Very (VERY) overdue update to 3700X system

[Retne]

Hi all.

Good grief, I see it's over 10 years since I posted on this board. More of a lurker. Anyway, I am finally updating my PC from my GeForce 670 era rig, and it seemed sensible to throw it over to you for a once-over.

Okay, so I'm after quiet and powerful. Generally quiet (work - in theory coding but more Jira / powerpoint these days as I manage more, code less), powerful when needed (gaming, video editing, Cubase).

Here's my plan:
Case: R6 USB C Blackout (I'm not bothered about lights, and will avoid them where possible. Well, in a PC context. I'm fine with lights, y'know, otherwise)
PSU: Seasonic's Prime Titanium Fanless SSR-600TL
CPU: AMD 3700X
Mobo: MSI MEG X570 Ace (little conflicted here due to that fan. But, I'm unlikely to upgrade soon (and don't want the waste - resources as much as money), and do want faster PCIe 4 drives for future video (and maybe music) production when cheaper/ready. Can't stretch to fanless Gigabyte, and considered X470, but to get enough USB (audio interfaces, UPS, mixer, other stuff I don't use much but don't want to unplug )
Boot SSD: Samsung 970 Plus EVO (considered the PRO, but will get this and then a PCI 4 when ready in a few years)
GPU: MSI GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER GAMING X TRIO
RAM: No idea. Something 3200 with a CLI of 16. I'm not going to overclock, at least straight away (for a few years), I suspect (too lazy! )

And some drives that are awaiting a new home: Samsung 860 QVC and Cruical MX500, both 2TB, plus possibly a HDD for backup (or I'll add that to my NAS)

And advice gratefully received!

Cheers
R

[watercooled]

One thing I'd flag up is the power supply, not because there's anything wrong with it, rather it's quite expensive for what it is. Would you consider something with a fan? Bear in mind, many higher-end power supplies will run without a fan up to a point anyway.

There are plenty of good models to choose from, but here are just a few to show what I mean:
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w...us12v-1x140mm-
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w...20mm-fan-atx-p
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/650w...mm-fan-atx-psu

Of course it's possible to go cheaper again, but given you're willing to spend £200 anyway, the jump from say £60 for a decent ~650W PSU to £80 for something like the ones I linked, isn't too significant.

WRT the fan on the X570 - have you checked to see if MSI have released any fan profiles for the board? At least Gigabyte have done something but I'm not too sure about the others yet: https://www.tomshardware.com/news/x5...ile,39884.html

I wouldn't worry too much about the choice of RAM if you're not overclocking, but given you know what board you'll be using it would be worth checking the compatibility list on the motherboard manufacturer's website just to be sure it will work without issues.

Also, I'm with you on that case choice and shunning the RGB tat! Still very happy with my R3! Also have only good things to say about Fractal's support, build quality, etc.

One last thing, just in case you've not considered it, would the 5700XT suit you for gaming? Overall it's a bit behind the 2070 Super though it does rival it in some games, and it's substantially cheaper.

[Retne]

Thank you watercooled, I really appreciate the feedback.

You're right about the PSU, I have gone over the top. I keep thinking "should I, or shouldn't I" and in the end, having sent back one (pre-built) PC I thought, urgh, well, yeah, what the heck, it was my birthday last week I may still change my mind about this, though. Hmm. It's not that money is no object, but I did kinda tell myself that I would allow £200-300 in the interests of buying quieter components - how much of it is blown here, I'm not sure!

Of course I perhaps should have gone with an X470 board given that aim....

For the X570 yeah, there's a silent option at low loads (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=48yXEMdiEHY) - at least for this bit of info I didn't see any contradictory statements

Excellent point about checking the motherboard for RAM compatibility, thanks for that catch.

On the graphics card... I probably should have considered the 5700XT more, but as you can guess from the past tense, I somewhat panic-bought the graphics card because I saw it was out of stock everywhere. I think two things steered me in that direction - consumption figures plus hearing (ahem) the MSI Gaming X Trio was quiet without load (not so worried if I am actually gaming).

I also have realised I needed to buy thermal paste. Oh, and I see with that motherboard I'll actually get my first water cooler: COOLER MASTER MASTERLIQUID ML240R RGB - there's a promotion from MSI

As long as it's quiet, I imagine it will be quite nice to see the jump from my i5 3570K with DDR3 665MHz (ish) RAM.

It is tricky - I basically want it all - quiet PC that's somewhat over-powered. I keep telling myself I'll upgrade more quickly and I think the only things I've changed about my current rig was adding more SSDs and HDDs, plus doubling the RAM from 16 > 32GB.

Glad you think the case choice is good - I was trying to figure out if I should go for a BeQuiet case, given then name and all (okay, and some of the reviews), but I then looked down and remembered my current case is the R2 and it's a nice quiet machine sat here like a faithful dog at my feet

[watercooled]

Not to keep beating the drum, but when I talk about the 'normal' PSU operating fanless, it may actually do so enough to be effectively fanless in your system, if quietness is your concern. As you can see in this review, the P2 stayed fanless until above 400W load. It came on slightly earlier in the 'hot' tests, but that's something of a worst-case test with the system's heat fed back through the PSU - so similar to running it in a case with no other fans. Plus in many cases the PSU is bottom mounted anyway with its own air intake.

You might find the cooler comes with thermal paste pre-applied, but I'm still a fan of Arctic MX2 if you need some spare. MX4 might be a better choice now, I believe it's a bit thinner and easier to apply. Some people swear by one brand or another but the differences are typically minimal, and I'd usually avoid metal-based TIMs for an extra level of safety if it does happen to come into contact with the CPU's pins.

Bequiet do some excellent cases too, and I'd say it's one of the harder things to decide on because there are plenty of decent options.

An X570 should in theory allow you more ability to upgrade going forward with PCIe 4, plus with X470 you might have to faff around getting the BIOS flashed to support Ryzen 3000 CPUs.

[Retne]

Yeah, fair point and I will look at other PSUs - there are other things I could spend my money on (if not immediately, if I think it will make a difference down the line). I have heard only good things about some EVGA PSUs, too.

I have a feeling it's Arctic I have an old tube of although I read that the stuff has a shelf-life, so I won't look to re-use my old stock.

Thanks again for the replies,

R

[Xlucine]

As long as the old TIM is still runny it should work fine, it's a lot easier life being sat on a shelf compared to baked between a cooler & CPU

[watercooled]

Yeah I've some tubes that are a good few years old and still do the job. How it compares to a brand new tube I couldn't say but it's not been enough for me to notice. Just if I use it after it's been sitting for a while, I'll discard the first oily bit that emerges as it does seem to separate out slowly, but I don't think the ratio of oil to suspension is that critical, as long as the consistency is about right as Xlucine says.

Again, maybe there's a difference, but I'd be surprised if it was more than negligible.