I'm putting together my first custom PC and would appreciate advice on the graphics card. The current parts are a black-and-orange Z20 case, an ASRock B760M-HDV/M.2 DDR5 motherboard, and an Intel i7-14700KF. I still need a power supply, GPU, RAM, storage, and cooling components.
My main GPU requirements are that it should be white, have no or minimal RGB, match or beat an RTX 3060, and ideally support water cooling. I'm considering the Intel Arc B570 or B580, particularly the white Sparkle models, because they appear to offer similar or better performance than my current RTX 3060. The B580's small RGB strip could probably be covered or disabled.
Noise is my biggest concern. My current PC becomes extremely loud while gaming, whereas my old GTX 980 was nearly silent. I had considered buying a water-cooling setup for the GPU and CPU, although I'm still learning about custom loops and understand that this adds considerable cost and complexity. My budget for the GPU is roughly £300–£400, with some flexibility, but I would need to account separately for the pump, reservoir, radiator, tubing, fittings, and water blocks.
The PC will mainly be used for digital art, Clip Studio Paint, Live2D, occasional gaming, and possibly streaming. AMD and NVIDIA are also options if there is a suitable white card with a water-cooling solution. I'm based in the UK and would also welcome general advice on a suitable gold-rated PSU, M.2 storage, and cooling approach.
5 Answers
Be careful with the cooling terminology. A CPU AIO is a sealed cooler and normally cannot be expanded to include a GPU. A CPU-and-GPU loop requires a CPU block, GPU block, pump/reservoir, radiator, fittings, tubing, and careful leak testing. It is much more involved than installing an AIO, especially for a first build.
Also, a water block replaces the graphics card’s original shroud, so the card being white matters much less once it is under a block. Unfortunately, blocks are model-specific, and affordable blocks for the B570 and B580 may not exist. That compatibility check should come before buying the card.
The B580 is a reasonable step up from an RTX 3060 for this use, and a white model should fit your build well. The B570 is also an option, but I would only choose it if the price difference is substantial. A triple-fan B580 should be noticeably easier to keep quiet than a smaller dual-fan design.
Before buying Intel Arc, check that your art and streaming software works well with its drivers. Clip Studio Paint and Live2D generally don’t require CUDA, so NVIDIA is not automatically necessary, but game compatibility and encoder support are still worth checking.
For the power supply, prioritize quality over colour. A good 750 W Gold unit with a long warranty and strong protections should be plenty for a B570 or B580, and the PSU usually won’t be very visible in the case. If a white model costs more, choose the better-reviewed unit rather than paying for the finish.
For storage, use a reputable PCIe 4.0 M.2 SSD rather than the cheapest drive available. A 1 TB or 2 TB model from a reliable brand is a good starting point. For memory, 32 GB of DDR5 is a sensible target for digital art, gaming, and streaming.
If noise is the priority, don’t focus only on the GPU. Set a sensible case-fan curve, make sure the case has good airflow, and consider undervolting the graphics card. A slightly undervolted card can use less power and produce much less noise with only a small performance change.
You can also compare independent noise reviews between B580 models. Fan replacement is possible, but it may involve modifying the cooler and could affect the warranty, so I’d try a quiet model, undervolting, and fan tuning first.
The main issue is that a water-cooled GPU at this price point is basically not realistic. A compatible block, pump, reservoir, radiator, fittings, tubing, and coolant can cost as much as the graphics card, and there are very few affordable white cards sold with a block already installed. You could easily end up spending well over £1,000 on the GPU and cooling hardware alone.
For a first build, I’d strongly consider a normal air-cooled B580 instead. Look for a triple-fan model with a quiet fan curve, and use the card’s control software to tune the fans. The ASRock, Acer, and Sparkle versions are worth comparing, and some let you disable the lighting. If you still want liquid cooling later, treat it as a separate advanced project rather than designing the whole first build around it.
That makes sense. I was treating the water-cooling parts as a separate future expense, but I’m starting to realise how quickly the total cost rises. The B580 with a quiet fan curve and a small sticker over the unwanted lighting may be the more sensible route.