First Open Loop Build, From Scratch USD3000

[DTree]

Stats first, more intimate details later

 

Budget: USD$3000-3500, ready and set aside 

Location: US, Delaware (No Sales Tax) 

Games, programs/workloads: For games, the higher intensity titles are Cyberpunk (with Ray-Tracing), Red Dead Redemption 2, Highly Modded Bethesda titles (like Skyrim with ENB filters and 4k+ textures), and I'd like to foray into VR later. Aside from games, music/audio production will also be a use case (hobbyist, not professional), so DAWs with multiple VST loads may also pop up on occasion.

Existing Build, Circa Early 2019

• CPU: Intel Core i9 9900k
• MB: Asus Prime z390A
• Graphics Card: EVGA RTX2060
• Memory: 2*8GB Corsair Vengeance ddr4
• Storage: WD Black 250GB NVMe for boot drive, and some Teamgroup AX 2.5in drives for other storage
• PSU: Corsair RM850
• Cooling: DeepCool Castle 360ex, with some Noctua NF-f12s on the radiator, and various corsair fans for style elsewhere in the case
• Case: Thermaltake Commander c33
• Accessories/Peripherals (keeping): 1440p Monitor at 144hz, USB audio interface, and Corsair Keyboard+Mouse. Other music equipment also uses USB ports, along with an external SSD bay for backups. 

 

Ok, now for the freeform stuff. Forgive me, I like to be thorough and have been known to fail at summarizing (I once filled an entire time block for an English class with my single oral report). 

 

Hi there! I built my first PC about 10 years ago now. That i3 2100 and gtx 650 sure held on for a long time, up until I had my first job and built what would become that thing^ (with a few minor part swaps). Now, with way more knowledge and experience from assisting friends' builds, and a sizable budget, I'm wanting to get serious.

 

One more quick thing to mention is that my current PC, as far as I can tell, is fully functional without issue. So selling it to recoup some costs is a possibility, allowing for an increased budget, but not by a ton. 

 

The end goal is something that can be quiet when it needs to, such as during music production, without sacrificing high performance when needed in-game. With that in mind, I feel ready to attempt a custom water cooling loop, but it seems that fitting that in budget seems tight, hence the requests for aid.

 

Preferences

• I have a history with Nvidia and Intel products. Ray tracing performance and DLSS capabilities lock me into team green, but if the price:performance ratio benefits me, Ryzen CPUs are within consideration.
• Corsair's iCUE ecosystem for RGB is a hard preference as well. I like the layout and my M & KB are Corsair, so I'd like to keep as much of the lighting within that ecosystem as possible, or at least compatible (like with Asus products). This means for the fans and other parts with RGB¹, we’re going Corsair, but if there are other brand recommendations for fittings, tubes, or a distribution plate, I'm all ears.
• If applicable, black component over white
• If reasonable to find used, throw me the rec, but I'm mostly looking for upper tier, current gen stuff. Not much used market on those.

¹ As part of the aesthetics of the build, having an animated display over the CPU block would be cool, but as far as I can tell, the Corsair XC7 LCD makes no mention of uploading GIFs or static images, unlike their AIO coolers. With the limited research I've done otherwise, Thermaltake seems to be the only one that has what I'm looking for in the Pacific MX2.

 

Preselected & Candidate Parts/Models, Plus Questions

• GPU: RTX 4080
• CPU: i7 13700K(KF?), if Intel

i9s and 4090s blow out the budget here, and my power bill is painful enough as is. No particular branding on the 4080, but wanting to incorporate it into the loop. 

• Motherboard: I’ve used Asus and Gigabyte boards and it’s gone well. Not attached to that branding either, so anything goes. (can be wi-fi or need an add-in card, other features take priority)
• Memory:Corsair Vengeance RGB DDR5 [Speed/Timings TBD] With the prices these days, is there any reason not to just go crazy with two sticks of 32GB (64 total) in dual channel mode? Even higher? Let me know. 
• PSU: I’ve used the Corsair units for a long time with no problems but, they’re PSUs. The only concern is performance. 1000w for headroom/efficiency? Is spending a few extra on an 80+ Plat going to meaningfully help me out in power savings? 
• Storage: Not looking for exact models, but brand or series recommendations for both Sata and NVMe drives are appreciated.
• Cases: Oh boy, this is by far where I have felt the most lost. Wanting to go for a fully water cooled build, it makes sense that a case with ample size and build room is necessary, which then provides (hopefully) more compatibility with various radiator and fan layouts. The problem arises in trying to find something that fits as close to center on the triangle of Price:Aesthetic:Performance. The Water cooling purchases will also of course depend on the case built in, so we can cross that bridge later. 

I have a shortlist of cases I’ve come across that sit upwards of the $300 mark:

• Corsair 7000D
• Cooler Master Haf 700 Berserk, not Evo*
• Fractal Meshify 2 XL
• Phanteks Enthoo Pro 2**
• Be Quiet Dark base 902

* The Haf 700 is higher up in pricing (~$300), but provides the most options for cooling available, with easy access/detachable mounting locations for fans and radiators

**The Enthoo Pro 2 sits down at the lowest cost of these ($160), while still offering a versatile arrangement of cooling options. Downside being that it seems awkward to build in, a worry on my first open loop build.

 

I hope that covers any and all avoidable questions. The priority right now might be confirming a CPU/Motherboard? Intel Gamer Days are still ongoing, so if enough folks vote team blue I can jump on a sale or combo offering. Regardless, thank you internet people, and please make any and all suggestions! I am open to just about anything, goodness knows there are hidden gems out there. 

[Shimejii]

Open loop is pretty much not worth it in this case. Dont waste your money and lose out on performance. Get the 13900k and 4090 for the same price. Get a good quality AIO thats 360mm and get it to fit your looks. If you are gonna spend that kind of money, get the most out of it.

 

if you were just gaming id consider the 7800x3D, but im not sure how well the drivers and such are for the audio stuff. Youd have to look up what your specific program prefers.

 

Case wise it really makes no sense to spend a LOT when your hardware suffers.

 

WD SN 850x will be more then enough, could get a 2 TB main drive and then a Samsung 970 EVO 2TB as a secondary.

 

PSU 850W-1000W would be the correct wattage.

 

RAM yeah a 2x32 6000-6400 kit will be more then enough.

 

 

[Why_Me]

@DTree open loop cooling is dead as disco unless you're a hobbyist. Look at a locked i7 which runs cooler and is an ideal cpu to run with a decent air cooler. 

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i7-13700 2.1 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($366.34 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: *Deepcool AG620 BK ARGB 67.88 CFM CPU Cooler  ($47.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: *MSI PRO Z790-A WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($214.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: *G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($199.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: *Samsung 980 Pro 500 GB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($59.99 @ Adorama) 
Storage: *Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($129.79 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: *MSI GAMING X TRIO GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card  ($1170.00 @ Amazon) 
Case: *Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($99.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: *MSI A1000G PCIE5 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($149.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $2439.07
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-08-30 00:52 EDT-0400

 

A better look at those components.

 

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-Z790-A-WIFI  

 

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/230490/intel-core-i713700-processor-30m-cache-up-to-5-20-ghz/specifications.html  

 

https://www.deepcool.com/products/Cooling/cpuaircoolers/AG620-BK-ARGB-Dual-Tower-CPU-Cooler-1700-AM5/2022/16082.shtml  

 

https://www.gskill.com/product/165/377/1649234605/F5-6000J3040G32GX2-RS5K-F5-6000J3040G32GA2-RS5K  

 

https://www.samsung.com/us/computing/memory-storage/solid-state-drives/980-pro-pcie-4-0-nvme-ssd-2tb-mz-v8p2t0b-am/  

 

https://www.msi.com/Graphics-Card/GeForce-RTX-4080-16GB-GAMING-X-TRIO  

 

https://www.msi.com/Power-Supply/MPG-A1000G-PCIE5      

 

https://lian-li.com/product/lancool-216/  

 

https://www.newegg.com/p/1BK-07N9-00001 

Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ARGB Controller and USB Module (Black) $13.99 

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/product/YsGnTW/lian-li-uni-sl120-5854-cfm-120-mm-fans-3-pack-uf-sl120-3b  

Lian Li UNI SL120 120mm Fans 3-Pack $83.99

 

 

  

 

The difference between the 12 gen locked i7 and unlocked i7 is one frame per second on average. I doubt it's much different with the 13 gen i7's.  

 

 

[brob]

Strong rumors that Intel will be introducing new desktop CPU 3rd week of October. Mostly a refresh but the i7 supposedly has more efficiency cores with a commissariat performance bump. Supposedly a price bump as well. But that may mean some good deals for 13th gen.

 

At the moment according to pcpartpicker the i7-13700K is the best i7 choice. It's only ~$15 more expensive than the i7-13700F, a few $ less than the i7-13700, and ~$25 less than the KF.

 

I believe Asus motherboards are the better choice in an iCUE ecosystem. https://pcpartpicker.com/product/s3cG3C/asus-tuf-gaming-z790-plus-wifi-atx-lga1700-motherboard-tuf-gaming-z790-plus-wifi is more than enough.

 

Unless you are considering 8TB+ drives, plan on all NVMe storage. SATA SSD under 8TB are not much less expensive than NVMe.

 

WD Black and Samsung Pro drives tend to be the performance leaders. Aside from the system drive, performance isn't that important. This is where some cost saving can be realized, if desired.

 

Consult https://cultists.network/140/psu-tier-list/ for PSU options. I'd suggest getting a unit that is ATX 3.0 compatible.

[Why_Me]

16 minutes ago, brob said:

Strong rumors that Intel will be introducing new desktop CPU 3rd week of October. Mostly a refresh but the i7 supposedly has more efficiency cores with a commissariat performance bump. Supposedly a price bump as well. But that may mean some good deals for 13th gen.

 

At the moment according to pcpartpicker the i7-13700K is the best i7 choice. It's only ~$15 more expensive than the i7-13700F, a few $ less than the i7-13700, and ~$25 less than the KF.

 

I believe Asus motherboards are the better choice in an iCUE ecosystem. https://pcpartpicker.com/product/s3cG3C/asus-tuf-gaming-z790-plus-wifi-atx-lga1700-motherboard-tuf-gaming-z790-plus-wifi is more than enough.

 

Unless you are considering 8TB+ drives, plan on all NVMe storage. SATA SSD under 8TB are not much less expensive than NVMe.

 

WD Black and Samsung Pro drives tend to be the performance leaders. Aside from the system drive, performance isn't that important. This is where some cost saving can be realized, if desired.

 

Consult https://cultists.network/140/psu-tier-list/ for PSU options. I'd suggest getting a unit that is ATX 3.0 compatible.

The Asus board has the older audio codec vs the MSI board I posted and that might mean something to the OP who plans on doing audio production.

[DTree]

15 hours ago, Why_Me said:

The Asus board has the older audio codec vs the MSI board I posted and that might mean something to the OP who plans on doing audio production.

I appreciate the attention to that detail, however, in the list of peripherals I am carrying over into the next build I mention already owning a dedicated audio interface for instruments/mics, as well as other equipment that connect directly through USB. My listening and recording devices all connect through the interface (IK Axe I/O for those interested), thus negating concern for on board DAC/ADC quality.