Spec Check pls: Gaming/Streaming/Recording/Video Editing machine, £1600~ budget

[Drakodan]

Good afternoon,

I've been running off my PCS system for several years now, and whilst it typically still gets the job done for general usage, I'm starting to see some performance drop-off during more intensive usage such as whilst streaming+recording.

I'm currently using a dual-monitor 1080p setup, so as far as I know I have no need for a 3000-series GTX card, but I want the system to be able to handle multitasking with no issues or performance drops, so I've splashed out on a higher-end processor here. I would ideally like to chop off a little more money to reach the aforementioned budget though and don't know if the cooler/motherboard etc are the best pieces I can get for the cost, have I missed anything obvious?

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6400MB/R, 2700MB/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 H80i V2 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
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
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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: £1,658.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[AleTax]

Good afternoon,

I've been running off my PCS system for several years now, and whilst it typically still gets the job done for general usage, I'm starting to see some performance drop-off during more intensive usage such as whilst streaming+recording.

I'm currently using a dual-monitor 1080p setup, so as far as I know I have no need for a 3000-series GTX card, but I want the system to be able to handle multitasking with no issues or performance drops, so I've splashed out on a higher-end processor here. I would ideally like to chop off a little more money to reach the aforementioned budget though and don't know if the cooler/motherboard etc are the best pieces I can get for the cost, have I missed anything obvious?

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6400MB/R, 2700MB/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 H80i V2 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
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
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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: £1,658.00 including VAT and Delivery

Hey man, could you write down budget and what you'll be using the system for? Good thing is also to include link to your build so it can be edited more easily

 

[MrWilson]

Hi there.
Good to see you getting use out of your old build. I am genuinely surprised that your build is struggling though. Looking through your post history am I right in saying that you're currently rocking a 3900x? However, if you're still streaming with the 4790k I can understand that an upgrade is in order!

I wouldn't say you need the 5900x in all honesty. It's quite a price jump over the 5800x when you factor in the improved motherboard and CPU cooling that you'll need to look after it.

Are you retiring your old build? If so you can transfer windows across to this PC which will save you £103.

You've stated your needs and budget nicely, but a config link would be appreciated so we can make edits more easily.

 

[AleTax]

Hi there.
Good to see you getting use out of your old build. I am genuinely surprised that your build is struggling though. Looking through your post history am I right in saying that you're currently rocking a 3900x? However, if you're still 4790k I can understand that an upgrade is in order!

I wouldn't say you need the 5900x in all honesty. It's quite a price jump over the 5800x when you factor in the improved motherboard and CPU cooling that you'll need to look after it.

Are you retiring your old build? If so you can transfer windows across to this PC which will save you £103.

You've stated your needs and budget nicely, but a config link would be appreciated so we can make edits more easily.

First thing I thought as well, the 5800x is fine enough and it needs a better cooler, maybe the Corsair H115I RGB PRO XT. Plus, with the money saved between the CPU and OS, he could go as well with the RTX 3060 instead, for almost the same money (actually saving some)

 

[Bigfoot]

If sticking with the 5900x you need a better motherboard and cooling. This will bust the budget, so you would be better off with the 5800x. Ideally you want more than 256GB for your OS drive.

 

[Drakodan]

Thanks for the replies, yes I am still using the 4790k system; I never actually went through with purchasing the previous system I asked about some time ago.

Here's a configuration URL: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/QBbcEmar!3/

That's a good shout on using the same Win 10 licence key, as I probably don't intend to use the old machine anymore.

Plus, with the money saved between the CPU and OS, he could go as well with the RTX 3060 instead, for almost the same money

Would such a card do much for me if I'm only on a 1080p system though? I'm not sure that going above that resolution is on the cards for me in the near future.

 

[MrWilson]

This would be where I would be looking.
5800x is a fantastic CPU for gaming and streaming, and should handle editing well too. You need to be doing some fairly high end editing or rendering before the 5900x is really necessary, and it'll be worlds better than the 4790k!
Motherboard is more suitable to the CPU.
GPU-wise, the 3060 doesn't offer a whole lot over the 2060, which still holds up nicely at 1080p. It's only really if you want to play games with RT, as the 3060 has 2nd gen RT cores that give it the edge.
Bumped your OS drive up to 500GB. If you want to push the budget a little I would recommend a second m.2 for your games library as it will dramatically boost your load times. This is a luxury buy though, and something quite easy to add on down the line.
Overspecced a little on the cooler, you could dial back to the Coolermaster 240 lite, which is cheaper and will be ample for your system. It is however quite a noisy cooler compared to the Corsair which has quieter ML fans. Downgrading to the Coolermaster and upgrading GPU to the 3060 is certainly a valid option though.
Dropped Windows as you have said that you are going to retire the old build.

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/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 H115i RGB PRO XT 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
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
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)
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 12 to 15 working days
Price: £1,585.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/0TDDUbDWDF/

 

[AleTax]

Thanks for the replies, yes I am still using the 4790k system; I never actually went through with purchasing the previous system I asked about some time ago.

Here's a configuration URL: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/QBbcEmar!3/

That's a good shout on using the same Win 10 licence key, as I probably don't intend to use the old machine anymore.


Would such a card do much for me if I'm only on a 1080p system though? I'm not sure that going above that resolution is on the cards for me in the near future.

This is more what I was thinking of. The RTX 2060 does a great job as well at 1080p. I'd honestly stick to the 3060 if it was my build

As you can see, basically same price but with better motherboard, better cooler and better GPU

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/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 H115i RGB PRO XT 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
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
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
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: £1,664.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/80rVUEHWeg/

 

[AleTax]

This would be where I would be looking.
5800x is a fantastic CPU for gaming and streaming, and should handle editing well too. You need to be doing some fairly high end editing or rendering before the 5900x is really necessary, and it'll be worlds better than the 4790k!
Motherboard is more suitable to the CPU.
GPU-wise, the 3060 doesn't offer a whole lot over the 2060, which still holds up nicely at 1080p. It's only really if you want to play games with RT, as the 3060 has 2nd gen RT cores that give it the edge.
Bumped your OS drive up to 500GB. If you want to push the budget a little I would recommend a second m.2 for your games library as it will dramatically boost your load times. This is a luxury buy though, and something quite easy to add on down the line.
Overspecced a little on the cooler, you could dial back to the Coolermaster 240 lite, which is cheaper and will be ample for your system. It is however quite a noisy cooler compared to the Corsair which has quieter ML fans. Downgrading to the Coolermaster and upgrading GPU to the 3060 is certainly a valid option though.
Dropped Windows as you have said that you are going to retire the old build.

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/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 H115i RGB PRO XT 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
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
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)
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 12 to 15 working days
Price: £1,585.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/0TDDUbDWDF/

Lmao basically we had the same idea, except for motherboard and GPU 😂

 

[MrWilson]

Lmao basically we had the same idea, except for motherboard and GPU 😂

The 5800x really benefits from the improved VRMs in the X-570, especially for long streaming or editing sessions.
The 3060 is an improvement over the 2060, I just don't think it's worth the extra £108 unless you're playing a lot of games which utilise RT.

 

[AleTax]

The 5800x really benefits from the improved VRMs in the X-570, especially for long streaming or editing sessions.
The 3060 is an improvement over the 2060, I just don't think it's worth the extra £108 unless you're playing a lot of games which utilise RT.

I see your point of view on the GPU and it's fully acceptable, as always your builds for users here are excellent and well balanced. I'd call it more "being future proof" with the RTX 3060

 

[Drakodan]

Thank you for the responses, very helpful and I'm open to the idea of going with the 5800X instead. Any comments on the case that I've chosen? I'm trying to keep it relatively compact, without going as small as possible since I would like it to be well-ventilated and have a bit of headroom.

 

[JUNI0R]

Thank you for the responses, very helpful and I'm open to the idea of going with the 5800X instead. Any comments on the case that I've chosen? I'm trying to keep it relatively compact, without going as small as possible since I would like it to be well-ventilated and have a bit of headroom.

The TD500 Mesh is a decent case with it's mesh front and 3 included fans, it's not what I'd call small though. If you'd like to go down the smaller with some RGB and good airflow, the Corsair 220T is a great case. Like the TD500 it has an open front and 3 RGB fans, this time they're controlled with Corsair's iCUE software which will give lots of customisabilty over the lighting. The only issue I'd see with it is if you were to put a huge GPU in it down the road, it might not fit 😂 It's also a few quid cheaper! The wonderful @AgentCooper owns a 220T and will be able to give a more in depth review if it's a case you like the look of. I'll also leave some reviews below for comparison

 

[MrWilson]

@JUNI0R has summed it up nicely. One downside of the 220t is that it cannot accommodate a 280mm radiator so cannot fit the H115i coolers. It does confuse me a little why PCS have stopped offering the H100i coolers as that would be perfect with the 220t. The coolermaster cooler would be the way to go with this case, a little noisier but will still do the job nicely.
If you’re sticking at 1080p then GPU clearance won’t be an issue. AC has a 3070 fitted snugly in his 220t build so a 2060 will slot in without issues.

 

[AgentCooper]

@JUNI0R has summed it up nicely. One downside of the 220t is that it cannot accommodate a 280mm radiator so cannot fit the H115i coolers. It does confuse me a little why PCS have stopped offering the H100i coolers as that would be perfect with the 220t. The coolermaster cooler would be the way to go with this case, a little noisier but will still do the job nicely.
If you’re sticking at 1080p then GPU clearance won’t be an issue. AC has a 3070 fitted snugly in his 220t build so a 2060 will slot in without issues.

It is devastating that the H100i isn’t currently available. As competent as the CoolerMaster 240 is, the Corsair blows it out of the water. I run an eight core CPU for extended periods under various loads (gaming/making music) and the H100i sneers at whatever I throw at it. I might ask PCS via the super secret back channel if they’re planning to bring it back.

 

[JUNI0R]

It is devastating that the H100i isn’t currently available. As competent as the CoolerMaster 240 is, the Corsair blows it out of the water. I run an eight core CPU for extended periods under various loads (gaming/making music) and the H100i sneers at whatever I throw at it. I might ask PCS via the super secret back channel if they’re planning to bring it back.

This tweet from a little while ago makes me wonder if they're planning on swapping out the Platinum AIO's for the Capellix ones and the H100i is on the way, it's just taking a while? Purely speculation on my part but what I think is the most likely reason. Whatever the case is, I hope we get a Corsair H100i AIO back soon, whatever format it comes in!

 

[AgentCooper]

This tweet from a little while ago makes me wonder if they're planning on swapping out the Platinum AIO's for the Capellix ones and the H100i is on the way, it's just taking a while? Purely speculation on my part but what I think is the most likely reason. Whatever the case is, I hope we get a Corsair H100i AIO back soon, whatever format it comes in!
View attachment 24957

Let’s get on our knees and pray to the silicon gods!

 

[Drakodan]

So it looks like I may just end up repeating my cycle of delaying getting an upgrade, as right after making this thread and receiving your appreciated responses, I saw that there are whispers that 2021 is going to be the year of DDR5 memory, which makes me think now is probably not the best time to upgrade??

 

[SpyderTracks]

So it looks like I may just end up repeating my cycle of delaying getting an upgrade, as right after making this thread and receiving your appreciated responses, I saw that there are whispers that 2021 is going to be the year of DDR5 memory, which makes me think now is probably not the best time to upgrade??

Things are constantly moving, there’s a major update every year at the moment.

 

[ubuysa]

So it looks like I may just end up repeating my cycle of delaying getting an upgrade, as right after making this thread and receiving your appreciated responses, I saw that there are whispers that 2021 is going to be the year of DDR5 memory, which makes me think now is probably not the best time to upgrade??

These days, as soon as you have it in your hands it's out of date.......