Five or Six Iterations! What do you think I've got wrong and why?

[AntonyCooper304]

No really every time I thought I got it right I stumbled across another set of benchmarks or reviews that gave me pause! I am actually £277 over budget. My most recent amendment was related to my "owned" GPU and power supply. I assumed that 650w would leave me some headroom for a newer more substantial GPU in six months or so. However a brief encounter with some AMD GPU candidates and their energy requirements made me think again! I actually deleted a completed order... I hope there isn't an AI getting p***ed off with me and planing a terrible revenge!

Anyhoo this is what I am (hopefully) replacing my five year old Intel i5. Don't worry, It will eventually find a new home where it's idiosincracies will be appreciated!

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 205 MESH C GAMING CASE
Promotional Item
Get a discount code for 20% off select peripherals at Corsair.com
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12 Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.6GHz/76MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X870 EAGLE WIFI7 (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CRUCIAL T705 GEN 5 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 14,500MB/sR, 12,700MB/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
CORSAIR ICUE LINK TITAN 240 RX 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 Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo
Packaging
PCS Trade Pack - New 2023

 

[Nursemorph]

To know whether you've got it wrong or not depends on:

Uses: Is it for gaming, working, or a combination of both?

If it's for gaming, what GPU are you slotting in (to make sure you aren't under-speccing the PSU....bear in mind, you also want to consider the possibility of future GPU upgrades).

Budget: What is your maximum budget ceiling?

 

[AntonyCooper304]

To know whether you've got it wrong or not depends on:

Uses: Is it for gaming, working, or a combination of both?

If it's for gaming, what GPU are you slotting in (to make sure you aren't under-speccing the PSU....bear in mind, you also want to consider the possibility of future GPU upgrades).

Budget: What is your maximum budget ceiling?

Many thanks! Hopefully my mistakes and omissions are constrained to the forum! My budget was £1000 which the first five iterations sort of respected. The build started off revolving around Gaming, Flight Sim, and Assetto Corsa Evo and the Ryzen 7 7800X3D. But upon reflection I thought maybe I should make some concessions to my profession photography, art and it's spin off's Lightroom and Photoshop, etc.

 

[Nursemorph]

Any chance you could go back to the post to forum page (where you copied that spec from) and include the Unique Configurable URL (in green at the bottom) please? Just makes ie easier for us to tweak the spec rather than building one from scratch. Thanks

You forgot to mention what GPU you were putting in?

I don't use PS or LR so not 100% on them but my understanding is that, whilst they can use more cores, over 2 cores and the benefit diminishes quite a lot so the improvement of a 12 core over an 8 core is not great. I could be wrong here but I think a 7800x3D would be a good choice for both uses (gaming and creativity)....the 9800x3D would be even better though.

HDD: As much as the Crucuial drive is an amazing drive, I'm not sure the extra £60 spent on that over a "normal" speed one (I say normal as a 7,500 throughput is amazingly quick anyway) so that could be used to boost other areas of the build or pay for 2/3s of the 9800x3D difference in price over the 7800x3D

 

[AntonyCooper304]

Any chance you could go back to the post to forum page (where you copied that spec from) and include the Unique Configurable URL (in green at the bottom) please? Just makes ie easier for us to tweak the spec rather than building one from scratch. Thanks

You forgot to mention what GPU you were putting in?

I don't use PS or LR so not 100% on them but my understanding is that, whilst they can use more cores, over 2 cores and the benefit diminishes quite a lot so the improvement of a 12 core over an 8 core is not great. I could be wrong here but I think a 7800x3D would be a good choice for both uses (gaming and creativity)....the 9800x3D would be even better though.

HDD: As much as the Crucuial drive is an amazing drive, I'm not sure the extra £60 spent on that over a "normal" speed one (I say normal as a 7,500 throughput is amazingly quick anyway) so that could be used to boost other areas of the build or pay for 2/3s of the 9800x3D difference in price over the 7800x3D

I decided to rein myself in a little and I got the build down to £1095.00 by dropping the motherboard spec from an 870 to an 850, the modular 750w PSU to a regular 750w and as you pointed out the Crucial SSD. I also decided on a more affordable AIO taking a bit of punt really and if it doesn't work out I can upgrade it to somenting absurdly powerful and expensive! I have an unremarkable ASUS RTX 4060.

The build now looks like this:

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 205 MESH C GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12 Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.6GHz/76MB 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 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 990 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe 4.0 & 5.0 NVMe (up to 7150MB/R, 6300MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W CX SERIES™ CX-750 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series ARGB High Performance Liquid Cooler - WHITE
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
Firefox™
Warranty
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
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Price: £1,095.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/eEAwdy24XD/

 

[Ekans2011]

I decided to rein myself in a little and I got the build down to £1095.00 by dropping the motherboard spec from an 870 to an 850, the modular 750w PSU to a regular 750w and as you pointed out the Crucial SSD. I also decided on a more affordable AIO taking a bit of punt really and if it doesn't work out I can upgrade it to somenting absurdly powerful and expensive! I have an unremarkable ASUS RTX 4060.

The build now looks like this:

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 205 MESH C GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12 Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.6GHz/76MB 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 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 990 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe 4.0 & 5.0 NVMe (up to 7150MB/R, 6300MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W CX SERIES™ CX-750 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series ARGB High Performance Liquid Cooler - WHITE
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
Firefox™
Warranty
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
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Price: £1,095.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/eEAwdy24XD/

I'd make some tweaks to provide some logic and a small margin for future upgrades.

In-game, the 7900X has no advantage over the 7700; it also uses less power and produces less heat. It's a better deal, in my opinion. You can settle with a cheap air cooler because an AIO is unnecessary, and PCS-branded ones are also prone to failure. I also replaced the SSD with a more reliable Corsair, including a dedicated one for the OS. The 850W ATX3.1 PSU is the minimum requirement for any system other than a basic office PC.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 205 MESH C GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.3GHz/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 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
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 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
PCS FrostFlow 150 Series 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
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Price: £1,112.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/qyDVPvq9V4/

 

[AntonyCooper304]

I'd make some tweaks to provide some logic and a small margin for future upgrades.

In-game, the 7900X has no advantage over the 7700; it also uses less power and produces less heat. It's a better deal, in my opinion. You can settle with a cheap air cooler because an AIO is unnecessary, and PCS-branded ones are also prone to failure. I also replaced the SSD with a more reliable Corsair, including a dedicated one for the OS. The 850W ATX3.1 PSU is the minimum requirement for any system other than a basic office PC.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 205 MESH C GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.3GHz/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 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
INTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
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 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
PCS FrostFlow 150 Series 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
Standard Build - Approximately 7 to 9 working days
Price: £1,112.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/qyDVPvq9V4/

Very clever and interesting that if I just dismiss the extra M.2 ssd it comes to £999! £1 under budget!!!!

 

[Ekans2011]

Very clever and interesting that if I just dismiss the extra M.2 ssd it comes to £999! £1 under budget!!!!

You don't want everything on one drive; unless you have another spare M.2 at home, I recommend sticking with one fast drive for OS/Apps and launchers and a slower one for games, etc.

Why more than one storage drive?

I've been meaning to put something like this together for a while. In recent weeks I've found myself writing this more and more so thought I would just post my thoughts in a thread that I could link to. So the reason for this thread is to try and give insight as to the reasoning behind having...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[AntonyCooper304]

You don't want everything on one drive; unless you have another spare M.2 at home, I recommend sticking with one fast drive for OS/Apps and launchers and a slower one for games, etc.

Why more than one storage drive?

I've been meaning to put something like this together for a while. In recent weeks I've found myself writing this more and more so thought I would just post my thoughts in a thread that I could link to. So the reason for this thread is to try and give insight as to the reasoning behind having...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Yes I have two regular ssd and a 3TB m.2 in my old PC. I also have shed loads of relatively large and contemporary internal and external hard drives.