New gaming rig under $4k advise needed please

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Networkn
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#3387127 26-Jun-2025 08:21

Apsattv:

Can you download the windows 11 iso and then just buy a license online saving several hundred $

Those are not legitimate licenses, even if they activate. They can be deactivated at any time (and I have seen multiple cases of it).

toejam316

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#3387128 26-Jun-2025 08:23

I wouldn't go below 800W purely because of a combination of PSU quality variance, degradation over time, and transient spikes potentially rearing their head unexpectedly. And with that said, 850W seems more common than 800W. But an 850W Gold is still around $200 for a quality unit.

And yeah, the recommendation for a traditional air cooler comes less from cooling ability, and more from maintenance risk. OP doesn't strike me as the sort who's going to want to deal with a failing AIO, nor an AIO that's sprung a leak. Much easier to just get a solid air cooler and leave a little performance on the table.

Anything I say is the ramblings of an ill informed, opinionated so-and-so, and not representative of any of my past, present or future employers, and is also probably best disregarded.

SpartanVXL

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#3387138 26-Jun-2025 09:32

With a quality PSU it’s perfectly fine to size to requirements. To put into perspective I run a 4090 on a rm850i, I have run RTX tests that draw 500W+ on gpu alone. In normal day to day gaming it only uses 200-300W of a 450W limit. I only raise the limit to 600W for benchmarks, the PSU is fine with it along with a 5800x3d at 100W or so.

For x3d cpus it’s more about contact, they have very high hotspots thanks to the cache. Thermalright phantom spirit will do the job well, but any full workload even with an aio will get the core temp up to 90C.

Twalknz72

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Master Geek

#3387231 26-Jun-2025 16:43

Ok this is getting very overwhelming and confusing. My sons computer is over 5 years old. He's only upgraded the graphics card because his original one died. The specs for this are listed in my prior post. He's playing things like Ark, Frost punk, Sons of the forest, Project zomboid, Oxygen not included, Rimworld, Conan, Aven Colony, Captin of Industry, Factorio, Creativerse, Foundry, Icarus, No Man Sky, Ken Shi and more. From what I'm picking up I must have selected DDR4 ram? I had meant to include DDR 5 ram and have now changed it and upped it to 64GB which we're happy to do.

The monitor will be in a room directly opposite a large window and having another large window on the wall beside it. This is not a large room so it will be exposed to direct sun. The current monitor gets quite dirty and needs cleaned regularly, I don't believe this would be good for and OLED. Please remember that this is for a young man that, while managing quite well, does sometimes struggle with managing his frustration and has had to replace a mouse or 3. For all those reasons I can not see a $1,000+ delicate monitor being a good fit.

The motherboard I know nothing about. I know it's what was recommended in the Pyronic list so that's what I went with. I have heard that Gigabyte brand had been iffy but know that the motherboard that's in the current PC is a Gigabyte, which we've had no issue with, and the original graphics card, that we replaced last year, was Gigabyte and didn't miss a beat till it died. I'm not opposed to changing brands but if not what the Pyronic list recommends then what? I would hope the motherboard would last 5 years or more as just like the current one.

Looking at the CPU and doing some more research it seems the Ryzen 7700x or 9700x is better value for money with less bottlenecking is that correct? Seems like pairing that with the rx 9070 xt would be a good option?

So I've revised things and here's a new link. I have no idea if the case is fine, seems to be, or about the monitor at this stage.

https://nz.pcpartpicker.com/user/Twalknz/saved/#view=PgvBTW

Thank you again and sorry to be so frustrating.

alinz

71 posts

Master Geek

#3387272 26-Jun-2025 18:49

Okay, I've had a look at your previous thread.

So you currently have a:

10700k w/ cryorig h5

b460m

16gb ddr4 installed + 16gb not currently installed due to the size of the cooler

970 EVO Plus 2TB

rtx 4070 super

Knowing that now, I strongly recommend you keep the 4070 super. The difference in performance between that and the 9070 xt is minimal at 1440p.

Your best upgrade path is to the 7800x3d or 9800x3d. I don't see the 7700x as being good value at $630 when the 7800x3d can be had for $782.

There is no benefit in spending $500 on the motherboard. My recommendation is the Asrock B850M-X Wifi which represents good value at $274.

There is also no benefit in 64gb of ram for gaming. The standard recommendation for any new Ryzen build is 32gb of ddr5 6000 cl30.

Due to it being an x3d cpu, the difference in performance is negligable between cl36 and cl30. If the price difference is more than $50, cl36 would be fine.

Keep your current 970 evo ssd, there is no benefit in changing it.

You also might as well keep your current power supply if it's already running the 4070 super without issue.

I hope that helps to clear up any confusion.

SpartanVXL

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#3387297 26-Jun-2025 19:44

I concur with alinz on all points. I did not realise that you already had a 4070 super, this is already very good for 1440p.

Qazzy03

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#3387305 26-Jun-2025 20:14

+1 on alinz suggestion.

Best bang for buck is reuse what you can.

The 4070 Super is solid and I would keep it in the new build.

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Twalknz72

156 posts

Master Geek

#3387597 27-Jun-2025 11:01

Brilliant, thank you so much. This is exactly the clarity I needed. Just a few more questions I'm not sure if his current case will work so figured we'd get him a new one. Do y'all have any suggestions? Do you think upgrading the PSU to 80-850W would be an idea?

I'd be leaving the old motherboard and chip in the current case with the PSU, probably, as I still want the old working. I'd like to use it myself but will probably just find a card like the one that died (2060 super).

So this, I've included the bits he already had, seems to be what y'all are suggesting?

https://nz.pcpartpicker.com/user/Twalknz/saved/#view=XyGprH

SpartanVXL

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#3387637 27-Jun-2025 13:48

If you are not planning on getting any of the 400W+ GPU’s you will be fine with a 650-750W power supply. Corsair RM750W is fine, the RM650 isn’t really in stock much for whatever reason.

Edit: saw you have the silverstone da850r in your list which is a good PSU regardless.

For cases anything that has good airflow that isn’t obstructed by glass or plastic panels. Corsair 3500x, nzxt h6 flow, phanteks etc. make good cases.

The 7800x3d price vs 9800x3d price is roughly the difference in performance right now without sale. If you want to keep the system longer then $200 might be worth it.

Qazzy03

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Ultimate Geek

#3387655 27-Jun-2025 14:19

When i went shopping for a PSU, i checked it against a reddit tier list.

Aka smart people already done the research and collated the results.

There will be loads that arent available in NZ.

So i would recommend to only look at information on the one you are looking at, instead of finding the best on the sheet and trying to find it in nz.

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/1iry3a3/new_and_updated_psu_tier_list_is_out/

You would want something that is tier B or above.

With graphics cards tending to drink more wattage as we move into the future. 800/850 power supply might be good if you are keeping it for 10 years + a lot of the good ones have a very long warranty.

Cases can be a bit more subjective, do you want glass, plastic, metal, RGB coloured lights.

For cases i would look at

Airflow, can air go through the front of the case and out the back. Many cases have the front very blocked with solid material or tiny holes.

Large holes and mesh screens are great for airflow and make it super easy to clean. When the mesh screens are magnetic and can be taken off with minimal effort. Cleaning dust is a pain in the butt.

Other things to consider.

If the case is big enough to fit the gpu and cpu with aircooler attached. Does it have any hard drive or ssd mounting points if you want to add slower drives but are more for storage.

I would recommend finding the case you want at either computer lounge or pb tech or any of the small shops that have been suggested in this thread, buy the ram, motherboard , ram, power supply at the same store and ask if they can put it together if you offer to pay an install fee, they may even be willing to add your 4070 Super and ssd in while they build it.

Twalknz72

156 posts

Master Geek

#3388429 30-Jun-2025 18:20

OK so looking at ordering and the first snag is the motherboard. This is the only place that had that one in stock. I've never dealt with, or heard of them before. Anyone know who they are and are they OK?

https://quietpc.co.nz/asrock-b850m-x

Thank you

alinz

71 posts

Master Geek

#3388432 30-Jun-2025 18:40

The motherboard is available locally from Ascent and PB Tech

https://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?itemID=792519

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MBDASR12760A

Qazzy03

478 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3388437 30-Jun-2025 19:39

PB Tech

RAM https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MEMGSK6192593/GSKILL-Trident-Z5-NEO-RGB-32GB-DDR5-Desktop-RAM-Ki?qr=pspy
Monitor https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MONDEL19825/Dell-Alienware-AW2725DM-27-QHD-180Hz-Gaming-Monito?qr=pspy
CPU https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/CPUAMD09800X3D/AMD-Ryzen-7-9800X3D-CPU-8-Core--16-Thread---104MB?qr=pspy

Suggestion: Power Supply A+ on reddit tier list with 10-year warranty (personal preference)
https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/PSUCOR9020270/Corsair-RM850x-850W-ATX-31-Power-Supply-Cybenetics

Suggestion: PC Case (personal preference)
https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/CHAPHA0102/Phanteks-XT-PRO-Ultra-Black-ATX-Case-Tempered-Glas

If you want to buy everything at PB Tech

MB https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MBDASR12760A/ASRock-B850M-X-WiFi-R20-MATX-Motherboard-For-AMD-R
Suggestion: Cooler https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/FANNOC4117/NOCTUA-NH-D9L-CPU-Cooler-1x-92mm-Fan-110mm-Clearan
or
2nd Suggestion: Cooler https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/FANNOC4113/NOCTUA-NH-U12S-Redux-CPU-Cooler-1x-120mm-Fan-158mm?pg=2

You can save a couple of bucks by buying these parts from Ascent
MB https://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?itemID=792519
Cooler https://www.ascent.co.nz/productspecification.aspx?itemID=754363

Recommendation: if you are buying all in one go, ask PB-tech if they will build for you for an installation fee, if you supply the GPU and SSD.
I am assuming you will reuse those.

SpartanVXL

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#3388492 1-Jul-2025 09:20

Don’t get the noctua’s, just go straight for the Peerless assassin/phantom spirit cpu cooler.

networkn

Networkn
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#3388493 1-Jul-2025 09:22

SpartanVXL:

Don’t get the noctua’s, just go straight for the Peerless assassin/phantom spirit cpu cooler.

Why? I have had Noctuas for 10 years, genuinely curious why you think they are better?

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