Feedback on Build

Good morning. I am looking for feedback on a build. I will use the machine for many different tasks. These tasks include (at different times, not all at once) running AAA games at high fps, processing and encoding 4K videos, and running multiple virtual machines with VMware Workstation.

I included some specific questions in red.

The price for this build is $5,740. My budget limit is around $6K.

https://www.digitalstorm.com/configurator.asp?id=3902854

Specifications:

Chassis Model: Digital Storm Lumos - Is this a good choice? I found it a little hard to compare cases.
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish

Processor: Intel Core i9-11900K (5.3 GHz Turbo) (16-Thread) (8-Core) 3.5 GHz (Rocket Lake) - Any experience yet with 11th Gen Intel?

Motherboard: ASUS ROG Maximus XIII Hero (Intel Z590 Chipset) (Up to 3x PCI-E Devices)

System Memory: 64GB DDR4 3200MHz Digital Storm Performance Series

Power Supply: 850W Digital Storm Performance Series (Modular) (80 Plus Gold)

Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: - No Thanks

Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (500GB Samsung 980 PRO) (NVM Express) Operating system
Storage Set 2: 1x SSD M.2 (2TB Samsung 970 EVO) (NVM Express) Games and scratch/temp workspace
Storage Set 3: 1x SSD (4TB Samsung 860 PRO) Everything else
RAID Config: - No Thanks
RAID Card: - No Thanks

Internet Access: Wired PCI-E Intel X540-T1 (10 GbE) (1x RJ45 Connector) Is this the best choice for 10GbE?

Graphics Card(s): 1x GeForce RTX 3080 10GB (Performance Edition) (VR Ready)

Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio
HPC Processor: - No Thanks

Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 2: Digital Storm Vortex Liquid CPU Cooler (Dual Fan) (Fully Sealed + No Maintenance)

Cable Management: Premium Cable Management (Strategically Routed & Organized for Airflow)
Chassis Fans: Standard Factory Chassis Fans
Internal Lighting: Remote Controlled Advanced LED Lighting System (Multiple RGB Color Modes)
Airflow Control: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks

Boost Processor: Stage 1: Overclock CPU - Up to 4.7GHz on All CPU Cores
Boost Graphics Card(s): - No Thanks; please do not overclock my video card(s)
Boost OS: - No Thanks, Please do not tweak the services on the operating system

Windows OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Professional (64-Bit)
Recovery Tools: USB Drive - Windows 10 Installation (Format and Clean Install)
Virus Protection: Windows Defender Antivirus (Built-in to Windows 10)
Office: - No Thanks
Mouse Pad: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: - No Thanks
Mouse: - No Thanks
Branded Gear: - No Thanks

Your feedback is most welcome.

Originally posted by hoserator As to cpu and corresponding mobo, if you read some of the reviews, Intel did improve on some tech and went backwards in others with their latest. Seems AMD is the best option right now and I am an Intel fan. If you change to AMD the 10G card board might be unnecessary

Thank you very much for this valuable input. I haven't even considered AMD until now because I'm old and set in my ways , but it is certainly a path worth exploring.

I started looking at Threadripper setups, but the price point for a decent system quickly exceeded my $6K budget, so I went with a Ryzen build.

https://www.digitalstorm.com/configurator.asp?id=1756191

This build is 100% identical to the one in my original post, except for the following items:

Processor: AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (16-Core) 4.9 GHz Turbo

Motherboard: ASUS ROG Crosshair VIII Dark Hero (Wi-Fi) (AMD X570 Chipset) (Up to 3x PCI-E Devices)

Internet Access: Wired PCI-E ASUS XG-C100C (10 GbE) (1x RJ45 Connector). 10GbE card still needed with this board; not sure how to choose between this one vs. the Intel X540 card

Boost Processor: Stock Factory Turbo Boost Advanced Automatic Overclocking. Why is this the only option?

The price is comparable too: $6,063 for this one vs. $5,740 for the Intel build.

Thanks again for your feedback.

Your link doesn't show your revised build.

With productivity tasks the 5950X will beat the living crap out of the Intel chip. they are strictly to reclaim the fastest gaming crown. If I understand it correctly, the 5950X can beat out the much older 3950x Threadripper, even. So it's an excellent choice.

The Lumos case is very good and attractive IMO. Very good airflow. As my friend mentions the Velox is very good also, but the window on the opposite side means the motherboard is mounted upside down. Some are put off by the GPU logo being upside down.

I don't know diddly about 10Gbe, but the Asus Pro X570-ACE motherboard features this:

ASUS Control Center Express: A software utility equipped with a GbE LAN controller for out-of-band management to enhance hardware-level control for improved IT efficiency


Might be something for you. The difference between the two cards: a little research showed me the Intel 540 T1 and the T2 date from 2012 and are currently discontinued. They are PCIe GEN 2 vs the ASUS PCIe Gen 4. Personally, I wouldn't touch the Intels. You might do some research and pick a card elsewhere?

For whatever reason, DS has not offered to overclock any AMD chips. They ARE overclockable, and I believe AMD's website offers software for that. However, the state of CPUs these days is such that overclocking is pretty much totally unnecessary. The turbo boost feature built into both brands allows a strong speed burst when needed without stressing the chip all the time. Much safer IMHO.

Just FYI, Your first two storage picks are excellent, IMO, but Storage 3 is very pricy here. An SSD is very easy to install yourself.

Hope it helps.

That makes a lot of sense. Thank you.