Is this good value for money?

[ahewitt]

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.9GHz/72MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® STRIX B550-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
24GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3090 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6000MB/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
Corsair H100x Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NOT REQUIRED
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
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 Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 19 to 22 working days
Price: £3,609.00 including VAT and Delivery

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

Budget: £3600
Use: Gaming in 1440p at 60fps
Monitor: 32" 75Hz 1440p (ViewSonic VX3276-2K-MHD)

Hi, I've been toying with this build for months now, tweaking here and there. I'd like to know if I'm getting the best gaming performance from the parts I've selected (hard budget limit of £3600). I want to be able to run any game at max settings in 1440p at 60fps. Not looking for upgrade advice as such, rather maximum gaming performance for the budget.

I'm a little hesitant on liquid cooling as I can't be bothered dealing with leaks, but I'm more hesitant about the PCS coolers, and the CoolerMaster 212 is listed as out of stock. Not interested in overclocking.

Also, I wouldn't mind some advice on waiting to buy because of the current GPU market. I had initially planned to get this PC in July next year (that's when I graduate), but it would be nice to have it sooner. How much cheaper could this build potentially be in July 2022, or how much better could the parts be by then for the same price? Would I be substantially better off by waiting?

The 870 SSD is going to be a backup drive with all storage being held on the M.2. Will this hinder gaming performance (i.e. would it be better to have an M.2 boot drive and an SSD for game storage)?

Thanks!

 

[DarTon]

I don't think this is good value for money. Spending £3,500 on a gaming PC to pair it with a £199 monitor makes no sense.

Fundamentally, if 1440p at 60fps is you aim then you simply don't need a 3090 GPU. In fact, you don't need a 3080 Ti, 3080, 3070 Ti or 3070. A 3060 Ti might well be sufficient.

In terms of the rest of the build. For gaming, the best possible CPU is the 5900X. The 5950X can actually perform worse. You might want to change the motherboard. The B550 STRIX is a good board but you have the budget for a X570. Change the cooler to a quiet/better H100i/H115i. Probably up the PSU to 850W or 1000W given I suspect you will want to upgrade the GPU down the line. Drop the thermal paste since the cooler comes with it's own. Storage should be 2 M2 NVMe SSD drives.

I'd also drop the Platinum warranty to Silver but that's a personal choice so go with what makes you feel comfortable.

At the bottom end you could go for this sort of spec: it's basically half the price but still a very good gaming PC

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING WIFI (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
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
Corsair H100i RGB PRO XT Hydro 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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NOT REQUIRED
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
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 19 to 22 working days
Price: £1,844.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/Yz34VNEKBH/

At the top end you could spec something like this

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6900MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro 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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
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 19 to 22 working days
Price: £2,905.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/zCYb83rgRu/

This has a 3080 GPU, so it's more for 1440p ultrawide high refresh monitors or 4K monitors. So if you want to spend £3,500, use the balance to buy a much better monitor.

Don't be afraid of AIO Coolers. They are very reliable, quiet and don't leak. It's an inert goo rather than a liquid. I wouldn't build a high end PC without one.

If you wait long enough GPU prices will fall (or new GPUs will be released that provide more frames for the same money). I doubt the shortage will end in the next few months but I also doubt the issue will as bad this time next year. Problem is this time next year, you'll have decided you want a 4080, not a rubbish 3080, and this may well cost the same as the 3080 now.

Good luck!

 

[ahewitt]

Cool, thanks a lot for the recommendations. That's a huge price reduction.

you don't need a 3080 Ti, 3080, 3070 Ti or 3070. A 3060 Ti might well be sufficient.

up the PSU to 850W or 1000W given you have the budget and I suspect you will want to upgrade the GPU down the line.

These lines seem to contradict, no? I don't need a 3070 etc., but I'm going to want to upgrade from a 3060 Ti? I'm assuming you mean upgrade the GPU if I get a better monitor down the line? Or if games require a better GPU down the line?

Personally, I'm not too fond of ultrawide monitors. For standard aspect ratio, is the difference between a 4k and a 2k monitor really noticeable at 32"? Not too fussed about higher than 75fps either. Any monitor recs with this in mind? My current one works a treat imo.

Why the iCUE 5000X over the LANCOOL 215? Just because of more fan space? If that's the case (lol), then should I get extra fans? and is that really worth an extra £60 plus the price of the fans?

Also, is there a noticeable improvement to loading times with having separate boot and storage drives compared to using one M.2 drive?

Thanks again!

 

[DarTon]

Ideally you want the PSU not to be stressed. It will run quieter and longer. You don't really want the PSU drawing more than say 65% of it's max output. So with a 3060 Ti and 5800X, you could draw up to 450W. So a 750W PSU would be ideal. Later, though, you may want to upgrade and power requirements tend to rise. For example the 3080 has a TDP of 320W but the rumoured 4080 is meant to require 400-450W etc, which would make a 850W PSU a better idea. For all I know the 5080 might be 500-550W etc. So, if you think you will upgrade, you want to buy a bigger PSU now since the price difference is modest.

Displays are personal taste. A 32in monitor at 1440p is the same dpi as 1080p on a 24in monitor. I find that a bit grainy for text etc. By comparison I find 4k on a 32in pretty much ideal. For gaming, though, the difference is less noticeable. I still find it a little bit lacking but others don't. With fps, I cannot see why anyone wants more than 120 fps, so I see 240/360Hz monitors as utterly pointless. In fact, while I can see the difference between 60 and 90, beyond that I don't really see much difference. Others disagree. What I would say though is that the monitor is what you look at all the time you are using the PC. So don't cheap out on the monitor. It's sort of odd to buy a really high end CPU and GPU but then experience it through a low end 32in monitor.

Cases. The Lancool 215 or Corsair Airflow 4000D are perfectly good mid range cases. The 5000X is just a bit nicer. I have a 4000D with a 5900X and 3080 Ti since I don't like RGB, don't need the space, and it's sits under my desk unseen anyway.

On storage, you want at least one fast NVMe PCIe4 M2 for OS/main programs. At least 500Gb and a Samsung 980 Pro/Firecuda 530 (Firecuda 520 if you want to save a bit). It can help with loading times. It also prepares you for when MS deliver DirectStorage and/or Nvidia deliver RTX IO to the masses. After that I'd add another M2 SSD simply because the price is so close to a SATA SDD and it's much faster. There is still value in HDDs for cheap mass storage but M2 SDD beats SATA SDD on nearly all metrics.