first pc in yeeeeeears, spec check.

O

OtherBen

New member
hi guys,

thanks in advance. looking to buy a gaming pc for the first time in a while. i will use the pc for day to day easy going use - youtube, browsing the web, playing music. but will also use it as a plex media server for streaming to my tv. my current pc has been able to do this with no issues.

current main specs on pc:

graphics: nvidia geforce gtx 1070 16gb
ram: 16gb
intel [email protected] (6 CPU's)

i have an ASUS VG248 monitor -(1920 x 1080) Gaming monitor, 1 ms, Up to 144Hz - one of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-VG248QE-Widescreen-Multimedia-80000000/dp/B00B19T7QC - not looking to upgrade it but will if a good deal is available as happy to palm this one off to the other half or dual screen, etc.

i'm really not sure what to upgrade to, my current pc will be given to my other half to use for moderate gaming.

budget is from £900 to around £1,500. but i would go a little higher if really necessary. happy for a little future proofing included but not entirely necessary, currently pc has run games like RDR2, spider-man, warcraft, fortnite, resident evil village, etc - albeit not to the BEST capacity, but more than happy with the outcome when playing these.

could do with wifi card(?) for wireless also.

the below a decent choice? thanks so much for any assistance guys.

Case
PCS SPECTRUM II ARGB MID TOWER CASE (PWM)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE B550 GAMING X V2 (AM4, DDR4, PCIe 4.0)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (3200 MB/R, 2700 MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
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
PCS FrostFlow 120 Series ARGB High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
2 x 50cm ARGB LED Strip
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
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
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
Norton 360 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Price: £1,495.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/33CR58Xtr0/
 
FerrariVie

FerrariVie

Super Star
The main issues with your build (in my opinion, of course) are with the CPU cooler that is not enough to cool you CPU of choice, as well as I would prefer to have just a single 2TB SSD instead of a 256Gb M.2 and a 2TB HDD. They're about the same price, but the 256Gb M.2 (only fast drive you have) wouldn't be enough even for Windows after a few months of updates and applications installed. And an HDD is only good for storing photos, documents, music, movies and as a drive backup. Wouldn't use it for software or games.

However, my main recommendation to you would be to get an AM5 motherboard with DDR5. Not because you'd get a huge difference in performance (even though it is faster), but mainly because you'd have an upgrade path in the future, while with AM4 your current build would be mostly the best you can go as fas as CPU and memory.

However, it is hard to go to a newer architecture and keeping around the same price without compromises, so I did a few changes to try to get as close to your budget as possible. However, it is still around 100 pounds more expensive (I think, couldn't keep the configurator in pounds due to being outside of the UK), even though I brought the CPU down from an 8-core AM4 to a 6-core AM5. Down the line, you could easily replace this with a 7800x3d or the 9000 series (whenever they come up, maybe later this year or next year) and improve your build by quite a bit, maintaining everything else as is.

An AM5 build would look something like this:

Case
PCS SPECTRUM II ARGB MID TOWER CASE (PWM)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core CPU (4.0GHz-5.2GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B650-PLUS (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (3500 MB/R, 3100 MB/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
DeepCool AK620 ZERO DARK High-Performance Dual Tower CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
2 x 50cm ARGB LED Strip
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6E AX210 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
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
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
2 - 3 DAY DELIVERY TO REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days

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

OtherBen

New member
thanks so much for your help so far. if i could just ask for some suggestions based on the below i'd be very grateful.

in reality i can stretch further with my budget but would it would be nice to get to a sweet spot around £1,500/1,700k. going from 1.5k to 2k IS an option though.

the truth is i likely wouldn't upgrade in the future and would give the computer to my other half/a relative once i was ready for a new pc/upgrade so it's not essential that i can upgrade, but again, it's a benefit so happy to consider this.

i've taken what you said on board with regards to the hard drives and i understand that completely, to be honest i didn't even really look at that bit. i'm a lot less clued up on cpu, motherboard, graphics, ram, necessary power supply, etc.

if you have the time i'd be so grateful to pick your brain (or anyone elses for that matter!) on the below queries:
  • if i could stretch up to around £1,9k - would the below build, taking in to account what you said about the 7800x3d CPU and getting that in place now, be a good option?
  • if you could strip some of it out, where would you make those savings? - based on what i've said i'd need it for and with being more than happy with not necessarily looking to upgrade and happy to play games at relatively decent graphics - it would be good to have some cheaper options.
  • i was thinking one place would be the CPU which could come down to AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core CPU (3.8ghz/40mb cache/am5 - but what exactly would that change from the currently selected one and would that be the most advisable/best way to save a little?
  • as far as i understand this motherboard has a wifi card built in also, is that right? better to have that seperate and a different motherboard?
  • and would this allow me to upgrade the monitor in future?
sorry for so many questions, thanks for ANY help. :)

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 4000X RGB TEMPERED GLASS MID-TOWER ATX CASE - WHITE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.0GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 3325MB/sW)
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
DeepCool AK620 ZERO DARK High-Performance Dual Tower 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
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
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™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Price: £1,909.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/azzBPeMfNS/
 
Last edited:
FerrariVie

FerrariVie

Super Star
  • if i could stretch up to around £1,9k - would the below build, taking in to account what you said about the 7800x3d CPU and getting that in place now, be a good option?
    • absolutely, that would be the best you get get right now for that money (in my opinion)
  • if you could strip some of it out, where would you make those savings? - based on what i've said i'd need it for and with being more than happy with not necessarily looking to upgrade and happy to play games at relatively decent graphics - it would be good to have some cheaper options.
    • there are only 4 things that you can strip down and still have a reasonable build that would last you for long. Not as good as the one you've selected above, but still very close and allowing you (or whoever gets your build afterwards) to upgrade in the future:
      • Case: Not a huge value saving here, but you could still save a few bucks getting one that's a bit cheaper. If you'd like a white case, the fractal pop silent would be a good cheaper option. If black is fine, than you could have a fractal focus 2 that looks a bit better (imo) than the pop and is around the same price.
      • Storage: Maybe 2.5Tb is too much? Maybe you could get part of those files on an external HD later? It's also the easiest part to upgrade later. But maybe the savings here doesn't make sense to your needs, so only you can decide on this one
      • CPU: Of course the 7800x3D is the best value for gaming today, but it's still a bit expensive. Want something cheaper? The 7700 will be good enough, and definitely better and more effficient (power-wise) than the 5800x that you had previously picked. So it's an upgrade anyway ;)
      • GPU: The only thing that Nvidia absolutely destroys the competition is on Ray Tracing supported games. So if that's what you're interested in, then there's no cheaper option that I'd recommend other than a 4070. However, for every other game that doesn't support ray tracing, an AMD 7900 GRE would have a lot better performance than a RTX 4070 and is also cheaper. So it's not an absolute strip down, it's actually better in most cases, only a bit worse on ray tracing heavy games.
  • i was thinking one place would be the CPU which could come down to AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core CPU (3.8ghz/40mb cache/am5 - but what exactly would that change from the currently selected one and would that be the most advisable/best way to save a little?
    • Answered above. The 7800x3D will be a lot better for gaming, the 7700 will be equal or maybe a bit better for some productivity work (video encoding, zipping, etc.)
  • as far as i understand this motherboard has a wifi card built in also, is that right? better to have that seperate and a different motherboard?
    • Yes, the motherboard that you selected has built-in wifi. I would say that the difference in price is very small, so if you need wifi, then get it built-in as having to buy a wifi card would probably be around the same price as the difference between both motherboards.
  • and would this allow me to upgrade the monitor in future?
    • Of course, any of those 2 GPUs that I mentioned would allow you to upgrade the monitor to a 1440p resolution and still game perfectly fine, and even 4K with settings tunned down a bit. The 7900GRE would be an even better option for higher resolutions than the 4070 due to having more VRAM (16Gb x 12Gb).
Edit: See this comparison of both GPUs
www.digitaltrends.com

Nvidia RTX 4070 vs. AMD RX 7900 GRE: one definitive winner | Digital Trends

Nvidia's RTX 4070 has been an excellent GPU, but it has stiff new competition in the form of AMD's RX 7900 GRE.
www.digitaltrends.com www.digitaltrends.com
 
Last edited:
O

OtherBen

New member
FerrariVie said:
  • Storage: Maybe 2.5Tb is too much? Maybe you could get part of those files on an external HD later? It's also the easiest part to upgrade later. But maybe the savings here doesn't make sense to your needs, so only you can decide on this one
  • CPU: Of course the 7800x3D is the best value for gaming today, but it's still a bit expensive. Want something cheaper? The 7700 will be good enough, and definitely better and more effficient (power-wise) than the 5800x that you had previously picked. So it's an upgrade anyway ;)
  • GPU: The only thing that Nvidia absolutely destroys the competition is on Ray Tracing supported games. So if that's what you're interested in, then there's no cheaper option that I'd recommend other than a 4070. However, for every other game that doesn't support ray tracing, an AMD 7900 GRE would have a lot better performance than a RTX 4070 and is also cheaper. So it's not an absolute strip down, it's actually better in most cases, only a bit worse on ray tracing heavy games.
Click to expand...
thank you so much for your help and understandable answers!

that makes a lot of sense with the GPU. in the research i'd done i'd seen a lot of people recommending the AMD 7900 as an alternative, with a lot of people preferring it overall to the 4070. i will give this one a ponder!

great point about the ssd space too, my current drive on this computer is 1tb for the games installs, etc so that's a valid point to consider in whether i need more or not.

one last question on that point, would it be worth considering downgrading the ssd drives to a lower R/W speed? the pcs ones that are a step down (around 3500/3000 max) would save me a little money. would this impact much for me? not recommended on either drive? only on the game i will have games installs on, etc? or best to stick with ones as is?
 
T

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I'd only consider the PCS SSDs for budget builds, as anecdotal reports on here seem to show their performance (speed, endurance, reliability) are not on par with the Solidigm or Corsair SSDs.

Of course, we could be seeing more complaints around PCS branded components because they sell more of them!
 
FerrariVie

FerrariVie

Super Star
OtherBen said:
thank you so much for your help and understandable answers!

that makes a lot of sense with the GPU. in the research i'd done i'd seen a lot of people recommending the AMD 7900 as an alternative, with a lot of people preferring it overall to the 4070. i will give this one a ponder!

great point about the ssd space too, my current drive on this computer is 1tb for the games installs, etc so that's a valid point to consider in whether i need more or not.

one last question on that point, would it be worth considering downgrading the ssd drives to a lower R/W speed? the pcs ones that are a step down (around 3500/3000 max) would save me a little money. would this impact much for me? not recommended on either drive? only on the game i will have games installs on, etc? or best to stick with ones as is?
Click to expand...
Can't say bad things about PCS drives because my wife has a Sata ssd and never noticed any issues. But for sure you can find a lot more reviews online about well known brands, which is hard to find for PCS branded parts.

What I can assure you is that you won't notice the difference between 5000 and 3000 ssd speeds. I had experience in changing from 500 (Sata m.2) to 3000 (nvme gen 3 m.2) and could barely notice a difference. You'd need to have both side by side (or use one for long and then upgrade) to notice a few seconds less to load windows or games. I'm still using 3000 to this day with no complaints.

The huge difference is going from an HDD 3.5" to any ssd. That you will notice for sure.
 
L

Loyd2

New member
Your chosen specifications for the gaming PC seem well-rounded. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 should handle your gaming needs smoothly. The combination of SSD and HDD for storage offers both speed and ample space. The inclusion of a WiFi card is advisable for wireless connectivity.

Considering your usage, this configuration appears to meet your requirements, providing room for moderate gaming and day-to-day tasks. The PCS FrostFlow liquid cooler ensures efficient temperature management. Including Windows 11, a 3-year warranty, and a variety of software enhances the overall package.

If your current setup runs games to your satisfaction, this upgrade should offer a significant performance boost. Ensure the new system aligns with your preferences and needs. Happy gaming!
 
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