Future proofing

I came into some inheritance and my old computer was 6 years old and beginning to slouch so I decided this would be my last splurge on a computer. This should get me into my late 70s when I probably won't care so much. I needed some of this for video editing with DaVinci and some for the Topaz AI suite. Ordered it yesterday.

Chassis Model: Digital Storm Velox
Processor: Intel Core i9-13900KS (6.0 GHz Turbo) (32-Thread) (24-Core)
3.2 GHz (Raptor Lake) Released Jan 2023
Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus Z790 Hero (Wi-Fi) (Z790) (Up to 3x PCI-E)
(No SLI) (DDR5) 1x PCIe 5.0 M.2, 2x PCIe 5.0x16 slots
System Memory: 64GB DDR5 5200MHz Kingston FURY Beast RGB
Power Supply: 850W Corsair RMx Series (Modular) (80 Plus Gold)
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (1TB Samsung 980 PRO) (NVM Express)
Storage Set 2: 1x SSD M.2 (2TB Samsung 980 PRO) (NVM Express)
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL /
Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 1x GeForce RTX 3070 8GB (VR Ready)
Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 3: Digital Storm Vortex Liquid CPU Cooler
(Triple Fan) (Fully Sealed + No Maintenance)
Cable Management: Premium Cable Management (Strategically Routed & Organized
for Airflow)
Chassis Fans: Cooler Master MasterFan Halo (RGB Fans)(Remote Control Only)
Internal Lighting: Remote Controlled Advanced LED Lighting System (Multiple RGB
Color Modes)
Boost Processor: Turbo Boost Advanced Automatic Overclocking (built-in)
Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 11 Professional (64-Bit)
Recovery Tools: USB Drive - Windows Installation (Format and Clean Install)
Virus Protection: Windows Defender Antivirus (Built-in to Windows)
Priority Build: - No Thanks, Ship Within 10-15 Business Days After Order Is
Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year
Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)
Build comments: Please install power and data cables for two 3.5" HDDs and
two 2.5" SSDs

Ports:
------
Rear USB (Total 12 ports)
2 x Thunderbolt 4 (=40Gb) ports (2 x USB Type-C)
6 x USB 3.2 Gen 2 (=3.1g2=10Gb) ports (5 x Type-A + 1 x USB Type-C)
4 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 (=3.1g1=3.0=5Gb) ports (4 x Type-A)

Front USB (Total 9 ports)
1 x USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 (=20Gb) connector (supports USB Type-C up to 60W PD/QC4+)
2 x USB 3.2 Gen 1 headers support additional 4 USB 3.2 Gen 1 ports
2 x USB 2.0 headers support additional 4 USB 2.0 portsi

To Be Added After Delivery:
---------------------------
1x 12TB 3.5" Hard drive Western Digital Black
1x 4TB 3.5" Hard drive Western Digital Black
1x 4TB 2.5" SSD SATA III Samsung 860 EVO internal (MZ-76E4T0B/AM)

If you're future pricing and run applications like Davinci and Topaz, why not get faster RAM and a better GPU? A 4070 Ti will be twice as fast as a 3070.

Robert Zanatta said:

If you're future pricing and run applications like Davinci and Topaz, why not get faster RAM and a better GPU? A 4070 Ti will be twice as fast as a 3070.

Click to expand...

The I9-13900K only supports DDR5 up to 5600MHz. Anything above that is regarded as overclocking by Intel, which, at least in principle, voids the CPU warranty. I presume that the KS is the same.

The 3070 has 8GB of VRAM, while the 4070 ti has 12. (Digital Storm wants an extra $330 for the 4070 ti. Above the roughly $230 retail price difference, but not bad.) Yeah, I would have preferred the 4070 ti. Especially if I was a DaVinci Resolve user. (I am not.)

Not the kindest advice, if the machine has already been ordered. (Is it too late to upgrade the GPU?)

IMHO, future proofing is a vain hope. While a PC may run for years, it's old hat in 3. ;-)

Do you mind telling us the price?

bakubo said:

Do you mind telling us the price?

Click to expand...

I'm not the OP, but it looks like over $4k US. With the RTX 3070.

Intel provides guides on how to overclock an unlocked processor as well as RAM (after all, Intel created XMP).

Robert Zanatta said:

If you're future pricing and run applications like Davinci and Topaz, why not get faster RAM and a better GPU? A 4070 Ti will be twice as fast as a 3070.

Click to expand...

I agree with you that a 4070 should be the graphics to get for future proofing. I read somewhere DaVinci needs 10GB vram to prevent crashing. I had my share of crashes with the Vega64 8GB. The entry level for 12GB vram seems to be the basic 4070, if can stretch the dollar, get the Ti version.

For video editing, there are better or more codecs supported in the new 40 series cards too.

So not just purely for performance gain switching to 4070.

BobKnDP said:

bakubo said:

Do you mind telling us the price?

Click to expand...

I'm not the OP, but it looks like over $4k US. With the RTX 3070.

Click to expand...

$4,373

The original config I was considering was $3,100 but the extra cash allowed me to bump it up.

--
Photos at http://inasphere.com

BobKnDP said:

Robert Zanatta said:

If you're future pricing and run applications like Davinci and Topaz, why not get faster RAM and a better GPU? A 4070 Ti will be twice as fast as a 3070.

Click to expand...

The I9-13900K only supports DDR5 up to 5600MHz. Anything above that is regarded as overclocking by Intel, which, at least in principle, voids the CPU warranty. I presume that the KS is the same.

The 3070 has 8GB of VRAM, while the 4070 ti has 12. (Digital Storm wants an extra $330 for the 4070 ti. Above the roughly $230 retail price difference, but not bad.) Yeah, I would have preferred the 4070 ti. Especially if I was a DaVinci Resolve user. (I am not.)

Not the kindest advice, if the machine has already been ordered. (Is it too late to upgrade the GPU?)

IMHO, future proofing is a vain hope. While a PC may run for years, it's old hat in 3. ;-)

Click to expand...

Overclocking does not void your warranty. The K series CPU's are unlocked and meant for overclocking. You purchased enthusiast grade gear which will give stable power delivery for overclocking and there is headroom built into the CPU and RAM for overclocking. Purchasing the fastest RAM I think is silly as you will really get diminishing returns. You can enable the XMP profiles, and if you are patient can overclock the ram manually.

I am not very familiar with DaVinci and Topaz, but there may be some benefit to getting a second GPU. I don't know how the application utilizes two cards. I don't know what the GPU market is at the moment- 6-12 months ago prices were through the roof. If there is not that much difference in cost between the 3070 and 4040 it may be worth it.

I have always overclocked my gear to get the most performance, and also because it is fun. I'm sure there are many gaming teens that would drool over your rig.

silentstorm said:

For video editing, there are better or more codecs supported in the new 40 series cards too.

Click to expand...

To the best of my knowledge the only thing added might be AV1. Not exactly the most important for most people. His CPU already has that and more.

The gains today with two GPUs (which need to be matched) isn't enough to justify it. Better to put the money towards one higher level model than two mid level cards.

In the words and tone of Martin Brody in Jaws, "You're gonna need a bigger boat PSU!"

J_Allen said:

BobKnDP said:

Robert Zanatta said:

If you're future pricing and run applications like Davinci and Topaz, why not get faster RAM and a better GPU? A 4070 Ti will be twice as fast as a 3070.

Click to expand...

The I9-13900K only supports DDR5 up to 5600MHz. Anything above that is regarded as overclocking by Intel, which, at least in principle, voids the CPU warranty. I presume that the KS is the same.

The 3070 has 8GB of VRAM, while the 4070 ti has 12. (Digital Storm wants an extra $330 for the 4070 ti. Above the roughly $230 retail price difference, but not bad.) Yeah, I would have preferred the 4070 ti. Especially if I was a DaVinci Resolve user. (I am not.)

Not the kindest advice, if the machine has already been ordered. (Is it too late to upgrade the GPU?)

IMHO, future proofing is a vain hope. While a PC may run for years, it's old hat in 3. ;-)

Click to expand...

Overclocking does not void your warranty. The K series CPU's are unlocked and meant for overclocking. You purchased enthusiast grade gear which will give stable power delivery for overclocking and there is headroom built into the CPU and RAM for overclocking. Purchasing the fastest RAM I think is silly as you will really get diminishing returns. You can enable the XMP profiles, and if you are patient can overclock the ram manually.

I am not very familiar with DaVinci and Topaz, but there may be some benefit to getting a second GPU. I don't know how the application utilizes two cards. I don't know what the GPU market is at the moment- 6-12 months ago prices were through the roof. If there is not that much difference in cost between the 3070 and 4040 it may be worth it.

I have always overclocked my gear to get the most performance, and also because it is fun. I'm sure there are many gaming teens that would drool over your rig.

Click to expand...

Sadly, that's untrue.

I had an issue with an I9-12900K. I contacted Intel about the warranty. I admitted that I used DDR5 5200 with it, and applied the XMP to get the RAM to run at that frequency.

The Intel rep told me that DDR5 4800 is the maximum supported frequency for that CPU, and that anything above that was regarded as overclocking. Which voided the warranty. I had already supplied my personal information, so that was that.

Here are Intel's official warranty policies . I quote:

J_Allen said:

J_Allen said:

J_Allen said:

Usage of overclocking and Intel® XMP and warranty Info

Altering clock frequency or voltage may void any product warranties and reduce stability, security, performance, and life of the processor and other components. Check with system and component manufacturers for details.

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

Click to expand...

So: while the K CPUs are designed for easy overclocking, if you need to submit a warranty claim to Intel, do not admit that you overclocked, or even that you used high performance RAM.

Carey Brown said:

I came into some inheritance and my old computer was 6 years old and beginning to slouch so I decided this would be my last splurge on a computer. This should get me into my late 70s when I probably won't care so much.

Click to expand...

I am in my late 70s and I still care as much. Maybe it is because each year I know I have less time left and really don't want to waste any of it.

George

Not to burst your bubble Carey, but as someone who has been involved with computers since the original IBM personal computer, I would say there is no such thing as future proofing. For speed and processing power you should probably be fine, but for technology changes you just never know. Look how fast CD drives disappeared and SSD drives became standard. How about the imminent adaptation of USB 4 and the C connector as Europe mandates it? That new external drive you crave may no longer connect to your USB A connections. So as someone very close to you and age, my philosophy is to buy just what I need and plan to replace it every 4 years or so with maybe a mild upgrade of storage or processor in between. Any way, a great looking machine which should serve you well until the next big thing comes along.

texasfz8 said:

Not to burst your bubble Carey, but as someone who has been involved with computers since the original IBM personal computer, I would say there is no such thing as future proofing. For speed and processing power you should probably be fine, but for technology changes you just never know. Look how fast CD drives disappeared and SSD drives became standard. How about the imminent adaptation of USB 4 and the C connector as Europe mandates it? That new external drive you crave may no longer connect to your USB A connections. So as someone very close to you and age, my philosophy is to buy just what I need and plan to replace it every 4 years or so with maybe a mild upgrade of storage or processor in between. Any way, a great looking machine which should serve you well until the next big thing comes along.

Click to expand...

Like you, I was there on Day 1 of the release of the original IBM PC. As such, I think you'll enjoy this: https://pcpartpicker.com/b/krYrxr



Mike

gscotten said:

Carey Brown said:

I came into some inheritance and my old computer was 6 years old and beginning to slouch so I decided this would be my last splurge on a computer. This should get me into my late 70s when I probably won't care so much.

Click to expand...

I am in my late 70s and I still care as much. Maybe it is because each year I know I have less time left and really don't want to waste any of it.

George

Click to expand...

I'm in my late 60s. I upgrade my PCs periodically as a hobby in itself, not for any practical purposes.

I have no dependents, so I can set my own priorities. (No Canon big primes so far.)

Michael,

My friend Mike had an original IBM PC with the 10 MB hard drive. I couldn't afford one so I got a Sanyo MBC with twin 128K 5.25" floppy drives. These I upgraded to 256K double sided drives. Thus, I started my PC upgrade legacy back in 1984. Been upgrading my systems ever since. Thanks for the link. Brings back memories.

Michael Firstlight said:

In the words and tone of Martin Brody in Jaws, "You're gonna need a bigger boat PSU!"

Click to expand...

That is what caught my eye as well. 850W would seem marginal/barely enough. I would think more like 1000W to have a little headroom.

Also, a bit more of a graphics card would be nice.

Robert Zanatta said:

A 4070 Ti will be twice as fast as a 3070.

Click to expand...

on what valid test? 5-20% seems much more likely.

As for the OP, was there a question in your post? The die has been cast, so the opinions now have little value.

I would agree with others that the power supply isn't truly future proofed, not with that particular cpu choice. But installing a 1000W psu unnessarily is also daft. If you eventually want to swap in a hungrier gpu, you'll just have to do the PS as well. A good one is $100-200, while a GPU upgrade is likely 800-1200.

I also would have installed a 2 and 4 TB SSD rather than 1/2. But OEMs tend to price these terribly, so more likely I'd just have paid the tax for a single 2TB SSD C and then added the 4 myself.