Seeking advice on this build

SinclairTwoK

New member
I'm planning to order a new PC soon, I'll mostly be using it for gaming as well as some software development and photo editing.

I'll be playing on the 48inch LG CX TV (I have the BenQ PD3200U for normal computer use), so I'm aiming for 4K 60-120 fps on as high settings as possible.
I tend to play modern single player AAA titles like RDR2 and Cyberpunk 2077, as well as some strategy games like the Total War series.

I'm curious about a couple of things, though I'd welcome any suggested improvements:
  • With the supply issues, would I be better off selecting the option that lets PC Specialist use any RTX 3090 instead of only the ASUS ROG STRIX card? If so, is there much of a performance difference between the different 3090 cards?
  • I know that people have found using the right RAM can give the new AMD CPUs a reasonable performance boost, but to be honest I don't fully understand it. Should I stick with the 2 X 16GB 3200MHz RAM, or switch to the 4 X 8GB 3600MHz?

Case
CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 680X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® CROSSHAIR VIII HERO (DDR4, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
24GB ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE RTX 3090 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4400MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W HX SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® PLATINUM, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
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 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [MUP-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 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 (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 12 to 14 working days
Price: £3,775.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/tfvCPBf0HV/
 

Gimmles

Bronze Level Poster
Hi! I've been around the forums a little bit and I think the general gist is that if you want your build sooner, then you're better off going for the non-strix variant of the 3090. Asus seem to be having some serious issues getting stock of those out at the moment. There may be an ever so slight difference in performance but honestly I don't think you'd notice.

In terms of the RAM, the 4x8 32GB 3600MHz RAM will see a performance increase over the 3200MHz... AMD CPU's as you've rightfully said love fast RAM. I would say it's worth swapping to that, unless you plan to overclock your RAM/add more RAM in the future.

It's a beast of a build, whatever you change! I'd be excited to see that show up!
 

SinclairTwoK

New member
Hi! I've been around the forums a little bit and I think the general gist is that if you want your build sooner, then you're better off going for the non-strix variant of the 3090. Asus seem to be having some serious issues getting stock of those out at the moment. There may be an ever so slight difference in performance but honestly I don't think you'd notice.

In terms of the RAM, the 4x8 32GB 3600MHz RAM will see a performance increase over the 3200MHz... AMD CPU's as you've rightfully said love fast RAM. I would say it's worth swapping to that, unless you plan to overclock your RAM/add more RAM in the future.

It's a beast of a build, whatever you change! I'd be excited to see that show up!
Hey, thanks for the feedback!

Yeah, I thought as much, it's a little impatient of me but I made the change to use any 3090, and as you say I doubt I'll notice the difference.

I swapped the RAM too, I'm not planning to overclock the RAM and 32GB should be more than enough for the lifetime of the PC.
 

AgentCooper

At Least I Have Chicken
Moderator
A few notes from me... you can change the motherboard to the ROG Strix X570, the Crosshair isn’t required for that CPU. The extra thermal paste isn’t necessary, the H115i already comes with high quality paste pre-applied. The PSU you could easily drop down to 1000w, you’d still be covered over the years for any upgrades.

And if you have the budget, a second, smaller M.2 drive of around 500GB would be ideal as a boot drive. Just the OS and programs on there so it stays super fast. Added bonus is that if you need to do a clean install of Windows at any point, it’s just that drive that will get wiped. Everything else will remain safely stored elsewhere. You’d really want the Samsung 980 in there as it’s the fastest they offer but it’s currently out of stock. I’d put the 970 in as a placeholder and regularly check the site to see when the 980 comes back in. When it does, make the switcheroo on your orders page. You’ll just have to pay the difference when you make the upgrade 👍
 

SinclairTwoK

New member
A few notes from me... you can change the motherboard to the ROG Strix X570, the Crosshair isn’t required for that CPU. The extra thermal paste isn’t necessary, the H115i already comes with high quality paste pre-applied. The PSU you could easily drop down to 1000w, you’d still be covered over the years for any upgrades.

And if you have the budget, a second, smaller M.2 drive of around 500GB would be ideal as a boot drive. Just the OS and programs on there so it stays super fast. Added bonus is that if you need to do a clean install of Windows at any point, it’s just that drive that will get wiped. Everything else will remain safely stored elsewhere. You’d really want the Samsung 980 in there as it’s the fastest they offer but it’s currently out of stock. I’d put the 970 in as a placeholder and regularly check the site to see when the 980 comes back in. When it does, make the switcheroo on your orders page. You’ll just have to pay the difference when you make the upgrade 👍
Hey, thank you for your feedback! I've made those changes.

The boot drive is a really good idea, I've switched the Firecuda for the 970 and then added the Firecuda back in as the "2nd M.2 SSD Drive". Do you know whether it will automatically make the 970 the OS drive as I didn't see the option to set it (I've already ordered the PC and this was done as an amendment)?
Also, I'm guessing the 970 is fine to use if the 980 doesn't come back in stock in time?
 

AgentCooper

At Least I Have Chicken
Moderator
Hey, thank you for your feedback! I've made those changes.

The boot drive is a really good idea, I've switched the Firecuda for the 970 and then added the Firecuda back in as the "2nd M.2 SSD Drive". Do you know whether it will automatically make the 970 the OS drive as I didn't see the option to set it (I've already ordered the PC and this was done as an amendment)?
Also, I'm guessing the 970 is fine to use if the 980 doesn't come back in stock in time?
PCS would install the OS on the fastest drive as default, which is the Firecuda. So you’d need to go on the live chat and there you can put the custom request in for it to go on whichever drive you want. The operator will log it and leave a note for the build team.

The 970 is great, I’ve got two in my system. But with your healthy budget it’d be an awesome move to have the 980. You’ll probably be in pre-production for a while so I’d certainly hope the 980 would come back for you to swap in 👍
 

SinclairTwoK

New member
PCS would install the OS on the fastest drive as default, which is the Firecuda. So you’d need to go on the live chat and there you can put the custom request in for it to go on whichever drive you want. The operator will log it and leave a note for the build team.

The 970 is great, I’ve got two in my system. But with your healthy budget it’d be an awesome move to have the 980. You’ll probably be in pre-production for a while so I’d certainly hope the 980 would come back for you to swap in 👍
Oh sweet, it literally just came back in stock so I've changed it to the 980. From the sounds of it I don't need to do anything then as the 980 is now the fastest drive.

Thanks for the help!
 
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