Old but seasoned gamer seeking spec advice

Much appreciated.
For the sake of another £120ish I can go with the i5 12600KF and the Asus TUF board. Will that give me much added performance over the i5 2400F?
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Much appreciated.
For the sake of another £120ish I can go with the i5 12600KF and the Asus TUF board. Will that give me much added performance over the i5 2400F?
The 12600K also generates more heat but it is a undoubtedly a better choice CPU

This would be my build with a 12600K for example but you see how the prices creeps steadily higher

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 10-Core Processor i5-12600K (3.7GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
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 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H100i 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 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
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
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 8 to 11 working days
Price: £1,501.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/6P4!H!bRSY/
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Nice spec, but that would be out of my price range sadly
I know mate that's the problem, it creeps higher and higher and then you make compromises and damage the integrity of the entire build which I would always recommend avoiding

Hopefully we can help get you sorted with something though
 
OK, this would really be pushing my budget to the limit as I am buying 2 machines. Would I get away wit this?

Case
PCS SPECTRUM RGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 10-Core Processor i5-12600K (3.7GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW) (Special Offer)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
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
PCS FrostFlow 150 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]
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
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 8 to 11 working days

£1,398.00
inc VAT and Delivery

I had to change the case to incorporate my existing HDDs
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
My opinion is that if you're going to be looking to spend another £100 you would get more out of a 5600x build than a 12400 build. The 12400 is really impressive especially is CPU heavy tasks but in gaming I believe the 5600x still takes the edge. It also lets you sure up the rest of the build like a solid motherboard and really good PSU pairing

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
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 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD 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 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
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 8 to 11 working days
Price: £1,338.00 including VAT and Delivery

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

DarTon

Well-known member
The 12700K is still a power hungry monster though and generates a lot of heat. I wouldn't want the PRIME series of motherboard for that personally I would go with at least a TUF but ideally if your planning on upgrading to high end CPU in future I would go with the Z690 STRIXX Personally
Hence why I said i7-12700 not i7-12700K! Your point is valid though. It's hard to spec a machine that can go from a 12400F to a 12900K without either overpaying hugely when it just has the 12400F or creating something that is thermally throttled when it's got the 12900K.
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
OK, this would really be pushing my budget to the limit as I am buying 2 machines. Would I get away wit this?

Case
PCS SPECTRUM RGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 10-Core Processor i5-12600K (3.7GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW) (Special Offer)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
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
PCS FrostFlow 150 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]
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
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 8 to 11 working days

£1,398.00
inc VAT and Delivery

I had to change the case to incorporate my existing HDDs
At approx. £1400 per machine you could do this and get much stronger builds in general and super potent GPU's. I've cut corners on the storage with no dedicated OS drive and went for a 750W PSU but this would still be solid

Case
PCS PRISM TG BLACK ARGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP, LHR
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
STANDARD AMD 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 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
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 8 to 11 working days
Price: £1,392.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/EmxnbJ4fMM/
 

DarTon

Well-known member
@GeoffStamp463. Just be careful about ramping up the CPU without rebalancing the other components. The 12600K is a 10-core (6P + 4E core) CPU. It's actually quite a step up from the 12400F and requires better cooling and a good case. I wouldn't pair the 12600K with a PCS Frostflow and the case you've chosen.

As @Steveyg has said the next incremental upgrade of CPU is the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X with a B550 board. It can use the stock cooler or a something like the Coolermaster Hyper 212.

Either way though, before you spend more on a either a 5600X or i5-12600K, I'd reevaluate why you think you need a better CPU. Are the games you are going to play CPU bottlenecked? It's easy to spend more for no good reason (... he says looking around the room at all the unnecessary computers and monitors ...)
 
I have to lower the graphics setting on games like GTA5 online and Minecraft (with shaders) along with most of my fast paced action games. All I really want to do is to be able to play my games with the graphics options cranked up and achieve a framerate of more than 50 fps, which is what I'm currently getting on Minecraft. I'd also like the unit to be able to cope with the more up to date and graphically intensive games on the market
So you think I'm setting the bar unnecessarily high with my chosen spec?

I really appreciate your help with this guys, my brain hurts
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I have to lower the graphics setting on games like GTA5 online and Minecraft (with shaders) along with most of my fast paced action games. All I really want to do is to be able to play my games with the graphics options cranked up and achieve a framerate of more than 50 fps, which is what I'm currently getting on Minecraft.
So you think I'm setting the bar unnecessarily high with my chosen spec?

I really appreciate your help with this guys, my brain hurts
My final build I posted will absolutely crush those games at 1080p and absurd frame rates or get you into 1440p if you wanted to go that route

I know it's a lot to take it especially when I've peppered you with options in the last couple of posts. Personally I would go with the last build I posted. It's by far the most powerful for gaming while still maintaining enough balance that it can be suitably upgraded in future
 
Back in the day when I used to build PC's for a living (mid 90's) the AMD CPU's were a bit iffy. I assume they've improved in the last 25 years.
I've always used Intel but am willing to try something new.
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Back in the day when I used to build PC's for a living (mid 90's) the AMD CPU's were a bit iffy. I assume they've improved in the last 25 years.
I've always used Intel but am willing to try something new.
AMD have been the leading the race in power, support, features and lower temps for the past two generations. They look to repeat that trend with their new 7000 Series CPU's which are due out later this year I believe

AMD are market leaders at the minute mate and it's not a close fight. Intel have done well with the 12th series but if you consider just how much power they consume and how much heat they generate I doubt AMD will have to try to hard to oust them again
 

DarTon

Well-known member
My final build I posted will absolutely crush those games at 1080p and absurd frame rates or get you into 1440p if you wanted to go that route

I know it's a lot to take it especially when I've peppered you with options in the last couple of posts. Personally I would go with the last build I posted. It's by far the most powerful for gaming while still maintaining enough balance that it can be suitably upgraded in future
Yes but his monitors are limited to 60Hz. Minecraft can be turned into a really performance hog by changing the chunks/renders/adding in RT etc but in it's more vanilla state, the system primary bottleneck will be the monitor. Not sure I see the need for a 3060 unless the monitor gets an upgrade.
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Yes but his monitors are limited to 60Hz. Minecraft can be turned into a really performance hog by changing the chunks/renders/adding in RT etc but in it's more vanilla state, the system primary bottleneck will be the monitor. Not sure I see the need for a 3060 unless the monitor gets an upgrade.
Absolutely a monitor upgrade should be considered if it's 1080p 60hz
 

DarTon

Well-known member
@GeoffStamp463 . It might be worth watching these two videos by Gamers Nexus and Hardware Unboxed. They are both reviewing the new 12400 CPU but the tables show performance numbers for comparable CPU such as the 5600X, 12600K etc across a number of modern games. Unfortunately not Minecraft!

Clearly the more you pay the better the performance but this might give you an idea of what sort of difference you really get at 1080p from different CPU. Note they are using a top of the range GPU to try to limit impact of GPU bottlenecking.

 

DarTon

Well-known member
Just to put the jump in performance into perspective. If we use 3DMark as a benchmark (caveats around using single benchmarks etc) then

GPUScoremultiple vs. 1050 Ti
306087833.74
1660 Super60742.59
1050 Ti2348

CPUScoremultiple vs. 6700
12400F82002.31
5600X81312.29
67003547

It's a decent uplift. You are going to notice the difference.
 
So according to the videos the i12400 is better value, but needs more cooling power and The AMD is marginally better and needs less cooling, but costs more.
I hate my life haha
Time for another rethink, so you'd recommend the 12400?
Sorry, I'm easily confused these days
 

DarTon

Well-known member
There is really is very little between the 12400 and the 5600X. At the margin I would still say the 5600X is a better overall CPU gor gaming but the price is quite a lot higher. Some of that higher cost though is offset by being able to get a very decent B550 board for the 5600X cheaper than the current Z690 boards for the 12400. Once the B660 boards are out, the price will swing further toward Intel. So it's a price differential that favours 12400, not really a performance one.

Really you can't go wrong with either. On Hardware Unboxed's 10 game average, the 12400 was basically neck and neck with the prior generation 8 core i7-11700K. The 5600X edged out the 11700K. So both do a very fine job at a competitive cost.
 
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