Time for a new Gaming PC

[Jorrack]

My 6 year old PC is starting to have crashes so looking to upgrade. I currently have 2 x 24" 1080p monitors but plan on upgrading later to 27" 1440p but that might be a few months off. I am looking for something that can handle RPG games (Baldurs Gate 3 the city struggles currently) and future MMO's.

I am not interested in all the RGB lighting that seems to be popular and would prefer Air cooled.

Budget is approx £2k though can go a little higher if the performance can justify it.

Can anyone suggest a build with these requirements?

 

[Martinr36]

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www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[Jorrack]

Currently a spec has been posted that looks very close to what I am looking at but the case and CPU cooling could be changed. Case as I am not after the RGB lightning but if that can be switched off would do the job. Cooling as its Liquid cooling but I am unsure what would be a suitable air cooled alternative.

Editted with revised case, power and cooling. Any advice on any compatibility issues would be appreciated.

Case
FRACTAL POP SILENT CASE TG (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.0GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 Ti SUPER - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
2nd M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Get a discount code for 20% off select peripherals at Corsair.com
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
DeepCool AK400 Performance CPU Cooler ZERO DARK
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
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
Firefox™
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 4 to 6 working days

 

[Scott]

Really need to be including the config link to entice people to get involved

 

[Jorrack]

Case
FRACTAL POP SILENT CASE TG (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.0GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 Ti SUPER - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/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 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
DeepCool AK400 Performance CPU Cooler ZERO DARK
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
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
Firefox™
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 4 to 6 working days
Price: £2,223.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/G7DY4ZAwQ8/

 

[Scott]

Few small tweaks below.

I would recommend the AIO as per the below but if you are completely adverse to an AIO cooler then hold off for the AK620 to come back into stock. I wouldn't touch any of the others with the 7800X3D

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS 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 B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 Ti SUPER - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 3325MB/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 H100x RGB ELITE 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
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
Firefox™
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 4 to 6 working days
Price: £2,226.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/wzjDNQ2MFK/

 

[Jorrack]

Thanks, I dont want liquid cooled so will wait for the AK620. Curious why you have downgraded the 2nd HD as I would guess the faster speeds would be needed for gaming. The site also tells me the 1000W power is higher than needed so curious about the reasoning for that or is that because of the liquid cooling?

 

[Scott]

Any particular reason why you're against liquid cooling? There's a reason why most options are AIOs nowadays.

2nd HD lesser model is cheaper. If you want the faster speeds and are willing to pay the difference then there's nothing wrong with that. You won't notice a difference in gaming until direct access becomes more widely used. Even then though, the difference will be minimal. The lower model is still scary fast.

1000w is the default nowadays for a modern system. Ignore any calculators, they are flawed. There are transient spikes to consider along with boost headroom etc. You also want to cover any upgrades throughout the lifetime of the system.

 

[Jorrack]

Liquid cooling I dont see any benefit for the cost and has more potential issues such as leaks, pump issues, air bubbles need bleeding plus its still using a fan to cool on top. Fan cooling requires less maintenance.

My current Pc is now 6 years old and I havent needed to perform any hardware maintenance on it and want this to be as equally trouble free

 

[Scott]

I can only advise that's a very old fashioned view point to have. None of the coolers I would ever recommend to you would suffer those issues any more than an air cooler would. There is no maintenence in an AIO. I ran my first for 9 years, it's still in my Fathers system and is now around 14 years old (on 24/7 also). The typical advantage with an AIO is avoidance of heat soak, better top end performance and often more silent operation (where the i offerings are chosen, the x is fairly typical for acoustics).

I wouldn't recommend foregoing maintenence on any system though, cleaning the dust out every few months will work wonders for any system regardless of selections.

 

[Scott]

Just a side note. You may find the crashing you are experiencing is maintenence related. Age of a PC doesn't bring about crashing issues. Often these issues are software maintenence or cooler/paste/dust maintenence. Very rare for a full on hardware failure due to age, unless fatigue related.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Basically on any mid to high end modern CPU, air cooling will effectively cause thermal throttling in that you'll never reach available boost clocks. On Intel it's called Thermal Velocity Boost, on AMD it's called Precision Boost.

Neither of those will be available under air cooling as you're above the thermal limit for that, although under the thermal throttling TJMax. So if you get the 7800X3D for instance, you may have a chip that's capable of 5.05GHz, but you'd never get near that and be limited more in the region of 4.8GHz. So it's pointless getting the 7800X3D in that respect (aside from the 3d VCache).

Why pay a premium if you're not going to pair it with suitable components to realise it's full potential. The whole point of PC Design is maximising available performance and reducing bottlenecks.

AIO's just aint anything like they used to be, especially on premium coolers such as corsair. There is no such thing as leaks, pump failures can happen but are very rare. My last build had a H100i running in it and was on 24/7 from 2014 until it was decommissioned this year.

There is no maintenance on an AIO aside from normal dust duty inside the case, but that's down to the case design, nothing to do with the cooler.

 

[Martinr36]

I'm thinking as usual the op is confusing an AIO liquid cooled system with a liquid cooled custom loop