A little PC advice

[simElm]

My son's 16th birthday is coming up and he's been asking for a PC for some time. I'm not that clued up on gaming PC's but with a little help from a friend I've selected the set up that I've posted below. I was asked to ask PCS a few questions but getting through to them is near impossible so hopefully someone on here can help with the questions I had.
Although this is a gaming PC my son is also studying engineering and will probably want to run CAD on the computer, so my questions are:

Q1. Will the selected graphics card do?
Q2. If it won't do should I get a mother board with a second graphics card slot and if so which one?
Q3. This one was direct from my friend:
Do you think you could email PC Specialist to see what brand of 8GB AMD RADEON™️ RX 5700 XT card they'd be fitting? I'm not sure how Leon feels about graphics cards, but there are different brands and the price varies from about £375 to £475 depending upon brand and performance isn't equal. I'm not a fan of PowerColor cards. The other brands (EVGA, Gigabyte, Asus, MSI etc) are all good.

Thanks in advance.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL II GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-10700K (3.8GHz) 16MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF Z490-PLUS GAMING (LGA1200, USB 3.2, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (4 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 5700 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H60 2018 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
LED Lighting
50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
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 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Monitor
MSI 23.6" Optix G241VC - 1920 x 1080, 1MS, 75Hz
Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE GOLD PLATED V1.4 HDMI CABLE
Keyboard & Mouse
ASUS TUF K5 Gaming Keyboard & M3 Mouse Bundle
Headsets
CoolerMaster CH321 Gaming Headset
Speakers
LOGITECH Z200 2.0 SPEAKERS - 10W
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 18 to 20 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland

 

[Grinty]

Hello and welcome to the forum.

1 The graphics card you've chosen is a lot more powerful than it needs to be for the monitor you've selected
2 Not an expert but from what I've heard dual graphics card setups aren't that good for gaming any more (though I believe they still have niche uses for things like video rendering) as you're better off just getting a single more powerful card
3 I think PCS generally use Zotac or Pallit graphics cards. If you're able to get through to them (I've had reasonable luck calling around 6pm BST) they should be able to tell you what they have in stock at the moment

With that out of the way, it's possible we can come up with something better if you can give us a budget target. I'd recommend an AMD build - they give much better value for money than Intel at the moment.

 

[simElm]

Thanks for the reply Grinty,
I suppose we chose the card because it had some great reviews, my friend had suggested going AMD because of value for money. I selected a model that PCS had already put together and just added a few things, always happy to take your advice. My budget is £2000.

Regards

Simon

 

[Grinty]

I'm struggling a little bit because so many things (especially monitors) are out of stock at the moment. Here's a starting point using an AMD build that comes in a little cheaper than the one you've posted and should give 1440p @ 75Hz performance. It's worth waiting to see if anyone else on the forum has suggestions for improvement - I put this together pretty quickly using your build as a template, there may be room for more optimisation.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL II GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
50cm RGB LED Strip
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 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 (Windows 10 Only)
Monitor
IIYAMA ProLite B2791QSU-B1 27" WQHD
Keyboard & Mouse
ASUS TUF K5 Gaming Keyboard & M3 Mouse Bundle
Headsets
CoolerMaster CH321 Gaming Headset
Speakers
LOGITECH Z200 2.0 SPEAKERS - 10W
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 18 to 20 working days
Price: £1,862.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/KGvfF0Rqu7/

 

[simElm]

Ok, thanks for this, I did notice the lack of monitor stock. As you say, I'll wait a few days and see if others have some suggestions as well.

 

[keithbeaks]

Ok, thanks for this, I did notice the lack of monitor stock. As you say, I'll wait a few days and see if others have some suggestions as well.

You'll definitely get a lot of help with the build, monitor and everything to be honest. I'm an amateur but have received great advice for everything.