Gaming desktop 2k budget - check this build for me?

Hey Guys,

I know literally nothing about desktops these days, my friend put this build together for me, could you give it a once over and tell me if i should change anything.

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 120 High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
LED Lighting
2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
2x 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
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
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
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 16 to 18 working days
Price: £1,939.00 including VAT and Delivery

Thanks :)
 

PainterUK

Silver Level Poster
Are the LED strips important? Are you into RGB?
i wouldn’t buy a 450 motherboard, would go for a TUF 550/570 for more future proofing.

If it is £2k, I think you can still put faster RAM (3600mhz?)
The thermal paste isn’t necessary in there.
Buying the 2080 super right now is a bit of a gamble as with the new cards coming in a couple of months, it’s price may decrease.
 
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Deleted member 17413

Guest
Hi, few quick questions.

Plans for upgrades in the future, the motherboard will limit your upgrade options and if you are spending £2K I would expect to want to be able to get 7 or 8 years out of it with a few careful upgrades... is that also your aim, or are you expecting to be replacing the whole thing in 4 or 5 years?

What monitor do you have/planning to get?

Is this purely a gaming build (along with general use) or are you looking at using for thigns like video editing as well or streaming?
 
D

Deleted member 17413

Guest
Are the LED strips important? Are you into RGB?
i wouldn’t buy a 450 motherboard, would go for a TUF 550/570 for more future proofing.

If it is £2k, I think you can still put faster RAM (3600mhz?)
The thermal paste isn’t necessary in there.
Buying the 2080 super right now is a bit of a gamble as with the new cards coming in a couple of months, it’s price may decrease.

Thermal paste in this case may be...he is getting a coolermaster AIO, I know corsairs paste is very good, i'm not sure about coolermasters.... anyone with specific knowledge on this? (apologise if thats you painter!)

Completely agree on the 2080 super, even for just a gaming machine it would be an overshoot, but given new cards are just a couple of months away... waiting a little or even buying a much cheaper one and replacing in a few months is going to be a better idea i believe.
 
I would like to just buy it now, cause my laptop is pretty much dead.

I will only be playing games on it and general use, and for the most part the games I play are not gonna go anywhere near the potential of that card, its just to future proof.

I changed the motherboard to a 570x and the ram to 3600's.

My friend who designed it also cautioned me to wait, but I need a computer now rather than surviving with just a phone for 2 or 3 months.

Monitor wise, I'm just gonna get a cruddy 250 quid thing for the moment, then when I have more spare cash I'll upgrade to a better one and use the 250 one as a second monitor.
 
D

Deleted member 17413

Guest
With a desktop, the idea of futureproofing with a higher spec GPU is not a good one... give it a few years and everything has moved on so fast that it makes the extra expense at the time pointless.

Look at the 2070 Super...will do everything you will want from it and set you in good stead for just as long, but for less cash.
GPU's in desktops are VERY easy to upgrade, and anything you can get in 2 years time will make current ones look like a joke.
 
Ok, so if i drop down to the 2070 super, is everything still compatible? I have had someone on discord questioning the motherboard cpu and ram combination.

If I buy through PC specialist it'll turn up just ready to power on and go right?

Again, I know very little, I haven't paid attention for at least 5 years.
 
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Deleted member 17413

Guest
Its compatible sure.... whether its wise is another thing.
i would aim a 550 or 570 motherboard with AMD, it will mean you can upgrade the CPU in the future rather than having to do a rebuild.
the 550 and 570 will both support the next round of AMD CPU's (4000 series) and very likely the one after that, meaning in 3 or 4 years time you can upgrade the CPU and add another couple of years to the lifespan of the machine.

Its a wise investment.

In terms of turn on and ready to go, yes, IF you are buying an operating system,.
In which case, turn on, run for any updates needed and activate, and you are good to go. A wise precaution however is to do a complete install of Win 10 from scratch anyway (so its the most up to date version) but its very very easy to do.
 
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Deleted member 17413

Guest
Can you post the link from the "post to forum" bit? I'll put up a spec with a few changes that I think would be wise.
Also helps anyone else who has any suggestions or advice to post it up too.
 
Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB 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 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 120 High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
LED Lighting
2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
2x 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
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
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
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 16 to 18 working days
Price: £2,001.00 including VAT and Delivery
 
D

Deleted member 17413

Guest
lol...ok...at the very bottom of that page you just posted is a link for the build, can you put that in?
 
D

Deleted member 17413

Guest
Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT Eight Core CPU (4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4) (more powerful CPU, if sticking to an X model, the 3700X is about £25 less atm and very very close to the 3800X in performance anyway)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE (main storage for files etc)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4400MB/W) (much better M.2 drive)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET (gives some decent headroom for upgrades, and very good PSU)
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler (better pairing with the CPU)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING (Corsair come with its own paste which is very high quality)
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 (much better WiFi and also has bluetooth)
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 (if you have a copy of Win 10 you can transfer, will save you £100 here, very easy to transfer to a new system, did this myself on my own build)
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE (Win Defender is actually better, and bullguard is known to cause issues)
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (dropped down a step on the warranty, still 2 years full cover)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 16 to 18 working days
Price: £2,070.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/M0Pq57HkjH/

Its a little over budget, if you can transfer a window licence it will bring it in under budget, would also maybe suggest rethinking the case...think more practical than appearance (RGB) here.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
D

Deleted member 17413

Guest
Should mention, you want a 1440p 144Hz monitor to pair with this build... otherwise the GPU is pretty much wasted (if a 1080p monitor, a 1660 Ti or 2060 is a much better pairing, you can easily upgrade the GPU if you step up to a 1440p monitor)
 
Why did you remove the 2 extra case fans, surely if some is good then more must be better xD.

I will go with the build you suggest, you dont think there will be any cooling issues?

If cooling is likely to be a problem what case would you recommend?
 
D

Deleted member 17413

Guest
Fans are one of those things that more isnt always better.
Too many fans will actually fight against each other, its better to buy a better case, than to buy extra fans to go in a worse case.

If you have £20 for fans, I would recommend putting that £20 against a case with better airflow instead.
Also, most cases standard fans are going to be just fine (especially with a decent case to start with) and unless you are playing AAA titles for hours and hours each day, it wont make any difference.

With the cooler thats in there (H100i Plat) you are very unlikely to have any issues with cooling, especially if you have a decent case to start with.
Get a mod to check it over, but I think i'm on the right tracks.

Remember though, this is for a 1440p 144Hz monitor... your monitor choice makes a HUGE difference here... if a lower spec monitor, this is NOT the build you want right now.
 
D

Deleted member 17413

Guest
what case would you recommend?

Cases are a personal thing, i get that... With mine, i went for the 500D SE but thats £185...
The Lian Li (£70) is a very good case, the 220T Airflow (£70) is a decent case, the 275R Airflow (£60) is a decent case the Fractal Design 7 (£130) is an excellent case...
Theres a big difference in prices there though.

For a 2K budget, i would look at roughly a £100-£150 for the case... you want a good case that will then help protect everything thats in it, by having proper airflow and good thermals you are preserving the lifespan of the components inside as they arent going to be running hot, which shortens lifespan...so it all has a knock on effect.

For a £50 to £80 case, i would look at the Lian Li, and if not that, probably the 275R Airflow
 
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