Spec Advice Please...

[Huntcliff]

Good morning everyone.

My aging tower (of 12 years) has finally given up the ghost, I've access to high spec laptops but really want to replace my desktop machine as I would like to get back into PC gaming.

My main uses for the machine will be:

• Gaming.
• 3D Modelling (REVIT, 3D Studio Max, Inventor, Fusion360, Rhino & Grasshopper)
• Finite Element Analysis (CivilFEM and ANSYS)
• Photography processing (Photoshop, Lightroom, multi image stitching in particular with large image sizes hence 32Gb RAM)
• Programming (Mostly Mathematica, bit of python).

I've tried to spec a machine that I think will hold up well for the above uses, but would appreciate advice, particularly on any flaws that may be present. I know I could probably save a few quid by getting rid of the RGB components, but I'm a tart when it comes to LED's. This is also probably the top end of my budget in all honesty.

Case
CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 680X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-10600K (4.1 GHz) 12 MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z490-F GAMING (LGA1200, USB 3.2, CrossFireX/SLI) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, 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
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
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
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 20 to 22 working days
Price: £1,806.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Huntcliff]

What monitor are you using with this system? Resolution and resfresh rate or make and model if unsure. Gives us an idea of where to aim at as gaming systems are generally matched to the monitor...in your case I think it's going to be as much GPU and CPU power as possible.

Am not sure if you are particularly set on Intel or not but an AMD build may be better as I presume your 3-D modelling utilises multiple CPU cores? Which would then point to an AMD build. So, with this in mind, I hav specced up something which I feel is better (certainly gives you a better GPU, better PSU, faster primary drive)...does lower the sotrage a bit but SATA storage is cheap enough to pick up these days:


Case
CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 570X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900 12 Core CPU (3.1GHz-4.3GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM 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)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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 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 20 to 22 working days
Price: £1,831.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/XxarSQ!NST/

Thank you, that's very helpful and gives me something to seriously consider. I was getting conflicting advice on Intel vs AMD when trying to read up on it, so your comments are very helpful.... I think on the multicore elements I know the FE software makes use of multicores, but you have to pay more to unlock the number of cores it will utilise (it's a strange way of doing it).