Give me your comments

[GavTha]

Hi All,

Thinking about this - have i made any mistakes:

Case
PCS PRISM TG WHITE ARGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 14-Core Processor i5-13600KF (3.5GHz) 24MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B760-PLUS D4 (LGA1700, PCIe5.0, USB 3.2)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6000MB/W)
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 240 Series ARGB High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
1x PCS ARGB LED 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 [KK3-00027]
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 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
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 12 to 15 working days
Price: £1,566.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[SpyderTracks]

If you could go through the following and update please?

Please read before posting:- Collaboration of Helpful Hints

NB: These forums are not an official support channel. None of us work for PCS, we're all either customers or techies who just like to help out where possible. For any official support, you need to contact PCS directly either through your PCS account, or via the contact details on the main...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[GavTha]

I think you’re getting at, what is it going to be used for?

Well, it’s going to be my sons birthday present. He will use it for Schoolwork, Social, Gaming - big into Fortnight, Rocket League, God of War, Elden Ring.

Monitor is a basic QHD for the time being at least.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I think you’re getting at, what is it going to be used for?

Well, it’s going to be my sons birthday present. He will use it for Schoolwork, Social, Gaming - big into Fortnight, Rocket League, God of War, Elden Ring.

Monitor is a basic QHD for the time being at least.

What make and model monitor? We need to know the refresh rate, and if you can post the link at the bottom of the quote as in the guide please?

Did you not buy a PC for your son recently? Is there anything wrong with that one?

 

[GavTha]

Dell. 24 inch. 60 hz.
Planning to upgrade it at Christmas.
It’s the other sons turn.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Dell. 24 inch. 60 hz.
Planning to upgrade it at Christmas.
It’s the other sons turn.

And what's the budget?

 

[GavTha]

£1400 ideally. But absolutely no more than this configuration.

 

[SpyderTracks]

£1400 ideally. But absolutely no more than this configuration.

I wouldn't go lower than this:

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS 2 ARGB GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X Eight Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.6GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR FORCE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 4950 MB/R, 4000 MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR FORCE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 4950 MB/R, 4000 MB/W)
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
STANDARD AMD 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
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
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 12 to 15 working days
Price: £1,528.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/K4g46R9Aqf/

 

[GavTha]

You went for Ryzen rather than the latest gen Intel.
Better power supply
2 slower SSD rather than 1
Standard cooler and paste
32Gb ram rather than 16.

I think they’re the key differences.

Do you think that would perform much differently?

Thanks so much for helping me with this.

 

[SpyderTracks]

You went for Ryzen rather than the latest gen Intel.
Better power supply
2 slower SSD rather than 1
Standard cooler and paste
32Gb ram rather than 16.

I think they’re the key differences.

Do you think that would perform much differently?

Thanks so much for helping me with this.

Yes, that's a good synopsis.

This is right on the lower end of what's possible at 1440p, the build you had specced wouldn't allow for upgrades, the case wasn't suitable, the cooler as well wasn't really sufficient, to get the same build within an acceptable budget would add a good extra £200

With the drives, you want a dedicated games for data and games, so if you have to reinstall windows, you don't need to redownload all your games, or lose any data.

This is a far better balanced build with about a 7-10 year lifespan in mind allowing for future upgrades.

 

[GavTha]

Can this ryzen chip keep pace with the intel?
Do you think there are any performance benefits of going two disks?
I thought I'd gone with a decent CPU cooler tbh. This spec has a standard AMD and cooler, I'd specified a liquid cooler.
Is the power supply upgrade definitely worth it?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Can this ryzen chip keep pace with the intel?
Do you think there are any performance benefits of going two disks?
I thought I'd gone with a decent CPU cooler tbh. This spec has a standard AMD and cooler, I'd specified a liquid cooler.
Is the power supply upgrade definitely worth it?

At 1440p the load is taken off the processor onto the GPU, so processor above a certain level is kind of irrelevant for gaming.

But yes the 5700X is actually more powerful than the Intel in multithreaded, and around the same in single core workloads, so even for productivity it's a better option.

As said, the spec you'd posted to get balanced would have been £200 more, so out of budget. The Intels run extremely hot and need Corsair coolers, that one would require an H100i which is over £100

PSU is to accommodate upgrades, the first bottleneck will be the GPU, and newer GPU's are far more power hungry, you want to accommodate future GPU requirements.

 

[GavTha]

Thank you.

 

[GavTha]

What about this one?

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

 

[GavTha]

Or this one:
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/3!4DrMR7cx/

 

[SpyderTracks]

Could you copy and paste the specs please?

 

[GavTha]

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX K500 ARGB GAMING CASE (Special Offer)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING WIFI II (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB CORSAIR FORCE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 4950 MB/R, 4000 MB/W)
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
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
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 10 to 13 working days

 

[GavTha]

Or this:

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING WIFI II (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB CORSAIR FORCE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 4950 MB/R, 4000 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
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
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
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
Norton 360 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
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 10 to 13 working days

 

[GavTha]

Or this one


Case
PCS SPECTRUM RGB MID TOWER CASE (WHITE/PINK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7700X Eight Core CPU (4.5GHz-5.4GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B650-PLUS (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB) AMD
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR FORCE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 4950 MB/R, 4000 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CV SERIES™ CV-650 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
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
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
Norton 360 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
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 10 to 13 working days
Price: £1,558.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/yPypm0RDBy/

 

[GavTha]

All of these specs you are listing is just getting confusing....a quick glance through them all and you just seem to be changing things at random with no particular reason. Just in the last 3:

Case: You went from a decent case to a good case to a poor case
PSU: Went for a good one to an excellent one to a poor one

The 3rd one I see is an AM5 spec but it is worse than the others as you are sacrificing key areas of the build to get a current gen spec. For your budget, the spec @SpyderTracks listed previously was ideal and, other than the drive change I had suggested, needed no other changes...unless you budget increased of course.

Bear in mind, when we spec a build, we consider how all the components work together and adjust accordingly..for example, if we change a case, then we consider how it affects the overall cooling and might upgrade a CPU cooler to compensate. I'm not having a go at you or criticising you (and I apologise if that is the way my post is coming across). It's like a car....spec up a Mercedes should all work....take everything from that Mercedes and then put it into a Ford Fiesta and it will be compromised in it's performance (I realise you wouldn't get everything from a Merc in a Fiesta but you get the idea)

I know. I’m a bit of a newbie at all of this.