1440p AMD Build & Dilemmas

[Vendritts]

Need some help to iron out some final decisions with this build.

Budget is £1800ish

My main dilemma is whether or not to bump the GPU up from 6800xt to the 6950xt. The increase in price isn't very much. The vast majority of threads and forums on this exact issue have said upgrade to the bigger one, for more money than the difference here on PCS... However I don't know if I really need that much firepower and wonder how much more I'd be spending long term regarding power usage. (If anyone has any reassuring underclocking/power limiting advice, that could make or break this decision.)

Power supply - Opinions needed, especially with the unconfirmed choice of GPU.

RAM Speed - Opinions please.

Coolers - I have very little knowledge on this, of what's sufficient, what's overkill. I don't need the brightest flashing lights. Send help.

Feel free to critique whatever else!
Thanks in advance!

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Promotional Item
Get Last of Us: Part 1 when you buy select AMD Radeon™ RX graphic cards!
Processor (CPU) - Vs the 7700x?
AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.3GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard - Or ASUS TUF?
GIGABYTE B650M DS3H: DDR5, USB 3.2 - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM) - Speed? Sweet spot?
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 4800MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card - Vs 6950xt?
16GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6800 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
1TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
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 - HELP
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan
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
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
Norton 360 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
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 - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Price: £1782 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/MuPeMDWXPk/

 

[SpyderTracks]

The vast majority of threads and forums on this exact issue have said upgrade to the bigger one, for more money than the difference here on PCS... However I don't know if I really need that much firepower and wonder how much more I'd be spending long term regarding power usage.

What issue is it you're referring to?

What's the build for?

What make and model monitor are you pairing it with?

 

[Martinr36]

give this a read

Please read before posting:- Collaboration of Helpful Hints

NB: These forums are not an official support channel. None of us work for PCS, we're all either customers or techies who just like to help out where possible. For any official support, you need to contact PCS directly either through your PCS account, or via the contact details on the main...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[Vendritts]

What issue is it you're referring to?

What's the build for?

What make and model monitor are you pairing it with?

Looking to build something that will smash older games and competitive games at 1440p, as well as have a system that's going to be capable handling any future titles for as long as possible with my £1800ish budget.

The issue is I was originally set on the 6800XT, but the 6950XT being only a small bump up in price, is quite enticing and I'm debating with myself. The downside being it'll draw more power and cost more in that aspect over time.

Pairing with an HP Omen X 27 1440p 240hz, which I already have.

Other notes:
AM5 chosen for future upgrading
8 core CPU chosen as the PC will potentially be used for video editing/streaming

 

[sck451]

The 6950 XT draws around 100W extra according to this article compared to the 6800XT. Putting "100W * 2 hours per day * 365 days * £0.34 per kwh" into Wolfram Alpha comes out to £24.80.

So if you use it at full pelt for two hours a day, over the course of a year it will cost you around £25.

The bigger concern to be would be the heat output, but with a good case and CPU cooling setup I expect it would be ok. I haven't got time to do a full run down through your build right now but will come back to it later if no one else has!

 

[SpyderTracks]

I can't select the case I want due to a stupid bug in the configurator that rejects almost every case with the 6950XT and any CPU cooler bigger than 120mm

I'll send a message to the admins about that. @eojeel if you happen to be online 🙏

 

[Vendritts]

I can't select the case I want due to a stupid bug in the configurator that rejects almost every case with the 6950XT and any CPU cooler bigger than 120mm so I went with the the best of the choices I could. Closest to your budget I got was just over £2000 (if I could go with the Corsair 4000D):

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7700X Eight Core CPU (4.5GHz-5.4GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5) - Only £9 more than the non-x version, gives slightly better clock speeds
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB) - Ryzen chips have always liked higher frequencies so go with the highest possible. You could drop to the 1x16GB to save £109 if required to get closer to your budget
Graphics Card
16GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6950 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W) - Only £16 extra for a drive that is pretty much double the speed
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 3325MB/sW) - Games need to be on a fast drive...this gives plenty of space for your games
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET - Covers what is needed now as well as any future graphics card upgrades
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR iCUE H150i ELITE RGB High Performance CPU Cooler - Probably more than is needed but was considering your possibly streaming and the demands of that, as well as the case being a bit less good at cooling.
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 - Approximately 9 to 11 working days
Price: £2,073.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/JqK!kTTcEC/

Really appreciate all of this, gives me some more to consider. The 4000D was going to have been my plan B case if the 5000D was unavailable.

I've been waiting since COVID prices etc to finally pull the trigger, so my budget CAN extend with the extra I've saved in that time to ensure I'm not neglecting the things I'm less knowledgeable about, but wouldn't want to go much higher than £2000 - your suggestion is pretty much my very upper limit.

Any specific reason for the TUF motherboard?

 

[moosEh]

We are looking at resolving this issue when the cooler can be top mounted. Bare with and hopefully we will be able to sort this going forward!

 

[Vendritts]

In the meantime if I was to finalise my choices and place an order, would I just need to use an alternative case to get by this issue, but provide comments/additional notes on what I would actually opt for?

 

[Vendritts]

After taking some recommendations from a previous post and reworking my first time build, I'm keen to get some final advice and opinions before going forward.

Looking for some opinions on the current cooler selected. If anyone has any reasons for/against/alternatives, I'd love to hear as this is by far the area I know the least about.

Any recommendations about extra fans and how best to utilise them with this case would also be very much appreciated.

Plan for the build is 1440p gaming, high frame rates focusing mostly on competitive games, whilst maintaining the ability to handle future titles
Pairing with my already owned HP Omen X 27 1440p 240hz monitor.
I've already extended my budget after receiving previous advice, so wouldn't stretch further.

(Here's the link to my original post I've mentioned)

1440p AMD Build & Dilemmas

Need some help to iron out some final decisions with this build. Budget is £1800ish My main dilemma is whether or not to bump the GPU up from 6800xt to the 6950xt. The increase in price isn't very much. The vast majority of threads and forums on this exact issue have said upgrade to the...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Thanks in advance!

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7700X Eight Core CPU (4.5GHz-5.4GHz/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
16GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6950 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
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 iCUE H150i ELITE 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
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 - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo
Price: £2,045 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/vee0K6mr28/

 

[sck451]

Yeah, this looks good to me. The nice upgrade would be to the 7800X3D, but that's stretching your budget £150 further, so it might be a "nice to have" in a few years' time as a potential upgrade if needed. Otherwise, there's nothing I'd suggest changing.