Gaming PC - Budget £2,000 max - 27'' / 1440p / 144hz (+) monitor

[BIGGIEfauls]

Hi guys,

Finally have the space to invest in a PC set up again after being forced (!) to game on a console for the last 5 years or so. I've built some PCs in the past but have always been a novice. Even more so now that I've been out of the market for quite a while now so definitely don't know what I'm doing! Would greatly appreciate your advice.

USE CASE: Regular gaming. I play quite a lot of FPS (Battlefield, CoD etc) however do enjoy RTS (Total War etc) and RPG. Ideally I want to be able to play current AAA titles on full graphics and be able to play new releases in the next 3 years or so at almost full. In other words, I want this set up to be relatively future proof for 3 years or so as I know I probably won't be upgrading individual components unless I absolutely need to.

MONITOR: I am planning to upgrade to a 27'' / 1440p / 144hz monitor with this purchase however I've left that separate to the budget for the PC itself. If you do have any recommendations for the below set up that would be great. At the moment I have a decent 24'' monitor from my work but planning to replace that before the PC arrives. At the moment I'm looking at the Asus TUF Gaming VG27AQ 27” Monitor, 1440P, IPS, 165Hz or similar depending on availability.

BUDGET: £2,000 is just about my max although ideally I'd like to spend less, especially since I've read that it may be more beneficial to spend more on the monitor instead. Would love some feedback on this considering the sample build below.

Here's the build I've come up with. Would greatly appreciate any guidance you can give! I'm not in a massive rush and I understand there's quite a wait on a couple of these components so that's fine. A couple of comments:

- I've left stock CPU cooling, is it necessary to get something aftermarket?
- Have I gone overboard on the CPU/Motherboard considering the GPU standard?
- I have a Windows 10 license on a customer Laptop purchased from PC Specialist in 2015. Do I still need to purchase an additional license with this build?

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 465X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/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
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 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 (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
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 13 to 15 working days
Price: £1,940.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/vFADd9VECX/

Let me know if you need any further details and thanks again for your help!

 

[Scott]

I would say you're right on the money save for the cooler. You really need the H100i RGB Platinum or PRO XT on there as a minimum.

I would probably have the 850W PSU on there (If available) and the Silver warranty too.

As a compromise you would be fine with the 5600X with the stock cooler. There isn't really any need to go above that chip other than for turn based games. I like the 5800X but it's not great value considering the extra cash. The 5900X does make more sense financially but, again, it's not really needed.

 

[BIGGIEfauls]

Thanks! Will look into the cooling and the PSU. Might also wait for the new AMD GPUs as I'm not in a rush. Any thoughts on that? Will they work better with AMD CPU/Motherboard?

 

[Scott]

Blow for blow there isn't THAT much in it. The 6800XT beats the 3080 in most use cases, but it's by a slim margin..... so much so that it doesn't really compare. With Ray Tracing there is still a bit of a margin so if that's an Important feature, Nvidia should be the choice.

There are other things to consider such as DLSS 2.0, but I believe AMD have a response for that also that will only grow (It's used in the consoles as well).

With regards to a benefit with the AMD CPU, the answer is definitely yes. Combined they have an infinity Fabric which allows an in-built highway of sharing between the GPU and the CPU. It offers a performance gain for sure and I don't doubt it will get better in time.

It's a really interesting time. I would stay tuned until the full reviews come out. One of the main considerations for me is going to be FS2020. I know they are planning DX12 and Ray Tracing, so it will be interesting to see how team Red performs as it currently stands.

 

[PrayForWar]

This is very similar to the rig I was proposing, so it's a relief to know I'm in good company.

I'd be interested in people's thoughts about swapping out the HDD and SSD for a single, 1TB Samsung 980 pro. I play a lot of turn-based games and I'm sick of watching that damn bar slowly fill up. Also I can easily retro-fit my old SSD or HDD as a secondary drive.

Also,

As a compromise you would be fine with the 5600X with the stock cooler. There isn't really any need to go above that chip other than for turn based games. I like the 5800X but it's not great value considering the extra cash. The 5900X does make more sense financially but, again, it's not really needed.

I note you've not mentioned the 5700X, which seems like the obvious compromise here. It's excellent for its price-point. Is there a reason you discounted it?

 

[TonyCarter]

This is very similar to the rig I was proposing, so it's a relief to know I'm in good company.

I'd be interested in people's thoughts about swapping out the HDD and SSD for a single, 1TB Samsung 980 pro. I play a lot of turn-based games and I'm sick of watching that damn bar slowly fill up. Also I can easily retro-fit my old SSD or HDD as a secondary drive.

Also,

I note you've not mentioned the 5700X, which seems like the obvious compromise here. It's excellent for its price-point. Is there a reason you discounted it?

I don't see a 5700X CPU in the configurator, only a 5600X, 5800X, 5900X, 5950X.

I think the point was for the £150 increase between the 5600X and 5800X you don't get anything other than 2 cores - and if you really need lots of cores you might as well pay another £90 for the 5900X.

If the 5700X becomes available at a price between the 5600 and 5800, then yes it might make the best value proposition for gaming/multi-core work.

I've gone for a 1TB boot/install drive and a 4TB HDD for storage and backup, but have got m.2 SSDs at home doing nothing so may put one of those in as a secondary game location in case of system failures/Windows installs...which then point me towards saving some cash and putting a smaller m.2 boot drive in...decisions, decisions

 

[Scott]

I don't see a 5700X CPU in the configurator, only a 5600X, 5800X, 5900X, 5950X.

I think the point was for the £150 increase between the 5600X and 5800X you don't get anything other than 2 cores - and if you really need lots of cores you might as well pay another £90 for the 5900X.

If the 5700X becomes available at a price between the 5600 and 5800, then yes it might make the best value proposition for gaming/multi-core work.

I've gone for a 1TB boot/install drive and a 4TB HDD for storage and backup, but have got m.2 SSDs at home doing nothing so may put one of those in as a secondary game location in case of system failures/Windows installs...which then point me towards saving some cash and putting a smaller m.2 boot drive in...decisions, decisions

I think he will be meaning the 5700XT, as a GPU, rather than the CPU. I wouldn't advise this though as it is now literally previous gen and going to get demolished £ for £ by both AMD and Nvidia.