Worth building a new PC now or wait

[MBBlat]

My PC could do with updating, however with the current chip and graphics card shortages is it worth hanging on another year?

Budget would be around 2 grand to get the performance and a bit of RGB bling.

[dalzo]

Worth doing just now, if your quick enough with some of the alerts for stock. I found myself forever holding off as I couldn’t get parts then I found myself holding off again because I thought the next gen would be close to being released.

[Glade]

Would you go AMD or Intel?

I think if AMD, hold off, because the AM4 CPU socket for the 5000 series was (if i remember correctly) the last of the CPUs to use the AM4 socket. The Ryzen 7000 series which comes next will use the AM5 socket - so you wont be able to upgrade CPU for a bump in the future on an AM4 Mobo.

I am not sure about intel sockets. I think 12th gen intel just released, uses a new socket, so guess 13th gen will fit on that. I understand it has PCIE 5 and DDR5 also… however

I have read a lot that unless you are doing intensive “productivity” there’s currently no benefit from DDR5 RAM, so you’re still OK with fast low latency DDR4 for a while. Likewise we’re not really using the additional bandwidth of PCIE 4 over PCIE 3 with latest graphics cards

I think if i was keen on building now I’d go intel.

[dmsims]

I have just built a new Alderlake PC (sans GPU)

£207.49 x 1 - Intel Core i5-12600K 3.70GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - OEM
£183.29 x 1 - Asus Prime Z690-P WIFI D4 - Intel Z690 DDR4 ATX Motherboard
£58.29 x 1 - Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro SL 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C18 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit
£58.29 x 1 - Phanteks Glacier One 240MP All In One CPU Water Cooler D-RGB Black - 240mm
£64.16 x 1 - Lian-Li Lancool II Mesh Performance Midi-Tower Case - Black
£91.66 x 1 - Corsair RMx White Series RMx850 White 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply
+VAT

A 6600XT would be around £520

[MBBlat]

Thanks for the responses, will do some more digging on components etc.

Current spec - not bad for 4, nearly 5 years ago but getting a bit dated.
CPU - Intel Core i7 6700K (Skylake)
GPU - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, upgraded to this a couple of years ago (OCt 2019), may be worth keeping considering current GPU prices.
Motherboard: ASUSTeK Z170I PRO GAMING
Ram: 16GB DDR4, would like to expand to 32GB
Storage - Samsung SSD 850 EVO 250GB - I can probably get 1TB on the motherboard for what I paid for this
2TB HDD - will probably keep
Cooling: Corsair single radiator AIO, keeps the CPU nice and tosty
Case : Corsair Obsidian Series 250D Mini ITX

Real limitations is the case/CPU cooling and small capacity SSD with no M.2 comparability. RGB lighting would be good for the bling factor.

Edited by MBBlat on Sunday 2nd January 14:14

[xeny]

Looking at page 1-2 of the manual https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1151/Z170... isn't that an M2 socket on the motherboard?

How much of an issue is CPU cooling - that's only a 91W TDP CPU, so shouldn't be that challenging to cool even on air?

[trashbat]

xeny said:

Looking at page 1-2 of the manual https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/mb/LGA1151/Z170... isn't that an M2 socket on the motherboard?

How much of an issue is CPU cooling - that's only a 91W TDP CPU, so shouldn't be that challenging to cool even on air?

That's the wrong manual (Z170 rather than Z170-I) but yes it does have one, under the chipset heatsink.

[grumbledoak]

There is never an ideal time to build a PC. There is always a new technology right around the corner.

As said, I think your board does have M.2 compatibility if you wanted to delay the bigger upgrade -
https://linustechtips.com/topic/475513-asus-z170i-...

[trashbat]

I think if I were you, I wouldn't upgrade but I would think about migrating off mini-ITX.

I use it for an HTPC, which I'm currently upgrading in order to get 4K@60 and HDR with the new TV, but wouldn't want it for my main PC. It's restrictive both in terms of format/space and product choice on offer. Having just bought a B550-I board - which is bricked and needs to be returned - I'm underwhelmed by the possibilities on offer. If you can afford the space, buy a decent ATX case like a Fractal Design and it'll last forever.

I too have a 6700K in my main PC. When I bought it, Intel were years ahead of AMD so it was the only sensible choice. Now, surprisingly, AMD have caught up and even got ahead in some respects. I think I would consider them before Intel now.

Another poster is right about AM4 being end of the road but it's interesting that it's lasted so long - another win for AMD. If you did upgrade now, you could keep your DDR4 RAM. You'd get a performance boost but it might be underwhelming for the money. This gives you some idea:

https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i...

I won't buy a GPU right now because I would be enabling scalpers and the industry normalisation of ridiculous prices - I'm stuck on a GTX 970 - but I think the GPU is the bottleneck rather than the rest, for 1080p gaming anyway. Maybe by 2023 they will have sorted out availability.

[MBBlat]

Thanks again. Picture of the inside of the case below, according to the online manual the M.2 slot should be adjacent to the red led, not sure it’s there.



Cooling issues is possibly more due to my installation than anything else, the dust clogging up the radiator probably doesn’t help. I originally planned to fit a dual rad/fan in but despite the case manual saying it should it didn’t fit

So potentially looking at a motherboard/cpu/case/SDD upgrade then and save a bit of cash. Need to decide if I go back to air cooling or get a bigger AIO, not sure I have the skills to do a full water cooling loop without ending up with a soggy pc.

[LordFlathead]

I've done around £4k on an Alderlake a month back. It's still not built, just waiting for assembly.

I'm waiting for the new iteration of the AMD. Then I can build them both and be subjective about the both of them.

[trashbat]

MBBlat said:

Thanks again. Picture of the inside of the case below, according to the online manual the M.2 slot should be adjacent to the red led, not sure it’s there.

You need to remove that chipset cover next to the LED, the M2 socket is beneath it. It's probably a heatsink so has to go back again afterwards. This design is normal especially on ITX boards.

[xeny]

Maybe an obvious question, but what workload are you trying to improve performance in, and what are the CPU temps like at present - presumably you've seen it throttling?

As you've said, 30 seconds to clean the radiator out is probably the best cost/performance upgrade open to you.

Edited by xeny on Monday 3rd January 07:10

[MBBlat]

xeny said:

Maybe an obvious question, but what workload are you trying to improve performance in, and what are the CPU temps like at present - presumably you've seen it throttling?

As you've said, 30 seconds to clean the radiator out is probably the best cost/performance upgrade open to you.

Edited by xeny on Monday 3rd January 07:10

With my sensible hat on replacing the thermal paste on the cooler and a quick dust removal would probably be the cheapest option. With my male PH hat on it’s an excuse to get some new tech and bling RGB lights.

Temperature wise I’m getting about 60deg on idle and up to 90deg under load, but no noticeable throttling. Gaming wise frame rates in Cities Skyline can drop to 11fps at times, not really into shooters so can’t comment on performance there, but my free copy of call of duty modern warfare had stuttering on the cut scenes as there wasn’t enough room on the SDD for installation.

[snuffy]

trashbat said:

MBBlat said:

Thanks again. Picture of the inside of the case below, according to the online manual the M.2 slot should be adjacent to the red led, not sure it’s there.

You need to remove that chipset cover next to the LED, the M2 socket is beneath it. It's probably a heatsink so has to go back again afterwards. This design is normal especially on ITX boards.

Nope. That's the chipset Heatsink, not an M.2 heatsink.

The reason you can't see the M.2 slot is that it's on the reverse side of the MB - you are looking at the wrong side !

[xeny]

I’ve not got a handle on load temperatures for Skylake, but that seems much too high at idle.

[MBBlat]

A quick cleaning session and idle temps down to 30deg, jumps up to to 50deg under any load, see peaks over 90deg under full load ie cura slicing.

Going to try a benchmark session and see what temps I get.

[trashbat]

snuffy said:

Nope. That's the chipset Heatsink, not an M.2 heatsink.

The reason you can't see the M.2 slot is that it's on the reverse side of the MB - you are looking at the wrong side !

This is not correct.

[xeny]

M.2 slot location is discussed in this review: https://www.bit-tech.net/reviews/tech/asus-z170i-p...

[snuffy]

trashbat said:

This is not correct.

Which bit is not correct?

That's its the chipset heatisink or that the m.2 slot is on the reverse side of the motherboard?