So I put everything together. Everything spins up and the PC boots up.

Before I install Windows, I wanna make sure I get this done. Thanks so much for the heads up, by the way. I would've had no idea otherwise.

So did you just mount the latest firmware ISO onto a USB drive and somehow updated the firmware from BIOS?

How did you go about it? Everything I am seeing is being done from Windows using the Samsung Magician.

You have to do it from Windows. Just install Windows and run the update from Magician once Windows is installed. It'll be fine.

The 990s had a firmware issue that could cause the drive to age faster than it should. Just do the firmware upgrade before you start tinkering a bunch.

The magician alone didn't do it for me. It wasn't seeing that the drive was out of date. I had to create a boot disk. FYI, you'll be fine updating firmware after installing windows.

I used unetbootin.

https://unetbootin.github.io/

Samsung has directions on their website.

Think I'm just going to go with the 13900k take the slight difference in performance to be able to have a better all around CPU

That bitch runs HOT. Do not skimp on cooling.

https://www.microcenter.com/product/...te?storeID=191

Was thinking about this

And my PC is in my basement which stays cold all year long

you don't have to do water cooling, but i'd drop $100+ on a good air cooler at minimum

https://www.amazon.com/Noctua-NH-D15.../dp/B07Y87YHRH

That's definitely sexy. But an air cooler will give you very close to the same performance at over half the price. And if you have a mechanical failure with an air cooler, it won't leak liquid all over your system. I totally get it if you have the money to blow and want the awesome look though. Air coolers are freaking huge and take up tons of space, often covering up the other sexy components on the motherboard.

The Noctua NH-D15 linked above is definitely your best bet for air cooler performance. However, don't sleep on the Deepcool model I linked above, just because of the price. Price doesn't equate to performance all the time. Here's a sweet looking white Deepcool that is a Noctua clone for half the price, and about 95% the performance of the Noctua. It also gives you dual ARGB fans.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMTM1X24?th=1

Here's a comparison of performance between the Noctua NH-D15, and the Deepcool AG620:

<iframe width="1200" height="800" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/PyMoBQQnCeM" title="DeepCool AK620 vs Noctua NH-D15 (and others)" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Tom's Hardware review: https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews...620-air-cooler.

My system is as overclocked as possible, and my CPU temps are still super low. In the mid 30s at idle, while running at 5.3-5.4Ghz. While gaming, I haven't seen it top 60 but a couple times. Don't underestimate quality case fans and good airflow. You don't have to spend $100+ for max performance.

So the AIO won't cool it even more than air? I just figured the GPU blocks like half the air flow so having a smaller heat sink on the CPU would make everything cooler

It will be cooler than air, but AIO's only get you a couple a degrees C than the best air coolers and you spend a ridiculous amount of money for the couple degree when you are already 20-30 degrees below max temp, plus if the pump fails you are SOL versus just having to replace a fan on an air cooler. In most cases even the big dual tower air coolers are overkill and a good single tower cooler will be just fine like the Scythe Mugen 5.

https://www.amazon.com/Scythe-Cooler...09S3Y3BKZ?th=1

AIO's are mostly for aesthetics or if your working in small form factors and dont have room for a tower cooler.

As jd said, it will cool better, but the difference will be pretty marginal overall for the considerable price difference. Maybe ~10 degrees at best in high usage situations. Mostly irrelevant while not under heavy load.

Regarding the GPU, you actually want to direct that airflow up and away from the GPU. The GPU fans assist with this. But an air CPU cooler makes that easier since it's actually moving air instead of moving liquid. AIO just cools the CPU contact point. Air cooler actually assists in moving a shit ton of hot air from both the GPU and the CPU, which is then exited from your case with your top/rear exhaust fans. The AIO creates a dead spot where you would otherwise have dual fans pushing hot air up and away. Granted AIO keeps the CPU in particular at much cooler temps, but it actually can increase your overall case temps if your case airflow is not ideal. Airflow is key.

By the way, if you want a set of case fan recommendations...I'm looking at these.

https://www.amazon.com/ARCTIC-P12-Pa...98&sr=1-6&th=1

Look at it this way. These days, your NVME drives come with a heat sink because they're used at such high levels that they produce excess heat. RAM modules now have little heat sinks, because RAM is being overclocked and producing much higher levels of heat. The motherboard chipset itself has a huge heat sink on most motherboards these days. AIOs transfer CPU heat only via liquid cooling. Air coolers help to move hot air from GPU/CPU/RAM/NVME/etc all at the same time.

No offense HP, but I would recommend this instead. At the least get these to make as your upper exhaust fans, and use the non LED for front/bottom/side intake cooling:

Asus TUF ARGB 120mm. 1900 RPM. 29dB. 76CFM. (CFM = cubic feet p/minute air movement) Really quiet for the level of airflow.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B6D2CLB5?th=1

For reference, the non LED fans HP linked above have a 1800 RPM and CFM of 56.3. 56 CFM is pretty weak. Again, don't cheap on case fans or cooling when going with Intel. Air flow is key for overall performance. I would highly recommend fans with airflow rated well above 60 CFM. Ideally over 70CFM like the Asus I linked, so it can really kick into gear and move lots of hot air when needed. Especially for power hungry Intel bitches. Don't buy fans if they don't directly advertise the CFM rating. Air movement is all that matters. Within acoustics that you can deal with at least.