Fairly high-end PC spec ....

[Saracen999]

I'm back at looking to either buy a custom PC (and need spec) or build myself (and still need spec).

Considerations/objectives :-

• I have often built, but not recently
• This is not a gaming build
• I am interested in GPU sypport for video encoding/transcoding (see Note 2)
• Budget is ..., open, but not endless
• I want decent future-proofing
• I'm not looking to spend £££ more than I need to, but certainly not looking to penny-pinch. Getting it right is more important than a couple of hundred in the price
• Not interested in RGB lighting (except to turn it off) and do not want a case with a window.

I do have a list of wants, some more important than others, but the following is a guide to my thinking and roughly where I am, not fixed in stone. I'm open to saving a bit if I'm over-specifying, but also to going up in price if it's justified.

My overall plan is that this may well be my last major PC buy/build, so getting it right is more important than (within reason) cost.

So my current thoughts :

• CPU : AMD, Zen 3, around Ryzen 7 5800X to Ryzen 9 5900X. My only really demanding use is video encoding, ripping, and format converting (see Note 1 and 2), but photo-editing is another primary use. I'm assuming if it can handle video decently, still photos aren't an issue, and nor is audio.
  
  
• Motherboard. AMD obviously, supporting :-
  
  • PCIe 4 lanes
    
  • Preferably 2,5GB/s LAN but, if need be, an available upgrade option via PCIe card or USB adapter
    
  • Wifi 6. Having 6E would be nice but not critical. Currently, don't have any 6E devices (unsurprisingly)
    
  • Dual (or more) M.2 slots
    
  • USB 3.2 Preferably Type C.
    
  
  
• RAM - Either 16GB with option to increase, or straight to 32GB. So if the first, open mobo expansion slots are a must-have. Need advice on speed, timings, brand (no RGB) etc.
  
  
• GPU - Honestly not sure. Need advice on how much benefit to the above video work (see Note 2) comes from better cards. So probably somewhere between 1660 and 3060 level of cost. Don't take current supply difficulty into account. I can use something I have as a temp fix.
  
  
• PSU - I want good quality, not bothered about modular cabling, nor about hairy-chested power ratings. It just needs to be enough. Most HD storage will be NAS.
  
  
• Cooling. Ummm .... will go water-cooled if necessary. While I don't want it sounding like a English Electric Lightning on after-burner, I'm not (intentionally) going to be sleeping by it either. Quiet is nice, but silent not necessary.
  
  
• Case - I MIGHT use an existing old Coolermaster, but still want advice on a good option to buy, in case I opt for custom-buy, rather than PC build. What I DON'T want is either RGB lighting effects, or a window. Plain, simple but stylish will do nicely, but decent build quality.
  
  
• Monitor, KB, Mouse/Pen/graphics tablet. optical drive(s), etc. - to be decided later
  
  
• OS - again, to be decided. Initially probably W10 but may well end up Linux.

I know there's a lot in there, so I'd be delighted for advice, views, and opinions even on any single aspect. I'm not expecting a detailed system analysis and spec .... though certainly wouldn't object. Basically, anything that narrows me down, especially on the mobo, where I'm extra-out-of-touch, is a help.

Thanks in advance.



Notes:

1) My "ripping" from DVD is to extract a shedload of my own video from DVD-R. Commercial discs are barely involved, though I will put my DVDs onto media server. I don't care about Bluray.

2) Video ripping and transcoding is low level. Mostly, DVD standard, from DVD-R (as regards resolution, so sorta 576p, 25fps) at most. I will be doing some future stuff in 4k, but not a huge amount so format-converting that is not an issue.

3) The media server (Emby probably) will be on the NAS, not this PC.

[Saracen999]

Oh, and I saw the X570S thread. Anyone have any views/info on price and when available? If not silly expensive, that would be of interest.

[b0redom]

I built similar to the above, but I've just slapped a 3090 RTX in it for the occasional gaming session.

• AMD 5800X
• MSI MAG X570 Tomahawk motherboard (I got this one as it's a good balance of cost and has 2 full speed NVMe slots)
• Phanteks Enthoo Evolv X case (this may be overkill for you, mine lives under the desk so I don't look at it, but it does have a window and RGB. I bought it because it was lovely to work inside - everything is pre-routed, it holds bajillions of disks and there are no sharp edges at all).
• CORSAIR RMx Series RM750x
• Noctua NH-D15 cooler - I was also considering watercooling, but this thing is almost silent under full load and when I did a lot of digging watercooling didn't seem worth it for either temperatures or noise unless you went very very expensive.

It's worth making sure that the RAM you get is fully compatible / supported by the motherboard. I got a high speed Patriot 64 kit, and whilst it works fine, if I attempt to turn on XMS full speed support, my PC won't post.

[b0redom]

Also worth pointing out that a lot of modern cases no longer seem to ship with slots for optical drives if you're wanting an internal one. Maybe a good reason for keeping your CoolerMaster?

[[GSV]Trig]

So, you want mATX or ATX then, give you more RAM slots to give you the ability to stick more RAM in later rather than an iTX 2 slot job.

If you have a NAS, I'd be more likely to look at a B550 board with 2.5Gbe NIC, unless you are wifi only, then some have WiFi built in which will also cover your 6 side of things and save you having to stick a card in there, although there are wifi6 cards that also have built in Blueteeth if that's of use to you.

The 5800x is a nice chip but not top end so you will have the ability to stick something else in there a bit more powerful if needed, although AM5 and all the new nice stuff isn't a million miles away, so do you need to look at timescales and then look to delaying and getting something AM5 based?! Failing that, Threadripper

[Saracen999]

Also worth pointing out that a lot of modern cases no longer seem to ship with slots for optical drives if you're wanting an internal one. Maybe a good reason for keeping your CoolerMaster?

Yup, though possibly indirectly.

I can't remember the model number for sure, but it waasd something like ATC-101. It's a nice (IMHO) eleegant case, aluminium type and wasn't cheap (£100+, about 15 or 20 years ago) but that type of case wasn't designed (or fan-equipped) for the hotter end of today's GPUs.

However .... I also have an Antec 1200. That is big enough for a load of drives (I was contemplating sticking it in the garden and using it as a shed ) and at the moment, it has a Q6600-era chip (not a Q6600, it's a bit up-market from that, but a low-TDP version). So my best bet is probably to move most of the guts of the Antec system into the Coolermaster, and do the new build in the Antec 1200.

Negative aspects of that? The Antec has a window (about the size of my patio doors) and I'd rather no window. Secondly, the power switch appears to have died. I might still be able to get a replacement from Antec, but if not, I can jury-rig a start switch with the mobo header, a couple of feet of cabl and a switch from RS.

The Antec dow have pretty decent cooling. There's a large (200mm? 250mm?) in the top, and about a dozen others (120mm I think). In fact, I thought I might have to bolt it down to stop it taking off.

The final decision, however, comes dwn to whether I buy or build? If I buy components and build, it might faff about doing that, but part of this exercise is to work out the spec if I order a custom-built PC, in which case (excuse pun) I need a ... errr... case. Some will let me ship a case to them to build in, but I don't want to ship my shed, I mean Antec, when it doesn't even have a working power/start switch. So, if I can find a suitabl choice, I might just buy a new case, if I buy a custom-build..

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

If you want a decent GPU then get a prebuilt system. The prices are anything from 50% higher than RRP to double the price at retail. You can try for an RRP Nvidia FE drop but it can take weeks of checking. If you don't mind getting a basic display only GPU with some extra functionality,ie,a GT1030 you might be OK for a self build.

Also another consideration,are the new AMD desktop APUs launching next month,ie, the Ryzen 5 5600G and Ryzen 7 5700G. These are basically the same Zen3 CPUs,but with half the L3 cache and PCI-E 3.0 instead of PCI-E 4.0 capability. However,they come with a decent enough IGP. Gamersnexus tested a sample already:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8MG66Es2Hw



The equivalent CPU,ie,the Ryzen 7 5800X will be faster due to its doubled L3 cache,and have PCI-E 4.0,but will cost more overall.

WRT,to the X570S they have only been announced. I am uncertainly how long it will take to actually arrive at retailers. The big difference is the chipset not needing a fan on it - currently the chipest needs a fan when under heavy load with X570.

X570 only really has an advantage over B550,if you want to have a PCI-E 4.0 GPU,and several PCI-E 4.0 SSDs.

[Saracen999]

So, you want mATX or ATX then, give you more RAM slots to give you the ability to stick more RAM in later rather than an iTX 2 slot job.

If you have a NAS, I'd be more likely to look at a B550 board with 2.5Gbe NIC, unless you are wifi only, then some have WiFi built in which will also cover your 6 side of things and save you having to stick a card in there, although there are wifi6 cards that also have built in Blueteeth if that's of use to you.

The 5800x is a nice chip but not top end so you will have the ability to stick something else in there a bit more powerful if needed, although AM5 and all the new nice stuff isn't a million miles away, so do you need to look at timescales and then look to delaying and getting something AM5 based?! Failing that, Threadripper

Full ATX probably. I don't really have a need for this to be any oif the smaller ATX variants. I have seen some X570 boards claiming 2.5GB/sec, but yeah, most seem to be 1GB/s.

Threadripper? Nah. That's going way to far. If I was after a professional video editing workstation, that might be justified, but my need is very much home use these days.

The CPU choice comes down to getting it right now, though. I very much don't want to upgrade it later. So 5800X perhaps, 5900X? Okay. Much higher than that, though, I'd need to be really convinced it was worth it in the performance difference.

B550 is certainly an option, and I had looked at some of the Asus options, not least 'cos I use an Asus router and while any WiFi 6 chip ought to be fine, I just feel sticking with Asus wifi is (maybe marginally) preferable.

But since I looked at B550, I've increased the overall spec and the budget, and feel a more expensive board is justified if the spec is right. So it is at least an option to go higher, but so is B550 if I can get what I want, spec-wise..

[[GSV]Trig]

OK, Ok, so no Threadripper then..

What rig are you running now, or is this a new new build and not a replacement?
What software are you planning on running, does it play better with Intel than AMD, does it like higher core count or more cache or out and out clock speeds etc?

I've just got a 5800x, its a nice chip, overkill for me but deals are to be had, if you go over that to the 5900x and the 5950x you're adding 4 or 8 additional cores, if the software really is going to see those and benefit more than the difference in clock speeds then yeah, by all means get the better chip, its your money though and I suspect, with your advanced years, I mean experience , you have already got a budget pencilled down somewhere, but as core count increases so does cost, and that cost might be better spent elsewhere, and that elsewhere might not actually be on the PC itself, B550 gives you 2.5Gb LAN port but what about your switches, Wifi6, do you have Wifi 6 in the house yet, or office, wherever this is going..

[Saracen999]

If you want a decent GPU then get a prebuilt system. The prices are anything from 50% higher than RRP to double the price at retail. You can try for an RRP Nvidia FE drop but it can take weeks of checking. If you don't mind getting a basic display only GPU with some extra functionality,ie,a GT1030 you might be OK for a self build.

Also another consideration,are the new AMD desktop APUs launching next month,ie, the Ryzen 5 5600G and Ryzen 7 5700G. These are basically the same Zen3 CPUs,but with half the L3 cache and PCI-E 3.0 instead of PCI-E 4.0 capability. However,they come with a decent enough IGP. Gamersnexus tested a sample already ....

The equivalent CPU,ie,the Ryzen 7 5800X will be faster due to its doubled L3 cache,and have PCI-E 4.0,but will cost more overall.

WRT,to the X570S they have only been announced. I am uncertainly how long it will take to actually arrive at retailers. The big difference is the chipset not needing a fan on it - currently the chipest needs a fan when under heavy load with X570.

X570 only really has an advantage over B550,if you want to have a PCI-E 4.0 GPU,and several PCI-E 4.0 SSDs.

I have some contacts and should be able to get a GPU .... I think. I certainly can if I buy a full system. That shouldn't be a huge issue. I did think about the G-series, but really, given the cost overall, the difference in budget is modest enough to not want the compromise in performance.

X570 sounds fine, from what you say. I thought that might be the case with timescale on the X570S, and while I don't need to order today, I don't want to be waiting months either, or it probably won't happen at all.

PCIe 4 SSDs? That was indeed what I had in mind, given the mass storage will be external, in the NAS, but I left that out of this spec discussion as I figured I threw enough into the mix as it was.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I have some contacts and should be able to get a GPU .... I think. I certainly can if I buy a full system. That shouldn't be a huge issue. I did think about the G-series, but really, given the cost overall, the difference in budget is modest enough to not want the compromise in performance.

X570 sounds fine, from what you say. I thought that might be the case with timescale on the X570S, and while I don't need to order today, I don't want to be waiting months either, or it probably won't happen at all.

PCIe 4 SSDs? That was indeed what I had in mind, given the mass storage will be external, in the NAS, but I left that out of this spec discussion as I figured I threw enough into the mix as it was.

Another thing is the Ryzen 7 5800X due to the offset chiplet,does mean the head load is not even across the IHS. This is why it can run hot with some CPU coolers(and generally is probably a leakier chiplet too). The Ryzen 9 5900X does produce more heat,but its more evenly distributed. Hence,if another £150~£200 isn't too much of a strain towards the budget, I would seriously consider the Ryzen 9 5900X,especially as you seem to keep PCs for a very long time. Also even though water cooling does have some advantages,I would try and get a decent air cooler,as it should have less issues longterm IMHO. There is also the advantage of airflow over the VRMs.

With the X570 what type of RAM do you want to run?? AFAIK,according to DWU,the Asus/ASRock X570 motherboards seem to be compatible with it,although ECC RAM is going to cost much more,and be generally slower overall. If that is not as big a priority,the MSI Tomahawk X570 seemed to get decent reviews overall,is not too badly priced IMHO.

WRT to cases,it might be worth looking at a soundproofed case?? Something like a Fractal R5 which has optical drive support??

[cptwhite_uk]

Cleared my PM box Saracen, but suspect you're after something more anyway

[Saracen999]

Another thing is the Ryzen 7 5800X due to the offset chiplet,does mean the head load is not even across the IHS. This is why it can run hot with some CPU coolers(and generally is probably a leakier chiplet too). The Ryzen 9 5900X does produce more heat,but its more evenly distributed. Hence,if another £150~£200 isn't too much of a strain towards the budget, I would seriously consider the Ryzen 9 5900X,especially as you seem to keep PCs for a very long time. Also even though water cooling does have some advantages,I would try and get a decent air cooler,as it should have less issues longterm IMHO. There is also the advantage of airflow over the VRMs.

With the X570 what type of RAM do you want to run?? AFAIK,according to DWU,the Asus/ASRock X570 motherboards seem to be compatible with it,although ECC RAM is going to cost much more,and be generally slower overall. If that is not as big a priority,the MSI Tomahawk X570 seemed to get decent reviews overall,is not too badly priced IMHO.

WRT to cases,it might be worth looking at a soundproofed case?? Something like a Fractal R5 which has optical drive support??

Thanks, Cat.

That is exactly the kind of info, on 5800X and 5900X that pretty much settles it. The budget isn't endless, but the difference in those isn't an issue provided I have a good reason. That looks like a good reason.

You're exactly right about me keeping PCs a while. I do have more modern hardware in other form factors, like laptop and Surface Pro but my most recent desktop system is Q6600 era. A different chip, but that era. The plan is, this is my last ever PC buy, so while I'm not going absolute top end, either with processor or GPU, it's because for my needs they don't give good enough bang for buck. A couple of hundred quid either way, for the right components, doesn't bother me. I do need to justify it (to myself), but if I can, no problem.

Will check that mobo out, but it looks like 5900X is pretty much a lock.

[Saracen999]

Cleared my PM box Saracen, but suspect you're after something more anyway

You got incoming, but yeah, you're right. Thanks anyway.

[b0redom]

TBH if I was doing it again. I'd probably just buy from Scan etc rather than build myself. Building it yourself is great and all, but it's way less hassle having a turn key solution if you can afford it.

[Saracen999]

TBH if I was doing it again. I'd probably just buy from Scan etc rather than build myself. Building it yourself is great and all, but it's way less hassle having a turn key solution if you can afford it.

I may well do exactly that. The jury is currently out. I still need to decide what spec to order, though.

If I can get exactly what I decide I'm after, and it adds a bit to buy it ready-built, it's still good value. But I need to decide exactly what I want, and then be able to order it.