£3000 budget

Hi all,

Just checking there is nothing I am missing here or have overspecced. I have a £3K budget (will have another £1K for a top end screen). System will mainly be used for top end gaming, some streaming and some video editing although the vast majority of use will be for games.

Any tips would be much appreciated. Build is as follows:

Case COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE H500M GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU) Intel® Core™ i9 Eight Core Processor i9-9900K (3.6GHz) 16MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® ROG MAXIMUS XI HERO: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM) 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card 11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive 1TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Storage Drive 6TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (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)
Wireless/Wired Networking ASUS PCE-AC88 AC3100 2100Mbps/5GHz, 1000Mbps/2.4GHz
USB/Thunderbolt Options MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System Genuine 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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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 8 to 10 working days
Promotional Item Get Ghost Recon: Breakpoint with select SAMSUNG SSDs!
Promotional Item Get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
Welcome Book PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Quantity 1
Total Order Price Ex VAT £2,320.83
Total VAT (20%) £464.17
Total Order Price £2,785.00

Thanks
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
If the vast majority of the use will be gaming, drop the RAM to 16gb. 32gb might have an advantage to video editing, depending on what you're doing. For gaming and streaming, 0. And it's not futureproof either since by the time games could leverage that, the rest of your PC will be obsolete such that this doesn't matter.

No point to the Hero motherboard. You're not going to use open loop or exotic cooling to push overclocking to the max. If you want a luxury mobo with all the trimmings, go with the AORUS Master as it has fast built in wifi and BT, so you can drop the wifi card.

Get a better CPU cooler with a 9900k. H100x would be great, or the Platinum if you like your RGB and want something even more premium.

Also if you like your RGB, add an RGB strip or two.

I'd go with a faster SSD e.g. 970 Evo, or even SX6000 or Intel 760p.

What monitor are you gaming on? What resolution and refresh rate?
 
Thanks Oussebon for your comments, they are really helpful especially around the RAM and Motherboard. I will check out the one you suggest! . My current monitor is 10 years old, but has done me proud until now. I want to step up into 4K so will be looking at getting an ultrawide screen at the same time as the desktop. Im prepared for a £1K hit.... but again, hope this will last me 10 years! ha.
 
I have tweaked the system, and have two questions if I may. I am assuming the closed loop liquid CPU cooler is maintenance free? In that it does not need refilling etc.? Also, I cant spec the SSD you suggested. Does this mean it is not sold by PCS? Cheers
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
I have tweaked the system, and have two questions if I may. I am assuming the closed loop liquid CPU cooler is maintenance free? In that it does not need refilling etc.? Also, I cant spec the SSD you suggested. Does this mean it is not sold by PCS? Cheers
Yes, completely maintenance free. I’ve had one in my system for 3 years now permanently on and it’s been fantastic (touch wood).

Those SSD’s are M2 drives so are in a separate drop down under 1st and 2nd drives.
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
want to step up into 4K so will be looking at getting an ultrawide screen at the same time as the desktop. Im prepared for a £1K hit.... but again, hope this will last me 10 years! ha.
You absolutely do want a new monitor to enjoy your PC properly. A 2080 ti etc will be wasted on a 1080p or otherwise low-spec monitor. :)

Note, 4k and ultrawide are different things.

4k - also know as Ultra HD - is 3840 × 2160, which is 16:9 aspect ratio (the 'normal' monitor scale these days)

Ultrawide is 21:9 aspect ratio. The kind of ultrawide resolution you'd be looking at for this budget is 3440×1440 (1440p - but with even more either side).

The system is well suited to either. It's just something to be aware of :)

Whatever you buy, go for a monitor that has adaptive sync - gsync compatible, gsync, or at least Freesync
I'm sure people here can suggest some starting points if you like?

If it helps, here is a tweaked PC spec with a link to the spec below

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE H500M GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 Eight Core Processor i9-9900K (3.6GHz) 16MB Cache
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 AORUS Master: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs WIFI - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!

down_right_arrow.gif
Get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1st Storage Drive
6TB SEAGATE IRONWOLF PRO 3.5", 7200 RPM 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)

down_right_arrow.gif
Get Ghost Recon: Breakpoint with select SAMSUNG SSDs!
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x 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
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
Genuine 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® Office® 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 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 12 to 14 working days
Price: £2,843.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-pc/r8FT2tZmv4/
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
1571235701959.png


4k obviously has more pixels. 21:9 (ultrawide) at 3440×1440 gives you more screen around you.
 
Thank you both! I have not heard of M2 drives prior to this conversation (I assumed wrongly that it was for laptops!). I will also 100% go for the RGB water cooling for the CPU then!!

Cheers for the tweaked spec above. I think i will need to research the monitor a little more, however thanks for the basic intro! I will definetely be upgrading though! Do either of you have a preference? I know there will be a fair number of monitors avaialable but is there one or two that stand out and are generally the go to?

Cheers
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
(I assumed wrongly that it was for laptops!)
It was originally popular with laptops as it made the drives smaller, but soon became popular in desktops as it allows much faster speeds.

For monitors I think there are 4 main specs in your price/system range:

4k 120hz
4k 60hz
1440p ultrawide (3440×1440) ~100hz
1440p high refresh (144/165hz)

For 4k high refresh there's (afaik) literally only 1 option:

As the others are £1500-£2000 or more

For 4k 60hz, one of the 'top' ones will be Acer XB321HK (32", IPS, gsync)

Though now Nvidia let you enable gsync on Freesync monitors, there is a much wider range of (cheaper) alternatives.

1440p high refresh (144/165hz) - some popular models (prices might be off as it's a copy-paste from Aug):

Code:
Dell S2716DG - 27" 1440p 144hz TN gsync (~£430)
AORUS AD27QD - 27" 1440p 144hz IPS gsync compatible (~£540)
LG 27GL850 - 27" 1440p 144hz IPS gsync compatible (~£450 - preorder, due out Aug I think)

And of course the old guard:
Acer Predator XB271HUbmiprz - 27" 1440p 144hz IPS gsync (~£560)
Acer Predator XB271HUAbmipr - same but TN (~£450)
Asus MG278Q - 27" 1440p 144hz TN gsync compatible (~£380)
and many more including models by AOC

If you like curved screens, one of the MSI or AOC monitors:
MSI Optix MAG271CQR - 27" 1440p 144hz VA freesync (£390)
AOC AG322QC4 - 31.5" 1440p 144hz VA freesync (£400)

I'm not sure, but I expect quite a few of these kinds of monitors use the same panels e.g. there are probably only a few panels doing the rounds for the curved VA panel squad - similar was true of the old IPS ones. That IPS LG and Gigabyte are fairly new, different panels though.

I'll let others suggest 1440p ultrawide as tbh I've no idea.
 
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Once again, thank you for the crash course and the recommendations above! I had not heard that Nvidia now allowed gsync on freesync. You stop reading and all of a sudden things like this happen and you miss it. Really helpful. :)
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
No worries :)

You now have gsync, gsync compatible, and freesync (and gsync ultimate, but we can probably ignore that)

gsync is Nvidia GPU only. Bear that in mind if you might upgrade your GPU in a few years and want to keep AMD GPUs open as an option for adaptive sync...

gsync compatible is freesync, which Nvidia have validated as being totally okay with their GPUs

freesync is an AMD branding of adaptive sync that in practice works fine on Nvidia GPUs in almost every case.
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
I suppose the main caveats are:
- relatively basic HDR (to the point some say it's not worth it)
- 4k 144hz still in its infancy (the panels are quite new and will improve with time, hopefully)
- 4k on a 27" screen (a larger screen could let you appreciate the resolution more)
- many demanding games aren't going to run much above 60fps anyway

Those aren't knockout reasons not to buy - some games will run over 60fps for instance depending on settings, so it's not like there's no benefit.

Could you link to the specific web page on a store you're looking at getting this off?

Acer have really confusing monitor names.

We have:

Acer Nitro XV273KP - link
Acer Predator XB273KP - link
Acer Predator XB273KS - link

Note that the XV273KP was listed initially as the Acer Nitro XV273K (minus the P), and under that name was officially gsync-compatible.

I don't know what the difference between the Predator...KP and Predator...KS are. KS isn't even listed on the Acer site as far as I can see, but some vendors are listing it.

The point is that the XV273KP is £870 and gsync compatible, while the XB273KP seems to be the same thing but with gsync for £1030. So that's £160 for gsync instead of gsync compatible. That could be worth it at 4k. But again, worth being aware of what you're paying for before paying for it...
 
Crap, now im wondering if I should just stick with a good 1440 screen. I totally agree the naming of the monitors are completely not helpful; i will look a little more into the KP vs KP choice above! I couldnt justify the £2K for a full HD1000....

Thanks again
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
I couldnt justify the £2K for a full HD1000
Nor should you IMO - it still all very new :)

Acer aren't the only sinners with monitor names by a long shot, but I have found them to be the most confusing of the bunch. That's not to take away from the quality of their products. The Nitro XV273KP is very nice for bringing 4k 120hz gsync compatible to well under £1000.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/acer...descreen-led-monitor-black-red-mo-099-ac.html Found this, bigger screen and "only" £800.... What am i missing?
It's a different kind of monitor - 4k 60hz, rather than 120hz. It's the one I mentioned in my post above as being one of the highest end 4k 60hz options on the market. £800 is the usual top price, sometimes it's on sale for less.

That same store also has the XV273KP (4k, 120hz, gsync compatible one) for £810

There are ~34" ultrwide (21:9 ratio) monitors too, if 4k doesn't seem worth it. I'm not knowledgeable at all about the models, was hoping someone else would suggest some, but looking around there's:
OPTIX MAG341CQ 34" (34" curved, 100hz, VA panel, freesync, £540) Review

Various top-end ones, ~£800-900
Acer Predator X34P* (IPS, Gsync) - review
Acer Predator Z35P (VA, Gsync)
ASUS ROG SWIFT PG348Q (IPS, gsync)
LG 34GK950G (IPS, gsync compatible) - review

* - the X34P is a refreshed model that has replaced the old X34 - easy naming, to Acer's credit

So do check those kidns of monitors out. The main caveat with them is that some games don't always support 21:9 perfectly - UI elements usually I think, sometimes cutscenes - but that's much less common these days, and there are plenty of tweaks or mods to patch up older ones that don't
 
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Can you link me the rainforest please? I have never heard of this store before? Cheers for all the above too. I am now making a spreadsheet and comparing the 4K vs 1440 wide screen ones. Hopfully will find a sweet spot.

Cheers all
 
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