Does this look reasonable?

[SimonPeters116]

Hiya. I just found this forum and realised what a great resource it is, especially for someone like me.
I'm an old man, well 63, which doesn't seem that old to me, but may well do to most of you. My first computer was a C=ommodore 64; with tape drive, I've been mucking about with computers ever since. What I'm using right now is, an AMD FX8300 cpu on an AS Rock 970 mo/bo with an nVidia 750ti graphics card, which I built from scratch, and an old Philips 22" led monitor locked at 60 fps. It's been more than good enough for me, until recently. I bought myself an almost up to date game, 2019s Days Gone. The game actually plays quite well, with some occasional stuttering, but with almost all the graphics improvers turned off. So I decided I need to upgrade quite considerably, I might be in the market for some even more modern games, you never know.

So, this is within my budget, I could probably push it up to 2k, but not more than that. This is what I came up with.
I haven't included an M.2 ssd, I didn't have the faintest idea what one is, although looking around in here it looks like I need one.
I have a preference for AMD, just long standing prejudice tbh. I'm also not interested in RGB, my computer lives between a door and my desk, you can barely see it, but RGB would just distract me when I caught a glimpse (There's an old boot box, full of old and new cables n stuff on top of it, positioned so the door won't open tight against the computer, air flow is good).
I've included a new monitor, and figured that as Asus build (built?) good graphics cards, they'd build good monitors. I'm open to suggestions though.


Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 200R COMPACT GAMING CASE
Overclocked CPU
Overclocked AMD Ryzen 7 5800X 8 Core (3.8 GHz @ up to 4.8 GHz)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
PCS GRAPHICS CARD SUPPORT BRACKET
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 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 Black Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
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 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
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
Norton 360 For Gamers - Free 90 Day License
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Monitor
ASUS TUF GAMING VG247Q1A 24"
Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE GOLD PLATED V1.4 HDMI CABLE
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 4 to 7 working days
Price: £1,861.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Alltruism]

Would recommend upping the PSU to an RMx, 750w (or 850w if the price is close).
Possibly downgrade the motherboard a little (ASUS TUF maybe, either B550 plus or X570).
Change the WiFi card to the Intel AX200 one (which is much better, and has bluetooth, for not much more money).
Definitely worth getting a 500MB m.2 NVMe SSD for your OS to run from, as they are incredibly fast compared to standard SSDs.

If you're getting a 3060Ti it may be worth looking at a 1440p monitor over 1080p unless you're wanting really high refresh rate gaming at high settings, but that would up the cost a fair bit.

With that GPU and monitor, you'd probably be better off connecting via DisplayPort so may not need the gold HDMI cable

 

[SimonPeters116]

Would recommend upping the PSU to an RMx, 750w (or 850w if the price is close).
Possibly downgrade the motherboard a little (ASUS TUF maybe, either B550 plus or X570).
Change the WiFi card to the Intel AX200 one (which is much better, and has bluetooth, for not much more money).
Definitely worth getting a 500MB m.2 NVMe SSD for your OS to run from, as they are incredibly fast compared to standard SSDs.

If you're getting a 3060Ti it may be worth looking at a 1440p monitor over 1080p unless you're wanting really high refresh rate gaming at high settings, but that would up the cost a fair bit.

With that GPU and monitor, you'd probably be better off connecting via DisplayPort so may not need the gold HDMI cable

Thanks.
So I wasn't TOO far out, just a few tweaks rather than, start from scratch

I figured the originally spec'ed 500 PSU was probably going to be close to its limit, so upped it to 650. I'll up it again, future proofing?
Your suggestion to slightly downgrade the mobo is a surprise, but I'll go with it, probably the X570. Why?
I'll definitely add an m.2 500 SSD. I only recently upgraded this one I'm running to a 1TB SSD, from a decent HDD, to put Win10 on. It doesn't boot up anywhere near as much quicker as I expected. From about 1:15 Win7 to 1:05 Win10, a bit disappointing tbh.

I actually intend to put a 3070ti card in, I forgot to do it on this spec', this one was my 3rd or 4th attempt at getting my spec' about right. But that won't change your monitor suggestion, will it? I'm really behind the times in respect of monitors. My Philips wasn't a horrendous choice, it wasn't a good choice either, but was the best I could afford at the time. Could you be a bit more specific? I wasn't sure which connection was the best option, between HDMI or DisplayPort, and settled on HDMI, toss of a coin (for me) though tbh.

 

[MrWilson]

Before you go any further, I would just like to check how urgently you want this PC? New CPUs, GPUs, and other components will be releasing in a few months and come the end of the year £2k will net you a lot more performance than you can get now.
If I was in your shoes I would hold out, but it’s your money, so equally we would be happy to spec you out something for right now. 🙂

 

[SimonPeters116]

Before you go any further, I would just like to check how urgently you want this PC? New CPUs, GPUs, and other components will be releasing in a few months and come the end of the year £2k will net you a lot more performance than you can get now.
If I was in your shoes I would hold out, but it’s your money, so equally we would be happy to spec you out something for right now. 🙂

Ta.
I'm not in any great hurry, thinking of a couple of months at least. So hanging on a bit longer, to wait for prices to drop, won't be any great hardship. I've been tweaking my spec's as suggested, and am already over 2k, before upping everything.
On the other hand, it would be nice to have Days Gone playing well, rather than essentially limping along.
Days Gone is what triggered the desire for a major upgrade, so why I've started delving into it now.

I had a stroke almost a year ago. I'm a long distance trucker, so the stroke put me out of work for a year, plus however long it takes to get my licence back (my job is open and waiting for me ). So I've got a lot of time on my hands, hence gaming. Other games are the 2013 reboot of Tomb Raider and the rest of that series. My present system is more than adequate for them.

 

[SimonPeters116]

After a quick look at the Monitor Forum, I reckon the MSI MAG274QRF-QD fits the bill.
What are your opinions on it these days? It's pushing my budget, but I'll also probably be using it for another 10 years, so it's worth going slightly over budget on a good monitor. Will it be overtaxing my graphics card? 3070ti is what I'd like by the way.
Of course there could be a huge jump in monitor tech' and it'll be way behind, but that'll be the case whichever monitor I buy now

 

[MrWilson]

These are the edits I would recommend.
Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE understand your desire for a plain case, this is the case for that, with decent airflow and no RGB. Cases are often overlooked but are very important.
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X Eight Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.6GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4) Will handle gaming comfortably, and runs much cooler than the 5800X, so we don’t need a high end cooler to look after it.
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR 3070 will nail 1440p gaming, and is a great pairing with the MSI monitor mentioned above. The 3070ti is better, but it is not a significant enough performance bump for me to recommend paying extra for it over the 3070. My 3070 lets me game at 1440p Ultrawide, which is effectively 30% more pixels than you’ll be gaming with.
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W) speedy m.2 drive for OS and programs. You can grab another m.2 for games, or if you’re retiring your old PC you can carry that SSD across.
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET definitely an argument for 1000W here, as future GPUs look to be incredibly power hungry.
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 200 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
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0 the wireless card of choice, can be removed if you’re using Ethernet.
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] if you’re retiring your old PC you can transfer your windows license across and save ~£100
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
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 7 working days
Price: £1,742.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/9C6Nx0g5HP/

 

[SimonPeters116]

That looks like an excellent recommendation, it should fit my budget very nicely as well.
I'm going to hang on for a bit, to see what happens in September, once the Christmas "must have" toys start coming out.
I'd already decided on that 500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe, once I realised what they were. I missed the point of them, until I started looking around in these forums (fora?). They seem to be what we had pipe dreams over, 20 years ago. There just wasn't the space for a dedicated OS drive in HDD days, HDDs weren't really fast enough either.

I'm intending to pass this computer over to my daughter and her family. I'll wipe everything, then re-install Win10 for them. So I'll be starting from scratch with a completely new box of bits and OS.

I'm like a kid with a new toy over this. I've been upgrading my old computer piece meal for years. Planning for a completely new system is exciting , but it's keeping me away from stuff I really should have done several hours ago. I really need to get on with them NOW.