…yeah, it’s time. I’ve finally found games I actually want to play that require a half-decent machine, I make all my money on the computer, and I regularly do video editing as well. I always keep my machines for a long time, so they need to be as future-proof as possible and I can’t justify saving up for a PC unless it’s going to be good enough for the foreseeable future. So here’s where my head is at, I’d be grateful for any advice.
tl;dr https://pcpartpicker.com/list/xjP3yF for the general idea, but I’m open to other ideas. It’s going to be a linux machine, and all AMD since I hear the drivers work better/are less fiddly. Aesthetically, I like an all-white motif but looks are secondary to pure power and long life. I would like to be able to emulate PS4, Xbox 360, run S&box so my kid can make games, and render my clip shows at high speed. The budget I’m targeting is about £2k. Will mean saving up for a couple months. Parts I’m considering:
CPU
- Ryzen 9 9950X3D (I’m most excited about having a strong CPU, this one appeals to me even though it’s a bit of a splurge)
- Ryzen 9 7950X3D
- Ryzen 9 7900X3D
GPU
Anything AMD, 16gb preferred but at least 12gb. AMD RX 6800XT or higher perhaps. RX 7800 XT or similar would be great.
Memory
16gb preferred, DDR5, not too fussy about brand. Maybe someday another 16gb if it becomes worthwhile.
Storage
1 or 2TB M.2 NVMe SSD, any really who cares. I don’t need a lot of storage, most of my games are lightweight indies or backed up on my server.
Power Supply
Anything 850-1000w, preferably modular? I dunno.
Cooling
Possibly an AIO liquid cooler. I’m iffy on that, would be happy with a fan if it’s more recommended.
Case
Fractal does a nice white wood effect one (North XL), as does Antec (Flux Pro). Happy with anything that matches, but don’t really love showy RGB, prefer understated and clean looks.
Thanks for the tip about the case, I’m a sucker for the wood effect! I think I’m leaning towards air cooling only too, because the idea of ever having to fiddle with a faulty pump next to prized components is giving me mild anxiety.
I think someone else was also singing the praises of Noctua, I think I’ll take that onboard!
The mesh case looks good, but if I do manage to pick all white parts I might go for the clear side panel. We’ll see!
I picked up a Lian Li LANCOOL 217 because I wanted the wood trim and excellent cooling efficiency but it does have a tinted side panel so may not be your thing. It is considered Medium but it is really substantial and surprised me with how much extra space it has inside; the front (2) intake fans are 170mm and it comes with (2) 120mm for cooling the GPU with another 140mm on the back for exhaust. They are all controllable via PWM using a single port on your Mobo so I tuned them for great flow with almost silent fan noise. Can also handle a very tall CPU cooler and massive GPUs mounted vertically or traditionally.
That does look pretty good, and I like that it includes so many fans and dust filters. The CPU heat sinks I’m considering are all pretty big, up to about 160mm. Do you think it’d fit?
According to the vendor’s spec sheet, this case can handle a CPU cooler that is up to 180mm tall. I used an Arctic Freezer 36 which is 159mm tall and it fits really well with a fair bit of room to spare.
My biggest regret is getting a 2 fan GPU (Sapphire RX 9060XT): 1) because it has a lot of coil whine that even capping the frame rate at 120fps can’t completely eliminate and, 2) since I have so much extra space in the case and could have gone with a 3 fan model for even better cooling at lower fan speeds. This case can handle GPUs up to 380mm long (max) and even has a built in, adjustable sag support.
If you don’t mind a behemoth on your desk (or under it), I think this one was a good choice and it even had the seal of approval from Gamer’s Nexus (fwiw). Build quality is excellent and I have zero complaints so far.
Yeah I’m currently only considering 3 fan GPUs, but mostly because now I’m really interested in the XFX 9070 XT Mercury Magnetic Air. If I’ve written all that correctly. It’s the honking great big one that you could serve a pizza on top of.
Another great fan are the Phanteks T30s (120mm), if you have room. They are thicker than normal fans, but are about as quiet as Be Quiet fans, while moving tons of air.
You just need to make sure that your case has clearance for them. They are absolutely cracked on thick radiators and exhaust fans. I use them on custom water-cooling builds, and the loudest sound is coil whine, not fans.
https://phanteks.com/product/t30-120/
I like the look of that, and I am reading that the fans that come with the Fractal North can be a bit loud. Taking Noctua onboard. It’s a roomy case, how many fans (in+out) would you use?
In my case, I have 3x 120 on the 360mm radiator and 2x120 on top for the 240mm radiator, and one exhaust fan that is also 120.
That said, I think you could easily get away with three to five case fans depending on cooling, fan size, etc.
140mm fans can also move a lot of air, and I used those for years. 120s just fit my current and prior case a bit better.
That’s cool. I’ll probably do something similar to you. I’m sticking with the white+wood aesthetic, but after all this research and advice I’m going with a Lian li A3 MATX instead. It’ll fit everything nicely enough, and I’ll have room for 3x120 bottom, 3 on top, and 1 in rear. I might have the rear one as an intake, ducted into the CPU cooler so it’s always getting ambient air. The GPU will be sucking in air from below so that should be fine too. Also, 4 intake Vs 3 out will ensure positive pressure, minimise dust. 140s would be nicer, but I don’t think they fit this case.