Need Help Choosing a good CPU and ram combination with my 10GB RTX 3080 GPU

Uncorkedkarma

I am looking to upgrade my current PC. I primarily use my PC for gaming, more specifically sim games like DCS, Assetto Corsa, and MFS 2020; although sometimes I'll play games like Tarkov or Arma3. I would like to be able to play on high settings comfortably; my monitor's resolution is 2560x1440p at 144hz. currently, I have an i7-6700k CPU, RTX 3080 GPU, 240mm cooler, 64GB of DDR4 running at 2133MHz, and a 1000 watt power supply.

I would appreciate any help/ recommendations, thank you in advance!

magarity

Kinda hard to guess without a budget. Also, when you say upgrade, what parts are you willing to reuse beside the graphics (case, power supply,?)

Uncorkedkarma

My budget is $1,500; I would like to reuse my case, power supply, HD, and SSD. My case is an NZXT H700i ATX, my PSU is an EVGA SuperNOVA 1000 G6, 80 Plus Gold 1000W.

PowerSpec_MikeW

@Uncorkedkarma

You have the GPU and you're allocating $1500 to the CPU, Board and RAM? That's quite a bit to work with. The main decision is whether to go DDR5 or not.

CPU: https://www.microcenter.com/product/648388/intel-core-i9-12900ks-alder-lake-34ghz-sixteen-core-lga-1700-boxed-processor-heatsink-not-included

$700.

AIO: https://www.microcenter.com/product/649681/lian-li-galahad-360mm-rgb-water-cooling-kit-black

You'll want a solid AIO for the 12900KS. It's $160.

DDR4 Board: https://www.microcenter.com/product/643640/asrock-z690-extreme-wifi-6e-ddr4-intel-lga-1700-atx-motherboard

DDR5 Board: https://www.microcenter.com/product/642645/msi-z690-mpg-force-wifi-ddr5-intel-lga-1700-atx-motherboard

Both boards are in the $250-310 range. There are really a lot of options here based on your brand preference.

Memory: I assume you want to stay at 64GB.

DDR4: https://www.microcenter.com/product/613488/gskill-ripjaws-v-64gb-(4-x-16gb)-ddr4-3600-pc4-28800-cl16-quad-channel-desktop-memory-kit-f4-3600c16q-64gvkc-black

Kit is $300, good timings. These are usually CJR/DRJ IC's and the RAM is solid all around.

With DDR5, it's new. It's going to cost more right now. The frequencies are higher, but finding good latency kits is difficult and expensive at this time. Also, if you're going for 64GB, you want a 2x32GB kit. You're most likely not going to be able to load an XMP profile on a 4x16GB setup. And if you run it at stock, it's likely going to load a 4800 JEDEC then downclock further to 4000. Latency on the JEDEC is likely CL40.

DDR5: https://www.microcenter.com/product/649256/gskill-ripjaws-s5-64gb-(2-x-32gb)-ddr5-5600-pc5-44800-cl30-dual-channel-desktop-memory-kit-f5-5600j3036d32gx2-rs5k-black

It's expensive at $485 though at 5600 C30 this kit is pretty solid for the DDR5 offerings. It does leave you some room to upgrade. DDR5 offerings, performance and compatibility will likely increase drastically as time goes on. It leaves you the option to upgrade down the line and training algorithms improve. Also, this is going to be over budget with the DDR5 kit, by about $150.

Ian

If it's specifically for gaming, $1500 is a lot to work with when you already have a 3080. If you wanted to switch to AMD and save a good bit of your budget, I'd look at the following: https://www.microcenter.com/site/content/custom-pc-builder.aspx?load=22b0fab4-b8f4-4834-acf4-f158b55a7438