Hello. I'm trying to put together a machine (though most likely I'll have Microcenter assemble it). Main goals are gaming and some light photo editing. I'd like to keep the machine under $2000. Secondary goals are to not have to upgrade it for 5 years, and keeping it quiet but I think that's impossible these days. If you've got advice I would love to hear it.
CPU: (1) Intel Core i7-13700 Raptor Lake 2.1GHz Sixteen-Core LGA 1700 Boxed Processor - Heatsink Included ($319.99 EACH)
I think the Intel i7 13700 is a sweet spot for performance.
Motherboard: (1) MSI Z690-A Pro DDR4 Intel LGA 1700 ATX Motherboard ($209.99 EACH)
It's been ~15 year since I've assembled a PC and know nothing about modern motherboards, the MSI Z690 looked to be decent enough, and I would really like a board without wifi.
RAM: (1) G.Skill Ripjaws V 32GB (2 x 16GB) DDR4-3200 PC4-25600 CL16 Dual Channel Desktop Memory Kit F4-3200C16D-32G - Black ($76.99 EACH)
And I absolutely don't know what's good as far as RAM goes, picked whatever was at the top of the list.
Case: (1) Cooler Master NR600 MasterBox Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Black ($99.99 EACH)
Power Supply: (1) MSI MPG A850GF 850 Watt 80 Plus Gold ATX Fully Modular Power Supply ($144.99 EACH)
If I could get a case that didn't have a glass side I would. I don't care about LEDs. This case looked affordable and got positive reviews. Same with the power supply.
Video Card: (1) MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti Gaming Trio Triple Fan 12GB GDDR6X PCIe 4.0 Graphics Card ($889.99 EACH)
I've heard that people generally have good luck with this card not producing the power supply whine, and it's a little quieter. Price point for the added power it seems like the 4070 Ti is worth the difference from a 3070 Ti.
M.2 / NVMe SSD: (1) Samsung 980 Pro SSD 2TB M.2 NVMe Interface PCIe Gen 4x4 Internal Solid State Drive with V-NAND 3 bit MLC Technology (MZ-V8P2T0B/AM) ($159.99 EACH)
SSD all the way for storage.
Water Cooling Kits: (1) MSI MAG CORELIQUID P240 240mm All-in-One Water Cooling Kit ($89.99 EACH)
I don't know anything about water cooling. Is it worth it? Again I don't care about flashy LEDs.
Total: $1,991.92
Thanks!
I would ask the byo guys their opinion on the AIO. Everything looks great as well for gaming/photo editing since most photo editing software recommends at least 16GB RAM. This guy will last more than 5 years from my view.
That MSI cooler has a 3 year warranty. Corsair puts a 5 year on theirs and NZXT has 6 years. Sure the other two brands cost a little more but they really are higher quality.
NZXT Kraken X53 240mm Water Cooling Kit - Micro Center
Corsair iCUE H100i RGB ELITE 240mm Water Cooling Kit - Black - Micro Center
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