I'm looking to build decent gaming PC this weekend, and would prefer to get all parts from a local bricks and mortar supplier. Umart Chermside (or Milton) would be my preference.
This is what I'm looking at - any advice within the same budget would be appreciated.
OT: did you see how many billion Mr Nvidia made recently
I think I can do that, particularly if I transfer my Windows license. Are you saying a 3060Ti or 3070 with 8Gb are that much better than the 6700 XT with 12Gb? Also, would you go with the 3060Ti or the 3070?
It's not as straight forward nowadays to just compare raw specs. There's so many other factors to consider so you need to decide what's important for you.
The 6700XT card has ~5% better raw horsepower & VRAM, but the 3060Ti has Nvidia's far superior encoder, DLSS which can boost FPS massively in supported games, higher 256bit, better Ray Tracing capability and AI Tensor cores.
How much of those are worthwhile is up to you. I would definitely spring for the 3070 at the right price. There's a $599 MSI one at Umart in stock right now. That would be worth it to me.
Valid points but doubt ray tracing with these level of cards. My opinion the raw horsepower in a 2k build is a win for me
Buy a CD key online and save yourself $170, I've never had a problem on my last 3 activations on win 10, 11 or office, paying about 3-4$ Euro each key.
Just use MAS rather than paying grey keys
MAS?
I used that on my new build worked perfectly đź‘Ť
where's a good supplier?
I use all key shop
and just search for a win 11 license
using the cheapest option right now i think website was something like software codes or something like that
nothing revoked yet been using since 2022 October
just had a look now and the cheapest win 11 pro key is coming from a site called pixel codes but i can only guarantee software codes worked for me so buyer beware on that one
Don't bother with that. If you're not going legit it really doesn't matter - may as well just do it for free, it's pretty much the same thing
Not sure if you have noticed that the motherboard is actually out of stock. I'm finding it difficult to find one (in stock) that I can recommend until I get to the Asus TUF B660M PLUS D4 $199 or even this open box Gigabyte B660M AORUS PRO $199.
PSU-wise, highly recommend the extra $15 for Corsair RM750x $160, 10 years warranty, all Japanese capacitors, larger (e.g. more quiet) fan, better temperature rating.
This is the latest iteration (appears to be available at Chermside within 2 hours)
$899 for a 8GB 3070 ventus 2 fan??? Do not do that!
If you are set on Nvidia get a 4070 12GB for $899, which can also ray trace decently unlike all the other GPUs mentioned so far
Otherwise the 6700 XT 12GB (seen as low as $440 in sales) is better value than the 3060 Ti or 3070 8GB. Ray tracing honestly should barely be a consideration unless going up to the 4070's price tier ($800+) as even the 3060 Ti and 3070 are relatively crap at it (more so as games continue to gobble VRAM and RT just adds to the amount gobbled up).
DLSS up scaling image quality is the primary advantage that the 3060 Ti/3070 have over the 6700 XT with FSR. But their 8GB VRAM is ageing terribly already in many current games let alone future releases.
Even when the 3070 hit its recent ATL of $545, spending that much to get saddled with lower texture settings and draw distance (or else accepting stutter city when games exceed 8GB of VRAM usage) going forward makes it unappealing in 2023 unless you plan on just playing older games (but then again plenty of other GPUs are good at that as well)
the 8GB 3070 is $599. https://www.umart.com.au/product/msi-geforce-rtx-3070-ventus…. The only 6700 XT in stock is this https://www.umart.com.au/product/asus-radeon-rx-6700-xt-dual… for $489. Which one do you reckon?
If just comparing those two and even with the $599 3070 I would personally go 6700 XT.
Also make sure you redeem Starfield Premium Edition (coming out very soon) from the AMD promo and either sell the key or play it if the game interests you
For some reason your first link is only showing Jw's disgusting $899 price for that 3070, hope it sits on shelves forever at that price
@AussieDeals: https://www.umart.com.au/product/asus-radeon-rx-6700-xt-dual… or this https://www.umart.com.au/product/asus-dual-rx-6750-xt-oc-12g… are the only options in stock - worth buying?
@RangaWal: 6750 XT is effectively a slightly overclocked 6700 XT with faster VRAM but it is only around 6% faster in games (on a rough average). Up to you if you think that small increase in performance is worth $39 extra
If you end up going with an AMD card and want to sell the Starfield key be aware you will need to get the redemption code from Umart by emailing them, build your PC, then redeem through AMD Rewards (which will then run a hardware check to see that you have installed the AMD GPU in your system). You should then be given a Steam key for Starfield which you can more easily sell/give to someone else
FSR 3 was just released, to start being implemented into games in September.
Wonder if it will get close to DLSS levels?
The reason a lot of games are hogging so much vram is because devs are retardedly lazy (because they know consumers will buy their sh!t regardless). Some devs fix vram usage by actually patching their games.
just a heads up, since 12400f have its System Agent Voltage locked, the memory controller may or may not hit 3600 using gear1.
lay man terms you will need to do some BIOS setting(change it to Gear1 for good performance) and may need to down clock that 3600c16 RAM to 3466c16 or 3500c16 —— and if you are super unlucky, 3200c16 even… But I still recommend to get this RAM, it's more of a FYI.
No really sure what that means :) Should I stick with this CPU or is a slight upgrade worth it?
ok will try my best to explain.
background story:
CPU have a memory controller, which runs 1:1 with memory frequency ———DDR3600(double data rate) = 1800Mhz real clock, memory controller also need to run 1800Mhz to govern the Memory.
If the memory controller doesn't have decent silicon lottery, say if it can't run 1800 stable, there's a mechanic called Gear2, which make memory controller run 1 clock when memory run 2 clock —- memory controller run at 900Mhz, which is of course going to have rock solid stability. BUT this will introduce a huge memory latency penalty, essentially make CPU perform worse than if it had 3200 RAM.
Intel purposely locked the SA voltage (memory controller voltage) on 12/13th gen to a pretty low value on Non-K CPUs (to segment market), which made high clock impossible, and half of the CPU won't even do 3600. This is a chip level lock, no one can override it.
because MoBo manufacturer find out half of 12400f won't run 3600, they made this setting default: if Memory = 3600, memory controller automatically enter gear2 mode, unless user choose Gear1 themselves. (A slow system is better than a non-stable system, if user don't even know about gear1/2, good chance they won't find out if the system is under-performing)
theory aside, conclusion is, 3200 gear 1 will still outperform 3600 gear2, and most CPU can do 3466 still, which is why I still recommend this RAM, as downclock is easier than overclock. You'll just need to enable XMP - force choose Gear1 — (if doesn't work) — choose 3466 memory speed.
if you don't want to deal with any of these, you can buy any K CPU which won't have this issue. choice like 12600k or 13600k will not have this issue at all.
@RangaWal: I think you should stick with the 12400F and then depending on your needs, upgrade (or not) to a 14th gen CPU in 2 years.
Regarding the RAM if you have issues then flip the 3600 and buy a 3200 kit.
It is a waste of money buying deeper into 12th gen when its the first generation out of 3 on the same socket.
Looks good, two minor things.
Not sure why you went for ATX case when mATX would probably be fine - DeepCool mATX cases are easy to build in.
You forgot the cooler - I think the AG400 you picked initially would do fine (choice of black fan or static RGB fan, same price iirc).
Originally was going for an ATX motherboard, and have some HDDs I need to fit. Will a mATX case limit GPU upgrade options?
Thanks for the heads-up regarding cooler.
Sorta, matx case have only 4 pcie slot, which means the GPU fan will very likely be right against PSU shroud.
Thermally this would limit your GPU upgrade pathway.
I recommend ATX case with mesh fronted panel in the front at all time, as long as space/aesthetic is no issue.
Why don't you push it a bit more $1788 and get a way better system ??
I would if they were bricks and mortar in Brisbane and I could pick it up today
That ssd uses a controller with no dram. Would consider looking into a dram equipped ssd if its going to be your os drive.
DLSS is a very big consideration to go Nvidia GPU route. Really consider an RTX 3060Ti or 3070 if you can stretch.