Rob's Alder Lake Windows 11 Rig Build Log: Choosing Components, Price, Build, and Gaming...

[midian182]

Here's a confession: I haven't built a PC from scratch in almost a decade. Sure, I've replaced RAM, SSDs, and several graphics cards, but it's been years since I sat down with a load of boxed components ready to be put together.

Read the full article here.

https://www.techspot.com/article/2388-rob-alder-lake-windows-11-build-log/

 

[RF Match]

Very nice! Appreciate your work into putting this article together. Will be doing the same down the road once I can get a new GPU.

 

[Kosmoz]

You must be a happy gamer now, so congrats!

But that price... auch! And you're missing an equally new "ouch" white GPU...

Also I don't get this water cooling trend, in my over 15 years of building PCs I never once wanted one and I still don't. I have a Scythe Fuma 2 with an extra fan which makes fun of everything including some water coolers double or triple the price, both in coolness and silence.

I also got +10 to 20 fps from upgrading from Ryzen 3600 to 5600X paired with an RX 6700 XT. And the CPU upgrade cost me $120 after I sold my 3600
I just love AM4 and the fact that I can also do this again with Zen3D, easy and cheap, makes it incredible.

 

[takaozo]

But that price... auch! And you're missing an equally new "ouch" white GPU...

There is nothing a spray of paint cant do and few hours of work.

 

[pcnthuziast]

You must be a happy gamer now, so congrats!

But that price... auch! And you're missing an equally new "ouch" white GPU...

Also I don't get this water cooling trend, in my over 15 years of building PCs I never once wanted one and I still don't. I have a Scythe Fuma 2 with an extra fan which makes fun of everything including some water coolers double or triple the price, both in coolness and silence.

I also got +10 to 20 fps from upgrading from Ryzen 3600 to 5600X paired with an RX 6700 XT. And the CPU upgrade cost me $120 after I sold my 3600
I just love AM4 and the fact that I can also do this again with Zen3D, easy and cheap, makes it incredible.

I'm with you on cooling. Water cooling does have advantages, mostly to do with height around the socket and how that opens up case options, but I like my big tower coolers! Have had a Dark Rock Pro 4 for 4 years now and plan to keep it for my next build or get the new iteration they will inevitably release.

Great article and great build though!

 

[nnguy2]

I just love AM4 and the fact that I can also do this again with Zen3D, easy and cheap, makes it incredible.

I just can't believe how value the AM4 socket has been. Got 3700X with my x570, upgraded to 5900x, and looking forward to getting the Zen3D when it drops without ever having to get a new mobo each time.

 

[Neatfeatguy]

You must be a happy gamer now, so congrats!

But that price... auch! And you're missing an equally new "ouch" white GPU...

Also I don't get this water cooling trend, in my over 15 years of building PCs I never once wanted one and I still don't. I have a Scythe Fuma 2 with an extra fan which makes fun of everything including some water coolers double or triple the price, both in coolness and silence.

I also got +10 to 20 fps from upgrading from Ryzen 3600 to 5600X paired with an RX 6700 XT. And the CPU upgrade cost me $120 after I sold my 3600
I just love AM4 and the fact that I can also do this again with Zen3D, easy and cheap, makes it incredible.

AIO cooling can sometimes be better than air. But it depends on the application/case/air flow of your case.

For example, I used to have a Cosmos 1000 case - thing looked sleek, was awesome! However, the air flow in that thing sucked. Even after ghetto modding in a couple of front intake fans, it didn't help much.

I found that a Corsair H80 (AIO) cooler kept my Phenom II x 4 940 cooler in that case than multiple air coolers I tried. A couple of air coolers I recall trying was the Hyper 212 and the Cooler Master V8, both were solid air cooling options back then, but my case just choked everything with hot air. I found the Corsair H80 on sale at Best Buy for $35 (was normally $50 or 60) so I figured what the heck...I put it in and temps dropped by almost 5C. I was able to OC my CPU from 3.6 to 3.71, using less voltage and keeping temps below the throttling point with the AIO over air coolers.

So, it depends on the system. Sometimes they're better, sometimes they're not.

Also, it can depend on the case. My case (CM HAF XB Evo), for example, most decent air coolers fit in her, but they're too tall to allow the mounting and use of the top 200mm exhaust fan. So I use a AIO instead.

 

[Kosmoz]

I just can't believe how value the AM4 socket has been. Got 3700X with my x570, upgraded to 5900x, and looking forward to getting the Zen3D when it drops without ever having to get a new mobo each time.

I know, I have a MSI B450M Mortar MAX and on that MB which is best in class in its generation (same as B450 Tomahawk), I went from Ryzen 2600 to 3600 to 5600X now and I can put even Ryzen 9 and OC it with the amazing VRMs it has. So next it will be Zen3D at some point when I want it... that upgrade path is just nuts!

I mean how can I even care about intel when AMD made this possible for me?

AIO cooling can sometimes be better than air. But it depends on the application/case/air flow of your case.

For example, I used to have a Cosmos 1000 case - thing looked sleek, was awesome! However, the air flow in that thing sucked. Even after ghetto modding in a couple of front intake fans, it didn't help much.

I found that a Corsair H80 (AIO) cooler kept my Phenom II x 4 940 cooler in that case than multiple air coolers I tried. A couple of air coolers I recall trying was the Hyper 212 and the Cooler Master V8, both were solid air cooling options back then, but my case just choked everything with hot air. I found the Corsair H80 on sale at Best Buy for $35 (was normally $50 or 60) so I figured what the heck...I put it in and temps dropped by almost 5C. I was able to OC my CPU from 3.6 to 3.71, using less voltage and keeping temps below the throttling point with the AIO over air coolers.

So, it depends on the system. Sometimes they're better, sometimes they're not.

Also, it can depend on the case. My case (CM HAF XB Evo), for example, most decent air coolers fit in her, but they're too tall to allow the mounting and use of the top 200mm exhaust fan. So I use a AIO instead.

Besides the higher price, I also don't like the intricacy of water cooling, but mostly the maintenance and reliability of it. I see more disadvantages than advantages to using one.

I understand others like it, I don't think I ever will.

Also, I always buy my cases with decent airflow, like for example frontal mesh is a must, I care more about this than aesthetics.

 

[Humza]

Solid stuff, Rob! I'm sure you'll eventually get a white Strix 3070 to match the build. Your 2070S looks plenty powerful, and that contrast will help in deciding when it's time for dusting.

 

[ltkAlpha]

Congrats on the upgrade, the new machine looks sweet!
One option you may not know you have - since your AIO is from Corsair it should be possible to link the fan speed to water temperature through software resulting in gradual noise ramp up, which is much more pleasant to the ear. Not all AIO's have this option, those from Corsair, NZXT and Fractal do. In the case of Corsair the settings are saved in firmware, so you don't have to keep the SW in memory. It also gives you the option to copy curves between fans.

Here's a curve I'd recommend:
Point WaterTemp FanRPM %
1 35 40
2 40 44
3 45 52
4 50 68
5 55 100

The 55C limit comes from manufacturer recommendations wrt water permeation into the tubes, iirc. In any case, enjoy!

 

[mbk34]

...
Day 547 of build: still waiting for GPU

 

[Sausagemeat]

Very nice build but £300 on a case and a cooler? And both made by corsair? Not what I would do. Fractal Design case and a Noctua air cooler for probably less than half what you paid would be my choice. Still I guess the cooler is very pretty.

 

[tylerb1489]

I did a Black Corsair iCUE/Asus Rog Strix Z690-F, dominator platinum build coming from a 4770k/1080 Ti (Kept the 1080Ti, obviously) to now a 12700k with DDR5 5200 and my experience is very similar to his. At 1080p Ultrawide my fps doubled in New World towns from 30-40s to 70-75fps (75hz is my panel refresh rate) Destiny 2 its locked at 75fps instead of dips in heavy action to 50s as before. Pretty everything runs perfect now especially Warzone which was really bottle necked on the old system to around 60 fps.

 

[kenny loris]

Great piece and to be honest a real kick to start building a PC if you dont have one.

 

[Dimitrios]

I'm with you on cooling. Water cooling does have advantages, mostly to do with height around the socket and how that opens up case options, but I like my big tower coolers! Have had a Dark Rock Pro 4 for 4 years now and plan to keep it for my next build or get the new iteration they will inevitably release.

Great article and great build though!

Same here, I built many systems but didn't bother with water cooling.I do it the lazy way just increase CPU fan speed and keep dust out of it. I do a 3 phase clean once with the fans OFF then ON then OFF then see what my temps are idle and when gaming.

 

[DrewTheBrave]

Nice build! I too recently upgraded from a nearly decade old Intel processor -- in my case an Ivy-Bridge 4930k that was mostly keeping up with Destiny 2 and Forza Horizon 4. After I won the GPU lottery with a 3060Ti at MSRP, I decided it was time to upgrade the rest of my system. I was interested in the 5600X after it was announced, but didn't want to spend $300 on a CPU if I could avoid it. I eventually found the i7-10700k for $150 and that sealed the deal!

A full rebuild ensued (although I reused my Fractal Design R4 case):MSI Z490-A Pro mobo, 32GB of Ballistix DDR4 3600 RAM and a Samsung 970 Evo+ SSD - and I couldn't be happier! Games that used to encounter regular stutters & slowdown are now running silky smooth at near Max settings. The 3060Ti for about $450 felt like the deal of the year - and then I got lucky and was able to go to my local Micro Center on the day the 10700k was put on clearance at $149! Hopefully everyone is eventually able to find the upgrades they need at a reasonable price soon!

 

[xkrwq]

Great post.You know I have situation in reverse on color scheme , B550 AORUS PRO AC + R7 5800X + ASUS ROG-STRIX-RTX3070-O8G-WHITE + DDr43800. RTX bought a couple of days ago. ibb.co/DDS3Y6y