Another newbie needs help with his new PC :-)

[DrYFronts]

Hello!

I'm looking for a new gaming PC to replace my 7 y/o HP Omen. Happy to spend up £2500, which needs to include a monitor. I'd like something that can handle the likes of PoE 2, Diablo, Borderlands, and Battlefield, and ideally won't need upgrading for a little while.

I've thrown this together using advice from Google (the little bit I can understand), but I really don't know what I'm doing. Any help would be appreciated!

Case
CORSAIR 3000D AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
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 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB ZOTAC GEFORCE RTX 4070 SUPER Twin Edge - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 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
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
Microsoft® Edge
Monitor
MSI 27" MAG 274QRFW - 2560 x 1440, 1ms, 180HzWarranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed

Price: £2,407.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Ekans2011]

Hello!

I'm looking for a new gaming PC to replace my 7 y/o HP Omen. Happy to spend up £2500, which needs to include a monitor. I'd like something that can handle the likes of PoE 2, Diablo, Borderlands, and Battlefield, and ideally won't need upgrading for a little while.

I've thrown this together using advice from Google (the little bit I can understand), but I really don't know what I'm doing. Any help would be appreciated!

Case
CORSAIR 3000D AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
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 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB ZOTAC GEFORCE RTX 4070 SUPER Twin Edge - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 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
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
Microsoft® Edge
Monitor
MSI 27" MAG 274QRFW - 2560 x 1440, 1ms, 180HzWarranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed

Price: £2,407.00 including VAT and Delivery

Not so bad, but I wouldn't buy anything now and I'd wait for the new hardware to be announced on January 6th at CES.

Here are the changes I would make to the build you posted, keeping in mind the new GPUs that will be announced in a couple of weeks.

As a monitor, I'd try to purchase this AOC if the budget allows it. If you plan to transfer your current OS license, you can save around £110.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D966ZJGR?tag=pcp0f-21&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 4000X RGB TEMPERED GLASS MID-TOWER ATX CASE - WHITE
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 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB GIGABYTE RADEON™ RX 7800 XT GAMING OC - 2 x HDMI, 2 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W RMx SHIFT 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 H115i ELITE CAPELLIX XT RGB 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
Firefox™
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
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed
Price: £2,060.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/P7qXvmzYHe/

 

[DrYFronts]

Thank you for replying so quickly. I've been reading the posts in this forum (embarrassingly, for the first time) and have seen a lot about the upcoming CES. So I assume prices will drop over the coming weeks?

Forgive my naivety, but why the slower 2nd storage? And is there any harm in having 2 x 1TB?

 

[Ekans2011]

Thank you for replying so quickly. I've been reading the posts in this forum (embarrassingly, for the first time) and have seen a lot about the upcoming CES. So I assume prices will drop over the coming weeks?

Prices are impossible to predict, but we can absolutely expect generational performance improvements (for example, 5080=4090, 5070=4080, and so on).

Forgive my naivety, but why the slower 2nd storage? And is there any harm in having 2 x 1TB?

Higher speed will not provide any significant boost for gaming, but if your budget allows, you can get a faster M.2.

The first M.2 would just have the operating system, apps, and game launchers, whilst the second would store your games.
Again, there are no downsides to bigger capacities, but 500/512GB as primary drive are more than enough.

 

[DrYFronts]

I’d like a monitor like the one Ekans suggested, but I feel I’d be better off with a matte finish because I’m in a living room, next to a glass door, so I feel I’d get a lot of glare. Any ideas?

As for the new 50xx cards that have been announced, would it be worth going for a 5070 over a 40xx or is it too early to tell? I’m only a casual gamer and I’m currently running a GTX1060. Anything is going to be a significant upgrade and I don’t know if I’d notice a difference. Between 40xx and 50xx GPUs.

 

[DrYFronts]

I’ve been watching videos and reading reviews and I’ve decided on the ASUS TUF VG27AQ3A 27” QHD (2560x1440) 180Hz monitor. I don’t want OLED because I’m worried about burn-in and glossy screens, and I really don’t need 240Hz. I figure this allows me a little more wiggle room with the PC itself.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I’ve been watching videos and reading reviews and I’ve decided on the ASUS TUF VG27AQ3A 27” QHD (2560x1440) 180Hz monitor. I don’t want OLED because I’m worried about burn-in and glossy screens, and I really don’t need 240Hz. I figure this allows me a little more wiggle room with the PC itself.

Not sure which reviews you’ve been reading but burn in hasn’t been an issue since first generation OLEDs many years ago and even with those, it's only if you truly mistreat the monitor and don't have it set to auto sleep, same thing would happen with some LCD's too, it's not really any different.

Similarly with glossy finish, not so much a thing anymore, most have anti glare finishes which would be better in sunlight situations than matte, combined with infinite contrast on OLED

A gaming setup is a system from input to output, no matter how great the PC is, its limited by the monitor, so if you buy a mid range monitor on a top tier pc, you’ll only ever need able to see what the monitor can visually display

 

[TonyCarter]

I've got a first gen Alienware AW3423DW that's got many hours on it over the last 26 months and there's no sign of burn in, but even back then there were software/firmware mitigations in place to limit the burn-in risks.

Yes, if you have bright static images on the screen for days at a time (i.e. Microsoft Word in full screen) then you may get some ghosting, but on dark mode or in gaming I don't think you'd see any effects for well over 5 years.

Here's an ongoing test of OLED burn-in from one of our favourite youtube creators...

 

[DrYFronts]

I'm just wondering if OLED is a bit over the top for what I need. I largely play single-player games and absolutely nothing competitive. I'm currently in a bright room and sit quite close to the monitor, so 27" is the limit.

As for the full system, I'd like something that gives me an enjoyable, attractive gaming experience, but also runs well and won't need upgrading for a few years.

But I am willing to trust you beautiful strangers on the internet, as my knowledge is quite poor. So if you tell me OLED is the way to go, I'll factor it in.

 

[TonyCarter]

Sorry, I wasn't specifically recommending an OLED for your usage, just trying to assuage some of the burn-in concerns.

OLEDs are still expensive, so that definitely comes into the argument, so if you're not wanting to spend £500+ on the monitor, then there are still very good IPS monitors around that prioritise quality (colour accuracy, contrast, etc.) over FPS...but I'm out of the loop on those, so would recommend watching some of the Hardware Unboxed / Monitor Unboxed videos (and listening to some of the experts on here) for recommendations...plus there may be some recent releases/announcements from CES.

 

[sck451]

A QD-OLED is not something anyone needs. But it is very beautiful as well as being very fast/low-latency for gaming. If I had the budget lying around, I'd be getting one today.

 

[SpyderTracks]

The only thing I’d say regarding monitors, whatever you choose to get I would say proper HDR (HDR1000 or above on LCD or HDR True Black 400 and above on OLED) is such a stark improvement, it’s absolutely worth investing in

 

[DrYFronts]

Sorry, I wasn't specifically recommending an OLED for your usage, just trying to assuage some of the burn-in concerns.

OLEDs are still expensive, so that definitely comes into the argument, so if you're not wanting to spend £500+ on the monitor, then there are still very good IPS monitors around that prioritise quality (colour accuracy, contrast, etc.) over FPS...but I'm out of the loop on those, so would recommend watching some of the Hardware Unboxed / Monitor Unboxed videos (and listening to some of the experts on here) for recommendations...plus there may be some recent releases/announcements from CES.

I appreciate it, Tony. It's just all very overwhelming and I don't want to make the wrong decision.

I was also ready to buy something at the beginning of the month, but was told to wait until CES. Now I'm waiting until the RTX 50s come out to see if they'll be worth buying over the 40s. By which point, the new Ryzen CPUs will be out, and then we're already in Q2. I'm wondering at what point I should bite the bullet and buy something. At least if I can buy the monitor now, I can sit and stare at it in anticipation/excitement.

 

[TonyCarter]

I appreciate it, Tony. It's just all very overwhelming and I don't want to make the wrong decision.

I was also ready to buy something at the beginning of the month, but was told to wait until CES. Now I'm waiting until the RTX 50s come out to see if they'll be worth buying over the 40s. By which point, the new Ryzen CPUs will be out, and then we're already in Q2. I'm wondering at what point I should bite the bullet and buy something. At least if I can buy the monitor now, I can sit and stare at it in anticipation/excitement.

Until we see real-world 50-series performance we won't know whether they're worth it...but if they offer 20-30% more performance for the same price, then they're exactly where we'd expect them to be. It would take a 20-30% decrease in 40-series prices for them to then be the value option.

The new Ryzen CPUs are really only the higher-core versions of the 9800X3D...so unless there's a productivity/game development requirement then they won't offer much over the better-value 8-core version.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I appreciate it, Tony. It's just all very overwhelming and I don't want to make the wrong decision.

I was also ready to buy something at the beginning of the month, but was told to wait until CES. Now I'm waiting until the RTX 50s come out to see if they'll be worth buying over the 40s. By which point, the new Ryzen CPUs will be out, and then we're already in Q2. I'm wondering at what point I should bite the bullet and buy something. At least if I can buy the monitor now, I can sit and stare at it in anticipation/excitement.

The only Ryzen CPUs due are the 9900x3d and 9950x3d, it’s already been confirmed they’re only 3dvcache on the one CCD same as last generation so it’s safe to say they’re still aimed at multicore workloads with gaming on the side, not necessary or beneficial for gaming systems over a 9800X3d

So I would worry about the new CPUs

 

[TonyCarter]

The only Ryzen CPUs due are the 9900x3d and 9950x3d, it’s already been confirmed they’re only 3dvcache on the one CCD same as last generation so it’s safe to say they’re still aimed at multicore workloads with gaming on the side, not necessary or beneficial for gaming systems over a 9800X3d

So I would worry about the new CPUs

Pity about them only doing the single 3D V-cache, as it would have been perfect for MSFS 2024

 

[SpyderTracks]

Pity about them only doing the single 3D V-cache, as it would have been perfect for MSFS 2024

I can't even begin to imagine what a full 9950X3d with 2 CCDs would translate to for gaming, that would just be insane, was really hoping that would be the case this time round with the improvements they've made this gen

 

[DrYFronts]

OK...

AOC Q27G3XMN - highly recommended HDR monitor. Seems to be a good balance between cost and quality.

Now I just need to settle on a GPU.

Edit: 7800XT, 4070 SUPER, or 5070? The former is cheaper and has more VRAM, but is older. On paper, the 5070 won't do much better than the 4070, albeit cheaper. Do we think the Radeon cards will drop in price when the 50xxs come out?