A bit to late but I'd still like to hear your comments

Luzlight

New member
Hi all:

I realised too late that I could post here for advice. Still I'd like your comments on my purchase. (just ordered). Cost was around 2200£ which was only slightly above my budget.

First of all. This isn't a gaming desktop. It's a workstation for my work,(specs further below)

I need it for:

1.- The main requirement if to be able to run Twinmotion. (for those who don't know, TM is built on top of unreal and it's a GPU raytracing render application, it also does real time walkthroughs, VR and can output 4k videos). It works best on Envidia cards.

I've chosen RTX 4080 as this provides 16gb of VRAM which will allow me to run complex models in TM. RTX4090 was out of budget.

2.- AI such as Stable Diffusion. Getting into this now. Don't need maximum performance. Hopefully the 4080 would more than enough. I know I can do it on the cloud with a subscription but since I need the 4080 anyway I'll do in on my desktop.

3.- CAD software. Doesn't particularly benefit from multi threading so went for a fast ( the 9 means is faster than the 7 on single thread right....? ) i9 with 16 cores. So I prioritised the graphic card for item 1 above. Went for 32gb of ram with the view I can add more further down the line if needed. I don't need the most powerful cad workstation.

4.- CPU rendering apps, I've got software which will benefit from the 16 cores above. (24 would have been better but not critical/ not in budget).

5.- Photoshop and ocational video editing.


My main doubt is if the all the bits and pieces will work well together. Didn't do this completely blindfolded, had some help from my gamer son...
Hopefully no serious pitfalls

Thanks,


Specs:

•Case
PCS SPECTRUM G ARGB MID TOWER CASE (PWM)

•Motherboard
Intel® CoreTM i9 16-Core

•Processor
i9-12900KS (Up to 5.5GHz) 30MB Cache

•Memory (RAM)

32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5600MHz (2 x 16GB)

•Graphics Card

16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4080 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

1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (3500 MB/R, 3200 MB/W)

•Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIESTM MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET

•Power Cable

1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)

•Processor Cooling

PCS FrostFlow 200 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

ONBOARD LAN PORT

•Wireless Network Card

ASUS PCE-AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 (1201Mbps/5GHz, 574Mbps/2.4GHz +
Bluetooth 5.2)

•USB/Thunderbolt Options

MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

•Operating System Operating

Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
 

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
There's an easy way to copy & paste your spec to the forum, which saves you missing things off, or having to format/space it out...

But, I'd be suggesting things like:
  • an old Intel CPU, on an old platform with no upgrade potential
  • a budget, low performance cooler for a quite hot CPU?
  • is there a need for the wifi card (you've not listed the motherboard, but most decent ones with wifi built-in nowadays)?
  • have you considered a modern AMD CPU (like the 7950X) with upgrade potential?
  • that PSU is barely capable for that CPU and GPU combo
  • PCS SSDs are budget options
  • PCS cases are budget options, and don't have the best airflow or fans
 
Last edited:

Luzlight

New member
Hi all:

I realised too late that I could post here for advice. Still I'd like your comments on my purchase. (just ordered). Cost was around 2200£ which was only slightly above my budget.

First of all. This isn't a gaming desktop. It's a workstation for my work,(specs further below)

I need it for:

1.- The main requirement if to be able to run Twinmotion. (for those who don't know, TM is built on top of unreal and it's a GPU raytracing render application, it also does real time walkthroughs, VR and can output 4k videos). It works best on Envidia cards.

I've chosen RTX 4080 as this provides 16gb of VRAM which will allow me to run complex models in TM. RTX4090 was out of budget.

2.- AI such as Stable Diffusion. Getting into this now. Don't need maximum performance. Hopefully the 4080 would more than enough. I know I can do it on the cloud with a subscription but since I need the 4080 anyway I'll do in on my desktop.

3.- CAD software. Doesn't particularly benefit from multi threading so went for a fast ( the 9 means is faster than the 7 on single thread right....? ) i9 with 16 cores. So I prioritised the graphic card for item 1 above. Went for 32gb of ram with the view I can add more further down the line if needed. I don't need the most powerful cad workstation.

4.- CPU rendering apps, I've got software which will benefit from the 16 cores above. (24 would have been better but not critical/ not in budget).

5.- Photoshop and ocational video editing.


My main doubt is if the all the bits and pieces will work well together. Didn't do this completely blindfolded, had some help from my gamer son...
Hopefully no serious pitfalls

Thanks,


Specs:

•Case
PCS SPECTRUM G ARGB MID TOWER CASE (PWM)

•Motherboard
Intel® CoreTM i9 16-Core

•Processor
i9-12900KS (Up to 5.5GHz) 30MB Cache

•Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5600MHz (2 x 16GB)

•Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4080 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
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (3500 MB/R, 3200 MB/W)

•Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIESTM MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET

•Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)

•Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 200 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
ONBOARD LAN PORT

•Wireless Network Card
ASUS PCE-AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 (1201Mbps/5GHz, 574Mbps/2.4GHz +
Bluetooth 5.2)

•USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

•Operating System Operating
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence

I messed up the first lines of the spec, it should read:

•Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z790 UD (LGA1700, DDR5, PCIe 5.0)

•Processor
Intel® CoreTM i9 16-Core i9-12900KS (Up to 5.5GHz) 30MB Cache
 

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Here's a quick benchmark to show the uplift of the 7900X/7950X vs the 12900KS. Some of this extra performance is due to the 12900KS having only 8 P-cores compared to the 12/16 of the 7900X/7950X.

Unreal.jpeg
 

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
The closest I can get to your budget, whilst keeping some headroom for upgrades is this...considering 50% of your budget is in the GPU...

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE - much better case for airflow/cooling, no RGB as this is a work PC
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12 Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.6GHz/76MB CACHE/AM5) - AMD Zen 4 CPU, almost as fast as the latest Zen 5, but doesn't have their teething issues
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6) - AM5 motherboard with PCIe 5 primary m.2 slot; but supports an upgrade path to the Zen 5 / Zen 6 CPUs
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB) - no change
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4080 SUPER - HDMI, DP, LHR - no change
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW) - stuck with a single drive here, as your original build, but if you have a drive(s) that you're putting in, then this can be reduced to a 512GB version, as it's best practice to keep the OS/apps separate from projects/data
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W RMx SHIFT SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET - needs to account for the 2-3x transient power spikes these GPUs can demand; the older ATX2.4 PSUs don't have these protections built in (so it rules out the 850/1000W RM models); and the newer ATX3.1 PSUs are currently only available in 750W RMe (too low) and 1200W+ models
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 - about the lowest level of cooler for this level of CPU (and you'd have needed the much more expensive H150i for the 12900KS); would prefer a H100i/H115i model for more controllability, but it's an extra £50-70
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
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
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 3 to 5 working days
Price: £2,306.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/szyB0WCdeS/
 

Luzlight

New member
Thanks Tony

Your suggestions were very useful. I modified my order and should be close to receive the new PC.

Kind regards
 

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Thanks Tony

Your suggestions were very useful. I modified my order and should be close to receive the new PC.

Kind regards

Did you cancel your original order? Typically you need to cancel to change platform from Intel to AMD.

If you haven't cancelled and have went with your original platform choice I would strongly advise you don't. It would be a real waste to spend so much on an old system, especially with Intel having so many failures right now.

As always, it's up to you but I would have a look at the widespread problems with Intel right now.
 
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