Chipset drivers are rarely an issue and on older / legacy motherboards they’re already bundled with the operating system. Possibly that you get a few less BIOS updates but given AMDs track record on keeping legacy compatibility you’ll likely be fine and there are also CPU microcode updates provided by the operating system.
I’m not following your reasoning, a 4K display supports more resolutions that just one and there certainly are benefits with higher resolution when not gaming.
Surely running a display designed for 4k at anything lower than 4k would be bad? Aka not native? Would look bad?
The best argument for a 4k resolution over a 1440p one; a 4k supports 1080p gaming “natively”, as every pixel is doubled both horizontally and vertically. So it has two “native” resolutions, 1080p and 4k.
1440p, meanwhile, is double the pixels horizontally and vertically of a 720p screen.
These days, you can also do tricks like upscale.
still, if you go 4k I think 9070 XT or better is almost a must-have. With a 9070 XT you can expect 120+ FPS in most games even at 4k.
Why does my screen on my Macbook Air Mid 2012 looks much better than my Samsung P2450H?
I will note that the Mac has a glossy screen but is anti reflective. I don’t think PC screens come in glossy anymore. Gloss finish makes screens look better.
It just depends on how you look at things pretty much.
In value terms the 9700X is not the best value cpu to get right now based on UK prices.
The only reason for me to add it to the list is with an eye on multiplayer titles.
However the 9600X or even the 7600X for that matter would give you good gaming performance as well.
So you could save some money and getting the 6 cores 9600X / 7600X eventually.
If you play at 1440p with the highest pre sets than than the cpu will be a less demanding factor in many games especially single player titles with gpu´s like a 9070XT.
Oled vs IPS panels.
Oled monitors are a bit expensive but if you want the absolute best blacks.
Than an Oled would be something to consider but those are way more expensive than ips.
However an Oled is not without it´s disadvantages in regards to possible burn in issues.
There are also VA monitors who tent to sit in between ips and oled in regards to blacks.
However those generally have worse viewing angles and colors and what not.
A monitor is really personal so the best thing to do is going to a physical store,
and just look at what type of monitor is the best for your personal situation.
In regards to temperatures it´s likely not going to make a huge difference overall.
It will mainly depending on the airflow in the case it self.
This was one of the reasons for me to select the lancool217 as a good case option.
Because in regards to airflow there are great cases.
However yeah you could save another 50 pounds going with a RX9070 over a RX9070XT.
Given this rig is mainly focused on gaming i´d would personally spend most money on,
the GPU, PSU and Motherboard cause those are the core components that matter most imo.
In regards to cooling since you are talking about AIO´s i personally don´t really see,
the additional value for considering a 360 aio over a cheaper but good Air cooler.
At least not with cpu´s like a 9600X / 7600X or 9700X etc.
I´d would personally start considering an Aio with the higher core count cpu´s,
like 9950X (X3D)´s etc.
But for the 6 / 8 core single ccd cpu´s a decent air cooler like the Thermalright phantom spirit 120SE is basically all you really need.
Wouldn’t a 360 AIO be quieter than an air cooler?
Not necessarily no.
It just depends on the used fans and the said pump.
A pump can make some noise as well plus it adds another potential point of failure.
An Air cooler does not have a pump so that can´t make a noise or fail.
The best air cooler in the market the Noctua NH-D15 Gen2 LBC for AMD,
is quieter than many aio´s on the market.
However that Noctua cooler there for also comes with it´s premium price.
Eh? Noise-normalized, the G2 commonly measures 4-5 °C/100 W warmer than AIOs costing a third to two thirds as much. In some comparisons it runs close to 20 °C/100 W warmer.
I still haven’t encountered a formal G2 LBC-Phantom Spirit 120 comparison but the 120 EVO is around 0.5 °C/100 W warmer, so the 120 and 120 SE should noise-normalize slightly cooler. I do have data showing fan swaps on the Spirits can take off another ~1 °C/100 W (while keeping total cost under half of the G2 with more case, GPU, and M2_1 clearance).
For sure. Though if some attention’s given to the pump in AIO selection and PWM curve configuration it’s my experience good performance can be had while keeping the pump buried under fan noise, so the pump’s contribution to the total is often under 0.5-1 dB(A).
It’s also worth noting AIOs contain more coolant and metal than a set of heatpipes, meaning time constants of several minutes rather than a few tens of seconds. So AIOs ride through bursty workloads without spinning up as much.
How much it matters depends on the build’s noise target. For example, I can rarely get a measurement floor below a kind of rumbly 18 dB(A) and, unless there’s something wrong with them, fans and pumps are broad spectrum enough it’s quite difficult to hear them at or under the floor. For ~23 °C ambient I don’t see reasonably curved Phantom Spirits coming over the floor until ~120 W. Up through like 90 W it’s no big deal to lock the TL-C12s to minimum RPM.
So if it’s 9600X or 9700X at 88 W PPT it’s likely to take an exceptionally quiet environment or acute listener for a dual tower to be an issue. And even if it’s quiet and the listener rather fussy (yo) 145 W PPT’s probably plenty fine in an edge of consciousness sort of way. Above that’s a rather rapid transition range and, with the AM5 IHS, by 200 W (9950X[3D]) good chance you want an AIO both for noise and to avoid throttling at 95 °C.
Well yes of course i don´t recommend the G2 at all at it´s current price point.
Because that does not make a whole lot of sense if you can buy,
a good aio for two third of the price of the Noctua.
Because even doe the G2 is really great silent cooler if won´t beat a good aio,
in terms of performance.
However what my main point is that for a 6 / 8 core cpu you not really need an aio cooler,
if you can get like a Phantom Spirit120 SE or an ID cooling Frozn A720 for significantly less.
A aio cooler although generally a better performer is not particularly necessary,
with those cpu´s even if you like silent operation.
However with a higher core count cpu like a 9950X (x3d) i would indeed recommend an Aio.
Because at such heat loads a good Aio will be significantly better.
Yeah. Twice the price of Phantom Spirit here, though, for 1+ °C/100 W warmer. I hope AM5 is getting more attention for ID’s next gen, particularly around the A620 [SE].
RZ620 as well. The towers aren’t there yet but PCCooler’s F5 R120 and F7 X120 are tough to better on fins. They’re also doing a Thermalright cost competitor with the RT620.
For a new build, I’d recommend:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D or Intel i7-14700K
GPU: RTX 4070 Ti / RX 7900 XT
RAM: 32 GB DDR5
Storage: 1 TB NVMe SSD
PSU: 750 W Gold
Motherboard: B650 (AMD) / Z790 (Intel)
Case: Mid-tower with good airflow
That setup gives great 1440p gaming and productivity performance.