Pc for 4k gaming and photo editing

S

Sam70

Active member
Hey everyone,

I sold my old desktop pc and I am looking for an upgrade / replacement. I will be mainly gaming and doing some photo editing in a 4k screen.

My budget is 2.5k/3k but I am also happy if I spend a little less than that, would the below be a good config / potentially future-proof should I want to update in the future?

Many thanks in advance!

Case
CORSAIR OBSIDIAN SERIES™ 500D SE CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 10-Core Processor i5-12600K (3.7GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z690-F GAMING WIFI (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 4800MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
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 iCUE H100i ELITE LCD Display RGB CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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
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
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
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 - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £2,689.00 including VAT and Delivery
 
B

Bigfoot

Grand Master
What is your budget? What is the refresh rate on the monitor(s) and will you use the same monitor for gaming and editing? Please provide the configuration link, so that we can suggest some changes. At first glance, I would change the storage. The 4TB Barracuda is slow. You really want a second M.2 drive for games and current editing projects. I am not sure you will currently get much benefit from DDR5 and it is expensive. You don't need an extra fan with that case and a Corsair AIO cooler, but I would go for the H115i with the 12th Gen Intel CPUs. You don't need the Arctic MX-4 paste with the Corsair coolers, as they come with paste pre-applied. Bullguard is reported to cause many problems and is best removed. It might be worth staring with W10 and upgrade (for free) to W11 when all the bugs have been ironed out.
 
sck451

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I'd tweak your build just a little bit. The big change would be to go for the Z690 DDR4 configuration: there isn't a lot of benefit to DDR5 at the moment, while there is a lot of extra cost.

Here's the build I'd suggest for you:

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE - Really good case, a little cheaper
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700KF (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache - Extra couple of performance cores won't be a bad thing!
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready - the ideal motherboard for this configuration, I think
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB) - a good option for this build, with upgradability if it's useful in future
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE - the largest 7200RPM drive -- you really don't want 5400RPM
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/W) - super-fast boot drive
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW) - for games and project files
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET - lots of capacity for upgradability, as well as efficiency and quietness now
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler - a good option for the 12700KF -- I guess upgrade if you really want the LCD? Not sure it's worth the money from my point of view...
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING - Corsair supply good paste
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
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
Standard Build - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £2,675.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/QhMwDzXwEV/
Standard Build - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
 
S

Sam70

Active member
Thank you so much @sck451 - those all sounds like reasonable choices / changes!

I was also thinking initially to upgrade to a TUF 3080ti for an added £500 but I am not 100% sure if it is worth the money? what do you think? perhaps not as seeing some reviews it looks like performances aren't too far off from a normal 3080.

However, what I am afraid of is that I am going to end up with a non-performing version of the 3080 as this happened in the past when I bought my first PC specialist build (included a gtx 1080ti and arrived with a Zotac Mini 1080ti which was running hot and loud as hell).
 
sck451

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Sam70 said:
Thank you so much @sck451 - those all sounds like reasonable choices / changes!

I was also thinking initially to upgrade to a TUF 3080ti for an added £500 but I am not 100% sure if it is worth the money? what do you think? perhaps not as seeing some reviews it looks like performances aren't too far off from a normal 3080.

However, what I am afraid of is that I am going to end up with a non-performing version of the 3080 as this happened in the past when I bought my first PC specialist build (included a gtx 1080ti and arrived with a Zotac Mini 1080ti which was running hot and loud as hell).
Click to expand...
I certainly would not get the 3080 Ti: it's loads more money for barely improved performance. I definitely wouldn't get the Tuf one.

I've not heard of anyone getting a non-performant 3080. Indeed, I'm not sure there's a mini one available, though I'm very much open to correction on that.
 
S

Sam70

Active member
Another doubt I had was regarding cooling and airflow. I read around that the CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING is not great in terms of airflow and it only comes with 3 included case fans. Do you reckon I'd need at least another one or two case fans to maintain a good temperature range given the high performing components in it? I might be overthinking this :)
 
JUNI0R

JUNI0R

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Sam70 said:
Another doubt I had was regarding cooling and airflow. I read around that the CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING is not great in terms of airflow and it only comes with 3 included case fans. Do you reckon I'd need at least another one or two case fans to maintain a good temperature range given the high performing components in it? I might be overthinking this :)
Click to expand...
The 5000X isn't the most incredible case for airflow but it's still a solid choice. The case comes with 3 and the AIO in the build from @sck451 adds nother 2. If you want to go all out you could go for the H150i which adds an extra 3 fans (for a total of 6) which should be plenty. If you're unhappy with temps you could always buy the 5000D Airflow front seperately from Corsair and pop it on which will help reduce temps.

https://www.corsair.com/uk/en/Categ...AIRFLOW-Top-Airflow-Panel,-Black/p/CC-8900495
 
sck451

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Sam70 said:
Another doubt I had was regarding cooling and airflow. I read around that the CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING is not great in terms of airflow and it only comes with 3 included case fans. Do you reckon I'd need at least another one or two case fans to maintain a good temperature range given the high performing components in it? I might be overthinking this :)
Click to expand...
It's perfectly decent in terms of airflow. If you end up having problems, you can actually replace the front panel really quite cheaply and end up with an even better option for airflow.

You have three 120mm case fans and two 140mm AIO fans. That should be ample. You could add three more 120mm fans to the case (the 5000 series allows you to add them to the back panel) but I'd leave that as an option for down the line if you actually have problems. I doubt you will. And extra fans will of course add noise.
 
S

Sam70

Active member
Thank you both! I think I'll keep it as it is for now - as suggested by @sck451 - (maybe just swap for the H150i which adds an extra fan and seem a little quieter than the h115i) and perhaps order a new front panel if things get hot down the line :)
 
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