£3,000ish gaming build

A

AndyBarkers

Member
Hello all,

Just looking for a little constructive feedback on my selection of components below, please, as I'm still very new to custom building.

This is at the very top of my budget, at a little over £3,000, and will be used primarily for gaming, with the capacity to utilise MS Office. The monitor I am thinking of using is included in the build below, with my preference there being an IPS panel with high refresh rate and fast response time.

I've not been in a position before to look at getting something reasonably close to the top of the range and, although I'm under the impression this build might be a little overkill even for current gaming, I am also keen to take the opportunity to build in some 'future-proofing' (in so far as one can attempt to predict how gaming will evolve and components will last).

The case is a second choice for me - the PCS Spectrum RGB Mid-Tower Case that I was after has disappeared from the list of options - so any thoughts on whether my choice below is a competent alternative will be much appreciated - or even if there is simply a better case to go for, for this build.

I have been keen to avoid liquid cooling, as I have heard that the potential for leaking can be a risk not worth taking., so I'm hoping a powerful air cooler does suffice.

Finally, I am not looking at getting any paid anti-virus software, but thought it logical to take advantage of the free trial of BullGuard. Does anyone know if, for any reason I can't currently think of, this software is more trouble than it's worth in the first place? I'm assuming there's no great difficulty in removing it, post-trial, if one chooses?

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 200 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2019 (1 Digital License)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Firefox™
Monitor
ASUS XG27AQ 27" G-Sync ROG Strix
Keyboard & Mouse
ASUS TUF Gaming K1 Keyboard, M3 Mouse & H3 Headset Bundle
Mouse Pad
PCS Gaming Mouse Mat
Surge Protection
6 Socket 2m Surge Protector
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 14 to 17 working days
Price: £3,283.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/YSzVdaanUX/

Thanks in advance.
 
B

Bigfoot

Grand Master
I would make some change. I have picked a better case, dropped the RAM, as most games don’t need more then 16GB, improved storage, PSU and cooling and selected a more appropriate graphics card for 1440p gaming. I would recommend you get an external DVD player, as most cases don’t take them now and to buy your monitor, keyboard and mouse elsewhere to get better choice and value. You do need an AIO liquid cooler with that CPU and you don’t want Bullguard. You could put the 3080 back in, but you would need a monitor in the range of £700-£1200 to get any benefit from it and that would blow your budget out of the water. I am sure others will come in with other ideas to give you some5ing else to think about.

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2019 (1 Digital License)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Mouse Pad
PCS Gaming Mouse Mat
Surge Protection
6 Socket 2m Surge Protector
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 14 to 17 working days
Price: £2,309.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/c5G8cBJwaB/
 
A

AndyBarkers

Member
Bigfoot said:
I would make some change. I have picked a better case, dropped the RAM, as most games don’t need more then 16GB, improved storage, PSU and cooling and selected a more appropriate graphics card for 1440p gaming. I would recommend you get an external DVD player, as most cases don’t take them now and to buy your monitor, keyboard and mouse elsewhere to get better choice and value. You do need an AIO liquid cooler with that CPU and you don’t want Bullguard. You could put the 3080 back in, but you would need a monitor in the range of £700-£1200 to get any benefit from it and that would blow your budget out of the water. I am sure others will come in with other ideas to give you some5ing else to think about.

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2019 (1 Digital License)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Mouse Pad
PCS Gaming Mouse Mat
Surge Protection
6 Socket 2m Surge Protector
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 14 to 17 working days
Price: £2,309.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/c5G8cBJwaB/
Click to expand...

Thanks for this. I will wait to see whether anyone else has any other thoughts before I pull the trigger one way or the other, but these pointers seem very helpful, thank you.

Just thought of a follow-up actually, if I may: with the CPU cooling, do you know if it is simply the case that no air cooler is sufficient to prevent overheating of this CPU, or is it just that adequate air coolers are not available from PC Specialist?
 
Last edited:
jamiephillips909

jamiephillips909

Godlike
AndyBarkers said:
Thanks for this. I will wait to see whether anyone else has any other thoughts before I pull the trigger one way or the other, but these pointers seem very helpful, thank you.

Just thought of a follow-up actually, if I may: with the CPU cooling, do you know if it is simply the case that no air cooler is sufficient to prevent overheating of this CPU, or is it just that adequate air coolers are not available from PC Specialist?
Click to expand...
There are adequate air coolers for this cpu but not from pcs noctua Nh-D15 is a top end cooler but its massive !!!! but for the ease of use there is nothing wrong with a aio cooler I would say 80% of pepole use them and the fail rate is very very low you dont have to provide any maintenance to them except giving them a dust now and again as'you would with any pc

Cant really improve on bigfoots build its optimized for the budget top build !!!!!

If.you do pull the trigger you do have the option to amend your order with no extra charge during the pre-production stage if u have any second thoughts
 
Last edited:
sck451

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
jamiephillips909 said:
There are adequate air coolers for this cpu but not from pcs noctua Nh-D15 is a top end cooler but its massive !!!! but for the ease of use there is nothing wrong with a aio cooler I would say 80% of pepole use them and the fail rate is very very low you dont have to provide any maintenance to them except giving them a dust now and again as'you would with any pc

Cant really improve on bigfoots build its optimized for the budget top build !!!!!

If.you do pull the trigger you do have the option to amend your order with no extra charge during the pre-production stage if u have any second thoughts
Click to expand...
If you do really want an air cooler, Noctua rate three of their coolers as being capable of getting the 5900X to its full capability: the D15 (and its S variant), the U14S, and the U12A. Other companies have coolers AMD recommend (like Be Quiet's Dark Rock Pro 4) but I have less knowledge of those...

But getting PCS to fit an AIO is almost certainly going to be easier, and it'll be covered by a warranty that way (not that air coolers really ever go wrong).
 
A

AndyBarkers

Member
Thank you both, @jamiephillips909 and @sck451.

The impression I'm getting is that liquid cooling is perhaps safe enough that the rewards and warranty outweigh the risks attached to any leak, which is reassuring.

As is perhaps inevitable with expensive purchases, more has sprung to mind today - it pertains to the modified build, so @Bigfoot may be best placed to help, but I'd happily hear from anyone in the know. I would just like to better understand some of the selections, please:-

I have seen the CORSAIR iCUE 5000X case recommended in several other examples of builds for gaming - is there any particular reason this one is preferable?

My thinking with getting the monitor at the same time - from PCS, with the build - was that, presumably, the monitor would be covered by the same warranty. I was worried that, if I get the monitor separately, not only will the warranty likely be far shorter, but I might run into difficulty if I need to fix any problems, what with components coming from different sources. Is this typically not an issue?

And, out of curiosity as much as anything else, why is BullGuard to be avoided?
 
B

Bigfoot

Grand Master
AndyBarkers said:
Thank you both, @jamiephillips909 and @sck451.

The impression I'm getting is that liquid cooling is perhaps safe enough that the rewards and warranty outweigh the risks attached to any leak, which is reassuring.

As is perhaps inevitable with expensive purchases, more has sprung to mind today - it pertains to the modified build, so @Bigfoot may be best placed to help, but I'd happily hear from anyone in the know. I would just like to better understand some of the selections, please:-

I have seen the CORSAIR iCUE 5000X case recommended in several other examples of builds for gaming - is there any particular reason this one is preferable?

My thinking with getting the monitor at the same time - from PCS, with the build - was that, presumably, the monitor would be covered by the same warranty. I was worried that, if I get the monitor separately, not only will the warranty likely be far shorter, but I might run into difficulty if I need to fix any problems, what with components coming from different sources. Is this typically not an issue?

And, out of curiosity as much as anything else, why is BullGuard to be avoided?
Click to expand...
There is no reason you should have problems with a modern AIO cooler. Many of us (including me) have one, so we are putting our money where our mouth is. The Corsair 5000x is a good looking case with good airflow. It isn’t the cheapest case, but there are more expensive cases (including the 500D SE which I have). There are also cheaper cases with good air flow. Case selection is a combination of aesthetics and air flow and sometimes size. We normally recommend getting the monitor elsewhere, as there will be a better choice and often better value. You should be able to get a decent warranty as well. Most electronic devices will fail early, if they are going to fail. Bullguard has been reported many times to cause performance issues and BSODs.
 
A

AndyBarkers

Member
Bigfoot said:
There is no reason you should have problems with a modern AIO cooler. Many of us (including me) have one, so we are putting our money where our mouth is. The Corsair 5000x is a good looking case with good airflow. It isn’t the cheapest case, but there are more expensive cases (including the 500D SE which I have). There are also cheaper cases with good air flow. Case selection is a combination of aesthetics and air flow and sometimes size. We normally recommend getting the monitor elsewhere, as there will be a better choice and often better value. You should be able to get a decent warranty as well. Most electronic devices will fail early, if they are going to fail. Bullguard has been reported many times to cause performance issues and BSODs.
Click to expand...
Thanks @Bigfoot, I appreciate you expanding on those points. I will have a little bit of a further think about component selection, but I already feel much better about which direction to take with my build.

And I'll certainly be steering well clear of BullGuard!
 
A

AndyBarkers

Member
Just wanted to post a collective thanks to those of you who have posted and helped me out with guidance on components and the reasoning therein. I don't think it can be overstated how beneficial such a community approach to helping others is on complex topics such as computer building, and I very much appreciate the opportunity to learn from your wisdom, before committing to a big purchase.

Thank you.
 
sck451

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
AndyBarkers said:
Just wanted to post a collective thanks to those of you who have posted and helped me out with guidance on components and the reasoning therein. I don't think it can be overstated how beneficial such a community approach to helping others is on complex topics such as computer building, and I very much appreciate the opportunity to learn from your wisdom, before committing to a big purchase.

Thank you.
Click to expand...
And we're all here because we enjoy helping people in your situation! Let us know where you end up, and it would be great to see pictures of your setup and build when it comes.
 
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