Building a new computer

[Oldman]

Hi folks

I'm thinking of building a fairly up to date computer, but I'm way behind in knowledge of current components that are the 'thing' at the moment.
Here's a list of components that I have already.
Cooler master Haf X case (Quite a big tower case), A Corsair HX 850 W power supply, also Plenty of spare Fans etc. that I can at least use.

What I need to get is an up to date motherboard, either Intel based Processor, or AMD
SSD Hard Drive, Ram, and operating system Win10.
I've got a Radeon Graphics card but I think this will be a bit dated now (Radeon R7950 twin frozr 111 3GB)
I can at least use the graphics card for now (to get the comp up and running) but it obviously will need to be upgraded to something like at least a medium range GC later on.
Basically what I'm asking is advice on the 4 main components, motherboard, Ram, HD and processor, which will work well together, (also a good quality fan cooler for the CPU).

Any advice or thoughts appreciated.
Budget for cost around £1000? for the four main components....or slightly higher at a push. edit...note I want to use computer mainly for Gaming of course!

Oldman

[euclid]

Hey Oldman

Was facing the same thing some months ago. Maybe this thread will provide some useful info. The total cost of the final setup (see last page there) was around £ 1200.

Cheers Euclid

[pjknibbs]

I think the Zen3 Ryzens (aka the 5000 series) have been launched since that thread, euclid, so if he was going AMD I'd probably recommend going for one of those unless the previous gen parts can be found especially cheap.

[burger1]

I would wait to see what the new cpus do.

Depending on the tdp of the cpu your current cooler might still be ok if it ~ fits the mainboard socket type?

Depending on what resolution/refresh rate your monitor is there might not really be any advantage to upgrading unless you do stuff like a lot of video editing, streaming, etc...

Main thing to avoid would be stuttering. No idea why some seem more prone to it.

Some other forums:

steam/community/discussions/hardware and operating systems

https://www.reddit.com/r/buildapc/

linus tech tips forum

[burger1]

5900X Vs 5950X vs intel

https://youtu.be/qbL9umnT8cM?list=TLPQM ... Fe-g6QScnQ

[felter]

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is suppose to be pretty good and reasonably priced to boot at under £300/$300. Not just that it is only has a 65w TDP which is pretty low. The 5600 has 6 cores 12 threads while the 5800 has 8 cores 16 threads but the 5800 is around £200/$200 dearer, if you are going to go for a 5800 then it's better to go for a 5900 as that isn't that more expensive than the 5800 and it's 16 cores 32 threads, so if you are going to go for the more expensive then go for the 5900.

Honestly though as I said you probably won't notice the difference in gaming between them, of course if you are going to do a lot of say video editing or 3d rendering, then go for the more expensive as the more cores the better. It is also looking like the better the ram, the faster the new Ryzen chips run as those that have been benchmarking them are getting different results but it looks like the ones who are getting the better results are using the better newer faster ram. Just to point out the 5800 and 5900 both have a TDP of 105w, that's quite a difference between them. I actually would have thought the 5900 would need even more, I was thinking it would have been around 125w which is what an Intel 10900 needs. At 65w that's half the power than a 10900 and half the heat.

It's an AMD market right now, as their new GPU's are also looking a lot better and cheaper than the Nvidia competition, those guys that ran out to buy the new Nvidia cards must be pretty peeved about now.

[pjknibbs]

It is also looking like the better the ram, the faster the new Ryzen chips run as those that have been benchmarking them are getting different results but it looks like the ones who are getting the better results are using the better newer faster ram.

That's been the case with Ryzen since the first generation--they're very sensitive to RAM performance. Don't cheap out on RAM if you're going the Ryzen route.

[Oldman]

Hi Folks

Thanks for the information and links!

Well...at the moment it's looking like I would probably get an Asus Strix motherboard, a Ryzen 5900, and some good/fast ram?
Cooler for the CPU seems to favour a water cooler.
I was looking at a few 'bundles' on the SCAN computer site (I've had a lot of components from them in the past and have no complaints, but I've never bought 'bundled hardware). Would a bundle of MB, CPU, CPU Cooler and Ram be more cost effective than buying separate components?...the Motherboard bios will be updated to the latest version by them/Scan too, which is also a consideration.
Most of the bundles come with a water cooler for the Ryzen board and 5900 cpu, I've not had any experience with water/liquid coolers so I'm kinda thinking of an air cooler instead?...would this be a problem?...I'm thinking that the water cooler and attached fans might be a problem fitting it to the HafX case I've got, or is that not a problem?
For a basic bundle the CPU comes with a standard 'wraith' air cooler, but they recommend an aftermarket cooler, so a more powerful fan cooler would be needed I think.
One of the benefits of a 'bundle' (from Scan) is that the components are fitted together and bench tested beforehand so they should work ok from the get go.
Anyway, the Ryzen 5900 CPU's seem to be in short supply at the moment, Scan seem to only supply them with bundles, unless I missed something on their site.

I looked at some of the links you folks gave in the topic, 'Linus' is a person I know from other reviews for comp components in the past, and his review of the new Ryzen 5000 series CPU's was pretty helpful, and it also seems at the moment the 5800 & 5900 (also the 5950) pretty much outclasses the higher intel CPU's ....is this correct?
At least the Radeon GPU would be okay to slot in just as a temporary graphics card?
So, a fair few things to think about! ....I'll probably also get a standalone (disk or usb stick) for windows 10, so the cost of that is some where around the £100 mark.
Thank's once again for the info, and any other ideas you have I'd be very grateful for the input.

Oldman

[burger1]

You can get a win 10 pro key for ~$8?

a couple years old video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5uVXSaziXJ4

if you have an old win 7 or 8 machine around you can still use that key for the win 10 version of the same operating system like win 7 pro for win 10 pro or win 7 home for win 10 home. Just enter the key after installing the right version of windows 10 not during the set up.

A mid/higher end aircooler might work for Ryzen 9 5900x. There's some fps videos but they don't stress the cpu much and the water cooler temperatures don't seem impressive but I am guessing the haf x case will contribute a noticeable amount to the cooling. There's at least one fps video with an air cooler. Might be $50 usd + for an air cooler? See if you can find builds with them or in amazon usa or newegg usa look for the cpu in the cpu cooler reviews using the search function in reviews and also questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sCAD78me-4

For the mainboard look up reviews on newegg and amazon usa. Look at recent reviews. Look at the product ratings not just the overall ratings. The overall rating can be deceptive. Returning stuff can be a bad/long experience.

[burger1]

lower end tower aircooler fps test - Zalman CNPS10X Performa

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uDEGF7VMlJA

I don't recommend buying that cpu fan. There might be varieties bu one at least has a thick plate between the cpu and the heat pipes. Apparently this isn't the best. Some people recommend direct contact with the heat pipes and no jagged edges/gaps. I think noctura cpu coolers have a metal plate between the heat pipes and the cpu top (ihs) and are still considered good?

[felter]

I've been using Noctua coolers for several years now and I can't fault them as I've never had a problem. The Noctua NH-D15 has been around for several years now and it is still considered to be one of the best, if not the best CPU air cooler around.

[burger1]

Linus Tech Tips Can you cool a Core i9 10900K for cheap?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOCrcOfTsLg

i9-10900k has a tdp of 125w (105w for the amd 5900x) and I think intel does their tdp different than amd. With intel their tdp is at regular clock speeds and no turbo boost. With amd I think it's more normal/realistic. In the video the intel cpu has a base clock speed of 3.7 and turbo boost speed of 5.3 ghz which is a big difference between the two. In the video they are also using a thermal pad and not thermal paste on the cpu. They are also doing other stuff.

One seller has on their site: Cooler Not Included, Liquid Cooling Recommended

Anyways in a while hopefully there will be tons of people to ask on youtube, forums, amazon, newegg, etc... what coolers they use and the results.

Haf x looks like it might have the small hole in the back of the mainboard mounting panel so if you change the cpu cooler it might require you to take off the mainboard if you change your mind on coolers. Some coolers don't need a rear mounting bracket.

The hafx has usb 3.0 so hopefully the front panel connectors can plug in the mainboard ok.

[felter]

Here is a comparison video between the Ryzen 3600X, the 5600X and the Intel 10700k. Even the 3600x is pretty impressive and holds it's own for what it is, but the 5600X is the clear winner. If I was building a new rig right now, I think I would go for the 5600.

[Oldman]

Hi felter

Here is a comparison video between the Ryzen 3600X, the 5600X and the Intel 10700k. Even the 3600x is pretty impressive and holds it's own for what it is, but the 5600X is the clear winner. If I was building a new rig right now, I think I would go for the 5600.

Thanks for the link, interesting!....food for thought

if you have an old win 7 or 8 machine around you can still use that key for the win 10 version of the same operating system like win 7 pro for win 10 pro or win 7 home for win 10 home. Just enter the key after installing the right version of windows 10 not during the set up.

A mid/higher end aircooler might work for Ryzen 9 5900x. There's some fps videos but they don't stress the cpu much and the water cooler temperatures don't seem impressive but I am guessing the haf x case will contribute a noticeable amount to the cooling. There's at least one fps video with an air cooler. Might be $50 usd + for an air cooler? See if you can find builds with them or in amazon usa or newegg usa look for the cpu in the cpu cooler reviews using the search function in reviews and also questions.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5sCAD78me-4

For the mainboard look up reviews on newegg and amazon usa. Look at recent reviews. Look at the product ratings not just the overall ratings. The overall rating can be deceptive. Returning stuff can be a bad/long experience.

@ burger1 thanks for the info. ....last time I built a computer must have been 5-6 years ago...I've a lot to catch up!
I'm still using win7 (home premium version) but I still have the full Version on disks, plus obviously the valid keys, so I'll look into that, might save myself some money!
Air coolers versus water cooling comparisons was interesting, I'm pretty sure now I'm staying with an air cooler of some sort, I have an Arctic Freezer A32, still new in it's box, never been used , but I don't know whether it would fit the new Rizen Cpu, or be up to the task...probably not. Yes, I need to look much deeper into what motherboard I should get, I could probably save some money there too. Whichever one I get it would most likely be an Asus board or MSI...I've got an Asus mb. in one computer (AMD) and an MSI mb. in another (Intel), both have been reliable in my experience.

I've been using Noctua coolers for several years now and I can't fault them as I've never had a problem. The Noctua NH-D15 has been around for several years now and it is still considered to be one of the best, if not the best CPU air cooler around.

Yup!, I've just been looking at some of the reviews, 'Air coolers v Water coolers' etc. Noctua seem to get very good ratings.


It will be little while before I start building a new rig, most likely soon after this Christmas, but there's so much new hardware tec to catch up on....I'm starting to get a headache!

Cheers!

Oldman