Desktop Building Guide - April 2023

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Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
A "quick" reference guide to building the perfect system. This is the sort of logic I go through when suggesting systems, so thought I would jot it down on the page. Clearly this is an ever changing suite of options but I'll update periodically as my default go-to's change...

I'm noticing the DDR4 options disappearing rapidly so this guide is going to concentrate purely on DDR5. I would be putting far too much effort in to try and cover both platform options when the stocks are disappearing so quickly. This is the reason it's taken me so long to update this guide. DDR4 is still relevant where budgets are limited, I don't think I would recommend an Intel DDR4 build now as the motherboard & RAM offerings are so slim. I would still put forward an argument for the 5800X3D option from AMD though, but I won't be covering that here either. I would always recommend getting custom advice on what you are looking for, this is just an overview of the sort of thinking that would go behind my advice (and typically the likeminded members of the forum)

AMD or Intel:

AMD has committed to supporting the socket into the future (2025 was mentioned, which means a chip or 2 to come on the socket), Intel has confirmed that they are killing off the socket at the end of 2023 so if you would like to upgrade the CPU to a modern offering in the ife of the build, this is something to consider.
For gaming AMD has takent he gaming crown again. The 7800X3D is a reasonably affordable chip, with all things considered, taking into account how well it performs. It's not the best all round CPU, I think you still have to give that crown to the 13600K, but there isn't really much of a contest when it comes to gaming.



Which CPU:

This completely comes down to what you would use the system for. The X3D offerings from AMD are for gaming users. There are only 2 sensible considerations, the 7800X3D and the 7950X3D. The 7950X3D would be for heavy gamers and secondary intensive process users. The 7950X is no slouch and offers higher performance, it's just not quite the gaming powerhouse that the X3D chips are.

With Intel, the main considerations would be the 13600K and the 13700K. The 13900K is a performance monster but the heat it produces causes a number of issues that I would typically recommend you avoid. The 13600K is the best value all rounder, it's not massively below the X3D offerings for gaming and it trades blows with the higher end ones for productivity. The 13700k snatches most of the productivity metrics from any of the X3D offerings while being very marginal in gaming.



Which Motherboard:

The pricing of the modern motherboards annoys me. Fortunately, with the high costs comes some high quality. Purely for gaming I would have no issues running a B650 motherboard with any gaming chip. I personally opted for an X670e, as there was only £100 of difference and I didn't want to miss out. I wouldn't middle with AMD, but I would always opt for the Asus offerings for now. TUF tends to be my favoured selection as they have good features all round. B650 TUF or X670e TUF would be my selections. With Intel it's even simpler for me, I would just opt for the Z790 TUF. I don't think there's any savings to be had with any other choices.


Which RAM:

RAM is possibly the least complicated it's ever been. Of course it comes down to budget, but the recommendation would be the fastest 2x16GB kit you can get. 32GB is going to be my new recommendation where budget allows, unless for specific tasks (Video editing, Rendering, etc).

AMD recommend 6000Mhz for their kits, Intel can go higher but the options seem limited to 6000mhz now, possibly with compatibility.

It's that simple now, thankfully.


Which GPU:

Pricing for GPUs have gotten ridiculous over the years. The pricing is eye watering. To get into gaming at a good level takes a minimum investment. You always want to match the GPU to the monitor resolution/refresh rate. Try not to get caught up in benchmark figures as you could bring a 4090 to its knees at 1080p using insane settings. There's no point in burning money when the GPU is most likely the first thing you will upgrade.

We will never, ever, recommend overshooting your requirements. You can't future proof a GPU, it's just impossible. You can waste money overshooting your requirements, but this just costs money rather than offering protection.

Current Rule of Thumb for me (At the time of writing):

1080p - AMD 6600. There is no good Nvidia offering right now. If you can get a 2060/2060 Super this would pair well.

1440p - 3060Ti or AMD 6700. This comes down to technologies. Some prefer DLSS and Ray Tracing. If you aren't fussed about this and just looking for raw performance, it would be AMD all the way for me.

1440p Extreme - 3070 or 6950XT. Similar to above, the difference here is you're looking to push high refresh and you're willing to pay for it. This will be the last 30 series recommendation as I wouldn't spend any more money on the older offerings.

4k or Ultrawide - 4070Ti or 7900 XT. Exactly as previous, these cards trade blows so it comes down to the technolgy you want to have in play. I would let the current pricing make your mind up for you. Consider the vRAM of the 7900XT, given the way gaming is going nowadays, especially for 4k.

Ultimate Gaming - 4090. There's no contest at this level but boy do you pay for it. There are other offerings from both Nvidia and AMD, but I don't see the point of them really (4080/7900XTX). I wouldn't recommend as I wouldn't middle, the money saved can be put towards the next gen (if opting a tier down) or the build will last longer by spending more. The middle doesn't really get you anything.


...... Continued
 
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Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Which Storage:


This is going to vary wildly depending on uses. I would suggest that at the very least you want an SSD in place nowadays. It's not great to have a powerful system with a very slow HDD making the entire system feel slow. There are relatively low budget options available now but the obvious go-to now is going to be an M2 drive. The minimum recommendation from me would be a 500GB system drive and, hopefully, a 1TB storage drive. Here are some considerations:

Conventional HDD - Slow but mass storage. By slow, we are talking 100MB/s, which is no slouch though. It just increases windows load and game load times. Games on this drive will perform no worse than on the fastest drive on the planet, it's purely load time. This storage is often recommended for mass documents/files/music/movies where speed doesn't really come into play. Reserved as a system drive for the lowest of budgets.

SATA SSD - Previously the go-to for fast load times. The SATA drives are sometimes a little cheaper than the M2 equivalent so often considered for lower end budget system drives. Also considered for faster mass storage at times too. I tend to avoid these until I run out of M2 slots personally.

M2 SSD - Varying performance but even the lowest performing option makes everything else look silly. Fast windows load times (win 10 in 5 seconds), fast game load times and incredibly quick program load times (Premiere Pro is a great example).

Secondary Drives - I tend to have a reasonably sized system drive and a large, but still fast, secondary drive for my games. This allows me to reformat the system without having to reload my games. Benefits include reducing the writes on the drives as you will never need to remove/wipe/reinstall the games. This is a luxury option of course.

Cache Drives - Similar to the above, this is a fast secondary drive used as a cache with more professional applications in mind. When RAM is at a premium or used to excess with a particular software, a drive can be used by the software to cache to. If the drive is super quick, such as an M2 drive, it will give great performance and you would hopefully not notice any slow down at all (as if it was in the memory). Cache drives are important as they have their own lane of traffic (I/O Channel), This means the system is able to do 2 things at once. Luxury option again.


Which PSU:

PSUs aren't created equally. There are different levels of PSU for different tiers of usage as well as different power levels. Corsair are a fantastic brand of PSU so rest assured, if you choose a Corsair PSU.... it's a great bit of kit. I would always try to fit a 650w PSU as a bare minimum to any desktop system now. With the new GPUs in mind, along with their power requirements, I would actually recommend a minimum 850w as a base where the budget allows, 1200w if you want to ensure you are covered for all current options (4090). There's not a lot of difference in price when bumping up the wattage in the middle range, but there is when you bump up the model level (VS - TX- RM - HX). Anything over a 3060(Ti) I would typically recommend 850W, most systems nowadays I'm recommending 1000w though.

VS - These are entry level models. Reserved for lower budget systems. They are not modular and they come with the lowest warranty. They are good PSUs, just not at the enthusiast level.

TXm - These are mid-tier models. Mostly recommended with standard systems. They are semi-modular and come with a reasonable warranty. Excellent PSUs with a good level of component and a quiet fan system.

RM/RMx+ - Anything from the RMx and above is an enthusiast high end PSU. These are fully modular, have premium components, high level of warranty and they run silent most of the time (less than 33% load doesn't switch the fan on). I personally wouldn't have anything but an RM or above in my own system. It's what powers all your expensive lovely components, it's worth spending a few quid extra, especially when the PSU can last 10+ years.

ATX3.0 - These aren't available yet, but as soon as they are I strongly recommend opting for one to do away with the headroom requirements.


Which Cooler:

At the moment, entry level coolers will be fine for the entry level chips. Anything over the 7600 I would personally want an AIO, but this can be costly. The non-X offerings from AMD can all be air cooled, I'm not sure I would be confident with air cooling on anything but the 13400 from Intel.

Air Cooling - Coolermaster Hyper 212. I wouldn't select any of the OEM offerings.

AIO - I would always advocate for the Corsair offering. The OEM offerings have similar TDP ratings, but they just don't compare to Corsair for me. Unfortunately you pay for it. I wouldn't opt for less than 240mm, with 280mm being the quietest option. This can make such a difference with the way chips boost nowadays. Spend some money here, you won't regret it.


Which Wireless:

At the moment, if you need wireless, the simple option is the AX200. It's pretty much a no brainer. It has all the latest standards you could require, it's VERY fast and it's £18 total. The stock option isn't a great choice as it's limited to the 2.4Ghz band which is very congested. My advice is to always either drop the Wifi or go for the AX200. I would often choose the WIFI motherboard option where available.


Which Case:

I know this is the first option in the configurator and I have left it to last. This may seem quite strange but without the experience of knowing all of the above it's hard to make this choice first. The case is VERY important to your build, I cannot stress this enough. Think of it as a long term investment, keeping all your expensive components safe and cool while potentially being used for many systems going forward. This is not based solely on budget, when they look pretty it costs money, as even the cheaper cases can be absolutely fantastic. The Case options seem very limited at the moment so PLEASE post up for advice before considering the same price bracket meaning the same quality. My recommendations and considerations are as follows:

Focus G, Corsair 275 Airflow edition (Budget) - The absolute best budget case there is bar none. You can choose any build you want, to any level, and this case will satisfy every necessity for keeping your build safe.

iCue 220T (Budget RGB) - The first starting point for RGB IMO. If you want an RGB case, this is the cheapest one I would recommend at the time of writing. Again, it'll house anything you wish. Every case I recommend will consider the current and potential future requirements. No real fan or aRGB control so this is where it falls down a little.

Coolermaster TD500 (Value) - Ridiculous value for money in this case. It ticks every box. There is a difference in build quality that you will see if you scrutenise the thing but otherwise it's a premium case for budget money. It has all the proper ARGB and fan control in place which is ridiculous for the budget.

Lian Li Lancool II and the Coolermaster Mastercase H500 (Mid) - Fantastic cases for cooling, I don't recommend them often as I'm not a fan of the aesthetics but there is absolutely no doubt these are amazing airflow cases for any build. If you like the look, go for it.

Corsair 4000D (Mid) - Sleek, mid-level. First class cooling potential, excellent reviews and it looks great.

Corsair 5000D/X (Mid) - Stunning case, mid-level. First class cooling potential, excellent reviews and it looks great.

Define 7 (Quiet) - This is a QUIET case. This is the one you want if silence is your goal. Paired with the right cooling & power options you can hardly even tell when the system is switched on. This is definitely the go to for airflow AND silence at the same time.

After this point, everything is high level should do a great job. There is no real point in going through the rest individually. My favourite cases, for varying reasons are... Focus G (Budget), iCue220T (Budget RGB), Define 7 (Quiet), Corsair 5000D / 500D SE (high end stunning). When you are looking to purchase at this level though there are exceptions that aren’t great even although the price would suggest they were (Dark Base Pro 900 is awful value IMO).

Continued......
 
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Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Some example gaming builds:

I might add this back in later. The stock and pricing fluctuates too much to stay on top of it. I had listed out some builds but PC crashed during update so not doing it all again at the moment. Always worthwhile to start a thread in the forum to get specific advice for your needs.

1080p Budget - £1000-£1400
1080p High End - £1500 (Wouldn't recommend)
1440p Entry - £1500-£1800
1440p High End - £2k
4k Entry - £2000-£2600
4K High end - £3k+

Further Reading:

For pairing with a suitable monitor, the following thread is a great post covering just about everything you could ever wish.



AMD Vs Intel



GPU Power Consideration

 
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Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
The reviews for the 3060Ti are coming in so I think I should be ready to sort something out soon. It will take a bit of time as I think I might go from the ground up. I'll take it off line in a word processor though and see where I get to.

So much has changed, exciting times :)
 

Nathan531

Member
Some example gaming builds:

Note that the 3300X is almost always sold out so these are really for reference only. Very popular chips thanks to their overclocking ability which is rare for AMD. With that in mind I've gone with the 3600 as my default which has added to the costs a bit. I've removed the B450 from recommendations save for the most budget 1080p system. This obviously all impacts the starting point. You should ALWAYS get advice on your specific build with your specific requirements. The below are just examples of what I would recommend with the budgets. Please keep this in mind.

Excellent Entry level 1080p £868* - https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/A!9GtsmWGT/
Excellent Mid-Level 1080p £997* - https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/89rrE3Tgse/
Excellent High-level 1080p £1,210* - https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/D8R6SGnWdF/


Everything below this point should be taken with a pinch of salt until the new cards are available. Please ask for specific advise if looking to game at the below level as we are in the midst of a real change.

Excellent Entry level 1440p £1,101* - https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/ZC6qHJJApb/
Excellent Mid-Level 1440p £1,219* - https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/wKhsAdqDxD/
Excellent High-Level 1440p & VR £1,406* - https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/K9pyjXAB3B/

Excellent Entry Level 4k & VR £1,614* - https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/AAecrSceQv/
Excellent High-Level 4k & VR £2,059* - https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/JvxjX4j28S/

Note, all of the above are based on the same case and other varying options. The choices are limitless, it's purely to give reference to the sort of budgets that buy GOOD systems at their varying degrees of use. Professional use has to change again due to the variations with RAM/Storage/CPU. They all include a fast primary drive, Windows license (£100 at the time of writing), they all have a good Wifi card (£18) and they all have a silver warranty.

*at the time of writing

Further Reading:


For pairing with a suitable monitor, the following thread is a great post covering just about everything you could ever wish.



AMD Vs Intel



GPU Power Consideration

Hi. For your high level pc build, I'm guessing the only reason 1st storage is a HDD is because of price? Otherwise you'd go for two SSD's or a SSD and HDD?. Used the same PC for 10 years (550ti) so I really want to make sure I get a really good set up going that can play titles comfortably.

For your high level build, the only thing I'd look to change is the storage (like mentioned above). However I don't know for certain. So is the barracuda HDD fine or should I change it to an SSD.
 

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
Hi. For your high level pc build, I'm guessing the only reason 1st storage is a HDD is because of price? Otherwise you'd go for two SSD's or a SSD and HDD?. Used the same PC for 10 years (550ti) so I really want to make sure I get a really good set up going that can play titles comfortably.

For your high level build, the only thing I'd look to change is the storage (like mentioned above). However I don't know for certain. So is the barracuda HDD fine or should I change it to an SSD.
The primary drive should always be an M2 NVME SSD, the 1st Storage drive is for SATA drives, you'd normally configure a 7200rpm HDD in that as data doesn't benefit from SSD speeds and HDD's are a lot more reliable.
 

Nathan531

Member
Thanks, one last question. What would be the optimal installation for games? The OS should be on the m2 SSD if I remember, HDDs give slower loading, so m2 ssd for OS etc, 1st ssd games and 2nd HDD for storing, or is there a more optimal way?
 
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Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Thanks, one last question. What would be the optimal installation for games? The OS should be on the m2 SSD if I remeber, HDDs give slower loading, so m2 ssd for OS etc, 1st ssd games and 2nd HDD for storing, or is there a more optimal way.
If the budget will allow then drop a second M.2 in for games to go on, 1 of the 1TB PCS ones will be fine
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Recently updated again. The configurator is a bit of a nightmare at the moment. I'm guessing there's going to be a big shift in case selection etc. As always, get specific advice on your build. Above is just a description of the methodology, there's a lot more to consider for individual needs.

When the configurator settles down I'll maybe mock up some example builds again.
 
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