First build in ~10 years. Need opinions.

[Starblind]

Budget (including currency): ~$2800

Country: usa

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: mainly for games (AAA/Tarkov/others), photoshop, possibly blender and some video editing

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): 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/8DWfLs

 

The theme is white RGB in a fishtank because I'm original like that.

 

My main dilemma is with the motherboard. I was getting some pretty bad decision paralysis deciding, so I just put in a decent looking one for now. I was originally looking at the Asus Prime z790-P WIFI D4, but apparently updating BIOS is not a big deal anymore? I think 10 years ago the advice was to never update unless absolutely necessary so I was wary of a z690, but that advice seems to have expired. The main issue is I have no clue what brands are considered reputable for mobos. Are there any brands to specifically avoid? I plan on overclocking, but staying well away from the point where it would decrease stability. The main thing is making sure I have all the features I need, but I'll pay a little more for the looks. The NZXT white board is boring imo so that ones a hard pass from me.

 

Looking into RAM a bit more those seem like they may be bad? I'm pretty ignorant about RAM stats. I'd prefer white, but not if it's a big performance hit. There's white RGB TEAMGROUP DDR4-4000, but I've never heard of the brand so idk. I also see black PNY 4600, but that isn't showing the timing for some reason.

 

For storage I know only 1 M.2 connects directly to the CPU. How big of a difference does that make? I'm assuming my OS drive goes there. Is it a waste to use the direct to CPU slot only on the OS? I guess I could put a couple frequently used programs on it as well to take advantage of it, but I do want the OS drive to be mostly clear of anything else for painless clean reinstalls hence the 500gb SSD.

 

The GPU is an example of the performance tier I'm looking to get, but I don't plan on getting it now. I've dealt with my 3770k integrated graphics for a few years, so the 13600ks should tide me over a bit longer to see what happens in the market. I'd prefer to wait until buying a GPU doesn't feel quite so gross. I mainly put it in to ask about how it pairs with the 13600k. With 1080p 144hz would a 3070 be overkill? I will occasionally do surround on games that handle it well. Maybe some ray tracing if I end up liking it. I've forgotten pretty much all I knew about bottlenecks so let me know if that will be a problem.

 

For cooling I know I'm paying a premium for looks. There's no need to convince me to get a noctua or be quiet air cooler. The same goes for the RGB. I'm looking for hardware advice not interior decorating critique.

 

Other than that I want to make sure I understand about the RGB setup and that I have enough headers as I've never done it before. The AIO comes with a Commander Core that can fit 6 fans + their RGB. I plug all 6 into that, then plug it into the mobo with its USB 2.0 header. The 3 pack of fans come with a Lighting Node Core, but that only has RGB plug-ins. Do I need to buy a second Commander core and ignore the Node Core? That takes up both of my USB 2.0 headers. Do I need a 2.0 header for anything else that I'm not seeing? The LCD screen uses one, but has a splitter so I can plug it into the same one as the Commander Core. Is any of that wrong or suboptimal?

 

The case also has an RGB strip and of course the front I/O. Lian Li sells an additional I/O that you can add on that I might want to do. Does the mobo have enough headers for it? The naming standards for all the USB 3.X headers is a bit confusing.

[Bismut]

The Ryzen 7 7700 or Ryzen 9 7900 might be of interest to you too, they perform about on par with or better than the 13600K while using less power. source

30 minutes ago, Starblind said:

TEAMGROUP DDR4-4000, but I've never heard of the brand so idk

I've seen them around, RAM seems to be difficult to mess up anyway, although I'd recommend buying a single 2*16 or 4*8 kit from the QVL of your MoBo if you plan on running 4Gt/s.

26 minutes ago, Starblind said:

that advice seems to have expired

Some people still go by it, others don't.

37 minutes ago, Starblind said:

For storage I know only 1 M.2 connects directly to the CPU. How big of a difference does that make?

It shouldn't influence your day-to-day usage, only if you heavily utilize that SSD.

27 minutes ago, Starblind said:

but I do want the OS drive to be mostly clear of anything else for painless clean reinstalls hence the 500gb SSD

I think partitioning a big drive is an option, have a smallish one for your OS and use the remainder however you please.

35 minutes ago, Starblind said:

With 1080p 144hz would a 3070 be overkill

Yeah, probably. It's less bad if you crank the settings and turn on RT, but you could also go for a lower tier GPU, save some money and buy another one two or three generations from now.

 

39 minutes ago, Starblind said:

Do I need a 2.0 header for anything else that I'm not seeing?

You could try to find a USB A -> internal USB adapter if you end up needing another one, or look for one of those funky internal USB hubs.

[Devryd]

I would get a bigger PSU. Something like 850W. I wouldnt worry about  M.2 directly to the CPU vs over the chipset, but you could also just skip the 500GB ssd and connect the 2tb one to the CPU.

As for GPU, I think the 3070 is a little overkill for 1080p, but maybe its worth it for video editing (no experience here)

[Lairlair]

1 hour ago, Devryd said:

I would get a bigger PSU. Something like 850W. I wouldnt worry about  M.2 directly to the CPU vs over the chipset, but you could also just skip the 500GB ssd and connect the 2tb one to the CPU.

As for GPU, I think the 3070 is a little overkill for 1080p, but maybe its worth it for video editing (no experience here)

I have a 3070 and it's working fine on a 650W PSU coupled with a R9 5900x. But yeah if the plan is to get an rtx 4070ti down the line, the headroom might be a good idea.

 

As for video editing, it highly depends on what you do (what software you use, do you use any effects, do you render lots of different formats, what codecs...)

Having an Nvidia GPU will help in some Adobe applications (premiere and after effects) with some tasks (rendering GPU accelerated effects)... But how powerful the GPU is typically doesn't scale the performance much. Your CPU does most of the work there, so my advice would be to have a good CPU, enough drive space and speed.

[Gabriel Comsa]

In my opinion the RGB on your monitor are more important than the ones in the case. Upgrade to a decent 1440p monitor and gradually replace the cooling solution in your PC down the line. There are generally big limitations and interdependencies of your internal components that make it replace too often. But the RGB of your system or case, that can be added on at almost any time with out much hassle, think of it as ongoing hobby project, and spend a little bit each time over a longer duration. Use the big budget now to get the performance of your machine that you will be happy with, if it underperforms, it's much more expensive to fix that compared to fixing it not having the look you like.

 

TL:DR separate your research and purchase of core components and RGB side dressing.