New PC Advice - AMD or Intel?

[Agrus]

Budget (including currency): $2000 - 2500 Canadian

Country:  Canada

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Visual Studio, VM, Cities Skylines 2, Valheim, Timberborn, Indie Games (like Anvil Saga), Web Browsing

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): 

 

Upgrading from: My existing machine is about 7 years old. i5-7600K, 48 gb of ram, Asus Z270-A mobo, nVidia GTX 1070. No other peripherals needed at this time.

When to buy: Aiming for Black Friday-ish, willing to wait a bit if there are likely better deals

What resolution: 1440p

Refresh Rate: Not really doing anything that requires high refresh, most of the monitors I've looked at (probably next early next year) would be 165/170mhz

 

First big question is whether the 7800x3d would be worth it. Cities Skylines 1 was very CPU heavy, and while it seems to be more GPU bound at the moment, I'm unsure if this will continue to be the case with the optimizations they are doing, plus potential GPU updates in the future.

AMD CPU Build: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/fdRckJ

- Ryzen 7 7800x3d / Gigabyte B650 Aorus Elite Ax

 

Intel CPU Build: https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/ZH6H34

- i5-13600k / Gigabyte Z790 Aorus Elite Ax

 

For the AMD CPU build, the second question is around the motherboard. I watched a few videos, including Hardware Unboxed that went through the value proposition of the existing boards. But some of my reading through reddit and elsewhere noted potential stability issues, quality, startup delays, etc. I'm not as savvy at MOBO's in general, and it's been 7 years since I purchased the last one.

 

Not overly concerned with PCIe 5.0, but if the MOBO happens to have it, it's a bonus. I figure by the time I purchase a new machine that will have probably changed anyways. And I don't see "future proofing" as ever having worked for me.

 

In terms of graphic cards, everything I've read / listened to, indicates the 7800XT to be the best value for $$, while being on the mid-high-ish end of the range of options.

 

For the case, I am debating a bit between the Air Pop, and the Lian Li 216. Sounds like the 216 might have better air flow.

 

Appreciate any suggestions / optimization / ideas that you're willing to provide.

[filpo]

1 minute ago, Agrus said:

What resolution: 1440p

I'd rather aim for a 7900 xtx and maybe with a 7900 if you're gonna do some VMs 

try this 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($528.50 @ Vuugo) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  ($44.90 @ Amazon Canada) 
Motherboard: ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2 Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($133.59 @ Vuugo) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL28 Memory  ($144.97 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($166.48 @ Amazon Canada) 
Video Card: Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24 GB Video Card  ($1299.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Case: Phanteks Eclipse G300A (1 Fan) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.98 @ Newegg Canada) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 PE 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($139.97 @ Amazon Canada) 
Total: $2523.38
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-09 14:42 EST-0500

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900 3.6 GHz 12-Core Processor  ($539.55 @ Vuugo) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  ($44.90 @ Amazon Canada) 
Motherboard: ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2 Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($133.59 @ Vuugo) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL28 Memory  ($144.97 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($166.48 @ Amazon Canada) 
Video Card: Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 7900 XTX 24 GB Video Card  ($1299.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Case: Phanteks Eclipse G300A (1 Fan) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.98 @ Newegg Canada) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 PE 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($139.97 @ Amazon Canada) 
Total: $2534.43
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-09 14:42 EST-0500

[dizmo]

I'd probably avoid the X3D chips, as depending on what you're doing they can be a little temperamental.

I'd personally go with an Nvidia card, but if you're fine with possible driver issues then the AMD card offers stronger performance at a lower price (usually).

 

Welcome to the forum.

[Agrus]

Appreciate the suggestions. I have been leaning away from the X3D chips given the possible stability issues I have read about. Jayz2cents also had a recent video that I thought was interesting.

7 hours ago, dizmo said:

I'd probably avoid the X3D chips, as depending on what you're doing they can be a little temperamental.

I'd personally go with an Nvidia card, but if you're fine with possible driver issues then the AMD card offers stronger performance at a lower price (usually).

 

Welcome to the forum.

Thanks. I might take a look at the 4070 TI, but the value proposition of the 7800 XT seems pretty solid. I'm seeing a 300$ difference between the two. And I'm not ready to spend 1300$ on the GPU for a 7900 XTX.

[filpo]

5 hours ago, Agrus said:

Appreciate the suggestions. I have been leaning away from the X3D chips given the possible stability issues I have read about. Jayz2cents also had a recent video that I thought was interesting.

Then I'd go for this

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7900 3.6 GHz 12-Core Processor  ($539.55 @ Vuugo) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  ($44.90 @ Amazon Canada) 
Motherboard: ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2 Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($133.59 @ Vuugo) 
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL28 Memory  ($144.97 @ Newegg Canada) 
Storage: Crucial P5 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($166.48 @ Amazon Canada) 
Video Card: PowerColor Hellhound Radeon RX 7900 XT 20 GB Video Card  ($1039.00 @ Canada Computers) 
Case: Phanteks Eclipse G300A (1 Fan) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($64.98 @ Newegg Canada) 
Power Supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF1 PE 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($139.97 @ Amazon Canada) 
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 PST 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fans 5-Pack  ($47.70 @ Vuugo) 
Total: $2321.14
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-10 04:06 EST-0500