Integrated graphics and cooling question for first PC build

[bondedcoat]

Budget (including currency): ~2000$ CAD

Country: Canada

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Elden Ring, Baldur's gate, other AAA games; program development and photo editing

current list of parts: i5-13600k/kf, rtx 5070 12GB, 32 GB DDR5/6000 MT/s, Asus TUF GAMING Z790-BTF WIFI ATX LGA1700, Corsair 3500x case, Thermalright Aqua Elite V3 66.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler, Thermalright TL-C12C-S fans

Hello everyone! I want your input on how important integrated graphics are. I found a deal for an i5-13600kf for 240 CAD (~170 USD), and the lowest price I can find for an i5-13600k is 370 CAD (~264 USD). If the priority is to have integrated graphics, another option would be an i7-12700k, which would cost around 300 CAD (~214 USD) but from what I understand, the i5-13600 lineup is pretty much perfect and even better than the i7-12700k at a cheaper price point. What I would really like to know is the safety and testing ability of the integrated graphics is worth it in my scenario.

Another question I had is about cooling. Right now, the case I have in mind is the Corsair 3500x. I plan to use AIO cooling, specifically the Thermalright Aqua Elite V3 66.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler. I plan to include 4-5 Thermalright TL-C12C-S fans around the case to have as much airflow as possible. Would this be enough, too much or too little? I appreciate the time you've taken to read my post, and would appreciate any opinion or feedback you could give me. Thank you! 

 

(P.S. I have never built a PC before, so I have very little experience in long-term PC maintenance. If you believe any of these parts are not viable long term, please let me know.)

[Eigenvektor]

3 minutes ago, bondedcoat said:

Hello everyone! I want your input on how important integrated graphics are.

So long as you have a dedicated GPU, they don't matter, unless your GPU develops some kind of issue. In that case it's helpful to have a "backup" that allows you to boot and see if there's anything you can do or simply to be able to use your PC until a replacement arrives.

[BiotechBen]

4 minutes ago, bondedcoat said:

I found a deal for an i5-13600kf for 240 CAD (~170 USD), and the lowest price I can find for an i5-13600k is 370 CAD (~264 USD). If the priority is to have integrated graphics, another option would be an i7-12700k, which would cost around 300 CAD (~214 USD) but from what I understand, the i5-13600 lineup is pretty much perfect and even better than the i7-12700k at a cheaper price point. What I would really like to know is the safety and testing ability of the integrated graphics is worth it in my scenario.

It really depends on how much you are willing to spend for the ability to troubleshoot issues using integrated graphics. Think of it this way: what do you value your time at? I use $25/hr as my baseline metric, so I determine if something is worth the investment based off how much time I can allow myself to "bill to the universe as stress" (thanks, dad for that).

 

6 minutes ago, bondedcoat said:

Another question I had is about cooling. Right now, the case I have in mind is the Corsair 3500x. I plan to use AIO cooling, specifically the Thermalright Aqua Elite V3 66.17 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler. I plan to include 4-5 Thermalright TL-C12C-S fans around the case to have as much airflow as possible. Would this be enough, too much or too little? I appreciate the time you've taken to read my post, and would appreciate any opinion or feedback you could give me. Thank you! 

A 360 AIO will be fine to cool, should keep it manageable.

 

7 minutes ago, bondedcoat said:

(P.S. I have never built a PC before, so I have very little experience in long-term PC maintenance. If you believe any of these parts are not viable long term, please let me know.)

AIO lifetime is generally 3-5 years of continual use before pumps fail, evaporation becomes significant, or biocide looses its effectivity.

[Millios]

1 hour ago, BiotechBen said:

AIO lifetime is generally 3-5 years of continual use before pumps fail, evaporation becomes significant, or biocide looses its effectivity.

Depends on what uses the AIO

 

For GPUs (ie liquid cooled versions) yes that is about that then they *prrr* (and they also dont improve much if at all for like nearly every card that isnt an rtx x090 and even then the difference for the 5090 is barely 10 FPS at 4K and maybe 1 degree C)

 

For AIOs for CPUs nah they can last quite a while more (provided you treat them correctly), some have had theirs for 7 or even 10 years with no issue from what I've seen. Some even give you the ability to refill them like the be quiet ones

 

I'd still go air cooled for both tho since good air coolers have gotten so much better in terms of bang for the buck

[Why_Me]

Intel 14 gen has a better thread scheduler vs 13 gen.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i7-14700F 2.1 GHz 20-Core Processor  ($419.00 @ Amazon Canada) 
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler  ($49.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Motherboard: *Asus TUF GAMING B760-PLUS WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  ($216.70 @ Vuugo) 
Memory: *TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($124.99 @ Canada Computers) 
Storage: *Patriot P400 Lite 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($137.99 @ Amazon Canada) 
Video Card: *Gigabyte WINDFORCE SFF GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB Video Card  ($759.99 @ Canada Computers) 
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case  ($85.12 @ Vuugo) 
Power Supply: *be quiet! Pure Power 12 750 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  ($124.99 @ PC-Canada) 
Total: $1918.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-05-17 04:23 EDT-0400

[BahnStormer]

I thought there was something with the Intel iGPU's where they were required to enable some sort of streaming options that the regular CPU couldn't support?

 

Other than that potential usage or the "backup" option, the only use for them would be to have a backup or potentially to run extra monitors on it, e.g. in order avoid all the Nvidia driver bugs running multiple screens on different refresh rates(360Hz, 170Hz and 60Hz), I have my primary gaming screen on my Nvicia card and my other two on the onboard graphics.