All-rounder!

[calummaclean499]

Hi All,

So, my old computer has been nursed as long as my sanity will cope and I'm now looking for a replacement. Basically I need an all-round, general purpose PC to play games...mostly stuff like Elder Scrolls - Skyrim, World of Warcraft, The Witcher, Hellblade, Playing music (MP3, FLAC, CDs...), Photo Editing, Programming (C++) and the usual web browsing, e-mail and the like. This is what I've come up with, any thoughts:

Case
CORSAIR OBSIDIAN SERIES™ 750D FULL TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
2nd Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR MP600 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 4950MB/R, 4250MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 120 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
3x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
Sound Card
Asus Xonar SE 5.1-Channel Gaming Audio Card
Wireless/Wired Networking
ASUS PCE-AX58BT WiFi 6 (802.11ax) 2400Mbps/5GHz, 600Mbps/2.4GHz
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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Monitor
MSI 23.6" Optix G241VC - 1920 x 1080, 1MS, 75Hz
Keyboard & Mouse
Corsair K95 RGB PLATINUM Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, Cherry MX RGB Speed
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 6 to 8 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo

 

[VenatoS]

I think some said to stay away from the MP600 memory from what I remember.
The rest looks pretty good.
Don't cheap out on the PSU get the RMx series.

 

[Oussebon]

What is the budget?

What price does that come to?

What monitor are you gaming on?

 

[calummaclean499]

Thx Venatos, will bear that in mind!

Oussebon, budget is £2500, the above spec comes in at £2350. The monitor is in the spec: MSI 23.6" Optix G241VC - 1920 x 1080, 1MS, 75Hz... don't have space for a big monitor and that looked the best spec at that sort of size...

 

[Oussebon]

That monitor is not worthy of the PC It will bottleneck your gaming experience tbh.

I'd suggest either buying a much cheaper PC, or buying a better monitor.

There are quite a few 1440p 144hz 24" monitors e.g.

Acer Predator XB241YU - ( gsync only, TN panel)
AOC AGON AG241QX - ( freesync, TN panel)
AOC AGON AG241QG - (gsync only, TN panel)

There are others too e.g. Dell S2417DG

The AG241QX is £314 on one site.

I'd drop the sound card, mobo audio is fine. If it's not it's probably not a gamer-marketed sound card you're after

I'd also drop the wifi card to the £20 AX200. If you're buying the expensive one because you have bad wifi signal, instead it may be better to invest in powerline adapters / homeplugs, or range extenders / a mesh system - an expensive card can't make up for poor signal!

Drop the motherboard to the X570-PLUS unless there is a specific feature on the Strix you need that the PLUS does not offer? The PLUS is a very good board too.

Tbh you could drop to the B450 Asus board and feel no ill effects for gaming, but if you want X570 then the PLUS would be my recommendation.

The 750D is a big case. It's fine if you want it, but you could get something much more compact (but still great for airflow) like the Meshify C and just use a USB Bluray drive keeping it sat on the PC.

Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 120 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler

I'd suggest a 240mm cooler instead. Will give improved cooling for relatively little extra cost. The 240mm version of the same should be fine, or the Cooler Master Lite.

 

[calummaclean499]

Thanks for the further feedback Oussebon!

I do want something better than the standard mobo audio as I play play a lot of music on my computer, be it MP3 and FLAC audio files or CDs and I use it to play backing tracks for my guitar practice... just have no idea what sound cards are any good... maybe I need to do a bit of research there...

Not keen on getting a cheaper PC, so maybe a better monitor but £2500 is my limit so maybe the cheaper monitor now and get a better one in 6 - 12 months?

Does the cheaper Wii fi card have bluetooth as that is essential for my needs.

And I'd rather have a built in blu ray as I have cats and dogs who are quite good at knocking stuff off things if it isn't bolted down!

 

[Oussebon]

Stick with the standard motherboard audio. Audition it. If you find it fine, great, you saved money. If it's not up to snuff, a random marketed-at-gamers sound card is not what you're after. a USB DAC perhaps. Plenty of decent DAPs have USB DAC functions too.

But the mobo audio might surprise you, especially when you are paying a premium for a board that already has even better onboard audio than standard high end boards. Thre X570 PLUS does have an ALC1200A chip, so better than the 887 or whatever you find on normal consumer models.

Not keen on getting a cheaper PC, so maybe a better monitor but £2500 is my limit so maybe the cheaper monitor now and get a better one in 6 - 12 months?

This is almost never the right play tbh. You buy an expensive GPU + system, and don't actually harness the performance. By the time you do actually buy a monitor that lets you use the performance you purchased, the hardware you bought will have been superseded by newer components, offering more performance and newer technologies for a lower price. In short you'll have wasted cash.

Does the cheaper Wii fi card have bluetooth as that is essential for my needs.

It is "WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0" so yeah

e,g,

Case
CORSAIR OBSIDIAN SERIES™ 750D FULL TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/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 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR MP600 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 4950MB/R, 4250MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-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
Extra Case Fans
3x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Keyboard & Mouse
Corsair K95 RGB PLATINUM Mechanical Gaming Keyboard, Cherry MX RGB Speed
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 6 to 8 working days
Price: £2,021.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/vqjFw!DbFV/

Leaving you with £479.

You can get a 1440p 144hz monitor that is 24" for £315 as above (AOC Agon AG241QX)

Leaving you £164 of the budget. Plenty to cover a sound card / DAC should you decide the mobo audio isn't quite where you want it to be after trying it out. Or to keep in your pocket.

 

[SpyderTracks]

For proper audio soundcards, if it's just HiFi based, then you need a DAC, entry level ones include the AudioQuest Dragonfly's which are superb, Black being the entry level, going up to cobalt:

AudioQuest DragonFly Black (Black)

Shop for AudioQuest Dragonfly Black USB DAC & Headphone Amp with Richer Sounds for expert advice and Lowest Prices Guaranteed

www.richersounds.com

If you want to connect guitar and mic and stuff, then you need a proper audio soundcard (which includes a DAC). Check out Anderton's, you'd just need a standard USB one:

Audio Interfaces - Andertons Music Co.

Browse the range of Audio Interfaces at Andertons! From USB to Thunderbolt, we've got it! Free UK delivery options available plus flexible finance options!

www.andertons.co.uk

I would recommend Scarlett's for entry level:

Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Generation USB-C Audio Interface - Andertons Music Co.

Get the Focusrite Scarlett Solo 3rd Generation USB-C Audio Interface at Andertons Music Company today!

www.andertons.co.uk