Hi all, checking out the iBuyPower page and came up with this on the daily deal AMD custom configuration page for $2293. The things I might change here maybe changing to the 7800X3D CPU, and maybe bumping the PSU to an 850W Corsair fully modular just to have some overhead for a couple of HDDs and 2.5 in SSDs. Also possibly the alternative MSI Pro X670-P motherboard with the full set of audio out ports in the back, and the pic shows two USB-C rear ports though the specs only claim one, curiously. Don’t know what to make of that.
The case supposedly only comes with two 120mm fans (one front one rear), I think at least one more in front would be prudent. All that adds cost but I think I can keep it to under $2500. They don’t do CPU air-cooling but eventually I would probably swap the default liquid cooling out for the CPU. This would be my first AMD system since whatever that hot Athlon one was back in the mid-aughts.
The generic advice of 7800X3D for gaming, 7900X for productivity still applies (although NZXT has already priced that preference into their selections, because the 7800X3D actually costs more). The 4080 Super is “only” $150 more than the 4070ti Super and will release soon, so that might be something to work into the calculations.
Also, I noticed you mentioned you may get HDDs in the future; it’s an SSD-or-bust world these days (you can put them in 3.5" slots just fine with an adapter bracket or leave them loose like a wild man). That said—and especially if you do go for the 4080 Super but even if not— I’d definitely up the PSU for that extra headroom because who knows what will go in there before EOL, and it’s only $46 more to get that 850w fully modular. Afterall, getting a bigger PSU doesn’t mean you’re using more power; it just means you have the ability to use more power if and when it’s needed.
Thanks for the replies @Dan_Theman and @Alistair . Re the HDDs, actually I was considering moving two 4TB drives from my current system to the new one. And of course I’ll likely be moving the 2TB NVMe m.2 drive from my current system as well (once I’ve snagged my user profile/documents/saved games etc. and cleared out the OS).
I read somewhere re m.2 drives that even if you have 3-4 slots you can’t really use all of them for some arcane reason, at least not on some motherboards. Anyone know what that’s about?
It’s a matter of how many PCIE lanes your motherboard has assigned to various things; X670 has 44 lanes total, out of which your primary GPU slot will use 16, each M.2 will have 4, the CPU connects to it with 4, other expansion slots use however many, SATA use 2 lanes each, and USB will use differing amounts depending on the layout.
What you’re referring to has to do with shared lanes, allowing for more flexibility for end-users. This can mean different things from one motherboard to the next, and some boards don’t share lanes at all. I have an older (X570) board, for instance, and when all three M.2 slots are used then it disables my last two SATA ports. You’ll need to look up the specifics of whatever motherboard to understand what tradeoffs you may make.
FYI - the difference between X670 and X670E is how many PCIE 5.0 lanes are available (which will likely not make a difference you’ll ever notice during this PC’s life).
Seems somewhat expensive and poor hardware choices at first glance, $1500 for that hardware other than the video card? 700w PSU in a $2300 computer? C’mon.
I put together a much better PC for $1988 below. Note I assumed $800 for the 4070tiS and $26 for a win 11 pro license from kinguin.
Admittedly no keyboard and mouse. Get what you prefer.
Also the 4080S will be $999, $200 more than the $800 4070tiS.
Yes, but then I’d have to build it myself, and that’s worth something too (especially in my current, cramped situation, with my mom and a bunch of the stuff from her place here).
Changing the build to the 850W Corsair fully modular (the big boy one, not -e version) and to use the 7800X3D, and adding a 3-fan pack for 32 bucks brings it to $2406 shipped (and I get “Far Cry: Pandora” woohoo, but that’s an AMD come-on, probably). If I went down to a 4070 Ti vs the 4070 Ti S (but why would I) I’d save $144 off that price.
What does the B650 chipset bring to the table, just curious? It’s a bit cheaper, apparently. The one you linked has two m.2 slots vs the three in the board I mentioned.
Cheaper is the benefit that chipset brings (it has “only” 36 lanes instead of 44, and is less likely to support PCIe 5, but again you’ll likely not notice the higher bandwidth of 5). If you’re not going to use the added connectivity and features of the X670 then it’s good to save money.
Yeah AMD didn’t differentiate the chipsets enough so the x50 is enough for most uses, certainly gaming. Intel for example doesn’t allow you to overlock on all but their highest end. Remnant from when AMD was in the dumps and trying to get consumers to buy their crappy CPUs many years ago. Same reason why they all support ECC and so on.
I don’t know I’d buy a 4070ti even at $150 off. That’s $50 more than a 4070S for a couple percent performance. Probably a toss-up really, not a bad choice particularly if you game at 1440.
The build I specced isn’t just cheaper, it has better components at pretty much every spot. Double the ram, better case, PSU, storage, cooler, etc. But yeah you’d need to build it yourself.
Note his original spec list talks about a free upgrade to 32gb 5600mhz. So thats something at least.
Will you put the pc under heavy non-gaming load? If not, id try to change to the 7800x3d. But if thats a similar jump to upgrading to a 4080 super then that will matter more for most games id have to imagine. Exceptions might be some strategy titles.
4070 Super. You can adjust to a different video card. It’s a better PC overall, and they usually get high marks from people who purchase from them. I’ve seen them in person at Micro Center and their stuff looks good.
Yeah you did alright. Obviously I’d still prefer the super for extra VRAM and a bit of performance, but assuming you don’t game at 4k it truly just doesn’t matter.
Thanks, I took a look. It has faster RAM, which is nice. Apparently they have no 4070 Ti cards (even non-S ones, let alone 4080 cards) available though, which sucks. Would that 4070 Dual OC card be much of a bump over my 3060 Ti? The CPU of course would be “streets ahead” of my current i7 6700.
Configuring the system with the H7 Flow case and bumping the 1TB SN850 SSD to 2TB brings it to $2329 and then of course there’s shipping. Also, is it worth considering the air cooler available or is that asking for headaches given it has to be shipped with extra “stuff” inside it to support it (perhaps imperfectly)?
Re: storage, would it be worth it to drop the WD Blue SSD and leave only the WD Black one as the primary drive or is that extra speed on the OS drive overkill?
Hmmm… I feel like my original config had the 2TB WD Black. I would recommend that. It’s one of those things where you should get the more current drive IMO although if you put the two side by side you may not notice much? All of my M2 drives are over 5000 MB/s now. PlayStation 5 demands that as a minimum speed, just for reference.
A 4070 would be around 50% faster than your 3060 Ti, but you’re also probably CPU bound with that i7 6700 so you’re going to see an even larger improvement. If you don’t have to order today, maybe wait and see if the Super cards show up in their configurator? I’m sure they will. It’s just a matter of time. Keep in mind also you gain performance on 40-series with DLSS 3 over DLSS 2 on your 30-series. I personally would wait a week or two to see if NZXT offers Super versions of the cards.
Air cooling is fine. You can easily switch to that. Don’t sweat it at all if you prefer it. I’m very happy with the AIO in my new PC. I hear the water when it starts up and that’s about it.
Is yours an NZXT-built machine? For anyone reading who has ordered from them, is it a good experience?
Re: storage, the link you provided had the WD Blue 1TB (which must be the default) and the WD Black 2TB. Also it had the 4070 overclocked ASUS card selected instead of the 4070S card they’ve got from PNY, which is 25 dollars more.
I built my own this time around. I hadn’t done it since like 2000. It was a very long time. It’s a lot easier to do it in 2024 than it was back then IMO. My son had never built an entire PC. He just built his with parts I gave him for Christmas that were similar to mine. I figured he’d need my help along the way but he only had like two questions. He just plain did it.
WRT what I sent. Sorry about that. It should’ve just been the WD Black 2TB only. That’d be your Windows/Boot drive and if you want to bring other stuff along from your old PC, then by all means do so. One thing I’ve been told is that mechanical drives slow down your boot up sequence, essentially taking longer to boot from off. If you don’t need them, I’d just leave them behind. The 4070 Super is the one you want unless they offer a Ti card soon and you don’t mind the extra expense.
Try this link. Hopefully I got it right now. I swapped the power supply to the MSI to save a few dollars and I changed the RAM to the G.Skill.
I wanna say @Editer has used NZXT or maybe @TheWombat ? I know some people at Qt3 have for sure.
