2k Budget VR Gaming machine

[petlan684]

I have been buying from PCSpecialist for a number of years and I regret to inform that I switched to Console gaming a few years back. Having got back into PC gaming recently and especially VR, I am looking for a new build PC. I have upgraded my current PC and while it will play everything at mid level, I am looking for a PC to run at max settings. Approx 2k budget and only base unit needed. Running a pretty decent Viewsonic 4k monitor but also will use on a 120Hz TV. I VR through an Oculus 2 and would like to play things like Half Life Alyx and No Mans Sky at full res. PC sits in the living room so looking for the most powerful but quietest build possible.
Any comments or suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I have tried doing my research and checked through the Forums and this is my final build:

Case
COOLERMASTER SILENCIO S600 QUIET MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 120 2.5" SSD, (up to 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
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
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 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
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: £2,041.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/MtJq6D8TSj/

 

[AgentCooper]

That build needs some tweaks, the cooling unit is really going to struggle! 😬

So, for a quiet system your ideal case is the Fractal Define 7 combined with a Corsair Platinum cooler. A twelve core CPU also wouldn’t be a necessity, the newer 5800X would work a treat. Now... the biggie... if you’re going full on VR build, you really want to pump your money into the GPU, that’s what’s going to get you the best experience.

So this system, whilst creeping over budget, would be the solid choice for your uses.

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE 7 BLACK QUIET MID-TOWER 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 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
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 H100i RGB PLATINUM 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 (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
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
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 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 12 to 15 working days
Price: £2,261.00 including VAT and Delivery

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

 

[petlan684]

That is awesome, really appreciate your help and advice. Great looking build.

 

[petlan684]

Hi Agent Cooper, thanks for your help tweaking my initial build. I did go ahead and currently on day 77. Ironically you suggested I move to the 3080 which put me in a very populated and exciting queue. Looking forward to my cake and the other posts have kept me motivated and on track to be patient and to suppress the thoughts telling me to cancel. I even have my friends 3070 build in my hallway that he wants to sell but have stayed focused on this kick arse build. I have made a few adjustments along the way and have the funds for one final push. I increased the processor and mobo, M.2 size and managed to get the Fractal case which wasn't available at time or order. I would appreciate your comments and any final tweaks I can make:

 

[AgentCooper]

Not a bad move with the 5900X and motherboard change with the available budget, that’ll keep your system silky smooth. VR is likely to start using more cores as time goes on so that’s a nice bit of future proofing. The sticking point on the build for me is that Corsair H100X, it’s an older model cooler with no software integration. I’d highly recommend replacing that with the H115i Elite Capellix, it’s a superior model. The fans work on the magnetic levitation principle so there’s no traditional bearings in there, it’ll run quietly, perhaps more so than the one with the ultra quiet fans. Otherwise, it’s looking good. I believe the Intel 670 M.2 drive is currently the same price as the PCS one and a bit faster, it might be worth a switcheroo.

 

[petlan684]

Changes made. Absolutely amazing and really appreciate your help. £2 more for the 670 m.2 was a no brainer and your recommendation on the cooler is sublime. Didn't expect you to come back so quickly, Agent Cooper I tip my hat to you!

 

[Scott]

I would drop the primary M2 drive back down to 500GB. There's no real need for more than that as you will just end up filling it and making it more of a pain to backup. Incidentally, you want to keep your primary drive under 50% capacity IMO, 250GB is plenty of storage for the OS, Programs and maybe a game or 2.

For the second drive the upgrade to the 670 is ideal.

The money saved from the primary drive could then be put into the RAM. I genuinely believe that for high end gaming we are at a point where 32GB should be recommended. Obviously this is budget dependent and 16GB is still fine for almost every use, but when every other box is ticked I can't help but wonder if this itch should be getting scratched too.

 

[petlan684]

Thanks for alll the great advice Scott. Regarding the ram, would you say it is better to have 16g of the fastest ram or 32g of slightly slower ram? I picked the fastest with the idea of upgrading later on but what are your thoughts?

 

[Steveyg]

Thanks for alll the great advice Scott. Regarding the ram, would you say it is better to have 16g of the fastest ram or 32g of slightly slower ram? I picked the fastest with the idea of upgrading later on but what are your thoughts?

Fast RAM is a basically a requirement for Ryzen, everyone would recommend the fastest RAM possible with the minimum being 3200Mhz

RAM is cheap and easy to add yourself later, if you felt you needed more RAM just buy a couple sticks of the same RAM in a couple months and pop them in yourself

 

[AgentCooper]

Given that we’ve had the constant instability issues with 4X8GB 3600MHz, I’d be inclined to go with the lower frequency if starting with just 2X8GB.

 

[petlan684]

Thanks Steveyg and Agentcooper I appreciate your advice. I have looked at the 3200MHz sticks; Now I could stretch to the extra to put 32GB of this in or stick with the faster 3600MHz (2x 8GB). I potentially wouldn't be upgrading this for another year or more so in your eyes, should I stick with the 3600MHz with the thought that and instability will be addressed by then or fully stack the 3200 and stick with that going forward?

 

[AgentCooper]

Thanks Steveyg and Agentcooper I appreciate your advice. I have looked at the 3200MHz sticks; Now I could stretch to the extra to put 32GB of this in or stick with the faster 3600MHz (2x 8GB). I potentially wouldn't be upgrading this for another year or more so in your eyes, should I stick with the 3600MHz with the thought that and instability will be addressed by then or fully stack the 3200 and stick with that going forward?

The CAS latency factor means there’s actually little performance difference between the two frequencies of RAM when it comes to gaming. The newer Ryzen processors actually gain a minor performance boost with four sticks of matched RAM, if I was in your shoes I’d go
4X8GB 3200MHz. I’d also have the RGB version but that’s because I like sparkly things.