Inputlagg3r wrote: ↑12 Apr 2025, 18:22
i want to buy a new one, but what parts have the lowest input lag? Intel or AMD? Should i buy CL28 RAM from Trident?
It's very simple, one has to read books in regards to CPU arch & OS, AMD/Intel docs & reviews (Tweaktown for SSD's, cooling ) to figure the root question of what makes a system question out.
Since no budget was mentioned, here you have a few low-latency setup considerations:
hw
cpu: 9800X3D or the upcoming Zen6 X3D CPU (12C/24T CPU with large L3 cache & new IF design)
mobo:
GB: B650E Tachyon, X870 Tachyon, X670E Aorus Master
MSI: X670E Tomahawk,
Asus: Prime X870-P, STRIX X870e-H, STRIX B850-G
Asrock: X670E Steel Legend, B850 Livemixer, Asrock X870 Pro RS, B650e Steel Legend, B650E PG-ITX, B850-I Lightning
note: Go for motherboards with a non-USB based audio controller (e.g.: ALC897, ALC1200, ALC1220) for lower CPU overhead
Using "GPU audio" (the audio output from your display) leads to a significant reduction in DPC/ISR usage compared to onboard audio solutions.
ram: Always opt for non-RGB RAM, ideally removing heatsink afterwards for better temps
e.g.: KF560C30BBEK2-64 or CMK32GX5M2B6000Z30(Ver 5.43.01)
note: don't rely on EXPO too much, it can be unstable & lead to performance degradation in form of jitter
As a safe measure—always purchase kits mentioned in the QVL of mobo's & use stress-tests if manual timings or wanting to evaluate whether EXPO is stable.
EXPO disabled is also fine, if you don't want to bother with stress-testing and have a out of box solution. Especially in titles such as CS2, which don't scale with bandwidth and/or RAM R/W latency that much.
You could be extra safe and opt for a Asus or ASRock board with ECC UDIMM support as a extra safety measure
(which I think should be the #1 choice when choosing AMD)
Get a high static air pressure fan to cool the bare ram kit, 140mm is ok (e.g.: Phanteks T30 or Noctua server fans)
Ex-AMD employee Robert Hallock used to recommend auto:1:1 (1733 : 2600 : 2600 / fclk:uclk:mclk) & personally preferred 5200MHz ~CL30 EXPO kits for his Zen4 rig (this comment was slightly before Zen4 release)
All of this is playing it safe, YMMV with actual values.
gpu:: RTX 5090 Strix (be mindful of new power connector, I'd personally stay clear of GPUs which house the new 12VHPWR connector and stick to at max the RTX5060Ti 16GB or RTX4070 with the old battle-tested 8-pin power connector)
psu: Corsair AX1600i (GaN PSU) or dual ATX linear PSU setup
ssd: Optane P4800x or Optane P5800x (important in BR games / titles which are storage-access heavy) paired with a WD SN8100
case: horizontal cases are better due to less stress on PCB, vertical ones such as Enthoo 2 Pro Server Edition and Corsair 5000d are ok
cooling: custom water-cooling or custom ducting setup. AIOs (e.g.: Atmos 360 or ALF3) or Phantom Spirit 120 SE as an alternative
peripherals
mouse: DAV3, V8K as top picks. EGG OP1 8k, EGG XM2 8k, Zaunkoenig M2K or M3K, HyperX Haste V2 as worse picks
display: 540HZ WOLED (PG27AQWP-W), 500Hz QD-OLED (FO27Q5P, 271QR X50), 750Hz TN panels or 600Hz Rapid-TN (XG248QSG, MSI 242R X60N or AG246FK6)
keyboard: Logitech G515 Rapid TKL, Zenaim TKL, K100 Air (or other ULP kb's) if low profile. Huntsman V3 TKL, Bloody AT87 or other RT-based optical keyboards if taller profile
headphones: personal preference
audio gear: personal preference, opt for toslink & XLR interconnect between DAC & AMP
As for Intel's LGA1700 & LGA1851 platform, similar principles apply.
I personally avoid Intel due to the larger power usage & lack of large cache options.
A few motherboard examples for the platform include:
LGA1700:
EVGA: Z790 Dark
GB: Z690/Z790 Tachyon, Z790 Aorus Elite X, Z790 Aorus Pro X
Asrock: Z690 Aqua, Z690 Taichi, Z690 PG Velocita
LGA1851
GB: Z890 Tachyon, Z890 Aorus Elite & Z890 Aorus Pro
Asus TUF Z890-Pro & Z890-Plus,
MSI: MSI Z890 Edge TI
Some games do not benefit from the larger L3 cache and instead rely on MT (where Intel is leading right now)