Help me pick parts for a new computer

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Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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Started picking parts for a upcoming PC build but I could use some input:

CPU: Ryzen 9 5950X
Board: ASUS Crosshair VIII Dark Hero (installed)
GPU: Still on a RX480 Nitro+ for the time being, I can't choose between a 3090 or a 6900 XT
Cooling: Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360, open loop when i'm getting another GPU some day
RAM: G.Skill F4-3200C14D-3200GTZ overclocked to 3600 16-16-16-36
Case: Fractal Design Define 7 Solid Black
Storage: 980 Pro 1TB for Windows/scratch disk, 860 Evo 1TB for storage, 970 Evo Plus 2TB for games, SM863 as scratch disk for things like Radeon ReLive
PSU: Fractal Design Ion+ 860W

Things i'll be doing with it:
  • Internet/shitposting on STH :^)
  • Gaming (GTA V, Cyberpunk 2077, HITMAN III, BeamNG) at 1200p with a possible upgrade to 1600p in the (far!) future and GTA V at 2400p once in a while for screenshots
  • (4k) Rendering in Sony Vegas once in a while for things like filming my appliances, Dell Precisions or game soundtracks
  • Playing around with VMs
  • Capturing benchmark footage
  • Possibly ditching Windows for Zorin OS and using VM passthrough
 
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Patriot

Moderator
Apr 18, 2011
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I would say take a look at Gigabyte for boards, if you are considering waiting for Zen 3, no reason not to.
Intel 10700k takes the gaming win but Zen3 might change that at reasonable power usage. That said for 1440p+ Zen2 is more than competitive at gaming and just rocks at everything else.

Nothing officially will support windows 7 anymore, and frankly if you are still on Win 7 might as well move to Linux over Windows for your usage.
The only issue would be some multiplayers games that need anticheat. Punkbuster tho useless runs on Linux but any kernel anticheat is not going to work. aside from Cyberpunk 2077 (just an unknown, witcher 3 runs flawlessly) those games run on Linux via proton. I used Vegas but have now switched to Davinci and it is much faster at rendering, they also have native linux versions.

3200 cas 14 is fine, the current cheap b-die is Viper Steel 4133, then downclock to 3600-3800 cas 14-15.
 
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Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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Define 7 acquired, but I have some questions: should I go open loop, buy a new AIO, stick with my H100i or get a D15?
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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Also decided to go with a new PSU because that would mean I can leave my old system intact. Problem is, what one? the Fractal Design Ion+ 860W looks awesome on paper (all that for a amazing price of €145) but is it a upgrade compared to my Seasonic Focus Plus?

Oh, and I decided not to install a ODD. I'll put it in my old computer instead.
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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Decided to postpone buying a PSU until RDNA2 and Ampere are announced, because if MLiD and AdoredTV's leaks are correct, jesus ****ing christ the TDP of those cards will be Fermi or R9 295X all over again!

I do know i'm going with a ridiuclously expensive PSU (Seasonic Prime PX or Corsair HXi) this time around because why not and I want my computer to _last_ and not be bogged down by bullshit problems like I had with my 2600/CH7/RX480.
 
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Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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Still undecided on PSU and motherboard, and with the recent Zen 3 announcement i'm leaning towards a used 3950X.
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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PSU has been ordered, I went with a Fractal Design Ion+ 860W. Let's hope it can cope with a 5950X and Big(gest) Navi.
 

Markess

Well-Known Member
May 19, 2018
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Northern California
I think low end ASUS often have issues because they don't try hard enough to get them right, and high end often have issues because they try too hard to pack in features that aren't quite ready. Where ASUS shines is the midrange: if its not cheap and the specs look really boring, then it will probably last forever. All my ASUS gear is VERY boring...and has lasted forever.

But you're not looking for boring! My advice is worth what you're paying for it :D , but I always prefer ASRock myself when I can get it. I've also built a handful (maybe 10?) Gigabyte systems over the years and had ZERO issues with them, either initially or with timely BIOS updates. But none of them were Ryzen/Threadripper.

  • Possibly considering ditching Windows for Zorin OS and using VM passthrough
I don't know your level of expertise with Linux and/or passthrough, so feel free to ignore me here as appropriate (or correct me if I'm mistaken..its always good to know more).

If you're thinking about doing virtualization, I suggest you search (or ask if necessary) to see if any owners have posted details on how your board(s) of choice manage IOMMU groups. It seems like you're looking for higher quality gear, so its probably not an issue. But, confirming ahead of time that the hardware can isolate resources for passthrough in the way you want can save you from possible frustration or compromises later on.

Zorin is pretty much stock Ubuntu underneath, so you should be able to refer directly to the many Ubuntu based virtualization posts on the internet (tutorial, how to, troubleshooting, etc.) with little or no modification. The only possible concern with Zorin OS I can think of (and I've tried most releases since Mr Zorin started publishing them in 2009) is that its always been a small operation.

If you haven't seen them, may I recommend these two sites, both of which have information/tutorials for Ryzen builds with Ubuntu based host OS & Windows VM, and using the current versions of KVM/QEMU:

passthrough Archives - www.MathiasHueber.com
Virtualization Archives - Heiko's Blog

Cheers
 
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Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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God damn, finding a proper cooler is a clusterfuck. I decided on buying the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 360 but of course it doesn't fit in my Define 7 with four Trident Z DIMMs apparently so I promptly canceled it. Why am I even bothering to build a new computer at this point..

As for board, and even though I absolutely despise ASUS, i'll probably be going with the Crosshair VIII Dark Hero because it's got no stupid chipset fan, a ridiculous VRM and secret sauce tweaks from The Stilt like this: ASUS ROG X570 Crosshair VIII Overclocking

Maybe if ASRock refreshes the X570 Taichi with no chipset fan I might also consider it.
 
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bmorepanic

New Member
Oct 24, 2020
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You might consider the Asrock B550 taichi. 3 lovely 4x3x16 pcie and 2 of the same stupid 3x1s that asrock luvs to put on it's boards.

I hear you on the cooler. I'm using ecc ram - it's very tall, on a micro atx board. I used Noctua NH-U12S for AMD. It's fine with the ram installed, but I'd have to remove the cooler to get the ram out. On another micro atx motherboard, in a different case, I was able to install the cooler in the other orientation and the shorter gaming ram goes in and out just fine. I couldn't remember the last time I had a stick of ram go bad, so I did it - ymmv. Noctua comes with two sets of brackets for amd - one when you want to exhaust front to back and one for vertical, perhaps some water coolers would also? It would move the tube connectors away from the ram.

Just curious, but why windows 7?
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
1,872
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You might consider the Asrock B550 taichi. 3 lovely 4x3x16 pcie and 2 of the same stupid 3x1s that asrock luvs to put on it's boards.

I hear you on the cooler. I'm using ecc ram - it's very tall, on a micro atx board. I used Noctua NH-U12S for AMD. It's fine with the ram installed, but I'd have to remove the cooler to get the ram out. On another micro atx motherboard, in a different case, I was able to install the cooler in the other orientation and the shorter gaming ram goes in and out just fine. I couldn't remember the last time I had a stick of ram go bad, so I did it - ymmv. Noctua comes with two sets of brackets for amd - one when you want to exhaust front to back and one for vertical, perhaps some water coolers would also? It would move the tube connectors away from the ram.

Just curious, but why windows 7?
I have the money for a proper computer so X570 it is. As for Win7: **** Win10. RTC bugs, forced updates, awful UI. No, i'll stick with Win7 thank you.

Oh, and it's not the hoses being a issue with the LFII, it's the rad/fans and my RAM being incompatible. Asrock does however have a nice perk: Dutch speaking support! They literally have a Europe office in Nijmegen.
 
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EffrafaxOfWug

Radioactive Member
Feb 12, 2015
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Just out of curiosity, does Win 7 work on the X570/B550 chipsets? I've only tried it with my X470 before, and last I read running Win 7 on the new threadrippers was a complete no-go.

If it were me, I'd also go for the B550 - I have nightmare flashbacks to chipset fans from the nForce2 era :D
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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Just out of curiosity, does Win 7 work on the X570/B550 chipsets? I've only tried it with my X470 before, and last I read running Win 7 on the new threadrippers was a complete no-go.

If it were me, I'd also go for the B550 - I have nightmare flashbacks to chipset fans from the nForce2 era :D
It does:
 

Rand__

Well-Known Member
Mar 6, 2014
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Why not Win8.1 instead of 7? At least that one is still kind of supported till 2023
( Windows 8.1 reached the end of Mainstream Support on January 9, 2018, and will reach end of Extended Support on January 10, 2023. )

(No idea if it supports AMD any better though)
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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Why not Win8.1 instead of 7? At least that one is still kind of supported till 2023
( Windows 8.1 reached the end of Mainstream Support on January 9, 2018, and will reach end of Extended Support on January 10, 2023. )

(No idea if it supports AMD any better though)
Because 8.1 also has the godawful Modern UI and RTC bug.
 

Rand__

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Mar 6, 2014
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True, but for me thats the lesser of two evils ;)
But thanks for explaining.
 

ReturnedSword

Active Member
Jun 15, 2018
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I’ve always purchased ASUS motherboards, but at this point my main annoyance is even their high end boards tend to have cold boot issues. My old ASUS Intel boards have it. My current Crosshair VII Hero WiFi has it.

I’ve been recently putting together a list for a CPU-focused budget build for an older family friend. I like ASRock also, however they make questionable decisions on PCIe allocation. For example on their B550 motherboards the secondary M.2 slot runs at x2, which seems quite odd to me when every other manufacturer has all M.2 slots at x4.
 

Wasmachineman_NL

Wittgenstein the Supercomputer FTW!
Aug 7, 2019
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So RDNA2 was announced. 6900XT it is if I can get 2400p60 or higher in GTA V and stable drivers. Might even consider the 6800XT if the 6900XT doesn't perform much better.
 
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