I think the faster memory is a consideration for productivity (e.g. video editing).
If you edit one movie a month for friends and family then it won’t matter. If you do it daily those benefits start adding up.
For gaming…not so much.
Gaming benefits really depend on the game and system. For CPU intensive games it can be a decent boost to have faster memory. If your GPU is the bottleneck then it probably doesn’t matter. Most games tend more towards GPU bottlenecks but there are exceptions such a simulation heavy games where it can make a difference. But it’s really more of a choice to make when building/buying your PC rather than just upgrading your RAM like you would a GPU. For adding memory, I’d personally be inclined to want the best possible benefit as long as I was upgrading things but that’s just me.
It’s especially true that RAM speeds don’t matter for AMD’s X3D CPUs since their cache is so large (resulting in less need to get data from RAM.) Getting an X3D CPU is basically the best decision you can make for a gaming PC so the RAM speed question solves itself from that.
I am reluctant to post this here since I believe I should know the answer. But this one is befuddling me.
I recently built myself a new PC using an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D CPU.
I am using an air cooler (Noctua…it’s quite good…the semi-recent new one).
First, the PC is running fine, running like a champ. No problems except this one little thing that keeps bugging me.
My CPU, at idle (3% load), is running at ~45C. That’s not terrible but it certainly is not good (my GPU runs at ~28-30C at the same time).
BUT…and here is where it gets weird…when I run the PC under load (like a AAA game, everything maxed) the CPU temps are around 65C (maybe 70C but usually not). That is a great number!
So, do I just live with this state of affairs? Hot(ish) at idle and cool under load?
FWIW…yes, I have maxed fan speeds as a test…changes idle barely at all. Also checked things running in the background. Disabled the chip’s GPU. Nothing changes the CPU idle temp much.
Any ideas?
Example:
Good news and bad news: The good news is that there is no issue for you to fix. The bad news is that the x3d chips idle hot. That’s just a known thing about them, and there’s really nothing you can do about it.
I have seen similar questions from people on Reddit, and some of them report idle temperatures of 50°, so count yourself lucky you’re at 45°.
The reason has something to do with the architecture. They are called 3D chips because the cache sits on top of the CPU instead of to the side of it. This means the cache is in between the heatsink and the heat source, making the cooler less effective / the chip run hotter. Oddly, this only affects idle temperature. Running at load is generally very cool by all accounts. (Including yours.)
EDIT: Congrats on picking up that awesome CPU! Also, if I remember correctly, the higher idle temps also involve higher idle power consumption. Maybe that’s the real reason, and the 3D stacked architecture is a red herring.
Thanks! That makes me feel a bit better. Not thrilled about higher power usage but I can live with it since it works great otherwise. Performance premium I guess that they never mentioned (no surprise there).
Looks like some nice specs on that rig! Enjoy!
Thanks! I am liking it a lot.
Speaking of new gaming setups, can any recommend recommend a very quiet gaming setup? Are there specific CPUs/GPUs, or cooling setups (liquid-cooled GPUs and CPUs?), that are best for keeping fan noise to an absolute minimum?
After a few years without a gaming PC (and only using GeForce Now), I’ve become spoiled and don’t want a noisy machine again. I’m thinking of getting or building a machine with a RTX 40xx or 50xx card, both for gaming and maybe some indie dev, and plan to mostly use it on lowest graphics* with a lot of DLSS (in order to maximize performance and minimize noise & heat), but I don’t know if that alone is enough. The 80/90 cards in particular seem positively huge — I never had a card that took more than 1-2 PCIe slots — and I don’t know if that means better or worse noise levels.
I would assume that the larger the chassis, the better the thermals? And that mini-PCs and laptops would be louder than a full-sized desktop?
* I just want to be able to play games that aren’t on GFN. I don’t care if they look like low-poly untextured potatoes. I’m perfectly happy with lowest graphics settings as long as it’s a fast framerate and native resolution for the UI (3440x1440), plus DLSS upscaling.
But I don’t know which would be quieter & cooler: To get a big, ol’ overpowered RTX 4000/5000 graphics card and only use a small percentage of its capabilities, or maybe get an integrated graphics/APU instead and stretch it to the limit.
I suppose it’s not solely a function of TDP, but also how active and noisy the cooling system is, which also depends on fan blade design and speed, etc…
Admit it, you just wanted to show off your sensor window and specs 
(I kid!)
That’s what I did. Works pretty great.
I went with a low power CPU (10400) and ended up settling on the 70 series for the GPU. (4070 regular, not ti or super.) I landed on the 70 series because they have essentially the same cooler as the 80 and 90 series, meaning that their cooling solution is highly overprovisioned. My experience is that this is correct; my entire system is extremely quiet, including the GPU.
I also got a fractal case with noise dampening, which helps. (Define 7 Compact.) I replaced the stock case fans with bequiet fans and got a bequiet cooler for the CPU. (Years later and I’m still not insane from the low frequency noise, so that’s a plus.)
I went a step further and stick with 1080p gaming. I’m not sure if a regular 4070 or 5070 would be sufficient for 1440p.
I got a 5080 Founders Edition and it is a 2-slot card. Technically the thermals are worse than the big chonker 3-slot cards but, honestly, my thermals have been excellent. I don’t care to overclock but I certainly have the headroom for it if I wanted to. It is also a very quiet card. I have never gotten the fans to ramp all the way up (not even close) unless I specifically tell it to do that.
I don’t think you will find 4xxx or even 3xxx cards to be any smaller in general.
FWIW I game at 1440p, max settings with this new setup and frame rates are excellent. I prefer it to 4k which I can barely discern anyway and makes it harder to run games.
In general, yes. It is all about getting air into the case and efficiently exhausting it. The more air you move, the better but, moving more are tends to be noisier. Bigger cases can do this more efficiently with lower RPM fans (read less noisy). The bigger the fan, the less noisy it is (all else being equal) because it can spin more slowly and move the same amount of air.
My new case is big and has five intake fans (3x140mm in front and 2-120mm on the bottom). One 140mm exhaust fan in the back and 2x140mm fans on the heatsink. They are very nice fans and super silent.
All that said, smaller PC cases can be made very quiet too.
For CPU/GPU cooling I only use air cooling now. I tried liquid cooling but I find the pumps to be a weak spot that die around the 3-year mark (give or take) and it is not really quieter. In theory the cooling is better but unless you mean to overclock as much as you can I do not see the point. Air cooling is very reliable and, if a fan breaks, dead easy and cheap to fix (I have yet to have one do that but doubtless it can happen).
I am going to offer an alternative solution, use BeQuiet! case fans, put your gaming rig near your utility room, and you can max out all your specs and not hear your gaming computer at all. The basement dehumidifier, the central air fan circulating air thorough the house, and the occasional load of laundry will ensure you get full ray tracing, all the frames, and no noticeable sound… from the computer 
My case has a perforated mesh side panel and space for three glorious 230mm fans (front/side/top, though I removed the top one for an AIO radiator). Those fans lazily move a ton of air and are great for keeping temps low.
Unfortunately, perf mesh panels are relatively rare with today’s fishtank PC aesthetic but man it’s great for keeping stuff cool.
Mine has one on the front and top (side panel is glass). And yeah…helps a lot keeping things cool and it is silent (at least, I can’t hear it sitting 18” away). I’ve even cranked the fans to 100% as a test and while I could certainly hear it even that wasn’t really bad. I am reminded of the first PC I built which sounded like a jet taking off. This is light-years better.
I like that wood grain.
Definitely. Before my new PC (above) my GPU was a 2080 Ti. I could run most games around 60FPS (give or take) with a few compromises (pro-tip…turn down shadows first and go with high and not ultra settings). I could not do Ultra settings but it still delivered solid performance at 1440p. It really did better than you might expect.
Thanks…while my focus was on the PC performance aesthetic definitely figured in too. I live in an apartment and the PC is very much a part of the room so I wanted something more than a black box.
Cost me more money though.
What is a “fractal” case? As in it has geometric shapes that help with noise dampening, almost like a soundproofing tile?
Is there something special about that brand, more than any generic larger fan with quiet bearings?
That’s good to know, thank you, and certainly simplifies the search.
Do you mean keep the hardware itself in another room, and stream it to your desk? How do you do that… Steam Link or something similar? Wireless HDMI? (Not sure what the latest on all that stuff is nowadays.)
Or if you meant just actually playing in the utility room, heh, no way… I’d die from heat exhaustion within a few minutes, if I didn’t shoot myself from the noise first.
Huh, really interesting! Taking that a step further, then, would an altogether caseless setup be even quieter, then? I could just put some screen door meshing around it to help keep out some dust… or maybe dunk the whole thing in a fish tank filled with non-conductive fluid…
Also wanted to mention this as an adjacent thread: GeForce Now will soon get RTX 5080s and 2x the games (play AAA PC games on any laptop or phone, no special hardware needed)
I’m still interested in the hardware (mostly because I want to try some indie dev in Unity & Unreal Engine, which can’t easily be done in GFN), but for general gaming use, GFN has been really amazing. A lot cheaper too, at $20/mo instead of $1-$4k for a gaming PC.
It’s just a brand name. Nothing particularly “fractal” about it.
In general having a case is both more quiet and has better cooling since it directs air flow more efficiently to the components.
PC in a fish tank with non-conductive fluid has been done but more gimmick than something you’d actually want to do.