Comments on proposed build - hoping to future proof for 5/10 years

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webber6789

Member
Case
be quiet! SHADOW BASE 800 FX GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 20-Core Processor i7-14700KF (Up to 5.6GHz) 33MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z790-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, DDR4, PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB ZOTAC GEFORCE RTX 5070 SOLID OC - HDMI, 3 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
512GB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR, 1625MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND APPLICATION
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 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™


Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/gDC7kmydnZ/
 
W

webber6789

Member
Monitor - I will be using my 4k LG OLED55B7V TV. 100/120 Hz
Uses - Gaming and VR (HL: Alyx)
Budget - Current spec is near £1.8k. I'd ideally like for it to be about 1.5k.
 
W

webber6789

Member
Monitor - I will be using my 4k LG OLED55B7V TV. 100/120 Hz
Uses - Gaming and VR (HL: Alyx), along with the usual web browsing and some minor art projects
Budget - Current spec is near £1.8k. I'd ideally like for it to be about 1.5k.

Case
be quiet! SHADOW BASE 800 FX GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 20-Core Processor i7-14700KF (Up to 5.6GHz) 33MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z790-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, DDR4, PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB ZOTAC GEFORCE RTX 5070 SOLID OC - HDMI, 3 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
512GB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR, 1625MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND APPLICATION
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 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™


Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/gDC7kmydnZ/
 
T

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
There's nothing I can do to make your PC last 10 years without increasing the budget, as you've got a low-power (barely minimum) PSU, poor cooler, older platform on DDR4, last gen CPU with known issues, etc.

If we ignore the Intel elephant-in-the-room, and if you did the tweaks above, you'd still be closer £2k than £1.5k, i.e.

Case
CORSAIR FRAME 4000D RS ARGB MODULAR
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 20-Core Processor i7-14700KF (Up to 5.6GHz) 33MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z790-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, DDR4, PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB ZOTAC GEFORCE RTX 5070 SOLID OC - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6200 MB/W)
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 1000W 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 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™
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 9 to 11 working days
Price: £1,981.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/G2F6cdfuyg/

But I'd not recommend an Intel build at all...and with a newer platform it's going to cost even more unfortunately. Even a 1080p build is coming in at over £1800 (mainly due to GPU prices).
 
T

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
This is the AMD equivalent of the above, but using last gen's gaming king, the 7800X3D (still faster & more efficient than the 14700).

Case
CORSAIR FRAME 4000D RS ARGB MODULAR
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.0GHz/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
12GB ZOTAC GEFORCE RTX 5070 SOLID OC - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6200 MB/W)
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 1000W 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™
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 9 to 11 working days
Price: £2,060.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/HKPwBtR47s/
 
T

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
To get either of these closer to £1500 would entail major corner-cutting in the CPU, PSU, motherboard, cooling, storage...which would make them unsuitable as a base for future upgrades. Of course it's always possible to create what we'd call a 'throwaway' build where you'd have to replace everything to accommodate any significant upgrades.

Keeping them where they are (in the AMD's case) allows for a simple GPU upgrade in 3-5 years time to refresh the system to keep up with next gen game requirements...and will even allow a CPU upgrade to a 9800X3D or the 10800X3D (if it's called that when it is announced). The 9800X3D can be about 20-30% faster than the 7800X3D - but is currently at a £150 premium.
 
T

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
NOT RECOMMENDED...example of a throwaway 1080p build...biggest saving is the £300 on the GPU...NOT RECOMMENDED

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 205 MESH C GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9700X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.5GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B850-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5600MHz CL40 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB ASUS DUAL GEFORCE RTX 4060 OC V2 - HDMI, 3 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
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW)
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 200 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND APPLICATION
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™
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 9 to 11 working days
Price: £1,516.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/FtH9yr6wrF/

Normally you'd probably get better value for money on a used PC than configuring a new one for the same cost, but used PCs are increasing in price due to the supply/costs of current gen components (for example my last gen GPU is worth as much now as when I bought it 2 years ago).
 
W

webber6789

Member
Wow!
Thank you for a very detailed response.

The reviews of that AMD are out of this world. You may have converted me...

I also did look into DDR5 RAM and the current reviews seem to suggest that the increase of price doesn't currently (I suppose the key word) doesn't result in any meaningful better performance.

But if I want to use 7800X3D then I'll have to upgrade to DDR5. No biggie.

I also take onboard the cooling comments. I thought I might mitigate that with the cooling paste. Obviously not.

Lots to reconsider.
Thanks again.
 
Last edited:
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
webber6789 said:
I've also looked at many reviews online and most place Intel CPUs above AMD.
Click to expand...
Urm, what “reviews” are these specifically? I have a feeling you may have fallen for comparison sites like cpubenchmark perhaps? There’s a reason sites like these have been banned on most of the internet. Any reliable 3rd party benchmarker will show AMD quite substantially ahead

The Intel CPUs start out ok, they melt at the core as voltages are too high and they can’t be cooled effectively, so deteriorate over time

Really concerns me how easily people are drawn to misinformation
 
W

webber6789

Member
Another attempt below after accepting that my budget needs to raise to around £2k.
Your feedback would be appreciated.

Some context:
1) I've kept the CPU as 7800X3D, however I am also considering 9800X3D. Thoughts?
Nb. Tom's Hardware website has the latter being the better option for about an extra £100
2) I've changed the 1st M.2 SSD Drive from 1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 back to 1TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4.
Nb. Tom's Hardware has the former being better than the latter and costs an extra £20.
3) I've changed the 2nd M.2 SSD Drive from 2TB CORSAIR CORE XT MP600 back to 512GB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4.
My reasoning being that my current laptop of +12 years, also bought from PCS (see what I mean about future proofing!), only has a 240GB SSD and I've only just maxed it out recently.
So with a main SDD of 1GB + a backup of 512GB I should probably have more than enough space. Also, the money can then be spent elsewhere. Although, I should say I'm more wedded to the size than type/make.
4) I've reduced the power supply from 1000W to 650W. My thinking being that until I upgrade then the power supply head room is an unnecessary spend which could be better used elsewhere (PCS suggests the same).
I presume that was your thinking?

Case
CORSAIR FRAME 4000D RS ARGB MODULAR
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.0GHz/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
12GB ZOTAC GEFORCE RTX 5070 SOLID OC - HDMI, 3 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
512GB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR, 1625MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
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™
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 9 to 11 working days
Price: £1,957.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/WgQRVnXJtF/
 
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