Thoughts on my build

[JayHan]

Hi,

I would appreciate any thoughts people have on this build. It has been paid for already but I don’t see it being ready for a while yet so I’m sure I have time to tinker if there’s anything really wrong with it.

Mainly going to be used for multi tracking with lots of plugins in Cubase, video editing in 4K with da Vinci resolve and photo editing in photoshop/lightroom with maybe a bit of gaming on the side.


Case
CORSAIR OBSIDIAN SERIES™ 500D SE CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.9GHz/72MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP
(Just upgraded to the 3090 in the hopes it will come sooner)
1st Storage Drive
16TB SEAGATE IRONWOLF PRO 3.5", 7200 RPM 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)

 

[Steveyg]

Well yeah, this is about as good as it gets really

You could have dropped the thermal paste the CPU cooler will come with it's own very good paste

Personally I would have also went for a bigger PSU on that build, just to give it more room to breathe

 

[sck451]

Looks OK, but I'd recommend

• upgrading the motherboard to the Crosshair (the 5950X will prefer it)
• getting a 500GB Samsung 980 as your primary boot drive to accompany the 970, which is still a good bet for file storage
• upping the power supply to at least 850W and maybe 1000W given the requirements of the 3090
• losing the special thermal paste (the cooler has paste pre-applied)

 

[jamiephillips909]

Would bump up the psu that 3090 is a hungry beast !

 

[JayHan]

Looks OK, but I'd recommend

• upgrading the motherboard to the Crosshair (the 5950X will prefer it)
• getting a 500GB Samsung 980 as your primary boot drive to accompany the 970, which is still a good bet for file storage
• upping the power supply to at least 850W and maybe 1000W given the requirements of the 3090
• losing the special thermal paste (the cooler has paste pre-applied)

Was there any reason you suggested getting a 500gb drive as well as the 2tb 970 or is replacing the 970 2tb with a 980 2tb just as good? I don't think the 980 was an option when I ordered originally so thanks for the suggestion. I want plenty of room for archiving 4k footage from old projects (hence the ironwolf) and I'd like to be able to cache footage on the pcie for smooth playback in editing. I'd love the crosshair but not sure I can wait until April (assuming the other parts will be in stock soonish), I'm at 40 days and counting so far already and my current PC is adding days onto my workflow atm. Going to up to 1000w and lose the paste at your suggestion thanks

 

[jamiephillips909]

the 500gb 980 would be to keep your operating system on that. And if you ever had any issue with your windows 10 you would just reformat and reinstall windows onto it without losing anything else video editing projects etc so its nice to have that drive purely for the os also the 980 500gb will provide faster boot times etc

 

[sck451]

The 980 is as fast as it gets in terms of SSDs. By storing your OS and key applications there you will get the maximum performance.

Going for a slightly slower second drive has two benefits. First, it is cheaper per GB, and since you don't need quite the same performance for file storage, it is a sensible economy. Second, it means you can, for example, re-install Windows without having to transfer files around. This is particularly helpful for games.

You could, of course, go for a 500GB 980 and a 2TB 980, but that might be gilding the lily! The Firecuda is also an option for the second drive.

I'd want to check, though, re the massive HDD -- do you have a backup solution in place? Your setup sounds like you really want a NAS with redundant backups...

 

[JayHan]

The 980 is as fast as it gets in terms of SSDs. By storing your OS and key applications there you will get the maximum performance.

Going for a slightly slower second drive has two benefits. First, it is cheaper per GB, and since you don't need quite the same performance for file storage, it is a sensible economy. Second, it means you can, for example, re-install Windows without having to transfer files around. This is particularly helpful for games.

You could, of course, go for a 500GB 980 and a 2TB 980, but that might be gilding the lily! The Firecuda is also an option for the second drive.

I'd want to check, though, re the massive HDD -- do you have a backup solution in place? Your setup sounds like you really want a NAS with redundant backups...

Thanks for the input Jamie and SCK. That's sort of what I was going for with the 970 and HDD initially. The 970 for programs. plugins and things that need to be fast and then the HDD as a file dump basically. I was going to go for 2tb for programs because some of my plugins and programs with sample libraries take up quite a lot of space and the last proxy render I did for Da Vinci resolve was 500gb on its own and that was only HD quality video. To clarify I wasn't going to store any files permanently on the PCIE.

The 16bg was admittedly a gut reaction from being constantly annoyed by the fact that I always run out of storage space and I'm a bit of a file hoarder *facepalm*. Planning on buying an external HDD/NAS type thing for backup, recommendations would be appreciated for this actually.

 

[JayHan]

Hi Everyone,

I posted the spec for my build a few weeks ago and got some helpful suggestions for improvements but I am still really unsure about what storage I should use. Long story short I was going to use the Samsung 980 pcie 2tb as my boot drive and cache for video rendering (also to host my other main programmes and plugins etc), then after I have finished processing a project I would dump the project and unused/excess files (4K video footage mainly) on a 16tb ironwolf HDD.

I am now second guessing the Ironwolf and thinking that a Samsung 870 QVO 4tb might be a better option maybe with a Barracuda 3.5” 8tb for extra storage? Price wise the 870 qvo + Barracuda works out slightly cheaper than the Ironwolf but not by a significant amount. Has anyone got any idea how these options would compare speed wise and in terms of usability and stability I’ve been looking at reviews and benchmarks all morning and found a lot of conflicting data/opinions? Would a cheap and cheerful external hard drive be a better option for file storage?

I am at the end of my budget now after upgrading from a GeForce 3080 to a 3090 in the hopes that I might get my build this year. 😭


Case
CORSAIR OBSIDIAN SERIES™ 500D SE CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.9GHz/72MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM) (changed to crosshair)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP (changed to 3090)
1st Storage Drive
16TB SEAGATE IRONWOLF PRO 3.5", 7200 RPM 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W) (changed to 980 2tb)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (changed to 1000w)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND (changed to standard)
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]

 

[Scott]

As previously suggested I think the optimal solution would be to have a 500GB primary storage option along with a 2TB fast storage option. Having all your eggs in one basket with the OS is not a good plan.

I would not recommend sticking with the STRIX for intensive application. It's going to cost you time when the VRMs start to run hot during heavy load. It won't cause any issues or problems but it will get very warm and slow the boost clocks down.

For the storage, I think what you are considering would be a happy medium. Curbing your file hoarding would be a better shout though as, again, putting all your eggs in one basket would never be recommended. Up at the 16TB mark is a serious amount of data so if it's important, you really want to ditch the idea of a single drive and get yourself either cloud storage or a NAS with 4 WD Red drives (It's going to cost you, but it's all about backup).

You haven't provided the unique link to go in and help you with your build and I don't have time to start from scratch so here is what I would do.......

Switch out to the HERO motherboard, waiting times be-damned. When spending this amount of cash... do it once and do it right.

Storage:

1st HDD - 4TB QVO
2nd HDD - 3TB SATA 7200RPM

1st M2 - 500GB 980 Pro
2nd M2 - 2TB 980 Pro

Anything past the above is screaming out for NAS/Cloud. Having many TB of space on the PC is not a wise move, especially with things that actually matter.

1st M2 drive is for OS & Programs
2nd M2 Drive is for REALLY fast storage & cache
1st HDD is for fast project & file storage
2nd HDD is for finished projects and readily available long term storage.
NAS/Cloud would be backup & long term storage

1000W RMx PSU would be advised if not already done
Paste can be dropped if not already done.
I would drop the rear fan and purchase a LL120 RGB off of Amazon To go with the rest of the case

Rest looks good

 

[Stephen M]

Certainly agree about storage. I have only had a couple of drives fail over the years but it does happen, so prefer to spread my data load over a few, also double back up everything.

NAS is a good way but external USB drives are fine and worth checking Amazon for sales, have picked up some decent 4 TB ones quite cheap.

 

[JayHan]

As previously suggested I think the optimal solution would be to have a 500GB primary storage option along with a 2TB fast storage option. Having all your eggs in one basket with the OS is not a good plan.

I would not recommend sticking with the STRIX for intensive application. It's going to cost you time when the VRMs start to run hot during heavy load. It won't cause any issues or problems but it will get very warm and slow the boost clocks down.

For the storage, I think what you are considering would be a happy medium. Curbing your file hoarding would be a better shout though as, again, putting all your eggs in one basket would never be recommended. Up at the 16TB mark is a serious amount of data so if it's important, you really want to ditch the idea of a single drive and get yourself either cloud storage or a NAS with 4 WD Red drives (It's going to cost you, but it's all about backup).

You haven't provided the unique link to go in and help you with your build and I don't have time to start from scratch so here is what I would do.......

Switch out to the HERO motherboard, waiting times be-damned. When spending this amount of cash... do it once and do it right.

Storage:

1st HDD - 4TB QVO
2nd HDD - 3TB SATA 7200RPM

1st M2 - 500GB 980 Pro
2nd M2 - 2TB 980 Pro

Anything past the above is screaming out for NAS/Cloud. Having many TB of space on the PC is not a wise move, especially with things that actually matter.

1st M2 drive is for OS & Programs
2nd M2 Drive is for REALLY fast storage & cache
1st HDD is for fast project & file storage
2nd HDD is for finished projects and readily available long term storage.
NAS/Cloud would be backup & long term storage

1000W RMx PSU would be advised if not already done
Paste can be dropped if not already done.
I would drop the rear fan and purchase a LL120 RGB off of Amazon To go with the rest of the case

Rest looks good

Ah thanks so much Scott, I can't believe that that actually mostly keeps within my budget as well. Lol just found the link (what a noob *facepalm*) https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-workstation/GHhfgWa2uv/ (just checked and it's still showing my old build despite the updates, sorry)

Great suggestions I already swapped out for a HERO, upped to 1000w and dropped the paste at the suggestion of others on this thread. I have made your alterations RE storage with the slight exception of making the 3TB SATA a 4TB Ironwolf instead. I will work on my hoarding tendencies...

 

[JayHan]

Also, stupid question but I don't have to specify which drive I want the OS on do I? I can't see an option to change this so I'm assuming they'll put it on the first M.2 SSD on the list (I.e. now the 500GB 980 pro)?

 

[Scott]

Also, stupid question but I don't have to specify which drive I want the OS on do I? I can't see an option to change this so I'm assuming they'll put it on the first M.2 SSD on the list (I.e. now the 500GB 980 pro)?

When you initially placed the order you will likely have selected the M2 for the installation. This will be M2 #1 from the options. As long as you are certain that's what you did, the 500GB drive will get the OS if you have it in position 1.

It won't hurt just to send a message on the live chat to confirm though.

 

[JayHan]

When you initially placed the order you will likely have selected the M2 for the installation. This will be M2 #1 from the options. As long as you are certain that's what you did, the 500GB drive will get the OS if you have it in position 1.

It won't hurt just to send a message on the live chat to confirm though.

I’m pretty sure I did but I will check with them. Thanks 😊