RAM: 64GB G.Skill Ripjaws S5 DDR5-6000 (I just read this RAM is optimized for Intel overclocking and not AMD overclocking, but that should not matter since I don’t want to overclock, right?)
GPU: XFX Radeon RX 9070 XT Swift
SSD1: SAMSUNG 990 EVO Plus 2 TB
SSD2: SAMSUNG 990 PRO 1 TB
(I will also transfer one or two of my current drives)
Case: be quiet! SILENT BASE 601 Black
Power supply: Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 1000W
Software: MS Windows 11 Prof (sadly I need this as a fallback for now, but it will be on its own small partition. The main OS will be Linux)
It seems like the Mercury is overclockable or even overclocked by default, and has a vapor chamber?
The other two aren’t overclocked. The Quicksilver has a “better” cooler, XFX says. However it doesn’t really seem to run cooler in tests IIRC.
As for the RAMs:
What’s the difference between CL30 RAM and CL32 RAM by the way? Should I rather take a CL30 RAM that isn’t on the QVL or a CL32 RAM that is?
Do RAMs that aren’t on the QVL even work? Not tested doesn’t mean it doesn’t run, right?
in this case
F5-6000J3040G32GX2-RS5K vs.
F5-6000J3238G32GX2-TZ5N
That looks very similar to my ‘parts’ list… Unfortunately I will be waiting for a while by the looks of things, the currency exchange rate is killing me at the moment.
I would look at two 2TB SSD if you can afford it, 3TB fills up awfully quickly these days. And/or a 4TB SATA SSD for apps, backup and storage for files that don’t need to be on a NVMe drive. Unless of course you already have a NAS?
The difference in performance will be minimal so I would go with the one that is on the QVL, just to be sure even though in theory the other kit should also work without problems.
I have a NAS.
And I will most likely transfer one or two of my existing drives over. Not sure which ones. Maybe I’ll leave them in the old PC and either add another SSD or just add a regular HDD with 4TB or so when I run out of space.
But I’ll spend the 30€ extra for the second SSD to be 2TB as well.
@Derbysieger OK, thanks!
I will write an email to my guy and ask him if he has tried that combo already and is sure that it works, IIRC he has some nice testing tools and I trust him if he says he is sure that it works.
But in doubt I’ll probably go for the one on the QVL even though it is 20€ more expensive and CL32.
In my opinion, the ASUS ROG STRIX B650E-E GAMING WIFI is almost the same price (too expensive B650-E chipset) as a better and newer GIGABYTE X870E AORUS PRO.
Next to nothing when it‘s coupled with a X3D CPU. Go the safe route, as using EXPO will move you into unsupported territory anyway. So that QVL list at the very least will give you peace of mind on the first bluescreen you‘ll see with that system.
Looks solid at first glance… my only question that would require a bit more digging on for me is the Power Supply. Not saying it’s bad, just the first thing that pops up to me to question. Lately I’ve been on EVGA and BeQuiet power supplies, mainly due to best warranty length and solid build features. Been happy with them so far and no issues with the last 6 builds in the last 3-5 years.
*been almost exclusively using G.Skill RAM for 10 years now… usually Ripjaws series and again, no issues.
I would recommend to keep the entire Windows install completely separate from the Linux, on a disk level. If they somehow end up sharing an EFI partition, the Windows Updater could break some stuff. If you know what you’re doing, it’s not that hard to rebuild the EFI but you’d rather spend your time gaming than fixing the pc.
PSUs are a messy business, where the brand name on the box often has little to do with what’s inside, by whom and how well it is made. Two PSUs with the same brand name could be made by completely different companies with different tech, in different factories (OEM/ODM stuff)
According to a recent reputable PSU Tier List, this specific model (Thermaltake Toughpower GF3 750-1000 W) is A+ though, so take it!
The Linux drive will be the first one, and Windows will get 500GB of the second one.
And this time I won’t be careful not to let Linux access the NTFS partition. 15 years ago the support was wonky and I actually used a FAT partition to exchange data between the two OSs. That was because I didn’t dare to mount it as I had messed a partition up a few years earlier.
I hope the Windows license is 150 bucks down the drain. Feels weird to say that, but it is true. I want to get rid of it ASAP.
DCS, MSFS, EA WRC, and all VR games, such as Moss1+2(I have a RiftS) will make that hard though.
Once you’re comfortable with Linux you can always use your Win11 license in a VM using Virtual Box (or Looking Glass if you have a professional grade GPU) for the odd time when you need to run something that only really likes Windows.
Modern CPUs are excellent at virtualisation, you barely notice it if the disk is fast enough and - crucially - if you have enough memory to spare to give Windows 16GB or so.
I haven’t got it working myself yet, but if you can get the networking sorted you may very well be able to use the VM to drive the VR headset using Meta Link…