As my Intel Q6600 overclocked from 2.4GHz to 2.93 GHz was showing its age, it was time to replace this ~13 year old system that had been through many graphic card upgrades. It has also lasted thru 3 fan failures/replacements (cpu fan, back fan, and side panel fan) and the 200mm fan at the top of the Antec 900 was causing weird noises so I had it unplugged.
I have been looking at replacing it for some time (since Intel 9th gen), but had never pulled the trigger.
I purchased the Be Quiet 500FX case during their anniversary sale, as it met most of my criteria:
- Good quality interior fans with at least 2 for intake and 1 for exhaust
- USB C on the front panel
- Glass side panel
- Bottom mounted PSU with shroud for hiding/managing cables
- Affordable price ($119.99, cheaper than the 500DX at the time)
- The included RGB fans were a bonus
- The one miss was no 5.25" bays for an optical drive, but I can use an external one
Microcenter was running 4 promotions that were tempting:
- Intel 11700K + Asus Z590-Plus TUF WiFi for $299.99 (recently dropped to $249.99)
- Intel 12700K + Asus Z690-Plus TUF WiFi DDR4 for $349.99
- Ryzen 5600 + Gigabyte X570S AORUS Pro for $329.98
- Ryzen 5700X + Gigabyte X570S AORUS Pro for $399.98
- Ryzen 7700X + Asus X670E-Plus TUF WiFi + 32GB G.Skill DDR5 6000 CL36 for $679.99
The first 3 options would also require a G.Skill 32GB 3600 CL18 memory kit for $95.
The biggest draw for the last option is the promised support for new processors through at least 2025. As I am planning to use this platform for the next 10 years or so, a simple drop in processor upgrade is a major selling point. Also the PCIe 5.0 graphics and NVMe slots, allow for upgrades for the future.
The 11700K would be the highest power draw and also would not have PCIe 5.0. The 12700K has the high socket pressure that bends CPUs, so I would have to do the washer mod or replace the ILM as I think the bending would cause low reliability for the long term. The Ryzen 5600 would be only 6 cores and is the lowest performer. The Ryzen 5700X is getting really close to the Ryzen 7700X price once you factor in the memory price.
Other Items that I picked up to complete the build:
- Scythe Fuma 2 Rev. B - $65.99 @ Microcenter
- Dual tower with 2 fans
- 8 heat pipes
- Western Digital SN750 SE 1TB - $99.99 @ Microcenter ($79.99 after bundle discount)
- TLC flash
- DDR4 cache
- Corsair HX750 Platinum - $109.99 @ Newegg
- Asus BW-16D1X-U - $124.99 @ Microcenter
- No Bluray playing software, but I will use VLC
- MSI Radeon RX 480 4GB transfered over from my existing build
Build notes:
- The power supply cables could use an extra inch or two to make building easier (or perhaps cable extensions)
- The 24 pin motherboard power cable was too stiff to route like normal through the cable bar and had to go diagonally through the top
- cable extensions could solve this "problem"
- I had to move one of the fans to fan header 1 on the Be Quiet fan controller to get the motherboard to detect the PWM control
- I had to remove the back fan to be able to not scrape the motherboard on the standoffs while installing it
- I should have plugged in the 2x 8 pin EPS cables before mounting the motherboard
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