Planning a Ryzen 5xxx Build

[David]

Hello all,

First new build for probably five or six years (and the build before that was a cheap APU build), so open to comments and advice!

Planned usage:

• Windows 10 as the O/S
• Mostly for gaming - a mixture of some FPS/RPG/etc. (e.g. Pillars of Eternity, Borderlands 3, etc.)
• Will do some work and office tasks too (MS Office/ChemDraw)
• Will also be using some specialist software that can be quite CPU-heavy (Gaussian, ORCA, etc.)

Bits already in hand/on order:

• Will be plugging this into a 27in 4K monitor that I already have (Lenovo P27u)
• I already have an RTX 3070 card (Zotac Twin Edge OC) which is white
• I currently have a serviceable keyboard and mouse but I'm open to keyboard suggestions as the one I have isn't great.
• I've got a Lian-Li O11 D XL in white on order, plus three white LianLi UNI SL120 fans which should hopefully match.

Planning for a black and white build - white case, white fans, white AIO, white graphics card, and maybe even white RAM. I know that this limits things a bit, and I'm happy to compromise a *little* for the aesthetics.

My usual sources for hardware are Scan.co.uk although the case and fans are coming from OCUK.

Planned items:

• CPU: AMD Ryzen 5950X. This one is a pain, because this and the 5900X are really hard to get a hold of (I've been waiting for months). If it's looking later than March to get the CPU I might compromise with a 6 core chip and upgrade next year.
• Motherboard: Thinking of either the Asus TUF X570-PLUS (as the VRMs are meant to be very good) or the PRIME X570-PRO. The TUF X570-PRO is only a little more expensive (by £20 ~ $25), but is there any reason to get it other than having built in WiFi? (which I don't need)
• RAM: Looking at the Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro SL White 32 GB kit (2 x 16 GB). IIRC Ryzen has a dual channel memory controller so 4 x 8 GB offers no advantages? Is there a disadvantage to 4 x 8 GB vs 2 x 16 GB?
• SSD: WD Black SN850 PCIe4 (2 TB).
• AIO: Corsair 360 mm H150i Elite Capellix (in white). Seems to get good reviews. The Lian-Li Gallahad cooler looked like an alternative but apparently there is significant pump whine.
• PSU: Aiming for 850 - 1000 W, so that I can upgrade the graphics card to a 6900XT or similar in the future, once the current craziness calms down. What brands are currently decent? EVGA/Corsair/Antec used to be good IIRC. I was leaning towards fully modular to keep things neat (e.g. EVGA 850 B5).

 

[Zerileous]

B550 boards are capable of supporting a 16x PCIe Gen 4 GPU (in the top slot) as well as a 4x Gen 4 nVME drive. Additional PCIe / nVME devices will be Gen 3. Unless you're looking for expandability for other Gen 4 devices or other features of x570, B550 boards are worth considering as well.

Are you looking to do any serious CPU overclocking. Most of the 500 boards have decent VRM. You can refer here to see what boards have VRMs to meet your needs https://linustechtips.com/topic/1137619-motherboard-vrm-tier-list-v2-currently-amd-only/.

Usually Seasonic (Focus+ and Prime) as well as EVGA Supernova PSUs (G2, G3, G5 are all good). Corsair has some good models as well, the RMx series is solid.

 

[David]

B550 boards are capable of supporting a 16x PCIe Gen 4 GPU (in the top slot) as well as a 4x Gen 4 nVME drive. Additional PCIe / nVME devices will be Gen 3. Unless you're looking for expandability for other Gen 4 devices or other features of x570, B550 boards are worth considering as well.

Noted. Honestly, I'm not sure, but I like the idea of having options in the future. I can afford to splurge a little on this rig just now (although if I went Threadripper I think I'd spend a week on the couch ).

Are you looking to do any serious CPU overclocking. Most of the 500 boards have decent VRM. You can refer here to see what boards have VRMs to meet your needs https://linustechtips.com/topic/1137619-motherboard-vrm-tier-list-v2-currently-amd-only/.

Nothing hardcore, but I will probably play with it a bit and I don't want the board holding back the achievable turbo (which is also why I'm considering a 360 rather than 240 mm AIO).

Usually Seasonic (Focus+ and Prime) as well as EVGA Supernova PSUs (G2, G3, G5 are all good). Corsair has some good models as well, the RMx series is solid.

I've had a few Corsair PSUs and no problems so I might lean that way, but will see what is in stock when I pull the trigger.

 

[DaveB]

For your white case, the Asus Prime X570-Pro has some white accents, as well as a white I/O panel.

 

[David]

For your white case, the Asus Prime X570-Pro has some white accents, as well as a white I/O panel.

I'd spotted that one, but stock seems to be tight. Will keep an eye out for it - would fit nicely, and seems like a good board.


EDIT: Actually found it in stock somewhere. Sorely tempted to just order it, as it's about the only AM4 board with white parts on show, and it seems to be a decent board from reviews I've found.

 

[DaveB]

EDIT: Actually found it in stock somewhere. Sorely tempted to just order it, as it's about the only AM4 board with white parts on show, and it seems to be a decent board from reviews I've found.

Just do it!

Why wait?

And ...............

Is there a disadvantage to 4 x 8 GB vs 2 x 16 GB?

Yes there can be issues with four DIMMs, so get 2 x 16GB.

 

[David]

OK - board and AIO were both in stock so I've pulled the trigger on those. Should be here by Monday 22nd February, shortly after the case

 

[EarthDog]

The only issues with 4 DIMMs vs 2 is they are more difficult to stabilize. In general, it's easier to reach a given clock with two sticks compared to four. It also allows you an upgrade of two sticks instead of trashing all four.

 

[David]

Just ordered:

• Corsair RMx 850W PSU
• 2 TB 980 Pro Samsung M2 SSD - reviews seem to choose this or the WD Black as the best one, but the Samsung was £15 cheaper so ...
• Pre-ordered the Corsair RAM (should be in stock Friday of next week)
• Also added on a 4 TB SATA SSD for (decently fast) storage. Will install Win10/Steam/Games/etc on the M2 of course.

Most bits should be here by the end of the month, so I've decided that w/c 22nd Feb. will be the latest I'll wait for a 16 core chip ... if they are still not available I'll settle for 6 or 8.

 

[David]

Still no sign of any 5950X in stock.

RAM is delayed now until 1st March, so they are holding on to the PSU and SSDs to ship it all together.

Case is now in stock but the fans are not so they will be holding that order up.

On the bright side, the board arrived today.

 

[David]

Most of the parts are now in hand, after a rather nice delivery today.



All that I'm missing is:

• Case, which is in stock now (I think) but on the same order as ...
• The case fans, which are still showing as 'pre-order'.
• The CPU ...

Not sure how long to wait for a 5950X before I give up and get the 8 core chip instead. This will be an exercise in patience!

 

[David]

OK, so OCUK won't have the fans back in stock until the end of March, so this is my deadline for deciding between the 8 core and the 16 core. If I can't snag a 5950X by the 22nd of March, I'll settle for the 5800X. It ought to be good enough. I'm not sure if I'd then upgrade to the 16 core later if 2022 is going to bring a new socket and new RAM, etc. ... we'll see.

 

[David]

Chased my case and fans, and managed to snag a 5950X, albeit with a relatively high price tag (£990). Much less than they are going for on ebay (£1300+) or Amazon (£1200 - £2000) (!!), and they were showing as in stock ...

Really hoping I have everything in hand within the next week so that I can build the rig over the easter weekend when I'm off work ...

 

[David]

Case and fans are not due until mid-April, so I got a bit of perspex off Amazon as a stopgap - feels a bit better than simply running it on top of a cardboard box

The build is done and Windows 10 is installed. I still have to hook up the 4 TB SATA SSD but I'll do that later and then leave it overnight for various cloud services to sync ... need to sort out Dropbox and then I'll post some pictures.

First impressions (from someone who hasn't built a current gen. PC for a few years):
- It's very, very quiet.
- Not sure I quite 'get' the need for RGB but I'll play with it and I might change my mind.
- So, so smooth ...

 

[David]

So, an update, with pics.

Everything is now in the case, but it wasn't the easiest job to deal with the many, many, many cables - even with the Lian-Li SL120/140 fans daisy-chaining together. I took the drive cages out of the back to give me more room to stuff the rats nest.

I've turned SMT off because some software I run actually takes a hit from SMT.

All very nice and smooth Just need a bigger monitor now, I think!

 

[bassnut]

Nice .... wiring can be a PITA with the LianLi. The backside of my case it tight though I can't say it was my best wiring job either.

 

[David]

Nice .... wiring can be a PITA with the LianLi. The backside of my case it tight though I can't say it was my best wiring job either.

I'm planning to add another SL120 to the back and an SL140 to the bottom. The SL140 ought to be easy, but I'm dreading trying to wire another fan into the controller ...