the BIOS to make it compatible with the CPU. I've looked on the product page on the website and it doesn't mention it but there does seem to be a button of some kind on the back so maybe that's it? The BIOS needing updating seems to be a thing on basically every single motherboard at a reasonable price. I also just realised that the base clock of the CPU is actually lower than my current one?

 

Is this part list a better bet?

[RONOTHAN##]

8 minutes ago, Vennaya said:

Great thanks, that is good to know. Honestly most of my workload at least at the moment is on CSP and not photoshop but i imagine that with them being fairly similar programs it will be about the same story?

Don't really know how CSP behaves so can't really comment on that. For all I know it could love AMD cards. In my bit of Googling for it, it doesn't seem to care what GPU vendor you use, but that's just about 5 minutes of searching so take that for what you will. 

 

16 minutes ago, Vennaya said:

I put together a new list based on the replies i have gotten here

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/CRhT3y

Obviously its over my budget but i suppose i'm just going to have to cross my fingers at a good deal over black friday?

Not bad, though I'd be trying to go for a 3080, not a 3070 Ti, mostly because the 3080s are actually a bit cheaper. Other than that it's a pretty solid build though

 

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/nzdftn

 

Also, I wouldn't hold your breath for Black Friday deals, over the past 2-3 years they haven't really been that great. There's the occasional SSD deal, sometime a PSU deal, and if your lucky a CPU/motherboard deal (though this is usually on last gen gear), but all in the range of ~$20-30 off at most. Not saying you won't find some good deals on those/similar parts, just don't expect a miracle. 

 

23 minutes ago, Vennaya said:

I'm also unsure as to if the motherboard i chose has a flashback feature, or whatever its called, to allow me to update the BIOS to make it compatible with the CPU. I've looked on the product page on the website and it doesn't mention it but there does seem to be a button of some kind on the back so maybe that's it? The BIOS needing updating seems to be a thing on basically every single motherboard at a reasonable price.

It does. The Z690-A Pro is a really solid motherboard, and I can confirm it does have BIOS Flashback (built two different machines with that same board)

[podkall]

1 minute ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Don't really know how CSP behaves so can't really comment on that. For all I know it could love AMD cards. In my bit of Googling for it, it doesn't seem to care what GPU vendor you use, but that's just about 5 minutes of searching so take that for what you will. 

Yeah that's what I thought, does our OP really need nvidia workstation efficiency in their programs?

 

@Vennaya does your GTX 980ti restrict you in your Photoshop or other non-gaming programs or just games?

 

3 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

It does. The Z690-A Pro is a really solid motherboard, and I can confirm it does have BIOS Flashback (built two different machines with that same board)

That's strange, their website doesn't state that and the supported CPUs just gives you a BIOS version instead of a simple yes/no..

 

4 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

 

Also, I wouldn't hold your breath for Black Friday deals, over the past 2-3 years they haven't really been that great. There's the occasional SSD deal, sometime a PSU deal, and if your lucky a CPU/motherboard deal (though this is usually on last gen gear), but all in the range of ~$20-30 off at most. Not saying you won't find some good deals on those/similar parts, just don't expect a miracle. 

Speaking of PSUs

 

does our OP need new PSU?

 

or Nvidia GPU if they don't require the workstation efficiency?

 

unless they want Ray Tracing? @Vennaya

[RONOTHAN##]

1 minute ago, podkall said:

That's strange, their website doesn't state that and the supported CPUs just gives you a BIOS version instead of a simple yes/no..

It does say in the manual and in the advanced spec page. They just didn't feel it was a major selling point, so they didn't put it on the overview page.

 

Also, the BIOS version instead of the yes/no is pretty standard for CPU compatibility lists, and IMO kinda preferred. They only list chips that they validate to work, and they list the first BIOS revision that they work with. 

 

5 minutes ago, podkall said:

Speaking of PSUs

 

does our OP need new PSU?

 

or Nvidia GPU if they don't require the workstation efficiency?

 

unless they want Ray Tracing?

It's required if they want to upgrade to a 3080/6900XT, and they also game, where a 980 Ti is definitely starting to show its age (it's still fine for the most part, but there are situations where it's not). It's not a required upgrade for photoshop, it's more an upgrade for games. 

[podkall]

17 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

and they list the first BIOS revision that they work with. 

well that doesn't tell you if the BIOS is actually already installed on the board you buy..

[RONOTHAN##]

Just now, podkall said:

well that doesn't tell you if the BIOS is actually already installed on the board you buy..

No, but that's because they can't. That depends on when the board you end up buying was manufactured. If you buy one that was made towards the beginning of the Z690 launch, the board will be running a very early BIOS revision. If you buy one made a month ago, it will have a relatively recent BIOS update. 

[Vennaya]

48 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Not bad, though I'd be trying to go for a 3080, not a 3070 Ti, mostly because the 3080s are actually a bit cheaper. Other than that it's a pretty solid build though

 

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/nzdftn

 

Also, I wouldn't hold your breath for Black Friday deals, over the past 2-3 years they haven't really been that great. There's the occasional SSD deal, sometime a PSU deal, and if your lucky a CPU/motherboard deal (though this is usually on last gen gear), but all in the range of ~$20-30 off at most. Not saying you won't find some good deals on those/similar parts, just don't expect a miracle. 

 

It does. The Z690-A Pro is a really solid motherboard, and I can confirm it does have BIOS Flashback (built two different machines with that same board)

I'm not sure how i missed the 3080 being apparently cheaper, seeing as i filtered by price xD

Thanks for that.

 

And damn that sucks to hear, i was kinda hoping that with the new gen for amd right around the corner and with the 3000 series cards apparently still being over stocked that nvidia would push the button on black friday/cyber monday being a fair bit cheaper.

Speaking of which - Is there really any difference between black friday and cyber monday when it comes to things like this? In the past i haven't really noticed much of a difference though i can't say i really looked very hard.

I'm still not sure how i feel about paying more than reccomended retail price for a card that is over a year old xD

 

And good to hear on the motherboard front. I don't actually have any experience whatsoever with updating the bios but using bios flashback, from what i have looked up, seems simple enough. Just put a file on a usb stick, format it to fat32, rename a file and then plug it in to a port that is mentioned in the manual and push a button and leave it for 10-30 minutes and it's done.

47 minutes ago, podkall said:

...

@Vennaya does your GTX 980ti restrict you in your Photoshop or other non-gaming programs or just games?

 

....

unless they want Ray Tracing? @Vennaya

Honestly as far as i can tell no, my 980ti is not hindering me in other non-gaming programs, though that might just be because i'm not doing something massively complex and...well, even if i had a hundred layers on my illustation project, that's still mostly a RAM thing, right? CSP does occasionally go in to "Not responding" for a few minutes but as far as i can tell that's pretty much everyones experience with programs like these and i doubt it has anything to do with my GPU.

 

Honestly not sure about the ray tracing part. I obviously don't have a card that supports it, so i dont even know how many games support it or if i would use it.

44 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

It's required if they want to upgrade to a 3080/6900XT, and they also game, where a 980 Ti is definitely starting to show its age (it's still fine for the most part, but there are situations where it's not). It's not a required upgrade for photoshop, it's more an upgrade for games. 

I mean my PSU is 750W at the moment, which as far as i can tell might just cut it? But at the same time, its 6 years old and i've heard that it's a good idea to replace PSUs after 5 or so years as they can degrade with age, and i don't really want to take any chances with a PSU obviously. So that's mostly why i put a 850W power supply on there, just incase i needed the extra 100W which it sounds like i might?

 

19 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

No, but that's because they can't. That depends on when the board you end up buying was manufactured. If you buy one that was made towards the beginning of the Z690 launch, the board will be running a very early BIOS revision. If you buy one made a month ago, it will have a relatively recent BIOS update. 

I see. Is there a way to tell what BIOS version a motherboard has without powering it on? Can't say i've ever turned on a PC without a CPU in the socket so i'm not sure if i'd even be able to look at the bios to see?

[podkall]

6 minutes ago, Vennaya said:

I see. Is there a way to tell what BIOS version a motherboard has without powering it on? Can't say i've ever turned on a PC without a CPU in the socket so i'm not sure if i'd even be able to look at the bios to see?

@RONOTHAN## said the Motherboard can be flashed with new BIOS

[RONOTHAN##]

2 minutes ago, Vennaya said:

push a button and leave it for 10-30 minutes and it's done.

It's closer to 5 minutes, and make sure it's hooked up to a PSU, but yeah that's all you need to do. It's really easy. 

 

2 minutes ago, Vennaya said:

mean my PSU is 750W at the moment, which as far as i can tell might just cut it? But at the same time, its 6 years old and i've heard that it's a good idea to replace PSUs after 5 or so years as they can degrade with age, and i don't really want to take any chances with a PSU obviously. So that's mostly why i put a 850W power supply on there, just incase i needed the extra 100W which it sounds like i might?

General guidance for replacing a PSU is 10 years, not 5, though with 30 series GPUs they have a ton of transient spikes, and a lot of <1000W PSUs from more than 4 years ago have overcurrent protection that's a bit too aggressive and you'll end up with random shutdowns. A modern 850W though is more than fine for a 3080 though. 

 

5 minutes ago, Vennaya said:

I see. Is there a way to tell what BIOS version a motherboard has without powering it on? Can't say i've ever turned on a PC without a CPU in the socket so i'm not sure if i'd even be able to look at the bios to see?

IIRC some board vendors do print the BIOS revision somewhere on the box, but if it is printed on MSI boards I've got no idea where it is.

 

Also you can put the CPU in the socket when you do BIOS flashback, it's just not required to have one in there.

[xSPOONx]

An 8700k is still a viable processor today, especially if you can get a decent OC on it. 

 Here's a video of it running remarkably close to a 5800X. Get a decent cooler, Noctua or the like, and turn up the boost. Upgrade the videocard and save for AM5 or Intel 14/15 gen. 
I have a 4770K with a 1070. I'm running at 4.2Ghz and it's a pretty big bottleneck, but the system is gonna be 10 years old next year and aside from 2 dead Corsair PSUs and a H220 that died, it's run like a champ the entire time. I'm wanting to do a 13700 or 900, but not excited about spending more money on a board and CPU than nearly my entire previous build. Really hoping that the 7900XTX forces Nvidia to reconsider their insane pricing too.

[Vennaya]

Okay so i have done a bit more research and i had a few more questions in regards to the build here https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/nzdftn that was featured a few posts ago.

 

So first question - It seems like that AIO cooler isn't actually compatible with LGA 1700? PC Part picker does not mention any incompatibility however on the amazon product page i have managed to find, it apparently does not support this socket? Which is correct?

I admit, i'm not too versed in terms of socket compatibility etc when it comes to coolers so i have no idea what even would make it incompatible? I'll be honest, i'm having a hard time finding a cooler that outright states it is compatible with LGA 1700.

This is the link https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B084LLD3PH/ref=ewc_pr_img_1?smid=A1U2WCBY9FQRJ5&psc=1 to the cooler i was looking at, which seems to be the same model as the one on pc parts picker, only in black and a bit cheaper at the moment.

 

Also, i've been trying to find information about AMD vs Nvidia GPUs in Clip studio paint but it seems that, unlike photoshop, it doesn't matter? Though i have been able to turn up basically very little in this regard, just a few "It should be fine" kind of responses. Can someone describe to me how exactly AMD gpus are less "stable" than nvidia gpus on say, photoshop, for instance? Because from what i've managed to dig up it really does seem like these kinds of programs are mostly CPU and Ram heavy, and barely do anything with the GPU?

[podkall]

@RONOTHAN##@PDifolco ^