rgb gaming machine

I

Index

Active member
Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB 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 3200MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RM 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
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
LED Lighting
2x 50cm ARGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
5x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit


Will be my 4th purchase since 2009 from PCS. My last one was a laptop but been yearning for a proper desktop since it's been a while having one...especially with all this worldwide lockdown going on giving me more time sat at home. This is mostly for gaming, but I also create motion graphics and edit videos in Adobe After Effects...and the usual stuff like music, movies etc.

It will be connected to a 1080p 144hz monitor (vertical), a 1080p 165hz monitor (main) and a 4k TV for watching stuff or when I feel like playing a game with a gamepad. 4k gaming on a big screen isn't really an aim though, I'm more of a 1080p 24'' size high refresh rate, mouse/kb guy.
Will be overclocking the processor to around 4.8, which should be perfectly fine but will see. Maybe the ram o/c to 3600 also, probably not needed but just for the sake of squeezing it a little really.

I also have a 512gb Samsung 960 m2, 2x 1TB SSD 2.5, 2x 2tb SSHD 2.5, 2x 3TB 3.5 storage drives....I intend on throwing these inside as well since they are kicking around my house. For storing media and files for editing with and such.

My budget was around £2.3k but decided to push for the 3070 instead of the 3060ti. I suspect this is very little difference on my 1080p/165hz monitor but maybe the times I use my TV it will be handy...or just handy for pushing my max refresh rate on high settings.

Any thoughts?


and it's shiny...always important :).
 
Last edited:
MrWilson

MrWilson

Godlike
Healthy budget, and you haven't skimped on any components, at least out of those you have posted.

The STRIX motherboard isn't strictly necessary on the 5600x although I assume you have included it as you have mentioned overclocking. As a long serving PCS customer I assume you are already aware that overclocking can invalidate your warranty.

The GPU is probably going to be a contentious area. Based on your primary monitor I would probably recommend the 3060; unless you have a 240hz monitor and play competitive e-sports titles I can't really justify a 3060ti or 3070 at 1080p. However as you have said the 3070 will be a good pairing for your 4k TV.

You can drop the arctic paste, the corsair coolers come with high quality paste pre-applied.
 
I

Index

Active member
Ahh, didn't know about the paste, thanks.

I plan on upgrading to an Asus VG259QM (24.5", 280hz, 1080p) monitor if the system blows my 165hz away...which I'm guessing it will be going by what you are saying! I'll wait until I have the computer first though, so I can see for myself.

I was looking at the tuf x570 mobo as well and comparing the two for a while since the tuf is clearly excellent value...in the end I went with the strix because I couldn't see somewhere else I want to improve within my budget. The strix has some nice features as well and also aesthetically is much nicer (not something everyone cares about). I kind of see it as the motherboard been the heart, everything is connected to it, so you should get the best you can with your budget.

and what I posted was everything...no windows install...just the usual usb options.
 
A

Ash_

Master Poster
Depending on what games you play, but the 3070 will push incredibly high fps at 1080p. 220+ on warzone for example on high settings, you’d need either 1440p 144hz or 1080p 240hz to really get the value.

If you want to overclock ram, you’d be better going 3600mhz and just tackling the CAS latency timings - i’ve got mine at 3600 CL15 without adjusting voltage, but it is completely unstable at CL14. Also overclocking ryzen isn’t a good idea, it will slow down single thread performance and only benefit multicore and if that is what you are after, i wouldn’t go 5600X.

I know you have RGB ram and it doesn’t come in 3600mhz, but with 10 fans and 2 strips, i’m not sure the RGB ram is absolutely necessary 😆😆😆
 
I

Index

Active member
Ash_ said:
Depending on what games you play, but the 3070 will push incredibly high fps at 1080p. 220+ on warzone for example on high settings, you’d need either 1440p 144hz or 1080p 240hz to really get the value.

If you want to overclock ram, you’d be better going 3600mhz and just tackling the CAS latency timings - i’ve got mine at 3600 CL15 without adjusting voltage, but it is completely unstable at CL14. Also overclocking ryzen isn’t a good idea, it will slow down single thread performance and only benefit multicore and if that is what you are after, i wouldn’t go 5600X.

I know you have RGB ram and it doesn’t come in 3600mhz, but with 10 fans and 2 strips, i’m not sure the RGB ram is absolutely necessary 😆😆😆
Click to expand...
So the reason I went with the 5600x was mostly for balance but leaning towards gaming more. For gaming and price it's the best value to performance right? I use adobe suite also (mostly after effects and photoshop), but my main focus on the cpu is gaming. However, my thinking is that if I get this processor and overclock it's as close as I can get to the best of both worlds without having to splash out for a better cpu. I was going to play around with it, if not worth it I'd leave at stock.

What can I say...I want the rgb ram haha. If PCS had an an rgb graphics card holder as an accessory I would have that as well :LOL:. The ram isn't so important though, its more just to test and benchmark since I don't think the difference will be huge.

and as with my last post, I will look at a 280hz 1080p monitor when I get the rig, although if everyone is insistent it will crush 165hz I'll get it for when the PC is due to arrive. I really don't like a big monitor or care about 1440p...frames though, yes please.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Index said:
So the reason I went with the 5600x was mostly for balance but leaning towards gaming more. For gaming and price it's the best value to performance right? I use adobe suite also (mostly after effects and photoshop), but my main focus on the cpu is gaming. However, my thinking is that if I get this processor and overclock it's as close as I can get to the best of both worlds without having to splash out for a better cpu. I was going to play around with it, if not worth it I'd leave at stock.

What can I say...I want the rgb ram haha. If PCS had an an rgb graphics card holder as an accessory I would have that as well :LOL:. The ram isn't so important though, its more just to test and benchmark since I don't think the difference will be huge.

and as with my last post, I will look at a 280hz 1080p monitor when I get the rig, although if everyone is insistent it will crush 165hz I'll get it for when the PC is due to arrive. I really don't like a big monitor or care about 1440p...frames though, yes please.
Click to expand...
A lot of games, COD inclusive will use as many cores as you can throw at it.

Consoles as well are now 8 cores, which means ports will likely use more than the 6 cores on the 5600x.

I would say 8 core is the minimum you want factoring in the life of the build, 5600x is too restrictive.

Especailly at 1080p where you're more CPU bound, you'll benefit from the extra cores.
 
I

Index

Active member
SpyderTracks said:
A lot of games, COD inclusive will use as many cores as you can throw at it.

Consoles as well are now 8 cores, which means ports will likely use more than the 6 cores on the 5600x.

I would say 8 core is the minimum you want factoring in the life of the build, 5600x is too restrictive.

Especailly at 1080p where you're more CPU bound, you'll benefit from the extra cores.
Click to expand...
So you would suggest a Ryzen 7? I feel like the ryzen 5 5600x is more than good enough for now...then in the future it can be changed for something else. This is only from looking at benchmark websites and such, I'm sure you know more than me.
 
A

Ash_

Master Poster
5600X is a great chip and the upgrade to 5800X is normally more than just the cpu price difference, motherboard and AIO costs also need to be taken into account. Your build however, already has the AIO and motherboard included, to handle the 5800X. With that cooling solution, a 5800X will hold boosts constantly, so it is far more efficient than your overclock would be.

1080p high fps, ram is actually quite important and i really couldn’t recommend slower than 3200CL16 (might be worth checking with pcs).
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Ash_ said:
5600X is a great chip and the upgrade to 5800X is normally more than just the cpu price difference, motherboard and AIO costs also need to be taken into account. Your build however, already has the AIO and motherboard included, to handle the 5800X. With that cooling solution, a 5800X will hold boosts constantly, so it is far more efficient than your overclock would be.

1080p high fps, ram is actually quite important and i really couldn’t recommend slower than 3200CL16 (might be worth checking with pcs).
Click to expand...
3200 is CL16 through PCS. 3600 is CL18
 
I

Index

Active member
So I took your guys advice and upgraded the processor to 8 cores. To counter the price increase I changed the 980 2tb to 1tb since I have lots of hard drives already...the 2tb at that speed was probably overkill. Also upgraded the psu to the rmx series. Saving £30 in the process.

update.png
 
A

Ash_

Master Poster
Index said:
So I took your guys advice and upgraded the processor to 8 cores. To counter the price increase I changed the 980 2tb to 1tb since I have lots of hard drives already...the 2tb at that speed was probably overkill. Also upgraded the psu to the rmx series. Saving £30 in the process.

View attachment 24285
Click to expand...
I have a gen 3 games drive at 3500 read speed and that is blisteringly fast. I can’t imagine there is even a drastic difference between a 980 and the corsair drive, so you may even benefit from a 500gb 980 and a 1tb corsair.
 
I

Index

Active member
Ash_ said:
I have a gen 3 games drive at 3500 read speed and that is blisteringly fast. I can’t imagine there is even a drastic difference between a 980 and the corsair drive, so you may even benefit from a 500gb 980 and a 1tb corsair.
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I already have a Samsung 960 which is 3500MB/s and other various high quality hd/ssd in my home.
With the 980 it's more a case of..."boys and toys", right? :LOL:. I just want to have the newest, fastest disk for windows, adobe suite and the main games I'm playing. 1TB is enough but 500 is too small. 2 of the online games I play take up 200gig alone.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Index said:
I already have a Samsung 960 which is 3500MB/s and other various high quality hd/ssd in my home.
With the 980 it's more a case of..."boys and toys", right? :LOL:. I just want to have the newest, fastest disk for windows, adobe suite and the main games I'm playing. 1TB is enough but 500 is too small. 2 of the online games I play take up 200gig alone.
Click to expand...
It’s worth getting Gen 4 SSDs as Microsoft and nvidia will be rolling out direct storage support shortly which will hugely benefit off the increased speeds.
 
A

Ash_

Master Poster
Index said:
I already have a Samsung 960 which is 3500MB/s and other various high quality hd/ssd in my home.
With the 980 it's more a case of..."boys and toys", right? :LOL:. I just want to have the newest, fastest disk for windows, adobe suite and the main games I'm playing. 1TB is enough but 500 is too small. 2 of the online games I play take up 200gig alone.
Click to expand...
Ah fair enough then, one day i will also reach dual 4th gen, but until then 🤣

2TB gen 4 is a big luxury addition, 1TB should be great for your needs
 
I

Index

Active member
I'm settled on the current config then.

One last question is about monitor. I was off 1080p 24" 240/280hz, however after looking at some 1440p 27" 165hz I'm starting to change my mind. It's not massively big for sitting up close to but the difference between 165 and 240 seems very small...whereas the difference between 1080p and 1440p seems quite large. I guess my 3070 will like the 1440/165 more also.

Gigabyte G27QC - This one seems good for my needs while also good value for money. Any thoughts on this?
 
A

Ash_

Master Poster
Index said:
I'm settled on the current config then.

One last question is about monitor. I was off 1080p 24" 240/280hz, however after looking at some 1440p 27" 165hz I'm starting to change my mind. It's not massively big for sitting up close to but the difference between 165 and 240 seems very small...whereas the difference between 1080p and 1440p seems quite large. I guess my 3070 will like the 1440/165 more also.

Gigabyte G27QC - This one seems good for my needs while also good value for money. Any thoughts on this?
Click to expand...
3070 will do both 1080p in that hz and 1440p in that hz.

If you want a 1440p 170hz 27” and don’t mind a return, you can get a B grade from overclockers, get it and see if you can accept why it’s been sent back (scratch on the stand or something silly). I’ve bought a few B grades and everything has been well worth it to me.

 
I

Index

Active member
Ash_ said:
3070 will do both 1080p in that hz and 1440p in that hz.

If you want a 1440p 170hz 27” and don’t mind a return, you can get a B grade from overclockers, get it and see if you can accept why it’s been sent back (scratch on the stand or something silly). I’ve bought a few B grades and everything has been well worth it to me.

Click to expand...
I ended up paying a little more and got this one https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07VTPKCLS/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1
Last update I guess, now it's time to wait for the PC however long that will be. Maybe I'll post a review in the review section.
 
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