New build to last for a good while

[T-Rex Mark]

Hi all,

I tend to use my main home PCs for long time and my current (intel-asus-nvidia) rig is getting to its end of life (it had some intermediate updates (I think PSU, MB and GPU along the way). I want to get a new PC that would last.

I read quite a few threads here and spent some time reviewing builds here and in pcartpicker, reading reviews and comparisons for various components, arriving to the below config.

Last year I built an AMD-Gigabyte box for/with my kid but for own use prefer Intel-Asus combo as it served me well. Primary use: easy office stuff, photo editing (hobby - Fuji X Raw Studio, perhaps Lightroom in the future), CSGO occasionally @4k (hence RTX3060, also with the idea that there will be more GPU-based compute for photo editing in the future).

• Intel Core i7-13700KF 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor $390.99
• Fractal Design Define 7 Dark ATX Mid Tower Case $194.99
• CORSAIR RMx Shift Series RM850x Shift Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply $159.00
• Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler $119.00
• Asus PRIME Z790-P WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard $249.99
• Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory $144.97
• Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive $179.99
• Asus Phoenix GeForce RTX 3060 V2 GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card $359.00

Total: $1797.93

I dont like liquid cooling (replaced it on my current rig with air). There is a warning in PCpartspicker that the clearance for the Noctua cooler needs to be checked - any advise how to "model" that?

There is another warning that I may have to separately purchase a plate for Noctua cooler for this Asus board but it seems to be outdated, and Noctua should include the right plate nowadays.

Any concerns on the PSU or the Motherboard? As I had a MB melted and PSU burned in the past, I spent a LOT of time on figuring out which PSU to get (not easy without ramping the cost up to $300-400 on the PSU). So i decided to go with the newer Corsair although there are some reviewers complaining of the shifted cable panel not being good and cables being stiff. Any experience with this PSU in this case?

Storage - I plan to reuse existing drives and then will add another M.2 or HDD when I need more space.

One component I have not yet looked up - an SD card reader, I am sure there are ones that read quite fast nowdays, need to figure out what these are.

Also, the Noctua NH-D15 includes the thermal paste NT-H1, I've read up on it and it seems quite reputable so should be ok to use it.

I would appreciate any critique/suggestions from the pros here; I realize this is likely a bit of an overkill but I plan to grow into the config over the next few years.

Thanks very much and look forward to your comments!!!!

mark

 

[SC489]

I have just bought some similar parts and am building the PC today! I bought the i7-13700K which for slightly more has the built in graphics. This is handy if your main GPU fails as happened to me. I'm reusing my Noctua NH-D14 fan which is similar to the D15. Noctua have an excellent motherboard compatibility checker so use that. I originally bought an Asus Z790ROG Strix board but had to return it since the VRMs are a daft design being too high and require you to rotate the fan 90 degrees which is not optimum. The Asus board in your list is OK for the D15 but I bought the better Asus TUF Gaming Plus WiFi Z790 (DDR5 version) which is about the same price as your Prime board with the £35 rebate you can claim from Asus during April.

I also have a 850W PSU (reused). This is an EVGA PSU having a 10 year warranty - 850W is fine according to the online PSU calculators I used. I chose a 2TB Kingston KC3000 NVME SSD and 64M Kingston Fury Beast RAM based on price / performance and reviews. This memory is on the Asus QVL for my board.

I'm using Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut thermal paste based on reviews.

I use a USB plug in KIngston SD card reader which has been fine.

You will probably need to set the maximum CPU temperature and power drawn in the BIOS to keep temperatures to a reasonable level.

 

[Robert Zanatta]

Hi all,

I tend to use my main home PCs for long time and my current (intel-asus-nvidia) rig is getting to its end of life (it had some intermediate updates (I think PSU, MB and GPU along the way). I want to get a new PC that would last.

I read quite a few threads here and spent some time reviewing builds here and in pcartpicker, reading reviews and comparisons for various components, arriving to the below config.

Last year I built an AMD-Gigabyte box for/with my kid but for own use prefer Intel-Asus combo as it served me well. Primary use: easy office stuff, photo editing (hobby - Fuji X Raw Studio, perhaps Lightroom in the future), CSGO occasionally @4k (hence RTX3060, also with the idea that there will be more GPU-based compute for photo editing in the future).

• Intel Core i7-13700KF 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor $390.99
• Fractal Design Define 7 Dark ATX Mid Tower Case $194.99
• CORSAIR RMx Shift Series RM850x Shift Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply $159.00
• Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler $119.00
• Asus PRIME Z790-P WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard $249.99
• Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory $144.97
• Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive $179.99
• Asus Phoenix GeForce RTX 3060 V2 GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card $359.00

Total: $1797.93

I dont like liquid cooling (replaced it on my current rig with air). There is a warning in PCpartspicker that the clearance for the Noctua cooler needs to be checked - any advise how to "model" that?

There is another warning that I may have to separately purchase a plate for Noctua cooler for this Asus board but it seems to be outdated, and Noctua should include the right plate nowadays.

Any concerns on the PSU or the Motherboard? As I had a MB melted and PSU burned in the past, I spent a LOT of time on figuring out which PSU to get (not easy without ramping the cost up to $300-400 on the PSU). So i decided to go with the newer Corsair although there are some reviewers complaining of the shifted cable panel not being good and cables being stiff. Any experience with this PSU in this case?

Storage - I plan to reuse existing drives and then will add another M.2 or HDD when I need more space.

One component I have not yet looked up - an SD card reader, I am sure there are ones that read quite fast nowdays, need to figure out what these are.

Also, the Noctua NH-D15 includes the thermal paste NT-H1, I've read up on it and it seems quite reputable so should be ok to use it.

I would appreciate any critique/suggestions from the pros here; I realize this is likely a bit of an overkill but I plan to grow into the config over the next few years.

Thanks very much and look forward to your comments!!!!

mark

CPU, PSU, SSD, memory, and case are good. You might want to check what SC489 suggests as for maybe 40 to 50 dollars more you can get the Strix or TUF board which have better memory and VRM components/layout a well as better USB ports.

Fresh website says the case supports 185mm CPU cooler height, which would be more than adequate. But verify your case on their website.

Nice build.

 

[Michael Arbor]

What photo processing software do you use (or plan to use)? Do you actually need all of this desktop horsepower to do run it? :-O

Sure seems like overkill for everyday production to me. ;-)

Cheers and Enjoy the Season... M :-D

 

[Austinian]

Hi all,

I tend to use my main home PCs for long time and my current (intel-asus-nvidia) rig is getting to its end of life (it had some intermediate updates (I think PSU, MB and GPU along the way). I want to get a new PC that would last.

I read quite a few threads here and spent some time reviewing builds here and in pcartpicker, reading reviews and comparisons for various components, arriving to the below config.

Last year I built an AMD-Gigabyte box for/with my kid but for own use prefer Intel-Asus combo as it served me well. Primary use: easy office stuff, photo editing (hobby - Fuji X Raw Studio, perhaps Lightroom in the future), CSGO occasionally @4k (hence RTX3060, also with the idea that there will be more GPU-based compute for photo editing in the future).

• Intel Core i7-13700KF 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor $390.99
• Fractal Design Define 7 Dark ATX Mid Tower Case $194.99
• CORSAIR RMx Shift Series RM850x Shift Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply $159.00
• Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler $119.00
• Asus PRIME Z790-P WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard $249.99
• Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory $144.97
• Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive $179.99
• Asus Phoenix GeForce RTX 3060 V2 GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card $359.00

Total: $1797.93

I dont like liquid cooling (replaced it on my current rig with air). There is a warning in PCpartspicker that the clearance for the Noctua cooler needs to be checked - any advise how to "model" that?

There is another warning that I may have to separately purchase a plate for Noctua cooler for this Asus board but it seems to be outdated, and Noctua should include the right plate nowadays.

Any concerns on the PSU or the Motherboard? As I had a MB melted and PSU burned in the past, I spent a LOT of time on figuring out which PSU to get (not easy without ramping the cost up to $300-400 on the PSU). So i decided to go with the newer Corsair although there are some reviewers complaining of the shifted cable panel not being good and cables being stiff. Any experience with this PSU in this case?

Storage - I plan to reuse existing drives and then will add another M.2 or HDD when I need more space.

One component I have not yet looked up - an SD card reader, I am sure there are ones that read quite fast nowdays, need to figure out what these are.

Also, the Noctua NH-D15 includes the thermal paste NT-H1, I've read up on it and it seems quite reputable so should be ok to use it.

I would appreciate any critique/suggestions from the pros here; I realize this is likely a bit of an overkill but I plan to grow into the config over the next few years.

Thanks very much and look forward to your comments!!!!

mark

That looks like a capable build to me; I just did something similar, but with a i5-13600K and water cooling, using a lot of other parts from a previous build.

I would get the K CPU rather than the KF; the cost difference is tiny and if anything goes wrong with the discrete GPU having integrated graphics will make isolating the problem easier.

 

[T-Rex Mark]

I have just bought some similar parts and am building the PC today! I bought the i7-13700K which for slightly more has the built in graphics. This is handy if your main GPU fails as happened to me. I'm reusing my Noctua NH-D14 fan which is similar to the D15. Noctua have an excellent motherboard compatibility checker so use that. I originally bought an Asus Z790ROG Strix board but had to return it since the VRMs are a daft design being too high and require you to rotate the fan 90 degrees which is not optimum. The Asus board in your list is OK for the D15 but I bought the better Asus TUF Gaming Plus WiFi Z790 (DDR5 version) which is about the same price as your Prime board with the £35 rebate you can claim from Asus during April.

I also have a 850W PSU (reused). This is an EVGA PSU having a 10 year warranty - 850W is fine according to the online PSU calculators I used. I chose a 2TB Kingston KC3000 NVME SSD and 64M Kingston Fury Beast RAM based on price / performance and reviews. This memory is on the Asus QVL for my board.

I'm using Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut thermal paste based on reviews.

I use a USB plug in KIngston SD card reader which has been fine.

You will probably need to set the maximum CPU temperature and power drawn in the BIOS to keep temperatures to a reasonable level.

Thanks so much SC!!

I "upgraded" the CPU, MB, looked through memory supported by MB, and upgraded memory as well - not to the max speed supported but slightly faster than the previous one. I may look into getting Kingston Fury Beast instead of Corsair Dominator, it is indeed about $60 and performance difference not likely, just never used the brand.

Here is the new spec:

Intel Core i7-13700K 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor $416.76

Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler $119.00

Asus TUF GAMING Z790-PLUS WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard $274.99

Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory $209.99

Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive $179.99

Asus Phoenix GeForce RTX 3060 V2 GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card $359.00

Fractal Design Define 7 Dark ATX Mid Tower Case $194.99

CORSAIR RMx Shift Series RM850x Shift Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply $159.00

Total: $1913.72

Next steps:

- ponder memory change

- I appreciate the note on Noctua's calculator - will look later (dominators are tall(!)).

- Will look into Noctua's thermal paste a bit more, some say its "as good", but it does take a test of time.. will see.

Let us know how your build is and publish pics!!! Thanks very much!!!

mark

 

[T-Rex Mark]

Haha, thanks!!!

I know it’s an overkill but I don’t like upgrading often. I could shave off $300-400 but I think they would buy me a few yrs of not thinking about swapping parts or rebuilding. My current PC is celebrating its 14th birthday this summer. Granted it’s sometimes pushed to the limits and beyond. I use Fuji’s rawx Studio for editing. Perhaps a bit odd but i like it a lot and is resource hungry.



cheers!!

mark

 

[T-Rex Mark]

Hi all,

I tend to use my main home PCs for long time and my current (intel-asus-nvidia) rig is getting to its end of life (it had some intermediate updates (I think PSU, MB and GPU along the way). I want to get a new PC that would last.

I read quite a few threads here and spent some time reviewing builds here and in pcartpicker, reading reviews and comparisons for various components, arriving to the below config.

Last year I built an AMD-Gigabyte box for/with my kid but for own use prefer Intel-Asus combo as it served me well. Primary use: easy office stuff, photo editing (hobby - Fuji X Raw Studio, perhaps Lightroom in the future), CSGO occasionally @4k (hence RTX3060, also with the idea that there will be more GPU-based compute for photo editing in the future).

• Intel Core i7-13700KF 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor $390.99
• Fractal Design Define 7 Dark ATX Mid Tower Case $194.99
• CORSAIR RMx Shift Series RM850x Shift Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply $159.00
• Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler $119.00
• Asus PRIME Z790-P WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard $249.99
• Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory $144.97
• Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive $179.99
• Asus Phoenix GeForce RTX 3060 V2 GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card $359.00

Total: $1797.93

I dont like liquid cooling (replaced it on my current rig with air). There is a warning in PCpartspicker that the clearance for the Noctua cooler needs to be checked - any advise how to "model" that?

There is another warning that I may have to separately purchase a plate for Noctua cooler for this Asus board but it seems to be outdated, and Noctua should include the right plate nowadays.

Any concerns on the PSU or the Motherboard? As I had a MB melted and PSU burned in the past, I spent a LOT of time on figuring out which PSU to get (not easy without ramping the cost up to $300-400 on the PSU). So i decided to go with the newer Corsair although there are some reviewers complaining of the shifted cable panel not being good and cables being stiff. Any experience with this PSU in this case?

Storage - I plan to reuse existing drives and then will add another M.2 or HDD when I need more space.

One component I have not yet looked up - an SD card reader, I am sure there are ones that read quite fast nowdays, need to figure out what these are.

Also, the Noctua NH-D15 includes the thermal paste NT-H1, I've read up on it and it seems quite reputable so should be ok to use it.

I would appreciate any critique/suggestions from the pros here; I realize this is likely a bit of an overkill but I plan to grow into the config over the next few years.

Thanks very much and look forward to your comments!!!!

mark

CPU, PSU, SSD, memory, and case are good. You might want to check what SC489 suggests as for maybe 40 to 50 dollars more you can get the Strix or TUF board which have better memory and VRM components/layout a well as better USB ports.

Fresh website says the case supports 185mm CPU cooler height, which would be more than adequate. But verify your case on their website.

Nice build.

Thanks very much Robert, will use the fresh site to further double check the dimensions as I fully settle the components.



Cheers,

mark

 

[T-Rex Mark]

Hi all,

I tend to use my main home PCs for long time and my current (intel-asus-nvidia) rig is getting to its end of life (it had some intermediate updates (I think PSU, MB and GPU along the way). I want to get a new PC that would last.

I read quite a few threads here and spent some time reviewing builds here and in pcartpicker, reading reviews and comparisons for various components, arriving to the below config.

Last year I built an AMD-Gigabyte box for/with my kid but for own use prefer Intel-Asus combo as it served me well. Primary use: easy office stuff, photo editing (hobby - Fuji X Raw Studio, perhaps Lightroom in the future), CSGO occasionally @4k (hence RTX3060, also with the idea that there will be more GPU-based compute for photo editing in the future).

• Intel Core i7-13700KF 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor $390.99
• Fractal Design Define 7 Dark ATX Mid Tower Case $194.99
• CORSAIR RMx Shift Series RM850x Shift Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply $159.00
• Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler $119.00
• Asus PRIME Z790-P WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard $249.99
• Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory $144.97
• Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive $179.99
• Asus Phoenix GeForce RTX 3060 V2 GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card $359.00

Total: $1797.93

I dont like liquid cooling (replaced it on my current rig with air). There is a warning in PCpartspicker that the clearance for the Noctua cooler needs to be checked - any advise how to "model" that?

There is another warning that I may have to separately purchase a plate for Noctua cooler for this Asus board but it seems to be outdated, and Noctua should include the right plate nowadays.

Any concerns on the PSU or the Motherboard? As I had a MB melted and PSU burned in the past, I spent a LOT of time on figuring out which PSU to get (not easy without ramping the cost up to $300-400 on the PSU). So i decided to go with the newer Corsair although there are some reviewers complaining of the shifted cable panel not being good and cables being stiff. Any experience with this PSU in this case?

Storage - I plan to reuse existing drives and then will add another M.2 or HDD when I need more space.

One component I have not yet looked up - an SD card reader, I am sure there are ones that read quite fast nowdays, need to figure out what these are.

Also, the Noctua NH-D15 includes the thermal paste NT-H1, I've read up on it and it seems quite reputable so should be ok to use it.

I would appreciate any critique/suggestions from the pros here; I realize this is likely a bit of an overkill but I plan to grow into the config over the next few years.

Thanks very much and look forward to your comments!!!!

mark

That looks like a capable build to me; I just did something similar, but with a i5-13600K and water cooling, using a lot of other parts from a previous build.

I would get the K CPU rather than the KF; the cost difference is tiny and if anything goes wrong with the discrete GPU having integrated graphics will make isolating the problem easier.

Thanks very much Austinian!!! I just replied SC with updated specs, really appreciate your’all’s support here!!! What would we do without this forum and DPR!!!!

Cheers,

mark

 

[BobKnDP]

At a glance, the only concern I'd have is the RAM clearance.

The cooler clears 32mm, with the outside fan in the normal position. It is supposed to be possible to raise the fan, though. The height of the cooler + fan is 168mm with the fan in its normal position.

The case supports a maximum height of 185 mm.

Noctua claims that the Corsair Dominator RAM has a height of 56mm.

Looks like a conflict.

Over the last few years, I've switched to AIO water coolers. I no longer worry about RAM height. I worry about leaks and pump failure instead. ;-)

 

[T-Rex Mark]

Haha, that’s my point. When I had water cooling I could hear water in the system and it unsettled me and eventually I think it leaked or something else happened to it and I said never again.



appreciate the note on the memory. It is indeed 55mm according to Corsair so I will have to look really carefully when I get back to the desktop.



thanks a lot!!

mark

 

[Austinian]

That looks like a capable build to me; I just did something similar, but with a i5-13600K and water cooling, using a lot of other parts from a previous build.

I would get the K CPU rather than the KF; the cost difference is tiny and if anything goes wrong with the discrete GPU having integrated graphics will make isolating the problem easier.

Thanks very much Austinian!!! I just replied SC with updated specs, really appreciate your’all’s support here!!!

You're most welcome--it's been too quiet around here lately; I guess some of our members have already migrated to another forum.

What would we do without this forum and DPR!!!!

I shudder to think, but we're likely to find out sometime soon. :-(

Sadly, we may never again see the concentration of photographic and technical know-how that we've had on DPReview.

Best wishes with your new build; may it boot on first try and run for years!

 

[BobKnDP]

Haha, that’s my point. When I had water cooling I could hear water in the system and it unsettled me and eventually I think it leaked or something else happened to it and I said never again.

appreciate the note on the memory. It is indeed 55mm according to Corsair so I will have to look really carefully when I get back to the desktop.

thanks a lot!!

mark

I was going to suggest using an NH-U12A instead. It's used in a configuration by Puget Systems . It appears that its RAM clearance issue is the same as the NH-D15 with the fan in the nominal location, though. However, it's 158mm tall with the fan in the nominal location. It may be possible to raise the fan enough to clear the Corsair RAM.

(Or, just go with low-profile RAM without the RGB foo-foos. ;-) )

So far, I've had no leaks with AIO coolers. Or gurgling. I've made sure to have the high point of the radiator above the pump, so there is no trapped air in the pump.

 

[Austinian]

At a glance, the only concern I'd have is the RAM clearance.

The cooler clears 32mm, with the outside fan in the normal position. It is supposed to be possible to raise the fan, though. The height of the cooler + fan is 168mm with the fan in its normal position.

The case supports a maximum height of 185 mm.

Noctua claims that the Corsair Dominator RAM has a height of 56mm.

Looks like a conflict.

Over the last few years, I've switched to AIO water coolers. I no longer worry about RAM height. I worry about leaks and pump failure instead. ;-)

I've used my ancient, modified Zalman Reserator 1+ for many years, and no problems. But that's still on the old PC. The new one has an AIO, so now that you've mentioned that, I'll be living in fear from now on. ;-)

 

[Gesture]

Quite a rig. I agree about the processor and avoiding the F versions.

T-Rex, you are definitely ready for the space age.

Parts these days are pretty good, but I would choose components based on service reputations.

Which motherboard OEM (Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, etc.) responds best if you do have to RMA one. Also, any different in BIOS upgrade reliability; convenience. Had an ASRock board once, did a nice job of querying and pulling down the BIOS from the Internet.

 

[Gesture]

Sadly, we may never again see the concentration of photographic and technical know-how that we've had on DPReview.

Thanks for your work.

Overall, I am constantly blown away by the experience, abilities, credentials and helpfulness of people who contribute regularly to these forums, especially the ones I've focused on in recent years: PC; Mac; Printers and Adapted Lenses.

 

[Austinian]

Sadly, we may never again see the concentration of photographic and technical know-how that we've had on DPReview.

Thanks for your work.

Thank you, and all our other regulars, for the contributions that made this forum great (IMO).

Overall, I am constantly blown away by the experience, abilities, credentials and helpfulness of people who contribute regularly to these forums, especially the ones I've focused on in recent years: PC; Mac; Printers and Adapted Lenses.

I learned a lot from the Photographic Science and Technology forum, as well from as the many arguments in Open Talk; once I had it figured out who there had a clue or more, and who was an obstinate ignoramus.

 

[foot]

Hi all,

I tend to use my main home PCs for long time and my current (intel-asus-nvidia) rig is getting to its end of life (it had some intermediate updates (I think PSU, MB and GPU along the way). I want to get a new PC that would last.

I read quite a few threads here and spent some time reviewing builds here and in pcartpicker, reading reviews and comparisons for various components, arriving to the below config.

Last year I built an AMD-Gigabyte box for/with my kid but for own use prefer Intel-Asus combo as it served me well. Primary use: easy office stuff, photo editing (hobby - Fuji X Raw Studio, perhaps Lightroom in the future), CSGO occasionally @4k (hence RTX3060, also with the idea that there will be more GPU-based compute for photo editing in the future).

• Intel Core i7-13700KF 3.4 GHz 16-Core Processor $390.99
• Fractal Design Define 7 Dark ATX Mid Tower Case $194.99
• CORSAIR RMx Shift Series RM850x Shift Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply $159.00
• Noctua NH-D15 chromax.black 82.52 CFM CPU Cooler $119.00
• Asus PRIME Z790-P WIFI ATX LGA1700 Motherboard $249.99
• Corsair Dominator Platinum RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-5600 CL36 Memory $144.97
• Samsung 990 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive $179.99
• Asus Phoenix GeForce RTX 3060 V2 GeForce RTX 3060 12GB 12 GB Video Card $359.00

Total: $1797.93

I dont like liquid cooling (replaced it on my current rig with air). There is a warning in PCpartspicker that the clearance for the Noctua cooler needs to be checked - any advise how to "model" that?

There is another warning that I may have to separately purchase a plate for Noctua cooler for this Asus board but it seems to be outdated, and Noctua should include the right plate nowadays.

Any concerns on the PSU or the Motherboard? As I had a MB melted and PSU burned in the past, I spent a LOT of time on figuring out which PSU to get (not easy without ramping the cost up to $300-400 on the PSU). So i decided to go with the newer Corsair although there are some reviewers complaining of the shifted cable panel not being good and cables being stiff. Any experience with this PSU in this case?

Storage - I plan to reuse existing drives and then will add another M.2 or HDD when I need more space.

One component I have not yet looked up - an SD card reader, I am sure there are ones that read quite fast nowdays, need to figure out what these are.

Also, the Noctua NH-D15 includes the thermal paste NT-H1, I've read up on it and it seems quite reputable so should be ok to use it.

I would appreciate any critique/suggestions from the pros here; I realize this is likely a bit of an overkill but I plan to grow into the config over the next few years.

Thanks very much and look forward to your comments!!!!

mark

suggest 1x 32gig instead of 2x 16 gig

the performance difference should be minor and it would be less expensive to upgrade later on

I'm not familiar with that board but I'd suggest more than one M.2 SSD slot. Also makes it easier to upgrade

also both the spinners and SSD can get hot!! so should have their own cooling

otherwise you might experience "thermal throttling"...(when the computer detects thermal issues and slows the device down until it cools off)

I just went thru this with my laptop...lol

 

[Austinian]

Haha, that’s my point. When I had water cooling I could hear water in the system and it unsettled me and eventually I think it leaked or something else happened to it and I said never again.

appreciate the note on the memory. It is indeed 55mm according to Corsair so I will have to look really carefully when I get back to the desktop.

thanks a lot!!

mark

I was going to suggest using an NH-U12A instead. It's used in a configuration by Puget Systems . It appears that its RAM clearance issue is the same as the NH-D15 with the fan in the nominal location, though. However, it's 158mm tall with the fan in the nominal location. It may be possible to raise the fan enough to clear the Corsair RAM.

(Or, just go with low-profile RAM without the RGB foo-foos. ;-) )

That might be the way to go; quite likely I'm missing something, but there doesn't look to be a lot of other RGB lighting in that build; I'd be inclined to go with the better cooler over a couple of lonely glowing memory sticks.

So far, I've had no leaks with AIO coolers. Or gurgling. I've made sure to have the high point of the radiator above the pump, so there is no trapped air in the pump.

Yes, my radiator is in the top of the PC, blowing out. Very quiet, with the fan speed curve at a minimum when CPU temps are less than 70C and the pump running at a default 900 or so RPM.

I didn't get RGB memory; I didn't want the glow to detract from the lovely 'infinity mirror' LED ring on the AIO pump cap. ;-)

 

[Gesture]

I'm not familiar with that board but I'd suggest more than one M.2 SSD slot. Also makes it easier to upgrade.

Good idea. I have a lower end MSI Z-490-A Pro board and even it has 2 M.2 slots.

OP: Read your manual. Use of some M.2 slots may preclude use of a given SATA port.