The PC Build Thread

[_kabal_]

Yep, that's also a good case. I just look at performance when comparing stuff and the P400A stock is a few degrees better at cooling than the Meshify stock (as it should be having the extra fan).

You could get an extra fan for the Meshify and then the performance gap would be gone - that would make it a completely subjective thing.

I miss the days when I didn't know any better and just bought a R500 steel box and shoved everything into it

Good point on the fan, and exactly what I “had” to do

 

[StrontiumDog]

Is the performance gain between 3600MHz and 3200MHz neglible? Rather get 3200MHz and save some money? Then CL16 or better?

 

[The Voice]

Is the performance gain between 3600MHz and 3200MHz neglible? Rather get 3200MHz and save some money? Then CL16 or better?

If you’re on Ryzen, always go for higher clock speed. You can manually tune it after.

 

[airborne]

The 12600 isn't worth the price bump over the 12400 - Intel are asking for ~30% more money for 9% higher boost clock. That's a poor proposition - you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the 2 CPUs with the naked eye (they would benchmark a few percentage points apart).

I think 10 grand should be enough to get you going - I'd consider this a good budget build.

View attachment 1241460

I'd pay the extra grand and get 2 x 16gb 3200mhz, it's always nice having limitless ram headroom relative to what you will be using a system for.

 

[Neoprod]

Is the performance gain between 3600MHz and 3200MHz neglible? Rather get 3200MHz and save some money? Then CL16 or better?

That's from a Ryzen 5000 video but Alder Lake is much the same (they didn't do an overall average in the Alder Lake video for some reason).

Faster memory isn't worth the money - just grab whatever suits the pocket and is at least 3200 CL16. If tinkering is your thing, memory overclocking \ tuning can be pretty fun.

 

[Zyzzyva]

A graphic designer relative has asked me to recommend a desktop build for photoshop/coral draw. I've been living in the Mac world for the past 12 years so i've really lost touch with pc components and their relative performance.

Budget is not really an issue but given the fact that they work with fairly large and complex photoshop files(multiple gigs) what is an optimal build from a price/performance perspective. While money isn't really an issue, i don't want to waste money on specs given the primary task is just photoshop and not gaming.

Any thoughts?

 

[UrBaN963]

A graphic designer relative has asked me to recommend a desktop build for photoshop/coral draw. I've been living in the Mac world for the past 12 years so i've really lost touch with pc components and their relative performance.

Budget is not really an issue but given the fact that they work with fairly large and complex photoshop files(multiple gigs) what is an optimal build from a price/performance perspective. While money isn't really an issue, i don't want to waste money on specs given the primary task is just photoshop and not gaming.

Any thoughts?

As far as I know, Photoshop likes single-threaded performance, so you'll want to go Intel.

Probably something along the lines of an i5-12600, 32GB DDR4-3200, B660 motherboard, and a GPU of sorts, maybe a 3050 or 3060. SSD storage and a case with decent airflow (Phanteks P500, Fractal Meshify C) and a 650W PSU and you should be okay, I think.

Not a Photoshop guy so others might have better input.

 

[The Voice]

A graphic designer relative has asked me to recommend a desktop build for photoshop/coral draw. I've been living in the Mac world for the past 12 years so i've really lost touch with pc components and their relative performance.

Budget is not really an issue but given the fact that they work with fairly large and complex photoshop files(multiple gigs) what is an optimal build from a price/performance perspective. While money isn't really an issue, i don't want to waste money on specs given the primary task is just photoshop and not gaming.

Any thoughts?

Why not just recommend a Mac then?

 

[airborne]

As far as I know, Photoshop likes single-threaded performance, so you'll want to go Intel.

Probably something along the lines of an i5-12600, 32GB DDR4-3200, B660 motherboard, and a GPU of sorts, maybe a 3050 or 3060. SSD storage and a case with decent airflow (Phanteks P500, Fractal Meshify C) and a 650W PSU and you should be okay, I think.

Not a Photoshop guy so others might have better input.

Adobe has come a long way with supporting multi-core CPU's, I work with Adobe Lightroom a lot and it will send my 16 core 3950x to near 100% CPU use sometimes.

 

[Fulcrum29]

 

[Zyzzyva]

As far as I know, Photoshop likes single-threaded performance, so you'll want to go Intel.

Probably something along the lines of an i5-12600, 32GB DDR4-3200, B660 motherboard, and a GPU of sorts, maybe a 3050 or 3060. SSD storage and a case with decent airflow (Phanteks P500, Fractal Meshify C) and a 650W PSU and you should be okay, I think.

Not a Photoshop guy so others might have better input.

Thanks. Appreciate the info.

 

[Zyzzyva]

Why not just recommend a Mac then?

The M1 Macs dont support more than 16GB ram unless you go for the new Macbook Pro laptops. If the new M2 iMac Pro's were out it would be an easy recommendation. They need a desktop.

 

[Neoprod]

A graphic designer relative has asked me to recommend a desktop build for photoshop/coral draw. I've been living in the Mac world for the past 12 years so i've really lost touch with pc components and their relative performance.

Budget is not really an issue but given the fact that they work with fairly large and complex photoshop files(multiple gigs) what is an optimal build from a price/performance perspective. While money isn't really an issue, i don't want to waste money on specs given the primary task is just photoshop and not gaming.

Any thoughts?

https://www.pugetsystems.com/recomm...-Adobe-Photoshop-139/Hardware-Recommendations

What's your friend using currently and is it holding them back anywhere? What display are they working on?

Photoshop will run well enough on most anything modern - a monitor with professional-grade colour accuracy is probably a bigger challenge to find at a reasonable price.

 

[Tjoker]

Hi Forumites,

So I took the plunge and upgraded as follows:

CPU: Intel i9 12900K
MBD: Gigabyte Z690 Gaming X
RAM: 32GB (2x16GB Fury KF552C40BB-16)
AIO: ML360L V2 ARGB

I have two issues:

1. I can't seem to get the memory running stable on 5200MHz with XMP, do I need to set manual timings?
2. CPU Stress test is causing thermal throttling quickly. I'm using Intel(R) Extreme Tuning Utility. Is anyone else experiencing this issue with this cooler? Should I use a special thermal paste?

 

[Barbarian Conan]

Hi Forumites,

So I took the plunge and upgraded as follows:

CPU: Intel i9 12900K
MBD: Gigabyte Z690 Gaming X
RAM: 32GB (2x16GB Fury KF552C40BB-16)
AIO: ML360L V2 ARGB

I have two issues:

1. I can't seem to get the memory running stable on 5200MHz with XMP, do I need to set manual timings?
2. CPU Stress test is causing thermal throttling quickly. I'm using Intel(R) Extreme Tuning Utility. Is anyone else experiencing this issue with this cooler? Should I use a special thermal paste?

View attachment 1242542

I know it is a beast to cool, but in theory a 360mm AIO should be enough.
There does seem to be problems with some coolers though:

AIO Liquid Coolers Face Mounting Issues With Intel Alder Lake Chips

If you want to cool your new Intel 12th gen-chip with an AIO liquid cooler, hold your horses a bit.

www.techtimes.com

It's never nice spending that much money and not everything works as expected

 

[Neoprod]

Hi Forumites,

So I took the plunge and upgraded as follows:

CPU: Intel i9 12900K
MBD: Gigabyte Z690 Gaming X
RAM: 32GB (2x16GB Fury KF552C40BB-16)
AIO: ML360L V2 ARGB

I have two issues:

1. I can't seem to get the memory running stable on 5200MHz with XMP, do I need to set manual timings?
2. CPU Stress test is causing thermal throttling quickly. I'm using Intel(R) Extreme Tuning Utility. Is anyone else experiencing this issue with this cooler? Should I use a special thermal paste?

View attachment 1242542

The memory was sold as a 2 stick kit or did you have to get 2 single sticks? The "16" at the end of the model number seems to indicate it was sold as a single stick which means it's not guaranteed to work at its rated speed in a 2 stick arrangement. I'd check the QVL first and see what it says...in either case, I think you're going to probably want to check in with the store.

The cooler thing could be a mounting issue - I'd suggest running stock or even with a power limit till you can check with the store again.

 

[Neoprod]

I know it is a beast to cool, but in theory a 360mm AIO should be enough.
There does seem to be problems with some coolers though:

AIO Liquid Coolers Face Mounting Issues With Intel Alder Lake Chips

If you want to cool your new Intel 12th gen-chip with an AIO liquid cooler, hold your horses a bit.

www.techtimes.com

It's never nice spending that much money and not everything works as expected

Yeah, it sucks when that happens.

 

[Tjoker]

The memory was sold as a 2 stick kit or did you have to get 2 single sticks? The "16" at the end of the model number seems to indicate it was sold as a single stick which means it's not guaranteed to work at its rated speed in a 2 stick arrangement. I'd check the QVL first and see what it says...in either case, I think you're going to probably want to check in with the store.

The cooler thing could be a mounting issue - I'd suggest running stock or even with a power limit till you can check with the store again.

Thanks for the memory tip. It was indeed 2 single sticks. Will take it up with them.

Ja seems like there is a mounting issue with AIO.

Going to the shop this afternoon will report back.

 

[Tjoker]

The memory was sold as a 2 stick kit or did you have to get 2 single sticks? The "16" at the end of the model number seems to indicate it was sold as a single stick which means it's not guaranteed to work at its rated speed in a 2 stick arrangement. I'd check the QVL first and see what it says...in either case, I think you're going to probably want to check in with the store.

The cooler thing could be a mounting issue - I'd suggest running stock or even with a power limit till you can check with the store again.

From the Gigabyte website:



I see it is supported, but what does the "Memory socket support" mean?

 

[Neoprod]

From the Gigabyte website:

View attachment 1242594

I see it is supported, but what does the "Memory socket support" mean?

It's how many sticks were tested together. They only tested it in a single stick config because it's only sold as a single stick.

That's typically how it works...it's a gamble whether multiple single stick kits will work in 2 or 4 stick config.