And here’s me regularly killing my OCed 9600K with rec room. I have considered going up a CPU or two but the cost / benefit is pretty small above where I am.
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I am looking to build and sell such cryogenic computers as consumer devices.
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Yeah and that whats worries me going for AMD. I still dont trust these CPUs and they have a lot to prove…
Daang… but Im gonna have to invite you to Sweden to build that rig for me haha!
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Nah, shipping cost won’t be high. It should be about the size and thickness of a laptop, mostly because the RAM will stick up a bit.
I have been working towards this for a very long time.
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Nah, my 2080 laptop is enough for now. Its mostly for presentation and simple VR demos anyway. All I care about is the desktop rig for the geeky stuff 
I’m going through similar decisions on a new pc.
I have a 3090 on order too, the oc strix… no idea when it’s arriving , I think AMD is doing very well at the moment but I’ve been put off AMD GPU’s in the past and I still think they will lack in a few key areas of features where vr is concerned compared to nvidia. (an assumption, I’ve no idea if they are about to turn a corner there too). Overall, especially for VR I’m sure the 3090 is the winner for a while (ignoring the price/perf consideration of course 
).
Currently running an 2080ti on 8700k I did delid on. I’m considering 5950x as my next cpu also, AMD have done exceptionally well to catch up with intel, we know how well they have been doing on multi thread performance and finally looks to be beating intel on single thread too is great to see, especially with the power requirements being maintained.
This is where I’m finally being put off intel, as a long term ‘only buy intel’… The 10900k’s are nice performers but power and more so heat is getting a joke, I have 2 friends who went to 10900k and are putting in extra effort to keep temps where they need to be. I can’t see rocket lake being any better in that regard but happy to be wrong, even if they do manage to take an edge in single thread perf again it feels like it’s likely not worth it (my guess). Looking forward to seeing some independent reviews to be sure of what I’m thinking of doing.
Motherboards I know you don’t generally need to pay for the top ones unless there is a specific feature you absolutely need. I’ve done so in the past for good oc support but for performance, you’ll not likely see any difference… however, I’m a FOMO person so will probably still buy a high end one 
A decent nvme drive is good but for many games not that necessary (yet) over a standard ssd, I’ll likely get a really fast pcie4 nvme drive for os/apps and a selection of games that will partially benefit and the rest can sit on my older m.2 and ssd’s (just bought 2 more 2tb normal sata ssd’s during prime day).
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And you won’t find a desktop anywhere more capable than this. I’ll stop trying to sell you on my latest hardware project for now though.
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Thanks, it seems we are on the same track here 
Yeah. And considering the fact that Rocket Lake is still 14nm and just higher clocks, Im not sure if Intel will be able to catch up on AMD the upcoming 6 months.
When it comes to motherboards, its mainly about having sufficient SATA ports, USB ports and also good VRM for overclocking and stable RAM memory. Ive never had a 500+ USD mobo (currently I do a cheap ASUS Z390 Gaming F and last time I had the Taichi for the 8700K). But after all struggles Ive had to get my 4000Mhz sticks to work (which never got beyond 3800Mhz) and all CPU OC struggle, Im starting to understand the importance of buying a proper mobo.
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So with all the fancy LN2 cooling and all, what CPU and mobod would you suggest - or use - if I told you to build a rig for me?
There are always per case factor with mobo issues, you could buy more common gaming grade board and have a better experience than an expensive one no doubt. firmware and other issues always come into play regardless of features/cost.
But yes, my last 4 mobo’s have been asus maximus boards, the 2nd to last one had all sorts failing on it, had to put a sata controller in as sata stopped working properly, had to put a usb controller in as usb was giving me issues… but I’ll still likely do the equiv for amd whatever that is (not done any research yet)
Right now, Intel i9-10900k(F) Overclocked from Silicon Lottery, because it’s available and proven, or if I can wait, maybe the AMD 5900X if DCS World VR benchmarks prove it and if AMD/Intel do not announce the next generation in the meantime.
USB ports are a possible reason to go Intel as well - many AMD ports have issue with low-latency USB3 as used by VR, industrial equipment, etc - which is why Oculus denylisted them. However, I just have a dedicated USB3 card recommended by Oculus, with independent controllers on all four USB3 ports…
One thing I would never do is buy for aesthetics. I sometimes buy for lots of USB3 ports, but only when going for industrial applications…
I have not chosen a motherboard yet. Need to do a LOT more research on benchmarks first.
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Thats true… Having that said, my 170 USD mobo (ASUS Z390 gaming F) is currently way more stable than my previous 320 USD Taichi Z370. Loved the OC capabilities with the Taichi, but it was never really stable with the RAM timings and the CPU OC beyond 5Ghz. Maybe it all comes down to my lack of knowledge with timings etc 
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Indeed. More expensive motherboards are often worse for performance.
Lately there is also the issue of load-line correction. You want to chose a motherboard that has been tested by dedicated overclockers with oscilloscope on the voltage inputs above all else.
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I see. But how to win the Silicon Lottery then? Buying CPU second hand?
Ouch, I had no idea about this… 
Yeah but these PCIe USB controllers kills PCIe lanes and will make the GPU go 8X, unless you go all-in on crazy expensive SLI mobos with dual 16x, as far as I understand?
No, buy FROM Silicon Lottery. These guys. I did.
https://siliconlottery.com/collections/cometlake
You can get more GHz than they advertise. They bin their chips for performance at low voltage. So, you buy the top few percent chips, and overclock them as far as possible.
By the way, do NOT bother with air cooling CPU/GPUs these days. The power density is just too high to get the best clocks now. My PC was the last top-end machine that will be able to get away with air cooling, and I have paid a steep inconvenience as a result already.
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@SweViver Oh, and get the CPU delidded. WELL worth the extra $50, and you do NOT want to be gambling your own expensive chip doing that kind of work yourself, even with a hardware lab like mine…
@mirage335 in reference to previous threads, my Rog Strix OC 3090 arrived and it’s topping out at 2190mhz on air. It would really fly on water. It throttles back when breaching 60 degrees C to 2145 and sometimes lower (2100). Ampere loves being kept cool. Wish I had a water set up.
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I have an Asus Strix OC 3090 incoming, eventually. and I am planning on upgrading the ole 6700k with a 5950x depending on third party benchies. I got 64gb 3600mhz and some sata and nvme ssds that i expect to reuse. also I have an 1600watt enermax psu that should be able to handle it.
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This is interesting. I have to admit I never even considered buying from that place before even if I know about them, thanks!
Regarding cooling, I do air cooling on the MSI Trio 2080Ti which is hardly a problem, but NZXT AIO on the CPU for 2 years now, but Im not happy with it, Im starting to bellieve custom loop is the only way to go (including GPU cooling)
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