Since I have been able to secure a new 3090 GPU I was thinking of maybe just rebuild the whole PC…but I need help!
CPU: Intel i9? LGA1200 socket?
Mobo: Obviously a compatible socket. Which chipset?
RAM: 32 or 64 Gb? DDR4…?
I’m going to watercool and overclock.
Mudspike hivemind…GO!
I heard AMD are rocking it on the CPU front this time around. If intel, I’d go with latest and greatest. 110x0?
32 should be plenty, but you’re splurging so go 64.
A mobo with at least two m2 slots, preferably more.
For gaming, the high end Intel and AMD CPUs are trading blows. They are pretty much on par and the differences in gaming performance are very small but if you do any multicore workloads then AMD mobs the floor with Intel.
There’s also not much room for overclocking anymore. Intel is still easier to overclock but you won’t be able to do stuff like oc’ing a 2.67GHz i7 920 to 4GHz and more than doubling gaming performance in the process (I loved this cpu).
Additionally, from what I have seen online OC’ing a modern Intel CPU makes them extremely power hungry.
In AMDs case it’s not even worth doing an all core overclock as you will lose the single core boost which is very beneficial in a lot of gaming titles and most of their CPUs will boost quite a bit higher than their advertised maximum (for example my 5900X clocks to 4.95GHz single core on stock settings).
What you can do on AMD is to tweak Vcore and PBO to increase the boost frequency. There are tools that make that pretty easy like the Ryzen clocktuner. High speed RAM with low latency is also extremely beneficial to Zen 3 CPUs
I went from an i7 6700k running at 4.5GHz to the R9 5900X and noticed a roughly 20-25fps increase in DCS and more than tripled my frame rate in MSFS 2020 (that was the really crazy part). Needless to say, I am very happy with the 5900X.
Edit: 1TB or 2TB M.2 NVMe drive with 64GB RAM or more if you are building a high end flightsim rig. DCS will thank you with faster loading times and completely eliminate the occasional stutter. Preload radius to maximum and be done with it.
Quick CPUz benchmark I did a while back
Focus on getting the best cooling. Get huge coolers that sit on the die perfectly snug. Many things can be changed later but this has to be good right from the start.
OC got boring, you just push a button, that’s it. It’s all built in to perfection.
@Troll work out your peripherals requirements. Most mobos are lacking a decent spec I/O so look at what your getting versus what is available. Also remember M.2 NVME are great but may cost you SATA lanes.
I am an Intel fan but AMD are doing good stuff.
Also I can recommend a D5 Vario pump for your loop. I have one with a 2 bay reservoir and a 360 rad. The new cases now have no option for bay mounted drives or such so there is that to also consider. New cases are getting expensive. Lian li make some lovely ones specially designed for water cooling
I can’t add much here except to say what I’ve always thought when it comes to demanding PC games: get the most power/capacity you can afford - so it will be viable as long as possible.
Nice, thanks for that! Good to hear as I’ve been wondering what to get myself as I too have an i7 6700K 4.5GHz right now. Not that interested in FS2020 but 20 FPS in DCS sounds nice.
Good point! I have two m2 in my current PC. I should aim for expansion.
I guess not.
The i9 11900K has a base clock of 3.5 GHz and 5.3 GHz boost. The 10900K has the same frequencies but fewer cores and cost more… What gives?
One should be able to push these up to the boost clock, right?
Not water cooling? Or did I misunderstand that?
Why is this a problem?
Also, I should mention that I’m not using a traditional case with bays. I have enough space inside the SimBox.
Depends on the number of drives you want.
My specific MoBo sacrifices the second PCI-E slot for the second M.2 one, which is a much better deal for me as I definitely won’t be using a second GPU but I may want more SATA storage
Also, for what it’s worth, there was a new generation of motherboards and RAM planned to come with the next CPU gen.
Isn’t it the other way around? 11900k is 8C/16T, 10900k 10C/20T?
Yes, you can push these clocks a little bit but the benefits aren’t that impressive anymore. These CPUs are pretty much clocked as high as possible already. You can push a little bit but it comes at the cost of a huge powerdraw (especially with 11 series Intels) and very hot thermals so you need very good cooling.
AMD is special in that you basically only want to tweak the single core boost frequency.
Ok. So if I only do m2 drives, it doesn’t matter?
Ok? How long before we see them?
Let me check my crystal ball…
Ah! Yes, you’re right. I got them mixed up inside my bio-CPU. It’s only single core single thread with almost no cache and very fragmented RAM. 
Or… We could ask the boss!
Should I wait for the next gen hardware?
@Discobot fortune
Yes
AS far as I know, frequencies don’t really matter any more as the days of frequency being an obvious measure don’t … fit … any longer. And I would recommend the top AMD processor over Intel at the moment. There are no compelling reasons to get an Intel processor as AMD meets or exceeds pretty much every measure … with less power used.
Edit: Next hardware refresh for AMD will see new socket and chipset. AMD also tends to keep the socket and chipset stable for a generation or two afterwards.
intel 11th gen was a big disappointment. Currently it’s a stepping stone, as they unstuck themselves to the current 14nm process. in some cases 11th gen can perform worse than 10th gen. Intel still can trade blows in the very top end, but looses in all other categories (however, wonky 2021 pricing can make some intel chips good deals). I’d recommend a 5900x or 5950x (if you feel like splurging) and not looking back. I recently upgraded to a 5900x and am very happy with it. My frames are not as impressive because I still run a 1080ti, but it runs like a champ.
Due to de silicon shortage, I believe next gen will still take some time. Probably for a post-pandemic reality well into 2022. But yes, this is the last bastion of current gen processor slots both for intel and AMD, so if you feel you could wait 1 year, it might be wise to see what they come up, especially since apple is pushing big innovation on that front with their new chips.
Perhaps it is time…
After decades of Intel, I finally jumped to AMD for CPU and haven’t regretted it. You sound like you need a socket upgrade, so if you have to budget a new mobo, now’s not a bad time to move to the dark side 
