Peripherals: Corsair K70 MK.2 (Cherry MX Red) KB
Corsair Scimitar Pro RGB Mouse
Headset undecided
ASUS V27WQ 27" Monitor
Is this build decent for running Shadowlands? Is it overkill? I’m looking for genuine input on any improvements or changes you would make as the reader.
1.) AMD is better than intel for gaming now. If you can get your hands on a ryzen 5600x or above, then go for it.
2.) Steer clear of AIO water coolers. Unless you absolutely have to have one for aesthetics, you are much better off going with a quality copper heat tube air cooler like noctua D-15. They are far more reliable in the long term and cool just as well.
3.) No need to spend too much on a mobo. A good b550 with and a quick bios update to support ryzen 5000 series is perfectly fine.
4.) No need to go for 32gigs of ram. 16gigs is fine for gaming. However, I would pay a little closer attention to the speed of the memory dimms and the timings. You can read guides from all over for the sweet spot in speed, timings, and price.
5.) 750watt power supply should be more than enough. I go for 80+ efficiency standard. More efficiency means less energy is lost as heat, and the cooler your PSU runs the longer it will last. Try not to skimp too much on your PSU because it is the thing you are relying on to give the rest of your system clean and reliable power. A good PSU is an investment to protect the rest of your components.
Save some money in these areas and put more into the graphics card. 3070 is a beast but 3080 even more so. Get the best graphics card you can afford because they are the beating heart of any gaming rig. Also don’t spend a lot of time agonizing over a case. If you want an aesthetic case then spend more, but a cheap plain black case will work fine as well. Go for cases with mesh front panels and throw in an intake and exhaust fan and you’re good to go.
Thank you for the insight, the main reason I planned to go with an intel as opposed to an AMD is both availability, and I heard with the new series of AMD I’d need to get the new 500 series chipset, which is fine since I wouldn’t be replacing anything to begin with. My issue with the AMD is allegedly, upgrading this rig in the future would be more problematic because this is the last of the socket they are using with the processor, whereas intel’s socket will be used in the next generation. (I also did see what you said about the motherboard on point 3, but if you could clarify the socket issue that would be great).
In regards to liquid cooling, I have heard negative reviews, I’m just not sure about the price difference between the one I listed and the Noctua D-15, but I will research that.
I am planning to stick with the 16 GB RAM then, so thank you for clarifying that point.
With regards to the GPU and power supply, the reason I’m going for a 3070 is purely based on the cost, as I feel a 3080 may be a bit out of reach unless I can find one for MSRP. If I were to go to a 3080, would I then use an 850W PSU?
I’m going to try and reconfigure my components right now based on what you listed here as it was all very helpful, and I appreciate it. For reference the budget I am working with in total is ~$2k, but I do still need to buy the keyboard which will cut into the budget by $140, so realistically for all of the PC components, I’ll be looking at around $1800.
I just did a quick check and the ryzen 5000 series is AM4 socket, so you would be fine with a b550 mobo. You would probably have to do a quick bios update, but that’s pretty easy. All you need is a thumb drive and another computer to download the bios update file. After that just follow a short 5min instructions video on YouTube of how to flashbios for your board.
AMD will probably stop using the AM4 socket for future CPUs because it has been around for a long time and near its end of life. So if you wanted to upgrade processors in the future, then you will have to buy a new mobo. However, transistor technology is coming to a point of diminishing returns because there just isn’t much room for them to shrink much further. I don’t know about intel, but AMD already has a road map for 5nm within 2 years I believe and 3nm within 5-6 years. Hard to say how much faster they will be than current generation, but I doubt it will be anything revolutionary. I said b550 mobo because good ones in that class have solid VRM. If you are not overclocking, then the VRM in the strix gaming F for example is strong and more than enough for stock clocks.
As for the AIO coolers, I do think you chose two good ones. The arctic liquid freezer II is best 240mm cooler out there in terms of performance. The only problem I have with it is that it is new to the market. It is untested long term, and in AIO world longevity matters. Because if a leak does happen, then it could spell catastrophe for the whole rig! For this reason if I choose to go with AIO, then i only pick models with long proven track records of being reliable for many years without leaks. Corsair does a good job here and so does NZXT. But even then the best 240mm AIOs only cool a few degrees better than big air coolers which are mostly problem free. Besides leaking, AIOs can have pump and noise problems, mounting properly is critical, and even under the best conditions liquid will still permeate the hoses over time. You also have to worry about galvanic corrosion if your AIO is mixed metals. They do give slightly better cooling, but for me the costs outweigh the benefits.
I would double check with some research, but I think 750watts is still fine for 3080. Lastly, you might want to wait a little before committing to this build. I read in a report recently that all the main gaming PC companies will have stock of ryzen 5000 series after the 25 of this month for their pre-built systems. If that is true, then ryzen 5000 series should be available on newegg for msrp shortly after. Patience is a virtue and sometimes it pays good dividends to wait just a little longer.
I’ll continue to look into this stuff, I may opt for the AMD 5000 series. I plan to wait either way just because the 3080/3070 cards are all very difficult to get right now. Fingers crossed, I had a voucher today at Micro Center, but it was for a 3090 and that’s out of the budget so I had to pass that up. If i get lucky and can snag a 3080 on a restock I’ll be able to look at more options, but generally right now it’s a holding pattern until I can get my hands on a 30 series GPU.
I’m not fully sold one way or the other on a CPU Cooler, so I’ll figure that out in the meantime while I settle on a graphics card. Depending on the CPU I go with, I’ll have to find a motherboard as well, but the B550 would probably be the way I go if I went with a 5000 series AMD.
We’ll just have to see what’s possible once the holidays pass, I’ll keep an eye on the 5000 series stuff as we near the 25th, and then probably at the end of the Xmas week look toward finding a 30 series assuming I haven’t found one by then.
I once again appreciate your input, and it has helped me put some more factors into consideration for this build, so I thank you for that.
If you are pure gaming? Get the 5800x. The 5800x is actually on par with the i9 10900k in multicore also. Yep Its on par with intels 10 core chip with only 8 cores. Crazy right?
It is so far hands down the best processor for wow and just about any AAA game also that requires the least amount of tweaking to perform. The 5800x beats the i9 10900k in single core and ALMOST multicore performance. Once again its only 8 cores.
Disclaimer: The i9 10900k is still a great processor. It CAN outperform the Ryzen 5000 series in just about every game; however you have to overclock it to 5.1+ and use 4200mhz+ RAM for it do so. (most reviewers consider an unfair advantage so they all use under 4000mhz ram in benchmarks due to the fact that Ryzen is restricted to 4000mhz) The Ryzen 5000 do not require tweaking to perform at max. They just perform great out of the box.
5800x Single/Multi core Performance FPS Chart Informative VIDEO
Sorry for the late reply, I just read and looked through your reply though and found it very helpful. I can definitely try to get my hands on a 5800x as the Micro Center 5 min away from me restocked them today and should be getting more tomorrow. The good news is, I did get a EVGA RTX 3080 FTW3 Ultra Gaming GPU today, so I can get the rest of the parts for my build with relative ease now.
The main reason I was going to get an intel is because I wasn’t planning on getting an i9, and according to the single/multicore performance chart, the i7 is better than the 5600x, which I believe is similar in cost. If I were to go with an i9, then I’d probably just get the 5800x instead, or go for a 5900x at that point.
Either way, I’ll check back again and hopefully have an update regarding the status of my build or what CPU I went with ultimately. Thank you again for the comprehensive list and comparisons to make it a bit easier to see the differences.
The 5600x has faster single core performance still than the i7 due to the improved IPC, just as Shiftydruid stated.
The problem is, they’re stupid hard to get. I wouldn’t really hesitate to get an intel system, and the i9-10850k is a better value given it’s $399 vs the i7’s ~$350 price point.
The only thing you’re losing out on is PCIE4 really, and slightly slower in general but generally more stability, easier setup, and generally better support across the board.
yup to make it worse I got the 5600x for ~$270. Making the 5800x even more…unwanted. Maybe I can sell the Far Cry game to a friend to make up some lost…
But I guess its Holiday season, in November i recall seeing the 5800x being in stock for over a week. Now I see them sold out same day. This is the Microcenter in Tustin, CA.
Honestly I’m still an Intel guy at heart and seeing them finally drop the price brings me joy. Now if only the intel itx board didn’t cram so many things around their cpu socket so I can slap my dark rock tf cooler without pushing on the ram so much.
At the microcenter near me I was just there 15 min ago and they have a 5600x and a 5800x in the back, so i’m really trying to decide between those two, and then maybe swap to an intel 11th gen later in 2021 or even skip 11th gen and upgrade again in 2022 or beyond.
I mean with a 3080 and a 5800x with a ROG strix Mobo, i feel that the only short term upgrades I’d really need to go for are either RAM as I’m going 16 GB, or Storage upgrades since I’m probably going to go with a 500 GB Nvme+ 2TB HDD
The 5600 x was literally in stock for about 5 hours just yesterday on the Walmart website. It’s retardedly easy to get you just have to pay attention to websites
It’s also the only one that drops daily on Amazon. You can also easily find it for around $20 over MSRP on eBay
I guess the discords I use didn’t pick up on Walmart. I’m not actively looking and only react when they notify or when someone like newegg has a set drop time. I’m perfectly content with my 3900x, but still get some thrill trying to get the latest and greatest tech. I usually end up selling it to family/friends for MSRP and earning my cut through cash back. Basically covers coffee or even a cheap $5 dollar meal at Wendys.
Though its usually a shat show trying to get into those websites when people catch wind of stock.
The 10900k is probably one of the best processors Intel has made. I may actually wind up going back to it unless I can figure something out because it is the only one that works with a lot of my gaming emulators.
Sadly just Intelius flawlessly compatible with them. I got roughly 8-15 more frames per second in WoW over my 5900x on the 10900k @5.2 with my 4400mhz ram kit anyway. Also had better 1% Lows.
It’s not enough for anyone to notice by the human eye but the emulators is kind of a big deal. They work flawlessly on Intel yet there’s a lot of crashing and stuttering on AMD. It’s probably because they were designed based around Intel
The i9 10900k is a great buy. It really is. My 5900x is faster outside of gaming hands down like literally no comparison. The only reason I’m considering going back to the 10900k is the reasons I have listed above on top of that it was very nice being able to a project in adobe premiere (via quicksync igp) and use my video card to render a After Effects project at the same time. Due to the lack of an igp in AMD I can only do one at a time. The ram fussiness of AMD has upset me also lately
I’d assume AMD would be better supported by now.
Though I’m really tempted to sell off my 3900x and 570itx board and going back to intel. You aren’t really helping lol
