First-ish build feedback

[Phenz]

Mainly looking for feedback on compatibility or any other obvious gaps in the build (like better value alternatives).

 

Budget (including currency): idk 3k USD hard cap, but the lower the better, just looking for the best value options so that I won't need to upgrade in a while

Country: USA (near Santa Clara micro center)

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: light gaming like popular old games (fps, single-player, and strategy), modded minecraft, chess engines like Stockfish and Lc0, web browsing and youtube watching

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): I have like 10 yo mouse, mousepad and monitor, but probably need all new peripherals (still looking into an office chair, so also open to suggestions on that), upgrading from M1 Macbook Air, want to buy within the next month (if black friday deals are better I can wait), 1440p >60fps

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/tbCdBq

CPU Cooler: ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith RGB Gaming 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($242.97 @ B&H)  want more RAM because I always have like 200 Chrome tabs open, and have encountered a lot of stutters with the 8GB on my Mac, so just want to set and forget it
Storage: Crucial T500 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($140.30 @ Amazon) seems like a good dram option, but damn it's getting more expensive day by day (dram ssds should have better durability is what I heard?)
Case: Lian Li Lancool 207 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($82.99 @ Amazon) good airflow
Power Supply: Montech CENTURY II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.90 @ Amazon) 
Keyboard: Keychron V1 Max Bluetooth/Wireless/Wired/Wired Mini Keyboard  ($99.99 @ B&H) not sure if Banana or Brown switches
Mouse: Logitech G502 X Wired Optical Mouse  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Custom: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, Gigabyte B650 Gaming X AX V2 AM5, CPU Motherboard Bundle ($299.99) 8 cores seem nice, but is the motherboard good (in terms of I/O, storage, audio, etc.)?
Custom: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, Gigabyte B650 Gaming X AX V2 AM5, CPU Motherboard Bundle ($0.00)
Custom: Scyrox V8 ($69.99) (can't decide between v6 and v8, will probably try both and return one)
Custom: KBDiy PBT Cherry Profile Keycaps  ($15.47)
Custom: Artisan FX ZERO ($70.00) (soft, XL)
Custom: GMK26 ($31.00)
Custom: PowerColor AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT Reaper Triple Fan 16GB GDDR6 PCIe 5.0 Graphics Card ($599.99)
Custom: AOC Q27G41XMN2 27" 2K QHD (2560 x 1440) 180Hz Gaming Mini-LED Monitor ($249.99) What is the difference between this one and the more widely available Q27G40XMN?
Total: $2082.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-10-26 15:42 EDT-0400

 

[Why_Me]

That dual tower cpu cooler won't clear those RAM heatsinks. Add a 120mm rear exhaust fan to that case. Look for a board that supports PCIe 5.0 for that gpu that supports PCIe 5.0.

 

This might help give you a few ideas.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($359.00 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: *Asus TUF GAMING B650E-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($179.99 @ Best Buy) 
Memory: *Kingston FURY Beast 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($320.41 @ Amazon) 
Storage: *Western Digital Blue SN580 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($123.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case  ($65.00 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: *Montech CENTURY II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.90 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1168.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-10-26 16:09 EDT-0400

[Phenz]

1 hour ago, Why_Me said:

That dual tower cpu cooler won't clear those RAM heatsinks. Add a 120mm rear exhaust fan to that case. Look for a board that supports PCIe 5.0 for that gpu that supports PCIe 5.0.

 

This might help give you a few ideas.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor  ($359.00 @ Amazon) 
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Amazon) 
Motherboard: *Asus TUF GAMING B650E-PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  ($179.99 @ Best Buy) 
Memory: *Kingston FURY Beast 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($320.41 @ Amazon) 
Storage: *Western Digital Blue SN580 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($123.99 @ Amazon) 
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case  ($65.00 @ Newegg) 
Power Supply: *Montech CENTURY II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.90 @ Amazon) 
Total: $1168.28
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-10-26 16:09 EDT-0400

Thanks for the feedback! https://www.amazon.com/ID-COOLING-FROZN-A620-PRO-120x120x25mm/dp/B0D1CGL7D1?th=1 On the cooler's page it states 40mm ram clearence and the ram https://www.techpowerup.com/review/silicon-power-xpower-zenith-rgb/3.html should be max 38.6 mm height. Why do you think it won't clear? Also will Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB / Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB work?

 

And what is the purpose of pcie 5.0 board? I thought pcie 5.0 is useless.  

[Why_Me]

37 minutes ago, Phenz said:

Thanks for the feedback! https://www.amazon.com/ID-COOLING-FROZN-A620-PRO-120x120x25mm/dp/B0D1CGL7D1?th=1 On the cooler's page it states 40mm ram clearence and the ram https://www.techpowerup.com/review/silicon-power-xpower-zenith-rgb/3.html should be max 38.6 mm height. Why do you think it won't clear? Also will Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB / Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB work?

 

And what is the purpose of pcie 5.0 board? I thought pcie 5.0 is useless.  

Good find on the clearance. New build with a $2000 budget says get a board that supports PCIe 5.0 for that gpu that supports PCIe 5.0.

[podkall]

3 hours ago, Phenz said:

And what is the purpose of pcie 5.0 board? I thought pcie 5.0 is useless.  

For storage, for GPU it can later make bigger difference

[podkall]

4 hours ago, Phenz said:

Storage: Crucial T500 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($140.30 @ Amazon)

Acer Predator GM7000

 

4 hours ago, Phenz said:

(dram ssds should have better durability is what I heard?)

not really, they're just faster

 

 

4 hours ago, Phenz said:

Custom: AOC Q27G41XMN2 27" 2K QHD (2560 x 1440

I'd rather personally get monitor with IPS technology, for 180$ they can come from various sellers and ship for free

 

MSI MAG 275QF

[podkall]

4 hours ago, Phenz said:

Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith RGB Gaming 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory

tower cooler will cover the RGB to some degree

 

https://pcpartpicker.com/products/memory/#L=25,300&S=6000,8400&b=ddr5&ff=ddr5&Z=65536002&sort=price&page=1

[Phenz]

1 hour ago, podkall said:

For storage, for GPU it can later make bigger difference

What about this deal then: https://www.microcenter.com/product/5007206/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d,-asus-b650e-e-tuf-gaming-wifi-am5,-cpu-motherboard-bundle? $150 extra(ouch), but hopefully more future-proof? Cpu starts to seem a bit overkill.

1 hour ago, podkall said:

Acer Predator GM7000

 

not really, they're just faster

 

 

I'd rather personally get monitor with IPS technology, for 180$ they can come from various sellers and ship for free

 

MSI MAG 275QF

 

 

The acer predator is a nice alternative with dram, do you know hot good their customer support is?

 

Why do you like IPS more? I thought this aoc one was good because of the local dimming mini-leds, mimicking HDR.

 

Does this HDR actually impact youtube video browsing?

 

[Phenz]

5 hours ago, Why_Me said:

Good find on the clearance. New build with a $2000 budget says get a board that supports PCIe 5.0 for that gpu that supports PCIe 5.0.

This means that the ram and cpu cooler should fit, right?

[Phenz]

2 hours ago, podkall said:

For storage, for GPU it can later make bigger difference

I found this video: 

 that states 1-4% difference (5.0 and 3.0) with a 5090, which I assume would need more bandwidth?

[filpo]

7 hours ago, Phenz said:

I found this video: 

 that states 1-4% difference (5.0 and 3.0) with a 5090, which I assume would need more bandwidth?

Key word:

10 hours ago, podkall said:

later

 

13 hours ago, Phenz said:

And what is the purpose of pcie 5.0 board? I thought pcie 5.0 is useless.

The same thing could've been said about pcie 4 years ago now it offers quite a decent uplift. Getting PCIe 5.0 would mean you might not have to upgrade your motherboard after a while

 

14 hours ago, Phenz said:

Power Supply: Montech CENTURY II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.90 @ Amazon) 

Getting 1000W and an even better psu would mean you don't have to upgrade it for a while https://pcpartpicker.com/product/fKHqqs/be-quiet-pure-power-12-m-1000-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-bn506 (quality of unit from vid below is the same for all wattage ratings) 

 

14 hours ago, Phenz said:

CPU Cooler: ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Amazon) 

personally I'd get this https://pcpartpicker.com/product/vZfV3C/thermalright-peerless-assassin-120-se-v3-7084-cfm-cpu-cooler-pa120se-v3 (performs better, is larger but also will most likely be quieter since it is a bigger heatsink and has been refined after 2 iterations)

14 hours ago, Phenz said:

Case: Lian Li Lancool 207 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($82.99 @ Amazon) good airflow

and a slightly wider better looking imo case

 

14 hours ago, Phenz said:

Mainly looking for feedback on compatibility or any other obvious gaps in the build (like better value alternatives).

 

Budget (including currency): idk 3k USD hard cap, but the lower the better, just looking for the best value options so that I won't need to upgrade in a while

Country: USA (near Santa Clara micro center)

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: light gaming like popular old games (fps, single-player, and strategy), modded minecraft, chess engines like Stockfish and Lc0, web browsing and youtube watching

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): I have like 10 yo mouse, mousepad and monitor, but probably need all new peripherals (still looking into an office chair, so also open to suggestions on that), upgrading from M1 Macbook Air, want to buy within the next month (if black friday deals are better I can wait), 1440p >60fps

 

PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/tbCdBq

CPU Cooler: ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler  ($29.99 @ Amazon) 
Memory: Silicon Power XPOWER Zenith RGB Gaming 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  ($242.97 @ B&H)  want more RAM because I always have like 200 Chrome tabs open, and have encountered a lot of stutters with the 8GB on my Mac, so just want to set and forget it
Storage: Crucial T500 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  ($140.30 @ Amazon) seems like a good dram option, but damn it's getting more expensive day by day (dram ssds should have better durability is what I heard?)
Case: Lian Li Lancool 207 ATX Mid Tower Case  ($82.99 @ Amazon) good airflow
Power Supply: Montech CENTURY II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  ($89.90 @ Amazon) 
Keyboard: Keychron V1 Max Bluetooth/Wireless/Wired/Wired Mini Keyboard  ($99.99 @ B&H) not sure if Banana or Brown switches
Mouse: Logitech G502 X Wired Optical Mouse  ($59.99 @ Amazon) 
Custom: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, Gigabyte B650 Gaming X AX V2 AM5, CPU Motherboard Bundle ($299.99) 8 cores seem nice, but is the motherboard good (in terms of I/O, storage, audio, etc.)?
Custom: AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, Gigabyte B650 Gaming X AX V2 AM5, CPU Motherboard Bundle ($0.00)
Custom: Scyrox V8 ($69.99) (can't decide between v6 and v8, will probably try both and return one)
Custom: KBDiy PBT Cherry Profile Keycaps  ($15.47)
Custom: Artisan FX ZERO ($70.00) (soft, XL)
Custom: GMK26 ($31.00)
Custom: PowerColor AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT Reaper Triple Fan 16GB GDDR6 PCIe 5.0 Graphics Card ($599.99)
Custom: AOC Q27G41XMN2 27" 2K QHD (2560 x 1440) 180Hz Gaming Mini-LED Monitor ($249.99) What is the difference between this one and the more widely available Q27G40XMN?
Total: $2082.56
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-10-26 15:42 EDT-0400

 

Why two mice?

 

14 hours ago, Phenz said:

if black friday deals are better I can wait)

Most likely will be so wait until then, hopefully ram will be a lot cheaper as well as GPU

[podkall]

13 hours ago, Phenz said:

What about this deal then: https://www.microcenter.com/product/5007206/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d,-asus-b650e-e-tuf-gaming-wifi-am5,-cpu-motherboard-bundle? $150 extra(ouch), but hopefully more future-proof? Cpu starts to seem a bit overkill.

That's a decent bundle, just without RAM, those are good components.

 

13 hours ago, Phenz said:

Why do you like IPS more? I thought this aoc one was good because of the local dimming mini-leds, mimicking HDR.

VA can smear blacks on fast moving objects

 

13 hours ago, Phenz said:

Does this HDR actually impact youtube video browsing?

I wouldn't worry about HDR, it's something that requires little bit more than just some tuning, and mostly pointless or even worse than default on budget/mid-range monitors.

 

12 hours ago, Phenz said:

I found this video: 

 that states 1-4% difference (5.0 and 3.0) with a 5090, which I assume would need more bandwidth?

Oh yes, 1-4% difference is nothing, but if you want to ever in future buy GPU faster than 5090, PCIe 5.0 board will be more ready.

 

4.0 board works great, but on AM5 if you're already within 2000$ budget I'd personally rather have 5.0 unless it's giving me worse components to fit price.

 

B650E chipset has PCIe 5.0 too.

 

4 hours ago, filpo said:

Why two mice?

because they can't decide so they want to try both

 

https://www.rtings.com/mouse/tools/compare/scyrox-v8-vs-scyrox-v6/77564/83895

 

Here's what shape difference they can expect:

https://www.eloshapes.com/mouse/compare?p=scyrox-v6-vs.-scyrox-v8

[Phenz]

17 hours ago, filpo said:

Getting 1000W and an even better psu would mean you don't have to upgrade it for a while https://pcpartpicker.com/product/fKHqqs/be-quiet-pure-power-12-m-1000-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-bn506 (quality of unit from vid below is the same for all wattage ratings) 

I was also thinking of a better PSU since this was originally gonna be a 9060 XT build. Is the original PSU 1050W version (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F3XRMZBM?th=1) also good for like $70 less (also A tier on SPL PSU tier list)?

 

17 hours ago, filpo said:

 

personally I'd get this https://pcpartpicker.com/product/vZfV3C/thermalright-peerless-assassin-120-se-v3-7084-cfm-cpu-cooler-pa120se-v3 (performs better, is larger but also will most likely be quieter since it is a bigger heatsink and has been refined after 2 iterations)

 

 

Wouldn't a Phantom Assassin 140 SE be better with the bigger fans, or Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE with the extra heatsink? Also I would've thought that since the ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE was released the latest, it would've been the fastest. But I can't find any decent benchmarks on these units compared, did you see any reputable benchmarks including these models? (I did end up finding this https://www.techpowerup.com/review/id-cooling-frozn-a620-pro-se-cpu-air-cooler/6.html which shows the ID-COOLING a couple of degrees lower)

 

17 hours ago, filpo said:

 

and a slightly wider better looking imo case

 

will I have trouble fitting the components?

 

17 hours ago, filpo said:

 

 

Why two mice?

 

 

 

 

Two mice, one for FPS/Lightweight claw style grip, and other for more buttons and palm style grip.

 

 

17 hours ago, filpo said:

 

 

Most likely will be so wait until then, hopefully ram will be a lot cheaper as well as GPU

Do you think there'll be better deals? Especially the CPU and GPU bundle ($600 for 9070 XT seems unbeatable).

 

Also worried that RAM and SSDs will actually be more expensive with the AI stuff.

[Phenz]

15 hours ago, podkall said:

That's a decent bundle, just without RAM, those are good components.

 

I'm seeing that the 7800x3D is only 20% better in gaming only, seems like diminishing returns for $150 extra (50% increase of original bundle)

 

15 hours ago, podkall said:

VA can smear blacks on fast moving objects

 

I was thinking of also getting the M27UP once it gets closer to MSRP of $300. Seems like a nice 4k and ultra high refresh rate dual option.

 

15 hours ago, podkall said:

4.0 board works great, but on AM5 if you're already within 2000$ budget I'd personally rather have 5.0 unless it's giving me worse components to fit price.

 

 

I cannot find a way to upgrade to PCIE 5.0 without spending at least $100 extra or downgrading to Ryzen 7600/x

 

15 hours ago, podkall said:

 

https://www.rtings.com/mouse/tools/compare/scyrox-v8-vs-scyrox-v6/77564/83895

 

Here's what shape difference they can expect:

https://www.eloshapes.com/mouse/compare?p=scyrox-v6-vs.-scyrox-v8

Yes I also found this, but it just seems impossible to tell if a middle hump or back hump is more comfortable without trying them out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[podkall]

1 hour ago, Phenz said:

I was thinking of also getting the M27UP once it gets closer to MSRP of $300. Seems like a nice 4k and ultra high refresh rate dual option.

 

 

1 hour ago, Phenz said:

I'm seeing that the 7800x3D is only 20% better in gaming only, seems like diminishing returns for $150 extra (50% increase of original bundle)

could always be upgraded to that later, or similarly powerful CPU

 

1 hour ago, Phenz said:

I cannot find a way to upgrade to PCIE 5.0 without spending at least $100 extra or downgrading to Ryzen 7600/x

160-170$ for B650 chipset

 

170$ starts B850 chipset, wihch is PCIe 5.0: ASRock B850 Pro-A, Gigabyte B850 GAMING WIFI6, MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI, Gigabyte B850 EAGLE WIFI6E, Asus TUF GAMING B650E-PLUS WIFI.

 

1 hour ago, Phenz said:

Yes I also found this, but it just seems impossible to tell if a middle hump or back hump is more comfortable without trying them out.

Didn't paste itself

[filpo]

2 hours ago, Phenz said:

I was also thinking of a better PSU since this was originally gonna be a 9060 XT build. Is the original PSU 1050W version (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0F3XRMZBM?th=1) also good for like $70 less (also A tier on SPL PSU tier list)?

Yeah should be fine. If it's $70 less than the be quiet! then go for the montech

 

2 hours ago, Phenz said:

will I have trouble fitting the components?

Just better for clearance of tall heatsink (thermalright is a tall cooler)

 

2 hours ago, Phenz said:

I did end up finding this https://www.techpowerup.com/review/id-cooling-frozn-a620-pro-se-cpu-air-cooler/6.html which shows the ID-COOLING a couple of degrees lower)

Thermalright is way lower than that though, I'd say get 120 EVO or just the peerless assassin 120 se. The V3 isn't on there so you can't compare the a620 to it. V3 should be at least a couple of degrees better than the 120 SE

 

2 hours ago, Phenz said:

Especially the CPU and GPU bundle ($600 for 9070 XT seems unbeatable).

maybe not for the microcenter bundle but possibly for the gpu. I'm sure for the GPU it won't be a large deal since $600 is already MSRP and might go away soon so if you want to pull the trigger on those two then go for it. (same for PSU) However, for the ram I'd say we can wait for now, same for SSD and case.

 

2 hours ago, Phenz said:

Also worried that RAM and SSDs will actually be more expensive with the AI stuff.

they won't be changing much in the coming month. If anything, for black friday sales the prices should go down. Then again, I don't know fully on AI stuff or news so if you want to go for it (I'd say get the SSD podkall linked above) and the ram you linked above

[Phenz]

23 hours ago, podkall said:

 

 

 

Yes, great video that convinced me.

 

22 hours ago, podkall said:

 

160-170$ for B650 chipset

 

170$ starts B850 chipset, wihch is PCIe 5.0: ASRock B850 Pro-A, Gigabyte B850 GAMING WIFI6, MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI, Gigabyte B850 EAGLE WIFI6E, Asus TUF GAMING B650E-PLUS WIFI.

 

 

 

Nice to know, but with the nice microcenter CPU bundle, I'm locked with a specific motherboard which I don't believe can be adjusted: https://www.microcenter.com/product/5007205/amd-ryzen-7-7700x,-gigabyte-b650-gaming-x-ax-v2-am5,-cpu-motherboard-bundle 

 

Purchasing separately will come out to over $400 instead of $300.

 

But considering the need for \pcie 5.0 support, I'm considering a downgrade to this bundle  (https://www.microcenter.com/product/5007213/amd-ryzen-5-7600x,-asus-b650e-max-gaming-wifi-am5,-cpu-motherboard-bundle) and save $70, losing out on the Ryzen 7700 feels bad, but checking benchmarks it seems only 20-35% better even in production tasks. So Ryzen 7600 seems to be pretty good at not just my gaming needs but also stockfish or other performance tasks. (Chess simulation: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-ryzen-7-9800x3d/6.html )

[Phenz]

22 hours ago, filpo said:

Just better for clearance of tall heatsink (thermalright is a tall cooler)

 

 

I just checked that there should be more than 10 mm of clearance with the case and thermalright. Or does having more clearance boost performance as well?

 

 

22 hours ago, filpo said:

Thermalright is way lower than that though, I'd say get 120 EVO or just the peerless assassin 120 se. The V3 isn't on there so you can't compare the a620 to it. V3 should be at least a couple of degrees better than the 120 SE

Oops, meant id cooling is a couple of degree higher (few percent worse).

 

From what I saw the phantom spirit 120 se is a few percent better than the peerless assassin 120 se because of the extra heatsink pipe. Do you think the "Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE V3" overcame this disatvantage.

 

Also do you know when the V3 version of Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE V3 came out? I can't find any reliable/official date online.

 

And from I saw online, isn't the evo line a bit worse than the se line? (and more expensive)

 

22 hours ago, filpo said:

 

maybe not for the microcenter bundle but possibly for the gpu. I'm sure for the GPU it won't be a large deal since $600 is already MSRP and might go away soon so if you want to pull the trigger on those two then go for it. (same for PSU) However, for the ram I'd say we can wait for now, same for SSD and case.

 

they won't be changing much in the coming month. If anything, for black friday sales the prices should go down. Then again, I don't know fully on AI stuff or news so if you want to go for it (I'd say get the SSD podkall linked above) and the ram you linked above

Thx, all black friday sales at micro center should start Nov 1st, right? And at other retailers throughout the month?

[filpo]

33 minutes ago, Phenz said:

Or does having more clearance boost performance as well?

No it's just to be safe. If you have tall ram sticks (not in this case but in general) you would have to raise that first fan

 

34 minutes ago, Phenz said:

Thx, all black friday sales at micro center should start Nov 1st, right? And at other retailers throughout the month?

normally first week of november start, or even second week for some. Microcenter probs won't drop the price of that bundle so i say you can go for it straight away

 

38 minutes ago, Phenz said:

Also do you know when the V3 version of Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE V3 came out? I can't find any reliable/official date online.

Nope, sorry

39 minutes ago, Phenz said:

And from I saw online, isn't the evo line a bit worse than the se line? (and more expensive)

in the review you sent me the evo is above the SE in terms of thermals 

However, it does seem to do worse in noise normalized situations compared to max fan speed so in this case, yes. I'd get the SE, good spot. Howeverm the A620 is also great. I'd get whichever's cheaper after looking at these rankings

41 minutes ago, Phenz said:

From what I saw the phantom spirit 120 se is a few percent better than the peerless assassin 120 se because of the extra heatsink pipe. Do you think the "Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE V3" overcame this disatvantage.

No as it only has 6. I have the PS120SE and it works great on my 7600. In hindsight I'd say get the phantom spirit 120SE if you can find it for a good price (such as this https://pcpartpicker.com/product/MzMMnQ/thermalright-phantom-spirit-120-se-argb-6617-cfm-cpu-cooler-ps120se-argb)

[podkall]

14 hours ago, Phenz said:

Nice to know, but with the nice microcenter CPU bundle, I'm locked with a specific motherboard which I don't believe can be adjusted: https://www.microcenter.com/product/5007205/amd-ryzen-7-7700x,-gigabyte-b650-gaming-x-ax-v2-am5,-cpu-motherboard-bundle 

 

Purchasing separately will come out to over $400 instead of $300.

What about other bundles?

 

14 hours ago, Phenz said:

But considering the need for \pcie 5.0 support, I'm considering a downgrade to this bundle  (https://www.microcenter.com/product/5007213/amd-ryzen-5-7600x,-asus-b650e-max-gaming-wifi-am5,-cpu-motherboard-bundle) and save $70, losing out on the Ryzen 7700 feels bad, but checking benchmarks it seems only 20-35% better even in production tasks. So Ryzen 7600 seems to be pretty good at not just my gaming needs but also stockfish or other performance tasks. (Chess simulation: https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-ryzen-7-9800x3d/6.html )

8 cores is definitely nicer, and can get faster than 6 core options

 

the MB is bit better though, not sure which is more worth, the PCIe 5.0 is kind of farther future rather than closer, the 7700 bundle would give you more performance now and 4.0 PCIe is still relevant for next 5-10 years, though this is assuming noting drastically changes that would need higher data throughput.

 

5090 has negligible performance drop when running 4.0, Gamers Nexus or someone got video on that too 

[Phenz]

10 hours ago, podkall said:

What about other bundles?

These are all of their AMD bundles sorted by price low to high (I'm looking at the Santa Clara location):

https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?fq=category:Motherboard%2FCPU+Bundles|774,Subcategory:AMD+CPU+Bundle&sortby=pricelow

 

And from what I understand none of the 7700 or 9700 bundles come with PCIe 5.0 motherboards. So only options for PCIe 5.0 motherboards are 7600, 7600x3d (absolutely gimped for anything other than gaming), or 7800x3d.

 

 

 

10 hours ago, podkall said:

8 cores is definitely nicer, and can get faster than 6 core options

 

 

In what use cases is there a noticeable increase in speed. I can only think of stockfish for me. And is it better to have more cores for watching video and gaming at the same time, or other similar multi-tasking?

 

 

 

 

10 hours ago, podkall said:

5090 has negligible performance drop when running 4.0, Gamers Nexus or someone got video on that too 

Yes, 1-4% from PCIE 3.0 to PCIE 5.0 on 5090.

[podkall]

10 hours ago, Phenz said:

These are all of their AMD bundles sorted by price low to high (I'm looking at the Santa Clara location):

https://www.microcenter.com/search/search_results.aspx?fq=category:Motherboard%2FCPU+Bundles|774,Subcategory:AMD+CPU+Bundle&sortby=pricelow

 

And from what I understand none of the 7700 or 9700 bundles come with PCIe 5.0 motherboards. So only options for PCIe 5.0 motherboards are 7600, 7600x3d (absolutely gimped for anything other than gaming), or 7800x3d.

only this one for 450

 

https://www.microcenter.com/product/5007206/amd-ryzen-7-7800x3d,-asus-b650e-e-tuf-gaming-wifi-am5,-cpu-motherboard-bundle

 

though it's mostly fine not having PCIe 5.0, as you notice even on 5090 the % difference is like 1-4%

 

not to mention this is with 9800x3D, so the performance difference can be practically less or be less relevant for anything slower than 9800x3D

 

losing by 2fps from 157fps instead of 159fps on Black Myth: Wukong 1440p is almost like you haven't lost any performance

 

all of the boards that don't have 5.0 have 4.0, which is similarly "slower" compared to 5.0, and you can easily choose any bundle with the B650 motherboard that has good VRMs without missing out on anything

 

like this one:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/5007205/amd-ryzen-7-7700x,-gigabyte-b650-gaming-x-ax-v2-am5,-cpu-motherboard-bundle

 

This B650 Gaming X AX V2 has 8+2+2 VRM phase design, built in M.2 NVME cooler

 

and whole bunch of other features:https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B650-GAMING-X-AX-V2-rev-1x 

 

for super-over-the-top VRM design and perhaps other features, you'd need the bundle with the ICE motherboard:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/5007217/amd-ryzen-7-7700x,-gigabyte-b650-aorus-elite-ax-ice-am5,-cpu-motherboard-bundle

 

specs link: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B650-AORUS-ELITE-AX-ICE/ 

 

10 hours ago, Phenz said:

In what use cases is there a noticeable increase in speed. I can only think of stockfish for me. And is it better to have more cores for watching video and gaming at the same time, or other similar multi-tasking?

yes, more cores guarantees multitasking stays smooth without any slowdowns

 

but since AM5 CPUs are fast by default, you could also get by with a 6 core CPU - 6 cores is still pretty decent amount today

 

 

[Phenz]

On 10/31/2025 at 4:56 AM, podkall said:

 

 

like this one:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/5007205/amd-ryzen-7-7700x,-gigabyte-b650-gaming-x-ax-v2-am5,-cpu-motherboard-bundle

 

This B650 Gaming X AX V2 has 8+2+2 VRM phase design, built in M.2 NVME cooler

 

and whole bunch of other features:https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B650-GAMING-X-AX-V2-rev-1x 

 

for super-over-the-top VRM design and perhaps other features, you'd need the bundle with the ICE motherboard:

https://www.microcenter.com/product/5007217/amd-ryzen-7-7700x,-gigabyte-b650-aorus-elite-ax-ice-am5,-cpu-motherboard-bundle

 

specs link: https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B650-AORUS-ELITE-AX-ICE/ 

 

 

 

Yes, the 7700 bundle is the original one, and the one I'm most considering. 

 

Can you explain a bit about vrms as I don't have a good understanding of them. First, what's the main benefit of good VRMs? Does the +2 +2 after 8 mean that it's the same as a 12 phase VRM? And how much better is the 12+2+2 vrm over the 8+2+2 vrm?

 

Overall the https://www.microcenter.com/product/5007217/amd-ryzen-7-7700x,-gigabyte-b650-aorus-elite-ax-ice-am5,-cpu-motherboard-bundle bundle seemed to me like a waste of 40 bucks (for slightly better vrms and usb).

[podkall]

9 hours ago, Phenz said:

Can you explain a bit about vrms as I don't have a good understanding of them. First, what's the main benefit of good VRMs? Does the +2 +2 after 8 mean that it's the same as a 12 phase VRM? And how much better is the 12+2+2 vrm over the 8+2+2 vrm?

VRMs deliver power to the CPU, and regulate based on the CPU's request and limits,

 

if VRMs overheat they will slow down power delivery and with that slow down CPU.

 

Very basic explanation, but it works.

 

With 8+2+2 phase system, you are still very much fine driving 8 core or even 16 core CPU without issue.

 

The VRMs have quite high thermal tolerance, so they have to be really hot to start throttling, the heatsink on the motherboard usually helps with that.

 

There's even video that compared motherboard VRMs, lot of B650 motherboards with at least decent VRMs were able to pass test - with 7950x which is the 16 core AM5 CPU.

 

As you can see B650 Gaming X AX was below 70C which is very much safe range for driving 16 core CPU already, the V2 most likely gets similar performance:

 

 

 

 

9 hours ago, Phenz said:

Overall the https://www.microcenter.com/product/5007217/amd-ryzen-7-7700x,-gigabyte-b650-aorus-elite-ax-ice-am5,-cpu-motherboard-bundle bundle seemed to me like a waste of 40 bucks (for slightly better vrms and usb).

Yeah it is mostly paying more for stuff you might not even need, that's why I only mention it like another option, instead of the first one.

 

It's just one of those "better" options, just in in this case the better option doesn't translate to more fps or anything generally meaningful.

[Phenz]

On 11/2/2025 at 3:27 AM, podkall said:

VRMs deliver power to the CPU, and regulate based on the CPU's request and limits,

 

if VRMs overheat they will slow down power delivery and with that slow down CPU.

 

Very basic explanation, but it works.

 

With 8+2+2 phase system, you are still very much fine driving 8 core or even 16 core CPU without issue.

 

The VRMs have quite high thermal tolerance, so they have to be really hot to start throttling, the heatsink on the motherboard usually helps with that.

 

There's even video that compared motherboard VRMs, lot of B650 motherboards with at least decent VRMs were able to pass test - with 7950x which is the 16 core AM5 CPU.

 

As you can see B650 Gaming X AX was below 70C which is very much safe range for driving 16 core CPU already, the V2 most likely gets similar performance:

 

 

 

 

Yeah it is mostly paying more for stuff you might not even need, that's why I only mention it like another option, instead of the first one.

 

It's just one of those "better" options, just in in this case the better option doesn't translate to more fps or anything generally meaningful.

Hello,

 

I accidently bought this ram kit: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2V9W5KQ?

 

But it turns out it's meant for Intel XMP, do you think it'll be compatible to run at 6000 on AMD? Perhaps with a bit of manual tuning.