AMD and 1440p PC build advice

[Dman77]

Hi all,

I've been a laptop gamer for about 15 yrs. Last Laptop from PC specialist, was in 2016 and was a i7600HQ, 8 gig and a GTX965.
I play mostly strategy/RPG/and games like Satisfactory which my laptop just struggled with after about 80hrs game time. I've never had a top end PC, and that was always fine tbh.

Having been lurking around here for a weeks now for build tips its become clear how great advice can help balance a system adequately for ones needs and the choice of monitor is more important than I realised.

USE - So, I would like to build this PC for gaming only really. No streaming/no content or video production. Unlikely VR.

MONITOR - I do not have one currently but I will be looking to buy a 27 inch (not ultrawide), 1440p. I'm not entirely sure which one (so many) but my budget would be up to £250. I will happily take any suggestions here. This Monitor below here is £199 and has a 180hz refresh rate (would this suffice?). Ill be honest, Im not massively up to speed with what refresh rates I should be getting/expecting.

SAMSUNG Odyssey G5 LS27DG502EUXXU Quad HD 27" IPS LCD Gaming Monitor - Black​

BUDGET - Ive read a few times that £2200 is expected for entry 1440p gaming build (excluding monitor budget). I don't want to go above this but of course I will need to fork out for the monitor too. So I guess £2500 is my top budget (but would like to spend less if possible)
BUT - Given Im unlikely to be playing first person shooters or many AAA hugely graphically demanding games (any time soon at least) and Im not trying to chase max FPS's, I wonder if my choice of CPU and GPU can be trimmed down a little (or is it even good enough? - gulp). Could I get away with a 78003XD? Satisfactory will be the most demanding (CPU is more important I read) and whilst I am not buying a system for one game, given my limited play time (when kids in bed and the wife is working or busy) I probably will be playing this MOST of the time over next year or two!

I'm probably a little lost on the Processor cooling and even though an alert said my chosen PS was too much, I thought Id go 850w so in 3 yrs time or so if I upgrade CPU/GPU - I have some head room. I thought 1000 might be too much for now.
I also find Motherboards a little board of mystery so this may not be right either.
So, I really appreciate any advice here please on whether this is balanced enough ( I am a novice at all this) or, if I could even get away with a bit of trimmings to possibly spend £2250 on PC and monitor together, based on the sort of games I wish to play.

Hope I have posted everything required! Thank you.

Case
LIAN LI O11DYNAMIC EVO RGB GAMING CASE
Promotional Item
Get a discount code for 20% off select peripherals at Corsair.com
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core CPU (Up to 5.2GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X870 EAGLE WIFI7 (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz CL40 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB GIGABYTE RADEON™ RX 7600 XT GAMING OC - 2 x HDMI, 2 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB CORSAIR CORE XT MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 5000 MB/R, 4400 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ ATX 3.1, MODULAR, CYBENETICS GOLD
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR NAUTILUS 240 RS ARGB 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
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
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
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
Google Chrome™
Keyboard & Mouse
ASUS TUF K1 Gaming Keyboard & M3 Gen II Mouse Bundle
Speakers
CREATIVE PEBBLE V3 WHITE - 2.0 USB-C SPEAKERS with Bluetooth v5.0
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 8 to 10 working days
Price: £2,088.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/UatssxYN09/

 

[sck451]

On the one hand, Satisfactory is a game that is going to be CPU-limited, so getting a good CPU is definitely the way to go (as well as better RAM). On the other hand, by going for a low-tier GPU like the 7600X, you're basically accepting lower performance all the time. I don't think you can have everything even for your fairly generous budget.

With any other game, you could at a pinch hit the £2k mark that would make your lower budget work, but with Satisfactory it seems unlikely. (I've not played it myself, but I've done a little reading and it seems very CPU intensive the longer the game goes on?) You could go down to, say, the 9700X and get very good performance except in the most CPU-demanding scenarios. That would save £143.

Let's have a go, though. I'd start with this ridiculous monitor, the AOC Q27G4X for less than £160 on Amazon. Then I might look at a system like this one:

Case
CORSAIR FRAME 4000D RS ARGB MODULAR Cheaper case but still good looking
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core CPU (Up to 5.2GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5) "Needed" for Satisfactory
Motherboard
GIGABYTE B850 AORUS ELITE WIFI 7 (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7) The cheapest decent motherboard
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 16GB) Lower-latency memory will help with Satisfactory and only costs £20 more
Graphics Card
16GB GIGABYTE RADEON™ RX 9070 XT GAMING OC - 2 x HDMI, 2 x DP Much stronger graphics card
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW) Boot drive (you could save a bit by going for something smaller and slower like the P41+: not a sacrifice I'd want to make personally but it could help?)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB CORSAIR CORE XT MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 5000 MB/R, 4400 MB/W) Games drive
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ ATX 3.1, MODULAR, CYBENETICS GOLD Really good PSU: I wouldn't scrimp and save here
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR NAUTILUS 240 RS ARGB 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
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
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 Could you transfer Windows from the old laptop? Would save £100
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
Google Chrome™
Keyboard & Mouse
ASUS TUF K1 Gaming Keyboard & M3 Gen II Mouse Bundle
Speakers
CREATIVE PEBBLE V3 WHITE - 2.0 USB-C SPEAKERS with Bluetooth v5.0
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 8 to 10 working days
Price: £2,333.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/D9YvtTTHx2/

 

[Dman77]

Thank You SCK451.
Really appreciate your time and input here to tweak things.
Thank you for that monitor suggestion from amazon - I happen to have a 100£ amazon voucher waiting to be used.

My other laptop will become my wife's for light office work, so will have to buy a new one.

Swapping the CPU and GPU..thank - I'll bow to your knowledge here and accept while a little more expensive, will be a better overall system. Again - Thanks!
I did look at the 512 soligem for my windows drive but it looked half the speed so thought the boot up time would be better with my choice. Is it half the speed from the real life comparison or does it not work like that and may only be seconds/20% slower boot up?

May i ask a question relating to wifi 7..does everything it talks to need to be wifi 7 too to get full benefit? Ie. My 7 yr old (good at the time ASUS router) won't be wifi 7.

 

[TonyCarter]

Our previous recommendation for the boot drive was a 512GB Solidigm P44 Pro (small and fast), but the smaller drives seem to have gone AWOL, and the 1TB version is only about 25% more expensive.

You'll only get the full benefit of WiFi7 if the other devices (especially the router) supports it. But it's backwards compatible so will work with older specs perfectly...and if you do upgrade your router/broadband then you're in a good starting position.

 

[Dman77]

Good to know, thank you Tony!

 

[Dman77]

May I ask a question regarding the antivirus please?
I currently use Bitdefender for my laptop.
I saw a comment on here recently saying they didn't use any paid antivirus and presumably just relied on windows defender? Is that the general recommendation?
I ask because I just recieved my renewal fee for May and now wondering if I should just not bother renewing.
I also used the free CC cleaner and free malware checker 'Privazer'.
But now wondering if I need any off this stuff!!
Maybe this could/should be a new thread but i guess its related to a new build as i may be sticking this all back on!
Definitely appreciate advice here!

 

[SpyderTracks]

May I ask a question regarding the antivirus please?
I currently use Bitdefender for my laptop.
I saw a comment on here recently saying they didn't use any paid antivirus and presumably just relied on windows defender? Is that the general recommendation?
I ask because I just recieved my renewal fee for May and now wondering if I should just not bother renewing.
I also used the free CC cleaner and free malware checker 'Privazer'.
But now wondering if I need any off this stuff!!
Maybe this could/should be a new thread but i guess its related to a new build as i may be sticking this all back on!
Definitely appreciate advice here!

3rd party AV hasn’t been needed since Windows 7 days, Windows Defender is in the main better than most 3rd party AVs and takes far less resources

 

[sck451]

Yeah, you really don't need to worry with paid antivirus. Windows Defender is as good as any of them and less of a hog on system resources. I don't know Bitdefender specifically, but I doubt you need it.

Of course, the number 1 most important thing for avoiding viruses is avoiding dangerous websites and being careful about phishing emails and the like.

 

[TonyCarter]

Don't need any aftermarket AV software.

Also, I'd stay away from CCCleaner as it can do more harm than good if you use the 'cleaning' tools - as it can remove files required for diagnosing problems.

If you need something to fully remove all traces of an app, then the portable version (i.e. it's not installed, just runs when you open it) of Revo Uninstaller is good.

 

[Dman77]

Thanks all. I shall be cancelling that then!
Is there a windows based registry cleaner? Again I might not be needing to do this. There was me thinking I was being organised and careful was just in a habit of 'deep cleaning' / registry cleaning ect. Perhaps windows does all this anyway and I just have not noticed.
Hmm I should perhaps have digged deeper here before doing all this.

 

[sck451]

Thanks all. I shall be cancelling that then!
Is there a windows based registry cleaner? Again I might not be needing to do this. There was me thinking I was being organised and careful was just in a habit of 'deep cleaning' / registry cleaning ect. Perhaps windows does all this anyway and I just have not noticed.
Hmm I should perhaps have digged deeper here before doing all this.

You'd be better off just reinstalling Windows every year or so to get rid of anything that's cluttering the system up. I wouldn't use registry cleaners myself. (Normally they are more likely to do harm than good.)

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks all. I shall be cancelling that then!
Is there a windows based registry cleaner? Again I might not be needing to do this. There was me thinking I was being organised and careful was just in a habit of 'deep cleaning' / registry cleaning ect. Perhaps windows does all this anyway and I just have not noticed.
Hmm I should perhaps have digged deeper here before doing all this.

I get it, I was the same but this need died out after windows XP