Computer Hope

It seemed only prudent since I posted my previous builds in 2014 and 2008 that I should do so again.

It has been almost 10 years since I built the system I am using now. The site I used doesn't even exist I don't think. It still runs perfectly fine. I have no actual complaints; The thought is that if I build a new PC perhaps I will then have complaints about my existing setup. Also, I just want to, as I haven't made a "big purchase" in 3 years and this is what I was originally saving for.

Previously I posted here before I bought anything, but in this case, I've actually been planning this for over a year, as this far off thing I would eventually do. I didn't want to post and then never buy it, but then I just sorta decided to order everything that remained on Monday (I had bought the case and PSU a few weeks ago).

1. Case: Phanteks Enthoo Pro Full Tower

My only real "logic" for a case is that I wanted 5-1/4" Bays. I consider a Blu-Ray Burner a necessity, largely because I don't think I should not have something in this new system that my current system does not have if I can help it. Options for cases that still have front bays seem to be limited, so this was one of the few choices.

The thumbnail and pictures of this case did not really indicate the true size. This system is gigantic! My current case is (HLW) 17"x19"x7", and this new one is 21"x21"x9". It's actually a bit absurd. It wouldn't even fit in the spot I have my current machine. I'll have to find an alternative arrangement.

2. Power Supply: Corsair RM1000x Shift Modular ATX 3.0

I haven't had any issues with the choice of a Corsair power supply in either my current build or my previous build. I went ATX 3.0 because that's what the cool kids are into these days.

3. Motherboard: GIGABYTE B650 Gaming X AX

They don't really go ham with connections anymore these days, do they? My current motherboard has more USB 3.0 ports for some reason, and I've got eSATA for example. I didn't have a particular reason for choosing this one. I was actually trying to find one with Optical input, but that doesn't seem to really be a thing. I don't really like the whole "Gaming" vibe, but my case is opaque so I don't have to look at it anyway.

4. CPU: AND Ryzen 9 7950X

If I'm going to upgrade I want to make sure I can feel the difference. Opted not to get the X3D since I couldn't actually tell what the difference was.

Paired with a Noctua NH-D15 CPU cooler.

5. Storage: 2x WD BLack 2TB SN770, 8TB WD Red Pro, 4TB WD Blue

(Already had the WD Blue on standby as a spare drive). Plan is to clone my current two 4TB Drives over to these for the new system, to bring all my storage over directly. I can then store a image file of my current boot drive onto the 8TB as well. This would give me easy access to the files that were on my original boot drive. (eg. I can just copy over my profile folder probably) The two 2TB SSDs mirror my existing 1TB SSDs, one for my OS and one for steam library, which is probably what role these two will serve as well.


6. RAM: Corsair Vengeance RGB (ugh) DDR5 RAM 32x2GB Sticks 6000Mhz

Had originally ordered some 5000Mhz sticks but found some indicators that the newer 7900 processors got a good boost out of faster memory, decided to futureproof and cancelled and ordered these ones. Couldn't find 6000Mhz RAM without this stupid RGB stuff. I'm sure t hat can be disabled. And if it can't, Opaque Case to the rescue. I went with 2 sticks of 32 here for the same reason I went with 2 sticks of 8GB in my current machine, which is to allow a future upgrade. In the case of my current machine, that meant I could add 2 more 8GB sticks for 32GB. With this new one, it means I can add two sticks of 32GB and get a whopping 128GB.

7. GPU: Gigabyte Geforce RTX 4070Ti

I've had good luck with Gigabyte stuff- RAM, Motherboards, Graphics cards, etc. so thought I'd stick with them for this build if possible. I don't have a specific reason for a 4070Ti, other than the fact that I currently have a 1070, and that was solid.

I've additionally bought an LG Blu-Ray drive. I considered just pulling out the one in my current system and using that (same with the sound card, actually), but I'd rather not try to work on two machines at the same time. Also I want to keep my current machine fully intact until this new one is "ready to go"- OS installed, configured, tweaked, the software I use installed, etc.

OS is probably going to be Windows 11. I need Windows for work so Linux unfortunately isn't a great option, and I never really utilize dual boot configurations.

The total price for the build came out to around $3600 CAD or so.

Npt a bad deal for top end build...pics or it didnt happen...

Still rocking the same monitors?

I will be using the same monitors. I'm using a 4K 32" LG 32UN650-W and a Acer H277HU 27". Same Keyboard and Mouse as well once it's replaced my main machine.

There is an issue with the 4K screen as the diffusion sheet seems to have somehow developed a vertical crease on the bottom and I think that's causing it to bend a bit which causes a strange orange tint in a parabola. It only developed in the last few weeks. It's a little harder to see when close up but very obvious from a distance. I could take it apart and try to fix it but I don't like the idea of disassembling my only 4K monitor. I'll replace my 4K monitor with a fairly nice one as my next major purchase.

All the parts save the two SSDs and the CPU Cooler arrived today. I assembled what I could sensibly. (Except GPU- I won't be putting that until after a POST test) I found some interesting shortcomings in my choices.

The first is that I think the power supply is supposed to basically have the power plugs on the side towards the motherboard, and have access from the other side of the case,for cable routing. But that is not possible with the case I chose because the motherboard tray is solid metal there and they would be blocked off. So I have to install it 'upside down' This works, but now the feature of having the modular plugs on the side, paired with the size of the case, results in some very difficult cable routing.

I managed to sensibly route everything under the motherboard like the cool kids do. Not without some effort- I needed to plug in the side of the CPU Power and ATX 12V Connector into the motherboard first, and then plug the power supply side in, simply because there was so little slack the difference in the connector size made all the difference for getting it plugged in. And those had to be routed right over the PSU fan, which is also not ideal. The 24 Pin Connector was literally too short to be routed "properly" (eg bottom grommet, under the motherboard tray, and out the top grommet into the connector) so it has to go to the second hole in the tray for routing and come right out the top one. It looks a bit silly- Not sure if there was much point in doing that over just not routing it behind at all but whatever.

I suppose A picture is worth a thousand words. My Cat observes my work in the background.

The CPU heatsink is supposed to be here tomorrow, and the SSDs Saturday. If the heatsink arrives I will at least be able to install the CPU and do a POST test. I've also got a 512GB NVMe SSD so am tempted to use that temporarily and pop on a quick Linux Distro for a day to see what sort of performance delta I'm dealing with between it and my current system.

I suppose how much faster it feels will decide my eagerness to get everything moved over. Once I'm ready to "make the switch" I plan to clone my two 4TB drives over to the new 8TB and a spare 4TB I had using a USB 3 Enclosure I have. Then I can image my current boot SSD and save that image to the 8TB- This way, I can access all the files that were on my original machines boot such as files in my user profile and copy folders or whatever I need as it comes up, without having to power it on and copy stuff to say a USB stick or over the network or whatever. I used a similar approach when moving to this machine from my 2008 machine and it worked out well.

CPU Cooler arrived today. no idea what's going on with the SSDs.

Installed the CPU and CPU Cooler, and was able to get it to POST to the BIOS/Firmware, so that confirms the system is working, notwithstanding the graphics card. I'd have to remove it to get access to the NVMe slots though and I expect the less I handle a $1200 graphics card the better.

The Case had a weird fan controller thing. I don't know really know what role it is supposed to play, as there are plenty of fan headers on the motherboard, so I removed it and plugged the fans into the motherboard directly.

I have a 512GB WD Blue NVMe SSD (from the old Acer Nitro laptop that won't power up), and it's tempting to use that to give the system a play around with say Linux Mint or something. Will probably depend on how long the intended SSDs take to arrive.

Couldn't resist and installed Windows 11 onto the 512GB SSD to give it a whirl around.

CPU-Z benchmark was a bit lackluster- Multi-core performance was of course very high but the single core wasn't even double my 4770K.

But, that was a synthetic benchmark. I decided to try Minecraft. Specifically, with maxed out render, simulation, and entity view distance. No issues, which at least showed a marked improvement. My current system struggles at the higher settings.

I decided to install the 4070Ti despite what I said before, and then ran 3DMark with the firestrike Ultra 4K benchmark. I had run that only a few days ago on my 4770K system and it struggled a bit, (Runs fine at 1080p, but it struggles at 4K, which is not surprising) It scored 3805.

Running it on the new system, and it was clearly running much better... It achieved a score of 13,918! I am much more excited about the new system now that I'm actually seeing the performance difference! 

I'm all moved over now 

Had some difficulties because apparently my USB 3 enclosure isn't "pure" and does something weird to the disk, such that trying to move it to another machine it shows as a "GPT protected partition". So I had to come up with other solutions for that, but got the data cloned.

Moved over some of the hardware (USB/card reader front panel, Sound Blaster ZXR, USB 3 Card) to the new machine as well. There were some physical logistics issues I didn't actually solve- I just have the PC sitting on the floor beside me, but it actually more workable this way then I imagined.

Now that I am using it, the performance difference is far in excess of what I was expecting, even given what I saw with the quick test install. I mean, it better be faster, particularly given the cost involved, but I still found myself surprised at the difference.

I had the foresight to get a screenshot of the debug screen of Minecraft before swapping to the new machine. Not exactly a high-end package, of course, but my Single Player World is like 10 years old and my main "base" is a sprawling city at this point

old system, versus New.

went from settings at about 40% for view distance/render distance/simulation distance, which was needed to be playable on the previous system, and cranked them to maximum as well as switching from fast to "fabulous" graphics- and it still performs at pretty much full speed at 4K resolution.

I've even kind of mellowed out on my perspective towards RGB, particularly since I found I could set the colour of the Memory sticks to change based on CPU and GPU temperature. Probably could set one for CPU and one for GPU- anyway, having them effectively be indicators makes the idea of RGB a lot more appealing and interesting, versus just having some colour cycling rainbow type stuff.

I guess I should update my "computer specs" in my profile now...

Congrats and glad you are pleased eith the results...