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Building new PC

horik

horik

Joined
Dec 4, 2010
Messages
445 (0.08/day)
System Specs
Processor I5 11400
Memory 32 GB
Video Card(s) GTX 1080
Storage 1TB SSD + 250Gb MX100 SSD + 1TB WD Green
Display(s) QNIX QX2710 2560x1440 27" PLS 96Hz
Case NZXT Tempest
Power Supply Corsair RM750 750w 80 Plus Gold Modular
Keyboard Logitech K120
Software Win 10 Home 64 bits
You have some more preliminary decisions to make first.

What size case? A quality mid-tower case will support all sorts of motherboards from standard ATX down to micro-ATX. What size case do you want? What size motherboard? A standard ATX board will support more drives and more expansion cards. Most support 4 RAM slots. Many smaller boards only 2 RAM slots.

You will have to wait to decide your RAM until after you choose your motherboard - then check the boards website for compatible RAM.

Set your budget.

Plan on a quality PSU from a reputable maker. But you cannot decide what size yet until after you decide on which components (while thinking ahead for your future graphics card).

You might want to play around with PCPartPicker. It is a great site for builders (old and new) to help decide what is compatible with with.
 
Forgot to say I already have the case, NZXT Tempest full tower and a 750W Corsair PSU.
Would like to get an ATX motherboard.
 
horik said:
Forgot to say I already have the case, NZXT Tempest full tower and a 750W Corsair PSU.
Would like to get an ATX motherboard.
Click to expand...

What is your budget and is there any specific numbers og usb ports. sata connector and so on you need?
 
Budget is 1000 euros and no unusual needs for connections.
 
Well, "full" towers are monsters, typically able to support EATX (Extended ATX) boards. So you will have not problem fitting a smaller ATX board in there.

So at this point you have another decision to make - brand of your motherboard. Contrary to what some may tell you, there is no one brand that is best at every thing.

Some like ASUS, some MSI. I like Gigabyte, others like ASRock. Again, that PCPartPicker can help since you already decided on your CPU.

Oh, BTW, that CPU already comes with an adequate OEM cooler so you don't even have to worry about that now. You may want to swap it out later but if your case cooling is set up properly and does its job of providing a good supply of cool air flowing through the case, you should not need too.

If that 1000€ budget does not have to cover a keyboard, mouse, computer speakers and monitor too, then you have a nice budget for a nice system, since you already have a PSU and case at this point.
 
I have no preference for a mobo brand and only need to buy CPU, motherboard, SSD and memory.
 
You never stated the primary purpose for this system either. If eventually it will be used for serious gaming, graphics design or editing, you may want to get into the higher tier motherboards. If for school, work and other general tasks, a decent mid tier board is fine. I generally stay away from entry level boards. Beside fewer features and older generation features, they may also have lessor quality components, like cheaper caps and VRMs.
 
Hardware unboxed suggested that the MSI B660M-A is a good value board (first link), if you want a starting point (it performed well in VRM / thermals testing too, the second link):



There is an ATX version, but it is more expensive.

TPU has also reviewed the B660 Mortar:
www.techpowerup.com

MSI MAG B660M Mortar WiFi DDR4 Review

Intel's B660 budget-oriented chipset has arrived and brings with it more choices for that new Alder Lake build. The MSI MAG B660M Mortar WiFi comes with DDR4 support, WiFi 6, PCIe 4.0, and M.2 Gen4 sockets to round out the features. At $190, it's considerably more affordable than available Z690...
www.techpowerup.com www.techpowerup.com

Though, with a 12400 I don't think you need to worry too much, just make sure it has all the connectors/I/O that you need.

Pretty much all B660 or Z690 boards have a PCI-Express 4.0 M.2 slot to support the SSD you mentioned. One thing of note: not all B660 boards appear to support PCI-E 5.0 on their primary PCI-E slot (but right now, who cares?).

The stock memory speed is 3200 for 12th gen CPUs, I would suggest you buy something on the QVL of the motherboard.
 
horik said:
Budget is 1000 euros and no unusual needs for connections.
Click to expand...
Holy banana 1000 euros well there are a lot of boards for that price....

You can get board, ram, cooler and m.2. for that price.
 
Pc will be used for general tasks and light gaming, strategy games mainly.
 
Then for sure, the OEM cooler will be more than adequate. You will be wasting your money on an aftermarket cooler. And upgrading coolers later on is easy - if you just feel you must. Just remember keeping our components properly cooled is absolutely essential. But keeping them as cool as possible is not. There is not technical reason a CPU running at 30°C can be expected to perform better, be more stable, or have a longer life expectancy than a CPU running at 55°.

And contrary to what many want us to believe, the OEM coolers these days are very good, and quiet too - more than capable of supporting the CPUs they come with when run at their default settings. It would make no sense for the CPU makers not to include a capable cooler. Are there better aftermarket coolers? Sure. Do you need one? Nope.

And since that is a decent case, no doubt it will be decent at suppressing any fan noise too - a very good thing. You likely can easily get by with one fan (preferably 140mm) in front pulling cool air in, and one in back exhausting heated air out.

BTW, I cannot find any NZXT "Full" tower cases under the Tempest model line. In fact, I cannot find any NZXT "Full" tower cases at all. Are you sure it is a "Full" tower and not a "mid" tower? For sure, "mid" towers are the most popular because they still support full size ATX motherboards, lots of large fans and cooling options, lots of expansion cards, you can still see what you are doing when both your hands are working inside the case, and you don't break your back lugging the thing outside to blast out the dust.

Almost no one needs a "Full" tower case. Those are best suited for file servers that need space for 10 or more drives.

What is the exact model number of your case? Note if it is old, it may not support the latest USB versions on its front panel. Something to think about. One more thing about cases - mine absolutely must have removable, washable air filters. I like Fractal Design Mid Towers.

Even though you likely could do with 8GB of RAM, I typically recommend 16GB these days for most users. For most users, 16GB is now the "sweet spot". That is, less than 16GB and performance noticeably suffers, more than 16GB and any gains tend to be insignificant, if noticeable at all - especially with SSDs. But if you want to splurge a little, you can go with 32GB and be ready for anything the future may throw at you.

Buying all the RAM you might ever need during the build is typically better - easier - than trying to find matching and compatible RAM to upgrade with 2 or 3 or more years down the road.

750W is way more than you need. If you ever need to replace it, stick with Corsairs upper tier models, or I like EVGA or Seasonic.
 
Well for sure, that case will house your components no problem with lots of room to spare. And it offers some really good fan support too. :) However, as I noted above, it does not support USB 3.0 or Type-C connectors in front. This means many, if not all of your current USB devices (flash drives, cell phone, external drives, etc.) will still work, but not at optimal performance. Also no air filters. :(

If budget allows, I would get a modern case. If current budget does not allow, then this will do, for now.

I know "retiring" perfectly good components before they die is not something anyone enjoys doing. But it is just a fact of life with consumer electronics. We have all done it with cell phones, home cordless phones, TVs, 2-channel (AKA: stereo) audio devices, hard drives, calculators, entire computers, and more.

Chomiq said:
side fan's something that's no longer a feature on modern cases.
Click to expand...
Yeah, that's because many have finally realized that side panel fans can create turbulence inside the case that actually disrupt the desired "flow" of cool air through the case. Not good. The (sometimes) exception is when the side panel fan blows directly into a tube that channels its air directly onto the CPU or GPU. But those air tubes are rare.

Another reason is fan noise. Even quality fans, when mounted on that HUGE, flat panel, can result in annoying fan noise reverberating throughout the case. :(

At the very least, it was found that side panel fans do not improve cooling - so why have them especially with a windowed case?
 
horik said:
Hello, i want to build a PC around an Intel I5 12400 CPU, i need advice about the motherboard i should get to be compatible with a Samsung 980 Pro SSD
Click to expand...
I don't know if you'll actually going to buy that SSD, but most people think that they're not worth it, way overpriced.

Maybe someone here who's actually used it can tell you more.
 
Most people?

If you mean that specific SSD model, it is pricy. But I don't know anyone who has moved to SSDs who later regretted it.

As far as which board, either will serve your purpose just fine. As far as the RAM, make sure it (or RAM with same specs) is listed on the Memory support list on each boards webpage.
 
I thought I was specific when I said that SSD. Never heard of anyone who think they're worth it.

Speaking of SSD's, I just don't understand the value argument for SATA. I bought my current NVMe two years ago, and that time the price was about the same for both.

Still, that legend about SATA SSD's being so much cheaper, I just don't get where it comes from. Pcpartpicker shows that both start at $75 for 1 TB, although the SATA models are usually a bit cheaper. Not a quarter of the NVMe price like some suggested tho..
 
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Mats said:
I thought I was specific when I said that SSD.
Click to expand...
I am sure in your mind you were. And TBH, that is what I thought too, but I just wanted to make sure because while pricy, it is priced that high because people are willing to pay that much for it. And you say "most people" think they are not worth it - from what I have seen lately, that may have been true when it first came out, but today, I think most like it.

That said - if shopping for a new SSD today, there are some that perform better, and some that cost more. I think it depends on how careful one is at shopping for the best price when ready to pull the trigger.

Samsung 980 Pro SSD - Still Worth It in 2021/2022? - Bing video
Mats said:
Speaking of SSD's, I just don't understand the value argument for SATA.
Click to expand...

I guess depends on where you are coming from, and the budget. If coming from hard drives, even a slow SATA SSD will bring great satisfaction.
 
horik said:
Which should I chose?

B660 chipset mobo:
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/TUF-Gaming/TUF-Gaming-B660-PLUS-WIFI-D4/.

Or this Z690 microATX:
https://www.asus.com/Motherboards-Components/Motherboards/PRIME/PRIME-Z690M-PLUS-D4/

And this memory kit:
https://www.amazon.com/XPG-Gammix-3200MHz-Memory-AX4U320038G16-DB10/dp/B07FY13HZV
Click to expand...

In my country, the B660 board is more expensive than the Z690 board, which doesn't really make sense, though it does come with wifi. The other positive feature difference I can see is that it has a 2.5 Gb ethernet port.

The PCI-E configuration and number of M.2 slots seems to be the same (except the Z690 says the second full-length slot is PCI-E 4.0 vs 3.0 on B660, even though it is still only 4 lanes).

The rear I/O seems very similar, but the B660 board has 5 audio jacks supporting 7.1 channel sound (... though most gamers seem to use headphones nowadays).

The M.2 slots on the B660 board are perhaps in better positions (2 will be under the GPU on the Z690 board), but one of them only has 2 lanes (all 3 slots are 4 lanes on the Z690), which I assume is a limitation of the B660 chipset.

I haven't seen any detailed reviews on either board though, so I could be missing important things (and I can't comment on the VRM / thermals).

Personally, if I was buying a 12400, I wouldn't be buying a motherboard that is more expensive than the CPU, so I'd be looking at the lower-end MSI B660 boards like the one hardware unboxed suggested, since the lower-end Asus boards like the B660M-K appear to perform poorly, thermally.

If I had to choose one of these, then the Z690 board has less limitations (presumably due to the chipset) and I don't care about the 1 Gb ethernet port, the audio jacks, or the position of the 2nd and 3rd M.2 slots. It can also have a hardware TPM, which I would personally prefer for Windows 11, but you don't need one.

I don't know if there is any difference in reference to fans, RGB or watercooling support.
 
Samsung 980 Pro 1TB is 175 euros and the 500 GB is 115 euros, not so exaggerated in my opinion.
 
Bill_Bright said:
I guess depends on where you are coming from, and the budget. If coming from hard drives, even a slow SATA SSD will bring great satisfaction.
Click to expand...
No, I meant SSD's only, like in my example. SATA against NVMe.

horik said:
Samsung 980 Pro 1TB is 175 euros and the 500 GB is 115 euros, not so exaggerated in my opinion.
Click to expand...
No, it's not that bad, but the point is that the difference in real world usage isn't noticeable according to reviewers, unless you actually work with large files.
By putting the 980 Pro in a PCIe 3.0 slot it's easy to se the gains with PCIe 4.0, and they're small from time to time, depending on workload.

Scenarios like this are not worth twice the price. If you're copying hundreds of GB every day or work with video editing, well then it might be worth it.
1649704150365.png


www.anandtech.com

The Samsung 980 PRO PCIe 4.0 SSD Review: A Spirit of Hope

www.anandtech.com www.anandtech.com

I'd consider a 2 TB instead: https://geizhals.eu/?cat=hdssd&sort=p&xf=252_1920~4836_7
 
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The Samsung NVME SSD's do get really got even with the motherboard SSD heatsinks even my own 970 EVO Plus NVME PCI-E 3.0 runs hotter than my Sabrent Rocket NVME PCI-E 4.0.

@horik I been looking at MSI's Z690-A they made it in DDR4 and DDR5 and it's properly the best bang for buck Z690 board and with some fine airflow it can handle a i9-12900K.

DDR4: https://uk.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-Z690-A-DDR4/Overview
DDR5: https://uk.msi.com/Motherboard/PRO-Z690-A/Overview

Even Buildzoid is really hyped for it because of the price and what it does with it feature set :rolleyes:

 
Heat is reason why i run sata.
 
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