Results 1 to 10 of 191

Thread: PC Hardware and building thread

Hybrid View

Previous Post Previous Post   Next Post Next Post
  1. #1
    Join Date
    12th Jun 2011
    Location
    Gladstone
    Posts
    6,496

    Default

    Ok. So I suggest you look up in Google your photo editing software's Ryzen benchmarks. ie: Photoshop Ryzen Benchmark. A Ryzen 1700 is cheaper than a 7700k, it can be overclocked normally to around 3.9ghz to 4ghz depending on the silicon lottery and includes a fairly good air cooler so you might not need to buy an AIO. No need to pay for a Ryzen 1700X or Ryzen 1800X as they all overclock very similarly. A Ryzen B350 motherboard which is all you need for Ryzen is cheaper than a Ryzen X370 motherboard which again is cheaper than a Intel Z270 motherboard. So if your workload looks good in Ryzen benchmarks I really suggest getting Ryzen not Intel for the cost savings and potential similar to better performance depending on use case.

    The only reason I recommend Intel these days is if your goals fall into very specific categories, for instance I want the absolute maximum FPS I can get so I went with a 7700k. If you can sacrifice a few frames, like 5 to 10 frames but still keeping the total framerate above 60fps then I don't think the 7700k is the best choice because of price of the CPU, motherboard and cooling plus the fact the 7700k is super hot.

    After you have done the research as to i7 vs Ryzen for your use case goto https://au.pcpartpicker.com/ and make a build and post the link in this thread so I can give you better advise.

    As for what you posted so far, M.2 drives are great in theory, but in reality you don't get a huge increase in access speeds over SATA because 99% of what users do is at low queue depths and you only get the benefit of M.2 NVMe SSDs at high queue depths so I really suggest a single M.2 SSD for your Windows install at most and the rest of your drives as cheaper SATA SSDs. Also Optane slows down SSD's so forget about it until the Optane PCIe SSD comes out next year (that will require an Intel system not Ryzen), but that drive will be something like $1000 for 256gb so very bad bang for the buck. Also if you do get that MSI Z270 motherboard or any other motherboard with a "heat shield" for the SSD remove the heat shield because it actually increases to temperature of the SSD and can lead to thermal throttling.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    19th Oct 2014
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    1,764

    Default

    Thanks for the advice. I have looked into the Ryzen series, the only thing holding me back is poor compatibility if I want to run OS X on the system, something I'm still not 100% sure about, but if I ever want to be able to access my old music projects will be a must. So far hackintoshes using Ryzen aren't the most stable, using modified kernels (as Appl have written for the Intel architecture.) Still open to the idea though, as I've still got an old MacBook Air I can boot up if needed...

    What are the noticeable differences between the B350/X350 platforms?

    Thanks for the info on Optane, it wasn't part of my initial look, just "would be cool if it works" type of thing, but considering I'm upgrading from 7.2k rpm HDDs any SSD will be a huge performance boost, I just like the M.2 option as there's no cabling to worry about, but I can deal with it if SATA is the way to go

  3. #3
    Join Date
    12th Jun 2011
    Location
    Gladstone
    Posts
    6,496

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by prjkt View Post
    Thanks for the advice. I have looked into the Ryzen series, the only thing holding me back is poor compatibility if I want to run OS X on the system, something I'm still not 100% sure about, but if I ever want to be able to access my old music projects will be a must. So far hackintoshes using Ryzen aren't the most stable, using modified kernels (as Appl have written for the Intel architecture.) Still open to the idea though, as I've still got an old MacBook Air I can boot up if needed...

    What are the noticeable differences between the B350/X350 platforms?

    Thanks for the info on Optane, it wasn't part of my initial look, just "would be cool if it works" type of thing, but considering I'm upgrading from 7.2k rpm HDDs any SSD will be a huge performance boost, I just like the M.2 option as there's no cabling to worry about, but I can deal with it if SATA is the way to go
    Yeah I don't know anything about hackintoshes and we probably shouldn't discuss them here so as not to get Griff in trouble with Apple's attack lawyers. So Ryzen's B350 and X370 boards are very similar in features except B350 can't do SLI and Crossfire. The current state of SLI and Crossfire is that most game devs don't care about users with more than one GPU in a system.

    Right now is actually a really bad time to buy SSDs or RAM. The chips inside them come off the exact same production lines and there are not enough lines to keep up with global demand for SSDs and RAM, plus a factory that makes them got flooded with Nitrogen gas the other day shutting it down for who knows how long. You will pay a premium for any SSD's and RAM.

    The best performing SSDs are made by Samsung, the 850 EVO is the best one to get in SATA format and 960 EVO in M.2, don't buy a 850 PRO or 960 PRO as you are paying extra for the extended guaranteed life of the drive and getting slightly lower performance. Intel also make great SSDs but they cost more per GB normally, there are some models of Intel SSD that review very badly but they are fine for day to day use, just not a review torture test. Overall Samsung and Intel have an extremely low failure rate compared to the smaller SSD brands like Corsair, Patriot, Kingston, etc.

    Also really good idea to not buy a graphics card now. There is a global shortage of them because Bitcoin miners are buying dozens of them at a time right now so unless you are buying a GTX 1080 or GTX 1080 Ti you can't get one for a good price. (1080 and 1080 Ti don't work well for mining)

    Just to follow up on Optane. The modules on the market right now are made to only accelerate the HDD that your OS is installed on. If you OS is installed on a SSD instead of a HDD you will find things go slower because the Optane that is out right now is slower than a good SSD.

    Goto PC Part Picker, make a i7 build and then make a Ryzen build and post the permalink for each, they don't have to be complete. That's the best way to scope out your build and then I can really find any issues with the build.

    EDIT: Here's my systems permalink https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/BYLfBP

  4. #4
    Join Date
    19th Oct 2014
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    1,764

    Default

    Thanks again for the advice.

    Here's my Intel build

    and here's the AMD build

    If I go the AMD build I'd definitely have to forego using OS X, as the nV card isn't supported until drivers are installed, meaning I'd have to use a second GPU (as I currently do on my Mac Pro) to boot, install drivers, reboot each time I run a version updated. Don't really want to do that. The integrated GPU in the Intel build would be able to handle that, but as you can see, the price is quite different...

    EDIT:hmmm, after checking this review for Lightroom performance, looks like saving for the 7700K might still be the way to go.
    Last edited by prjkt; 15th July 2017 at 08:32 PM.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    12th Jun 2011
    Location
    Gladstone
    Posts
    6,496

    Default

    All looks good as far as your selection of new parts, looks like 7700k is the way to go for you. Just remember it is a very hot CPU so don't get freaked out about it. It seems like every day on the dedicated PC building forums there is a post every single day with someone worrying that their new 7700k is too hot.

    You hopefully won't need the Arctic Silver as there is pre applied thermal compound on the Corsair AIO, but it's good to have a tube of thermal compound anyway because if you don't get the placement right the first time or need to reseat the CPU or something you need to remove the pre applied thermal compound and replace it.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    12th Jun 2011
    Location
    Gladstone
    Posts
    6,496

    Default

    As bad as video card prices are at the moment they are probably going to get worse in a couple of months unless the mining market crashes.

    GDDR prices have risen 31% this month at every GDDR manufacture which makes me think Samsung, SK Hynix, Micron and the other company I can't think of are conspiring. This might increase video game console prices also as the PS4, PS4 Pro and Xbox One X all use GDDR5.

    Good thing I got all my consoles, but it's going to be rough when I buy Nvidia's next xx80 video card next year.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    19th Oct 2014
    Location
    Melbourne
    Posts
    1,764

    Default

    Moving house has drained my pc funds for now, so that's on hold.
    I do however have a much bigger TV, steamlink, Ethernet over power and three wireless access points in the house (thick brick walls destroy any chance of transmission)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •