Build advice

A

AnApeNamedJoe

Member
After originally considering a laptop, I'm now thinking a desktop would be better. I've put together an AM5 build, but PCS doesn't seem to offer DDR5 above 5600, does anyone know why?

Here is the build:
Case
PCS SPECTRUM II ARGB MID TOWER CASE (PWM)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12 Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.6GHz/76MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X670E-A GAMING WIFI (WIFI 6E, DDR5, PCIe 5.0)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 5600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe 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
Google Chrome™
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
Price: £2,569.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/5br8rAKjpM/
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Due to the overvoltage issue on AM5 that was frying some X3D chips and motherboards, AMD rolled out an emergency patch to limit the SOC voltage to 1.3V.

Asus and others had been over volting the EXPO clocks as there wasn't great guidance from AMD on the limits required. As such board partners needed to readdress the voltages applied on EXPO.

There can be stability issues on applying anything over 5600MHz still on some boards, Asus seem to be affected more than most, so to confirm stability, PCS just took above that off the configurator.

If you know how to manually clock RAM, it's very easy to get it stable above 5600MHz

Personally I'd just order with the minimum 8gb bog standard and source my own RAM
 
A

AnApeNamedJoe

Member
Hi, I'm looking for feedback on this gaming build, if possible.

It would be used for gaming at both 1440p and 4K, and with a focus on being upgradable in the future. The desire for longevity was my reasoning behind choosing the ASUS TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI motherboard, as it supports PCIE gen 5 on the expansion slots (for future GPUs) and storage slots, it also appears to have external mounts for Wi-Fi antenna should I need to boost the performance in that respect. The reason Wi-Fi is important is that it will be used for 1440p gaming in my office (the location of this desktop), and 4K gaming in my living room using game streaming (Sunshine and Moonlight). I have tested streaming games from my gaming laptop in my office, over Wi-Fi 5, to my Nvidia Shield in the living room (at 4K 60 and 1440p 120), and I get around 5ms latency, so this appears to be a viable option even on an older Wi-Fi standard that I intend to upgrade from.

The reason for choosing the 7700X over the 7800X3D is that not all games utilise the extra L3 cache, and some actually prefer the higher clocks offered by the 7700X. Also gaming at max settings (as I don't play competitively) I'm likely going to bottlenecked by the GPU anyway given that utilising full RT features on new games can still give the 4080 a serious workout. So choosing the 7800X3D for a few more frames (the difference between the 2 on Cyberpunk with full path tracing can be as little as 5 fps) doesn't appear worth the cost. Also I've gone with AM5 over Intel as this socket has another gen or 2 in it and the AMD CPUs appear to be far more efficient.

One thing I'm unsure about is the cooling. The case I have chosen has 3 front intake fans, a single rear exhaust fan and a mesh front, so appears to offer good air flow. I'm unsure which cooler to pair with this build. I've specified it with the PCS FROSTFLOW 240, but have seen plenty of evidence that shows AIO water coolers offer no benefit over good air coolers, are less reliable in the long term (more points of failure) and are often louder due to the pumps. So I'm torn between the PCS FROSTFLOW 240 and the DEEPCOOL AG620 (or maybe even the PCS FROSTFLOW 150). What are your thoughts on this?

Finally, I'm guessing nobody here will know how to answer this, but in case you do know, if I specify the Frostflow 240 would PCS install the AIO at the top of the case, leaving the 3x 120mm intake fans at the front in place, or would they add it to the front of the case?

Thanks for your feedback on this build. It will be my first desktop, so your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Here are the build specs:
Case
PCS SPECTRUM II ARGB MID TOWER CASE (PWM)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7700X Eight Core CPU (4.5GHz-5.4GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI (DDR5, PCIe 5.0) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 5600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe 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
Google Chrome™
Keyboard & Mouse
Tecware Phantom RGB 105-Key Backlit Mechanical Keyboard (Brown Switch)
Keyboard & Mouse
Razer® Basilisk X Hyperspeed Wireless Mouse
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 7 to 10 working days
Price: £2,585.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/tWFew9E85v/
 
T

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
If it was my build, I’d be wanting a minimum of:
  • A better case, that comes with better & more controllable fans (Corsair
  • A dual m.2 (500Gb boot + 1-2TB game drive) set-up to ensure you don’t stuff you boot drive with games
  • A 1000w PSU
  • A H100i Capellix AIO (it’s silent until the workload increases)…but the bigger Deepcool may be fine with a 7700X
  • AIO above comes with pre-applied paste, so no need for Arctic paste
  • A 7800x3D, as everything I’ve watched seems to claim 10-20% FPS increases at 1080p, 1440p and 4K
The first video compares the 5800x3d, 7700, and 7800x3D (the 7700x is +/-1% of the 7700):



But if it’s cost savings you want, then you may as well drop down to the 7700 non-X…although that's a tiny saving compared to the 7800x3D to 7700x:
 
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