New PC build 9950X3D

Hey all,

First message here, incredibly surprised by the positive support from everyone in the topics I read. :slight_smile:

I’m looking to build a new PC. I’m still undecided between the 9950X and the 9950X3D.

In short
My main usage will be productivity. A lot of heavy software used at the same time, and I would love to game at 4K or 1080p/1440p at ultra with/or Pathtracing when a game allows it.

In long

I’m a 3D Environment Artist in the games industry. My job requires a lot of different types of heavy tasks, from modelling, to sculpting, to extensive use of game engines and simulations.

I always have at least 3-4 software open at the same time:

  • Modelling package (3ds Max/Blender)
  • Zbrush
  • Substance suite for texturing
  • Unreal Engine 5

I’m looking for a robust system with high end components for future proof.

So I would like high speed NVMEs, a motherboard that support as many as possible, as well as I/O for connectivity (multiple monitors, display tablet, etc).

My current system is pretty old (built in 2015) with an Intel i7-5820K and I bought a 3090 when it came out. I will be keeping the 3090.

I would like as much ram as possible, but unfortunately with only 2x DIMMS I can only go as high as 96GB, would have loved 128GB while maintaining the high speed of DDR5, but it’s ok.

For the motherboard, I’m really lost when it comes to PCIe lanes sharing. The 3090 is gen 4. So from what I understood, even if I use the second PCIe slot x16, my 3090 won’t lose power. But for the issues regarding the USB 4 and M.2 slots, even though I read a lot of articles and watched a lot of videos, I still don’t understand a thing :joy:

In terms of choices, I made this short list:

  • MSI X870E Goldlike
  • AORUS X870E Extreme AI Top
  • AsRock Taichi

I’m not looking for a threadripper build as they’re old now even thought they have more cores.

Sorry for the long post, but I’m one of those who like to invest when needed, but don’t like investing in something I would regret later. :sweat_smile:

Thanks!

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Hi!

Welcome to L1techs!

You should have a look at this-

The sheet above effectively captures all the nuances of AM5 motherboards.

Feel free to ask questions. Also if a X670E mobo is suffice for your needs, you should consider that too.

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Thanks so much for the sheet! Made everything really clear. :slight_smile:

One question though, could you explain the difference between lane sharing and bifurcation?

I think I will go with the X870E Godlike. Unfortunately none of the X670E offer the amount of connectivity and M.2 slots I’m looking for, except the Asus Ceosshair Extreme, but for the price difference, especially here in France, I prefer going with the MSI.

Also, is there a Ram brand/model to avoid?

I’m thinking of getting a 2x48GB 6000 CT30. Everyone seem to suggest either Corsair or Trident.

Thanks again! :slight_smile:

Here is the example of lane sharing - if you plug an SSD into the M2_4 slot, the last PCIe slot will provide only 2 lanes (out of potential 4 lanes), because other 2 lanes will be used by SSD.
Or similarly with the PCIe slots - you can have the full x16 bandwidth if only the first PCIe is populated. But the moment you plug anything into the second slot - half of the lanes are taken away from the first slot.
(Image is taken from the 870E Godlike manual)


Bifurcation is a ability to divide the bandwidth of one PCIe slot into multiple portions to run several devices on it. For example, if the supports bifurcating the x16 slot into x4/x4/x4/x4 - you can plug 4 NVME SSDs into it using adapters like this

I didn’t find information which bifurcation modes the godlike board supports, but in the BIOS you’ll have something like this:

Brilliant!

Thanks so much for the info and explanation ! :slight_smile:

Here in the image is the final list of parts

What do you think?

I will now start comparing prices to get the best deals

Meh, 350€ for an AIO and 400€ for the fans look like a waste

So, you’re selecting top spec items across the board. In 2025 this means that you’re spending a premium over similarly performing items.

Example:
I’d go with the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X CPU instead of the shiny new …X3D variant. Yes, the X3D version is a tiny bit faster in all youtube tests, but the 9950X is significantly cheaper at almost the same performance.

I think you can save at least 500 EUROs selecting a similarly performing motherboard - the Godlike branded boards are priced for gods (at least that’s how I understand the name).

Another word on the mobo: Current consumer CPUs and boards have abandoned HEDT with the result that consumer hardware is limited in IO (=storage) and memory capabilities.
Current consumer CPUs are limited to dual channel memory (your existing CPU still supports quad channel memory).

If you’re willing to spend that much money, maybe a look at the workstation offerings may offer more value (at similar cost)? But it’s likely that it will entice you to spend even more money …

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for some context, I use the older Ryzen 5950X + Nvidia RTX 3090 and I am able to run the majority of games on 4K with High or maxed out settings. So I am sure you will get plenty of performance with either of the CPUs listed, 9950X or X3D

You should ideally look up the QVL (qualified vendor list) for the motherboard in question and try to identify RAM kits that are listed there. The memory selection in the QVL for your board is considered to be “validated” and thus guaranteed by the mobo manufacturer to work.

“Avoiding” certain brands really is not a thing. Most hardware on the market is good, and a large amount of it is just re-brands of the same underlying components.

For memory capacity, I have 128GB in my PC, the highest memory usage I have ever gotten up to was about 68GB RAM used during some AV1 video encoding. If you can get 96GB for your system, it might not be a bad idea to do so.

Also, I am not 100% sure that either of the 9950X or X3d need this much cooling as you have listed. It seems like the standard Noctua NH-D15 should suffice and its a hell of a lot cheaper than what you have listed

Something else to consider, is price efficiency. The experience I had last generation on AM4 was that I paid ~$680 USD for the Ryzen 3950X. Then, within about 18 months, the 5950X came out, and before long it was priced at only $450 USD likely due to the incoming AM5 platform. So the end result was that I bought-in halfway through the AM4 life cycle, ended up paying a premium for it, and ultimately the final flagship CPU for the platform ended up costing less. I am not 100% certain taht the same situation could be currently playing out with AM5 and the 9950X3D. If AMD decides to put out one more line of CPU’s on AM5 similar to how they did with AM4, then the 9950X3D could possibly end up being the over-priced middle-child of the platform and something even better may come out by the end of next year, which will cost you even more if you feel like upgrading to that. On the other hand, going with the 9950X or even 9900X would save money which could go towards a future upgrade if it exists. Just something to think about.

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You are overspending by at least €1k, with the prices listed. If this is fine by you then, fine. Otherwise, I’d build something like this. You might want to add a few fans to the build, but six fans in total, including radiator, are plenty enough.

Here is an alternative build that you may want to draw inspiration from. Your setup is not bad by any means, you are just paying way more than you need to.

PCPartPicker Part List

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Depending on just how important ram speed is for you, Crucial is now offering 64gb DDR5 DIMMs at 5600Mhz. You can get a 128 kit as a start as you’ve said you do want then.

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One thing i would like to mention is that Msi as far as i´m aware does not support ecc memory error correcting.
So if ecc is important to you than Msi is probably not the brand to look for.
If you don´t care about ecc but just want as much memory as possible than Msi will be fine.

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Only the wealthy ones. The poor gods can’t afford Godlike either.

I don’t see anything here a B650 or B850 wouldn’t be fine for. Steel Legend/Riptide would be the default I’d work from.

Mmm, possibly guaranteed to work with the board under configuration constraints that may or may not be documented and, if they are, are often overlooked by people checking the QVL. Also no way the mobo manufacturer can guarantee the processor’ll take the the overclock.

2x48GB’s a widely available DDR5 option (if you look you’ll see @ArtOfElbouhy has Vengeance in the parts list) but may be on the low side for 3D depending on the projects. 2x64, while pricey and slow, might be preferable to 4x32 or 4x48. 96 GB works for what I do but it’s not uncommon I recode workloads for lower memory consumption.

Yeah. Crucial Pro’s CL46, though (same as KVR64A52BD8-64 at 5600).

A 360 AIO’s usually appropriate to 230 W PPT. Dual tower air’ll do it but gets loud, particularly if ambients are high. Despite being a trailing edge, legacy dual tower the D15 G1’s priced the same as midrange 360 AIOs. The D15 G2 also gets stomped by AIOs costing two thirds as much and, on AM5, is edged out by dual tower competitors a quarter the price.

Haven’t seen much data on Tryx, so not sure how the Panorama compares to Lian Li’s Galahads (which are higher performance than the Liquid Freezer II or III with the Trinity and Lite usually priced competitively but not available in 420) or premium AIOs like Valkyrie or Corsair.

I’m not sure what’ll happen as the X3D capacity expansion AMD initiated after 9800X3D launch comes in. Near term price declines seem unlikely given the 9800X3D, 9900X3D, and 9950X3D are all waitlist and backorder only. At least here, anyways, 9950X3Ds are getting scalped for as much as 9070s.

I haven’t seen anything either. Gigabyte’s been bringing in ECC on the AI Tops and some of their other upper boards, though, so wouldn’t surprise me if MSI starts adding ECC support as catch up.

It’s not apparent to me bus EC4 offers much over DDR5 write CRC+ODEC2+read CRC besides DED on certain error mechanisms. Fairly niche value proposition, IMO.

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Slowly piecing things together for a similar 9950X3D build too so this thread will be helpful for me to refer to in the future. I have a tower cooler, PSU, main NVME and something else already bought but won’t be doing my (first ever) build for a few months yet :blush:



My first choice was also the godlike, even though there is no white option and the RGB is a bit over the top and for me, having a dedicated post code rather than one on a screen is a must (which is where the proart X870E board loses out sadly :cry: )

i love the PCIE lanes and chipset and of course the huge amount of USB–C too, but there have been some significant problems that MSI has been very slow to acknowledge and please remember to keep in mind, low volume products usually have the worst support.

https://forum-en.msi.com/index.php?threads/dynamic-dashboard-iii-issue-x870e-godlike.406552/

Some people are on their 3rd or even 4th RMA :scream:

Also their PCIE adapter for “only” two NVME is a bit chonky for what it is, they really could have implemented it better but its there if you need it!


The AI top motherboard looks like a awesome second choice if you change your mind. If no white options that suit my needs come out in the new few months, that board would be my choice as well. The gigabyte Aero D or B would be my choice, the only difference is one has the 10GB marvel Nic’s and one has the 2.5G intel nics, but also has a digital audio/toslink input thing.

They’re beautiful, in white and they’re feature-rich but they’re intel only and the only currently available equivalent motherboard for AMD is a B650 which is a bit silly for Gigabyte to focus so much on intel but they probably have their reasons.

the b650 board is lovely, just not to my needs is all :pray:



As for RAM, there is lots and lots of choice, especially if you’re wanting an AIO or custom loop and i see you’ve chosen the pretty Tryx AIO so RAM won’t really be a problem.

If you change your mind and want to go aircooled, then you’ll need to make sure your tower cooler has enough ram clearance for some of the really fast kits which sit at around 53 mm. For me, i’ll be using an NH D15G2 so 32mm is the max, which means the white teamgroup 2x48GB 6000 CL30 or the same in CL32 for 6400 MT will be my choice, but there’s lots of good kits out there, just make sure to maximize the multiplier. Your Corsair choice is good, and corsair like gskill do have a lovely RAM height page too which is very helpful. There are also plenty of much more affordable tower coolers which have no trouble with RAM clearance, even with kits like the Trident Z royal, with all its little faux-crystals :innocent:


I am surprised there wasn’t a T705 NVME on the list at least for your main drive, and if Samsung is your fav, they have some new Gen 5 options as well if the T705 Crucial isn’t to your liking.

there is this: G.SKILL Releases Low Latency DDR5-6000 CL26 & CL28 Memory Kits - G.SKILL International Enterprise Co., Ltd.

But… when that will actually come out is a whole other question! the announced 96GB kits for CL26 have been posted as a press release for several months now, but i can not find any new info.

Keep in mind the godlike does (theoretically) support CUDIMM but not ECC (which should be a :triangular_flag_on_post: for halo tier products)

CUDIMM is the up and coming thing, though you will definitely want some air flowing to keep them cool! also CAMM2 is a few years away as well, which will sit flat kind of like the DIMMs in laptops, so if you’re trying to future proof, there’s only so much you can do :innocent:


I do like the Lian Li edge PSU, its quite interesting and there has been some very interesting builds with it lately.

The big thing though is the case… the Lian Li 011 vision, is a lovely case…

remember the Godlike is not an EATX motherboard, its closer to CEB standards, and is 304.8mm x 277mm officially but keep in mind with the side connector you will need to add an extra 20 or more MM and be very very very conscious of your cable management and bends, but i checked Pangoly and it is listed as compatible, but YMMV

https://pangoly.com/en/compatibility/msi-meg-x870e-godlike/case

anyways just some thoughts that i hope are useful. You’re in good hands here on the L1 forums, the collective knowledge here is priceless, so heed advice! but make your own choices in the end and have fun!

:cookie:

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For a white board the X870E Aorus Pro ICE could be a good choice, maybe?

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/X870E-AORUS-PRO-ICE-rev-10#kf

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i remember that particular board didn’t meet a bunch of requirements. It is pretty, and nice and normal sized but if i remember right that one is the 6 layer pcb one, and in RAM tests it was very shaky, and a bunch of other stuff, i just remember ruling it out a while ago :cookie:

but thank you though :pray:


just look… if only this was AM5

isn’t it pretty :drooling_face:


little update: just took another quick look at the Aorus pro ice, to make absolutely sure it was the one that was ruled out and sadly yes it was… Gearseekers used that board in a HAVN hs420 vgpu build today and it looked beautiful but sadly yes.

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Wendell mentioned CL26 not being stable in a recent-ish video (forget which, sorry), suggesting to stick with CL28. Not that that precludes buying CL26 in the hopes of future tightening.

It’ll be bypass mode with Granite Ridge, though, so doesn’t really matter in the near term. I anticipate Olympic Ridge’ll support the C in CUDIMM for parity with Arrow Lake. But so far as I know AMD hasn’t mentioned anything.

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thank you this is good info… honestly i think 6k or 6400kMT 30CL/32 is probably the sensible no fuss sweet spot, especially since the timings are better (39 39 76) at 1.4v

true, but there’s that short term future proofing. I mean with Ryzen 6/11 000 series doing away with X3D in favor of a generally larger L3 it might make some of the restrictions less restrictive for ram choices maybe?

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Oh my, some great info and suggestions! :grin:
Thanks all!

To be fair, I’m going with the Tryx and fans for the looks, and I won’t be paying for them as they’re a gift. :grin:

jode For the 9950X3D I understand completely that the 9950X is about the same, but paying 200€ more to get the top in the line isn’t an issue for me.

However for the motherboard, I agree. The MSI is really expensive, at 1400€ here in France. What’s still making me want to buy it is the amount of connectivity in USB-C and number of M.2 slots.

I have looked at Threadripper builds for sure, but to get something worth upgrading to, it will cost much more. :sweat_smile:

@wertigon Thanks so much for the list!
I will take a look at the ProArt Motherboard. Heard a lot of good thinks about it. So will compare the PCIe shadings/bifurcations vs the Extreme TOP and Godlike. For the cooler, as I said, pure looks :innocent:

@MilzyBee Yeah I have seen these issues as well, and to spend this amount of money makes me not want to take the risk to be honest. That’s why I have the Extreme AI as the close second choice.

And I love the PCIe quick draw adapter. Can this be found as a standalone product if I end up buying another MOBO?

Thanks for the NVME suggestion! I have to admit I suck at looking in depth into models, as I’m not really familiar with Gen 4 or 5. :joy:

Good catch on dimensions! It’s why I ditched the O11 Vision compact at the first place.

I do love the Aero! But I’m making an all black build with an Interstellar lighting scheme, but I do love white and black builds. :smiley:

Thanks everyone for all the info!

Some questions:

  • What are these ram profiles/types? CUDIMM, etc ?

Sorry again for my noob questions, even though I built a PC in 2015, I was a kid, and now I’m trying to understand everything. :smiley:

@lemma Thanks for all The info as well! Couldn’t mention more than 2 people at once since im new here oops

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Also I always wondered, what defines ram speed? Is it the frequency, the latency? Because above with the recommended 128GB the latency is at 46. Compared to 30-32 what are the real speed difference? So basically 96GB 30 vs 128GB at 46