Anyone mind looking over my Desktop build?

[BassAckwards]

Hey guys, looking at building a new desktop. 

My 10yr old Lenovo Laptop from college just aint what she used to be anymore.

 

I'm not as up to speed on the latest and greatest tech anymore as when I was younger so I was hoping some of y'all wouldn't mind looking over this potential build and tell me if something looks stupid or wouldn't mesh well together for my needs. I used the NewEgg pc builder to help guide me along.

 

The machine will be used to play CoH and that is the only game I play and I will use it for Adobe photoshop and Premiere, lots of video editing, and running multiple programs at once. I need good speed for efficiency.

 

I also want to run 2 monitors, potentially 3 in the future.

 

Some of the things I picked may be overkill, but I want to 'buy once, cry once" and have this machine last me at least another 10 years. Unless a part legitimately makes no sense of course.

I also don't care about RGB, but don't mind if a product you suggest has it.

 

links included on product name, Will be running on Windows 10.

 

AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT (Picked the XT because I want to potentially be able to overclock, the locked version is about $100 cheaper though)

 

AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT Graphics card

 

Asus Motherboard (This is one area I'm really not sure what to choose.)

 

Corsair Vengeance 32GB DDR4 3600 (Not sure if the ryzen will benefit greatly going beyond 3200)

 

Seagate FireCuda 1Tb

 

Thanks for any help y'all can provide!

Edited November 1, 2020 by BassAckwards

[Ironblade]

I'll offer some comments.  I've built all my computers for the past 20 years or so, BUT I have never built around an AMD CPU, only Intel.

 

I'm not familiar with the AMD CPU line-up but the specs on that one look good.  Lots of power.  I also bought an unlocked CPU because, if the cooling solution is good enough, the chip will overclock slightly on its own.  I don't know if AMD chips do that too.  Still $100 difference between the locked and unlocked versions is pretty stiff.  Current pricing on my i5 10600K is only $15 above the locked version.  My CPU runs at 4.1 vs your 3.8 but I only have 6 cores vs your 12.  So your CPU is a good choice on that basis since more cores is important for most tasks while higher clock speed matters more for gaming.

 

GPU - Well, I would go with a more powerful card.  My general guideline for a 'gaming system' is that you want the CPU and GPU to be in the same price range.  Now, you say you only plan to play City of Heroes on it, but you also say you want it to last 10 years.  Some other game might come along that you want to play and the video card is a bit weak compared to the rest of the hardware.  My CPU only cost about 2/3 of yours, but my video card is the Radeon RX 5600 XT.

 

Motherboard - Looks fine.  I like Asus boards.  I have an Asus Prime Z-490P.

 

Memory - Again, looks fine.  I have 32GB DDR 3600 also, just a different brand (G.Skill) but Corsair is a big name in memory.

 

SSD - Looks good.  I play A LOT of different games, so I have a 500GB NVMe SSD on the motherboard for Windows and all non-game software and then a 2TB SATA SSD for my games.  I would expect, however, that for photo/video editing that you would need a lot more space.  Are you planning to add a big hard drive or do you have an NAS or other external storage?

 

 

Additional Comments

Cooling - Get a better HSF than you actually need.  My CPU draws 105 watts (same as yours) but my HSF is rated for CPUs up to 150 watts.  Thermal stress kills CPUs.

 

Memory/motherboard compatibility - Take this seriously.  I used the memory finder on the Asus web site *AND* double-checked it against the motherboard compatibility guide on the G.Skill site.

 

Newegg - I've spent thousands there.  Every build, I compare pricing on Newegg, Micro Center (I live near one) and Amazon.  In my current system, everything except the HSF came from Newegg.  My HSF is from 'be quiet!', who are a U.K. manufacturer and Newegg doesn't carry them.

[Hyperstrike]

1: If you're going to spend out that much for a motherboard, spend out for an X570 board.  Current top of the line.  More neat features.

2: Also another nice feature on the ASRock boards is, if you pick a board that can mount multiple PCIe/NVMe drives, NONE of them will disable any of the SATA controllers.

At worst, if you have a board that can mount 3 PCIe drives, it'll disable the third PCIe video card slot. (PCIe5).
Since SLI (and similar technologies) is falling out of mainstream support, this is no great loss for most people, and leaves you with LOTS of options for storage connections.

I know the first boards that came with 3 PCIe/NVMe drive would give you the first drive "free".  But 2_1 and 2_2 would each disable a pair of SATA headers.

I can't tell you how happy this makes me in buiding my new rig.

3: IF you can stretch your budget, consider moving to the Ryzen 3 5900 chip.  The new compute unit architecture has given Ryzen a HEFTY performance bump.  Both in gaming and in application performance.  And, right now, the Ryzen 5*** series chips beat the Intel 10-series chips.  In both single and multi-threaded performance.  The 5900x is basically the 3900xt with some improvements and a teensy boost to the boost clock speed.  Same power envelope.

4: IRONBLADE  The base clock for the 3900XT is 3.8.  The boost clock is 4.7Ghz.

 

5: If you're buying a new case, I'd recommend something sporting 140mm fans.  For the next reason.

6: I recommend moving to an All-In-One liquid cooler.  They're not TERRIBLY expensive.  And they'll be quieter than all but the biggest, loudest air coolers.
Minimum recommendation is a 280mm (2x140) or 360mm (3x120) setup, depending on what your case can accommodate.

7: Ignore whether or not a board comes with flashy lights or not.  You can disable that crap.

8: If CoH is your only game, I'd disregard Ironblade's advice about CPU and GPU costing the same.  Realistic performance in CoH isn't going to vary that much.  Simply throwing more power at the game isn't a 1-for-1 trade.  I've seen massive quad-GPU setups realize only tiny framerate and VQ gains versus a single card.

9: Memory compatibility is important.  Check against the various vendors' sites if possible.  As well as the approved memory list if the motherboard manufacturer provides one.  Crucial.com's (Micron) got a decent site and pretty much, if you put the right info in, GUARANTEES their memory to be compatible.

You're going to want MINIMUM of DDR 3200 memory.  Look at higher clocked memory if you really want to.  But you're better off going with standard-rated memory with the lowest CAS speed possible (a lot of the OC'ed stuff really IS just the standard stuff with the CAS latency kicked up so it doesn't flip out at higher clock speeds).  Now, if you can find the OC'ed stuff with nearly the same CAS latency, GREAT!  It's gonna cost you more though.  And most of the speed benefit is only going to come out in benchmarks.  Basically as clock speed goes up, so does CAS.  And anything beyond 2 points of latency, and you're better off just using the lower clockspeed stuff.

10: The 1TB drive looks to be decent.  Personally I'm a Samsung guy.  But that's me.
Currently I'm on 500MB SATA drives.  And I'm only using a bit less than half.
But the bulk of my storage is on actual hard drives.  And my new box is going to be a RAID-10'ed Quad HD setup.  Because, for all their faults, spinning rust is still the king of storage density on a per-TB basis.

In your case, you're doing graphics stuff.  I might suggest a second SSD (smaller if you can't budget for two of the same size) for an actual work drive.
And then as big of a HD as you can afford for bulk storage.

 

Edited November 11, 2020 by Hyperstrike

[WanderingAries]

Preferences I seem to have Brand/Model wise:

• SSD = Samsung EVO (OS/Apps/Scratch Drive)
  • Like mentioned above, I've had good luck with the performance, reliability, and compatibility of this line. You Could go the pro route if you wish. The SATA variant will be slower than the PCI-X versions. This is where looking at the motherboard headers is important!
• HDD = Seagate EXO (Primary and Archive storage)
  • I didn't used to care, the the floods a long time ago soured my Seagate experience, but now I'm back on the train. I aim for the 5+ yr warranty on drives plus the high spin and cache. The EXO is sealed with helium and while that may make data recovery tricky, they're Really cool on temps. I've been keeping a ~4Tb drive for active data and a 12+ Tb for archival PLUS a second of the latter kept externally from the PC for redundancy.
• Motherboard
  • I'm running on a Gigabyte right now and I have an ASRock in the other room. They both seem to offer some great boards for decent pricing. IDK what the latest tech is like overall, but like mentioned above, read the MFG's actual manual for things like losing SATA ports when using the M.2. Same goes for PCI-E lanes. I've found that my next budget will be CPU heavy because to get all of your MB lanes, the CPU has to have them.
  • Depending on your cooling (I'm leary about liquids), make sure you have enough fan headers.
  • Same for data headers. While you can convert, if you want the option of things like USB-C 3.2 or the like, then you'll need some headers.
  • Multiple layer silicon boards are durable, more efficient (more traces), and make for cleaner signals for things like audio.
• CPU
  • The best you can manage that fits the above
• RAM
  • I've attached myself to G.Skill it seems as they are nicely priced, have good stability/performance, great compatibility, and often have their own heat spreaders.
• GPU
  • Lots of Cuda and GDDR vRAM depending on your needs. If you're wanting to push multiple monitors, then most will do it, but watch their capabilities/limitations as well as their port offerings. I think DP and HDMI 2.x are standard now
• PSU
  • I don't buy less than 1kw now because I accidentally caused several RMAs due to a power miscalculation. You REALLY want that +20% buffer for safety.
• Case
  • Plan out what you are going to put in it VERY carefully as some cases aren't large enough for some coolers or even GPUs. Check that the built-in headers are what you need as well. Since heat rises, I have a bottom's up solution. And don't forget FILTERS. Especially where the fans go. You'll either want tall feet or something solid for it to stand on.
• SmartUPS - Pure Sine Wave
  • Mostly because I'm in Florida now, but I've also lived on an island before and brown-outs suck. This one took some investigation when I was researching clean power. It will be safe for medical equipment even, comes with USB ports (charge my phone during hurricane), and can match my PSU. I honestly have one for just the network equipment and printer with the Computer and basic accessories on the other. Granted, two different rooms, but still. I'm planning one on each Entertainment (consoles, TVs, etc) setup in the house as well.

[Hyperstrike]

1 hour ago, WanderingAries said:

Preferences I seem to have Brand/Model wise:

• SSD = Samsung EVO (OS/Apps/Scratch Drive)
  • Like mentioned above, I've had good luck with the performance, reliability, and compatibility of this line. You Could go the pro route if you wish. The SATA variant will be slower than the PCI-X versions. This is where looking at the motherboard headers is important!
• HDD = Seagate EXO (Primary and Archive storage)
  • I didn't used to care, the the floods a long time ago soured my Seagate experience, but now I'm back on the train. I aim for the 5+ yr warranty on drives plus the high spin and cache. The EXO is sealed with helium and while that may make data recovery tricky, they're Really cool on temps. I've been keeping a ~4Tb drive for active data and a 12+ Tb for archival PLUS a second of the latter kept externally from the PC for redundancy.
• Motherboard
  • I'm running on a Gigabyte right now and I have an ASRock in the other room. They both seem to offer some great boards for decent pricing. IDK what the latest tech is like overall, but like mentioned above, read the MFG's actual manual for things like losing SATA ports when using the M.2. Same goes for PCI-E lanes. I've found that my next budget will be CPU heavy because to get all of your MB lanes, the CPU has to have them.
  • Depending on your cooling (I'm leary about liquids), make sure you have enough fan headers.
  • Same for data headers. While you can convert, if you want the option of things like USB-C 3.2 or the like, then you'll need some headers.
  • Multiple layer silicon boards are durable, more efficient (more traces), and make for cleaner signals for things like audio.
• CPU
  • The best you can manage that fits the above
• RAM
  • I've attached myself to G.Skill it seems as they are nicely priced, have good stability/performance, great compatibility, and often have their own heat spreaders.
• GPU
  • Lots of Cuda and GDDR vRAM depending on your needs. If you're wanting to push multiple monitors, then most will do it, but watch their capabilities/limitations as well as their port offerings. I think DP and HDMI 2.x are standard now
• PSU
  • I don't buy less than 1kw now because I accidentally caused several RMAs due to a power miscalculation. You REALLY want that +20% buffer for safety.
• Case
  • Plan out what you are going to put in it VERY carefully as some cases aren't large enough for some coolers or even GPUs. Check that the built-in headers are what you need as well. Since heat rises, I have a bottom's up solution. And don't forget FILTERS. Especially where the fans go. You'll either want tall feet or something solid for it to stand on.
• SmartUPS - Pure Sine Wave
  • Mostly because I'm in Florida now, but I've also lived on an island before and brown-outs suck. This one took some investigation when I was researching clean power. It will be safe for medical equipment even, comes with USB ports (charge my phone during hurricane), and can match my PSU. I honestly have one for just the network equipment and printer with the Computer and basic accessories on the other. Granted, two different rooms, but still. I'm planning one on each Entertainment (consoles, TVs, etc) setup in the house as well.

 

 

 

• SSD = Samsung EVO (OS/Apps/Scratch Drive)
  Prefer the Pro drives for work-related stuff (big on warranty coverage).  But the Evos have proven damnably durable.
• HDD = Western Digital Gold
  These are not standard commodity-grade drives.  2.5x time Mean Time Between Failures interval and better numbers (by a factor of 10) on Unrecoverable Read Errors (important in RAID setups).
• Motherboard
  I've been an Asus guy for a while due to stability.  But their product and warranty support can be asstastic at times.
  Used to love ABit enthusiast boards.
  And will be going ASRock (a corporate cousin of Asus through Pegatron) for my new build.  Their current last few generations of boards have been solid, stable performers.  And I actually like an engineering decision they've made.
  Some boards, if running more than one NVMe drive, shuts down 2 SATA controllers for every drive after the first.
  ASRock is different.  Instead of shutting off storage options, they opt to disable the third (technically PCIe5) slot to scrounge the I/O.
  Seeing as multi-GPU solutions are going by the wayside, this will generally affect fewer people.
• CPU
  Agreed about best CPU you can get for the money.
  As for liquid cooling, I've had a 280mm All-In-One in my main machine for about 6 years now.  Still going, haven't sprung a leak.  Nice, solid, dependable.
  Now, custom loops and stuff, for that, you're kinda on your own.
• RAM
  I've had good luck with G.Skill and Crucial/Micron and Kingston.  I've TRIED stepping outside of this for specialty "performance" memory.  And I've been disappointed.  Compatibility problems, even when on the approved memory lists, etc.
• GPU
  Big fan of Display Port.  My current 970 is driving 3 Display Port monitors.  And, if I wanted, I could run at least two of them daisy-chained.
• PSU
  I agree to out-spec your PSU a bit.  Blowing a PSU can destroy other components.  So not getting "just enough" ensures you have some headroom.
• Case
  I agree about filters.  Dusting cases SUCKS.  Even ones with good accessibility.
  I prefer roomier cases.  "Quiet" cases tend to either be really cramped, or have poor general cooling.
  I've grown to hate cramped cases.  Too much bloodshed.
• UPS: I'm running a Back-UPS Pro 1500S.
  The house I bought still has the orignal 1974 wiring, plus a bunch of half-assery the previous owner tied in...  So power delivery can be a bit wonky at times.  Not TERRIBLY unstable.  But every now and again, *CLICK*

[Ironblade]

On 11/11/2020 at 8:57 PM, WanderingAries said:

• PSU
  • I don't buy less than 1kw now because I accidentally caused several RMAs due to a power miscalculation. You REALLY want that +20% buffer for safety.

Yeah, I didn't mention the PSU since the OP didn't.  I actually give myself a 1/3 overage in my builds.

[Ironblade]

On 10/31/2020 at 8:15 PM, BassAckwards said:

Hey guys, looking at building a new desktop.

I'm just gonna quote the OP so they get notified.  I haven't seen any indication that they have actually received our feedback.

[Seigmoraig]

On 10/31/2020 at 8:15 PM, BassAckwards said:

AMD Ryzen 9 3900XT (Picked the XT because I want to potentially be able to overclock, the locked version is about $100 cheaper though)

Just wanted to note here because nobody mentioned it in the thread:
Every AMD Ryzen CPU is unlocked for overclocking, the XT moniker means that it had a bit more speed on it's fastest core.

 

For your motherboard, if you want to go top of the line you need to choose one with the X(x)70 chipset, like this one  X570

 

The B series has less PCI lanes and does not have support for multiple Video Cards. This is relevant if you want to SLI cards to get 4K resolution at higher framerates (120Hz+). The PCI Lanes are important if you want to plug in addition to your Graphics card, additional M.2 nvme drives and have them running at full speed.
Here is a handy chart to help you choose the right motherboard for your needs. The image is slightly out dated as it doesn't have the fifth generation info for ram speed but you can get the general idea that X = more good than B = more good than A

Edited November 24, 2020 by Seigmoraig

[Hyperstrike]

1 hour ago, Seigmoraig said:

Just wanted to note here because nobody mentioned it in the thread:
Every AMD Ryzen CPU is unlocked for overclocking, the XT moniker means that it had a bit more speed on it's fastest core.

 

For your motherboard, if you want to go top of the line you need to choose one with the X(x)70 chipset, like this one  X570

 

The B series has less PCI lanes and does not have support for multiple Video Cards. This is relevant if you want to SLI cards to get 4K resolution at higher framerates (120Hz+). The PCI Lanes are important if you want to plug in addition to your Graphics card, additional M.2 nvme drives and have them running at full speed.
Here is a handy chart to help you choose the right motherboard for your needs. The image is slightly out dated as it doesn't have the fifth generation info for ram speed but you can get the general idea that X = more good than B = more good than A

This is actually why I'm going with an ASRock board on my next build.

Most board builders have additional M.2 drives steal from the SATA port controllers.
ASRock has made a slightly different decision.

Basically if you have a board that can run 3x M.2 drives, it basically steals the lanes from PCIe5 instead.

As multi-GPU is falling out of favor (due to pricing and diminishing returns as cards get more capable), you don't see a lot of people  doing things like SLI anymore.

And, on my next box, storage space is important.  And I'd rather not have to invest in a third party controller card.

[Seigmoraig]

1 hour ago, Hyperstrike said:

This is actually why I'm going with an ASRock board on my next build.

Most board builders have additional M.2 drives steal from the SATA port controllers.
ASRock has made a slightly different decision.

Basically if you have a board that can run 3x M.2 drives, it basically steals the lanes from PCIe5 instead.

As multi-GPU is falling out of favor (due to pricing and diminishing returns as cards get more capable), you don't see a lot of people  doing things like SLI anymore.

And, on my next box, storage space is important.  And I'd rather not have to invest in a third party controller card.

That's interesting to have on the newer boards. My Asus ROG Strix X470 only has the one M.2 Slot with full PCI-e 4x coverage. The other slot PCI-E x2, I ended up not even using the PCI-e mode on my second slot and opted for a much cheaper SATA drive that has a m.2 form factor for that drive while my main x4 SSD is a Samsung 960 Evo. Will be something to consider in the future when I eventually change my computer.

Edited November 24, 2020 by Seigmoraig

[Hyperstrike]

13 minutes ago, Seigmoraig said:

That's interesting to have on the newer boards. My Asus ROG Strix X470 only has the one M.2 Slot with full PCI-e 4x coverage. The other slot PCI-E x2, I ended up not even using the PCI-e mode on my second slot and opted for a much cheaper SATA drive that has a m.2 form factor for that drive while my main x4 SSD is a Samsung 960 Evo. Will be something to consider in the future when I eventually change my computer.

Yeah.  Having all program drives on speedy PCIe is great.
And if you're doing  RAID, you're not really seeing massive improvement in performance, but you DO see significant reductions in queue depth on the drives.  Which improves latency of your disk subsystem somewhat.