Sanity check on PC build

S

sgtapone

New member
Monitor - Optoma UHD550X 60 Hz (currently - may be upgrading projector in near future)
Uses - Mostly gaming - some work (development work, nothing graphical)
Max Budget - £2000-£2500

Currently selected the below - its been a while since I've upgraded/built a PC so want to sanity check this looks OK. Any views on AMD GPU/CPU also helpful, I've stuck with Intel and NVIDIA ever since a bad experience with AMD CPU and AMD cards in the very distant past, but open to change!:

Case
PCS AEGIS BLACK ARGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 20-Core Processor 265K (Up to 5.5GHz) 30MB Cache
Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z890 GAMING X WIFI7 (LGA1851, DDR5, PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 5600MHz CL40 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB ASUS TUF GEFORCE RTX 4070 SUPER OC EDITION - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
4TB SAMSUNG 990 PRO M.2, PCIe 4.0 NVMe (up to 7450MB/R, 6900MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 990 PRO M.2, PCIe 4.0 NVMe (up to 7450MB/R, 6900MB/W)
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 240 Series ARGB High Performance Liquid Cooler - WHITE
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
2 x 120mm PCS Black Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
ONBOARD Wi-Fi 7
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 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
 
S

sgtapone

New member
Quirky due to projector? Yeah i guess - go big or go home was my thinking! :) But yeah, 4k 60Hz (3840x2160)
 
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sck451

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Thanks. It's quirky in other ways too (the CPU, the storage, and using Windows Professional all seem a little surprising to me), especially for a system that's primarily for gaming.

You do kind of need to decide what display you'll be using in the long-term to make a build make sense. 4K60 is kind of a weird choice at the moment; it's quite low FPS and very high resolution, which isn't necessarily the best gaming experience, and it's a little hard to choose an appropriate graphics card. The 4070 Super probably isn't a bad choice, though I'd have gone for the 4070 Ti Super if it had still been stocked, or the 7800 XT which is much better value.

Here's where I'd personally be starting:

Case
FRACTAL NORTH TG GAMING CASE (BLACK) Way better case
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9700X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.5GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5) More suitable gaming CPU
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING X870-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7) Good quality motherboard
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz CL36 (2 x 16GB) Fast, low-ish latency memory
Graphics Card
12GB ASUS PROART GEFORCE RTX 4070 SUPER OC EDITION - HDMI, 3 x DP A different 4070S, but not significantly
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW) This would be my choice of boot drive
1st M.2 SSD Drive
4TB CORSAIR CORE XT MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 5000 MB/R, 4400 MB/W) Game/work storage
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ ATX 3.1, MODULAR, CYBENETICS GOLD
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR ICUE LINK TITAN 280 RX RGB HIGH PERFORMANCE CPU COOLER First-rate (arguably excessive!) cooling
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 No need for Windows Professional in almost all circumstances
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
Microsoft® Edge
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: £2,298.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/BmDdK7JVbu/
 
S

sh0_

Member
sck451 said:
You do kind of need to decide what display you'll be using in the long-term to make a build make sense. 4K60 is kind of a weird choice at the moment; it's quite low FPS and very high resolution, which isn't necessarily the best gaming experience, and it's a little hard to choose an appropriate graphics card. The 4070 Super probably isn't a bad choice, though I'd have gone for the 4070 Ti Super if it had still been stocked, or the 7800 XT which is much better value.
Click to expand...
This is absolute nonsense and purely subjective. 4K@60 is no more weird than choosing lower image quality to get more frames at 2K@144 or higher. Some people prefer maximum image quality and 60fps is still 'good enough' even today for many people. Still more than you'll generally get on even a PS5 pro on quality settings for many AAA titles.

The NVIDIA GPUs give you access to DLSS4 (and lower) and the AMD cards only have FSR, which is objectively worse. So again if you prefer image quality, NVIDIA would be the better choice and offer you more value.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
sh0_ said:
This is absolute nonsense and purely subjective. 4K@60 is no more weird than choosing lower image quality to get more frames at 2K@144 or higher. Some people prefer maximum image quality and 60fps is still 'good enough' even today for many people. Still more than you'll generally get on even a PS5 pro on quality settings for many AAA titles.

The NVIDIA GPUs give you access to DLSS4 (and lower) and the AMD cards only have FSR, which is objectively worse. So again if you prefer image quality, NVIDIA would be the better choice and offer you more value.
Click to expand...
15 years ago 60fps was considered “good enough” as it was what consoles ran at. Consoles are now at 120fps, that’s the new standard for basic gaming

Frame generation is no substitute for actual gameplay as although your frames may be higher, your input latency is the same as your rasterised performance. So if you’re playing with DLSS and getting 120fps on 40fps, the gameplay is still going to feel and respond dreadfully.

You have to understand the true impact over buying marketing nonsense
 
S

sh0_

Member
Nothing on consoles is running at 4K@120. Likewise, neither is anything on PC without upscaling and framegen. Just because it says it on the box doesn't mean that's what it's running at.

1739286735934.png
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
sh0_ said:
Nothing on consoles is running at 4K@120. Likewise, neither is anything on PC without upscaling and framegen. Just because it says it on the box doesn't mean that's what it's running at.

View attachment 43573
Click to expand...
Most of those games are running over 60fps, you've kind of proven my point there, thanks for that.

They’re also at max settings which no actual gamer would ever play at, you’d always optimise settings

Im guessing you’re coming from console?
 
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S

sgtapone

New member
I had some feedback on another build, have rejigged. If I could get the XTX card I would but not an option on the site sadly. Main points - will it all work together and/or should i change anything? :)


Monitor - Optoma UHD550X 60 Hz (currently - may be upgrading projector in near future)
Uses - Mostly gaming - some work (development work, nothing graphical)
Max Budget - £2400-£2800

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS 2 ARGB GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core CPU (Up to 5.2GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X870 EAGLE WIFI7 (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz CL40 (2 x 32GB) AMD
Graphics Card
20GB XFX RADEON™ RX 7900 XT MERC 310 - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 990 PRO M.2, PCIe 4.0 NVMe (up to 7450MB/R, 6900MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
4TB SAMSUNG 990 PRO M.2, PCIe 4.0 NVMe (up to 7450MB/R, 6900MB/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
CORSAIR H100x RGB ELITE 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
Microsoft® Edge
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: £2,650.00 including VAT and Delivery
 
Scoped Badger

Scoped Badger

Well-known member
You had feedback in your original thread that wasn't replied to, including a suggested build from another member. You should have just kept to that thread.
 
S

sgtapone

New member
Yes there was a response, but then it turned into a discussion more around refresh rates.

Apologies if etiquette was to keep to just one post per user, but rather than post there as well appreciate any feedback here. This build is quite a bit different to the other thread as well with CPU/GPU/cooler etc. all being different.
 
Ekans2011

Ekans2011

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
sgtapone said:
Apologies if etiquette was to keep to just one post per user, but rather than post there as well appreciate any feedback here. This build is quite a bit different to the other thread as well with CPU/GPU/cooler etc. all being different.
Click to expand...
Please try to stick to one thread; creating many discussions on the same argument only adds confusion and inhibits users from seeing the full picture. @sck451 has already provided recommendations on the optimal build for your budget and needs.

Sanity check on PC build

Monitor - Optoma UHD550X 60 Hz (currently - may be upgrading projector in near future) Uses - Mostly gaming - some work (development work, nothing graphical) Max Budget - £2000-£2500 Currently selected the below - its been a while since I've upgraded/built a PC so want to sanity check this...
www.pcspecialist.co.uk www.pcspecialist.co.uk

sgtapone said:
Yes there was a response, but then it turned into a discussion more around refresh rates.
Click to expand...
Regarding the refresh rate, your choice of 4K 60Hz is simply not suitable for a modern gaming system and will limit your overall experience: I doubt anyone here would recommend it.

I would really consider purchasing a proper monitor to go with this new PC.
 
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