Small Form Factor

[Warbelian]

Hello,

With my laptop recently "giving up", I'm on to a new adventure,

- Topic reference: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/nova-year-new-build.67960/page-4#post-652172

I really love small form factor things, I have this thing of moving out a lot so the least I have, the better it is for me, this also goes for computers,
Throughout the years I've always bought gaming laptops from PC Specialists because of the movebility but now I'm deciding to upgrade to a PC instead of a laptop.

The reason being, before I messed up my laptop I was playing a lot of:

New World - High Settings 1440p

Forza Horizon 5 - Ultra Settings 1440p

Cyberpunk 2077 - Ultra Settings 1440p

And my laptop was constantly on the 90's to 95c

I currently game with a 1440p monitor which I'm planning to make it double screen.
So yeah, I would like to keep the consistency on small things but got no clue about computer hardware.

My budget currently is £1500 but willing to extend a bit more if I can keep it for a good 3 to 4 years ahead of AAA games on ultra.

I've tried looking for this case but couldn't find it at PC Specialists,

IQUNIX ZX-1 Aluminum Mini-ITX Case​

As I fell in love when I saw this build, it totally projects my type of person, so anything like it, or that maybe could be transferred to it ? Would be appreciated.

But yeah, enough with the bio, here's the list to start building:

- https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/amd-sff-gaming/

Looking forward to see what you guys can achieve

Thank you

 

[JUNI0R]

Hello,

With my laptop recently "giving up", I'm on to a new adventure,

- Topic reference: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/nova-year-new-build.67960/page-4#post-652172

I really love small form factor things, I have this thing of moving out a lot so the least I have, the better it is for me, this also goes for computers,
Throughout the years I've always bought gaming laptops from PC Specialists because of the movebility but now I'm deciding to upgrade to a PC instead of a laptop.

The reason being, before I messed up my laptop I was playing a lot of:

New World - High Settings 1440p

Forza Horizon 5 - Ultra Settings 1440p

Cyberpunk 2077 - Ultra Settings 1440p

And my laptop was constantly on the 90's to 95c

I currently game with a 1440p monitor which I'm planning to make it double screen.
So yeah, I would like to keep the consistency on small things but got no clue about computer hardware.

My budget currently is £1500 but willing to extend a bit more if I can keep it for a good 3 to 4 years ahead of AAA games on ultra.

I've tried looking for this case but couldn't find it at PC Specialists,

IQUNIX ZX-1 ALUMINUM MINI-ITX CASE​

As I fell in love when I saw this build, it totally projects my type of person, so anything like it, or that maybe could be transferred to it ? Would be appreciated.

But yeah, enough with the bio, here's the list to start building:

- https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/amd-sff-gaming/

Looking forward to see what you guys can achieve

Thank you

Heya! SFF is a tricky one and an even trickier one from SI's. It has a number of drawbacks; limited airflow, cramped cooling, difficulty upgrading, more expensive parts and the list goes on. That's why if you're able to make the stretch, I'd recommend going for a smaller ATX tower like the Corsair 220T, slightly larger case but way less drawbacks. Obviously it's your money at the end of the day and if your heart is set on SFF then that's fine, it's just something I wouldn't personally recommend.

As that case isn't on the PCS website, it might be worth contacting them and asking if you can buy one to send in- it's a feature they offer with their 'normal' sized PC's so they might be able to acommodate for an SFF with some gentle encouragement, otherwise the only other option involving PCS would be to buy the build you're after from them in a different case then transfer it over which would then void your warranty sadly.

Oh, I'd also recommend a watch of this video about gaming in ultra

 

[JUNI0R]

It didn't let me post in one post for some reason- Looking at an SFF build, this would probably be my recommendation for your budget and needs:

Case
THERMALTAKE CORE V1 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4) Solid gaming CPU
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-I GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.2, Wi-Fi) - ARGB Ready! B450 is a dead platform for new builds so this expensive X570 is the only real option
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB) 16GB of RAM is the standard for a gaming PC these days, and AMD loves fast RAM
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR Decent 1440p 144hz gaming GPU
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE More storage, mainly for bulk file storage
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW) Due to limitations, I've gone for a larger boot SSD for game storage, you could also swap the HDD for a 2.5 inch SSD
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET Best PSU you can get in that case, should just about allow for an upgrade
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER Will be fine for the 5600X
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN PORT + Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi excluded on A320I-K)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001] I'd stick to Windows 10 for now
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 WIndows Defender is fine
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) Well worth the £5
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £1,550.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-sff-gaming/vTwNU8ftqm/

 

[Warbelian]

Hey Junior,

Many thanks for the open discussion on that, I wasn't aware of the Ultra settings issue to be honest,
Taking consideration on what you said about upgrades being more expensive in the long run, I may have had a change of heart.

Would the below, based on 1 of your builds that I saw on the Mini PC section do the trick ?

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW 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)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
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
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 - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £1,512.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/6QCQ8rvhU5/

 

[JUNI0R]

Hey Junior,

Many thanks for the open discussion on that, I wasn't aware of the Ultra settings issue to be honest,
Taking consideration on what you said about upgrades being more expensive in the long run, I may have had a change of heart.

Would the below, based on 1 of your builds that I saw on the Mini PC section do the trick ?

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW 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)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
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
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 - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £1,512.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/6QCQ8rvhU5/

It's less the upgrade price that's expensive, it's more the buy in price. ITX boards are more of a speciality and having that many features (especially in the case of the X570 STRIX) the boards generally cost more than their standard ATX counterparts, although that's one of a number of issues I'd avoid it for.

Spec above looks good! As we've got more motherboard choice, you could swap to the B550 TUF which would handle the 5600X perfectly adequately- that'd save about £100 which you could either put in your back pocket, or spend on this system? It's up to you. If you're going standard ATX it might be worth making use of it and going for a larger RMx850W PSU which will better improve upgradability down the road.

 

[FerrariVie]

Not sure if the default AMD cooler is going to do any better than the 90° that your laptop was having. The 5600x runs quite hot and I can say that by personal experience, as my brother has one with the stock cooler. He needed to underclock and undervolt the CPU in order to get lower temperatures that were around 85-90 and he didn't want to spend money on coolers

 

[Steveyg]

Not sure if the default AMD cooler is going to do any better than the 90° that your laptop was having. The 5600x runs quite hot and I can say that by personal experience, as my brother has one with the stock cooler. He needed to underclock and undervolt the CPU in order to get lower temperatures that were around 85-90 and he didn't want to spend money on coolers

The 5600x is a very cool running CPU mate the stock cooler works just fine, if your brother is having problems with temperatures I'd say he has another issue probably with the cooler itself and certainly shouldn't have to undervolt/underclock

 

[Warbelian]

Going with this after the prices for the RTX chill a bit, got my laptop with a 2070 currently with pcs, if I've waited till now, I can hold a bit longer.

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB 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
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/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 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
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
Firefox™
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 13 to 16 working days
Price: £2,170.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/Z64Z7WPrBq/

 

[Martinr36]

if you're going to wait for GPU prices to fall I think you'll be in for a very long wait, like rices of most stuff, the only way GPU prices are going to go is up

 

[Warbelian]

I pressed buy on this one, thoughts ?

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® CROSSHAIR VIII HERO WIFI (DDR4, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW)
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 H150i 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
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 [KUK-00003]

 

[Martinr36]

I pressed buy on this one, thoughts ?

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® CROSSHAIR VIII HERO WIFI (DDR4, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW)
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 H150i 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
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 [KUK-00003]

Looks good

 

[Warbelian]

I pressed buy on this one, thoughts ?

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® CROSSHAIR VIII HERO WIFI (DDR4, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW)
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 H150i 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
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 [KUK-00003]

The previous one didn't go through, so had to down-grade a few aspects.

Case	COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)	AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard	ASUS® STRIX B550-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)	32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card	8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st Storage Drive	NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive	500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive	1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive	NOT REQUIRED
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 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	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 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 13 to 15 working days
Welcome Book	PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland

Cooler is a bit overkill right now, but next year I want to upgrade to a 5950x,
I was in doubt if this B550-X was the wifi version but couldn't find info, so just bought the extender card.

I've got an AOC CQ27Q2 so at least a 3070 TI I had to get my hands on to fully take advantage of the 1440p gaming experience,
Obviously Ultra Settings are for show, but it's always good to see that it can handle for pretty much 95% games I play.

I went with a bit extra ram because I want to play Skyrim this Christmas for the first time and try to finish GTA 5 story mode, both modded versions so there's recommendations for more ram.

I didn't really need the firecuda but 7gb's ? dude that's insane.

I have mixed feelings about the motherboard still, there's a lot of talk with it comes to upgrades but to be honest, I think I will just upgrade the CPU and maybe put a bit more RAM and then I'm sorted for at least half a decade.

The VR experience I have is pretty much on my Quest 2, so the need for something really powerful isn't needed anymore.
Even if I stream lets say, I got my last years Nova which I can use as a streamer laptop so I guess I'm settled.

Chassis & Display	Nova Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Memory (RAM)	16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card	NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive	NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive	500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
Memory Card Reader	Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor	1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable	1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery	Nova Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste	ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card	2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless	GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0

What are your thoughts guys ?
Anything you'd change really ?

Have a great one

 

[JUNI0R]

The previous one didn't go through, so had to down-grade a few aspects.

Case	COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)	AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard	ASUS® STRIX B550-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)	32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card	8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st Storage Drive	NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive	500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive	1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive	NOT REQUIRED
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 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	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 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 13 to 15 working days
Welcome Book	PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland

Cooler is a bit overkill right now, but next year I want to upgrade to a 5950x,
I was in doubt if this B550-X was the wifi version but couldn't find info, so just bought the extender card.

I've got an AOC CQ27Q2 so at least a 3070 TI I had to get my hands on to fully take advantage of the 1440p gaming experience,
Obviously Ultra Settings are for show, but it's always good to see that it can handle for pretty much 95% games I play.

I went with a bit extra ram because I want to play Skyrim this Christmas for the first time and try to finish GTA 5 story mode, both modded versions so there's recommendations for more ram.

I didn't really need the firecuda but 7gb's ? dude that's insane.

I have mixed feelings about the motherboard still, there's a lot of talk with it comes to upgrades but to be honest, I think I will just upgrade the CPU and maybe put a bit more RAM and then I'm sorted for at least half a decade.

The VR experience I have is pretty much on my Quest 2, so the need for something really powerful isn't needed anymore.
Even if I stream lets say, I got my last years Nova which I can use as a streamer laptop so I guess I'm settled.

Chassis & Display	Nova Series: 15.6" Matte Full HD 144Hz 72% NTSC LED Widescreen (1920x1080)
Processor (CPU)	AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Memory (RAM)	16GB Corsair 2666MHz SODIMM DDR4 (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card	NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 2070 - 8.0GB GDDR6 Video RAM - DirectX® 12.1
1st Storage Drive	NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive	500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
Memory Card Reader	Integrated Micro-SD Memory Card Reader
AC Adaptor	1 x 230W AC Adaptor
Power Cable	1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Battery	Nova Series 4 Cell Lithium Ion Battery
Thermal Paste	ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card	2 Channel High Def. Audio + SoundBlaster™ Cinema
Bluetooth & Wireless	GIGABIT LAN & WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 (2.4 Gbps) + BT 5.0

What are your thoughts guys ?
Anything you'd change really ?

Have a great one

Looks pretty good to me, all seems fair! I was gonna suggest the 4000X then realised the configurator wouldn't allow it with the 70TI 😕 😂

 

[Warbelian]

Looks pretty good to me, all seems fair! I was gonna suggest the 4000X then realised the configurator wouldn't allow it with the 70TI 😕 😂

That was actually my first pick as well
I was gutted when it didn't let me, but between the td500 and 5000x, I had to go for td500, specially because of space as well. As it is I already had to buy a pc desk mount to make it live under my desk.

Also the air-cooling from the td500 isn't that bad from the reviews I've seen, even pcs seems to ship that one out with most pre-builds.

 

[JUNI0R]

That was actually my first pick as well
I was gutted when it didn't let me, but between the td500 and 5000x, I had to go for td500, specially because of space as well. As it is I already had to buy a pc desk mount to make it live under my desk.

Also the air-cooling from the td500 isn't that bad from the reviews I've seen, even pcs seems to ship that one out with most pre-builds.

The configurator only accounts for front mounting and doesn't take into consideration the majority of cases can top mount these days- the 4000 series is especially good because you can have RGB RAM and a 240mm AIO top mounted and it's not super large (which isn't the case for the TD500). Oh well.

The TD500 is indeed a solid case. If Corsair didn't exist it'd probably be one of my favourites

 

[Warbelian]

The configurator only accounts for front mounting and doesn't take into consideration the majority of cases can top mount these days- the 4000 series is especially good because you can have RGB RAM and a 240mm AIO top mounted and it's not super large (which isn't the case for the TD500). Oh well.

The TD500 is indeed a solid case. If Corsair didn't exist it'd probably be one of my favourites

That's a good point you know,

I will ask them if it's possible to do the swap of the mounting positions and get the Corsair instead,
Hopefully it's a doable project, thanks for bringing that up.

 

[Warbelian]

The configurator only accounts for front mounting and doesn't take into consideration the majority of cases can top mount these days- the 4000 series is especially good because you can have RGB RAM and a 240mm AIO top mounted and it's not super large (which isn't the case for the TD500). Oh well.

The TD500 is indeed a solid case. If Corsair didn't exist it'd probably be one of my favourites

The team managed to do the swap, very happy with the change.
Got my laptop back as well, the motherboard had to be swapped, it was at no extra cost either which is amazing.

 

[Warbelian]

My prayers go your way.