Some config questions

I'm not a gaming person but a do a fair amount of 4K video editing and lots of photo editing. My target was around $3k. See questions near end.

Configuration Code: 3179450
Total Price with Instant Savings: $3,168.00

Direct Load URL: https://www.digitalstorm.com/configurator.asp?id=3179450

Specifications:
Chassis Model: Digital Storm Velox
Exterior Finish: - Standard Factory Finish
Trim Accents: - Standard Factory Finish
Processor: Intel Core i9-10900K (5.3 GHz Turbo) (20-Thread) (10-Core) 3.7 GHz
Motherboard: ASUS Maximus XII Hero (Wi-Fi) (Intel Z490 Chipset) (Up to 3x PCI-E Devices)
System Memory: 32GB DDR4 3200MHz Digital Storm Performance Series
Power Supply: 850W Corsair / EVGA / Thermaltake (Modular) (80 Plus Gold)
Expansion Bay: - No Thanks
Optical Drive: - No Thanks
Storage Set 1: 1x SSD M.2 (500GB Samsung 970 EVO PLUS) (NVM Express)
Storage Set 2: - No Thanks
Storage Set 3: - No Thanks
RAID Config: - No Thanks
RAID Card: - No Thanks
Internet Access: High Speed Network Port (Supports High-Speed Cable / DSL / Network Connections)
Graphics Card(s): 1x GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6GB (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)
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: Thermaltake Riing Plus (RGB Fans) (Software Controlled Effects)
Internal Lighting: - No Thanks
Airflow Control: - No Thanks
Chassis Mods: - No Thanks
Noise Reduction: - No Thanks
LaserMark: - 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 Edition)
Recovery Tools: USB Drive - Windows 10 Installation (Format and Clean Install)
Virus Protection: Windows Defender Antivirus (Built-in to Windows 10)
Office: Microsoft Office 2019 Home & Student (PC Attach Key PKC Only, No Pre-install)
Mouse Pad: - No Thanks
Display: - No Thanks
Surge Shield: - No Thanks
Speakers: - No Thanks
Keyboard: Digital Storm MasterKeys Lite Bundle (RGB) Keyboard & Mouse
Mouse: - No Thanks
Branded Gear: - No Thanks
Priority Build: - No Thanks, 6 Week Ship Estimate After Order Is Successfully Processed
Warranty: Life-time Expert Care with 3 Year Limited Warranty (3 Year Labor & 1 Year Part Replacement)

AFTER MARKET:Western Digital 12TB Ultrastar DC HC520 SATA HDD 7200 RPM Helium - HUH721212ALE604

Western Digital 4TB Black 3.5" HDD 7200 RPM (from old machine)?????????

Options I might have considered but left off for cost reasons which I couldn't quite justify. If you have compelling arguments for any of these I'd be open to hearing them.

System memory: This is listed as 3200 Mhz, if I read the motherboard specs correctly it seems like it can run memory faster than that but Storm doesn't offer anything faster. The Corsair memory hints that it "could" run faster but I'd need confirmation that this would be the case with this MB.

Storage set 2: ($710) 2TB M.2 SSD. The M.2 drive would have the advantage of speed over a 2.5" SATA SSD and wouldn't takeup an HDD spot and having it installed at build time would save me the hassel. My current plan is to install a 2.5" SSDat a some later date.

GPU: How wide is the GPU card? It looks like there's spacing on the slots on the motherboard so that a wide GPU card wouldn't cover the other slots, the question is will this be the case with the GPU (17) that I chose?

Fans: Storm says "chassis" fans but doesn't say whether or not that includes the fans on the water cooler. The goal is a cool and quiet machine.

Fans: I would need clarification that the fans I chose can be controlled by the motherboard as the motherboard specs seem to imply.

Fans: ($70 over the spec'ed fans) Corsair ML Pro Series, high static pressure, magnetic levitation. I would need to be convinced that these would have better air flow or be quieter than the ones I chose above. I also suspect that these would require the Corsair controller ($139)

MOTHERBOARD - ASUS Maximus XII Hero (Wi-Fi) (Intel Z490 Chipset) (Up to 3x PCI-E Devices)https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-XII-HERO-WI-FI






... fixed broken formatting ...



Edited by Snaike - 14 Jun 2020 at 2:14am

I'm thinking that you really could use a RTX-20 series, but I'll let others opine on that.

The fans on the radiator are separate from the case fans and come with the CPU cooler. My Lumos has six case fans since I did upgrade to the LL series. If you are ordering the ML series I think that also comes with six case fans. The radiator fans are in addition to those case fans.

You probably can get MS Office cheaper on your own. Since DS does not preinstall it I don't see an advantage to buying it from them.

As I said, I have the LL fans and they seem very quiet to me, although I have heard that the ML fans are even quieter. I do game at least a few hours a day, usually at Ultra settings, and while I can hear the fans they clearly are not annoying. My wife doesn't hear them either and she has better hearing than I do.

We have had another member report overclocking his RAM successfully.He has a ROG Crosshair VIII Hero for AMD. The mobo should not be any problem. IMHO, the gains are not significant in actual performance. DS often uses Adata RAM. AFI understand, RAM is RAM. There are far fewer actual makers that put lots of brand names on it under contract. One kind should overclock more or less like another given that there's not going to be a wide variance from stock performance.

A 2TB Samsung M.2 NVME SSD goes for around $450 online. An NVMe plugs right into a slot on the mobo. No wires or cables. The mag-lev (ML) fans, no bearings, are quiet as it comes.
I'm a gamer, I don't know editing, so that's all I've got.

Originally posted by Cretae We have had another member report overclocking his RAM successfully.He has a ROG Crosshair VIII Hero for AMD. The mobo should not be any problem. IMHO, the gains are not significant in actual performance. DS often uses Adata RAM. AFI understand, RAM is RAM. There are far fewer actual makers that put lots of brand names on it under contract. One kind should overclock more or less like another given that there's not going to be a wide variance from stock performance. A 2TB Samsung M.2 NVME SSD goes for around $450 online. An NVMe plugs right into a slot on the mobo. No wires or cables. The mag-lev (ML) fans, no bearings, are quiet as it comes. I'm a gamer, I don't know editing, so that's all I've got.

 

For questions about RAM, you should look up the quality vendor list for your specific motherboard. For the Maximus XII, here is a link:

https://www.asus.com/us/Motherboards/ROG-MAXIMUS-XII-HERO-WI-FI/HelpDesk_QVL_Memory/

Overclocking memory is not a necessity; rather it is more of a curiosity. All memory kits (usually 2 or 4 sticks) will run at a default speed of 2133 mhz. By going into the BIOS, you can increase that to the rated speed (e.g., 3200 mHz via XMP). You will always see some performance uplift without having to increase VCore which in turn increases heat.

You also get better performance with RAM that has better timings (for example a metric called CAS latency). The smaller or tighter the timings, the better the performance. Tight memory timings are expensive as these RAM modules are essentially binned in very much the manner as CPUs via silicon lottery.

The Corsair 3200 mHz RAM in my Lumos was CL16 at 3200 mHz. Speed-wise, the memory was fine once I enabled XMP (DOCP for AMD). Ryzen gen 2 actually prefers faster RAM (3600 mHz) for even better performance. Due to limitations with my RAM modules (one stick was actually defective), the best speed I could overlclock to was 3333 mHz. I recently purchased 4 sticks of 8 GB 3600 memory. The timings are looser (that is worse than that provided by DS), but I am running at 3600 mHz. I haven't tried overclocking past 3600 mHz.