performance or aesthetics

[2kPat]

Ive made two builds and cant decide if i should go for the more better looking build or the one with more performance, help me!!!

 

PERFORMANCE: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JHKtdH

AESTHETICS: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/w2hZdH

 

[Hinjima]

Just now, kriksis said:

Ive made two builds and cant decide if i should go for the more better looking build or the one with more performance, help me!!!

 

PERFORMANCE: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JHKtdH

AESTHETICS: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/w2hZdH

 

Performance over Aesthetics every day for me.  ONLY go for looks if you can afford it.

You are spending 99.99% of the time looking at the monitor, RGB and fancy white parts wont give you more FPS.

[WereCat]

Performance every single time

[filpo]

4 minutes ago, kriksis said:

Ive made two builds and cant decide if i should go for the more better looking build or the one with more performance, help me!!!

 

PERFORMANCE: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JHKtdH

AESTHETICS: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/w2hZdH

 

I personally like the look of the air cooler (and it's argb) 

where are you getting a 7800X3D for $300 tho? 

if you have a microcenter nearby get their bundle with CPU, ram and mobo and then you can get the aio

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($309.92) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III A-RGB 48.82 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($87.77 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650 EAGLE AX ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($144.63) 
Memory: G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($119.83) 
Storage: TEAMGROUP MP44L 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($64.98 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 7900 XT 20 GB Video Card  ($673.55) 
Case: Montech AIR 903 MAX ATX Mid Tower Case  ($69.98 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Cooler Master MWE Gold 850 - V2 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1560.65
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-03-24 17:04 EDT-0400

[8tg]

Aesthetics. A custom pc is more fun if you enjoy what it looks like.
Better frame rates are cool and all but making something unique is cooler.

[BentleyOwen123]

if you spend your money right you can have both, unless your hardstuck amd, microcenter has a combo with a i9 12900k and a z790 and 32gb of ram i believe. if you have one nearby, with this combo you can easily fit in the aesthetic parts you want and possibly gain performance, albeit i dont know the direct comparison between the 2 

[Hinjima]

2 hours ago, 8tg said:

Aesthetics. A custom pc is more fun if you enjoy what it looks like.
Better frame rates are cool and all but making something unique is cooler.

Interesting to hear someone elses opinion on it, especially when I think the completely opposit

There is of course no right or wrong here.

 

I ONLY use my PC to game so for me I want the best performance possible.  I really dont care what my PC looks like.

I spend my time watching my monitor and not my PC.

I have a lot more fun having good 1440p 240hz performance over some RGB or fancy cables.

 

Not to say I dont like a pretty AirCooler like the Assassin IV or a lovely GPU like the MSI Gaming X Trio or the new Pro Art from ASUS.

[8tg]

1 hour ago, Hinjima said:

Interesting to hear someone elses opinion on it, especially when I think the completely opposit

I think if the goal is just a functional, economical gaming machine, buy a console or a prebuilt. 
That way if something goes wrong, it’s the oems problem.

 

I build PCs because they look cool, the hardware is interesting, the cost is not a concern. If the goal is to play old games, I don’t emulate, I build a dream pc from the era with the coolest parts I can find. I have a whole collection of just hardware I think looks neat.

 

Spoiler

I don’t see much point in super economical builds with such a high budget. It’s already in completely overkill territory for simply gaming performance. I mean this is a $1500 pc in question OP is trying to make. Thats like $800 over the budget of what would get comfortably playable results at higher settings in a common resolution like 1080/1440. 
It’s a common mistake to look at gaming PCs and consider some functional requirement to be 1440p/144hz. Completely forgetting that’s well into the land of diminishing returns.

 

Like I’m also into audio stuff. The way pc builds are treated if compared to audio hardware is like “hey guys I’m trying to listen to my music collection in a way that sounds better than my stock Apple earpods”

and the solution presented being $1000 in ear monitors and a $500 amp and a $300 dac

when in reality what would be a monumental step up would’ve been $100 in ears and a $20 dongle dac

 

So I see it as two separate things in this budget. If you have this kind of money to blow on a pc, you’re already looking at frivolous stuff. Even the core hardware. Might as well really go all in on the frivolous hardware and get stuff you enjoy and think looks cool.

If that doesn’t matter and you just want to play games, cut the budget in half.

[Hinjima]

32 minutes ago, 8tg said:

I think if the goal is just a functional, economical gaming machine, buy a console or a prebuilt. 
That way if something goes wrong, it’s the oems problem.

 

I build PCs because they look cool, the hardware is interesting, the cost is not a concern. If the goal is to play old games, I don’t emulate, I build a dream pc from the era with the coolest parts I can find. I have a whole collection of just hardware I think looks neat.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

I don’t see much point in super economical builds with such a high budget. It’s already in completely overkill territory for simply gaming performance. I mean this is a $1500 pc in question OP is trying to make. Thats like $800 over the budget of what would get comfortably playable results at higher settings in a common resolution like 1080/1440. 
It’s a common mistake to look at gaming PCs and consider some functional requirement to be 1440p/144hz. Completely forgetting that’s well into the land of diminishing returns.

 

Like I’m also into audio stuff. The way pc builds are treated if compared to audio hardware is like “hey guys I’m trying to listen to my music collection in a way that sounds better than my stock Apple earpods”

and the solution presented being $1000 in ear monitors and a $500 amp and a $300 dac

when in reality what would be a monumental step up would’ve been $100 in ears and a $20 dongle dac

 

So I see it as two separate things in this budget. If you have this kind of money to blow on a pc, you’re already looking at frivolous stuff. Even the core hardware. Might as well really go all in on the frivolous hardware and get stuff you enjoy and think looks cool.

If that doesn’t matter and you just want to play games, cut the budget in half.

I guess we have very different opinions on this and that is of course fine.

Your computers look fantastic! Absolutely not denying that Its just not something I care about.

My machines surely do not look like a rats nest, I cable manage and clean the dust filters every 2 weeks and clean the PC every 2-3 months with compressed air.

Noise levels are also something I care a lot about, its my main focus after performance.

I build purely for performance because I game A LOT ( 8+ hours a day )  and even my Ryzen 7700x and RTX 4080 is not performing as well as I would like in certain games so I am already getting ready for the RTX 5090 and 9800X3D next year.

Fancy looking components are also extremely overpriced here in Norway.

I like my games to look crisp and high framerate. I also do a lot of simracing so consistent high framerate is crucial for the best laptimes, even a microstutter can result in time lost around a track.

I AM on the Autism spectrum so I am very sensitive to certain things so for me, performance is key.

I do think my PC looks quite alright.. Even with the beige NH-D15.  Gotta love it

 

I like music as well and I have a Yamaha s-701 with an old Hegel HD2 DAC running two PSB Imagine X2T's.

[BahnStormer]

14 hours ago, kriksis said:

Ive made two builds and cant decide if i should go for the more better looking build or the one with more performance, help me!!!

 

PERFORMANCE: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/JHKtdH

AESTHETICS: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/w2hZdH

 

I'll offer my 2c... then walk away from this one as it is VERY much personal preference.

 

Performance every time, unless you're building some trophy to put on your desk show off to uni-friends: if you can get the performance and still have it look nice, then brilliant, but I am always suspicious of a "show-pony".

I love a "sleeper".... I'd probably be building my next AM5 gaming rig in a beige "office tower" if the airflow in those wasn't so bad.... and if Lian Li start doing metal side-panels, I'll probably get one of those for my Air O11 Mini, so I can fit a GPU exhaust duct into the side of the case!

 

This sums it up: here's my previous gaming rig.... yes, I had a mix of black, grey AND beige Noctua fans... only reason I changed it is the GPU was exhausting 350W of heat straight into the CPU intake...

(and before the purists point out that the top right is NOT in exhaust orientation - the photo was taken while I was testing if forcing more cold air in at that point would help, but it didn't, so I swapped it back)

[2kPat]

On 3/24/2024 at 11:02 PM, Hinjima said:

Performance over Aesthetics every day for me.  ONLY go for looks if you can afford it.

You are spending 99.99% of the time looking at the monitor, RGB and fancy white parts wont give you more FPS.

Thanks for the comments, I've came to a conclusion that i don't need such a powerful pc nor have it look fantastic and I've made this

 https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NR7crv 

[BentleyOwen123]

good choices, although am i missing something, before i have never heard of a 7500f? is it only available in certain countries?

[BentleyOwen123]

On 3/24/2024 at 5:34 PM, 8tg said:

I think if the goal is just a functional, economical gaming machine, buy a console or a prebuilt. 
That way if something goes wrong, it’s the oems problem.

 

I build PCs because they look cool, the hardware is interesting, the cost is not a concern. If the goal is to play old games, I don’t emulate, I build a dream pc from the era with the coolest parts I can find. I have a whole collection of just hardware I think looks neat.

 

  Hide contents

I don’t see much point in super economical builds with such a high budget. It’s already in completely overkill territory for simply gaming performance. I mean this is a $1500 pc in question OP is trying to make. Thats like $800 over the budget of what would get comfortably playable results at higher settings in a common resolution like 1080/1440. 
It’s a common mistake to look at gaming PCs and consider some functional requirement to be 1440p/144hz. Completely forgetting that’s well into the land of diminishing returns.

 

Like I’m also into audio stuff. The way pc builds are treated if compared to audio hardware is like “hey guys I’m trying to listen to my music collection in a way that sounds better than my stock Apple earpods”

and the solution presented being $1000 in ear monitors and a $500 amp and a $300 dac

when in reality what would be a monumental step up would’ve been $100 in ears and a $20 dongle dac

 

So I see it as two separate things in this budget. If you have this kind of money to blow on a pc, you’re already looking at frivolous stuff. Even the core hardware. Might as well really go all in on the frivolous hardware and get stuff you enjoy and think looks cool.

If that doesn’t matter and you just want to play games, cut the budget in half.

dream house, motherboards as shelf decor

[filpo]

3 minutes ago, BentleyOwen123 said:

good choices, although am i missing something, before i have never heard of a 7500f? is it only available in certain countries?

it's not on official stores, but it is a real product and it is essentially a ryzen 5 7600 without the igpu

A great deal at $120 (with a stock cooler too, though I wouldn't use it)

AMD RYZEN 5 7500F Brand New CPU Gaming Processor AMD R5 7500F 6-Core 12-Thread 5NM 38M Socket AM5 Without Fan Game Cache Hot - AliExpress

25 minutes ago, kriksis said:

Thanks for the comments, I've came to a conclusion that i don't need such a powerful pc nor have it look fantastic and I've made this

 https://pcpartpicker.com/list/NR7crv 

for a bit more I'd get a PS120SE and a better psu as well as a much smaller case

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  ($35.90 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI PRO B650M-A WIFI Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($144.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: *ADATA XPG Lancer Blade 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($92.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: TEAMGROUP MP44L 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($64.98 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card  ($475.21) 
Case: SAMA IM01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($55.90 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Custom: 7500F ($120.00)
Total: $1079.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-03-26 15:24 EDT-0400

 

(you can get an itx motherboard if need be (since I doubt an matx will fit well in there with an atx psu, that said the a850gl is quite short)

[BentleyOwen123]

27 minutes ago, filpo said:

it's not on official stores, but it is a real product and it is essentially a ryzen 5 7600 without the igpu

A great deal at $120 (with a stock cooler too, though I wouldn't use it)

AMD RYZEN 5 7500F Brand New CPU Gaming Processor AMD R5 7500F 6-Core 12-Thread 5NM 38M Socket AM5 Without Fan Game Cache Hot - AliExpress

for a bit more I'd get a PS120SE and a better psu as well as a much smaller case

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  ($35.90 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI PRO B650M-A WIFI Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($144.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: *ADATA XPG Lancer Blade 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($92.99 @ Newegg) 
Storage: TEAMGROUP MP44L 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($64.98 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GAMING OC Radeon RX 7800 XT 16 GB Video Card  ($475.21) 
Case: SAMA IM01 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  ($55.90 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: MSI MAG A850GL PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.99 @ Amazon) 
Custom: 7500F ($120.00)
Total: $1079.96
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-03-26 15:24 EDT-0400

 

(you can get an itx motherboard if need be (since I doubt an matx will fit well in there with an atx psu, that said the a850gl is quite short)

intresting, but amd doesnt actually sell it, sounds like one i might need to look into