3090 advice

Chibble

Bronze Level Poster
I was planning to add this to the topic I made yesterday but for some reason it was locked.

I'm looking for advice when it comes to the purchase of a 3090 card. Yesterday I asked about the branding available for the ~£1700 3090 on offer via PCS vs the ~£1900 Strix version that is currently out of stock. I reached out to PCS' sales team this morning with questions about the branding and received the information I was after. Yesterday it was suggested by a moderator that I just wait for the 3090ti but the sales representative said they don't plan on having the 3090ti (at least that's my understanding of the message?) and said that they're actually looking ahead at the 40 series, which as far I know have no confirmed release date but are expected around the end of this year.

I'd heard of 3 out of 4 of the 3090 brands mentioned by the sales rep and having done quite a bit of googling about different brands it seems they all perform quite differently when it comes to cooling and headroom for overclocking (using this video as a reference, though its based on specs and some OC card versions:
).

I'm happy to post my planned specs here but I'm not really looking for ways to make things much cheaper, I fully understand that I wouldn't be getting much value vs performance from my chosen parts, hence why I'd be happy to pay ~£200 more for the Strix's shroud. I have considered using a site like ebuyer but I'm wary as that would limit me to the manufacturer's warranty on the card rather than the extended warranty I'd be purchasing from PCS and in my limited experience of custom PCs the GPU was the only part I've had to have replaced.

With this message about the 3090ti potentially not being stocked and the 40-series cards being at best like 10 months away, what would you advise? I considered purchasing the PC now and using the upgrade service to grab a good 3090 when one becomes available through PCS, but there are apparently no estimates on when/if this card will be in stock and if I'm waiting for the 40 series it seems redundant to buy the PC now when 10 months down the line there could be better CPU/Ram/Motherboard/etc. options available for a similar price to now, but at the same time my current rig is not longer sufficient for my needs.

My planned specs:

CaseSend In Your Own Case
Case Model:5000d Airflow
Case From:Corsair
Processor (CPU)Intel® Core™ i9 16-Core Processor i9-12900K (3.2GHz) 30MB Cache
MotherboardASUS® ROG MAXIMUS Z690 HERO WIFI (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)32GB Corsair DOMINATOR PLATINUM DDR5 5200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics CardINTEGRATED GRAPHICS ACCELERATOR (GPU)
1st Storage Drive4TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive4TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6900MB/W)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive4TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6900MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY DriveNOT REQUIRED
Power SupplyCORSAIR 1600W PRO SERIES™ TITANIUM AX1600i DIGITAL MODULAR PSU
Power Cable1 x 1 Metre IEC C19 UK Power Cable
Braided Power Supply CablesCORSAIR Premium Individually Sleeved PSU Cable Kit Pro - Black
Processor CoolingCORSAIR iCUE H150i ELITE LCD Display RGB CPU Cooler
Thermal PasteARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
LED Lighting2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans5x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
Sound CardONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network CardNOT REQUIRED
USB/Thunderbolt OptionsMIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating SystemWindows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System LanguageUnited Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery MediaWindows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office SoftwareFREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-VirusNO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
BrowserFirefox™
Warranty3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
DeliverySTANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build TimeStandard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
 

Attachments

  • Chat.png
    Chat.png
    72.4 KB · Views: 97

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
That's a ridiculous build mate, put it this way if you buy a 3090 there is very little reason to even think about the 4000 series or even probably the 5000 series after that as the 3090 will still be in the top tier unless something drastic happens that we don't see coming. Then again it depends entirely on useage, what's this build for if you don't mind me asking?

Also one note mate the Corsair CPU coolers come with their own pre applied thermal paste that's very high quality. That would have to be removed to add the Arctic MX-4 paste which is good paste also but you could be creating problems here with a bad paste job that's completely unnecessary
 

Chibble

Bronze Level Poster
That's a ridiculous build mate, put it this way if you buy a 3090 there is very little reason to even think about the 4000 series or even probably the 5000 series after that as the 3090 will still be in the top tier unless something drastic happens that we don't see coming. Then again it depends entirely on useage, what's this build for if you don't mind me asking?

Also one note mate the Corsair CPU coolers come with their own pre applied thermal paste that's very high quality. That would have to be removed to add the Arctic MX-4 paste which is good paste also but you could be creating problems here with a bad paste job that's completely unnecessary

Yeah, I know its ridiculous. I'm in a position where over the last year I've moved into content creation for YTube and twitch with decent success which has given me disposable income I'd like to reinvest in a ridiculous setup. I would be using the system for gaming, streaming and video editing using the adobe suite (Pshop, premiere, after effects mostly). As mentioned I'm not really looking to save on cost but would rather get all the parts together from PCS than getting a GPU from ebuyer and having to deal with the more limited warranty considering my previous experience with a faulty GPU. I've not considered custom watercooling as I wouldn't be comfortable with the maintenance required.

Thanks for the heads up on the thermal paste!
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Yeah, I know its ridiculous. I'm in a position where over the last year I've moved into content creation for YTube and twitch with decent success which has given me disposable income I'd like to reinvest in a ridiculous setup. I would be using the system for gaming, streaming and video editing using the adobe suite (Pshop, premiere, after effects mostly). As mentioned I'm not really looking to save on cost but would rather get all the parts together from PCS than getting a GPU from ebuyer and having to deal with the more limited warranty considering my previous experience with a faulty GPU. I've not considered custom watercooling as I wouldn't be comfortable with the maintenance required.

Thanks for the heads up on the thermal paste!
Enjoy mate I'm super jealous. Out of curiosity which monitor are you going with to make this beast shine?

One more tip I guess, Windows 11 is still pretty much a shambles, I'd still strongly recommend W10 over it and it's a free upgrade in future when it's not a disaster

Also you could maybe consider rejigging your storage set up? HDD's are still cheap and perfectly fine for mass storage of RAW video files for example. No point in storing those on SSD as there is no real benefit once you're done with editing them. Having a dedicated operating system drive will also help with updating/repairing/ or even completely reinstalling your OS without having to worry about losing the files on the same drive. It'll also help keep the OS running optimally, I can help suggest something if you'd like?

Also I wouldn't go with custom water loop either. They look great no doubt and offer incredible performance when pushing for those benchmarks but they aren't worth the hassle in my opinion
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Getting completely absurd and not knowing your budget mate

This would be my storage set up

Case
COOLERMASTER COSMOS C700M TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 16-Core Processor i9-12900K (3.2GHz) 30MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG MAXIMUS Z690 HERO WIFI (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair DOMINATOR PLATINUM DDR5 5200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
24GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3090 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
8TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
4TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1600W PRO SERIES™ TITANIUM AX1600i DIGITAL MODULAR PSU
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre IEC C19 UK Power Cable
Braided Power Supply Cables
CORSAIR Premium Individually Sleeved PSU Cable Kit Pro - Black
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR iCUE H150i ELITE LCD Display RGB CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
5x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
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 (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-ddr5-pc/bKwH9b0FdY/
 

Chibble

Bronze Level Poster
Enjoy mate I'm super jealous. Out of curiosity which monitor are you going with to make this beast shine?

One more tip I guess, Windows 11 is still pretty much a shambles, I'd still strongly recommend W10 over it and it's a free upgrade in future when it's not a disaster

Also you could maybe consider rejigging your storage set up? HDD's are still cheap and perfectly fine for mass storage of RAW video files for example. No point in storing those on SSD as there is no real benefit once you're done with editing them. Having a dedicated operating system drive will also help with updating/repairing/ or even completely reinstalling your OS without having to worry about losing the files on the same drive. It'll also help keep the OS running optimally, I can help suggest something if you'd like?

Also I wouldn't go with custom water loop either. They look great no doubt and offer incredible performance when pushing for those benchmarks but they aren't worth the hassle in my opinion
I haven't really thought about the monitor yet, so any advice would be appreciated.

I did have some trepidation about windows 11 but as far as I've heard the P core/E core setup of the 12th gen Intel cores only really shines on windows 11 right now, so I was thinking it might be worth it. Although admittedly if Adobe doesn't play nice with win11 yet I'd be shooting myself in the foot. I guess win10 would be the safer bet, thanks.

One of the first investments I made was a 10tb external harddrive which I coupled with the two 4tb ones I already had for file storage, it's been decent so far so I figured that would cover my storage needs. I probably will consider the smaller boot drive and larger regular SSD though. Thanks so much for the respec!
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
The Samsung G9 is a forum favourite for a reason, there is very little competition to just how absurd it is. Not that it would be ideal for editing or streaming though

I'd probably go with this personally but I'd always want a G9 under the surface

Externals are great for mass storage too

 

Chibble

Bronze Level Poster
The ultrawide? It's gorgeous but yeah I doubt it'd help with the channel work haha. Maybe if I ever get to the point where I can fit two setups. Thanks for the monitor recommendation!

Haha, the 4tb firecuda is now showing as out of stock. I give up. I'll try again in a month or something.
 
Last edited:
Top