Gaming PC / General Workstation

[andrewhawkins986]

Hi all,

Thinking of treating myself to a new PC, primarily for gaming but also is used for my work and as a general 'office' style machine.

Want to put in the BluRay drive I already have, so the case is a bit of an issue. As far as I can tell, the only cases with 5.25" bays are:

PCS 6003B
PCS 3601
Thermaltake Core X71
Coolermaster Cosmos C700M

The first two are the cheapest ones PCS do (about £20) whereas the last two are the most expensive (£215 and £386!). Are these really the only cases that would support a 5.25" optical drive? The current case is a Fractal Focus G Black Gaming (system purchased a couple of years ago from PCS).

Considering a spec such as the following, appreciate any comments or suggestions? (Edit: Changed graphics card from 3080 to 3070)

Thanks

Andy

Case
PCS 6003B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
8TB SEAGATE IRONWOLF PRO 3.5", 7200 RPM 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4400MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 120 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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £2,079.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/fkQGQN6DcY/

 

[Steveyg]

Those parts will simply cook in that case, there's little to no airflow so it'll basically be an oven. With high end components air flow and cooling are critical so they parts don't fall apart and break in less than a year. You may want to revisit the case selection

You can also get external optimal drives that will work via USB as food for thought

Questions I would have basically are uses and what monitor will be used? the spec is a little weirdly balanced which I'm sure we can help with namely previous gen CPU and old motherboard. CPU Cooler that wont cut it with that processor. Weird storage options, let us know what's namely for what kind of programs you're thinking and what monitor/monitors you use and we'll see if we can find something more balanced for you

 

[andrewhawkins986]

Those parts will simply cook in that case, there's little to no airflow so it'll basically be an oven. With high end components air flow and cooling are critical so they parts don't fall apart and break in less than a year. You may want to revisit the case selection

You can also get external optimal drives that will work via USB as food for thought

Questions I would have basically are uses and what monitor will be used? the spec is a little weirdly balanced which I'm sure we can help with namely previous gen CPU and old motherboard. CPU Cooler that wont cut it with that processor. Weird storage options, let us know what's namely for what kind of programs you're thinking and what monitor/monitors you use and we'll see if we can find something more balanced for you

Thanks Stevey, my knowledge of AMD processors and motherboards is very limited, so appreciate any advice. I had to drop the CPU cooler from the larger one in order to fit in the case. The case was chosen as one of the small selection that would support an internal optical drive. Ideally want to stick with an internal optical drive if at all possible (I already have it). Was a little surprised there wasn't more choice in terms of cases that supported a 5.25 optical drive. I guess an option would be to purchase my own case, and have it delivered to PCS to use in the build?

Currently have a 24" 1080p 144Hz monitor, but would consider making that the 'secondary' and adding a 1440p of a similar size at some point.

In terms of usage, it's a general work horse really. I work from home currently (I'm a software engineer) so a decent amount of RAM and good processor is important for that. In terms of games, I primarily play FPS (I play Borderlands 3, my daughter plays Fotnite) and other games which are probably less demanding graphically.

Regarding storage, I want a good size SSD for the OS and frequently used apps and games, then something 'big' for video storage and the like, which was why I went for the 1TB SSD and an 8TB 'standard' drive.

Happy to hear recommendations, that's why I posted here after all!

Thanks for the response

Andy

 

[MrWilson]

If you're set on having a Blu-Ray Drive the Fractal Focus will be a good bet again. You can order it from another site for around £45-50 and have them deliver it to PCS to use for you. Alternatively as mentioned above you can get an external drive which opens up your case options a lot more.

Edit: Also, what is your budget for the PC and a new 1440p monitor to go with it? You're looking at £300 for an entry level Samsung G5, and then up to around £450 for a quality IPS panel such as the Asus VG27AQ.

 

[andrewhawkins986]

Hi,

Ideally looking to keep the PC around £2000 I think. Hadn't really considered the monitor yet, as will almost certainly stick with what I've got for the time being. The new monitor will be an upgrade at some point in the future.

I can get the Fractal Focus for around £50 as you say from Amazon, so that'd be a good option if it's still appropriate for the new components.

I guess the question I need to consider also is what is the lead time like for the RTX 3xxx graphics cards? Are we talking a couple of weeks, or longer?

Andy

 

[andrewhawkins986]

Any suggestions anyone?

Thanks

Andy

 

[MrWilson]

Kept it to similar budget as you have managed. Unfortunately with component prices at a high at the moment I couldn't get it below £2000, but I have managed to put together a better balanced build.

The 5800x is a very powerful CPU that is a newer generation than the 3900x. While it has fewer cores, 8 compared to 12, each of those cores is higher performing and should outperform the 3900x in the majority of tasks. Additionally, the 3900x while also being more expensive outright would also require a higher spec motherboard and cooler which would bump up the price. The motherboard is a more suitable fit to handle the CPU.
For the GPU, I've switched you to the 6700XT, which rivals the 3070 in 1440p gaming, albeit without DLSS and Raytracing. This saves us about £180 over the 3070 at the moment.
Kept your Ironwolf, rejigged your m.2 drives to have the 500GB Firecuda for OS and programs, and the 1TB Corsair for your games and any software projects you are working on.
For the PSU I like to invest for the future, for £4 extra the 850W RMx is well worth it over the 750W model.
The Coolermaster 240 will be ample cooling for the 5800x.


Case
Send In Your Own Case
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6700 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
1st Storage Drive
8TB SEAGATE IRONWOLF PRO 3.5", 7200 RPM 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR MP400 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 3480 MB/R, 1880 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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 10 to 12 working days
Price: £2,039.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/WvWmGFX5yN/

 

[andrewhawkins986]

Thanks, looks good. Appreciate you going to the effort you have.

I've always been an NVidia man as far as graphics cards go, and it seems a shame to miss out on ray tracing and the like? What are your thoughts?

I appreciate it'd probably add about £150 to the build cost, but ideally I'd like this PC to last me a while, so would rather spend a bit more to try to ensure that. What do you think?

Thanks again.

Andy

 

[MrWilson]

No problem Andy, happy to help!

I would say that for FPS titles (I think you mentioned Borderlands and Fortnite earlier) I would argue that raw frames is more important. Indeed, if you were looking for a competitive edge in multiplayer you would want to crank all graphics settings down to maximise frames anyway. IMO Ray Tracing is more significant in 'cinematic' titles such as Cyberpunk, Tomb Raider, RDR etc.
I can understand you backing Nvidia, they have been dominant for a long time and continue to produce good products. That being said, with the latest gen of GPUs AMD have closed the gap quite significantly and the 6700XT is definitely a great option for 1440p gaming, especially at its current price point. That being said, the 3070 has a lot of extra features besides RT, including DLSS and NVENC.

I feel like I'm rambling a little bit, but in summary I think the 6700XT will do fine for your needs, but if you're happy to pay a little extra for the 3070 that would be a sound choice too.

 

[andrewhawkins986]

Hi,

You've just hit upon an important point that I neglected to mention. A friend and I have a YouTube channel, that we publish our gaming sessions to. As a result, having NVEnc is fairly useful, as we use that with OBS to record the sessions. I guess the AMD processors don't have anything similar then?

Raw frame rate isn't necessarily an issue, as I don't really play competitive multiplayer. I'm more of a CoOp player personally, although my daughter does play a fair bit of Fortnite. She's also a Minecraft player, so having ray tracing for her there might be a good thing.

Regarding the thorny subject of availability, do you have any idea what sort of delay we're talking for a NVidia 3070? Are we talking a couple of weeks, or potentially months?

Thanks again.

Andy

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi,

You've just hit upon an important point that I neglected to mention. A friend and I have a YouTube channel, that we publish our gaming sessions to. As a result, having NVEnc is fairly useful, as we use that with OBS to record the sessions. I guess the AMD processors don't have anything similar then?

Raw frame rate isn't necessarily an issue, as I don't really play competitive multiplayer. I'm more of a CoOp player personally, although my daughter does play a fair bit of Fortnite. She's also a Minecraft player, so having ray tracing for her there might be a good thing.

Regarding the thorny subject of availability, do you have any idea what sort of delay we're talking for a NVidia 3700? Are we talking a couple of weeks, or potentially months?

Thanks again.

Andy

3070 is the best stocked GPU at the moment, around 15 working days (3 weeks) wait time)

NVENC is definitely handy for stream encoding.

 

[andrewhawkins986]

Thanks @SpyderTracks , that's relatively good news.

Should I be at all concerned about the Fractal Focus G having sufficient space for the specified graphics card, cooler, radiator etc.?

Andy

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks @SpyderTracks , that's relatively good news.

Should I be at all concerned about the Fractal Focus G having sufficient space for the specified graphics card, cooler, radiator etc.?

Andy

The configurator would tell you if there were any issues, but no, the Focus G is a great case, will fit anything you throw at it except a 280mm radiator.

Edit: Just noticed you're sending in your own.... you'll be fine, the only slight worry is the radiator size on that case in that it can't fit 280mm rads, but yours is 240mm so will be fine. They used to stock the Focus G so we're quite used to doing builds in it. Great case.

 

[andrewhawkins986]

Hi,

Thanks @SpyderTracks , good to have that confirmed. It's the case my previous system from PCS was build around. Was slightly surprised they don't offer it anymore, particularly as there seems to be a dearth of cases with room for a 5.25" optical drive!

What's the process for sending the case to them? Presumably it needs some sort of unique reference to that they know when Amazon deliver my case to them, it's destined for my build and not someone elses?

Thanks again, got some thinking to do!

Andy

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi,

Thanks @SpyderTracks , good to have that confirmed. It's the case my previous system from PCS was build around. Was slightly surprised they don't offer it anymore, particularly as there seems to be a dearth of cases with room for a 5.25" optical drive!

What's the process for sending the case to them? Presumably it needs some sort of unique reference to that they know when Amazon deliver my case to them, it's destined for my build and not someone elses?

Thanks again, got some thinking to do!

Andy

Once you order the system, it has a section just before payment about what you need to do when sending in your own case:

Choose Your Own Case​

We know that sometimes it doesn't matter how many cases we list, there is always the one case that you love and you just have to have! At PCSpecialist you can select the "Send In Your Own Case" option and send us your case, and we'll manufacture your computer for you using this case.

REQUIREMENTS​

1. The case needs to be no larger than 600mm x 300mm x 630mm (H x W x D).
2. The case needs to be no heavier than 24Kg, otherwise a delivery surcharge will be applied.
3. You need to complete the information below to inform us the make and model of case, so we know what to expect when it is delivered!
4. You must send the case to us using your own insured courier. We cannot be responsible for any damage when the case is delivered to us.
5. It is unlikely that we will re-use the case packaging - we will most likely ship out the computer in our own specially designed packaging, so you will not receive the original case packaging.
6. You are responsible for making sure that the components you order will fit into the case you send to us. See the checklist below.

INSTRUCTIONS​

Upon placing an order with the "Send In Your Own Case" option - all you need to do now is send your case to:

PC Specialist Ltd
Unit 12 Jubilee Business Park
Jubilee Way
Grange Moor
Wakefield
WF4 4TD

CASE CHECKLIST​

1. Motherboard size must fit into case - for example if you are sending us a micro-ATX case, you cannot order an ATX motherboard.
2. If you're ordering a high end graphics card, check that the case is large enough to accept it.
3. Check the case can accept the number of optical drives, 3.5" devices and hard drives you wish to order.
4. If you are ordering a large CPU cooler, check that the case does not have a vent/fan preventing the installation of the cooler.

The above list is not exhaustive and ultimately the responsibility lies with you to ensure the components you order will fit into the case. If we determine during manufacturing that some components will not fit we will contact you to discuss amending your order around the case you have chosen.
Supplier/Website:

Make/Model:

Choose Your Own Case​

We know that sometimes it doesn't matter how many cases we list, there is always the one case that you love and you just have to have! At PCSpecialist you can select the "Send In Your Own Case" option and send us your case, and we'll manufacture your computer for you using this case.

REQUIREMENTS​

1. The case needs to be no larger than 600mm x 300mm x 630mm (H x W x D).
2. The case needs to be no heavier than 24Kg, otherwise a delivery surcharge will be applied.
3. You need to complete the information below to inform us the make and model of case, so we know what to expect when it is delivered!
4. You must send the case to us using your own insured courier. We cannot be responsible for any damage when the case is delivered to us.
5. It is unlikely that we will re-use the case packaging - we will most likely ship out the computer in our own specially designed packaging, so you will not receive the original case packaging.
6. You are responsible for making sure that the components you order will fit into the case you send to us. See the checklist below.

INSTRUCTIONS​

Upon placing an order with the "Send In Your Own Case" option - all you need to do now is send your case to:

PC Specialist Ltd
Unit 12 Jubilee Business Park
Jubilee Way
Grange Moor
Wakefield
WF4 4TD

CASE CHECKLIST​

1. Motherboard size must fit into case - for example if you are sending us a micro-ATX case, you cannot order an ATX motherboard.
2. If you're ordering a high end graphics card, check that the case is large enough to accept it.
3. Check the case can accept the number of optical drives, 3.5" devices and hard drives you wish to order.
4. If you are ordering a large CPU cooler, check that the case does not have a vent/fan preventing the installation of the cooler.

The above list is not exhaustive and ultimately the responsibility lies with you to ensure the components you order will fit into the case. If we determine during manufacturing that some components will not fit we will contact you to discuss amending your order around the case you have chosen.
Supplier/Website:

Make/Model:

 

[andrewhawkins986]

Thanks @SpyderTracks

I had seen those instructions, but was a little surprised there was no requirement to include the order reference or similar in the delivery destination.

If and when I do it, I might include my order number on the address label or something, just for a bit more confidence that my case will get assigned to the correct order!

Andy

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks @SpyderTracks

I had seen those instructions, but was a little surprised there was no requirement to include the order reference or similar in the delivery destination.

If and when I do it, I might include my order number on the address label or something, just for a bit more confidence that my case will get assigned to the correct order!

Andy

Reading it through, I thought it did highlight that as a requirement, either way, I think it's a very good idea to include your PCS order number in the address field for their easy tracking.

 

[ColEyt]

As per the the very first question in the general section of the FAQ on PCS website

HOW CAN I SEND IN MY OWN CASE

Yes, you can choose to do this under “1) SELECT A CASE”.

Please note that your case needs to be smaller than 600mm x 300mm x 630mm and weigh less than 24kg.

Please send the case directly to us and write your PCS order number as the first line of the address. It is your responsibility to ensure that your spec will fit into your case.

PCSPECIALIST - Frequently Asked Questions

Frequently Asked Questions when buying a new PC or laptop.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[Scott]

If you aren't planning to splurge on the monitor just yet I wouldn't look past the 3060 GPU to be honest. It's going to absolutely smash all requirements of 1080p and it has the RTX cores and NVEC codec. The 3070 would be way overpowered for those uses. Even considering 1440p I wouldn't look past the 3060Ti.

Better to pocket the savings for the next investment IMO.

 

[andrewhawkins986]

Hi,

3060Ti is currently saying it's out of stock (greyed out) in the configurator...

Andy