Please Help Me Optimize My Build and Decide Between AMD/Intel

[nowhere_]

Budget (including currency): max. 3500€

Country: Germany

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Single player (AAA) games I missed out on in recent years (e.g. Control, Atomic Heart, Hogwarts Legacy, Cyberpunk, ...) and less performance heavy online muliplayer such as Deep Rock Galactic. Apart from having fun I am going to use the rig for development in C#/C++ and running Linux VMs in VirtualBox.

Other details: I have two office grade 27" 4k 60Hz monitors. I plan to replace one of them with a GSync/Freesync display in the future.

 

Hello everyone,

at the moment I am still running my PC that I kept alive for ~15 years through occasional upgrades. Therefore, I was out of the building game for quite some time and would like to hear your opinion. To start with I have eyeballed two setups on pcpartpicker.com with the following boundary conditions/rationale:

• No RGB or translucent side panels. No one will see the thing below the desk.
• No watercooling. A big CPU fan is fine.
• RAM: Prefer size and stability over cutting edge latencies.
• PSU: Prefer longlevity and have enough headroom for future GPU upgrades.
• Motherboard: Prefer better chipsets for longlevity and upgradability.

These are the two setups I came up with:

• Intel machine (~3250€): https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/p8MDQP
• AMD machine (~3300€): https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/KZJP89

Which one would you pick? Are there any pitfalls or way cheaper alternatives?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Nocte]

I would go with the 7800X3D:

• It consumes WAY less power than the 14700k (up to 3 times less at max load)
• It provides better gaming performance than the 14700k in most (all?) games (e.g. 7800X3D pulls 200+ fps in Cyberpunk @ 1080p vs. ~165 of the 14700k)
• 7800X3D is cheaper, allowing you to go DDR5 without increasing the overall build price (as shown in your partpicker)

Maybe this video will help you making an informed decision:

 

[__Dreamer__]

i'll go for the intel rig between those 2
28 threads is insane and is way better then the Ryzen

 

https://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/compare_cpu-amd_ryzen_7_7800x3d-vs-intel_core_i7_14700k

literally 2 times better then the ryzen

Edited December 16, 2023 by __Dreamer__
Benchmarks

[Nocte]

Given your budget I would honestly go with the 7950X3D...

Drop the PCIe 5.0 overpriced SSDs and go with PCIe 4.0 ones (unless you can actually saturate 4.0 - I doubt it).

The SSDs I picked do not show up with a price on PCPP, but you can find them on Amazon.de.

 

3235€ - https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/NY2YRK

[PDifolco]

33 minutes ago, Nocte said:

Given your budget I would honestly go with the 7950X3D...

Drop the PCIe 5.0 overpriced SSDs and go with PCIe 4.0 ones (unless you can actually saturate 4.0 - I doubt it).

The SSDs I picked do not show up with a price on PCPP, but you can find them on Amazon.de.

 

3235€ - https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/NY2YRK

Very good build

re SSD I'd take Crucial T500s, as good if not better and 140EUR only

Here's mine  

 

 

[Queen Chrysalis]

5 hours ago, __Dreamer__ said:

 

https://www.cpu-monkey.com/en/compare_cpu-amd_ryzen_7_7800x3d-vs-intel_core_i7_14700k

literally 2 times better then the ryzen

I usually like to be a nice person, but don’t post this crap ever again.

[brob]

6 hours ago, nowhere_ said:

These are the two setups I came up with:

• Intel machine (~3250€): https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/p8MDQP
• AMD machine (~3300€): https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/KZJP89

Which one would you pick? Are there any pitfalls or way cheaper alternatives?

 

Consider an alternative.

 

If software development and running multiple VM is important I think the higher core count of an i7-14700K offers better performance. Of course this means giving up a bit of gaming performance. 

 

DDR5 offers a definite performance improvement at current speeds. 

 

Recent Dark Rock Pro 4 reviews suggest its performance lags behind other air towers on current CPU.

 

Consider a case with front panel USB-C support.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

 

CPU: Intel Core i7-14700K 3.4 GHz 20-Core Processor (€433.49 @ Mindfactory) 

CPU Cooler: Deepcool AK620 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler (€69.90 @ Alza) 

Motherboard: MSI PRO Z790-P WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (€213.60 @ Galaxus) 

Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory (€240.89 @ Alternate) 

Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€160.90 @ Alza) 

Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive (€160.90 @ Alza) 

Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card (€1348.91 @ Galaxus) 

Case: be quiet! Silent Base 802 ATX Mid Tower Case (€146.89 @ Alternate) 

Power Supply: be quiet! Straight Power 12 1200 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€213.60 @ notebooksbilliger.de) 

Total: €2989.08

Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available

Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-12-16 18:21 CET+0100

[nowhere_]

Thanks for the fast and extensive feedback :). To be honest, after watching the GamersNexus video the energy efficiency of the AMD CPUs is unnaturally appealing to me.

14 hours ago, brob said:

If software development and running multiple VM is important I think the higher core count of an i7-14700K offers better performance. Of course this means giving up a bit of gaming performance. 

Good point, in practice it is mostly a single VM with GUI and the occasional docker for software builds in my case. It rarely happens that I need to run more than three instances. So this makes me lean into the direction of AMD too.

 

14 hours ago, brob said:

Consider a case with front panel USB-C support.

That is a good catch, I will adapt that.

21 hours ago, Nocte said:

Given your budget I would honestly go with the 7950X3D...

Drop the PCIe 5.0 overpriced SSDs

This was also supported by @PDifolco (the SSDs), thanks.

 

From reading other threads, I added a GPU support brace. This is what I ended up with: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/xLZKsh

 

The only thing left is now a thermal component. In the past people were pretty religious about these, do you have a "bread and butter" recommendation that will do the job?

[Why_Me]

https://geizhals.eu/  <--- check this site for lower prices on PC components.

 

I would look at the i7 13700. Lower power draw and easier to cool. The Nvidia RTX 4080 Super 20GB is due for release next month. That card will replace the 4080 16GB which is being phased out. That card will give you more VRAM and CUDA cores. That card should retail for the same price as the 4080 16GB. 

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i7-13700 2.1 GHz 16-Core Processor  (€413.64 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
CPU Cooler: *Deepcool AK620 68.99 CFM CPU Cooler  (€69.90 @ Alza) 
Motherboard: *Asus TUF GAMING B760-PLUS WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  (€193.47 @ Galaxus) 
Memory: *G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (€240.89 @ Alternate) 
Storage: *Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€152.90 @ Alza) 
Storage: *Samsung 870 Evo 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive  (€148.99 @ Galaxus) 
Video Card: Asus TUF GAMING GeForce RTX 4080 16 GB Video Card  (€1282.15 @ Amazon Deutschland) 
Case: *Lian Li LANCOOL 216 ATX Mid Tower Case  (€110.89 @ Caseking) 
Power Supply: *SeaSonic VERTEX GX-1000 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€199.39 @ Galaxus) 
Monitor: *LG UltraGear 27.0" 2560 x 1440 165 Hz Monitor  (€239.00 @ Galaxus) 
Total: €3051.22
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-12-17 10:14 CET+0100

 

A better look at those components.

 

https://www.asus.com/us/motherboards-components/motherboards/tuf-gaming/tuf-gaming-b760-plus-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/AK620-High-Performance-CPU-Cooler-1700-AM5/2021/13067.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://semiconductor.samsung.com/us/consumer-storage/internal-ssd/870evo/  

 

https://seasonic.com/vertex-gx  

 

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

 

https://www.lg.com/us/monitors/lg-27gr75q-b-gaming-monitor

[PDifolco]

3 hours ago, nowhere_ said:

Thanks for the fast and extensive feedback :). To be honest, after watching the GamersNexus video the energy efficiency of the AMD CPUs is unnaturally appealing to me.

Good point, in practice it is mostly a single VM with GUI and the occasional docker for software builds in my case. It rarely happens that I need to run more than three instances. So this makes me lean into the direction of AMD too.

 

That is a good catch, I will adapt that.

This was also supported by @PDifolco (the SSDs), thanks.

 

From reading other threads, I added a GPU support brace. This is what I ended up with: https://de.pcpartpicker.com/list/xLZKsh

 

The only thing left is now a thermal component. In the past people were pretty religious about these, do you have a "bread and butter" recommendation that will do the job?

Good build but 4 sticks of RAM don't work that good and slower on current AM5

I'd get 2x32GB sticks instead 

Plus Corsair 6000CL36 have bad timings, rather get some GSkill 6000CL30

Last the Asus 7900xtx comes with a decent GPU holder (I have one) you don't need another 

[nowhere_]

22 hours ago, PDifolco said:

Good build but 4 sticks of RAM don't work that good and slower on current AM5

I'd get 2x32GB sticks instead 

Duly noted :). I picked the ones suggested by @brob and @Why_Me.

 

Further, I noticed in the description of the CPU Cooler that it comes with preapplied thermal compound, so there is no need for extra paste. To process the fact that the GPU is being phased out, is a bit trickier for me. I have been hold back by thinking "there is going to be better hardware next year" for some time now. In the end I decided to get all the parts except the GPU and watch what happens to the prices until the launch on 31.01.24.

 

To summarize, this is what I ended up with:

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4.2 GHz 16-Core Processor  (€583.41 @ Amazon Deutschland)
CPU Cooler: be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 50.5 CFM CPU Cooler  (€85.90 @ Alza)
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  (€311.90 @ Alza)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws S5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-5600 CL28 Memory  (€225.89 @ Alternate)
Storage: Crucial T500 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (€139.99 @ Amazon Deutschland)
Case: be quiet! Silent Base 802 ATX Mid Tower Case  (€146.89 @ Alternate)
Power Supply: be quiet! Straight Power 12 1200 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (€221.64 @ Galaxus)
Total: €1715.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-12-18 11:25 CET+0100

 

Again, thanks for your support and taking the time.