Requirements

  • Intel Alder Lake, socket LGA1700
  • DDR5
  • PCI 4 SSD sockets
  • potential for overclocking (thus, Z690 chipset)
  • WiFi/BlueTooth: optional
  • grpahics card: not needed
  • cooling: air; I am not ready for liquid all-in-ones
  • thermal paste: non-conductive; no liquid metal
  • Questions
    • how are premium motherboards different from the non-premium ones and what do I need from those differences?
    • is there something I need in motherboard that forces ATX/mid-tower format over mini-ITX?
    • how to cool, how many case fans, where, do I want mesh case and/or mid-tower for cooling?
    • does the PSU I choose require mid-tower or is mini-ITX ok?
    • what are those x-1-1 power thingies and what do I need?
  • CPU: i9-12900K $589 BH / $520 NE; now $617
    • I know that i7-12700K is almost half price, but… $383 BH / $375 NE; now $375
  • Thermal paste: Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut
  • Cooler
    • Noctua NH-U14S $90
    • Noctua NH-D15 $100
    • additional fan for the cooler
    • bracket for the Alder Lake socket
    • check compatibility with case, RAM, motherboard
  • Fans
    • https://www.pcgamer.com/best-pc-fans/
    • https://www.ign.com/articles/best-pc-fans
    • https://www.quietpc.com/casefans
  • https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/upgrading-to-intel-12th-gen-alder-lake-everything-you-need/
  • PSU
    • review
    • another review
    • calculator
    • Corsair RM550x (2021)
    • Cooler Master V750 Gold V2
    • Corsair RMx Series RM750x
    • Corsair RM850x (2021)
    • XPG Core Reactor 650Watt
    • Enermax Revolution DF 750W
  • Motherboard
  • RAM
  • Case
    • https://www.pcgamer.com/best-pc-case/
    • review
    • mini-ITX review
    • Antec P82 Silent
    • Fractal Design Define 7
    • Cooler Master Silencio S600
    • be quiet! Dark Base 700/900
    • Lian Li O11 Air Mini
  • The Build
    • CPU: i9-12900K NE $617 BH $618
    • Motherboard: MSI PRO Z690-A WiFi AM $230 NE $250 BH $250 BH bundled with i9-12900K $840
      • DOESN’T seem to support alt-mode DisplayPort over USB-C! Buy Asus…
    • CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15 BH $100 NE $92 AM $100
    • Case: Fractal Design Define 7 solid BH: special order NE $195
    • RAM: CORSAIR 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 5600 (PC5 44800) CMK32GX5M2B5600C36 NE $410
    • PSU: CORSAIR RMx Series (2021) RM750x CP-9020199-NA 750W NE $120
    • SSD: Kingston KC3000 2048GB SKC3000D/2048G NE $389