1440p Gaming and General use PC

[Jpogorman]

Hi,

I would appreciate any feedback and thoughts on this spec especially on graphics card and suggested monitor to deliver reasonable 1440p game play. I’ve taken the pre-designed Cobalt Ultra spec and reduced graphics card, CPU, and additional hard disk to try to get closer to my budget and needs (1440p gaming PC and general use machine).

Monitor - I will need to upgrade my monitor next year. Budget £500. Maybe Dell 32 USB-C Gaming Monitor - G3223D (url)?
Uses - My 12 year old son wants a gaming PC and I want a good general purpose machine that could support my three children’s interests in the coming years. My kids are currently aged 14, 12, and 10 so this PC is also an investment without knowing all the use cases (coding, graphics, etc?) in the coming years.
Budget - £1800 (or ~€2000).

Case
PCS PRISM TG WHITE ARGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 360 Series ARGB High Performance Liquid 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
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc Single License
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Price: €2,128.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.ie/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/QksYGcNRjn/

Thanks so much!

 

[MrWilson]

Hi there,
Really solid first attempt on the spec, and thanks for going over your needs. To clarify a little on “general purpose” is that to cover tasks like Microsoft office, emails, zoom calls or is there something a bit more demanding you had in mind? You mentioned coding above, just want to check if you wanted to have the PC capable of tasks such as editing, animation, streaming etc.

Monitor wise, 1440p 144hz is a great place to be at with this sort of budget, and you’ve got the budget for a few great picks. Not sure how the monitor market differs in Ireland compares to Britain so I’ll give you some recommendations and you can see what fits in budget. Our common recommendations are the Dell S2721DGF, Gigabyte M27Q, Asus VG27AQ(1A), and the msi mag274qrf-qd, which is probably the best of the bunch if it’s within budget.

 

[stegor]

You may want to specify a 2nd drive. You don't want 3 kids jumping all over your OS drive.

 

[Jpogorman]

Hi there,
Really solid first attempt on the spec, and thanks for going over your needs. To clarify a little on “general purpose” is that to cover tasks like Microsoft office, emails, zoom calls or is there something a bit more demanding you had in mind? You mentioned coding above, just want to check if you wanted to have the PC capable of tasks such as editing, animation, streaming etc.

Monitor wise, 1440p 144hz is a great place to be at with this sort of budget, and you’ve got the budget for a few great picks. Not sure how the monitor market differs in Ireland compares to Britain so I’ll give you some recommendations and you can see what fits in budget. Our common recommendations are the Dell S2721DGF, Gigabyte M27Q, Asus VG27AQ(1A), and the msi mag274qrf-qd, which is probably the best of the bunch if it’s within budget.

Thanks MrWilson. General purpose probably means that it would be a reasonably good PC to handle Zoom calls (at the same time as gaming), small scale animation etc. I don’t want to overly optimise for intensive tasks beyond gaming as they might never happen and the Core i7 (with additional RAM) might cover many use cases at a reasonable level. You mention streaming and that is maybe a good example of something that might crop up quickly. Would the current graphics card be capable of some degree of streaming or would a potential upgrade be sensible now?

Thanks for those great monitor recommendations. I’ll look into those in the coming days. I was thinking that a monitor slightly larger than a 27inch might be more immersive but maybe I’ve overthinking it.

 

[Jpogorman]

You may want to specify a 2nd drive. You don't want 3 kids jumping all over your OS drive.

Thanks stegor. Very true. I presume an OS sitting on an M.2 SSD with game binaries and other data residing on a slower second drive is generally the best pattern. Is that correct?

 

[MrWilson]

This comes in about the same price as your build above but should perform slightly better.
Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE Much better airflow for the same price.
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 14-Core Processor i5-13600K (3.5GHz) 24MB Cache A newer generation, the combination of 6 high performance cores and 8 efficiency cores will let you handle gaming as well as background productivity tasks simultaneously (video calls, streaming etc).
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR This has dedicated encoding cores to handle streaming and other tasks.
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W) Speedy primary drive for Windows and programs.
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW) Secondary fast drive for games and general files. Can consider adding in a HDD for general storage like photos, music etc.
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler More powerful cooler for the toasty Intel CPU.
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
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
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) Silver warranty for a fiver is well worth it.
Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Price: £1,850.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.ie/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/J4e!sn7V2u/

 

[MrWilson]

Thanks for those great monitor recommendations. I’ll look into those in the coming days. I was thinking that a monitor slightly larger than a 27inch might be more immersive but maybe I’ve overthinking it.

27 inches is the sweet spot for 1440p. As you go larger the pixel density decreases and can visibly distort images to some viewers.
The general consensus (although opinions vary, hence why monitor makers sell varying sizes) is that 1080p is optimal at 24 inches, 1440p is optimal at 27 inches, and 4K is optimal at 32+ inches.

 

[stegor]

Thanks stegor. Very true. I presume an OS sitting on an M.2 SSD with game binaries and other data residing on a slower second drive is generally the best pattern. Is that correct?

That's what I do, using a second slower and cheaper SSD. I actually have a 3rd HDD for static data as well. It's cheap and HDDs are actually more reliable in a "predictive failure" way than SSDs. I also use a portable HDD for backups.

 

[Jpogorman]

Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 14-Core Processor i5-13600K (3.5GHz) 24MB Cache A newer generation, the combination of 6 high performance cores and 8 efficiency cores will let you handle gaming as well as background productivity tasks simultaneously (video calls, streaming etc).

Thanks again @MrWilson. I think I learned something in every comment you added but clarifying 27 inch as being optimal for 1440p and understanding the mix of cores in the recommended Core i5 really help me a lot. I just assumed going from an i5 to an i7 was a no brainer but I never considered the mix of cores on offer in a newer generation i5. I really appreciate the spec you configured. I just need to swallow hard and get the credit card out now!

 

[Jpogorman]

Actually two more questions before I finalise the build:
1) pcspecialist is reporting the 850W power supply may be overpowered and that a 650W should suffice. Are there any pro or cons in a larger power supply other than the initial price increase? Does it future proof the machine more or add to running costs?
2) The case is great but if my understanding is correct the motherboard can support front USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C® port, USB 3.2 Gen 1 header, and 2 x Front USB 2.0 header. I’m just curious if there was a case upgrade that might support access to more front ports as well as great airflow?
Thanks!

 

[sck451]

Actually two more questions before I finalise the build:
1) pcspecialist is reporting the 850W power supply may be overpowered and that a 650W should suffice. Are there any pro or cons in a larger power supply other than the initial price increase? Does it future proof the machine more or add to running costs?
2) The case is great but if my understanding is correct the motherboard can support front USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C® port, USB 3.2 Gen 1 header, and 2 x Front USB 2.0 header. I’m just curious if there was a case upgrade that might support access to more front ports as well as great airflow?
Thanks!

No cons whatsoever other than the cost. The power supply only supplies the power the components ask for. It's best to have plenty of headroom (a) because components can have "spikes" where they demand more than the stated power (Nvidia 30-series, I'm looking at you), and also so that you have room for upgrades. I have a 3060 Ti in my system, with the less power-hungry Ryzen 5000 platform, and I'm very happy I have a 1000W PSU. It's not necessary, but it is wise. And goodness only knows what components will ask for in 4-5 years time. Hopefully it will be an era of power-efficiency, but I have my doubts.

The Fractal Meshify 2 Compact might be a good option? It's a case I completely love.