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The best PC you can build in SA right now will cost you more than a used car

We love building computers. Give us an excuse and we’ll tinker, scrap, screw and POST all day if we can.

Unfortunately for us our wallets dictate that we can’t spend everyday building PCs and even if we could, we think we’re better suited for writing about computers rather than building them. Have you seen some of the things PC modders can do? Better leave that to the professionals.

But what if we picked the Lotto numbers this weekend and won? What sort of PC could we build with parts purchased here in South Africa. This is the important caveat as we could go crazy with imports but the ongoing pandemic makes knowing when we’d receive our parts an unknown for now.

So, what would the most expensive PC in SA look like and more importantly, what would it cost.

All parts selected were available to purchase at time of writing through local etailer Wootware.

CPU

We could go with Intel but we’re trying to go to the extreme here, or thereabouts.

For CPU we’ve selected the AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X because it costs R31 499.

It also happens to be a third generation Threadripper on 7nm architecture so it’s the third fastest chip from AMD that is out right now. AMD chief executive officer Dr Lisa Su is expected to present a CES 2021 keynote and we suspect that the firm might have an announcement planned.

CPU Cooler

As the Threadripper doesn’t include a CPU cooler in the box, we will need to purchase one.

We’re opting for the MSI MAG Core Liquid 360R 360mm Liquid Cooler as it supports the sTRX4 socket. It also comes with a three year warranty. Of course, we will also need some fans to pair with our case so we’re picking up three of the Corsair QL120 iCUE RGB 120mm fans.

Motherboard

As we’re not sparing any expense, let’s choose our motherboard.

The ASUS ROG II Zenith Extreme has all the features you could ask for. Eight DDR4 DIMM slots, one ROG DIMM.2 slot, four PCIe 4.0 x16 slots, and there is WiFi if you’re unable to run a LAN cable (though you really should).

RAM

While we tried to find a single kit for our memory this wasn’t possible so instead we’re going with four G.Skill Ripjaws V Neo 64GB kits which each contain two 32GB DIMMs running at 4000MHz.

While we could’ve gone with Trident Z Neo for the same price, the Ripjaws V are a faster speed and if we aren’t taking full advantage of the Threadripper CPU here, what are we even doing?

GPU

While there are two GPUs worth looking at, there is really only one worth considering and that is of course the Nvidia GeForce RTX 3090 VISION OC. We reviewed the RTX 3080 version of this GPU and it went well above our expectations.

This GPU is the cream of the crop right now and if you’re wanting to play games at the highest resolution possible with ray tracing and DLSS enabled, then the RTX 3090 is your best option.

Unfortunately we are going to have to leave Wootware for one item, an NVLink bridge. Why do we need that? Well because we’re chucking two RTX 3090’s in this dream build.

The ASUS ROG NVLink 4-slot is our pricey option here.

Case

We could spend time watching Gamers Nexus for in-depth reviews about cases (which you should really do), but we only have one requirement – it’s ridiculously expensive and garish.

Enter the Thermaltake AH T600 Snow which is inspired by a helicopter.

It supports the E-ATX standard for our motherboard and there is space up front for a triple radiator. The case is also fully modular so you can add or remove portions as you wish.

PSU

How much power do we really need for this system? With the CPU and GPU we could get away with an 800W PSU but why settle for that when we could go for twice that capacity?

Our pick then is the Corsair AX 1600i 1600W 80 Plus Titanium modular power supply. Features include Corsair Link for temperature, fan speed and PSU monitoring as well as a zero RPM mode.

It also includes a 10 year warranty.

The Damage

So with all of our parts selected how much money are we going to need?

As the headline suggests, a lot. One could buy a used car, put down a deposit on a house or simply take an international vacation.

For those who are mad enough to consider this PC we applaud you and you can find full pricing per component below.

Component Price Quantity Total
AMD Ryzen Threadripper 3960X R31 499 1 R31 499
MSI MAG Core Liquid 360R 360mm Liquid CPU Cooler R3 249 1 R3 249
Corsair QL 120 iCUE RGB 120mm PWM R1 999 1 R1 999
Asus ROG II Zenith Extreme R19 485 1 R19 485
G.Skill Ripjaws V 64GB R5 599 4 R22 396
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3090 Vision OC 24GB R36 999 2 R73 998
ASUS ROG NVLink 4-slot R1 499 1 R1 499
Thermaltake AH T600 Snow R5 692 1 R5 692
Corsair AX1600i 1600W 80 Plus Titanium R9 399 1 R9 399
Grand Total R169 216

 

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