Time to Upgrade

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TheNamelessPoet

Member
So, I have about 1k to spend, and with the dropping GPU prices I went up to a 3070 instead of the 3060 I was originally going to get.
I am not married to AMD or Intel, but I have not built an AMD before. I upped the GPU and dropped the processor down to the 5600x 6 core as opposed to an 8 -12 core. My last PC was an i5-4690K so it is a bit... tired. I think I might use it as a server in my house, but I am not concerned atm because I am using some of the parts, like the case/PSU/RAM.

The Case is a Cougar... SOMETHING. For no real reason, I like the case... I don't really see a need to get a new one, id rather buy a VERY inexpensive case to put my old PC in.
I have 32 GB G.Skill Ram (2x16) I purchased recently. The speed is decent, I THINK it is around 3600. I figured for the moment I can save $ on that.
I also have a 128 GB SSD and a 1TB SATA drive.
I will be adding a NAS to my home network hopefully within the year so TOTAL storage space, I am not concerned with. I have 1 TB now and I don't think it is even 1/2 full. My movies and video's are on another PC with 8 GB storage atm.

So, here is what I am wondering.
The OS is going to go on the 512 M.2 drive, unless you think I should put it on the 128 and load my programs on the 512. I don't HAVE to put the 128GB in it, I can use it in my older laptop so I don't have to buy one to replace the standard HD. I know I can go down to a 256 GB M.2, but for $10-15 whats the difference?

ALSO, Anything you would change? It appears that is a good MoBo + processor combo to go with the 3070, but if you have better options, ESPECIALLY for less let me know.
 
T

TheNamelessPoet

Member
My other question is.. what about swapping out a 3060ti for the 3070? 1695 vs 1755 Hz and a 15-20% drop in cuda cores.

is it worth it to save the $60?
 
johnb35

johnb35

Administrator
Staff member
Access times. An NVME is at least 5 times faster than a sata M.2

530mb/s compared to 3100 mb/s or if you go gen 4 then you can get around 7000 mb/s
 
beers

beers

Moderator
Staff member
I'd probably plunk $60 for the upgrade, although the 4k series is around the corner.

Also consider the 5700X, if you live near a microcenter they're around $250 with an extra $20 off on a bundled mobo, so pretty close in price to separate 5600x and mobo from another vendor but would be 8c/16t.

NVME is a faster bus, it's literally 4x PCIE lanes. PCIE 4.0 drives can hit up through 7GB/sec, the SATA interface has stagnated at 6gbit for a while now in comparison (~550-ish MB/sec max).
 
T

TheNamelessPoet

Member
So.. in terms of the HD (going NVME thank you @beers and @johnb35) Would you go with say a single 1 or 2 TB drive, or a 256/512 OS only drive and a separate drive for programs?

I WISH I had a microcenter somewhere near me/. closest is a few hours away unfortunatly.
 
T

TheNamelessPoet

Member
OK... If I swap out to the 3060 instead of the 3060ti or 3070

I can go up to a 1 TB NVME Gen4 drive. As long as I can install everything on the same drive as the OS, it would be fine. Then I can keep it under 1k still.

@beers I like the idea of the 5700X, it just brings it back up over 1k although I don't HAVE to get a MoBo with more than 1gb ethernet. I was hoping to, but in reality, I don't have a setup yet for that in my house.
 
Okedokey

Okedokey

Well-Known Member
Overall a good build., but now is a super bad time to buy a MSRP or new 30 series GPU. 40 series is about to drop, just as the mining boom has collapsed meaning the number of mid-range cards that are about to flood the market is epic. You will get a 3080 for $200 in 3 months.
I'd get your new PC, but wait and live with the 970 until pre-xmas sales / snipe something cheap on ebay etc.

Ram = completely fine - will probably oc to 4000+MHz
CPU = What resolution do you play your games at? Always native? 1080p? 1440p? More? A 5600X OCd will give you the same performance until you get something like a 3090 or better.
Mobo = Nice 5 phase vrm, keeps cool. Make sure you update the firmware.
Storage = The mobo you have has 2 dedicated slots, with heatsinks for your M.2. Get a nice Mkey ssd of your liking, use it for the games and boot OS. Offload less used applications to the 128GB SSD and use the 1TB as storage for files etc. Back all up to OneDrive or similar.
1658509354775.png
PSU = ?? Which one? I'd recommend if buying new, looking at ATX3.0 compatible for future longevity, with at least 50A on the 12V rail.
 
T

TheNamelessPoet

Member
Okedokey said:
Overall a good build., but now is a super bad time to buy a MSRP or new 30 series GPU. 40 series is about to drop, just as the mining boom has collapsed meaning the number of mid-range cards that are about to flood the market is epic. You will get a 3080 for $200 in 3 months.
I'd get your new PC, but wait and live with the 970 until pre-xmas sales / snipe something cheap on ebay etc.

Ram = completely fine - will probably oc to 4000+MHz
CPU = What resolution do you play your games at? Always native? 1080p? 1440p? More? A 5600X OCd will give you the same performance until you get something like a 3090 or better.
Mobo = Nice 5 phase vrm, keeps cool. Make sure you update the firmware.
Storage = The mobo you have has 2 dedicated slots, with heatsinks for your M.2. Get a nice Mkey ssd of your liking, use it for the games and boot OS. Offload less used applications to the 128GB SSD and use the 1TB as storage for files etc. Back all up to OneDrive or similar.
View attachment 10770
PSU = ?? Which one? I'd recommend if buying new, looking at ATX3.0 compatible for future longevity, with at least 50A on the 12V rail.
Click to expand...
Well I did think about getting the MoBo and CPU1st... then I could save a little more.

I play in 4k whenever possible. I know Borderlands 3 looked pretty cool at 4k. I get it, it's not a super detailed game, but i do think it looked good. There was a game I played through Steam that is part of why I want to be sure I can play in 4k. Talos Principal... was lots of fun IMHO and looked absolutely stunning at the time. I want to be able to play stuff like that at the best settings. I also play Minecraft HEAVILY modded, same with Cities: Skylines. I may have to go up to 64GB of ram, but I am just going to get another set of ram the same that I have. Cities: Skylines is a HUGE drain on RAM... I have hit my max of 32GB a couple times lol.

My current build, aside from the addition of RAM for Cities: Skylines lasted about 7ish years. I am kind of hoping this one will as well, or at least close. That is another reason I am looking at a video card that is above what I need now, because I know in 3-4 years games are going to be much more advanced again, so I don't want to not be able to play things I want to.

I also use this PC to watch 4k on my TV as well. My primary monitor is my 50" 4k TV, with a small backup incase I am watching stuff on TV.

The main reason I was considering going past the the 5600X was to have an increase in cores. Again, I know not a TON of stuff uses large amounts of cores... Again however, 3-4 years from now, I would rather not have to upgrade again. Well I would, my wife would rather I not lol.
 
Okedokey

Okedokey

Well-Known Member
CPU load is inversely proportional to resolution. i.e. the lower the resolution, the more the CPU becomes the bottleneck. At 1440p or greater, you should focus on gpu.
 
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