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Hardware recommendations for building a good Linux gaming rig? (sopuli.xyz)

submitted 11 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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I know the first thing everyone will say is to use an AMD GPU. Agreed, sounds good (NVIDIA is sucky on my current machine). I have no clue which ones to start looking in to however.

I'm someone that is pretty good with the software side of computing, but not so much with the hardware side. I can comfortably construct a computer, just don't know much about what the best components to buy are. Any hardware suggestions / recommendations (for any component) are greatly appreciated (reasons for the suggestion is an optional bonus I would appreciate).

As for budget, I probably don't wanna spend much over $2.5K USD. $1K to 2K is probably about my preferred budget.

Thanks in advance to anyone that decides to help out.

(For anyone asking what I'll likely run on it: Arch Linux)

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[–] [email protected] 19 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (16 children)

Use pcpartpicker.com to build your system to help with compatibility.

Right now you either want a Ryzen 5800X3D or 7800X3D CPU depending on your budget.

For the 5800X3D, you'll want a DDR4 3600MHz dual channel kit for best RAM performance unless you want to overclock the infinity fabric. For the 7800X3D, 6000MHz DDR5. For either, you'll want a set of two sticks, not four. There are more specs for RAM that you can dig into and tune, but getting a kit with good reviews for a good price at these clock speeds will be enough.

For CPU cooler, the Noctua NHD15 is pretty much the best.

For SSDs, if your budget and motherboard allows it, get a PCIe gen 5 NVMe drive, but a PCIe gen 4 drive will probably be fast enough. Go with Samsung, if you can.

For power supply, get something with good reviews with 80+ Platinum or Titanium that can handle your load, and you'll probably be solid.

For GPU, go with a 7900XT or 6950XT if you can find one substantially cheaper.

For motherboard, if you go with the 5800X3D, the ASRock X570 Phantom Gaming motherboard is $110 on Amazon right now, and when I got it a couple months ago, the version I got had a recent enough bios revision to "just work" with the 5800X3D, so you shouldn't need an older CPU to update it like you used to. At this price, this board is a steal. For the 7800X3D, get something with good reviews that you can afford.

EDIT: I would build something close to this: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/yyPLFs

[–] [email protected] 9 points 11 months ago (4 children)

The air cooler market is very competitive right now. Noctua has great customer support and quality, as always, but there are better value options.

I would pick Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE, or alternatively the Peerless Assassin 120 SE

[–] [email protected] 3 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (2 children)

Would you pick those based on price or on performance?

[–] [email protected] 1 points 11 months ago (1 children)

Both. One downside seems to be the required pressure necessary when mounting. Noise normalized performance and overall value is great though. The phantom spirit is a slightly upgraded version with one more heat pipe compared to PA120SE