New Gaming PC Help

Budget:

$2500-$3000 (wouldn't mind upper range for future proofing)


Expectations:

My current PC is mostly for work, but I use it for gaming too. I want to get a new PC strictly for gaming though to separate the two uses for organizational purposes.

For this PC, i'm planning to use it to game on a 55" 4K TV. So a 4K capable GFX card would be ideal. I might switch around my setup in the future to hook up this gaming PC to a triple monitor setup, so a triple monitor slot GFX would also be necessary.


Usage:

Strictly gaming, and nothing else. Right now, I game 50/50 on consoles and PC - and looking to move more towards PC in the future. I haven't had a 4K gaming setup before, so looking to make that a reality.

I'm not looking for an enthusiast's PC, but I have been saving up for a while to get something nice. If I can get the best bang for my buck for certain components where it makes sense - perfect, but I wouldn't mind splurging a bit to enjoy gaming in my spare time (definitely on the GFX card.)


Special Needs:

Some weeks I have less than 10 or so hours to squeeze in game time, other weeks thankfully more. On weekends when I can play, I can easily squeeze out 5 to 8 hours consecutively, so a CPU that can handle being on with that timeframe. I live in the Northeast, it's cold 8 months out of the year lol. So ambient heat shouldn't be an issue most of the year. I do live in a dusty environment, and if anything can be done airflow wise would be helpful.

I know my way around the basics of a PC, but it's hard to keep up with what's compatible with what. Plus i'm kind of lost in terms of the best ratios to spend more on. For instance, I need a lot of storage on an M2 - but definitely need a backup drive for spare games. (Would a basic HD suffice?)

Looking for a very decent GFX card that can handle most things at 4K - but not top of the line this month lol. And for RAM I can easily eat up 20GB on my work PC with 32gigs, but have never had just a dedicated gaming PC. Would 16GB be enough? Or would it be wise to get 32?

Also not looking to do any maintenance on this PC outside of routine cleaning, so a regular AIO would be preferred.


Saved Ticket #:

Code - 4477608


Specifications:

Chassis Model: Digital Storm Lumos

Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish

Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish

Processor: Intel Core i9-12900K (5.2 GHz Turbo) (24-Thread) (16-Core) 3.2 GHz (Alder Lake)

Motherboard: ASUS Prime Z690-P D4 (Wi-Fi) (Intel Z690 Chipset) (Up to 3x PCI-E Devices) (No SLI) (DDR4)

System Memory: 16GB DDR4 3200MHz Digital Storm Performance Series

Power Supply: 850W Corsair RMx Series (Modular) (80 Plus Gold) <br><strong></strong>

Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (1TB Digital Storm M.2 Performance Series) (NVM Express)

Storage Set 2: 1x Storage (4TB Western Digital / Seagate - Ultrastar Data Center / IronWolf) <br><strong></strong>

Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)

Graphics Card(s): 1x GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB (VR Ready) <br><strong></strong>

Sound Card: Integrated Motherboard Audio

HPC Processor: - No Thanks

Extreme Cooling: H20: Stage 3: Digital Storm Vortex Liquid CPU Cooler (Triple Fan) (Fully Sealed + No Maintenance)

HydroLux Tubing Style: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected

HydroLux Fluid Color: - Not Applicable, I do not have a custom HydroLux liquid cooling system selected

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)

Boost Processor: Turbo Boost Advanced Automatic Overclocking

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

Keyboard: Digital Storm Devastator Bundle (RGB) Keyboard & Mouse <br><strong></strong>


Thanks for reading and any future help!

Welcome. You are way overpowered at the CPU, and may be underpowered at your GPU for 4K. You don't need a super-card for gaming on a TV, but you might want more than a 3060 Ti.

With the 12600K, you're getting a total of 10 cores and 16 threads, which is more than enough for gaming well into the future. More at these speeds is just wasteful. Extra cores/threads get you nothing.

The choice of GPU is much more complicated. All depends on the performance that will satisfy you. Two years ago, the top card you could get was a 2080 Ti. That's a 3070 now. A TV at 60 Hz or even 120 Hz isn't going to demand a killer card, but must you have the highest settings possible? TBH, I'm not comfortable recommending a card from this generation because they are so poorly priced. Mr. hoserator suggests waiting on the next gen cards, but his time frame is off. It appears the 4090 may appear before year's end, but the lesser cards will most likely be released in the New Year. There is no question at all that you will get a lot more bang for your buck if you wait.

I'd bet a 4070 would be the card for you. It will likely outperform a 3080 and cost a good deal less. I hesitate to recommend a 3080 because it may be overkill on a TV, and it's not a good value. A 3070 might be too much compromise. I don't know what your standards are. There's far too much variation in 4K TVs to recommend the right card.

If you feel you must act now, I'd recommend you go ahead with a 3060 Ti. It will likely be be at least adequate to get you to the next gen, and you'll be educated as to what you want without breaking the bank. After all, that card is about a 2080 Super from last gen, and those were recommended widely for gaming on a 4K TV. You may be able to sell that card to help finance a better purchase.

All that said, I'm wondering if it's not time to put aside HDD tech for an all SSD rig. More pricy for sure, but NVMe drives may be 20 times faster. Once you're used to that you'll wonder what you were thinking getting an HDD. Add storage as you go, and it won't hurt much at all. More storage is a pretty easy install. Same goes for RAM. 16 GB is fine for now, and easy to upgrade when/if needed.

So, here's a suggestion along those lines. The storage is a top-end selection, but you can downgrade a little. The problem there is there's no 2TB Digital Storm option. They are slower than the Samsung options, but not too bad at all.

https://www.digitalstorm.com/configurator.asp?id=4477710

I usually do better at this, but gaming on a TV is a curveball.   

It sounds like we are very close to being on the same page. The AMDs are more suitable for number crunching and work related computing. The 12600 is considered an absolute triumph for gaming due to it's hybrid structure. Look at this!

https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i9-12900K-vs-Intel-Core-i5-12600K/4118vs4120

And then...

https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-12600K-vs-AMD-Ryzen-9-5900X/4120vs4087

So, more is a total waste of money for a gaming rig.

The 3060 Ti is the best bang-for-buck card you can get right now, and would be strong enough for your use on that 60Hz TV. Until you can get more power more reasonably, I agree that's the one you should be looking at. Your experience with that card will tell you exactly what your upgrade path should be. (If you even think it's necessary.) More comparisons:

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-RTX-3060-Ti-vs-Nvidia-RTX-3070/4090vs4083

https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-RTX-3060-Ti-vs-Nvidia-RTX-2080-Ti/4090vs4027

This card is no slouch, and the next gen is projected to be a 30% boost at every performance level. To spend more on a GPU at this moment in time would disappoint you IMHO.      

Edited by Cretae - 20 Aug 2022 at 4:37am

I think the 4070 will be the card of choice in the first round of releases. It will have stats very close to a 3080, (or better!), but with a whole new upgrade to things like ray tracing, DLSS, and memory handling. Beyond that will be the picks for those who simply MUST have the (barely perceptible beyond 110 fps IMHO) absolute highest framerates on a 4K monitor that gets 144 Hz or better. One hopes the retail pricing will be more normalized, and get that card somewhere below $800. It may be awhile beyond six months before lesser cards come out for comparison, but I'm expecting the 4060 equivalent to the 3060 Ti to be the killer card for 2k gaming.

Now the fun begins! By 4th quarter, a new round of CPUs are expected from both AMD and Intel. They are playing it awfully close to the vest, but more speed and power? Yep. Worth waiting for? probably not, because this batch has been over-powered just for gaming, as we have agreed. However, newer is always better, and DS will be selling the best available as soon as they can get it in stock.

If budget allows, I lean a bit more toward the Asus ROG Strix Z 690-A just because it's a gaming board and doesn't break the bank. Mostly an upgrade like this at this price point can mean better thermal handling, and that helps a board last longer. The standard Z690-P offered is not to be sneezed at either, and is a solid board.

Are we having fun yet?      

According to this, it's the 12900K.

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/cpu-hierarchy,4312.html#section-gaming-cpu-benchmarks-ranking-2022

Originally posted by MrCheetah takes the hill with cache size, but can't reach/maintain the frequency of Intel's top-tier Core CPUs.

Frequency as in, the amount of times it can do actions such as storing and executing process? The more I read up on these modern high end chips the more i'm convinced I don't need something that overkill haha.. I just want to play some single player rpg's and have them look nice. I've never been one for graphics, but I will admit it would be nice to have something decent finally.

Originally posted by MrCheetah Games such as Civilization, that contain a lot of NPCs

I saw Linus tech tips attempt to do 8k Civilization a while ago, was ridiculous. That's definitely not something i'm going for in the slightest. So if that's what people are buying top end hardware for, I feel comfortable with the 12600K. Just want to feel good about the purchase many years after the fact.. Since i'm not one for really upgrading unless it's the gfx card or memory if needed.

Agreed.   

Originally posted by JamesAstro Yeah, chasing after the fastest CPU doesn't usually make sense for gaming. The GPU is doing most of the work, and that's definitely where you should focus when it comes to speeding up your games.

Unfortunately, not entirely accurate as some newer games are CPU dependent. Escape from Tarkov, Call of Duty series (especially the upcoming MW2/Warzone 2, simulator games, Elden Ring, etc. Several games are Single Core/Threads too - Rb6 Siege, Farcry 5/6, etc.

Solid build. No problems.