Build Advice (yes another one)

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

Hey all, I'm looking for some advice on my next build. I've put together a list and found a few of them discounted in the current sales so thought it would be a good time to take the plunge. 

Purpose - Mainly for gaming, photo editing and design work (think Canva/Illustrator 

Gaming - Will be in 1440p. Photo editing - nothing too heavy mainly light stuff using Lightroom, Photoshop and I'm starting to learn how to use Da Vinci Resolve

Preferences - Would like to stick with Intel/nVidia combo

Parts - Link - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/CTqnGP

Case - Fractal Design North ATX Mid Tower Case

CPU -     Intel Core i7-13700K

Memory -     Corsair Vengeance RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000

Mobo -     Asus ROG STRIX Z790-E

GPU -     Asus DUAL OC GeForce RTX 4070

Storage - Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2 (I'm likely either to purchase another NVME or SSD but won't factor that into this)

Case -     Fractal Design North ATX (this is already purchased)

Cooler -     NZXT Kraken 240

PSU -     Corsair RM850e (2023) 850 W

The budget is around £2000 and I need to factor in around £100 for a Window license

 

If there's anything that you think it worth changing/spending a little more money on etc please let me know, especially if it'll mean that I can keep the machine for longer. 

[Dutchie64]

On 20/11/2023 at 09:58, dipsylalapo said:

and I'm starting to learn how to use Da Vinci Resolve

The budget is around £2000 and I need to factor in around £100 for a Window license

 

If there's anything that you think it worth changing/spending a little more money on etc please let me know, especially if it'll mean that I can keep the machine for longer. 

If you're serious about using Davinci Resolve, this should be your defining piece of software. If that runs smoothly, all other things will do well too.
For that I also recommend more than one SSD/HD to separate video footage from the OS drive. 
I suggest a round of forum visits at blackmagicdesign to get the 'feel of the hardware land' so to speak to weed out problems beforehand.

This is my setup for DV Resolve btw:
⊕ ASUS PRIME X670E-Pro ⊕ AMD Ryzen 9-7900X ⊕ Arctic Liquid Cooler II ⊕ 64GB RAM ⊕ OS SSD Samsung 980Pro 2Tb ⊕ Cache SSD Samsung 870 EVO 1Tb ⊕ Video HD WD Blue 4Tb ⊕ Geforce RTX 3060 12Gb ⊕ BenQ SW270C ⊕ Dell U2412M

Happy building!

[hellowalkman Reporter]

Looks like a fairly well-balanced PC. The PSU though does seem like a bit of an overkill. 700-750W should be plenty for a 4070 + 13700K. Maybe you can spend some of that saved money and go for a 360mm AIO 'cause most modern Intel i7 and (especially) i9 CPUs run very hot as they are rather power-hungry. We found the same in our review of the 14th Gen chips https://www.neowin.net/reviews/core-i5-14600ki9-14900k-review-intel-snatches-crown-from-amds-ryzen-7950x3d-with-6ghz/

Good luck with the build!  

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

On 20/11/2023 at 09:26, Dutchie64 said:

For that I also recommend more than one SSD/HD to separate video footage from the OS drive. 
I suggest a round of forum visits at blackmagicdesign to get the 'feel of the hardware land' so to speak to weed out problems beforehand.

 

I'll be honest, I'm just experimenting at the moment so not sure how much I should use that a benchmark. I'll have a gander through their forums. Just on the second SSD/HD front, would you recommend SSD over HDD or even NVME over SSD?

On 20/11/2023 at 14:35, hellowalkman said:

Looks like a fairly well-balanced PC. The PSU though does seem like a bit of an overkill. 700-750W should be plenty for a 4070 + 13700K. Maybe you can spend some of that saved money and go for a 360mm AIO 'cause most modern Intel i7 and (especially) i9 CPUs run very hot as they are rather power-hungry. We found the same in our review of the 14th Gen chips https://www.neowin.net/reviews/core-i5-14600ki9-14900k-review-intel-snatches-crown-from-amds-ryzen-7950x3d-with-6ghz/

Good luck with the build!  

Cheers, I'll look at that. I think the case is limited to a 240 AIO on top and the 360 would need to front mounted so I'll check for dimensions etc. 

 

Appreciate the input both

[Dutchie64]

Regarding the 240 vs 360 AIO's, the difference is often just a couple of degrees in temp, but a lot in dB..
Check these before buying. I also opted for a 240, as the temp difference was just 2 dgr. but the 360 was a lot louder. The 240 is only barely 'there' when the CPU needs to do something more heavy. Otherwise its whisper quiet in a normal office room.

And yes, I recommend a 2nd SSD/HDD for data. Let the OS do it's thing on it's own SSD.
So data goes somewhere else than the OS stuff.
It's also quite easy to move your desktop path to the second disk, so that's a help as well to separate things.

SSD/NVME vs HDD is basically just a price thing. Larger HDD's are still much cheaper than comparable SSD's. Especially as backup drives.
And NVME seems to have become the standard for newer mobo's, so you cannot go wrong with that. And keep the sata ports free for something else.

I disagree on the PSU. Get the one you already got in the list. It's a great PSU, and a little more room to play with is always a good thing. Doesn't cost much more.

rob

[hellowalkman Reporter]

On 20/11/2023 at 08:52, dipsylalapo said:

I think the case is limited to a 240 AIO on top and the 360 would need to front mounted

In that case, a 280 AIO will be a good option. Its cooling perf will be more than a 240 while also not being much louder. And it will fit up top too.

 

On 20/11/2023 at 10:03, Dutchie64 said:

I disagree on the PSU. Get the one you already got in the list. It's a great PSU, and a little more room to play with is always a good thing. Doesn't cost much more.

If the OP is able to fit an 850W in their budget, I say go for it. However, I still feel a 280 AIO will be better than a 240. The temp difference may not be a lot but it could be all the difference between throttling and not throttling.

 

On 20/11/2023 at 10:03, Dutchie64 said:

Regarding the 240 vs 360 AIO's, the difference is often just a couple of degrees in temp, but a lot in dB..
Check these before buying. I also opted for a 240, as the temp difference was just 2 dgr. but the 360 was a lot louder. The 240 is only barely 'there' when the CPU needs to do something more heavy. Otherwise its whisper quiet in a normal office room.

You can always turn the fan speed down on the 360 and I guarantee you it will be just as quiet as a 240 while still maintaining similar temps. Still, I feel the OP should go for a 280 as it can be mounted up top on this case (as opposed to front-mounting with a 360) and top-mounted AIO is generally the best as it is easier to work around  with.

[Mockingbird]

I upgraded your build with a meaty processor with 16 high-performance cores

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4.2 GHz 16-Core Processor  (£577.98 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken 240 78.02 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£115.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650 GAMING X AX ATX AM5 Motherboard  (£154.98 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL40 Memory  (£125.00 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£136.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Asus DUAL OC GeForce RTX 4070 12 GB Video Card  (£586.98 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Case: Fractal Design North ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2023) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£89.99 @ Corsair UK) 
Total: £1786.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-20 19:57 GMT+0000

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

On 20/11/2023 at 19:10, hellowalkman said:

In that case, a 280 AIO will be a good option. Its cooling perf will be more than a 240 while also not being much louder. And it will fit up top too.

 

If the OP is able to fit an 850W in their budget, I say go for it. However, I still feel a 280 AIO will be better than a 240. The temp difference may not be a lot but it could be all the difference between throttling and not throttling.

 

You can always turn the fan speed down on the 360 and I guarantee you it will be just as quiet as a 240 while still maintaining similar temps. Still, I feel the OP should go for a 280 as it can be mounted up top on this case (as opposed to front-mounting with a 360) and top-mounted AIO is generally the best as it is easier to work around  with.

Ah perfect, I'll swap the 240 for a 280. Thanks!

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

On 20/11/2023 at 19:59, Mockingbird said:

I upgraded your build with a meaty processor with 16 high-performance cores

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 4.2 GHz 16-Core Processor  (£577.98 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
CPU Cooler: NZXT Kraken 240 78.02 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler  (£115.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650 GAMING X AX ATX AM5 Motherboard  (£154.98 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL40 Memory  (£125.00 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Samsung 980 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£136.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Asus DUAL OC GeForce RTX 4070 12 GB Video Card  (£586.98 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Case: Fractal Design North ATX Mid Tower Case  (Purchased For £0.00) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2023) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£89.99 @ Corsair UK) 
Total: £1786.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2023-11-20 19:57 GMT+0000

I know I said I'd prefer Intel over AMD, but I had a quick look at your recommendations. There's a small about 5-10% performance increase with the Intel CPU and it's vastly cheaper..about £150. 

Is there something else that I haven't looked into?

[Ixion]

If it's mainly for gaming you'd almost certainly be better off with a 7800X3D from AMD (currently £347), it'll slightly outperform even a 13900k in the majority of games especially if you look at 1% lows as well as just max framerate whilst consuming a lot less power (120W vs more like 280W from memory).

[Mockingbird]

On 21/11/2023 at 01:14, dipsylalapo said:

here's a small about 5-10% performance increase with the Intel CPU

Err.. what?

[adrynalyne]

On 24/11/2023 at 20:43, Mockingbird said:

Err.. what?

Add a “T” to what you quoted and it will make more sense. 

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

So bit the bullet on the components and they should be arriving next week. I switched up a few things

• Swapped the 13700 for a 14700 - There was a about a £15 difference in price and figured the extra E cores would be beneficial
• Added in another 1TB NVMe drive (figured this would be used for OS and the other for storage
• Swapped the 240mm AIO for a 360mm one.

Fingers crossed for the build. 

I'm going to do some research before the bits arrive next week, but was wondering if there was an easy way to do the following

• Upgrade the BIOS for the 14th Gen support - The motherboard may need a BIOS update when it arrives....is there a way this can ben done without an older processer etc or an easy way I can validate if an update is needed?
• The motherboard supports memory up to 5600 without OC, the memory that I've purchased is faster. How do I make sure the system is making the most of the memory?

[hellowalkman Reporter]

On 28/11/2023 at 21:22, dipsylalapo said:

The motherboard may need a BIOS update when it arrives

700 series chipset boards should support Intel 14th Gen out of the box. If not, you can try USB BIOS flashback

On 28/11/2023 at 21:22, dipsylalapo said:

How do I make sure the system is making the most of the memory?

Most memory sticks come with two XMP profiles. Go into the BIOS and select the XMP 6000 option. Intel 14th Gen has a pretty good IMC and should easily be able to handle the Corsair DDR5-6000 CL40 RAM you have chosen.

Happy building!

[Jim K Global Moderator]

On 28/11/2023 at 09:52, dipsylalapo said:

So bit the bullet on the components and they should be arriving next week. I switched up a few things

• Swapped the 13700 for a 14700 - There was a about a £15 difference in price and figured the extra E cores would be beneficial
• Added in another 1TB NVMe drive (figured this would be used for OS and the other for storage
• Swapped the 240mm AIO for a 360mm one.

Fingers crossed for the build. 

I'm going to do some research before the bits arrive next week, but was wondering if there was an easy way to do the following

• Upgrade the BIOS for the 14th Gen support - The motherboard may need a BIOS update when it arrives....is there a way this can ben done without an older processer etc or an easy way I can validate if an update is needed?
• The motherboard supports memory up to 5600 without OC, the memory that I've purchased is faster. How do I make sure the system is making the most of the memory?

Yes, with that board you can update the BIOS without a CPU or anything installed (except the 24-pin motherboard power).  The manual doesn't explicitly state you can do it without a CPU...but ..

 

Quote

BIOS FlashBack™

BIOS FlashBack™ is a safe and simple way to update BIOS. Just drop the (UEFI) BIOS file onto a FAT32-formatted USB stick, plug it into the USB BIOS FlashBack port, and press the button. Updates can even be performed without having memory or a CPU installed."

 

Just be sure the USB stick is FAT32, you plug it into the correct USB slot and that you've renamed the BIOS using BIOSRenamer and hit the BIOS FLBK button.

Page 2-26 of the English manual. 

I did this with two of my Gigabyte boards...great little feature.  Just liked having an updated BIOS before starting the build.

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

Thanks both. Will post of pics and detail of how I got on. 
 

It’s been a while since I built a PC so really looking forward it!

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

So parts arrived a little earlier than expected and I built it last night/over lunch today. 

Hit my first major snag. 

Booting onto a USB for Windows Installation. It only sees my second SSD and not the one in slot one. I've double checked the seating of it, double checked the plastic was peeled off the two heat sinks/pads but still nothing. Won't have time to troubleshoot right now, but will look into it later. 

If anyone has any ideas of what it might be, do shout!

 

EDIT - Moved to slot 3 and it seems to have picked it up...I'll do a BIOS update after installation and see if that makes a difference

[Jim K Global Moderator]

Did it show up in the BIOS while in the first slot?  I mean, it should have since you've ruled out an issue with the SSD.  Is there a defect with the motherboard?  *Assumption incoming*-- m.2_1  (and probably m.2_2) are controlled by the CPU while the others, like m.2_3 are handled by the chipset.

tl:dr ... I'd be updating the BIOS and trying to get the SSD recognized on m.2_1 before installing Windows.

[dipsylalapo Supervisor]

On 01/12/2023 at 15:18, Jim K said:

Did it show up in the BIOS while in the first slot?  I mean, it should have since you've ruled out an issue with the SSD.  Is there a defect with the motherboard?  *Assumption incoming*-- m.2_1  (and probably m.2_2) are controlled by the CPU while the others, like m.2_3 are handled by the chipset.

tl:dr ... I'd be updating the BIOS and trying to get the SSD recognized on m.2_1 before installing Windows.

It was exactly that. Did a BIOS update and that sorted out the issue. SSD one is now in slot 1 and being detected. Update also sorted out my GPU not being detected. 
 

Need to do a little cable management and then I’ll post some pics. 
 

Thanks for the help and support folk. Appreciate it