@primesuspect said:
Just out of curiosity: If you want to keep the price down, the motherboard has a perfectly good sound controller on-board. Any super-compelling reason you would get a discreet sound card?
On board doesn't do 5.1 sound, and I have a 5.1 system in my office. Plus, I've never felt particularly happy with onboard audio. I seem to always get extra noise on the line.
The specs for the onboard audio say 8 channels, am I missing something?
On-motherboard analog audio solutions have universally terrible electrical ground isolation schemes which result in amplifying electrical noise from the rest of the motherboard. The result? Constant humming and clicks/pops whenever the power usage changes drastically.
@ardichoke should know better: the only winning move is not to play. Use digital audio to an external box with good design or get a discrete sound card if you need analog.
I have had zero issues with the last three motherboards. No hums, clicks or pops at any time from any content no matter the use. I do use an external DAC now via the digital out over TOSLINK, but that was for integration of a headphone amp and not to resolve sound issues. Personally, I would omit the sound cards in an initial purchase of a new Ryzen build until I actually had a problem. Why waste the money? How's your integrated sound working out @primesuspect?
@primesuspect said:
Just out of curiosity: If you want to keep the price down, the motherboard has a perfectly good sound controller on-board. Any super-compelling reason you would get a discreet sound card?
On board doesn't do 5.1 sound, and I have a 5.1 system in my office. Plus, I've never felt particularly happy with onboard audio. I seem to always get extra noise on the line.
The specs for the onboard audio say 8 channels, am I missing something?
I mean, I guess you can remap the audio ports on the board to get 5.1... but I have no idea how they're claiming 8 channel audio when they only have 3 analog jacks on the motherboard (traditionally speaking, a line out, line in and mic in). Maybe they're referring to audio out via HDMI, which wouldn't even be supported as I'm not getting an APU.
On-motherboard analog audio solutions have universally terrible electrical ground isolation schemes which result in amplifying electrical noise from the rest of the motherboard. The result? Constant humming and clicks/pops whenever the power usage changes drastically.
@ardichoke should know better: the only winning move is not to play. Use digital audio to an external box with good design or get a discrete sound card if you need analog.
This is exactly why I wasn't too bothered about adding a discrete sound card to the build. I've never had particularly good results with onboard audio anyway. My current speakers are analog only. Long term I'd like to get ones that take optical input, but I'm not there yet.
My onboard audio has been good most of the time, but I've definitely had some janky boards. The Raspberry PI has terrible onboard audio, but that's not a fair comparison.
But I ended up getting one of these, anyway. It's good for headphones, as a DAC connected to my speaker amp, and as a preamp for the speaker amp. I use it as a preamp most of the time because of the convenience of the volume knob.
Bonus: immature giggles every time I change the output
Okay... well... regardless of the quality of onboard sound, that board doesn't have analog 5.1 out, so it's a moot point. If I went mATX (at this point) I need a sound card, and I really want to build a tiny box, because having mid-full size towers under my desk at this point is something I no longer want to do... so... other than debating about the merits of onboard audio, does anyone else have other feedback about the parts I picked?
@Thrax - would it really make a noticable difference to go from the G.Skill Ripjaws V RAM I specced out to the Corsair your posted? Does downclocking a higher speed RAM actually yield worthwhile performance gains? I haven't been into enthusiast level computer building in a long time, so I am legitimately unsure about this because other than the clock speed, they look the same spec-wise.
Another thing I could think of looking at that case and motherboard combo. If you go with a sound card, your side window may look a little cluttered with the sound card cutting off your graphics. May or may not matter to you. Personally, I don't love the case. Are you looking to reduce vertical size? You have plenty of width for footprint so you would rather go small cube vs. mini tower?
@Cliff_Forster said:
Another thing I could think of looking at that case and motherboard combo. If you go with a sound card, your side window may look a little cluttered with the sound card cutting off your graphics. May or may not matter to you. Personally, I don't love the case. Are you looking to reduce vertical size? You have plenty of width for footprint so you would rather go small cube vs. mini tower?
I was torn about the case, too. On the one hand, the layout would be pretty easy to work in, and the watercooling support looks great for the size. On the other, the cube-ish shape will make it kind of awkward on my desk. Hell of a deal, though. Most small cases I like more are 2-4x the price.
@primesuspect said:
BTW Micro Center had a $30 coupon for a mobo/cpu combo, so I went full ham and got the Asus Crosshair VI Hero instead of the Prime.
There is a very objective thing that I do (simming gear combinations for WoW theorycrafting) that is very CPU intensive and I can tell you after testing this thing with @TiberiusLazarus and @RyanFodder last night, it's fast as fuck.
We are pleased to inform you that your order for the item(s) shown below has been successfully received
Your order number is G1612433 and will be shipped as soon as available.
PLU# Item Description Qty Receive By (est.) unit price ext price
9041287 Gigabyte Z270X-Gaming 5 Motherboard 1 Tuesday, March 14 $194.99 $194.99
9099607 AMD AM4 Ryzen 7 1800X 3.6GHz Processor 1 Tuesday, March 14 $499.99 $499.99
If you have any questions regarding your order, please call 1-877-688-7678.
Thank you for choosing Frys.com.
Sincerely,
Fry's Electronics Inc.
Monday, I received an email me telling me that I needed to confirm the order because my billing and shipping address were different.
We would like to thank you for your recent order. To protect you as a credit cardholder our automated system is requiring additional information prior to shipping. Once the additional information has been processed, your order will be confirmed and shipped to you.
We have attempted to contact you via the telephone number provided in the order, but we were unable to reach you. Please call us by 6PM EST to finalize your order for shipment at 1-408-673-3109. To expedite your call, please reference order number (redacted)
This verification process can only be completed by the cardholder.
We apologize for the possible shipping delay and thank you in advance for your patience and understanding in this necessary process.?
Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.
SO, i called (and waited on hold for 20 minutes for the privilege) as they asked, and confirmed that this was correct.
I got another email today telling me that despite my conversation yesterday, my order was still cancelled.
I called again today (another 15 minutes of hold time.) Unfortunately, the order was cancelled, and can no longer be reinstated, would I be interested in placing another order?
The answer is that I will never be interested in making another order, and I will make sure that my other computer building friends are aware of your mistake and unfortunate order process.
I'm going to go ahead with 2 of the 16GB Corsair 2666, since I don't plan to OC ever. It's the same as he recommended, but the base clock is set there.
I'm hijacking Prime's thread because my dreams of Ryzen ownership are just as important. It's so odd, last few days as I have been dreaming up my new build I've actually gotten away from the limits of mATX and decided I really like the idea of the Corsair 600Q as a case. It's weird and upside down like me, so I kinda dig it. Mostly it reduces the part of the footprint I can about the most, length from front to back, is about an inch taller than what I have and is about as wide which isn't an issue. Not as long while preserving those sweet optical bays, which I need and I get to build full ATX still and have all the expansion I want, plus the top is totally flat and not needed for airflow so it will be like an extra shelf for cool stuff, like R2D2 coin banks or Stranger Things Pop Figures, you never know....
Any feedback on my list is appreciated, I'm still putting it all together in my head. I'll probably change my mind three or four more times, but for now, I'm kinda sold on the 600Q, I think I can do a solid performing yet quiet Ryzen build in it.
@drasnor said:
I believe that mini ITX is the future. Micro ATX to ATX? Go small or go home. The siren song beckons; join us! I live in a Lian Li PC-Q08B.
@drasnor said:
I believe that mini ITX is the future. Micro ATX to ATX? Go small or go home. The siren song beckons; join us! I live in a Lian Li PC-Q08B.
Geil EVO X - GEX416GB3200C16DC [16-16-16-36 @ 1.35v]
G.Skill Trident Z - F4-3200C16D-16GTZR [16-18-18-36 @ 1.35v]
Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 VERSION 5.39 [16-18-18-36 @ 1.35v]
Ryzen really benefits from faster ram, so getting to 2933 or 3200 can be a big boost.
Can the RAM be run at 3200 without OC? Otherwise, for people like me who don't plan to OC, I don't see the benefit of spending the extra on RAM that goes above 2666 outside of future-proofing (but we'll be well into AM5/DDR5/6 by the time I'll be ready to upgrade again).
Geil EVO X - GEX416GB3200C16DC [16-16-16-36 @ 1.35v]
G.Skill Trident Z - F4-3200C16D-16GTZR [16-18-18-36 @ 1.35v]
Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 VERSION 5.39 [16-18-18-36 @ 1.35v]
Ryzen really benefits from faster ram, so getting to 2933 or 3200 can be a big boost.
Can the RAM be run at 3200 without OC? Otherwise, for people like me who don't plan to OC, I don't see the benefit of spending the extra on RAM that goes above 2666 outside of future-proofing (but we'll be well into AM5/DDR5/6 by the time I'll be ready to upgrade again).
Depends on how you define "OC." Ryzen doesn't officially support DDR4-3200, but we've tested these kits on Ryzen 7 and they work fantastically. Most motherboard vendors have also put them on their official support list.
Here's a video review. Looks good, and while it's not cheap, it's competitive with the higher-end Lian Li cases (and Lian Li is the OEM).
Yup I own one. And yes the lack of documentation sucks and cable management is a pain. Though if you know how to make your own cables you can do much better.
Comments
I have had zero issues with the last three motherboards. No hums, clicks or pops at any time from any content no matter the use. I do use an external DAC now via the digital out over TOSLINK, but that was for integration of a headphone amp and not to resolve sound issues. Personally, I would omit the sound cards in an initial purchase of a new Ryzen build until I actually had a problem. Why waste the money? How's your integrated sound working out @primesuspect?
I mean, I guess you can remap the audio ports on the board to get 5.1... but I have no idea how they're claiming 8 channel audio when they only have 3 analog jacks on the motherboard (traditionally speaking, a line out, line in and mic in). Maybe they're referring to audio out via HDMI, which wouldn't even be supported as I'm not getting an APU.
This is exactly why I wasn't too bothered about adding a discrete sound card to the build. I've never had particularly good results with onboard audio anyway. My current speakers are analog only. Long term I'd like to get ones that take optical input, but I'm not there yet.
Mine sounds great.
My onboard audio has been good most of the time, but I've definitely had some janky boards. The Raspberry PI has terrible onboard audio, but that's not a fair comparison.
But I ended up getting one of these, anyway. It's good for headphones, as a DAC connected to my speaker amp, and as a preamp for the speaker amp. I use it as a preamp most of the time because of the convenience of the volume knob.
Bonus: immature giggles every time I change the output
Okay... well... regardless of the quality of onboard sound, that board doesn't have analog 5.1 out, so it's a moot point. If I went mATX (at this point) I need a sound card, and I really want to build a tiny box, because having mid-full size towers under my desk at this point is something I no longer want to do... so... other than debating about the merits of onboard audio, does anyone else have other feedback about the parts I picked?
I don't see any glaring problems. @Thrax did have some particular memory recommendations though.
@Thrax - would it really make a noticable difference to go from the G.Skill Ripjaws V RAM I specced out to the Corsair your posted? Does downclocking a higher speed RAM actually yield worthwhile performance gains? I haven't been into enthusiast level computer building in a long time, so I am legitimately unsure about this because other than the clock speed, they look the same spec-wise.
Please tell me how much RAM you want and I will provide good options.
@ardichoke it is probably less about performance than @Thrax being able to tell you what AMD has tested extensively on the new memory controller.
Another thing I could think of looking at that case and motherboard combo. If you go with a sound card, your side window may look a little cluttered with the sound card cutting off your graphics. May or may not matter to you. Personally, I don't love the case. Are you looking to reduce vertical size? You have plenty of width for footprint so you would rather go small cube vs. mini tower?
16G, preferably on 2 sticks so I have room to expand in the future if need be
I was torn about the case, too. On the one hand, the layout would be pretty easy to work in, and the watercooling support looks great for the size. On the other, the cube-ish shape will make it kind of awkward on my desk. Hell of a deal, though. Most small cases I like more are 2-4x the price.
I'm thinking about shrinking and doing a stock R 1700 and getting off the H100 AIO.
@Thrax if a guy wants to buy the higher end Wrath cooler as an add on, can it be done? Know of a source?
I feel as though an opportunity was missed here.
There is a very objective thing that I do (simming gear combinations for WoW theorycrafting) that is very CPU intensive and I can tell you after testing this thing with @TiberiusLazarus and @RyanFodder last night, it's fast as fuck.
Would recommend avoiding Frys.com. Please see the following email sent to frys.com for explanation.
To sales@cs.frys.com
Let me tell you a story.
On March I made an order on frys.com for a motherboard and processer. (See email copy)
Fry's Electronics order_confirmation@i.frys.com
Mar 10 (4 days ago)
to me
Thank you for ordering from Frys.com!
Dear Ryan,
We are pleased to inform you that your order for the item(s) shown below has been successfully received
Your order number is G1612433 and will be shipped as soon as available.
PLU# Item Description Qty Receive By (est.) unit price ext price
9041287 Gigabyte Z270X-Gaming 5 Motherboard 1 Tuesday, March 14 $194.99 $194.99
9099607 AMD AM4 Ryzen 7 1800X 3.6GHz Processor 1 Tuesday, March 14 $499.99 $499.99
If you have any questions regarding your order, please call 1-877-688-7678.
Thank you for choosing Frys.com.
Sincerely,
Fry's Electronics Inc.
Monday, I received an email me telling me that I needed to confirm the order because my billing and shipping address were different.
Your Frys.com Order #(redacted)
Vishal Sharda salesandservice@cs.frys.com
Mar 13 (1 day ago)
to me
Dear valued Frys.com customer,
We would like to thank you for your recent order. To protect you as a credit cardholder our automated system is requiring additional information prior to shipping. Once the additional information has been processed, your order will be confirmed and shipped to you.
We have attempted to contact you via the telephone number provided in the order, but we were unable to reach you. Please call us by 6PM EST to finalize your order for shipment at 1-408-673-3109. To expedite your call, please reference order number (redacted)
This verification process can only be completed by the cardholder.
We apologize for the possible shipping delay and thank you in advance for your patience and understanding in this necessary process.?
Please let us know if we can be of further assistance.
SO, i called (and waited on hold for 20 minutes for the privilege) as they asked, and confirmed that this was correct.
I got another email today telling me that despite my conversation yesterday, my order was still cancelled.
I called again today (another 15 minutes of hold time.) Unfortunately, the order was cancelled, and can no longer be reinstated, would I be interested in placing another order?
The answer is that I will never be interested in making another order, and I will make sure that my other computer building friends are aware of your mistake and unfortunate order process.
Thanks,
Ryan
Pestering @Thrax with a bamp.
I'm going to go ahead with 2 of the 16GB Corsair 2666, since I don't plan to OC ever. It's the same as he recommended, but the base clock is set there.
I recommend these:
Geil EVO X - GEX416GB3200C16DC [16-16-16-36 @ 1.35v]
G.Skill Trident Z - F4-3200C16D-16GTZR [16-18-18-36 @ 1.35v]
Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 VERSION 5.39 [16-18-18-36 @ 1.35v]
Ryzen really benefits from faster ram, so getting to 2933 or 3200 can be a big boost.
https://pcpartpicker.com/list/ycby3F
I'm hijacking Prime's thread because my dreams of Ryzen ownership are just as important. It's so odd, last few days as I have been dreaming up my new build I've actually gotten away from the limits of mATX and decided I really like the idea of the Corsair 600Q as a case. It's weird and upside down like me, so I kinda dig it. Mostly it reduces the part of the footprint I can about the most, length from front to back, is about an inch taller than what I have and is about as wide which isn't an issue. Not as long while preserving those sweet optical bays, which I need and I get to build full ATX still and have all the expansion I want, plus the top is totally flat and not needed for airflow so it will be like an extra shelf for cool stuff, like R2D2 coin banks or Stranger Things Pop Figures, you never know....
Any feedback on my list is appreciated, I'm still putting it all together in my head. I'll probably change my mind three or four more times, but for now, I'm kinda sold on the 600Q, I think I can do a solid performing yet quiet Ryzen build in it.
I believe that mini ITX is the future. Micro ATX to ATX? Go small or go home. The siren song beckons; join us! I live in a Lian Li PC-Q08B.
Just in case anyone is looking to buy a gently used gaming PC. - https://baltimore.craigslist.org/sys/6046329676.html
Gotta prep for Ryzen! Need $$$
Ncase best case
That case is awesome.
Can the RAM be run at 3200 without OC? Otherwise, for people like me who don't plan to OC, I don't see the benefit of spending the extra on RAM that goes above 2666 outside of future-proofing (but we'll be well into AM5/DDR5/6 by the time I'll be ready to upgrade again).
If I read my reviews right, Ryzen has a 3200 memory divider at stock cpu clock, yes.
Depends on how you define "OC." Ryzen doesn't officially support DDR4-3200, but we've tested these kits on Ryzen 7 and they work fantastically. Most motherboard vendors have also put them on their official support list.
Plug in the timings, voltage, clocks and go.
So, that's my question. Would I put in 3000 on the 3000 RAM, or down-clock it to 2666?
When I say OC, I mean in the context of making the CPU run faster than it's base spec.
Here's a video review. Looks good, and while it's not cheap, it's competitive with the higher-end Lian Li cases (and Lian Li is the OEM).
Yup I own one. And yes the lack of documentation sucks and cable management is a pain. Though if you know how to make your own cables you can do much better.