Help with build

fbarnea

Member
Hi guys, here's the build I'm thinking of getting. Important for me are intel cpu, good gpu for machine learning, 32gb ram and 512 ssd.
Is there anything obviously out of place in this build? Should I be spending more on some stuff/less on other stuff? Any help is appreciated. I've still got about £300 left to play with.

Case
CORSAIR 175R RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 16-Core Processor i9-12900K (3.2GHz) 30MB Cache
Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z690 UD DDR4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st Storage Drive
512GB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 450MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W CV SERIES™ CV-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 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 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 (Windows 10 Only)
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
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed - Assembly From 29/12/2021
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Price: £1,776.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/qrdxfnxw7F/
 

Yani

Member
Would suggest and M.2 SSD instead of SATA , stronger power supply and possibly little bit quicker RAM. Also for extra 5£ you can up your warranty to have 1 year collect&return.
Also might save a little bit of money by installing windows yourself, juts buy the key and download installation from Microsoft, its pretty straightforward and saves you 80£
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Yeah there is a lot here to change mate why specifically Intel?

That case will be an oven and cook those parts mate, I've the same case it was a disaster I had to remove the front panel completely to stop it cooking the insides

RAM we generally recommend no less than 3200Mhz these days

Your storage set up is old platforms. M.2 SSD's are much faster than SATA SSD's and roughly the same price

Power supply is basically for office computers and that CPU cooler is extremely light and will not be good enough for the 12900K which runs extremely hot
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
This is where I'd go

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX K500 ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z690 GAMING X DDR4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i 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
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 10/11 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 (Windows 10 Only)
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
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed - Assembly From 29/12/2021
Price: £1,883.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/MvJwh8FpTX/
 

fbarnea

Member
Would suggest and M.2 SSD instead of SATA , stronger power supply and possibly little bit quicker RAM. Also for extra 5£ you can up your warranty to have 1 year collect&return.
Also might save a little bit of money by installing windows yourself, juts buy the key and download installation from Microsoft, its pretty straightforward and saves you 80£
very helpful, will take that on board
 

fbarnea

Member
Yeah there is a lot here to change mate why specifically Intel?

That case will be an oven and cook those parts mate, I've the same case it was a disaster I had to remove the front panel completely to stop it cooking the insides

RAM we generally recommend no less than 3200Mhz these days

Your storage set up is old platforms. M.2 SSD's are much faster than SATA SSD's and roughly the same price

Power supply is basically for office computers and that CPU cooler is extremely light and will not be good enough for the 12900K which runs extremely hot
That's helpful. I didn't realize about the m.2 vs SATA. I'll pick up your config below. what do you think about the GPU? not sure what "Pre-Order only" means on the others, will it take forever to get the build if I pick one of those?
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
That's helpful. I didn't realize about the m.2 vs SATA. I'll pick up your config below. what do you think about the GPU? not sure what "Pre-Order only" means on the others, will it take forever to get the build if I pick one of those?
It depends on what kind of machine learning you are doing, generally those lean heavy on the CPU as opposed to the GPU. I'd almost recommend dropping the GPU waaaaay down and getting a much better CPU but again depends entirely on what kind of processing you are doing

If you need the GPU the 12GB of VRAM can be very useful in a lot of applications so I figured I'd keep the 3060

So I guess the GPU depends on your exact usage
 

fbarnea

Member
It depends on what kind of machine learning you are doing, generally those lean heavy on the CPU as opposed to the GPU. I'd almost recommend dropping the GPU waaaaay down and getting a much better CPU but again depends entirely on what kind of processing you are doing

If you need the GPU the 12GB of VRAM can be very useful in a lot of applications so I figured I'd keep the 3060

So I guess the GPU depends on your exact usage
I see, that makes sense. I'll look into it as I'm still "learning" on the machine learning side but I want to future proof this. So I need to do some more research into this. Thank you for your help so far.
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I see, that makes sense. I'll look into it as I'm still "learning" on the machine learning side but I want to future proof this. So I need to do some more research into this. Thank you for your help so far.
No worries mate, I wouldn't get hung up on something like "Future Proofing" it's something we see a lot but it's honestly not really something that exists

I know the idea is to build something that will last a long time so we generally promote balanced builds with the focus on longevity so they can be upgraded. There is no "future proofing" without upgrading components so the only real way to do that is to start with balance and set up a build with the intention of adding more components or changing them down the line to suit the current trends

Minimum I tend to aim is 5 years for a build but a good build can easily last upwards of 7 years with proper maintenance and upgrades
 

fbarnea

Member
No worries mate, I wouldn't get hung up on something like "Future Proofing" it's something we see a lot but it's honestly not really something that exists

I know the idea is to build something that will last a long time so we generally promote balanced builds with the focus on longevity so they can be upgraded. There is no "future proofing" without upgrading components so the only real way to do that is to start with balance and set up a build with the intention of adding more components or changing them down the line to suit the current trends

Minimum I tend to aim is 5 years for a build but a good build can easily last upwards of 7 years with proper maintenance and upgrades
yeah, that makes sense. I meant future proofing more in the sense that in the future I might want to do stuff that I don't now. Like I might want to get into gaming or vr gaming. Or, I might suffer from low performance while training models locally during development but yeah, balanced build is what I need which is why I was worried I was spending too much on processor and not enough on gpu.

tbh, i'd really love to be able to walk into a store and get a built pc, like today. but I don't think that is ever a good idea so will have to wait for pcspecialist to get over the xmas rush
 

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
yeah, that makes sense. I meant future proofing more in the sense that in the future I might want to do stuff that I don't now. Like I might want to get into gaming or vr gaming. Or, I might suffer from low performance while training models locally during development but yeah, balanced build is what I need which is why I was worried I was spending too much on processor and not enough on gpu.

tbh, i'd really love to be able to walk into a store and get a built pc, like today. but I don't think that is ever a good idea so will have to wait for pcspecialist to get over the xmas rush
Yeah honestly next day PC's or store bought boys generally have some really budget components in them. Generally and from experience they cheap out on the case, motherboard, RAM and PSU all of which will either cripple performance or guarantee no longevity of a build
 

Bigfoot

Grand Master
Would suggest and M.2 SSD instead of SATA , stronger power supply and possibly little bit quicker RAM. Also for extra 5£ you can up your warranty to have 1 year collect&return.
Also might save a little bit of money by installing windows yourself, juts buy the key and download installation from Microsoft, its pretty straightforward and saves you 80£
You cannot save yourself £80 and get a legal Windows licence, unless you are transferring a licence from an old PC you won’t be using any more. Cheap keys available online will be bogus and I would be very wary of downloading anything from a site that is selling dodgy licence keys.
 

fbarnea

Member
So I've given this another go after deciding against buying a prebuilt AMD system on here or the Curry's PCSPECIALIST prebuilt setups. I'm ready to hit the button, what do you guys think?

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX K500 ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z690-A GAMING WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i 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
Wireless Router/HomePlugs
HomePlug 500 Mbps Starter Kit - Internet Through Powerline
USB/Thunderbolt Options
ASUS ThunderboltEX 4 PCI-E CARD
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 (Windows 10 Only)
Cable Management
3 x PCS 1.5M Zip Cable Tidy - Professional Cable Management
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
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed - Assembly From 29/12/2021
Price: £2,055.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/dwX03KaHFX/
 

fbarnea

Member
You cannot save yourself £80 and get a legal Windows licence, unless you are transferring a licence from an old PC you won’t be using any more. Cheap keys available online will be bogus and I would be very wary of downloading anything from a site that is selling dodgy licence keys.
I've got a laptop that I will probably run Linux on and I'll see if I can move that license over. If not, I'll just buy one from a legit website and install it myself. I'd rather do the partitions on my own anyway as I might want to dual boot on the pc as well.
 

Yani

Member
You cannot save yourself £80 and get a legal Windows licence, unless you are transferring a licence from an old PC you won’t be using any more. Cheap keys available online will be bogus and I would be very wary of downloading anything from a site that is selling dodgy licence keys.
You can get an Windows 10 key from sites even like amazon. There is nothing bogus about those. Ive used it many times and everything has been legit.
Also, you download windows from microsoft website and simply install it on a flash drive.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
You can get an Windows 10 from sites even like amazon. There is nothing bogus about those. Ive used it many times and everything has been legit.
This isn't true actually. Amazon don't sell windows licenses, they're Microsofts main competitor, doesn't make any business sense to do so.

Only Amazon marketplace sellers do, and if you investigate the really cheap ones, you will undoubtedly find they are bogus listings, they're only up for a short time and then close down once they get too many complaints.

Amazon is currently in the courts about it's Marketplace sellers as it does nothing to combat illegal sales. Amazon Marketplace is exactly the same as eBay or any market place, anyone can make a listing however they choose.

Also, you download windows from microsoft website and simply install it on a flash drive.
I don't understand what relevance this has to anything? You've always been able to download windows ISO's from microsoft since XP days.

But it's useless without a valid license.

Grey market licenses are stolen keys, or illegal volume license keys obtained from dodgy IT guys in corporations. They are not legal keys, and you'll often find once they're found out, the license is revoked.


But no matter how you look at it, it is illegal, and there is no discussion of grey market keys or illegal hacks on this forum.
 
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