Back after a long while. Could use help.

[Dr B]

So to give some background, the last time I've bought and built a PC myself was about 10 years ago.
Still have the GTX 970 with 2600k and 16GB of DDR3 so it's time for a change methinks.
To be fair the time for change was back when RTX2080 came out but life said "no".

Well now I got about €3k for PC and about €500-600 for 2 monitors. Unfortunately I had to re-learn whats up in the PC world so I might've missed some things.

Here's what I chose for now, any thoughts?

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
10GB ASUS TUF GAMING GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
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
PCS FrostFlow 200 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fan
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
Microsoft® Edge
Monitor
IIYAMA G-MASTER GB2760QSU-B1 27"
Monitor
IIYAMA G-MASTER GB2760QSU-B1 27"
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 12 working days
Price: €3,708.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.ie/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/kYx8DS3qex/

 

[Scott]

I would lower the GPU to the standard 3080. You don't really get a lot for your money with the TUF option.
The primary drive I would lower to 500GB, to keep it slim n trim. Don't want it cluttered.
The secondary drive I would give a performance bump to. Direct drive access is coming, better to have a more suitable secondary just in case. It won't do any harm.
I would opt for a 1000w RMx PSU. It's not a lot of money but it'll drop you right into the efficiency wheelhouse. You could upgrade the GPU in 5 years or so to keep the system current, it's highly likely we will be into silly power requirements by then as it's already getting daft.
The cooler is a bit like throwing a deckchair off of the titanic unfortunately. The 12 series CPUs run really hot. You want at least a H100 on there, I would tend to aim for the H115i personally.

With the monitors, I would recommend purchasing elsewhere. To quote @JUNI0R recently, "Dell S2721DGF, Gigabyte M27Q and ASUS VG27AQ" would be the current go-to offerings.

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
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 SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4400MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H115i 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 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
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Build Time
Standard Build - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £2,648.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.ie/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/!wxba5bNnD/

 

[Dr B]

I do want the standard 3080 but that is a pre-order while TUF is the cheapest one that's apparently in stock right now. Not sure how long would it take to get the standard.

I picked the bigger primary drive because I'm thinking of using it for more permanent games and programs and right now those things eat up more than half of my current 1TB HDD.
The second one is a cheaper M.2 that I wouldn't be as hesitant to trash with a lot of rewrites.
Atleast that's my logic.

Picked the 850w PSU mainly because in the last 10 years the only upgrade I did was 2 extra sticks of RAM. By the time I actually decide to change anything I'll probably do an entire overhaul like now.

Cooler is my biggest worry, I'd personally like to avoid liquid cooling, more points of failure and my friend wasn't really happy with his, so I slapped on the biggest fan it let me. From the reviews it seems like it should be decent if I avoiding overclocking it (too much).

And what about the Samsung Odyssey G5 monitor? Currently it's on a €70 discount so it's €290.
Also 1440p 144Hz.

 

[Scott]

I do want the standard 3080 but that is a pre-order while TUF is the cheapest one that's apparently in stock right now. Not sure how long would it take to get the standard.

I picked the bigger primary drive because I'm thinking of using it for more permanent games and programs and right now those things eat up more than half of my current 1TB HDD.
The second one is a cheaper M.2 that I wouldn't be as hesitant to trash with a lot of rewrites.
Atleast that's my logic.

Picked the 850w PSU mainly because in the last 10 years the only upgrade I did was 2 extra sticks of RAM. By the time I actually decide to change anything I'll probably do an entire overhaul like now.

Cooler is my biggest worry, I'd personally like to avoid liquid cooling, more points of failure and my friend wasn't really happy with his, so I slapped on the biggest fan it let me. From the reviews it seems like it should be decent if I avoiding overclocking it (too much).

And what about the Samsung Odyssey G5 monitor? Currently it's on a €70 discount so it's €290.
Also 1440p 144Hz.

All up to yourself. I can't agree with a lot of the reasoning though but your money so all your choices

Primary drive you want to keep minimalistic. It'll perform way better. I would always recommend a separate games drive regardless as it's a second I/O channel that allows full speed. I wouldn't be concerned at all with TBW with the endurance of these drives nowadays, especially the Firecuda & 670p. When direct drive hits town, the second I/O channel is going to be worth its weight in gold. Should you ever have an OS issue it's just a case of wiping the primary, without having to install a TB worth of games on there. Plus, especially with a primary, you can only really use 50% of the space before affecting performance. With a 500GB drive, 250GB works out quite nicely for OS & Programs. With 1TB you would always have too much on there but would always want to put more on as well, and likely drift past the 50% mark.

The PSU is entirely up to yourself and I do follow your reasoning completely. The build above will be very competent at gaming across the board for years to come. GPU tech does move fast though so if you found it lacking a little in 5 years or so a GPU refresh would rejuvenate it. There's nothing else that's going to be lacking. The 970 isn't 10 years old so that would suggest to me that you've had at least 1 GPU upgrade in the PCs lifetime.

Like your Friend, there are many people around the internet who are against AIOs for various reasons. None of the reasons actually have merit but they always carry weight as he-said/she-said on the internet. I've had an AIO in my system since the mid 2000s. (H50, then H115, then H115i). The H50 is still going in my Dads system, almost 20 years old.... never an issue. You always take your chances with hardware but you are no more likely to get a failed AIO than you are an air cooler (when you choose wisely of course, Corsair is wise). I don't think there is anyone on here now that would advise air other than when the budget is very tight and you're looking at low end CPUs. The higher end 12 series chips expel a TON of heat. Inside a case this is just going to be compounded. An AIO expels the heat from the case as well as cooling the CPU (or pulls it in and through depending on configuration). I wouldn't use anything but an AIO nowadays. Air coolers are extremely large (when decent) cumbersome to work with, ugly looking and heatsoak so much faster than any rad system is going to.

G5 is a great monitor, well thought of. I don't know if it's as good as the other recommendations though.

 

[Dr B]

I took your advices, slapped in your M.2 recommendations, never had an SSD so the TBW was/is my concern.

1000w PSU if nothing else then atleast for efficiency. Like you said, not that much more expensive.
I know I didn't upgrade the GPU in current PC, I guess I got the last gen i7 when 970 came out.

Cheaper 3080 to balance out the upgrades. What's the average wait time for the pre-order? Hopefully not more than a month or two.

I'll also go with the H115i. Few questions about it though.
What's the difference between PRO XT and your ELITE CAPELLIX besides the RGB fans. I don't care about RGB and would like to keep it to a minimum.
And what's maintenance like compared to air coolers? Will I have to change the liquid after a while?


Thanks for your time, really helps out.

 

[RichLan564]

I took your advices, slapped in your M.2 recommendations, never had an SSD so the TBW was/is my concern.

1000w PSU if nothing else then atleast for efficiency. Like you said, not that much more expensive.
I know I didn't upgrade the GPU in current PC, I guess I got the last gen i7 when 970 came out.

Cheaper 3080 to balance out the upgrades. What's the average wait time for the pre-order? Hopefully not more than a month or two.

I'll also go with the H115i. Few questions about it though.
What's the difference between PRO XT and your ELITE CAPELLIX besides the RGB fans. I don't care about RGB and would like to keep it to a minimum.
And what's maintenance like compared to air coolers? Will I have to change the liquid after a while?


Thanks for your time, really helps out.

Elite Capellix is latest generation, Pro XT is the older model, you can turn the RGB off on both the pump and fans no problem

I think you are confusing AIO coolers with custom water cooling loops, AIO are closed loop and require no more maintenance than an air cooler (dust cleaning from time to time)

 

[Scott]

I took your advices, slapped in your M.2 recommendations, never had an SSD so the TBW was/is my concern.

1000w PSU if nothing else then atleast for efficiency. Like you said, not that much more expensive.
I know I didn't upgrade the GPU in current PC, I guess I got the last gen i7 when 970 came out.

Cheaper 3080 to balance out the upgrades. What's the average wait time for the pre-order? Hopefully not more than a month or two.

I'll also go with the H115i. Few questions about it though.
What's the difference between PRO XT and your ELITE CAPELLIX besides the RGB fans. I don't care about RGB and would like to keep it to a minimum.
And what's maintenance like compared to air coolers? Will I have to change the liquid after a while?


Thanks for your time, really helps out.

With SSDs the TBW used to be the main pitfall of the drives. It completely turned a corner even before M2 drives came out. I've never had any sort of SSD fail on me but I've had many a mechanical drive fail. Even just an accidental bump on the case can take out a HDD during a write process so they have always felt more fragile to me. I would have absolutely zero concerns with well reviewed M2 drives.

With the cooler, as above really. In reality there isn't a lot different between the Pro XT and the Elite Capellix. I think they both use the same moving parts & cooling plate hardware (Cool-it plate is the main draw of the modern Corsair coolers). They are certainly comparable performance wise. The Capellix model came out as it had the fancy Capellix LEDs that brought more functionality to the RGB. It also has a commander pro and makes connecting various RGB sources much simpler.

If you are turning off all the RGB anyway then I would just go with the cheapest.

 

[Storm.rl]

I took your advices, slapped in your M.2 recommendations, never had an SSD so the TBW was/is my concern.

1000w PSU if nothing else then atleast for efficiency. Like you said, not that much more expensive.
I know I didn't upgrade the GPU in current PC, I guess I got the last gen i7 when 970 came out.

Cheaper 3080 to balance out the upgrades. What's the average wait time for the pre-order? Hopefully not more than a month or two.

I'll also go with the H115i. Few questions about it though.
What's the difference between PRO XT and your ELITE CAPELLIX besides the RGB fans. I don't care about RGB and would like to keep it to a minimum.
And what's maintenance like compared to air coolers? Will I have to change the liquid after a while?


Thanks for your time, really helps out.

Don’t be afraid to choose the pre-order gpus, you won’t be looking at a much wait difference to the one you selected. With pre-order it’s more the first 3080 then get and what order you are in queue. For example I got a 3060 pre order and it was in building within 3 working days, the same with my replacement 3060. So don’t worry about wait times!

 

[Dr B]

Hate to revive this but I've got extra questions, namely case fans.
Do I need extra? The case gets 2 and there is the AIO but is that enough?
How do PCS guys configure it?
And if I do need more fans what should I pick in the configurator?
Extra case fans for back/roof extraction or just get something else entirely?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hate to revive this but I've got extra questions, namely case fans.
Do I need extra? The case gets 2 and there is the AIO but is that enough?
How do PCS guys configure it?
And if I do need more fans what should I pick in the configurator?
Extra case fans for back/roof extraction or just get something else entirely?

You don't need any extra case fans in that case.