Planning new build

[ZetaRevan]

Hi guys,

I'm planning a new build & am looking for recommendations on a mid-line setup. While I do game, I'm not a hardcore gamer, so I don't need (nor can I afford) to build a top-of-the-line rig. Also I'm going to be putting Arch on it, so firmware & compatibility are also important. What I ultimately put on my list for my budget (trying to stay around $1500 for all components) was the following config:

Ryzen 5 7600X

MSI PRO X670-P Mobo

Sapphire Radeon RX 6650 XT 8GB GDDR6

Corsair Vengeance DDR5 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 4800MHz C40

MSI MAG Core Liquid 240R V2 White

MPG A850G PCIE 5

WD M.2 2280 2TB

MUSETEX ATX Case Mid-Tower

I was thinking Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut for thermal paste from what I was looking at, but will take other recommendations. Also, the purchase is not planned until March (pay bonus/income tax).

Ultimately, I'm looking to get the best bang for my buck & having been out of the desktop building game for at least a decade, I'm not as in touch with current trends as I once was. Note that I am familiar with overclocking and will certainly accept recommendations based on potential OC performance. Also, AMD/ATi fanboy here, so those recommendations are preferred.


Thanks in advance!

 

[EarthDog]

I think that's a great start, for sure. But since you're buying an entire quarter away, you may want to revisit the parts at that time as the pricing on many things could change.

I think you can go B650 and get a better value for your motherboard money. The Pro series is MSI's budget series, while you can get the B650 Edge for similar money (if you like the look).

I'd also look into DDR5 6000 memory to perhaps speed that work up a bit. That's AMD's self-proclaimed sweetspot...but you mention compatibility so maybe you'd prefer to stay there (max supported, XMP/EXPO is technically overclocking the IMC).

 

[ZetaRevan]

I think that's a great start, for sure. But since you're buying an entire quarter away, you may want to revisit the parts at that time as the pricing on many things could change.

I think you can go B650 and get a better value for your motherboard money. The Pro series is MSI's budget series, while you can get the B650 Edge for similar money (if you like the look).

I'd also look into DDR5 6000 memory to perhaps speed that work up a bit. That's AMD's self-proclaimed sweetspot...but you mention compatibility so maybe you'd prefer to stay there (max supported, XMP/EXPO is technically overclocking the IMC).

I was actually basing my RAM choice on the mobo's max RAM speed spec. I do see a higher threshold for the B650, which will allow me to switch to the DDR5 6000. Currently $20 more than the Pro X650, which isn't a bad tradeoff, but I'm also willing to take other mfr recommendations.

 

[Zerileous]

I can't tell from your above post if you're asking for advice re: Arch compatibility or if you're simply stating that it was a factor in your hardware choices. Is AMD better supported on Linux (for GPU's) these days. IIRC AMD drivers were a tough sell. For CPUs, if I had to guess off the cuff, I'd assume the scheduling headaches of P cores and E cores has not translated well to Linux, I'd much rather take a couple cores that boost 50-100MHz above the rest and the scheduler failing to pick those cores when the boost is needed. As well AMDs core boosting strategy overall has been around for a while, so again speculating I would assume that it is better supported.

 

[Woomack]

Since it's not for gaming, then I would skip discrete graphics as all new processors have integrated one. All that matters is to have enough outputs on the motherboard's rear IO.
The PC is planned for March next year. Until then, we will probably see something new, and the planned specs may change. Some components will be for sure cheaper as AMD already made a significant price cut for all their Ryzen 7000 CPUs, and DDR5 is going down too. I wouldn't buy anything below DDR5-6000. 6000-6400 is recommended for AMD, and Intel already gets 7600+ kits.

 

[ZetaRevan]

I can't tell from your above post if you're asking for advice re: Arch compatibility or if you're simply stating that it was a factor in your hardware choices. Is AMD better supported on Linux (for GPU's) these days. IIRC AMD drivers were a tough sell.

Thanks for the info! Linux in general has issues with nVidia drivers (both proprietary & open source), which is one of the reasons I'm going AMD for discrete card. Sapphire used to be the best in the ATi game back in the day, but I'm not so sure these days. AMD GPU drivers are much better supported than nVidia. BUT, the compatibility I'm worried about is more CPU microcode/firmware. Also, AMD has always kept an unlocked approach for their architecture as much as I remember, and coming from a a background of overclocking an AthlonXP, I wouldn't mind having a board that allows me to change the settings & boost the clock speeds a bit.

Since it's not for gaming, then I would skip discrete graphics as all new processors have integrated one. All that matters is to have enough outputs on the motherboard's rear IO.
The PC is planned for March next year. Until then, we will probably see something new, and the planned specs may change. Some components will be for sure cheaper as AMD already made a significant price cut for all their Ryzen 7000 CPUs, and DDR5 is going down too. I wouldn't buy anything below DDR5-6000. 6000-6400 is recommended for AMD, and Intel already gets 7600+ kits.

While I'm not a heavy gamer, I still do game & post music streams on Twitch, as well as use a multi-monitor setup, so I'd like a discrete GPU to handle that. I don't need top of the line, but I'd like something that would give me better performance & a cleaner output than integrated video.

It's possible my specs will change as I'm already changing the mobo/RAM combo for the DDR5 6000 config. However, I'm also okay with sticking with this config, especially if the price goes down (under budget is great). As long as I'm still getting the most bang for my buck.

Post magically merged: Dec 2, 2022

Also, while Arch is bleeding edge on the Linux update scheduling scale, there can still be compatibility issues with newer chipsets.

 

[ZetaRevan]

So after working with a few diferent configs, what kind of a performance difference am I looking at if I go with a Ryzen 7 5700X with DDR4 vs the Ryzen 5 7600X with DDR5? I know bus speeds are going to be faster for sure...esp comparing 3600 vs 6000, but HOW MUCH of a difference does it make? I'm trying to future proof this rig to be decent for at least 5 years. So while I'm going mid-grade, I want good mid-grade.

 

[EarthDog]

Theres plenty of reviews covering this...we reviewed it.

Overall, the 7000 series chips are faster than 5000 series across the board. It's more expensive to get into the platform, but if you're holding onto it, id get the newer system.

 

[Johan45]

So after working with a few diferent configs, what kind of a performance difference am I looking at if I go with a Ryzen 7 5700X with DDR4 vs the Ryzen 5 7600X with DDR5? I know bus speeds are going to be faster for sure...esp comparing 3600 vs 6000, but HOW MUCH of a difference does it make? I'm trying to future proof this rig to be decent for at least 5 years. So while I'm going mid-grade, I want good mid-grade.

Comparing the 7600X to the 5600X overall, you'll see about a 20% performance boost between the improved IPC and hefty clock speed increase. The 7600X base speed (4.7 GHz) is the same as the 5600X single-core max boost speed.
For thermal paste I've been using this for a while and it compares 1:1 with Thermal Grizzly for less than half the price https://www.amazon.com/JLJ-Compound...lja1JlZGlyZWN0JmRvTm90TG9nQ2xpY2s9dHJ1ZQ&th=1