In this 3-part article, we will put together the components of a PC that will perform well in applications such as gaming, video and audio processing, and 3D rendering.
Part 1
CPU
Should not create bottlenecks
The high texture rendering performance of modern graphics cards is impressive. Polygonal calculations have long been done not only on the CPU but also on the GPU. On the other hand, for game mechanics, physics, artificial intelligence, camera movements, light, shadow and sound effects, the CPU is still the key player. So even if you have a fast graphics card, if you don’t have a CPU that can keep up with it, your PC’s performance may fall short of your expectations. On the other hand, there’s no need to go for the fastest model CPU money can buy in order to choose a CPU that won’t be a bottleneck in terms of overall system specs.
Clock speed is not everything
You might think that the fastest models have the highest clock speeds. But this is not always the case. A good example is the Intel Core i7-14700K (3.4 GHz, 20 cores, 28 MB L2 cache, 28 threads) versus the Core i9-14900K (3.2 GHz, 24 cores, 32 MB L2 cache, 32 threads), which will provide efficient operation in applications where CPU performance makes a significant difference, such as gaming and video/audio processing. First of all, there is a significant price difference between these processors. On the other hand, there are not many applications that can take advantage of the higher core count and cache of the higher i9 model. Therefore, for practical use (unless you have an unlimited budget), it would be better to choose the Core-i7 14700K. If you have a larger budget, you may prefer the i9-14900K, which is currently ranked number 1 in many benchmark charts.
MOTHERBOARD
Stability and rich features
Manufacturers have come a long way when it comes to motherboards, and you don’t see motherboards with RAM incompatibility or overclocked motherboards that crash easily. But there have been improvements in the manufacturing technology of electronic circuit elements and the materials used. This has made it possible to produce motherboards that are durable not only in the short term but also in the long term. Thanks to lower tolerance resistors, better quality capacitors and much better insulated coils, we rarely see hardware-induced blue screen errors in our computers anymore.
The MPG Z790 Carbon WIFI, one of MSI’s flagship motherboards, successfully reflects the company’s reputation in this field. Using high quality 8-layer PCB and server-grade materials and supporting LGA 1700 Intel Core processors (14th generation, 13th generation and 12th generation), the first thing that stands out is the distinctive design and the self-installed I/O panel. The LED dragon on the top of this panel looks very elegant. The extended heatsinks on the PCB are positioned to cover the electronic components that are likely to heat up, resulting in a tidy overall appearance and stable operation even at high clock speeds. We particularly like the fact that all 5 M.2 SSD slots are located on the front of the motherboard. This eliminates the need to disassemble the motherboard if you want to add SSDs to the system in the future. There are 4 DDR5 memory slots (overclocked to 7600 MHz) with full support up to 5600 MHz by JEDEC standards. Intel XMP 3.0 mode is also supported.
Wide connectivity possibilities
The motherboard uses the latest Wi-Fi standard 6E (with MU-MIMO support), which is the latest available in practice at the moment, and the required antenna is included in the box. Bluetooth 5.3 is also available with the wireless module on the motherboard. Users who are short on USB slots will also like this model. A total of 17 USB slots – 4 USB 2.0, 4 USB 3.2 Gen1 Type A, 6 USB 3.2 Gen2 Type A, 2 USB 3.2 Gen2x2 Type C, and 1 USB 3.2 Gen2 Type C – make this motherboard something special. It’s worth noting that the USB 3.2 Gen2x2 slots on the motherboard support speeds up to 20 gbps, so if you have an external SSD that supports this speed, it will run at the performance of an internal SSD.
Other hardware features
With 6 SATA slots, the motherboard offers RAID configurations over both SATA and M.2 interfaces. Another notable feature of the motherboard is the high-quality audio hardware. In addition to the 24-bit/192 KHz sampling performance (32-bit/384 KHz for audio playback) and 7.1-channel audio support that we’re used to seeing on professional sound cards, the optical audio output means that if you have a digital amplifier, you don’t need D/A conversion to get high-quality sound.
The MSI MPG Z790 Carbon WIFI offers a wealth of cooling (water cooling and fan options abound), lighting and customization features for the power user who meticulously selects parts to assemble their own system. A 2-digit LED indicator on the motherboard keeps you informed of ongoing processes. But even if you’re not the type of user to fully utilize all of these possibilities, the use of top-quality electronic components on the motherboard is reassuring. A feature unique to this model that we haven’t seen on other motherboards is the inclusion of a 16 GB USB stick in the box. This drive contains the drivers and MSI software required for the initial installation.
MEMORY
64 GB is ideal for such a system
If you only want to play games with your PC, a 2×16 GB kit will do the trick. However, if you want to get high performance in productivity applications other than gaming, we recommend a 2×32 GB kit. A total of 64 GB of dual-channel memory will be a good investment for the future. Goodram, one of the leading brands at this point, has made a name for itself recently. IDRM, the performance brand of Goodram, known for using carefully selected high-quality memory chips, has just entered our country. The company’s 2×32 GB 6800 MHz, CL34 DDR5 kit pairs perfectly with MSI’s MPG Z790 Carbon WIFI motherboard. In addition to its high performance, the memory kit comes with a lifetime warranty, stable operation and 30 percent lower power consumption than the previous generation. The company uses a special power management chip in this kit to maintain stability in overclocked systems. Moreover, an additional chip with a built-in temperature sensor on the memory modules enables the XMP profile to be loaded. The memory kit supports Intel XMP 3.0, making overclocking possible without the need to deal with complex configuration settings in the BIOS.
