~£2,000 Gaming PC

[connor7]

Hey there. I am looking to buy a strong PC for gaming (currently have a mid-range that is struggling to play the newer games, and I am not very knowledgable about PCs). I have modified the 'Royale Extreme' template in a couple of areas, although truth be told I probably don't need to upgrade what it already a good pre-build :
-32GB of RAM instead of 16GB
-4070ti instead of 4070
-Noctura NH-U14s instead of liquid cooling (liquid cooling seems too intimidating to me, and I'd prefer to stick with air cooling)

Some important information:
- I will be playing at 1080p and 1440p only
- I will be getting a 1440p monitor with a high refresh rate, 144hz perhaps
- I want to play games like Cyberpunk at 1080p/1440p at very high settings
- My budget is £2,000 (an absolute max)

I do have a couple of questions:
- Will my CPU and GPU work well together?
- Will the cooling be sufficient?
- Could I select better components for the money?

This is my first post on the forum, so I apologise if it is poorly formatted, but I have tried to include as many details as possible.
I would be eternally grateful for any advice or recommendations, the last thing I want to do is sink two thousand on a system that is nowhere near worth it.
Thank you so much!

System:

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 20-Core Processor i7-14700KF (Up to 5.6GHz) 33MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B760-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, PCIe5.0, USB 3.2)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Noctua NH-U14S Ultra Quiet 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 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
Firefox™
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 5 to 7 working days
Price: £2,058.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Bhuna50]

Can you try to include the link that is at the bottom of the spec when posting spec to forum please - it makes it quicker for others to tweak the setting rather than have to start over in the configurator (although saying that...they may go AMD build )

 

[sck451]

I'd honestly go quite a different way. I'd choose AMD over Intel for the CPU and general platform: this gets you onto an upgradable platform with up to date DDR5 memory and much more efficiency than you get from Intel.

The 4070 Ti is probably the right bet given current pricing. It'll be awesome for 1440p. An appropriate monitor will cost £300-350ish, though you can easily spend much more!

For cooling, the Noctua may be enough for the 14700K, but I'd hardly bet on it. But the AMD 7700 is super efficient and can easily be cooled by an air cooler, even a much cheaper one.

We can then afford to get you a much better storage setup as well, with an SSD as a boot drive and then a 2TB SSD to store your games.

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.3GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
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 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 AG400 Performance ARGB 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 5 to 7 working days
Price: £2,013.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/!e5uVDamMz/

 

[connor7]

Can you try to include the link that is at the bottom of the spec when posting spec to forum please - it makes it quicker for others to tweak the setting rather than have to start over in the configurator (although saying that...they may go AMD build )

My apologies, here is the link:

PCSPECIALIST - Top Spec Custom PCs & Laptops Built to Order

Manufacturer of performance custom computers and laptops. Customise your ideal gaming PC or laptop using our advanced configurator.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[Bhuna50]

My apologies, here is the link:

PCSPECIALIST - Top Spec Custom PCs & Laptops Built to Order

Manufacturer of performance custom computers and laptops. Customise your ideal gaming PC or laptop using our advanced configurator.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Thanks - after I posted I realised it was an Intel build and know that the favourite is AMD for most builds, especially where temperature and cooling is concerned - that means they would have to start a new config anyway LOL

See @sck451 build above.

 

[connor7]

I'd honestly go quite a different way. I'd choose AMD over Intel for the CPU and general platform: this gets you onto an upgradable platform with up to date DDR5 memory and much more efficiency than you get from Intel.

The 4070 Ti is probably the right bet given current pricing. It'll be awesome for 1440p. An appropriate monitor will cost £300-350ish, though you can easily spend much more!

For cooling, the Noctua may be enough for the 14700K, but I'd hardly bet on it. But the AMD 7700 is super efficient and can easily be cooled by an air cooler, even a much cheaper one.

We can then afford to get you a much better storage setup as well, with an SSD as a boot drive and then a 2TB SSD to store your games.

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.3GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
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 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 AG400 Performance ARGB 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 5 to 7 working days
Price: £2,013.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/!e5uVDamMz/

Thank you for the feedback! I never even really considered an AMD focused CPU, not that I'm opposed to it at all
Do you reckon the AMD processor is the better choice?
Also I really like your choice of SSDs, much better than my initial selection. Thanks!

 

[sck451]

Thank you for the feedback! I never even really considered an AMD focused CPU, not that I'm opposed to it at all
Do you reckon the AMD processor is the better choice?
Also I really like your choice of SSDs, much better than my initial selection. Thanks!

Yes, with the caveat that for an extra £97 you can get the 7800X3D, realistically the best gaming chip there is. Arguably an AIO would be ideal at that point, but the DeepCool will be enough for purely gaming.

 

[connor7]

Yes, with the caveat that for an extra £97 you can get the 7800X3D, realistically the best gaming chip there is. Arguably an AIO would be ideal at that point, but the DeepCool will be enough for purely gaming.

Great, thank you! Maybe worthwhile looking into an AIO instead then? I've never had any liquid cooling but maybe it's worth looking into

 

[sck451]

Sure. Here's that build: its only downside is being £160 more than your original build.

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 (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
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 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
CORSAIR iCUE H115i 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 5 to 7 working days
Price: £2,218.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/NMnEtWQt2S/

 

[AccidentalDenz]

Great, thank you! Maybe worthwhile looking into an AIO instead then? I've never had any liquid cooling but maybe it's worth looking into

AIOs need a quick blast of compressed air every 4 to 6 months or so, similar to air coolers. Not much difference in maintenance in that respect. It's only the custom built liquid cooling options that are a pain in the bum to maintain as they need fully drained every 12 months. AIOs really aren't a problem at all as they don't need to be drained or anything like that.

 

[connor7]

AIOs need a quick blast of compressed air every 4 to 6 months or so, similar to air coolers. Not much difference in maintenance in that respect. It's only the custom built liquid cooling options that are a pain in the bum to maintain as they need fully drained every 12 months. AIOs really aren't a problem at all as they don't need to be drained or anything like that.

I was wondering about that haha, I saw some videos of custom liquid solutions and thought they were all as tedious as those, that's a relief. May end up going for an AIO then