Need opinions on the quality of this build and few questions/suggestions for some parts

[AngM]

Hi all! This is the build I am aiming for:

Case
THERMALTAKE CORE X71 TEMPERED GLASS EDITION GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.9GHz/72MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® CROSSHAIR VIII HERO WIFI (DDR4, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (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
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
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
Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ASUS STRIX Soar 7.1 PCIe sound card
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
2 PORT (1 x TYPE A, 1 x TYPE C) USB 3.1 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB 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
Norton 360 For Gamers: 1 User, 3 Devices - 1 Year Subscription
Browser
Firefox™
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: £3,604.00 including VAT and Delivery

And here are my questions:

1. Is there are any significant difference between 12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 Ti and the same card but from ASUS STRIX? (except the higher price of the latter)
2. Is the cooling system sufficient for this build? I am not really familiar with that.
3. Is the selected motherboard good? It includes a network card but is it better to have it separate?
4. Can I add another 32GB of RAM of the same kind to this build - 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz? It doesn't let me choose it as an option so I am not sure if it's possible.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

 

[Scott]

Hi there, if you can let us know the use case and other information we can help you nail down the perfect build. Some good information here that covers what we would be looking for and why...

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

 

[B4zookaw]

Anti-Virus
Norton 360 For Gamers: 1 User, 3 Devices - 1 Year Subscription

How do you make an already terrible product ten times worse - add "For Gamers" to its name shudders

This can go for a start, just use Windows Defender, far less intrusive and resource hungry. And then everything Scott said.

 

[Martinr36]

And you'll need to use the official Norton uninstaller

 

[AngM]

How do you make an already terrible product ten times worse - add "For Gamers" to its name shudders

This can go for a start, just use Windows Defender, far less intrusive and resource hungry. And then everything Scott said.

Thanks for the suggestion. I didn't care it says "for gamers", it's just the only option that's on offer I guess. If the Windows Defender is just as good then that's few pounds saved. Cheers!

 

[AngM]

Hi there, if you can let us know the use case and other information we can help you nail down the perfect build. Some good information here that covers what we would be looking for and why...

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

Hi! So I'd like to use it for CAD/ MEMS CAD (highly RAM intensive)/Programming and VR gaming whenever possible. I am shooting a little higher than I need to be honest, because I don't wanna be bothered with upgrades in the next few years. So the questions underneath the build is what's on my mind at the minute. I may be overlooking something therefore any suggestions and feedback are appreaciated.

 

[Scott]

Hi! So I'd like to use it for CAD/ MEMS CAD (highly RAM intensive)/Programming and VR gaming whenever possible. I am shooting a little higher than I need to be honest, because I don't wanna be bothered with upgrades in the next few years. So the questions underneath the build is what's on my mind at the minute. I may be overlooking something therefore any suggestions and feedback are appreaciated.

Sounds great, can you be specific about the software? We're not a sales team so not looking to just throw parts/specs at you. We're all enthusiasts so don't worry about getting technical and specific with the program names, we've likely heard of them/used them.

The reason for asking is that some software can make really good use of multi-core, others are more single thread orientated. Some will prefer AMD, some will prefer Intel. It all matters, the more detail the better.

Right now, I'm leaning towards suggesting a high end Intel build as most CAD & Graphic design tend to heavily use fewer cores with higher frequency & IPC (Autocad, Autodesk & the likes). Similarly with programming and most definitely with gaming. This changes if you're looking to fully render the output though, so be sure to give us the use case.

More accurate information in leads to a more bespoke offering of suggestions

What VR headset? Do you have it already or are you looking to purchase down the line? What one would you be aiming at or what would your budget be for it?
What is the budget for the system above?
Do you already have a monitor(s)? What model is/are they? Minimum information required is resolution & refresh rate.

 

[B4zookaw]

Thanks for the suggestion. I didn't care it says "for gamers", it's just the only option that's on offer I guess. If the Windows Defender is just as good then that's few pounds saved. Cheers!

Interesting, looks like they got rid of the BullGuard option... Hadn't noticed that.

 

[Scott]

Interesting, looks like they got rid of the BullGuard option... Hadn't noticed that.

Shhhh. It might hear you and come back

 

[AngM]

Sounds great, can you be specific about the software? We're not a sales team so not looking to just throw parts/specs at you. We're all enthusiasts so don't worry about getting technical and specific with the program names, we've likely heard of them/used them.

The reason for asking is that some software can make really good use of multi-core, others are more single thread orientated. Some will prefer AMD, some will prefer Intel. It all matters, the more detail the better.

Right now, I'm leaning towards suggesting a high end Intel build as most CAD & Graphic design tend to heavily use fewer cores with higher frequency & IPC (Autocad, Autodesk & the likes). Similarly with programming and most definitely with gaming. This changes if you're looking to fully render the output though, so be sure to give us the use case.

More accurate information in leads to a more bespoke offering of suggestions

What VR headset? Do you have it already or are you looking to purchase down the line? What one would you be aiming at or what would your budget be for it?
What is the budget for the system above?
Do you already have a monitor(s)? What model is/are they? Minimum information required is resolution & refresh rate.

Software: CATIA, COMSOL multiphysics, Bluestacks, MATLAB, Ubuntu on second SSD drive for ROS
Hardware: I have two ACER V243H HD screens but will be looking for an upgrade soon. I'd like to get the HTC VIVE Pro 2 VR.

 

[Jasontvnd]

Hi all! This is the build I am aiming for:

Case
THERMALTAKE CORE X71 TEMPERED GLASS EDITION GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5950X 16 Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.9GHz/72MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® CROSSHAIR VIII HERO WIFI (DDR4, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (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
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
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
Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ASUS STRIX Soar 7.1 PCIe sound card
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
2 PORT (1 x TYPE A, 1 x TYPE C) USB 3.1 PCI-E CARD + STANDARD USB 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
Norton 360 For Gamers: 1 User, 3 Devices - 1 Year Subscription
Browser
Firefox™
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: £3,604.00 including VAT and Delivery

And here are my questions:

1. Is there are any significant difference between 12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 Ti and the same card but from ASUS STRIX? (except the higher price of the latter)
2. Is the cooling system sufficient for this build? I am not really familiar with that.
3. Is the selected motherboard good? It includes a network card but is it better to have it separate?
4. Can I add another 32GB of RAM of the same kind to this build - 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz? It doesn't let me choose it as an option so I am not sure if it's possible.

Thanks in advance for your comments.

Hi there ,

Few of issues that i see with this , First of all dump the Norton because its hopelessly rubbish and honestly windows defender is almost to a point of making other AV software redundant.

The storage setup that you have is another interesting point , Honestly at the sort of price you are looking to pay i would completely ditch the HDD , Firecuda is a solid option for a boot drive and general usage drive but maybe something like an intel 670p with 2TB + would be a good second drive , its still a very fast Gen 3 drive and infinitely better than a HDD.

The other issue is the sound card , I would wonder what you are doing that the onboard motherboard sound cant handle what you want it to do.

Other than that its a very strong build and think it would be able to handle anything you throw at it.

 

[AngM]

Hi there ,

Few of issues that i see with this , First of all dump the Norton because its hopelessly rubbish and honestly windows defender is almost to a point of making other AV software redundant.

The storage setup that you have is another interesting point , Honestly at the sort of price you are looking to pay i would completely ditch the HDD , Firecuda is a solid option for a boot drive and general usage drive but maybe something like an intel 670p with 2TB + would be a good second drive , its still a very fast Gen 3 drive and infinitely better than a HDD.

The other issue is the sound card , I would wonder what you are doing that the onboard motherboard sound cant handle what you want it to do.

Other than that its a very strong build and think it would be able to handle anything you throw at it.

Hi,

Norton is dumped already. Apparently Windows Defender has progressed far enough.

I have taken your suggestion about the HDD storage on board, thanks.

I want to connect this build to a 7.1 sound system and I wasn't sure if the motherboard would handle it.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Btw do you have any comments/answers on my initial questions?
1. Is there are any significant difference between 12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 Ti and the same card but from ASUS STRIX? (except the higher price of the latter)
2. Is the cooling system sufficient for this build? I am not really familiar with that.
3. Is the selected motherboard good? It includes a network card but is it better to have it separate?
4. Can I add another 32GB of RAM of the same kind to this build - 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz? It doesn't let me choose it as an option so I am not sure if it's possible.

 

[sck451]

Hi,

Norton is dumped already. Apparently Windows Defender has progressed far enough.

I have taken your suggestion about the HDD storage on board, thanks.

I want to connect this build to a 7.1 sound system and I wasn't sure if the motherboard would handle it.

Thanks for your suggestions.

Btw do you have any comments/answers on my initial questions?
1. Is there are any significant difference between 12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 Ti and the same card but from ASUS STRIX? (except the higher price of the latter)
2. Is the cooling system sufficient for this build? I am not really familiar with that.
3. Is the selected motherboard good? It includes a network card but is it better to have it separate?
4. Can I add another 32GB of RAM of the same kind to this build - 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz? It doesn't let me choose it as an option so I am not sure if it's possible.

You don't need a sound card for 7.1 sound: the motherboard itself supports it and it will be the same quality or better than the discrete sound card. (It also depends how you're going to connect this to the sound system.)

As to your questions...

1 There's a difference but it's a tiny one. If it were £15 difference, I'd pay it, but not more. It's just cooling and power delivery: the Asus would be fine, but the Zotac or whatever will be completely sufficient. Maybe a one or two percent difference, maybe not even that.
2. I would want more. The sweet spot is probably the H115i 280mm cooler: it's way bigger than the H100i and only a little smaller than the H150i.
3. It's an awesome motherboard, completely bulletproof for anything you'll be wanting to do with it. IMO you could happily get away with the Strix, but the Crosshair Hero is amazing. The onboard wi-fi is exactly the same as the discrete one.
4. Probably, but PCS don't stock 64GB 3600MHz RAM kits. You could buy another 32GB kit and add it, or you could buy the cheapest RAM option and fit your own when it arrives. This is really easy. A 64GB 3600MHz kit starts in the mid£200s, or the good stuff with lower latency starts in the mid £300s. Or you could ask if PCS would add another 32GB kit for you: I believe they normally only fit actual kits, so I'm not sure they would, but you could try.

 

[AngM]

You don't need a sound card for 7.1 sound: the motherboard itself supports it and it will be the same quality or better than the discrete sound card. (It also depends how you're going to connect this to the sound system.)

As to your questions...

1 There's a difference but it's a tiny one. If it were £15 difference, I'd pay it, but not more. It's just cooling and power delivery: the Asus would be fine, but the Zotac or whatever will be completely sufficient. Maybe a one or two percent difference, maybe not even that.
2. I would want more. The sweet spot is probably the H115i 280mm cooler: it's way bigger than the H100i and only a little smaller than the H150i.
3. It's an awesome motherboard, completely bulletproof for anything you'll be wanting to do with it. IMO you could happily get away with the Strix, but the Crosshair Hero is amazing. The onboard wi-fi is exactly the same as the discrete one.
4. Probably, but PCS don't stock 64GB 3600MHz RAM kits. You could buy another 32GB kit and add it, or you could buy the cheapest RAM option and fit your own when it arrives. This is really easy. A 64GB 3600MHz kit starts in the mid£200s, or the good stuff with lower latency starts in the mid £300s. Or you could ask if PCS would add another 32GB kit for you: I believe they normally only fit actual kits, so I'm not sure they would, but you could try.

Thank you very much for the feedback. I will make the final adjustments and order the tower pretty soon.