New Year, New Build..and what to do with old PC

[Omon_Ra]

edit: original post got accidentally submitted by my cat before I could finish

 

Budget (including currency): <$1500

Country: USA

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: streaming (DJ streams, not so much gaming streams), general gaming (some AAA titles, Star Citizen from time to time, Overwatch 2, indie games)

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): 

 

Current Rig:

Intel 5820k (~4ghz overclock)

Asus x99 Deluxe motherboard

32GB Crucial DDR4 RAM

2x 2TB m.2 Solidgm drives (purchased about 4 months ago)

1x 256GB SSD (originally the main C: drive, now empty and not really used)

1x 512GB SSD (was primarily for scratch disk/exports and some games)

1x 1TB HDD (working drive for video)

1x 3TB HDD ('long term' storage drive for video)

EVGA GTX 1070 GPU

Corsair RM1000 PSU

Fractal Design Define R4 Case

Monitors: Primary - 32" 1080p, 144hz AMH monitor, 2x Asus 1080p side monitors (these are from work and were provided for my WFH setup)

 

I'm in the market for a new rig. My current setup honestly keeps up with pretty much everything I do just fine. It's just time for me update to newer hardware...DDR5, PCI4.0, etc. I'd like to re-use my current rig as a NAS/HTPC type build.

 

I built my current rig, so all I really need help with is catching up with where Intel/AMD is at for CPUs and some guidance on GPU for 4K. I'm thinking AMD Ryzen 5 5600X or 7600X? I'd like to stick with an air cooler, I know some of the newerest Intels are pretty high TDP. I will be keeping the 1080p/144hz monitor for the time being, but after I upgrade my PC I will be getting the KTC G42P5, 42" 4K OLED 138hz display, so a 4K GPU would be great. I'm not really sure where the 30/40 series and everything falls now. I don't need to have 4K, ultra settings, >100fps, because I realize that will end up being a stupidly expensive GPU..but 4K at ~60fps for most games would be nice. So is that 4070? Or do I need something chonkier?

 

Thanks yall. Happy holidays!

 

 

[RONOTHAN##]

4 minutes ago, Omon_Ra said:

I built my current rig, so all I really need help with is catching up with where Intel/AMD is at for CPUs and some guidance on GPU for 4K. I'm thinking AMD Ryzen 5 5600X or 7600X? I'd like to stick with an air cooler, I know some of the newerest Intels are pretty high TDP.

7600(X) is not a bad idea, though if you have the budget to go for the 7800X3D that's probably the better pick. 

 

5 minutes ago, Omon_Ra said:

I'm not really sure where the 30/40 series and everything falls now. I don't need to have 4K, ultra settings, >100fps, because I realize that will end up being a stupidly expensive GPU..but 4K at ~60fps for most games would be nice. So is that 4070? Or do I need something chonkier?

This does depend on the exact game what you are playing, though the 4070 would be the bare minimum for 4k60. Ideally you'd want something like a 7900 XT or XTX, and if you can get one on sale that would be great. Nvidia is also planning on releasing the 40 Super series of cards sometime in January, so if you can wait a bit for them to release it might get you a better card for the money. 

[Omon_Ra]

5 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

7600(X) is not a bad idea, though if you have the budget to go for the 7800X3D that's probably the better pick. 

 

This does depend on the exact game what you are playing, though the 4070 would be the bare minimum for 4k60. Ideally you'd want something like a 7900 XT or XTX, and if you can get one on sale that would be great. Nvidia is also planning on releasing the 40 Super series of cards sometime in January, so if you can wait a bit for them to release it might get you a better card for the money. 

Yeah, I can wait a bit. Not in a huge rush. Trying to get a handle on where CPU's/GPU's are at right now and what kind of hits the sweet spot. Where I'm at now I'm not really struggling to do what I need, but I'd like to get into a more of a modern platform. Starting to get some odd reboot loops and stuff with what I'm guessing is due to early m.2 implementation and that kind of thing on x99.

[RONOTHAN##]

1 minute ago, Omon_Ra said:

Starting to get some odd reboot loops and stuff with what I'm guessing is due to early m.2 implementation and that kind of thing on x99.

I'd try to troubleshoot this first, since I have seen it before where this was a sign of a dying PSU (specifically my AX1200i, rest in peace). You'll want to make sure that it's some weird BIOS issue with NVMe drives before trying to carry forward any parts, that way you know if you need to invest in a replacement. 

[Ginga_NZ]

Curious about why you're choosing 4k over 1440p. I tried looking up the monitor you mentioned and only found it on amazon but couldn't work out if it was showing me NZD or USD. It was 1400ish so I'm going to assume NZD, (although when i searched for 4080s the price was about 800 less than shops in nz on amazon so maybe I should look at buying from them.) Just trying to work out why you're choosing that monitor before trying to fit something to your budget.

[Omon_Ra]

18 hours ago, RONOTHAN## said:

I'd try to troubleshoot this first, since I have seen it before where this was a sign of a dying PSU (specifically my AX1200i, rest in peace). You'll want to make sure that it's some weird BIOS issue with NVMe drives before trying to carry forward any parts, that way you know if you need to invest in a replacement. 

Hmm, I'll check that out. The mobo will get stuck with the PCI 'boot up' LED on, so I figured it's something with the new m.2 drives since it only started happening after I installed those. Once it's up and going it's fine, so I just haven't been putting it to sleep. I reckon I can get a new PSU and see if that cures it if I don't find any new BIOS/firmware stuff from Asus. I figured if I turn it into a NAS/media server I'll just boot off of the 'old' SSD since I don't really need m.2 for that.

18 hours ago, Ginga_NZ said:

Curious about why you're choosing 4k over 1440p. I tried looking up the monitor you mentioned and only found it on amazon but couldn't work out if it was showing me NZD or USD. It was 1400ish so I'm going to assume NZD, (although when i searched for 4080s the price was about 800 less than shops in nz on amazon so maybe I should look at buying from them.) Just trying to work out why you're choosing that monitor before trying to fit something to your budget.

It's about $1300 USD, it'll go on sale from time to time and it'll end up around $1k from what I've seen. It's mostly because I watch movies/TV shows more than game these days. 1440p is a good sweet spot, but I kind of want 4K + HDR for the visual goodness with movies/TV shows. Not a huge fan of ultrawides either. If anything a 16:10 display would be preferred if I stray from 16:9. And I have the desk space/viewing distance that a 42" monitor isn't going to be obnoxiously large. I live in a studio apartment, and my PC is also my 'TV' and I could use a bigger display when I'm sitting on my couch. Though at that view distance even 1080p on a 32" display, pixel density isn't an issue. So maybe 1440p could be the way.. Something I'll consider. I did see the Asus PG42UQ is on sale right now for $950 USD..I don't really need to get it now, but that is a pretty damn good price. And also, the monitor will come after I build the new PC. I'm not really including that in my PC budget.

[Omon_Ra]

Welp, my current PC is having issues beyond the PSU as @RONOTHAN## recommended. Got a new Seasonic 750 watt PSU and it did not fix the random no-boots. Earlier last week it refused to boot at all, getting stuck on either POST code 70 or A2. The issue started just after I got the m.2 drives, so I think it's something with the early implementation of m.2 on x99. After a thorough cleaning, reinstalling BIOS, drivers, and some other troubleshooting, I've gotten it back up and running. I think I'm going to go back to just running it on SSD's when I move it to home server use. Not long after I made this thread I ended up getting the Asus PG42UQ, so trying to game at 4K is a struggle on the ol' 1070... so between the new 4K monitor and the week of refusing to even fully POST, I pulled the trigger on a new build:

 

AMD 7800x3d

Noctua NH-D15

Asrock B650M Pro RS

2x16GB Team 6000mhz RAM

Sapphire Pulse 7900XT

Crucial T700 2TB m.2 NVMe (moving the two Solidgm 2TB m.2's to this build)

2x 4TB Team 2.5" SSDs

Fractal Design Pop Mini Silent

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/YGYjgB

 

I have a couple parts I'm waiting on until I can fully button it up and start moving data around (new Noctua case fans and SSD's). I'm going to move everything on my x99 PC to the new system, and start tinkering with the home server stuff on that. I did the test build out of the case today and all is working well so far. Got Win11 installed and did a little bit of overclocking with PBO on the CPU. The only downside to this build so far is how tight a microATX case is (and that's not even really 'small form factor'). But between the Noctua tower cooler and the GPU..I remember why I went to full ATX with my x99 build  It's nearly impossible to release the PCI latch on the GPU when it's in the case. I'll post some pics of the old and new system once the last parts get in. Thanks for the help, I'm excited to get gaming on this thing.

 

[Omon_Ra]

*edit. Forgot about the 'Build Logs' sub-forum. moved completion post to a thread there*

Edited February 26 by Omon_Ra