Gaming PC build

Case
THERMALTAKE CORE X71 TEMPERED GLASS EDITION GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® CROSSHAIR VIII HERO (DDR4, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP (Delivery before Xmas not guaranteed)
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
LED Lighting
2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
3x 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 (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Network Card
ASUS PCE-AC88 AC3100 2100Mbps/5GHz, 1000Mbps/2.4GHz
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/uq6npT2mgb/

Just looking for a bit of feedback on my gaming PC build. Bit unsure on the cooling capabilities when building such systems which is the main reason for posting this thread. Was originally going to go with the beefy Corsair 680x case but I can't seem to find that on the building interface anymore so had to sub it out.
Cheers in advance.
 

AgentCooper

At Least I Have Chicken
Moderator
Hi there! Can I ask what your budget is, what monitor you'll be using, and what types of games you'll be playing, please?
 
Hey mate.
Budget is under 3k, anything under that is good obviously, anything over that would have to be only slightly over and would need good justification for it ahaha
Monitor ive got my eye on (making the change from gaming laptop to pc so need all the bells and whistles but this isnt included in the budget) is the ASUS ROG Strix 1440p 165hz monitor.
As for games this is very much subject to what I feel like playing in a few months when the pc arrives, but Id like it to be able to run basically any (or 90%) of top end games (Currently im only playing very low demanding games due to not having a pc such as WoW, but as far as this build is concerned thats probably not worth taking into consideration ahaha)
Cheers for your time mate, looking forward to seeing what you have to say
 

AgentCooper

At Least I Have Chicken
Moderator
Well this build I've specced up for you would be a totally luxury gaming system that would cope with whatever you'd want to throw at it, might be worth having a look...

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP (Delivery before Xmas not guaranteed)
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)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W AX SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® TITANIUM
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i RGB PLATINUM 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 (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
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 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
Firefox™
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 13 to 15 working days
Price: £2,665.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/6AJ85YXn8x/

You'll see that there's still plenty of change left over which you could put towards the monitor. Now the RTX 3080 is crying out for either 4K 144hz or super ultrawide 1440p. Here's a couple of suggestions...


Or....

 
Im very much liking the look of that build mate, could I ask whats the benefit to having two smaller SSDs compared to the one larger one?
The rest looks cracking tbf, I was debating whether to move to the ryzen 9 with my build but it was more cash on an already getting pricey system ahaha.
 

AgentCooper

At Least I Have Chicken
Moderator
So, the idea of the two M.2 drives is that you've got the smaller, fastest one possible as your boot drive, ideally just your OS and programs on there. That way it won't get clogged up and slow down. With that drive, your PC should be at your home screen within about 8 seconds of hitting the power button. The second M.2 drive is what you can use for your fast storage, ideal for speeding up loading times (I'm using one at the moment whilst playing Red Dead 2, it's a godsend the difference it makes).

The added bonus of this is that if you need to a clean install of Windows at any point, it's just your boot drive that gets wiped, all your games will be tucked away nice and safely on that second M.2. You won't have to go through the painful process of downloading them all again. It's a bit of a luxury move but one I'm glad I made with my system.
 
Alright mate thats absolutely cracking to be fair, learn something new every day, checked out those monitors too and think ill opt for the 27" 4k one...the 49" seems glorious but may actually be bigger than my room ahaha.
Assuming you think the cooling is sufficient on the system you sent also? Likely my last concern before I order it to be fair
 

AgentCooper

At Least I Have Chicken
Moderator
Alright mate thats absolutely cracking to be fair, learn something new every day, checked out those monitors too and think ill opt for the 27" 4k one...the 49" seems glorious but may actually be bigger than my room ahaha.
Assuming you think the cooling is sufficient on the system you sent also? Likely my last concern before I order it to be fair
Yeah, the Samsung needs a fair bit of desk space!

The cooling will be fine, I matched up the right motherboard and cooler to go with the CPU, and the case is good for airflow. Unless you're keeping it in a sealed box, there's no cause for concern on that front (y)
 

Harag

Gold Level Poster
So, the idea of the two M.2 drives is that you've got the smaller, fastest one possible as your boot drive, ideally just your OS and programs on there. That way it won't get clogged up and slow down. With that drive, your PC should be at your home screen within about 8 seconds of hitting the power button. The second M.2 drive is what you can use for your fast storage, ideal for speeding up loading times (I'm using one at the moment whilst playing Red Dead 2, it's a godsend the difference it makes).

The added bonus of this is that if you need to a clean install of Windows at any point, it's just your boot drive that gets wiped, all your games will be tucked away nice and safely on that second M.2. You won't have to go through the painful process of downloading them all again. It's a bit of a luxury move but one I'm glad I made with my system.

The spec you came up with was very close to the one I did at the weekend. I didn't know the MB could hold 2 M.2 drives so went with one. and then my 2nd drive was just a normal SSD - both 2TB. If I had know I would have done this... Oh well. Maybe I'll get a 2nd M.2 drive at some point down the line.

The thing I really hate about games these days is they seem to hide the saves away in hidden window folders (appdata etc.) WHY!!! So yes, your game is on the 2nd drive, but the save is on the first drive which you just wiped to reinstall windows. Most people aren't tech savvy to create Symbolic Links and move the data etc.
 

AgentCooper

At Least I Have Chicken
Moderator
The spec you came up with was very close to the one I did at the weekend. I didn't know the MB could hold 2 M.2 drives so went with one. and then my 2nd drive was just a normal SSD - both 2TB. If I had know I would have done this... Oh well. Maybe I'll get a 2nd M.2 drive at some point down the line.

The thing I really hate about games these days is they seem to hide the saves away in hidden window folders (appdata etc.) WHY!!! So yes, your game is on the 2nd drive, but the save is on the first drive which you just wiped to reinstall windows. Most people aren't tech savvy to create Symbolic Links and move the data etc.
If you're in pre-production on your build, you can still amend your spec in your orders...
 

Harag

Gold Level Poster
If you're in pre-production on your build, you can still amend your spec in your orders...
Hi Quick question. I was looking at amending my order, and putting in the 500GB SSD drive you mentioned in the first m.2 slot and move the 2tb fire to the 2nd slot... (and still keep my 2tb SSD drive (total of 4.5TB). However when I was looking at the amend order form, there was no where on there to specify what drive the OS is installed on (which was on the initial order). It was set to the 2tb fire initially, will PCS put the OS on the faster 500gb if I amend the order?
 

AgentCooper

At Least I Have Chicken
Moderator
Hi Quick question. I was looking at amending my order, and putting in the 500GB SSD drive you mentioned in the first m.2 slot and move the 2tb fire to the 2nd slot... (and still keep my 2tb SSD drive (total of 4.5TB). However when I was looking at the amend order form, there was no where on there to specify what drive the OS is installed on (which was on the initial order). It was set to the 2tb fire initially, will PCS put the OS on the faster 500gb if I amend the order?
Yep, they’ll install it on the fastest drive by default 👍
 
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