...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.
Looks balanced to me.
You might be unhappy with the noise and temps with that cooler, though. I used to run one like that on a 105 TDP processor (your pick is 120 TDP), and it would get toasty in some games. Loud as well.
Consider getting a 360mm AIO from the same manufacturer. They last about 5 years, so you'll probably have to replace it later on, but it'll be much, much quieter and will let you not throttle under extensive heavy load. They cost about the same. Just make sure to never tighten the screws (if it holds on, it's good enough), as well as ONLY ever screw them in through the fans. The metal used in AIOs is very very soft. Also, make sure the AIO actually fits in the case.
Another thing I know people do for rendering is getting 1 fast SSD, 1 regular SSD, and 1 HDD.
Fast SSD is for what you're working with, it should be kept fairly empty. Regular is for your apps, OS, and other work, that is not currently needed. HDD is for cold storage.
Currently, you only have a very fast SSD chosen. Maybe even excessively fast, but you of all people might actually appreciate the speeds.
I am a little concerned about the CPU because you may want more than 8 cores. I want you to go look at the benchmarks for apps you use professionally and see what kind of performance can be expected with what CPU or GPU. Only then pick one you'll be happy with.
I also noticed you mentioned using a 1080p monitor. 9070xt is 100% a 1440p GPU. You won't be able to squeeze all of its juices on a 1080p for a long while, which isn't good.
This build is already about £500 more than I had planned to spend! Now they're saying buy monitors? Aaiiieee, my wallet. Maybe down the road if I deserve a treat I'll spring for a higher refresh 1440p monitor. It's likely enough, I am kinda spoiled.
The motivation for picking one small NVME SSD is that after the upgrade I'll have two >10Tb file servers on my network, one for serving media to the projector and one for backups. I would feel just silly buying more storage at that point... At least for now.
I'm seriously considering the Thermalright Royal Pretor 130 or a Peerless Assassin 120; both are highly reputed, I've seen them used on this CPU with good results in completed builds on pcpartpicker, and the case I'm going with can fit a heatsink 185mm tall so either will fit, incredibly enough. Also, most of my favourite games are indies so I don't plan on overclocking or anything crazy.
I've just been talked down from getting the 9950X3D for the 9800X3D instead. Benchmarks all said both will be roughly an order of magnitude as much computing power as I'm used to, and the higher wattage and heat of the 9950 would probably push me into genuinely needing a watercooler. I'm hoping I can get away with a fan cooled CPU under the hood and not have to worry about AIOs dying every 5 years. Is that reasonable?