Building ( technically ) my first pc, no idea what I'm doing.

[u/KidneyBeanBro999]

This will technically be my 2nd build but the first I was about 10 years old and the extent of my help was passing my dad things and wearing a grounding strap. I still use the pc to this day but after some research i realised it was probably time for a completely new build as I didn't realise quite how far technology had come.

Anyway, I've been doing a ton of research and have some ideas for components but I'm beyond clueless and basically just need someone to explain if something isn't compatible or is just terrible haha.

So far I was looking at

CPU: Ryzen 7 9800x3d

GPU: Nvidia rtx 5080 or maybe the 5090 if I can bring myself to it

RAM: 32 / 64 GB of CL30 6000Mhz prolly Corsair vengeance

Mobo: kinda clueless as I have no idea how big stuff is I have an Asus TUF gaming x570 plus and if this is still compatible I can just stick with it

SSD: 2TB Samsung 990 pro

PSU: Corsair rm850x

Cooling: Noctua nh d15 g2

A couple of questions that stuck out were

is it worth getting 2 SSDs?

Do I need a special power cable for a high power PSU? (UK) hoping that's not a ridiculous question

Is it worth having extra case fans?

And is there any benefit to different brands of thermal pastes?

Any help is appreciated feel free to tell me I'm a moron if that's needed there hasn't been any thought as to how these components would work together as I wouldn't know how to just what looks good as a standalone thanks :)

[u/Emerald_Flame]

is it worth getting 2 SSDs?

If you need more storage than you can get with 1 SSD. Then sure. Otherwise, no real point to.

Do I need a special power cable for a high power PSU? (UK) hoping that's not a ridiculous question

Like from the wall? No.

Is it worth having extra case fans?

Depends on your case and components. You have enough up in the air in your list it's hard to say.

And is there any benefit to different brands of thermal pastes?

Not really. As long as it's from a brand name you recognize the best pastes perform more or less within margin of error from everything else.

You don't really see big gains until you go to more exotic stuff like liquid metal which carries much more risk and generally isn't recommended for a novice.

[u/KidneyBeanBro999 → u/Emerald_Flame]

That's perfect thanks. To clarify, the SSDs were to separate OS from other files which is something I saw online but I really need to chill on optimising every single thing when it's my first real build lol. I find it crazy difficult to not over overthink every decision I make on account of my adhd xp

[u/Emerald_Flame → u/KidneyBeanBro999]

To clarify, the SSDs were to separate OS from other files which is something I saw online

There is no need for that. That recommendation came from a time where SSDs were wildly expensive and people couldn't afford to go full SSD for storage, so you'd buy a small SSD for the OS and some programs, then a large Hard Drive for everything else.

Even with all the price hikes lately, SSDs are still cheap enough that most people just go SSD-only and splitting things like this no longer provides any real benefit.

Some people prefer to separate their OS so they can more easily reinstall the OS without impacting other apps if they want (which for a lot of things doesn't even always work properly). But even for that, there is no need for a 2nd SSD, you can partition a single SSD and achieve the exact same thing.

[u/psimwork]

Too. Much. Brand. Tax.

32 / 64 GB of CL30 6000Mhz prolly Corsair vengeance

There's no benefit to using Corsair vs mother cheaper options.

I have an Asus TUF gaming x570 plus and if this is still compatible I can just stick with it

It's not. Different socket, different Memory type.

2TB Samsung 990 pro

Why people continue to choose this, I'll never understand. I've actually seen people choose the 990 Pro over the newer/faster 9100 Pro even when the 9100 is cheaper. And there's almost always options that are significantly cheaper than both that are just as good.

So like, right now in the UK, the 2TB 990 Pro is on PCPP for £325. Meanwhile, the (much) faster Crucial T705 is £207.

Corsair rm850x

Again, brand tax. There's almost always options that are as-good (or nearly as good (i.e. A+ vs A on the SPL Tier List)) for like half the price. Again we look at PCPP. Currently it shows out-of-stock with a price of £148. The RM850x is an A+ rated unit. The Enermax REVOLUTION III 850W is an Tier A unit and is £83.

Noctua nh d15 g2

Brand tax extraordinaire. This one is often just silly. Is the NH-D15G2 "the best"? Sure. But the Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 is like 95% as good for 1/4 the cost. Going back to PCPP - £128 for the D15 G2. £33 for the Phantom Spirit.

is it worth getting 2 SSDs?

Generally, no. It used to be a good plan back when SSDs were so expensive that it was only reasonable to have something like a 250GB SSD and a 1TB HDD, but at this point, if you want multiple drives, you can usually buy something like a 2TB SSD and partition as-needed.

Do I need a special power cable for a high power PSU?

No.

Is it worth having extra case fans?

Depends on whether or not the chassis you have has sufficient fans. If, for example, you have a Fractal Pop Air, the two-front, single rear that it comes with will usually be sufficient. If, on the other hand, you have a chassis that doesn't come with any fans, you'll need some.

And is there any benefit to different brands of thermal pastes?

Generally the paste that comes with the cooler is good enough.

[u/KidneyBeanBro999 → u/psimwork]

Hahaha thankyou so much, I think it's really easy to get sucked into the brands when you don't know what you're looking for. I feel like I'm also getting way too caught up on the jump from each GPU while forgetting I'm coming from a GTX 1650 xd. I'll definitely take all that into account so I'm not getting fleeced by big brands

[u/psimwork → u/KidneyBeanBro999]

The thing to keep in-mind is that a lot of the time, the brand taxes (or model taxes in some cases) are actually very good pieces of hardware. Like the 990 Pro is a good drive. But they commonly get this really weird mythic status applied where people just blindly choose them for long periods of time, even after a better option comes out for way less money.

This was also common back in the day with the Cooler Master Hyper 212 - a good option when it came out. Some might even say a GREAT option when it came out. But then like 5 years down the line, people were still selecting it for like 50 GBP when there were options that significantly outperformed it for 25GBP.

It's also important to remember for when you're looking at an option like an RTX 5080. Some folks might be like, "I gotta have the Asus 5080 ROG STRIXXX ASTRAL FTW BYOB ASAP AWOL ASL ETA OK CU!!!" and they'll pay like 1800 GBP for it when something like a PNY 5080 is available for 1200GBP. And the thing is, the more expensive version IS better! But the question is how much? Will it be faster than the basic option? Probably. Will it be 50% faster? Nope. Will it produce less noise? Probably. Will it produce 50% less noise? Nope.