i5 10400 Catalina advice please. Nvme boot etc.

[dcharlesworth]

Hi there, looking to build a new system.

I'm a photographer/ videographer. Worked off of hackintosh since my first Sandy lake one I built thanks to this awesome community back in 2011. Wondering if I'm making any big mistakes here with this system. Looking for decent value, not screaming high end.

I'm looking at (Priced in CAD $)

CPU​	Intel Core i5-10400 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor	249.00
CPU Cooler​
Motherboard​	Gigabyte Z490 UD ATX LGA1200 Motherboard	199.99
Memory​	Team T-FORCE DARK Za 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory	149.99
Storage 1​	Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (Boot drive)	138.08
Storage 2​	OR Samsung 970 EVO plus NVME, (Boot drive)	124.99
Video Card​	Sapphire Radeon RX 580 8 GB PULSE Video Card	320.43
Case​	Cooler Master MasterBox NR600 (w/o ODD) ATX Mid Tower Case	97.94
Power Supply​	EVGA 750 W ATX Power Supply

I have completely confused myself about NVME vs Sata for a boot drive. I did come across a youtube video saying that with this mobo, or the "AC" version that nvme was unstable, is that likely the case?

I originally thought the 970+ was unsupported, and I couldn't appreciate the extra speed. If it is indeed faster and supported I'd prefer to have that, but if not can I use the cheaper P1? Should downgrade to a sata m2 for reliability? Scrap the m2 all together, or just not use it for a boot drive?

Trying for bang for the buck. The GPU seems really pricey, but also seems like the most highly recommended? Any insights would be greatly appreciated.

Many thanks!

 

[scottkendall]

If I were building a new system I would get either a Gigabyte z490 Vision D or G because of the well-maintained golden build. I believe the extra $60CDN would be worth it in the long run if you run into any issues setting up and in the future.

I have 2 Samsun 970 Evo Plus they both work fine, there was a firmware upgrade that fixed the issues. Some of the drives come with the upgraded firmware others do not so you may have to check that out. You can also check out the Western Digital SN700 drives they have really good speeds and are compatible.

The RX580 is the most used card and has the best compatibility because it has been around for a long time. It also has the most versions of macOS available for it. The newer cards in the RX 5000 series require Catalina 10.15.2 or Big Sur and the drivers are not as mature. However, for the price you are paying you might as well just get the newer card unless you are using older 32bit apps.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B083R25Z94/?tag=tonymacx86c0c-20

So if you have an extra $100 CDN I would get the better video card and the better motherboard so. I would even consider not getting a case to get a better video card and Motherboard.

 

[dcharlesworth]

If I were building a new system I would get either a Gigabyte z490 Vision D or G because of the well-maintained golden build. I believe the extra $60CDN would be worth it in the long run if you run into any issues setting up and in the future.

I have 2 Samsun 970 Evo Plus they both work fine, there was a firmware upgrade that fixed the issues. Some of the drives come with the upgraded firmware others do not so you may have to check that out. You can also check out the Western Digital SN700 drives they have really good speeds and are compatible.

The RX580 is the most used card and has the best compatibility because it has been around for a long time. It also has the most versions of macOS available for it. The newer cards in the RX 5000 series require Catalina 10.15.2 or Big Sur and the drivers are not as mature. However, for the price you are paying you might as well just get the newer card unless you are using older 32bit apps.

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B083R25Z94/?tag=tonymacx86c0c-20

So if you have an extra $100 CDN I would get the better video card and the better motherboard so. I would even consider not getting a case to get a better video card and Motherboard.

Thank you so much for your input. That is excellent advice. It looks like the G, is actually $80 more, and the D is more than double. But for $80, I call it a win to follow that Golden Build you mentioned! Not sure how I missed that, but that does indeed seem to be the way to go. Also, thank you for clearing up the nvme stuff. Best case scenario!

Yes I agree on the video card. The idea of spending that much on a GPU sorta hurts me heart a bit lol. But I feel it's a better value with the newer card, rather than having to pay such a high price for the 580.

Again, many many thanks.

 

[fxbeta]

I am in the same boat regarding spending a lot of money on a graphics card since my future hack won't be used for anything that requires more than what the iGPU can handle. But if you follow AMD you should know they are expected to announce their 6000-series in less than a week (Oct 28). So at the very least I'm hopeful once those new cards are available, the older ones should drop in price. I am personally aiming for purchasing my components during the holiday sales, but even if you can't wait that long, you may find some savings on GPUs soon.

 

[1Revenger1]

May be worth looking at like a 560 or 570 - they're in the same family as the 580.

 

[scottkendall]

Thank you so much for your input. That is excellent advice. It looks like the G, is actually $80 more, and the D is more than double. But for $80, I call it a win to follow that Golden Build you mentioned! Not sure how I missed that, but that does indeed seem to be the way to go. Also, thank you for clearing up the nvme stuff. Best case scenario!

Yes I agree on the video card. The idea of spending that much on a GPU sorta hurts me heart a bit lol. But I feel it's a better value with the newer card, rather than having to pay such a high price for the 580.

Again, many many thanks.

Yea I just took the price for the G here and put it in the currency converter did not actually look for it in Canada. The main difference between the G and the D is the D has onboard Thunderbolt but the G will accept an Add-in card later. I bought my Vega card when things were still kind of crazy from all the crypto mining so it was extra expensive I think I spent $680 USD that was very painful. As FX noted new AMD cards come out soon so it might be worth it to wait for a week to see if some of the prices come down after the release of the new cards.