Chrismartinartist
Member
Hello,
Before I start I'd just like to say I've been a PCS customer for about 13 years, used them for mine, my parents, and my step sons builds all with no problems, and recently got some amazing customer service after botching (what should have been) a simple RAM upgrade.
So as I said I've had my laptop for around 13 years and long story short, I've since become a semi-professional 3d games artist and animator, my old laptop which was massively overpowered on CPU, and massively under powered on GPU isn't cutting it for some software I need to use - specifically Substance Painter, though I also use Blender, previously 3ds Max... my old laptop has quad core I7's but only onboard graphics so crashes every time I start Substance. It runs Blender with no problem, but Renders can take a while (there are a whole slew of things that affect this besides spec but if I'm updating for one I might as well do both). Upgrading is a massive headache for me as I have some software that I don't know if I can still get, and setup/add-ons that will take hours to re-configure, unfortunately using Substance is pretty much a necessity to move forward with my work.
After much research I found a set of specs I want, that balance out my CPU/GPU with budget, and still allow me to get what I need. The short list version of which are these:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G 8-core
RAM: 32 GB
GPU: GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB
SSD: M2 NVMe 500 GB
OS: Windows 11 Home 64 Bit
Monitor: IPS Panel, Matte, Full HD, LED
Budget-wise I was hoping to get something near the £1000 mark, or at least below £1500 (not including monitor)
I thought I'd found a system that perfectly matched what I wanted on this site:
[Link Redacted] Cube Epic - AMD Ryzen 7 5700G GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming PC
(I'm not sure if it'll save the spec in that link)... but then read many awful reviews of their complete lack of customer service and general buying nightmares/shoddy parts that were used and not as expected etc.
Despite a bit of a price difference I would prefer to stay with PCS and so tried to configure something similar. Please note that aside from the working components previously specified I don't need or want any fancy showy stuff, this isn't a 'gaming PC' and I don't need RGB lights on anything, or glass panels on the case just the most basic one that does the job and is compatible with everything, which is also usually the cheapest.
In the process of configuring the setup (listed below) some questions came up which I couldn't find an answer to so was hoping some of you clever people might know:
1. Firstly, the motherboard, the default option that was already in there is not the cheapest. The cheapest on the list is an ASUS PRIME A520M-K: Micro-ATX, AM4, USB 3.0, 6 GB/s... I don't know if that's compatible with the case and parts, does it matter that it's a Micro-ATX?
2. The power supply default was 450w, and when I proceeded it told me I need 550w minimum for the GPU, is having the minimum fine or should I go a bit over like a 650w?
3. A compatibility warning came up about the monitor "this monitor only supports a full size DP connection you may, dependant on Graphics card choice, need to order a mDP to DP monitor cable"... I couldn't see this info on the GPU to know if it's compatible. Does it matter whether I connect with DP or HDMI? Is either better than the other? Also, does anyone know if that monitor is Matte?
Thank you for taking the time to read and any help you can offer.
Chris
Case
PCS 3601 CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G Eight Core CPU with Radeon™ Graphics (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/20MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE B550 GAMING X V2 : DDR4, USB 3.2 - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (3300 MB/R, 2200 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W CV SERIES™ CV-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD 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
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
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™
Monitor
ASUS VP229HE 21.5"
Before I start I'd just like to say I've been a PCS customer for about 13 years, used them for mine, my parents, and my step sons builds all with no problems, and recently got some amazing customer service after botching (what should have been) a simple RAM upgrade.
So as I said I've had my laptop for around 13 years and long story short, I've since become a semi-professional 3d games artist and animator, my old laptop which was massively overpowered on CPU, and massively under powered on GPU isn't cutting it for some software I need to use - specifically Substance Painter, though I also use Blender, previously 3ds Max... my old laptop has quad core I7's but only onboard graphics so crashes every time I start Substance. It runs Blender with no problem, but Renders can take a while (there are a whole slew of things that affect this besides spec but if I'm updating for one I might as well do both). Upgrading is a massive headache for me as I have some software that I don't know if I can still get, and setup/add-ons that will take hours to re-configure, unfortunately using Substance is pretty much a necessity to move forward with my work.
After much research I found a set of specs I want, that balance out my CPU/GPU with budget, and still allow me to get what I need. The short list version of which are these:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G 8-core
RAM: 32 GB
GPU: GeForce RTX 3060 12 GB
SSD: M2 NVMe 500 GB
OS: Windows 11 Home 64 Bit
Monitor: IPS Panel, Matte, Full HD, LED
Budget-wise I was hoping to get something near the £1000 mark, or at least below £1500 (not including monitor)
I thought I'd found a system that perfectly matched what I wanted on this site:
[Link Redacted] Cube Epic - AMD Ryzen 7 5700G GeForce RTX 3060 Gaming PC
(I'm not sure if it'll save the spec in that link)... but then read many awful reviews of their complete lack of customer service and general buying nightmares/shoddy parts that were used and not as expected etc.
Despite a bit of a price difference I would prefer to stay with PCS and so tried to configure something similar. Please note that aside from the working components previously specified I don't need or want any fancy showy stuff, this isn't a 'gaming PC' and I don't need RGB lights on anything, or glass panels on the case just the most basic one that does the job and is compatible with everything, which is also usually the cheapest.
In the process of configuring the setup (listed below) some questions came up which I couldn't find an answer to so was hoping some of you clever people might know:
1. Firstly, the motherboard, the default option that was already in there is not the cheapest. The cheapest on the list is an ASUS PRIME A520M-K: Micro-ATX, AM4, USB 3.0, 6 GB/s... I don't know if that's compatible with the case and parts, does it matter that it's a Micro-ATX?
2. The power supply default was 450w, and when I proceeded it told me I need 550w minimum for the GPU, is having the minimum fine or should I go a bit over like a 650w?
3. A compatibility warning came up about the monitor "this monitor only supports a full size DP connection you may, dependant on Graphics card choice, need to order a mDP to DP monitor cable"... I couldn't see this info on the GPU to know if it's compatible. Does it matter whether I connect with DP or HDMI? Is either better than the other? Also, does anyone know if that monitor is Matte?
Thank you for taking the time to read and any help you can offer.
Chris
Case
PCS 3601 CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5700G Eight Core CPU with Radeon™ Graphics (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/20MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE B550 GAMING X V2 : DDR4, USB 3.2 - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (3300 MB/R, 2200 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W CV SERIES™ CV-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD 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
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
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™
Monitor
ASUS VP229HE 21.5"
Last edited by a moderator:
