My first PC build...

[Grazilian]

Hello good people,

finally my old GPX 970 died, so it's time for an entire new system. I do mostly sim racing on the gaming side and since I've read that sim racing is more CPU than GPU heavy, the rig is geared towards a strong base with good potential for future updates.

So far I'm thinking something like:

Ryzen 5 3600 - Ryzen 7 3700X (should hold its own for years to come)

Mainboard with big potential, like an X570. (no savings here)

GPU strong enough for any sim for the next couple a years, but should be bang for the buck, therefore maybe something like RX 580, 590 or 5500XT (so many versions out there, gulp!)

Case with good space, airflow and 4 USB ports out front. Couldn't care less about RGB, maybe something like a Fractal Design Define S2...

16 GB RAM

Strong power supply with enough room for future updates, maybe like a Seasonic FOCUS GX-750.


Questions remain:

Since apparently the consoles will drop their next gen soon and PC titles will adapt to the new specs, would it make sense to invest in a 8 core CPU?

Not any time soon, but eventually I could see myself enjoying to record my game-play footage and do some video editing. (Not sure if it makes sense to invest in a GPU with that option now or just hold off til I'll update to a next gen GPU anyway.)

Should I look into a mainboard w. wifi? (No direct line possible here and so far I've been using a Link Extender...)

Also, would you invest in some additional silent cooling vents? Like the Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM (I've seen a video about that, and it seems to make a big difference...)


I've started to shop around for all the parts, but since there are such an overwhelming number of models and versions of any component, someone just tell me "Stop whining, here, this model is the best, just get it!"... pleeease?!


Appreciate your help and can't wait to get this thing up and rolling!

 

[Oussebon]

Mainboard with big potential, like an X570. (no savings here)

Define 'no savings here' - because almost all X570 boards are already high end by definition. There's often little to no point buying one of the most expensive ones. Which X570 board are you looking at getting?

finally my old GPX 970 died, so it's time for an entire new system.

Do you mean your GTX 970 graphics card died? In which case, if the rest of the PC is fine, you could just get a new GPU, and then get a new mobo, RAM, and CPU when Zen 3 comes out later this year.

"Stop whining, here, this model is the best, just get it!"... pleeease?!

Budget, country, and currency?

What monitor do you game on? resolution and refresh rate

What is your full existing spec?

Do you need a Windows licence within your budget?

 

[Grazilian]

Hey Oussebon,

thx for the reply,

that's the thing, I just dunno which 570 I should go for. Just need one with enough USB ports, maybe bios flashback button and that'll be compatible with all the stuff to come for the next let's say 5-7 years. Budgetwise, if you say this one is worth the xtra €100 cause it offers "this very thing" that's gonna be essential for all tthe next gen stuff, I'd probably go for it... Wish I could be more specific, but it'll take some more time for me to get a grasp on all the infrastructure out there. Guess around €300 max.?

GTX yes, excuse me. I thought about that, but first of all I dunno what Zen 3 even means and I would not want to buy newly released components anyway. So I thought now is as good a time as ever...

Budget is around €1000.

Monitor BENQ GL2760H for now.

Current rig is 10 years old, and CPU has been bottleneck for my sim racing for too long now, so its gotta go.

Now, about the Windows license... I actually planned to open a different post for this:
I've never transferred my entire data onto a new rig and I've read that updating to Win10 is still possible for free. (My girlfriend did it with her laptop a while back and it worked like a charm without having to reinstall anything.) I'm still on Win 7 Ultimate 64x, so not sure how to go about that.
Ideally I'd love to find a way to just update to Win 10 without reinstalling and then transfer all the jazz onto the SSD on the new PC as is, ready to go, but dunno if that's just a wet dream of a rookie...

Otherwise, yes, license will be needed.

Btw, the €1000 is a guideline and not an iron cast ;-)

Thx!

 

[Oussebon]

For an X570 board, tbh I wouldn't look much further than the Asus X570 PLUS. There is a version with wifi too.

Or, if your case has USB 3.1 Gen 2 type C at the front, a motherboard that supports that. Although that tends to add a very large price tag to the board for something you're not going to use for possibly a long time. The PLUS does have that connector at the rear anyway.

You just don't need the features the most expensive motherboards have. Moreover, a more expensive motherboard won't allow for more component compatibility. A future CPU is either going to fit the motherboard socket, or it isn't. Also:

and that'll be compatible with all the stuff to come for the next let's say 5-7 years.

What stuff? No motherboard today is going to be compatible with 5 years' of CPUs.

I would not want to buy newly released components anyway.

Why not? You want something as futureproof as possible, but are willing to rule yourself out of the latest releases?

Especially if you're looking to eliminate CPU bottlenecks for sims.

Obviously you may want to leave a new release for a couple of weeks to allow any initial launch issues to be identified. But Zen 3 is a continuation of the Zen CPU series launched in 2017, the motherboards like X570 will all have been around for a while, there shouldn't be any big surprises here.

GPU strong enough for any sim for the next couple a years, but should be bang for the buck, therefore maybe something like RX 580, 590 or 5500XT (so many versions out there, gulp!)

The RX 570 / RX 580 are technically upgrades on a GTX 970, but aren't all that much better. The RX 5600 XT would be a much better bet.

Also, would you invest in some additional silent cooling vents? Like the Noctua NF-A12x25 PWM (I've seen a video about that, and it seems to make a big difference...)

Possibly, but in the case of the S2 probably not. It already has 3 fans included, has decent airflow, and you are not putting ultra high end components in there (i.e. not too much heat). Stock fan config is fine, and spending another 50-100€ on really expensive Noctua fans isn't going to be good value or make much difference.

Since apparently the consoles will drop their next gen soon and PC titles will adapt to the new specs, would it make sense to invest in a 8 core CPU?

Not any time soon, but eventually I could see myself enjoying to record my game-play footage and do some video editing. (Not sure if it makes sense to invest in a GPU with that option now or just hold off til I'll update to a next gen GPU anyway.)

For the video editing alone, an 8 core CPU could make sense. Also if you stuck to an R5 CPU, you'd be buying a motherboard that cost more than the processor, which would be a bit odd.

Frankly if you can wait for Zen 3 at this point, I'd be tempted to do so.