1080p Gaming/Streaming/Video Editing rig, £1600~ budget

[Drakodan]

Good evening,

My current PCS machine has had an excellent run but is definitely showing its age; i7 4790k, DDR3 RAM and a GTX 970, a bit of a dinosaur as you can see. I've sought feedback on a couple of prospective builds in the past but didn't go through with buying either of them as I felt my current machine was at least still fit for purpose, and I don't think this is true anymore. The graphics card in particular seems to be on its way out as from what I can tell, a couple of the interface ports won't even recognise that a display is connected anymore, so my 3-monitor setup is currently not usable.

Being that the entire thing is so old though, I could be very easily convinced to shell out for a full new AMD system, providing that those more in the know don't feel this is a bad time to do so with Intel's new hardware incorporating DDR5 memory. It certainly has me in two minds as to whether I should pull the trigger now or just limp on with what I have for a few more months.

Regardless, this is what I've thrown together. I don't intend to progress beyond 1080p for the forseeable future as I already have my 3 monitors, and I'll be re-using the Windows 10 key from my current system. Anything on here that I'm allocating wildly badly, and would this still be an investment worth making with Intel's recent offerings coming to the table?

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 465X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 Ti - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
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 H100i RGB PRO XT 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
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 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
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Price: £1,626.00 including VAT and Delivery

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

 

[DarTon]

The build you've put together is basically pretty sound. I'd question buying the 1660 Ti. Upgrading to the Asus Dual 2060 costs just £37, and offers a bit more in terms of 1080p performance. With the new 12GB 2060s being launched, I assume PCS is trying to run down their stock of the older 6GB 2060 hence the modest price spread for the Asus card.

It's also arguable you might want to go up to the STRIX B550 or a TUF X570 motherboard with a 5800X just to get better VRM (though the STRIX doesn't have built in wifi so you'll need add a wifi card and the TUF may only have older wifi, so might need to check that).

Given the pressing issue is the GPU failing, can you just upgrade that and kick the can on the rest? PCS have an upgrade facility and you can transfer the new card to the next build.

Right now though you might aswell wait for CES 2022 this week. AMD could announce more on their refresh of Ryzen 5, Intel may announce non K CPUs and B660 boards, Nvidia might announce a refresh on GPUs including lower end 3050. So plenty to shake up pricing.

 

[Drakodan]

Unfortunately the upgrade facility was the first place I looked, and it listed no options for GPU. Or pretty much any other component, for that matter.

I'm fine with the idea of getting a new rig, I just don't want to order something and then find out after a month that there's a bunch of new hardware coming up. I still have 2 monitors going and no performance issues otherwise, so it's not like I MUST replace it ASAP, it's just putting the idea of looking at a new system more firmly onto the table.

 

[Drakodan]

Bumping in case anyone else has anything to add

 

[MrWilson]

Bumping in case anyone else has anything to add

AMD announced the 5800X3D at CES which is an upgraded version of the 5800X using their new 3D cache technology. Depending on how urgently you need the new build it might be worth waiting for that to be available on the configurator.
Also agree with the comments above: when you’re ready to order check the GPU prices and see if it’s much more to upgrade to a 2060 or even 3060. The b550 STRIX might also be a good call depending on how intensive your editing is. I think I’m right in saying that you’re a Twitch streamer (pretty sure I’ve seen your name pop up before) so if you’re editing videos or streaming for a long period of time the extra VRMs will come in handy.
Overall though, it’s a very solid spec, it’s obvious you know your stuff 🙂

 

[Scott]

I would genuinely stick with the system you have and purchase a GPU. As much as your 970 is failing, switching to the 1660 is going to be a down-grade.

In your shoes, I would buy a new GPU and stick with the 4790k, it's no slouch. What PSU do you currently have? That may be the only limiting factor. Ensure you have 16GB of RAM and you're good to go.

You honestly won't get anything over a 4790k paired with a 970 than you will a 5800 paired with a 1660.

 

[Drakodan]

750W PSU, and 16GB RAM. Would PCS be willing to sell a GPU on its own if I called them up? No upgrade options were listed when I checked on the order/upgrade page.

 

[Scott]

750W PSU, and 16GB RAM. Would PCS be willing to sell a GPU on its own if I called them up? No upgrade options were listed when I checked on the order/upgrade page.

You can get a GPU anywhere and install it yourself. It's fairly straight forward.

A 3060 would be a huge upgrade for you 😁