Decent all rounder to replace broken system ~£2,000

[NA8]

Hello,

Looking to purchase in the next day or two as an outdated system has come to an end.

Current Parts (Monitors)

2 x 34" Curved WQHD (3440 x 1440p) / 100Hz +Freesync / 144Hz [Samsung C34J791 & Dell S3422DWG]
1 x Dell 27" 4K Portrait
1 x Sony TV 4K for media
No other parts except keyboard, mouse, 5.1 speakers.

Budget ~£2,000 increased now as it's my birthday next few days so I'm indulging.

Requirements/Usage

Several displays, no wired connection for now so WiFi, bluetooth, pay premium for quietness, buy good for long term and less hassle but don't need overkill for my average needs. Light media editing, medium gaming (F1, COD - but have PS5), work from home plus personal use; spreadsheets inc sheets in chrome, investment/charts, watching media/sports.

Key Points/Questions

Case: Looking for the following case to send to PCS to build in Lian Li O11D EVO Mid-Tower Case - Black
Motherboard: No idea on technical side. I liked the digital audio output.
Cooling: Some coolers not in stock. Assume I need extra case fans?
GPU: No idea what to get. Considered AMD 6750 XT as it's cheaper but NVDA may be better all rounder. Could use integrated and hope for price drops.


Case
FRACTAL DESIGN TORRENT RGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12 Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.6GHz/76MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B650-PLUS (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair DOMINATOR PLATINUM RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
PCS GRAPHICS CARD SUPPORT BRACKET
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
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 RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
2x 50cm ARGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
4x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
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
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
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH
Price: £2,649.00 including VAT and Delivery

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


This is an equivalent Intel based version with i7 13700K https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z790-ddr5-pc/p8Vv8zbGdr/

 

[sck451]

I agree that your needs are "average". This is a high-end build. I don't think spending this much money on the system is good value for money. You can spend hundreds less and still get what you need.

Unless your "light media editing" involves significant video editing/animation or other things that involve multiple CPU cores, the 7900X is overkill. The fans are overkill as the case is already very well cooled (I'd definitely recommend the Torrent over the O11, though that's great too). I think you'll find that level of RGB problematic because it all needs controlling and synchronising, and that can be a pain with multiple devices. Your storage is not the efficient use of money.

So I'd go for something like this:

Case
FRACTAL DESIGN TORRENT RGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Six Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.3GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5) 6 cores is plenty for what you're describing, and future upgrades would be easy if neccessary
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready! The Prime is quite cheap and basic; the Tuf is a lot better
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair DOMINATOR PLATINUM RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR The PCIe bracket isn't needed
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W) Boot drive
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 3325MB/sW) Larger games/media drive (a HDD would be optimal as well but adds noise)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ - MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET More capacity with the future in mind
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR iCUE H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB 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
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 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
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) I personally don't think this is good value, but your call!
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH Ditto!
Price: £2,387.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/Nh6DuXnQM7/

 

[NA8]

I agree that your needs are "average". This is a high-end build. I don't think spending this much money on the system is good value for money. You can spend hundreds less and still get what you need.

Unless your "light media editing" involves significant video editing/animation or other things that involve multiple CPU cores, the 7900X is overkill. The fans are overkill as the case is already very well cooled (I'd definitely recommend the Torrent over the O11, though that's great too). I think you'll find that level of RGB problematic because it all needs controlling and synchronising, and that can be a pain with multiple devices. Your storage is not the efficient use of money.

So I'd go for something like this:

Case
FRACTAL DESIGN TORRENT RGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Six Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.3GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5) 6 cores is plenty for what you're describing, and future upgrades would be easy if neccessary
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready! The Prime is quite cheap and basic; the Tuf is a lot better
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair DOMINATOR PLATINUM RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR The PCIe bracket isn't needed
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W) Boot drive
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 3325MB/sW) Larger games/media drive (a HDD would be optimal as well but adds noise)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ - MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET More capacity with the future in mind
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR iCUE H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB 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
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 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
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) I personally don't think this is good value, but your call!
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
FAST TRACK 5 WORKING DAY DISPATCH Ditto!
Price: £2,387.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/Nh6DuXnQM7/

Thank you! This makes sense, I feel like AM5 makes you spend more than needed and originally tempted to go previous gen. Build time, was going to need this quick but I've got something temporary today so can revert to normal.

Any reason you would keep the NVDA 3070 Ti vs AMD 6750 XT? The latter is ~£170 cheaper and I've read they are similar.

Do people normally purchase Windows? It's cheaper elsewhere and doesn't take much to install a fresh copy, are there any advantages in getting this from PCS? Assume they test it and wipe anyway.

 

[sck451]

Thank you! This makes sense, I feel like AM5 makes you spend more than needed and originally tempted to go previous gen. Build time, was going to need this quick but I've got something temporary today so can revert to normal.

Any reason you would keep the NVDA 3070 Ti vs AMD 6750 XT? The latter is ~£170 cheaper and I've read they are similar.

Do people normally purchase Windows? It's cheaper elsewhere and doesn't take much to install a fresh copy, are there any advantages in getting this from PCS? Assume they test it and wipe anyway.

The build time isn't a guarantee, just so you're aware. The premium will be refunded if they miss the date target.

The Nvidia chip is certainly superior for media production like Adobe software. AMD works, but it's not as good. If that's a price you're willing to pay, the 6750 XT is great and much better value.

You can source your own copy of Windows. But if you do, I'd offer two bits of advice. First, make sure the copy is legitimate and being sold legally. Second, when you get the PC do a clean install as it will come with a test version of Windows; you don't want to use this but a fresh installation from scratch.