Help planning to build a new personal PC/workstation ($1800 USD)

[eclectic]

Budget (including currency): $1800 (USD) 

Country: India

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for:  For modeling and running simulation on software such as Ansys Lumerical, Ansys Electronics, Dassault CST, Solidworks, MATLAB, Autocad. 

Other details : I already have all the peripherals and monitor, just need help with building the actual PC. Upgrading from a laptop so sadly can't reuse any parts.

 

My Preference and Suggestion Required:

I have completed the build as detailed in the next section. Since this is my first build, I would appreciate suggestions for improvements or alternate components with same specification from a reputable company but at a cheaper cost that align with my requirements .

 

1. CPU Cooler: From what I have researched online, the ideal running temperature of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is quite high and critical temperature is lower (95 Celsius). Therefore, I need a good CPU cooler. Please suggest a good cooler. The simulations will be running 24x7, therefore cooling is required.

2. Memory: Ideally, I want at least 128 GB of RAM, but the cost of Corsair 4×32 GB RAM (around $500) is quite high. Therefore, I am starting with 2×48 GB RAM and will add another 2×48 GB if, after running simulations, I find that 96 GB is insufficient. 

3. Video Card: I already have three "Zotac GAMING AMP GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB Video Card" with me from a previous build for reuse. I would like to reuse at least two of them in this build.

4. Case: I want to go with ATX built, as I am new to this, therefore I am not sure if mid or full tower will be sufficient. The simulations will be running 24x7, therefore ventilation is required. 
5. Power Supply:  Currently, the total estimated power consumption is around 620W according to PCPartPicker. Considering future expansions, such as adding another 2×48 GB RAM or other upgrades, along with some additional buffer, should I opt for a 750W power supply or something higher? Please also suggest a good power supply option.

6. Motherboard: Currently, the filters I apply on PCPartPicker for selecting a motherboard are: Price under $300, ATX form factor, AM5 socket, memory capacity between 192–256 GB, four memory slots, and DDR5 memory type.My main concern while selecting the motherboard is that most options have only one PCIe x16 slot. I want to install two or three graphics cards, but with these boards, have only one PCIe x16, while are PCIe x8, x4, or even x1, depending on the motherboard. Could you please suggest a motherboard that offers the maximum number of PCIe x16 slots? If that's not possible within my budget, please recommend one that provides the best possible performance configuration for multiple (at max 3) GPUs.

 

My built: 

 

PCPartPicker List

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D 4.3 GHz 16-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Frozen Infinity 360 ARGB 68.9 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler 
Motherboard: Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX ATX AM5 Motherboard 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 96 GB (2 x 48 GB) DDR5-5600 CL40 Memory
Storage SSD: Samsung 990 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive 
Storage HDD: Western Digital Blue 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card x2 (Already bought): Zotac GAMING AMP GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB Video Card
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox K501L ATX Mid Tower Case 
Power Supply:  Cooler Master MWE Gold 750 V3 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

[brob]

Consider a motherboard like https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B850-AI-TOP#kf. It supports two GPU running x8 off the CPU. It can use 64 GB memory sticks like https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr5/CT64G56C46U5.

 

If adding 128 GB (2x64 GB) of memory exceeds budget you might consider going with the 9950X instead of the 9950X3D. In most markets this would be a significant savings. Of course if your software benefits from the 3D cache there would be a performance hit, but perhaps less than trying to work with less memory.

 

I would not opt for an HDD, inexpensive 2 TB NVMe are reasonably priced and do make a performance difference.

[podkall]

1 hour ago, brob said:

Consider a motherboard like https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B850-AI-TOP#kf. It supports two GPU running x8 off the CPU. It can use 64 GB memory sticks like https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr5/CT64G56C46U5.

Is that cheaper than ASUS ProArt?

 

2 hours ago, eclectic said:

5. Power Supply:  Currently, the total estimated power consumption is around 620W according to PCPartPicker. Considering future expansions, such as adding another 2×48 GB RAM or other upgrades, along with some additional buffer, should I opt for a 750W power supply or something higher? Please also suggest a good power supply option.

No plans on getting more powerful GPUs?

[strange13930]

2 hours ago, eclectic said:

Budget (including currency): $1800 (USD) 

Country: India

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for:  For modeling and running simulation on software such as Ansys Lumerical, Ansys Electronics, Dassault CST, Solidworks, MATLAB, Autocad. 

Other details : I already have all the peripherals and monitor, just need help with building the actual PC. Upgrading from a laptop so sadly can't reuse any parts.

 

My Preference and Suggestion Required:

I have completed the build as detailed in the next section. Since this is my first build, I would appreciate suggestions for improvements or alternate components with same specification from a reputable company but at a cheaper cost that align with my requirements .

 

1. CPU Cooler: From what I have researched online, the ideal running temperature of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is quite high and critical temperature is lower (95 Celsius). Therefore, I need a good CPU cooler. Please suggest a good cooler. The simulations will be running 24x7, therefore cooling is required.

2. Memory: Ideally, I want at least 128 GB of RAM, but the cost of Corsair 4×32 GB RAM (around $500) is quite high. Therefore, I am starting with 2×48 GB RAM and will add another 2×48 GB if, after running simulations, I find that 96 GB is insufficient. 

3. Video Card: I already have three "Zotac GAMING AMP GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB Video Card" with me from a previous build for reuse. I would like to reuse at least two of them in this build.

4. Case: I want to go with ATX built, as I am new to this, therefore I am not sure if mid or full tower will be sufficient. The simulations will be running 24x7, therefore ventilation is required. 
5. Power Supply:  Currently, the total estimated power consumption is around 620W according to PCPartPicker. Considering future expansions, such as adding another 2×48 GB RAM or other upgrades, along with some additional buffer, should I opt for a 750W power supply or something higher? Please also suggest a good power supply option.

6. Motherboard: Currently, the filters I apply on PCPartPicker for selecting a motherboard are: Price under $300, ATX form factor, AM5 socket, memory capacity between 192–256 GB, four memory slots, and DDR5 memory type.My main concern while selecting the motherboard is that most options have only one PCIe x16 slot. I want to install two or three graphics cards, but with these boards, have only one PCIe x16, while are PCIe x8, x4, or even x1, depending on the motherboard. Could you please suggest a motherboard that offers the maximum number of PCIe x16 slots? If that's not possible within my budget, please recommend one that provides the best possible performance configuration for multiple (at max 3) GPUs.

 

My built: 

 

PCPartPicker List

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D 4.3 GHz 16-Core Processor
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Frozen Infinity 360 ARGB 68.9 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler 
Motherboard: Gigabyte X670 AORUS ELITE AX ATX AM5 Motherboard 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 96 GB (2 x 48 GB) DDR5-5600 CL40 Memory
Storage SSD: Samsung 990 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive 
Storage HDD: Western Digital Blue 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive
Video Card x2 (Already bought): Zotac GAMING AMP GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB Video Card
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox K501L ATX Mid Tower Case 
Power Supply:  Cooler Master MWE Gold 750 V3 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

for your ram, kits with a speed of 6000 and a cl of 30 or 32 work best for Ryzen chips.

[brob]

1 hour ago, podkall said:

Is that cheaper than ASUS ProArt?

 

i don't believe there is a B850 ProArt. PcPartPicker is not showing a price for the B650 ProArt and I couldn't find a US price. But OP should check local availability and pricing.

[podkall]

8 minutes ago, brob said:

 

i don't believe there is a B850 ProArt. PcPartPicker is not showing a price for the B650 ProArt and I couldn't find a US price. But OP should check local availability and pricing.

But why you need B850? For GTX 1660Ti?

[brob]

1 hour ago, podkall said:

But why you need B850? For GTX 1660Ti?

 

Because the CPU is a 9950X3D?

[podkall]

5 minutes ago, brob said:

 

Because the CPU is a 9950X3D?

And? You don't need B850 motherboard for that CPU.

[brob]

18 minutes ago, podkall said:

And? You don't need B850 motherboard for that CPU.

 

If you have a suggestion, make it.

[podkall]

9 minutes ago, brob said:

If you have a suggestion, make it.

I had suggestion, but your comment was misleading, because there's like only 1 motherboard that has 8/8 mode, unless the similarly priced motherboards have same feature, the ones that have 2 4x PCIe slots on chipset..

[eclectic]

4 hours ago, podkall said:

No plans on getting more powerful GPUs?

Right now there is no plans, but if the workflow demands a powerful GPU, I would consider it.

[eclectic]

4 hours ago, strange13930 said:

for your ram, kits with a speed of 6000 and a cl of 30 or 32 work best for Ryzen chips.

Is that so? This is my first setup, so I just followed what was written on the AMD's website (see attached pic). I could not find speed of 6000 written in the max memory speed list.

[eclectic]

6 hours ago, brob said:

Consider a motherboard like https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B850-AI-TOP#kf. It supports two GPU running x8 off the CPU. It can use 64 GB memory sticks like https://www.crucial.com/memory/ddr5/CT64G56C46U5.

 

If adding 128 GB (2x64 GB) of memory exceeds budget you might consider going with the 9950X instead of the 9950X3D. In most markets this would be a significant savings. Of course if your software benefits from the 3D cache there would be a performance hit, but perhaps less than trying to work with less memory.

 

I would not opt for an HDD, inexpensive 2 TB NVMe are reasonably priced and do make a performance difference.

Thanks for the suggestion however I would prefer one x16 and the other as x16 -> x8 -> x4 -> x1 (in the decreasing order of preference) considering a possibility of future upgrade to a single good GPU. 

 

Sure. I will consider it.

 

Sure, a good suggestion. I will consider it.

[brob]

1 hour ago, eclectic said:

Thanks for the suggestion however I would prefer one x16 and the other as x16 -> x8 -> x4 -> x1 (in the decreasing order of preference) considering a possibility of future upgrade to a single good GPU. 

 

Sure. I will consider it.

 

Sure, a good suggestion. I will consider it.

 

The motherboard I suggested offers x16 with one slot occupied and x8 in each with two slots occupied.

[podkall]

8 hours ago, eclectic said:

Is that so? This is my first setup, so I just followed what was written on the AMD's website (see attached pic). I could not find speed of 6000 written in the max memory speed list.

If your workload scales with RAM speed, 6000Mhz is really good for AM5 Ryzen, the only issue is running 4 sticks with it, that can't sometimes work and you're sometimes forced to run slower speeds with 4 sticks even if you bought 4 sticks of 6000Mhz speed RAM sticks.

 

8 hours ago, eclectic said:

Thanks for the suggestion however I would prefer one x16 and the other as x16 -> x8 -> x4 -> x1 (in the decreasing order of preference) considering a possibility of future upgrade to a single good GPU. 

 

Sure. I will consider it.

 

Sure, a good suggestion. I will consider it.

Consider that 95% of motherboards, have 2 slots or 3.

 

But when you put 2 GPUs in those slots, first is 16x lanes, and second is 1-4x lanes. And they physically cannot have more than 1-4x lanes, unless you buy specific motherboard that can.

[eclectic]

5 minutes ago, podkall said:

If your workload scales with RAM speed, 6000Mhz is really good for AM5 Ryzen, the only issue is running 4 sticks with it, that can't sometimes work and you're sometimes forced to run slower speeds with 4 sticks even if you bought 4 sticks of 6000Mhz speed RAM sticks.

No, the workload is memory bandwidth dependent after having a certain memory size (say 128 GB) as per the Ansys official hardware guidelines. I don't think the RAM speed will have any significant effect on the simulation time.

 

If you could please help clarify some confusion I have regarding RAM selection, I would really appreciate it:

1. Is DDR5-5600 CL40 considered slow in general, and how suitable is it for FEA workloads?

 

2. In the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D manual, it mentions that the maximum memory speed is DDR5-5600 for 2x1R or 2x2R configurations. How would using toal 4 sticks of DDR5-5600 affect system performance or stability?

 

3. I’ve read that CPUs and motherboards often struggle to maintain high memory speeds (such as 5600 MT/s) when large memory capacities (e.g., ≥128 GB) are installed. If my workloads require high memory, how can I take advantage of the CPU’s 192 GB memory support? I’m targeting at least 128 GB of RAM, but 4x32 GB kits I found on PCPartPicker are around $500.

  

[podkall]

1 hour ago, eclectic said:

No, the workload is memory bandwidth dependent after having a certain memory size (say 128 GB) as per the Ansys official hardware guidelines. I don't think the RAM speed will have any significant effect on the simulation time.

 

If you could please help clarify some confusion I have regarding RAM selection, I would really appreciate it:

1. Is DDR5-5600 CL40 considered slow in general, and how suitable is it for FEA workloads?

For games maybe, for workloads that just favor RAM size, it's alright.

 

1 hour ago, eclectic said:

. In the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D manual, it mentions that the maximum memory speed is DDR5-5600 for 2x1R or 2x2R configurations. How would using toal 4 sticks of DDR5-5600 affect system performance or stability?

It might work fine, for AM5 the normal "sweetspot" speed is CL30 6000Mhz, people buy that with 2x16GB sticks and that speed and 99% of the time the RAM works, and the 1% times it doesn't usually faulty or incompatible RAM.

 

You could get 2x48GB 6000 CL30 and it should work with XMP/EPXO just fine.

 

1 hour ago, eclectic said:

3. I’ve read that CPUs and motherboards often struggle to maintain high memory speeds (such as 5600 MT/s) when large memory capacities (e.g., ≥128 GB) are installed.

Not capacities, sticks themself, more RAM sticks more work for CPU's memory controller. This is why 2x48GB sticks exist, so you can get 96GB of RAM size without populating 4 sticks but just 2.

 

1 hour ago, eclectic said:

I’m targeting at least 128 GB of RAM, but 4x32 GB kits I found on PCPartPicker are around $500.

I'd take 2x48GB, how important is having 128GB?

[fabians_life]

17 hours ago, eclectic said:

 

1. CPU Cooler: From what I have researched online, the ideal running temperature of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is quite high and critical temperature is lower (95 Celsius). Therefore, I need a good CPU cooler. Please suggest a good cooler. The simulations will be running 24x7, therefore cooling is required.

 

Why go with a 3d edition. I thought that only benefits gaming performance. For a cooler just go with noctua nh-d15.

[brob]

1 hour ago, fabians_life said:

Why go with a 3d edition. I thought that only benefits gaming performance

 

The large cache of an X3D CPU can be of benefit in some simulations.

[eclectic]

  

On 4/27/2025 at 5:25 PM, fabians_life said:

Why go with a 3d edition. I thought that only benefits gaming performance. For a cooler just go with noctua nh-d15.

After researching on some finite element analysis forums, I am going with AMD Ryzen 9 9950X. 

Also, not going with noctua nh-d15, as AMD recommends liquid cooling for this CPU.

 

My updated build: Would love your opinion on the updated build before I make the purchase. I have two concerns. 

 

a) The motherboard might be overpriced. I want to go with x870 chipset. Could you suggest any other alternative x870 chipset mobo that doesn't compromise on performance but have a lower price. 

b) the spec sheet of ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 says the total thickness is 63 mm while the H7 Flow asks for clearance of 57 mm for top radiator + fans as 57 mm. I want a good liquid cooler and a good airflow case with multiple case fans like H7 Flow, as the simulations might rung for long hours to keep the thermals down. For context some simulation takes upto 3 days to complete, on my current PC. 

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Jdrjgn

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 4.3 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($526.00 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 77 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($87.59 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($299.50 @ iBUYPOWER) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 96 GB (2 x 48 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($333.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Abt) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($64.98 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Zotac GAMING AMP GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB Video Card 
Case: NZXT H7 Flow (2024) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2024) 850 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($129.99 @ Newegg) 
Total: $1672.0

[eclectic]

On 4/27/2025 at 6:57 PM, brob said:

 

The large cache of an X3D CPU can be of benefit in some simulations.

After researching on some finite element analysis forums, I am going with AMD Ryzen 9 9950X. 

 

My updated build: Would love your opinion on the updated build before I make the purchase. Also, I have two concerns:

 

a) The motherboard might be overpriced. I want to go with x870 chipset. Could you suggest any other alternative x870 chipset mobo that doesn't compromise on performance but have a lower price. 

b) the spec sheet of ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 says the total thickness is 63 mm while the H7 Flow asks for clearance of 57 mm for top radiator + fans as 57 mm. I want a good liquid cooler and a good airflow case with multiple case fans like H7 Flow, as the simulations might rung for long hours to keep the thermals down. For context some simulation takes upto 3 days to complete, on my current PC. Could you please suggest a good combination for the above.

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Jdrjgn

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 4.3 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($526.00 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 77 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($87.59 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($299.50 @ iBUYPOWER) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 96 GB (2 x 48 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($333.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Abt) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($64.98 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Zotac GAMING AMP GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB Video Card 
Case: NZXT H7 Flow (2024) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2024) 850 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($129.99 @ Newegg) 

[eclectic]

On 4/27/2025 at 5:18 PM, podkall said:

For games maybe, for workloads that just favor RAM size, it's alright.

 

It might work fine, for AM5 the normal "sweetspot" speed is CL30 6000Mhz, people buy that with 2x16GB sticks and that speed and 99% of the time the RAM works, and the 1% times it doesn't usually faulty or incompatible RAM.

 

You could get 2x48GB 6000 CL30 and it should work with XMP/EPXO just fine.

 

Not capacities, sticks themself, more RAM sticks more work for CPU's memory controller. This is why 2x48GB sticks exist, so you can get 96GB of RAM size without populating 4 sticks but just 2.

 

I'd take 2x48GB, how important is having 128GB?

After reading and incorporating your suggestion, I have updated my build. Would love your opinion on the updated build before I make the purchase.

 

 

Also, I have two concerns:

a) The motherboard might be overpriced. I want to go with x870 chipset. Could you suggest any other alternative x870 chipset mobo that doesn't compromise on performance but have a lower price. 

b) the spec sheet of ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 says the total thickness is 63 mm while the H7 Flow asks for clearance of 57 mm for top radiator + fans as 57 mm. I want a good liquid cooler and a good airflow case with multiple case fans like H7 Flow, as the simulations might rung for long hours to keep the thermals down. For context some simulation takes upto 3 days to complete, on my current PC. Could you please suggest a good combination for the above.

 

 

My updated build:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Jdrjgn

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 4.3 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($526.00 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 77 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($87.59 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($299.50 @ iBUYPOWER) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 96 GB (2 x 48 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($333.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Abt) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($64.98 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Zotac GAMING AMP GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB Video Card 
Case: NZXT H7 Flow (2024) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2024) 850 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($129.99 @ Newegg) 

[eclectic]

On 4/27/2025 at 1:58 AM, strange13930 said:

for your ram, kits with a speed of 6000 and a cl of 30 or 32 work best for Ryzen chips.

Replying here as the other post got locked.

 

I don’t have the budget to buy a high-end GPU right now, so my brother gave me his unused GTX 1660 Ti. The software I am using does support GPU acceleration, and I will test it with the 1660 Ti for now. If I find that it doesn't meet the demands of my workload, I might consider upgrading to a more powerful GPU in the future.

 

 

I have updated my build. Would love your opinion on the updated build before I make the purchase. I have two concerns:

 

a) The motherboard might be overpriced. I want to go with x870 chipset. Could you suggest any other alternative x870 chipset mobo that doesn't compromise on performance but have a lower price. 

b) the spec sheet of ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 says the total thickness is 63 mm while the H7 Flow asks for clearance of 57 mm for top radiator + fans as 57 mm. I want a good liquid cooler and a good airflow case with multiple case fans like H7 Flow, as the simulations might rung for long hours to keep the thermals down. For context some simulation takes upto 3 days to complete, on my current PC. Could you please suggest a good combination for the above.

 

 

My updated build:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Jdrjgn

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 4.3 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($526.00 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 77 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($87.59 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($299.50 @ iBUYPOWER) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 96 GB (2 x 48 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($333.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Abt) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($64.98 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Zotac GAMING AMP GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB Video Card 
Case: NZXT H7 Flow (2024) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2024) 850 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($129.99 @ Newegg) 

 

[strange13930]

7 minutes ago, eclectic said:

Replying here as the other post got locked.

 

I don’t have the budget to buy a high-end GPU right now, so my brother gave me his unused GTX 1660 Ti. The software I am using does support GPU acceleration, and I will test it with the 1660 Ti for now. If I find that it doesn't meet the demands of my workload, I might consider upgrading to a more powerful GPU in the future.

 

 

I have updated my build. Would love your opinion on the updated build before I make the purchase. I have two concerns:

 

a) The motherboard might be overpriced. I want to go with x870 chipset. Could you suggest any other alternative x870 chipset mobo that doesn't compromise on performance but have a lower price. 

b) the spec sheet of ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 says the total thickness is 63 mm while the H7 Flow asks for clearance of 57 mm for top radiator + fans as 57 mm. I want a good liquid cooler and a good airflow case with multiple case fans like H7 Flow, as the simulations might rung for long hours to keep the thermals down. For context some simulation takes upto 3 days to complete, on my current PC. Could you please suggest a good combination for the above.

 

 

My updated build:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Jdrjgn

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 4.3 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($526.00 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 77 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($87.59 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($299.50 @ iBUYPOWER) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 96 GB (2 x 48 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($333.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Abt) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($64.98 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Zotac GAMING AMP GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB Video Card 
Case: NZXT H7 Flow (2024) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2024) 850 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($129.99 @ Newegg) 

 

here a different motherboard with almost the same featureshttps://pcpartpicker.com/product/d7zXsY/asus-prime-x870-p-wifi-atx-am5-motherboard-prime-x870-p-wifi and for the aio you could mount it on the front instead of the top.

[podkall]

24 minutes ago, eclectic said:

Also, I have two concerns:

a) The motherboard might be overpriced. I want to go with x870 chipset. Could you suggest any other alternative x870 chipset mobo that doesn't compromise on performance but have a lower price.

What kind of performance are you expecting the X870 chipset to give you? If it's just to drive the parts and CPU, you can pick any B650/B850 motherboard that isn't super cheap.

 

Otherwise it's hard when the plan to run multiple GPUs, not that you couldn't, but mentioned earlier the amount of lanes available on the second slot of most motherboards is 1-4x

 

Some Motherboards have only 1x wiring/support on all other PCIe slots.

 

Here are some that have at least one 4x slot on the additional expansion slots:

ASRock B850 Pro-A

MSI B650 GAMING PLUS WIFI

MSI PRO B850-P WIFI

Asus TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI

 

 

• You can also give me models of few B650/B850/X870 and I can read the spec sheet about their PCIe slots, and check if their VRMs can handle 16+ core CPU.

 

27 minutes ago, eclectic said:

b) the spec sheet of ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 says the total thickness is 63 mm while the H7 Flow asks for clearance of 57 mm for top radiator + fans as 57 mm. I want a good liquid cooler and a good airflow case with multiple case fans like H7 Flow, as the simulations might rung for long hours to keep the thermals down. For context some simulation takes upto 3 days to complete, on my current PC. Could you please suggest a good combination for the above.

Like a case+AIO or just AIO for the NZXT case?

 

I see lot of H7 Flow builds use LF III, in both 2022 and 2024 version of the case:

https://pcpartpicker.com/builds/by_part/4yMMnQ#h=262995,512960,512970,512964,578015

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/builds/by_part/c7jBD3#h=512968,512960

 

Though I suppose it will be quite tight fit for the case, and maybe require to be assembled in certain order.

 

For AIO alternatives look at Thermalright brand, Deepcool could also work.

 

1 hour ago, eclectic said:

My updated build:

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/Jdrjgn

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 4.3 GHz 16-Core Processor  ($526.00 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Liquid Freezer III Pro 360 77 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  ($87.59 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG X870 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($299.50 @ iBUYPOWER) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 96 GB (2 x 48 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($333.99 @ Amazon) 
Storage: Samsung 990 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($99.99 @ Abt) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue 2 TB 3.5" 7200 RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($64.98 @ Amazon) 
Video Card: Zotac GAMING AMP GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB Video Card 
Case: NZXT H7 Flow (2024) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($129.99 @ Amazon) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850x (2024) 850 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($129.99 @ Newegg) 

Yeah looks pretty good.

 

The cooler, the RAM and speed.

 

I'd get different HDD though, if you want HDD. That specific HDD with that specific model number uses SMR technology, which is slightly outdated and can be slower, especially at writing or random read speeds.

 

If it's not the exact HDD you are buying, could you copy the part number? Should start with "WD":

 

 

On 4/26/2025 at 8:01 PM, eclectic said:

3. Video Card: I already have three "Zotac GAMING AMP GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB Video Card" with me from a previous build for reuse. I would like to reuse at least two of them in this build.

What motherboard does that previous build use?