New Gaming PC - what spec would you recommend please

[marsal453]

Hello. I'm looking for a new 4K gaming PC. My current one is now just over 5 years old.
Budget - £2000 - £2500, I could wait longer and stretch budget a bit more if needed.
I'm posting PC specs below of one I looked at, and also my current PC.
I've had a look at some specs, what would you recommend to change?

Monitor -
Samsung 28" UE590 4K - I've had a few years now. It's quite a basic 4K monitor. No HDR. I think a better one is needed?
Uses -
4K gaming HDR?
Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D Eight Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.5GHz/100MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX B550-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7300MB/R, 6900MB/W)
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
6x Slim USB 2.0 External Blu-Ray Writer
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
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series ARGB High Performance Liquid 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 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
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 6 to 8 working days
Price: £2,327.00 including VAT and Delivery

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

 

[marsal453]

Here is my current PC specs - I bought this here just over 5 years ago (August 2017).

Case - COOLERMASTER K350 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU) - AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Six Core CPU (3.4GHz-3.6GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard - ASUS® PRIME X370-PRO (DDR4, 6Gb/s, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM) - 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card - 8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1070 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk - 250GB Samsung 850 2.5" EVO SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 540MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk - 3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive - Pioneer BD-RW BDR-209M (I swapped the original drive from DVD to this BDRW)
Power Supply - CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable - 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling - STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste - STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans - 1x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card - ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking - 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options - MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System - Windows 10 Pro

Case - My options are probably limited, as I'd like a case compitable to fit a BD-RW drive.
Processor (CPU) - probably go with AMD, as I've found them better value in the past. Intel is fine also though
Memory (RAM) - DDR5? or DDR4 still a good option?
Graphics Card - Most important bit, I'm looking at 4K gaming (I think the RTX 3080 is a good one?)
1st Hard Disk - 2TB M.2 SSD for windows/apps/games
DVD/BLU-RAY - I see these are getting rarer now. Maybe an external is ok? I would prefer an internal drive.
Windows 11 worth getting? or stick with Windows 10?
Processor Cooling - I made a stupid mistake last time, with a standard cooler the PC gets hot quickly!
Liquid Cooling? or Air?

 

[marsal453]

It's been another 6 months, maybe DDR5 is better value now?
My current PC is almost 6 years old now, the specs posted above.
Any advice would be much appreciated, as I'm really not sure what is best to get.

 

[marsal453]

Thanks for your reply. It gives me a much better idea what to look for.
I'm trying to keep my budget roughly the same £2500, but I could stretch a little more if needed.
As I put it off a little longer I've been saving up.

With regards to the screen, it's been fine although it's a basic 4K TN panel, no HDR, 60hz.
I don't know if it's worth an upgrade, but I understand that when looking for 144hz it can get expensive.

It's quite frustrating that cases don't support drives anymore these days, but external should be fine.
There isn't any issues regarding your external drive? Verbatim are always good, been going for so many years.

 

[marsal453]

There is a lot to think about!
Thanks for your configuration. I've changed it a little. I've gone a little over budget, that's around my maximum.
I'm wondering if the X670E is worth it over the B650 motherboard?
Solidigm SSDs any good? It seems a fast drive for quite a good price, added a 1TB (boot) and 2TB (game installations, etc)
Also went for CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE, seems a bit better than the 4000X.

I've also had a look at the Nvidia vs AMD graphics, my old one is a Nvidia 1070 - I've never had a AMD card.
The 7900XT looks good though , Nvidia is much more expensive this time. Is it as good as a 4080?

Regarding the external drive, many thanks for the link. I think I'll be getting the Verbatim too.


Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.0GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI (DDR5, PCIe 5.0) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 5600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
20GB AMD RADEON™ RX 7900 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/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, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX XT RGB 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
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe 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
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 6 to 8 working days
Price: £2,673.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/pCz4cK0N7M/

 

[marsal453]

Thanks for your reply and advice, you've been very helpful.

However, I'm quite concerned when reading this thread https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/7800x3d-booting-to-safe-mode-during-testing.93335/ - 7800x3d booting to safe mode during testing.

Also I find it strange that AMD is DDR5 5600Mhz, but when looking at Intel it offers DDR5 6000Mhz.
What would be an Intel equivalent? I've generally stuck with AMD in the past, as they tend to be quite a bit cheaper.

 

[sck451]

Solidigm are a very, very sound SSD brand. Intel recently sold their SSD business to SK Hynix, one of the world's largest manufacturers of Nand flash. That SSD business was named Solidigm and the products they are producing are first rate. The P41 Plus is an excellent mid-range drive. I've actually got one of their other drives (the P44 Pro) on order for my own system.

 

[SpyderTracks]

You can order with 5600MHz and then upclock the RAM to 6000MHz when things have settled down.

That's not correct, this would require an actual overclock of the RAM above it's rated speeds, you couldn't set EXPO at 6000 as the RAM is only 5600 so won't support it. It's very unlikely 5600MHz RAM would be able to be overclocked to 6000MHz.

The RAM speed tells you that it's been verified as being good enough silicon to support the speeds it's rated at.

To set an EXPO of 6000mhz you need 6000mhz ram