New daily driver replacement (Australia - $2500 Budget)

[Silent Sausage]

Hey Everyone,

 

I'm in Australia and have a budget around $2500 and it's time to replace my daily driver.

 

My current ITX Build has a Ryzen 7 3700X, 32GB RAM, Radeon RX 5700 XT and a 1TB Samsung 980 Pro. Primary display is a 1440p/144Hz panel. 

 

 

To be honest, this setup is about 3 years old and it still does everything I want/need (WFH Duties as a Sys Admin, Random AAA/Indie games + Steam streaming duties to a TV, Light VR Work) - however I'd like more USB Ports (Already have 2x USB Hubs), Want 2.5g networking before I upgrade my NAS and this PC would be great in my driving sim setup, so I guess it's time to upgrade! My current PC would essentially be chucked in a cheap ITX Case (The open case would be a bitch to keep clean where the sim is) and used for the Sim and LAN Party duties.

 

With all of this being said, I've chucked together this rig (https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/PRvGBj) as it should be a suitable replacement I think compared to what I have now.  However I have a few questions and some feedback would be great.

 

I currently have an AIO Liquid cooler (EKWB AIO 240mm), however my ambient temp is always sub ~24c and I do not overclock. Was thinking of just going back to plain old air cooling - would the 212 I've linked in the build be suitable for my chosen 7700X?

 

I use Steam Streaming quite alot (Locally over hard wired LAN, Everything is gigabit and the end client is an nVidia shield OR a Steam deck) and every once in a while see some compression artifacts however virtually zero input lag - I have been told nVidia GPU's are typically better support for Game Streaming - Should I consider an nVidia GPU?

 

Lastly, whilst I currently daily Windows - I do daily Linux on my other devices (Steam Deck, Laptop) and was considering installing it on the new desktop whilst I'm upgrading it - I've been told nVidia support in Linux is behind when compared to AMD - Is this true?

 

Any and all help and feedback is appreciated.

 

 

[NeverNotExhausted]

39 minutes ago, Silent Sausage said:

I'd like more USB Ports (Already have 2x USB Hubs), Want 2.5g networking before I upgrade my NAS and this PC would be great in my driving sim setup, so I guess it's time to upgrade! My current PC would essentially be chucked in a cheap ITX Case (The open case would be a bitch to keep clean where the sim is) and used for the Sim and LAN Party duties.

Sounds like you need more than ITX can offer. A PCIe USB card is a really easy way to add 7 or so USB 3.0 ports without taking up the 2 or so you're currently using on an ITX motherboard. Then you could add 2.5g via PCIe too. Would almost be cheaper to get a new case that's semi-decent and an ATX system than it would be to set up an ITX system that can do all that.

[Silent Sausage]

Agreed - thats why the new system I've specced out is ATX. Also I want to no longer have the PC wall mounted, that's taking up room where my 4th monitor will go!

[SorryBella]

Man take me back to the glory days.

 

Ricciardo Fangirling aside:

21 minutes ago, NeverNotExhausted said:

Sounds like you need more than ITX can offer. A PCIe USB card is a really easy way to add 7 or so USB 3.0 ports without taking up the 2 or so you're currently using on an ITX motherboard. Then you could add 2.5g via PCIe too. Would almost be cheaper to get a new case that's semi-decent and an ATX system than it would be to set up an ITX system that can do all that.

OP listed an ATX build, he is willing to switch. And honestly with built in 2.5 gig being so easy to find thanks to Realtek (or no thanks if youre on Linux and you need the board for a NAS), its not worth it to get it in card form.

 

Anyway, looking at the list here's some quick tweak and rationale:

1. If you're going with North, we can HEAVILY cut down on the board spending thanks to the ability to hide atrocious design of B650 Livemixer by Asrock. It has the best bang for the buck in terms of USB and Pcie connectivity and the VRM it packed is pretty good too.
2. Hyper 212 is quite obsolete and they are pain in the ass to mount. AK400 by Deepcool is slightly better on that front and that would be the minimum.
3. Gen 5 is not worth it unless if you can use the raw IOPS that comes with it. Its pure placebo in games (like at best .1 second cut in titles that are optimized for nvme like Forspoken or Control) and Gen 4 SSDs are getting cheaper. Having an Nvme in the first place is already a win.
4. Consider the non X version, and then turn on PBO at custom settings and then undervolting it with Curve Optimizer. That would save us 10$ while keeping the performance similar. Or you can stick to the X version and use the extended power limit to tweak around even further.
5. 1 hour ago, Silent Sausage said:

   I use Steam Streaming quite alot (Locally over hard wired LAN, Everything is gigabit and the end client is an nVidia shield OR a Steam deck) and every once in a while see some compression artifacts however virtually zero input lag - I have been told nVidia GPU's are typically better support for Game Streaming - Should I consider an nVidia GPU?

   Generally yeah, doesnt help that AMD VCN is so heavily reliant on HEVC for its quality which Steam Link can be a pain in the ass with. We can afford a 4070Ti here so no pressure, itll be a good upgrade too.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7700 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($485.00 @ BPC Technology) 
CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK620 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler  ($88.00 @ Centre Com) 
Motherboard: ASRock B650 LiveMixer ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($289.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory  ($148.00 @ Amazon Australia) 
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 4.0 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($94.99 @ Amazon Australia) 
Video Card: PNY XLR8 Gaming VERTO EPIC-X RGB OC GeForce RTX 4070 Ti 12 GB Video Card  ($1187.00 @ Centre Com) 
Case: Fractal Design North ATX Mid Tower Case  ($229.00 @ PCCaseGear) 
Total: $2520.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-07-25 19:56 AEST+1000

[NeverNotExhausted]

2 minutes ago, SorryBella said:

OP listed an ATX build, he is willing to switch. And honestly with built in 2.5 gig being so easy to find thanks to Realtek (or no thanks if youre on Linux and you need the board for a NAS), its not worth it to get it in card form.

 

Don't mind me. I'm honestly so sleep deprived at this point (73 hours awake and counting). I read his post and checked the parts list and took OP's quote of "My current PC would essentially be chucked in a cheap ITX Case" as they were going to transplant their current setup into a new ITX case, then buy a new ITX rig to put their current ITX case. I also missed the fact that the parts list had an ATX motherboard even though I opened a listing for it to look at the specs.

 

I'm just going to show myself the door and keep trying to sleep 

 

 

[Silent Sausage]

16 minutes ago, NeverNotExhausted said:

 

Don't mind me. I'm honestly so sleep deprived at this point (73 hours awake and counting). I read his post and checked the parts list and took OP's quote of "My current PC would essentially be chucked in a cheap ITX Case" as they were going to transplant their current setup into a new ITX case, then buy a new ITX rig to put their current ITX case. I also missed the fact that the parts list had an ATX motherboard even though I opened a listing for it to look at the specs.

 

I'm just going to show myself the door and keep trying to sleep 

 

 

Username checks out, need some more of that coffee

 

Anywho, Thanks SorryBella! I Appreciate the amount of content you've just given me to mull over,  I didn't realise you could get that many USB Ports with that chipset but that saves me a tonne.  With those $aving$, I have no excuse to get a decent AIO for the peace of mind it'll keep the CPU at decent temps, then I think it'll be a no-brainer to go with the X and maybe do some slight tweaking. If Gen5 Isn't currently worth it, I'll use my existing SSD for the time being.

[SorryBella]

7 minutes ago, Silent Sausage said:

Username checks out, need some more of that coffee

 

Anywho, Thanks SorryBella! I Appreciate the amount of content you've just given me to mull over,  I didn't realise you could get that many USB Ports with that chipset but that saves me a tonne.  With those $aving$, I have no excuse to get a decent AIO for the peace of mind it'll keep the CPU at decent temps, then I think it'll be a no-brainer to go with the X and maybe do some slight tweaking.

Get 280mm or bigger if you're looking to upgrade the cooling capability, and even then you're only gaining 1-2 degrees against it unless if you're going with an AIO with offset mount for AM5 like the Arctic Freezer 2 which Noctua also has for their various coolers. The AG620 (performs around .5-1 degrees with AK620) can handle the heat like a 240mm AIO.