Help needed for a gaming PC

[Emma S]

My current gaming PC is 5 years old and I am looking to upgrade it, I want a PC that is capable of running the latest games at max settings on the monitor I currently own which is a ASUS 34" ROG Swift PG348Q GAMING MONITOR. My max budget is £3000.

Is this build that I'm considering any good, or would I be better with an Intel processor? I'm also totally clueless about which is the best memory or SSD to get so any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.


Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERCASE H500M GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING II (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
PCS ARGB GRAPHICS CARD SUPPORT BRACKET
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR, 1600MB/sW)
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 850W RMx 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
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
50cm ARGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 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 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
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 4 to 7 working days
Price: £2,928.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Alltruism]

I would recommend going for a higher spec motherboard with that CPU (with PCIE4 support to make the most of fast NVMe drives -the ASUS Rog Strix X570 possibly)
Would also suggest having a faster 1st M.2 drive for the OS, with the bigger one for game storage not needing to be quite as fast

Would also be worth changing the WiFi card to a newer one.

 

[Steveyg]

For that monitor there is no point in having a 3080Ti, you'd need a 4K monitor to suit that not 1440p also the 3080Ti is almost never worth it over the 3080 for the cost. the performance difference just isn't there for the cost they are asking

The 3070Ti is more than enough at 1440p

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY 2 LIGHT TEMPERED GLASS
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB 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
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 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: £2,397.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/8eWgRcq6!w/

 

[Emma S]

For that monitor there is no point in having a 3080Ti, you'd need a 4K monitor to suit that not 1440p also the 3080Ti is almost never worth it over the 3080 for the cost. the performance difference just isn't there for the cost they are asking

The 3070Ti is more than enough at 1440p

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY 2 LIGHT TEMPERED GLASS
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB 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
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 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: £2,397.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/8eWgRcq6!w/

Thank you so much for your advice. That build is a lot cheaper than the one I was looking at. Performance-wise is the 3070ti better than a 3080? The card I have now is a 1080ti, and it has lasted me well these last five years. I hope to get the same lifespan out of my next card. Will the 3070ti do that, in your opinion or is a 3080 possibly more future-proof?

Also, will 16GB of memory be enough? I'm not very confident about tinkering with my PC, so adding more at a later date if needed is a bit daunting for me.

 

[Emma S]

I would recommend going for a higher spec motherboard with that CPU (with PCIE4 support to make the most of fast NVMe drives -the ASUS Rog Strix X570 possibly)
Would also suggest having a faster 1st M.2 drive for the OS, with the bigger one for game storage not needing to be quite as fast

Would also be worth changing the WiFi card to a newer one.

Thank you for your advice. Could you recommend a possible first drive for the OS? I'm really clueless when it comes to these things I'm afraid. or is the one in the spec posted by SteveyG a faster one?

I didn't even realise that I had selected a wifi card since I will be connecting via ethernet, so I guess that I should just leave that out.

 

[Alltruism]

Thank you for your advice. Could you recommend a possible first drive for the OS? I'm really clueless when it comes to these things I'm afraid. or is the one in the spec posted by SteveyG a faster one?

I didn't even realise that I had selected a wifi card since I will be connecting via ethernet, so I guess that I should just leave that out.

SteveyG's recommended one is a faster one - the maximum read / write speeds are the numbers in the description, so up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W for the recommended one, so more than twice as fast as the 512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR, 1600MB/sW). You need a motherboard that supports PCIE4 or PCIE5 to be able to get these speeds with them (they'll mention this in the description on the configurator).

If you're using ethernet you may not need a WiFi card, but if you use Bluetooth you might need one for that (the Intel AX200 card provides Bluetooth along with WiFi for example), unless you get a motherboard with it all built in (like the one SteveyG has recommended).

A 3080 is significantly more powerful than a 3070Ti, but is probably overkill if you will be using a 1440p monitor as it's really a 4k card.

 

[Steveyg]

Thank you so much for your advice. That build is a lot cheaper than the one I was looking at. Performance-wise is the 3070ti better than a 3080? The card I have now is a 1080ti, and it has lasted me well these last five years. I hope to get the same lifespan out of my next card. Will the 3070ti do that, in your opinion or is a 3080 possibly more future-proof?

Also, will 16GB of memory be enough? I'm not very confident about tinkering with my PC, so adding more at a later date if needed is a bit daunting for me.

The GPU matches your monitor mate, no point having a 4K card if you don't have a 4K monitor you'll just not see the benefit of it

At 1440p the 3070Ti is the card to pick. For 4K it would be the 3080

 

[Emma S]

SteveyG's recommended one is a faster one - the maximum read / write speeds are the numbers in the description, so up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W for the recommended one, so more than twice as fast as the 512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR, 1600MB/sW). You need a motherboard that supports PCIE4 or PCIE5 to be able to get these speeds with them (they'll mention this in the description on the configurator).

If you're using ethernet you may not need a WiFi card, but if you use Bluetooth you might need one for that (the Intel AX200 card provides Bluetooth along with WiFi for example), unless you get a motherboard with it all built in (like the one SteveyG has recommended).

A 3080 is significantly more powerful than a 3070Ti, but is probably overkill if you will be using a 1440p monitor as it's really a 4k card.

Thank you for explaining, what those numbers mean, everything is starting to make a lot more sense now. Since I have no plan to change my monitor in the near future then a 3070ti card it is.

 

[Emma S]

The GPU matches your monitor mate, no point having a 4K card if you don't have a 4K monitor you'll just not see the benefit of it

At 1440p the 3070Ti is the card to pick. For 4K it would be the 3080

In the build you posted you changed the case I picked, I assume it's because it has more fans. The one I picked was on aesthetics, RGB is important to me, I should have stated it before sorry. What case would you recommend? I've been looking up reviews online and the CORSAIR ICUE 5000T RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE seems like the best one. Is that the case in your opinion?

 

[Steveyg]

In the build you posted you changed the case I picked, I assume it's because it has more fans. The one I picked was on aesthetics, RGB is important to me, I should have stated it before sorry. What case would you recommend? I've been looking up reviews online and the CORSAIR ICUE 5000T RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE seems like the best one. Is that the case in your opinion?

Hi mate, I'd say the H500 is one of the premium top tier cases but it's very very expensive. If Aesthetics are the go to then I'd also recommend the Corsair 5000X, Corsair 4000X, Coolermaster TD500 or the Corsair 465x

Now if you really want to break the bank an go for the H500 I wont stop you, it's a beautiful case

 

[sck451]

In the build you posted you changed the case I picked, I assume it's because it has more fans. The one I picked was on aesthetics, RGB is important to me, I should have stated it before sorry. What case would you recommend? I've been looking up reviews online and the CORSAIR ICUE 5000T RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE seems like the best one. Is that the case in your opinion?

It's more than just fans -- it's also airflow. No amount of fans can make up for a case that has no opportunity for air to move. I'd suggest the 5000X would be the ideal choice (though personally I'd actually go for the Fractal Meshify and stick loads of RGB fans in it if that's what you want: I love that case).