Newbie needs advice

I

IanJenkins807

Member
I saw a special from PCS and tweaked it a bit - it is way over my current needs but future requirements will be more demanding. I'm not a hardcore gamer but I do like playing stuff that looks pretty!

I know next to nothing about PC hardware so most of this is guesswork - could someone run their eye over this and tell me if anything stands out as unnecessary or if there are potential conflicts or if there are alternatives to some/any of the components that would be better. I don't really want to increase the budget by more than 5% or so.
Thanks in advance:

(edited to remove mundane extraneous items):
  • Case LIAN LI LANCOOL II GAMING CASE
  • Processor (CPU) AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
  • Motherboard ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
  • Memory (RAM) 64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (4 x 16GB)
  • Graphics Card 10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
  • 1st Storage Drive 4TB SEAGATE IRONWOLF PRO 3.5", 7200 RPM 128MB CACHE
  • 1st M.2 SSD Drive 1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
  • Power Supply CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
  • Processor Cooling PCS FrostFlow 120 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
  • Thermal Paste STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
  • Extra Case Fans 2x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fans
  • Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
  • Wireless Network Card WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHzPCI-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
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
What's it for?

What's your max budget?

What monitor are you pairing it with, what make and model?

We can definitely do better than that.
 
I

IanJenkins807

Member
Gaming, but not hardcore - Train Sim, Doom Eternal, other FPS. Image editing. Music editing. Watching films. Database & web dev. Running VM's (for remote working).
I have 2 fairly old Dell 24" screens (DP) and I want to add a 27" (or more) main screen as well (at a later date but I need the Graphics Card to handle 2*DP & 1 HDMI)

I'm at the top of the budget already tbh. Currently circa £2,600 - maybe go to £2,750
 
Last edited:
I

IanJenkins807

Member
As I said, they are Dell. One is a P2417H, the other P2214H - hand me downs that were destined for a skip - not bad though for their age.
The 3rd screen is a future purchase and I haven't yet considered what I will get. Something like a Dell-S2721HGF perhaps.
 
Last edited:
JUNI0R

JUNI0R

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
IanJenkins807 said:
As I said, they are Dell. One is a P2417H, the other P2214H - hand me downs that were destined for a skip - not bad though for their age.
The 3rd screen is a future purchase and I haven't yet considered what I will get. Something like a Dell-S2721HGF perhaps.
Click to expand...
Heya! I'm not too clued up on some of your use cases but thought I'd give the spec a general balance, then if anything needs changing in line with the requirements for these uses, I'm sure some of the other members would be happy to comment!

For monitors, I wouldn't personally be heading down the 1080p route in 2021, especially with the budget you have. Having recently upgraded from 1080p 60hz (what you're running) to 1440p 144hz I can honestly say I never knew gaming was so good!

Any questions? Feel free to ask, I'll do my best to answer!

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL II GAMING CASE The case you had in your original spec, decent airflow choice although something like the TD500 would be a better one
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready! Better motherboard to better handle the beasty 5900X
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 16GB) AMD loves fast RAM so gone for a 3200mhz kit, although unsure if 64GB will be necessary
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP For the above mentioned 1440p, the 3070TI will be more than capable.
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE bulk storage drive for storing documents, videos, audio etc
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W) Much faster boot SSD
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW) dedicated drive for games and active projects
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PRO XT Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler Significantly better 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 If you need WiFi, the AX200 card is a no brainer
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] I'd personally stick to W10 for now, then upgrade once all the bugs are squashed
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 Windows Defender will do a stellar job
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) Well worth the £5
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 14 to 16 working days
Price: £2,409.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/Jghgsu6rg!/
 
I

IanJenkins807

Member
Thanks for taking the time to reply - there are some interesting ideas there - I like the idea of the 3070 Ti instead of the 3080 - I haven't bought hardware for 10 years so I'm hopelessly out of touch.
I agree 64Gb is OTT but better over than under and the extra cost isn't too much although it could go forward to the new monitor.
I'm very happy that you have put explanations for your reasons - I wouldn't know a decent cooler if it came up and bit me so I'm happy to take your idea. Same with motherboards and interesting ideas about SSD's. So, once again, thanks for your input and I will take a lot of it onboard.
 
Last edited:
JUNI0R

JUNI0R

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
IanJenkins807 said:
Thanks for taking the time to reply - there are some interesting ideas there - I like the idea of the 3070 Ti instead of the 3080 - I haven't bought hardware for 10 years so I'm hopelessly out of touch.
I agree 64Gb is OTT but better over than under and the extra cost isn't too much although it could go forward to the new monitor.
I'm very happy that you have put explanations for your reasons - I wouldn't know a decent cooler if it came up and bit me so I'm happy to take your idea. Same with motherboards and interesting ideas about SSD's. So, once again, thanks for your input and I will take a lot of it onboard.
Click to expand...
Happy to help!

With regards to RAM, you could go for 2x16GB which will give you 32GB plus the option to upgrade to 64GB down the road. RAM is probably one of the, if not the easiest upgrade if it's something you have to do down the road, so if you wanted to save a bit of cash, that would be a solid route to go down!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top