Help with PC Build

Hiya

I wondered if anyone here could give me any info/advice on the 2 different PCs i have put together below. I have not kept upto date with what is good and not good for PCs for the last few years so im a bit behind on which parts are the best to use for gaming now

PC1

Case
NZXT PHANTOM 410 WHITE GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Quad Core Processor i7-7740X (4.3GHz) 8MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X299 MARK 2 GAMING: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6 GB/s, THERMAL ARMOR
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
NOT REQUIRED
2nd Hard Disk
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
240GB KINGSTON SSDNow M.2 2280 G2, SATA 6Gb/s (550MB/R, 330MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 6 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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Keyboard & Mouse
PCS Defiance Series X603 RGB Keyboard
Gaming Mouse Pad
ROCCAT™ Taito 2017 Mini Gaming Mousepad
Speakers
LOGITECH Z313 2.1 SILVER/BLACK SPEAKER SYSTEM
Cable Management
3 x PCS 1.5M Zip Cable Tidy - Professional Cable Management
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 3 to 5 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,499.00 including VAT and delivery

PC2
Case
NZXT PHANTOM 410 WHITE GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700k (3.7GHz) 12MB Cache
FREE Warhammer: Vermintide 2 & XMorph Defense w/ select Intel CPUs!
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z370 HD3: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
FREE entry to win 1 of 5 smart 4K TVs w/ select GIGABYTE Motherboards!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
NOT REQUIRED
2nd Hard Disk
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
480GB KINGSTON SSDNow M.2 2280 G2, SATA 6Gb/s (550MB/R, 520MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe Intel CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB 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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Keyboard & Mouse
PCS Defiance Series X603 RGB Keyboard
Gaming Mouse Pad
ROCCAT™ Taito 2017 Mini Gaming Mousepad
Speakers
LOGITECH Z313 2.1 SILVER/BLACK SPEAKER SYSTEM
Cable Management
3 x PCS 1.5M Zip Cable Tidy - Professional Cable Management
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 3 to 5 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,471.00 including VAT and delivery

i may have got things totally wrong with the builds i have done above so any advice would be greatly appreciated even if someone can recommend a totally different built in the same price league that is better for gaming.

Which is best now for CPUs for gaming and graphics ? Intel or Ryzon ? GeForce or radeon

Thank you for your help
 

danamb

Bronze Level Poster
I personally think that the CPU and the GPU you selected are not in the same league. What games will you play and on what resolution? What other things than gaming will you do on that pc?
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
You should avoid the i7 7740x. Not just for gaming, but for everything, as offers less performance than the newer i7 8700k for pretty well everything, and comes on a more expensive series of motherboards.

For an Intel build, something like:


Case
NZXT PHANTOM 410 WHITE GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700 (3.2GHz) 12MB Cache
--FREE Warhammer: Vermintide 2 & XMorph Defense w/ select Intel CPUs!
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z370-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1070 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1[SUP]st[/SUP] M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB 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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Keyboard & Mouse
PCS Defiance Series X603 RGB Keyboard
Gaming Mouse Pad
ROCCAT™ Taito 2017 Mini Gaming Mousepad
Speakers
LOGITECH Z313 2.1 SILVER/BLACK SPEAKER SYSTEM
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 3 to 5 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,502.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-pc/cXP3auG76n/
 
Last edited:

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
You could also look at the Magma Pro spec: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/configure-review/259/

An i7 8700 will offer better performance than an AMD R7 2700x for gaming, all else being equal. However, you're not likely to notice much difference in most titles, and the Magma comes with an in-built discount as a Review Spec and so includes things like a GTX 1080 for the same kind of price.
 
i had just read about the i7 8700 thats why i put together the 2nd pc using that processor.

I will mainly use the pc for playing games and downloading and streaming movies to my xboxs /ps4, primarily for games though.

Games i will play will vary from PUGB, 7 days to die, COD, battlefield, witcher 3 etc i play all genres of games so need something that can handle everything at top spec and be good to use for the next few years.

The magma build does look pretty good, how do the ryzon chips hold up againt the I7 8700? is there much in it ? as i said i have not kept upto date with CPUs and GPUs over the last few years so do not know how they compare against each other
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
As above, games will be more concerned about GPU than CPU performance. Either the 8700(k) or 2700x will be very solid for any of those games, afaik.

There is not much in it at all.

For example, these charts give an illustration of the performance difference in Witcher 3 of different CPUs and GPUs.
witcher-3_1920_1080.png the-witcher-3_1920_1080.png

The main takeaway is that Witcher 3 doesn't much care what CPU you have. Same as most games. And on the other hand, that any GPU over a GTX 1060 kind of level is going to be easily more than fine. A GTX 1060 is fine too, as long as you manage the settings.

The CPUs are benched with a GTX 1080 ti to try to expose a CPU bottleneck - but even then there's less than 5% difference between an 8700k and a 2700x. Whereas a 1080 gives a good 20% more performance than a 1070 - although both easily surpass 60fps at ultra settings (minus hairworks). And if you're playing at 1080p on a 60hz monitor, it doesn't matter too much if you're getting 85 or 100fps as the screen can only display 60 of those anyway, right?

More generally:
ArxS7iaQoxa9h5B7cm9uND-650-80.png vZZxkfZn7UZVNT4CGfurp4-650-80.png

So an 8700k is better than an R7 2700x by about 10%. But both still deliver very good performance and the 2700x is still better than the great majority of other CPUs people today own.

The Magma has a higher end CPU cooler, a more upmarket and newer case with tempered glass and RGB fans, a GTX 1080 instead of a 1070, a better quality, more efficient, and modular PSU, and a higher end motherboard with a better featureset (e.g. USB 3.1 Gen 2). The HDD is 1TB smaller, but storage is pretty cheap.

So up to you really. The Magma certainly delivers better value for money, and will give measurably better gaming performance out of the box.
 
Last edited:
ok i have done a little bit of adjusting to that spec as i need to have a CD drive and that case didnt allow me to add one

Case
SHARKOON VG4-W GAMING CASE (Green LED)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Eight Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.35GHz/20MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
Gigabyte AX370 Gaming 3: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
NOT REQUIRED
2nd Hard Disk
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
240GB KINGSTON SSDNow M.2 2280 G2, SATA 6Gb/s (550MB/R, 330MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe AMD CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
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 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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Gaming Mouse Pad
ROCCAT™ Taito 2017 Mini Gaming Mousepad
Speakers
LOGITECH Z313 2.1 SILVER/BLACK SPEAKER SYSTEM
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 3 to 5 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,557.00 including VAT and delivery

im not sure how much of a difference me changing the cooler will make, ive always been a bit iffy about water cooling because to me electronics and water shouldnt be next to each other lol i do need it to be quiet though to stop my mrs from moaning about the hovercraft in the room lol

Thank you for you input by the way, greatly appreciated :)
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
I would recommend going with the Magma spec - the components are better and it will be cheaper.
 
is it possible to take the magma PC and change the case so that i can include a dvd drive ? thats why i was using all the same parts in another case
 
Last edited by a moderator:
i have just gone with that option, i know an external drive isnt the best but i spose at least when i am not using it it will cut down on the power consumption and noise etc

another thing does the 1080 have 2 HDMI outputs on it ?
 
and would using an external drive work out of the box and allow me to install windows 10 or would i need to create an installation USB for it instead
 
changed it to this, think the only thing more or less that is different is the case and the motherboard as the other one is out of stock on the magma. oh and the price being diff

Case
NZXT PHANTOM 410 WHITE GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Eight Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.35GHz/20MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
Gigabyte AX370 Gaming 3: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
NOT REQUIRED
2nd Hard Disk
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i V2 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
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 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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Keyboard & Mouse
PCS Defiance Series X603 RGB Keyboard
Gaming Mouse Pad
ROCCAT™ Taito 2017 Mini Gaming Mousepad
Speakers
LOGITECH Z313 2.1 SILVER/BLACK SPEAKER SYSTEM
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 3 to 5 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,681.00 including VAT and delivery
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
The PSU is different too. 550W VS instead of 650 TXm (TXm being better quality, more efficient, and modular).

The motherboard is different, in that it's an older chipset. And that specific X370 motherboard also lacks USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C (versus the Gigabyte X470 or the Asus X370). Also, only the X470 motherboard has 2 M.2 slots. Which may be very important should you want to add another fast SSD in the future.

If you change the case, or any of the components, you lose the discount of ~£250. So you're paying a £250 premium for a different case, and being able to order it sooner with an old motherboard.
 
ok i managed to old out, to the point where i kept off the website to stop my fingers getting itchy and ordering a different Spec that i had listed lol

The motherboard came back in stock a few days ago so i have ordered this system now :) just gotta wait for it to be build and sent out now.

I did remove the windows 10 that was inclused and that saving paid for an external CD drive, new keyboard, new speakers and a mouse mat for £1536 i think it was.

Thank you for your help again
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Cool, glad it was useful :) If you get time when you receive the system and put it through its paces, let us know how it goes!
 
I will do when it arrives as im interested to know myself.

what are the best tools/games to run on it to see what its producing ?

I always used to use metro last light as a test wheni changed something in my old PC
 
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