Budget 90k+ Upgrade Skylake PC or Build New PC? For a Potential RTX 3080 Build - Motherboard help if going for new PC.

pratyush.raj

Recruit
So I currently have an i5-6500/GTX 1070/Z-170k (Thought I would upgrade proccy but never came around to it) build along with a 144Hz panel at 1080p.

I am just not sure if I should upgrade the PC or buy a new one. Because I could pair an i7-7700k with the RTX 3080 and get decent performance based on benchmarks I have seen. But the problems with that:
1. 7700k is not available at nominal prices if available at all. Also, it'll not be under warranty.
2. I will have to change the PSU.

As for the new PC, here is what I have in mind:

Ryzen 5800x
RTX 3080 or 3070 whichever is available. The budget is not an issue. I have decided that I'll build with either of them, whichever is available since either will be a huge upgrade from 1070. (If someone can help me source it in Pune, that would purely awesome of you guys)
16GBs 3600MHz RAM
500GB SSD+upgrades later
750W Gold PSU
Deepcool Castle CPU cooler (Suggest better within budget)

I do want the build before Cyberpunk 2077 releases.

Budget is around 2 lakhs if new. But I still want to save up as much as possible and if I can

Now the killer part is that I want a motherboard that looks good and performs well. Honestly, if I were to senselessly spend just for the aesthetics, I would buy an Asrock Taichi X570 or Phantom Gaming X because I love their looks. But I do not have much use for most of the motherboard I want to know which motherboard would be best-suited B550/X570, either will work at a budget.
 
The best bang for the buck board out there is the msi x570 tomahawk. All slots are pci-e 4.0, has all the features one may need, chipset fan is quiet and it has a bomb proof vrm.

As for coolers, deepcool is all show and no go. Better buy an NZXT or corsair or arctic if you want performance.
 
As for coolers, deepcool is all show and no go. Better buy an NZXT or corsair or arctic if you want performance.
I saw a benchmark comparison between a similarly budgeted NZXT (The NZXT was costlier by a bit), and they both gave the same performance. Cooler in reference : Deepcool Castle 240.

Also, I do feel that PCIE 4 won't be of much use to me since I have ordered a PCiE 3.9 Samsung Evo 970 for the build. Looking at Asrock B550 Extreme4 since I can free up that budget for a better PSU (Around a 3-4k difference) plus it has a great VRM. I like the aesthetics of that as well.
 
I saw a benchmark comparison between a similarly budgeted NZXT (The NZXT was costlier by a bit), and they both gave the same performance. Cooler in reference : Deepcool Castle 240.

Also, I do feel that PCIE 4 won't be of much use to me since I have ordered a PCiE 3.9 Samsung Evo 970 for the build. Looking at Asrock B550 Extreme4 since I can free up that budget for a better PSU (Around a 3-4k difference) plus it has a great VRM. I like the aesthetics of that as well.
Msi x570 have better VRMs and also pice 4 is for gpu so 3080 will take benefit of the same.
 
Since you have a budget that cost more than both my kidneys & lungs combined, x570 Tomahawk would do the job and its one of the highest rated MB's in the x570 series.

Regarding RAM, go with 3600MHz C16, else C18.

Don't buy regular SSD. Get Nvme M2 SSD.

Regarding CPU cooler, in case of normal coolers Noctua NH-D15 if you're going to overclock, else Noctua NH-U9S. If you just want a basic custom cooler that's better than the stock cooler, then Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO will do the job but I wouldn't recommend it for 5800x. An alternative to deepcool castle is NZXT Kraken X73.

And remember to donate your old PC to me.
 
Msi x570 have better VRMs and also pice 4 is for gpu so 3080 will take benefit of the same.
Even B550 boards have pcie4 tbh, just that they have it on the primary pcie. And I have seen the benchmarks on YT and also referenced some people offline, the Extreme4 has very good VRMs on a B550, as good as taichi. I wanted to go for Taichi ideally, because it fits my aesthetics far better, but hecking 30k mobo. Using that extra 4k for better 850W Gold PSU.

Since you have a budget that cost more than both my kidneys & lungs combined, x570 Tomahawk would do the job and its one of the highest rated MB's in the x570 series.

Regarding RAM, go with 3600MHz C16, else C18.

Don't buy regular SSD. Get Nvme M2 SSD.

Regarding CPU cooler, in case of normal coolers Noctua NH-D15 if you're going to overclock, else Noctua NH-U9S. If you just want a basic custom cooler that's better than the stock cooler, then Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO will do the job but I wouldn't recommend it for 5800x. An alternative to deepcool castle is NZXT Kraken X73.

And remember to donate your old PC to me.
I have decided to go with this build:

Ryzen 5800X or 3800XT (Depending on cost)
RTX 3080 - Mighty hopefully at (75k)
CPU Cooler - Cooler Master ML360R (Got second hand, almost new for 8k)
Motherboard - Asrock Extreme4 B550 (17.5k)
RAM - Adata D60G 3600MHz RAM
PSU - Deepcool or Antec 850W Gold w/ 10 year warranty (9k)
Cabinet - Cooler Master TD500 Mesh (8k)

Trying to cram all this within budget. 1/5th or more of this is coming from my older PC which sold for 30k.
 
There are some disadvantages with B550 if you're a power user. The 2nd M2 slot have PCIE3x2 (16Gbs), not PCI3x4 (32Gbs).

In some 550 boards, if you use the 2nd M2 slot, then the SATA 5/6 interfaces will get disabled. And in some boards, if you use the 2nd M2 slot, then the extra PCI-E slots speed will go down. Stuffs like that.

I just don't understand why people always compromise on the motherboard when its basically called the "mother" board which connects everything together.
 
There are some disadvantages with B550 if you're a power user. The 2nd M2 slot have PCIE3x2 (16Gbs), not PCI3x4 (32Gbs).

In some 550 boards, if you use the 2nd M2 slot, then the SATA 5/6 interfaces will get disabled. And in some boards, if you use the 2nd M2 slot, then the extra PCI-E slots speed will go down. Stuffs like that.

I just don't understand why people always compromise on the motherboard when its basically called the "mother" board which connects everything together.
I am not compromising as much as I am going for a board that suits my requirements. I could get a X570 Extreme4 which also costs the same as a Tomahawk, but I specifically want that aesthetic of the Extreme4, the industrial look which will slot right into my Cyberpunk themed build without much modding.

I'm thinking about the X570, but I'll see once I start acquiring parts.
 
I saw a benchmark comparison between a similarly budgeted NZXT (The NZXT was costlier by a bit), and they both gave the same performance. Cooler in reference : Deepcool Castle 240.
I have a castle and it is sitting in my wardrobe of unwanted hardware. It caused throttling in my 9700k at 5GHz. Deepcool AIOs are absolute junk. Also there are more than insignifcant number of reports of Deepcool AIOs failing and leaking all over the place.

In the same situation, my kraken x52 maintains sub 80 degrees at all times even though I changed the fans to low rpm arctic P12 fans. The stock fans with the x52 are loud - real loud so I'd not use them.
There are some disadvantages with B550 if you're a power user. The 2nd M2 slot have PCIE3x2 (16Gbs), not PCI3x4 (32Gbs).

In some 550 boards, if you use the 2nd M2 slot, then the SATA 5/6 interfaces will get disabled. And in some boards, if you use the 2nd M2 slot, then the extra PCI-E slots speed will go down. Stuffs like that.

I just don't understand why people always compromise on the motherboard when its basically called the "mother" board which connects everything together.

No such issues in this board.


I'm running two m.2 SSDs and both are running in x4 mode. All the 6 sata are also available. I'm using one of the x1 slots too for a sound card. There are some limitations on the x4 and x2 slots. If you use the x2 slot, then a couple of sata ports get disabled. If you use the SB m.2 slot, the other PCI-E x4 slot gets disabled.
 
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