Will a Ultimate Prebuilt do the trick?

Budget:
2000.00

Expectations:
Looking for the best bang for the buck. I bought another computer with a 12700K and a 3080 in their large tower with 32GB of DDR5 RAM and a 1GB Gen4 SSD.

The thing was configured with a 4 pipe tower cooler that was not up to the cooling task, but the air flow is very good in the case. I was able to get it to not throttle by undervolting the CPU through XTU, but that's a waist of the 12700K could have used a base 12700 instead.

The GPU is solid and a good over clocker.

The RAM was stated at 4800, but only operates at 4400. The BIOS is a joke and can not load any memory OC profiles.

I'm basically looking for something I don't have to mess around with and will get all the performance I paid for without me pulling out my remaining hair.

Usage:
I do some AAA gaming on my 2k Ultrawide that runs at 144Hz. I also do a lot of video editing and CPU intensive workloads.

Special Needs:
None

Specifications:
I'm looking at the Ultimate Lynx Prebuilt. I just wish there was 32GB of RAM in there vs 16GB. I guess I can just slap in the memory, but I would have to see what I'm given to match it.

The main difference between the Best and Ultimate is moving from a 3070 to a 3070 Ti. Which seems like it's not really needed since the performance boost between the 2 is not much. If the 3070 can handle the 2k Ultrawide @144Hz how much more can the 3070 Ti really do, and I don't think I will get a huge bump in performance in video editing either. (Mostly CPU and Memory intensive, so if I can slap in an extra 16GB with the saved money, I can be OK.)

The other computer with the 12700K, 3080 and 32GB of Ram cost me 2051.00 + tax. And I will need to purchase a Noctua (+120.00)cooler to get the use out of the 12700K, I'm still in the other computer return window.

The DS Best config is 350.00 less (470.00 less if you factor in my cooler purchase needed), but I will need to slap in 16GB of more RAM in there at a min, which will probably put me at 400.00 less then the other computer, 300 if I go for the 3070 Ti Ultimate build.

I'm leaning to returning the other computer and going with the more standard parts. Losing the K chip to an F, is not a huge down grade, Going from DDR5 back to DDR4 is not huge, the real world realization in memory speed is negligible. The big loss is 3080 down to a 3070 or 3070 Ti. Is it enough? to get a better built system? I have no clue and looking for advice from anyone here with experience with Digital Storm. Basically what would you do in my shoes?


... edited: see reason below ...

Edited by Snaike - 02 Jun 2022 at 12:40am

It's all in how you feel about the editing chores IMHO. Either rig will game to the max at 2k. If you think it's a small sacrifice in processing/editing to have a 3070 Ti rather than a 3080, that's where the whole difference is.

This IS the Digital Storm Forum, so there's also the fact we're totally convinced that DS is a premier builder with excellent customer service, or we wouldn't be here. Just have a look how long some of us have been around. That would always be the decider for me.   

Edited by db188 - 02 Jun 2022 at 10:05am

The Lynx prebuilts are a very good value considering the GPU market. Now that they have NVMe storage and the very excellent 12700F in the 3 & 4 teamed with kick-a video, they are in the ballgame for sure.

Beware the budget mobos only have one M.2 slot for NVMe storage. If you think you'll need more than what comes with the model you select, you'll need a PCIe card. You can get the SSD right on the card, but I've found this nifty idea: a card that gives you an M.2 slot.

https://www.amazon.com/M-2-Adapter-Aluminum-Heatsink-Solution/dp/B07JJTVGZM/ref=asc_df_B07JJTVGZM/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=366315397608&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8960057337425080670&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1015197&hvtargid=pla-812122725109&psc=1&tag=&ref=&adgrpid=74356900537&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvadid=366315397608&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=8960057337425080670&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=1015197&hvtargid=pla-812122725109

Your experience with the earlier SSD was extreme bad luck IMHO. They are much more reliable than HDDs as a general rule.   

Edited by Cretae - 08 Jun 2022 at 7:03am

Yeah, that device appears to be for PCIe gen 4 and an X4 slot, which is not available on a Lynx pre-built board. Good catch. I didn't even know such a thing existed until yesterday.   

A closer look informs me an NVMe adapter could fit a X1 slot under certain conditions, but it would run like a SATA SSD. No point in that.