Building a new PC

[Coach2Morrow]

Hello all. New here! So I hope I came to the right place to ask this. If not let me know.

I’m wanting to build a new PC this year. I currently sit on a Z390 Meg ACE, 9700K, and 1080. I purchased a 1440p 165hz. Monitor and quickly realized how behind I was for that refresh rate at 1440p.

It’s been a while since I built a PC but want to hear opinions on best 1440p 165hz w/ RT PC I could build. A 4090 is out of price range (for a gpu) and I’m looking at getting an ASrock x670e Taichi to start but am stuck there. I know Intel gets better memory timings and speed but was possibly waiting to see the new AMD 3D models before buying anything. If my price range was $2500-$3500. What would you buy?

 

[Coach2Morrow]

I should also note. I do not need a pc case as it will be going in a glass desk. I will also be liquid cooling the cpu, gpu, and possibly ram if necessary! (Liquid cooling will be bought outside of that budget)

 

[Janus67]

I'd recommend looking at reviews and benchmarks to determine the graphics card that fits the bill. RT is a very heavy hitter on performance. If you plan to use DLSS then you get more breathing room of course.

 

[Coach2Morrow]

I'd recommend looking at reviews and benchmarks to determine the graphics card that fits the bill. RT is a very heavy hitter on performance. If you plan to use DLSS then you get more breathing room of course.

Yeah I’ve been trying to keep up with benches but I’m torn because A: I’m tired of nvidia and their greed. B: nvidia still has the most powerful and best software cards. I’d love to go the 7900xtx but for roughly that price a 4080 performs better.. mostly

 

[Janus67]

For better or worse, if you want RT, Nvidia is probably the way to go as they are a generation+ ahead in terms of performance last I checked.

Personally, I don't use RT with my 3080 as the performance hit isn't worth it and without literally stopping to look around I wouldn't ever notice a different lighting or shadow or reflection in a game.

 

[Coach2Morrow]

For better or worse, if you want RT, Nvidia is probably the way to go as they are a generation+ ahead in terms of performance last I checked.

Personally, I don't use RT with my 3080 as the performance hit isn't worth it and without literally stopping to look around I wouldn't ever notice a different lighting or shadow or reflection in a game.

I think I’ve decided against RT. You’re right about noticing it a lot. So I’ve kind of settled on going with the ASRock x670 Taichi, the Sapphire nitro 7900xtx with the Gigabyte m27QX monitor. (Dependent on reviews) the 7900x3D. And probably G skill memory. Would it be worth doing a raid setup with SSD’s? If so, how would I go about it on that board without drawing from the gpu. That’s where I get confused

 

[JLK03F150]

IMHO a nice NVMe gen4x4 is a better option than the hassle of RAID. I assume you’re talking about RAID 0?

 

[Niku-Sama]

i second the skipping of raid in favor of a decent nvme drive.
your load speeds are going to be an improvement over your old system as it stands

 

[Woomack]

SSDs in a RAID are slower for gaming than a single SSD - access time and random low queue bandwidth are worse. If you really want, then it's better to set RAID1 just in case one of the SSD fails. On the other hand, it's good to make a backup either way. At least make a quick drive image from time to time (it can be even SATA or USB HDD to save some money).
In most games, you won't see the difference between SSD. In some new and large ( like 60GB+ or online games) you will notice faster load times on single top NVMe SSD.

 

[Coach2Morrow]

I kind of figured with ssd speeds currently that a raid setup would be pointless for gaming. I saw ASrock has that PCIe extension card that holds 4 SSD’s and was curious. I thought I’d wait for the new pcie 5 ssds but heard they run way too hot. Current top SSD’s seem plenty fast anyway

 

[Nebulous]

I'm a Raid-0 nut and just about all my drives are Raided. I've gotten so used to having raided drives, that it's second nature. A single, fast, large NVME drive is way faster in load times than any raided SSD or spinner drives. But in my case ain't no way in hell I can spring for large Nvme drives for my games. Prices are still up there with the 4TB and larger. I have 2 6tb Seagate Ironwolf drives in raid-0 for my games. Games load fast enough and I game just fine. I really want a couple of 6TB SSD's, but @ $500+ a pop, I'm not getting them in this lifetime and forget about those same sized Nvme drives. It's all about how bad you want them and how deep are your pockets.

 

[TerranBrackiatt]

i can confirm what Earthdog said about NVMe usually not improving upon SSD, but SSD loading times are definitely faster than HDDs.

what i currently do... i have a 1T NVMe used as a boot drive, and for most programs, and whatever main game i play all the time. (it's Guild Wars 2, an MMO)... most of my steam games are on a 6T HDD, but the large ones (70+ GB, like Red Dead Redemption 2, Horizon Zero Dawn) are on a SSD for faster load times, i also check if the game has Ray Tracing enabled (Like Control, Cyberpunk 2077, Crysis Remastered games), and those games also go on SSDs. (i still have a lot of older games installed, like the orginal Call of Duty games that go on the HDDs.)

of course, i'm also one of those weirdos that doesn't delete games just because i finish them.

 

[EarthDog]

Ive never posted in this thread until now..

I dont play many games in the first place (I've got abuot 5 downloaded now - PUBG, AOE5, COD MW2, BF 2042, PGA Tour 2K23, Assetto Corsa Competizione, Worms WMD), but since my internet fast enough (did this with 400 down), I just DL and play something if I need to. At ~60MB/s they are playable pretty fast. Now with GbE service, it's even faster.

This way, I dont need to buy an obnoxious amount of storage space. I've got a 2TB nvme drive partitioned for OS and games, and a I have a 'slower' nvme m.2 (500gb) with just MS Flight Sim.

Clearly that won't work for everyone...and if you don't delete after beating them, well... yeah, makes sense you need a shed load of space.

 

[Coach2Morrow]

Alright.. so give me some opinions on these thoughts after discussing with all of you!

MB: ASRock x670e Taichi

I think this board has some great future proofing potential for next gen?

CPU: ryzen 7900x (7900x3d if Better)

Hoping the 3D series is actually decent for this one

GPU: Sapphire Nitro 7900xtx

I think really any 7900xtx at this point. Something with some OC already done as manual is hard

Ram: G Skill

F5-6000J3038F16GX2-TZ5NR​

(AMD expo supported)

Not a big fan of memory selection for expo tech

Storage: WD SN850X 2Tb
Or Corsair mp600 hydro 2 TB (for water loop)

Any of like the top 3-4 seems viable


Monitor: gigabyte m27Q-X

Iffy on reviews for this one but love the features


The whole build will be in a glass case like my current one is. Pictures for reference. Thought everyone in this forum would appreciate it. Cooling shouldn’t be too much issue as I’ll be putting it all in a loop. Anything one might change here??

 

[EarthDog]

I think this board has some great future proofing potential for next gen?

What does this mean to you? There are less expensive options with PCIe 5.0 slots and M.2 sockets.

Hoping the 3D series is actually decent for this one

It's likely going to be the same as last gen... better at some games, not quite as good as the regular chips at many other things.

RAM looks good... GPU choice solid...storage is solid as well.... though I wouldn't water cool it (nor the ram, just in case you're thinking as much). Just make sure the graphics card you choose has a custom block made for it (go to websites and use their configurator to see).

 

[Coach2Morrow]

I liked the power delivery on it, I thought the price looked good compared to other brands x670e lines. It’s comparable to gigabyte’s Extreme imo. Idk. Just heard good things about it. I also don’t want to support ASUS at all. And msi’s prices are absurd

I wasn’t sure if it would be worth the time to water cool the ram. I won’t bother with the ssd. I think alphacool is working on a gpu block right now. (Hopefully!)

 

[EarthDog]

Right on.

The Taichi is a great board.. it literally has everything to offer without soending outrageous money. 40 gbps ports, pcie 5.0 slots and m.2, solid audio solution.....

I'd only watercool the cpu and video card. Leave the ram and ssd alone.

 

[Zerileous]

Love the desk PC!

 

[Coach2Morrow]

Love the desk PC!

Thankyou! It’s going to get downsized soon to make it more compact. Didn’t realize how big it was until I put it in a room with a bed and a dresser haha

 

[Coach2Morrow]

Right on.

The Taichi is a great board.. it literally has everything to offer without soending outrageous money. 40 gbps ports, pcie 5.0 slots and m.2, solid audio solution.....

I'd only watercool the cpu and video card. Leave the ram and ssd alone.

One last question, I’m getting the Gigabyte m27Q-X. What cable should I use for it? It’s 1440p 240hz. But has a DP 1.4 input. Which doesn’t support that? Do I just use DP 2.1? The gpu can support the new stuff.