A 4 heatpipe cooler with a max 180W TDP for a CPU that can draw up to 220W at PL2 unlocked? Err nope. Give free oso will be Ewaste if want to max out the CPU as you will need to replace that insufficient cooler.

If one is lazy to research & do own study, these independent shop prebuilts arent too bad but like all prebuilds will sacrifice something and make a bit more compromises just to gain more profits.

This post has been edited by babylon52281: Feb 26 2023, 10:03 AM

Me too have been out of the scene for 10 years before my new built but I did it the hardwork way. If you want to know how I went ahead, then read on.

1) Start with what ur looking to do with ur new system. Gaming? Applications? 50/50 of both? It will determine whether which Intel or AMD CPU.

2) IMPORTANT to take ur time and dont rush to start buying without knowing exactly what you want and how you'd expect it to perform.

3) Once you have that in mind to go Intel or AMD, then decide what budget ur gonna spend. 3k? 4k? 5k? 6k? How much +/- leeway given?

4) Then pair ur CPU with appropriate mobo & RAM that will able to support ur CPU and not thermal throttle or underperform. Oso try not to overspec ur RAM but keep in mind for some future upgradability. DDR5 will be expensive but ur gonna want 16GB 6000MHZ minimum if you want to add more RAM in future.

5) Next CPU cooling is a necessity BUT also optional cuz nonK(Intel) / nonX(AMD) has boxed coolers that will work at stock speed. But to unleash CPU full potential, you can alwiz upgrade to tower/AIO when you have money later. Just make sure cooler TDP is equal to or better than CPU max TDP. Like the one I pointed above, cooler with 180W TDP for a CPU that can max out 220W is a definite NO.

6) If not sure, just ask around and prepare to kena bambu. Have some thicc skin and be open minded as I did https://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=5279514&hl= If you compared that with the system I eventually got I had changed just about everything.

7) Then pair which GPU together with PSU that has sufficient wattage, and at least in PSU Cultist list Tier C. You might be tempted to throw in more money to get a 4070Ti and paired with a 500W PSU. Just dont. These area you need to study more, get more reviews and balance the pairing so they arent overkill for each.

8) Casing is last, just get any airflow focused case you could afford with money still left, bling fans if you like ARGB unicorn vomit. If you going for 360/420 AIO make sure the case can support that. MATX or ATX? Get ATX for future upgradability and better compatibility.

9) IMPORTANT! Try to get a shop (online or physical) that can get you all those parts you need so they can issue you all in ONE invoice. It doesnt matter if you get them to assemble it or do urself. All in a single invoice will help make claim income tax easier.

For Point 1 to 9, you really have to spend time and effort to study each urself, make changes and compromises here n there. Which is why Point 2 is IMPORTANT!

It is oso important that you get from brands that you'd recognise and see prominently on store shelfs. Hard (or nowadays harder) to find brands like APACER or LEADTEK, etc, brands that you might have known 10 years ago but rare to see nowadays, is a red flag to stay away as there must be reasons why they losing marketshare. It could be parts quality, reliability or RMA dependability issues, so if ur willing to take the risk just to save money, be aware there are risks.
And dont let others persuade you otherwise unless they have convincing proof, mostly they are BS nonsense and its ur money at risk not theirs if you got burned.


In the end, there are no shortcuts if you want best bang for buck but if ur lazy of course you can ask here (but preferably if you ady have some idea what you want) or get something prebuilt from shops like Idealtech.

This post has been edited by babylon52281: Feb 28 2023, 08:36 AM

Content creator reviewers say their improving and more creation apps are getting better at utilising Radeon hardware but Nvidia are still the default option if you don't want to tinker stuff and just want it to work well out of the box. Nvidia oso has Studio drivers suited for content stuff so the pros knows which brand are giving them more focus.

3060Ti is ok

Newer 3060Ti oso comes with ReBar https://pictr.com/image/EN9IKn

Older nonLHR version is without it but can VBios flash to enable ReBar too.

You wont save much money since you'll be working on a budget cap after all. But what you can get is far more value for money.

As comparison between Idealtech 9k PC and TristanX 9k PC, you'll get 1) better CPU, An AIO, more RAM, a better built GPU (same series but Asus TUF vs Giga)

And some shops can build & test for free or just pay extra RM 50 only.

TristanX 9k PC above is about as much value as you can get if build ur own.

This post has been edited by babylon52281: Mar 3 2023, 01:05 PM

Slightly future proof?
Only need to change the PSU to 850W preferably this [Corsair RM 850W - 619] as future xx80 series GPU will predictably need a beefier PSU. Everything else is fine for the next few years.

Within 5 years time, it will still perform but it stands to be obsolete sooner than later that i7. Already AAA games like Hogwarts have 6Pcores CPU as recommended specs. That i7 has 8Pcores which will last longer.

20k budget? Two words; Mac Pro

LOL Maybe in games but Macs are well established workstations for commercial content creation works. My company have dabbled in Windows & Android systems but lastly we went with a Mac to suit our creative works.

This post has been edited by babylon52281: Mar 12 2023, 10:24 AM

Haha, not arguing or anything just raising a point that workstations are often configured differently than say a high end gaming PC. Of course you can game on one and work on the other, but workstation hardware are a niche by their own like why Quardros could justify their much higher pricetage vs equivalently specced Geforces.

They typically dont do all that well at gaming tho as Xeons are lowly clocked and Quadros are geared towards stability rather than performance. But as you pointed out more content creation apps are getting better optimised for standard desktop hardware mainly to cater for the booming youtubers and SI content creators which is a good thing as software that used to need 20k workstation hardware now can work just as well on 10k HEDT hardware.

TristanX selection isnt bad at all, just that PC will brute force their way vs Mac efficiencies.

No motherboard? No PSU? No casing? Do u have the actual part names they quoted you?

MSI mobo have a lot of subvarieties and you really have to look closely at the board VRM setup. -A version typically is the best (& most expensive of versions) and it would come with VRM that is sufficient to handle the entire family series of CPU from i3 to i9 and all the way up to PL2 unlocked. I'd be okay to put a 13900KS in a -A but only up to a 13700K for -P mobo.

In their listing, Giga UD750GM is at the higher tier and cheaper than P750 but I wouldnt want to get either as Giga PSU has bad rep.

If you willing to pay up to their P750 pricetag, it would be better to get MSI MPG A750GF as its Tier A rated. Antec list does have a Tier A rated PSU in the HCG Gold

Just be aware that prebuilds will always have compromises here & there that shops would guess less-savvy customers wont notice, mostly in order to keep prices attractive but oso to gain more profits. Idealtech's is AFAIK the best ones amongst many shop prebuilds I seen but not much by far.

https://youtu.be/7cZXKQL4EuQ?t=28

Erm... on surface it may look like minor increment of extra 2 VRM phases (vs Z690 Pro-A) but if look closely they are 16x of 80 Amp SPS vs 14x of 55 Amp SPS. This is ady in Aorus or ROG territory.

It will be sufficient to run a 13900K at its max PL2 state but Ocing headroom would be limited. Anyhow I doubt serious Ocers would use a office productivity mobo like Pro series for serious Ocing lah.

For ur specs I cant find a review but you can do some inference, as the 13700K is equivalent to 12900K and the VRM setup for that Z790-A Pro is near equivalent to Z690 Tomahawk, so you can go look for these 2 combos https://www.techspot.com/review/2381-intel-...otherboard-vrm/

This post has been edited by babylon52281: Mar 14 2023, 06:06 PM

Haha, not sure ... but serious audiophiles would not rely on any built in audio and preferably get external DAC like this Creative https://my.creative.com/p/sound-blaster/sound-blaster-x4

Lumion is more GPU intensive than a CPU reliant one

https://www.cgdirector.com/lumion-system-requirements/

So if only for that I'd sacrifice on CPU & mobo;
i5 12600K/13600K + MSI Pro-A B660M or B760M DDR4

and max out GPU budget, so from 3080 towards 4070Ti whichever can afford.

This post has been edited by babylon52281: Mar 15 2023, 09:30 AM

Even for a limited upgrade, RM5.5k aint enuff for 4K.
CPU 5800X3D ady eat RM1.5k, leaving just RM4k for high end GPU and PSU to match. Playable 4k you'll need at least 6900xt. And you'll need 850W A tier PSU.
https://www.techspot.com/review/2627-hogwar...gacy-benchmark/

AM4 is ady deadended platform so if OP still wants to upgrade keep this ecosystem, might as well spend that money and get the best AM4 gaming CPU.
GPU can still come later.

This post has been edited by babylon52281: Mar 16 2023, 06:19 PM