Help wanted -- building a new gaming/work PC and I am in over my head

[gigatexal]

Did tech just shift into 6th gear when I was blinking? There's seemingly so much tech happening and stuff being released I am a bit overwhelmed.

Here's what I have. A budget: < 750 euros. A gpu: 3060ti that I paid too damn much for on eBay -- $%#ing crypto kids. I was this close, this close, to paying nearly 600 euros for a ASUS ROG 1080ti ... it's insane.

Here's what I am thinking.

I'd like to stay with DDR4 as DDR5 prices are insane. I'd like an itx motherboard but matx would do just fine. I am not beholden to AMD. I had eyed the 5600X but it turns out the 12400 alder lake chip is very nearly 90% or better the performance for about 2/3rds the price! But if I went alder lake are there any good itx/matx motherboards that do ddr4?

main use cases:

75% gaming / 25 % productivity -- I plan to dual boot windows and linux. That reminds me, for alder lake, it's win11 or bust right? Anyone selling a win11 key?


Oh last thing I am located in Berlin Germany.

 

[JediAcolyte]

mATX - Asus Prime Z690M-Plus D4 $286 @ Amazon US
I didn't see any DDR4 ITX boards available. I don't know how availability is in Germany.
Good Luck!

 

[alex_stief]

As usual, motherboard vendors will race to bring 30+ slightly different motherboards for Intels new socket to market.
Since B650 and H670 were just released a few days ago, it might be one of those rare cases where waiting 2-3 more weeks will change things. Just until all these new "budget" boards hit the shelves.
Right now, ASRock Z690M-ITX/ax seems to be the only option with your preferences. Available at around 230€.
For µATX, there are plenty more options already: Intel Sockel 1700 mit Formfaktor: µATX, Chipsatz: B660/H670/Z690, RAM: 2x DDR4 DIMM/4x DDR4 DIMM Preisvergleich geizhals.eu EU

Edit: since the I5-12400 doesn't have any E-cores, the Win10 scheduler should not have any trouble with it.

 

[gigatexal]

I did some scope analysis and realised I play 1 game and even then far less than I had anticipated and 1440p high refresh gaming or 4k @ 60hz gaming is just outside of my budget these days. GPU prices are insane and I am upset at the crypto folks for driving up prices.

That said I scaled back my build a ton. And even rethinking the whole thing.

 

[alex_stief]

I know, right? The GPU shortage saved me so much money, because I just can't justify spending that kind of money on a GPU. GTX 1070 for life

 

[MBastian]

Unless you want to play the newest AAA titles in 4K you can use older hardware without loosing much. I am still a happy camper with my ol' dual E5-2690v2 setup driving an Nvidia RTX 3090 FE I've got from an EU Nvidia drop a few month back. So far, everything I've thrown at it performed excellent in 1440p.

 

[gigatexal]

How do I get in on the drop stuff? I don’t mind being patient. I would love to be able to have a shot at a 3060ti at close to MSRP @MBastian

 

[gigatexal]

Unless you want to play the newest AAA titles in 4K you can use older hardware without loosing much. I am still a happy camper with my ol' dual E5-2690v2 setup driving an Nvidia RTX 3090 FE I've got from an EU Nvidia drop a few month back. So far, everything I've thrown at it performed excellent in 1440p.

Also with a beast card like that you should be at 4K no problem. Are you CPU bound?

 

[T_Minus]

I went from an i7 to 3600 and gaming performance was a nice boost! (I run a 2080 TI)
I didn't think upgrading CPU would matter at this point... but I upgraded to a 5900x and let me tell you, wow, it holds high FPS all the time now no more FPS crashes in certain cases, and I wish I had done this sooner. 140fps \ 1440p - I would dip <100fps sometimes and now it's rare I dip to even 120) I don't see how someone can compare a 2690 v2 generation to the newer, and newest AMD or Intel offerings... they clearly don't play demanding games or have 0 experience comparing. The FPS gain videos on youTube prove this wrong too, and you van visually see the difference.

I don't know anything about the new Intels but the 5600x, and 5900x I like

But if you don't need it now maybe wait for the next gen (not mid-gen) AMD, that's what I'm hoping to get sometime 2022 when it's released, and then my wife will get this beast of a system

 

[MBastian]

How do I get in on the drop stuff? I don’t mind being patient. I would love to be able to have a shot at a 3060ti at close to MSRP @MBastian

Everone does. The best (which are still <1%) chances you get with the 3070ti or 3080ti. The profit margin on Ebay, or ebay-kleinanzeigen.de (where all the hobby scalper are selling) isn't that high so most of the big time scalpers shun it. I had luck a few moth back as the scalper prices where low and the especially the 3090 wasn't selling out fast. I decided to bite the bullet, chances are good I do not loose much money when I get rid of it. I am still hoping for an Ampere vGPU driver hack...

Also with a beast card like that you should be at 4K no problem. Are you CPU bound?

Hell, yes. See the post from T_minus. But I do not play online so not care so much as long as the FPS stay well over 30fps.
4K would be wasted on my eyes

 

[T_Minus]

Everone does. The best (which are still <1%) chances you get with the 3070ti or 3080ti. The profit margin on Ebay, or ebay-kleinanzeigen.de (where all the hobby scalper are selling) isn't that high so most of the big time scalpers shun it. I had luck a few moth back as the scalper prices where low and the especially the 3090 wasn't selling out fast. I decided to bite the bullet, chances are good I do not loose much money when I get rid of it. I am still hoping for an Ampere vGPU driver hack...



Hell, yes. See the post from T_minus. But I do not play online so not care so much as long as the FPS stay well over 30fps.
4K would be wasted on my eyes

You sound like me before I upgraded to 144hz IPS a couple years back I never saw the point in higher FPS than 60 or higher than 60hz and then I finally upgraded my display and wow, I've been trying to get more fPS (while keeping IPS) since, and that CPU affecting FPS really really amazed me as I didn't see how >6C would do much but it did... Unless I got a better video card ($$$$) it looks like I'll be stuck here for awhile LOL.

 

[MBastian]

You sound like me before I upgraded to 144hz IPS a couple years back I never saw the point in higher FPS than 60 or higher than 60hz and then I finally upgraded my display and wow

I do have two Dell S2721DGFA displays on my desk. More than 60fps is nice but the biggest plus for me is G-Sync/Freesync.