Help checking new PC spec

[mark070797]

Hi all, I’m a complete noob with PCs and I’m looking to upgrade from my 10 year old PC to something that will run games very nicely. I’m looking at playing Flight Simulator 2020, Train Simulator 2020, Euro Truck Simulator 2, iRacing/ rFactor2/ Assetto Corsa and maybe a bit of Photoshop. I have a very rough budget of £1500 but there‘s wiggle room. Looking at the ideal specs for FS2020 and a bit of help from elsewhere I came up with the following build:

Case
PCS 6003B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT Eight Core CPU (4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 5700 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 860 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CV SERIES™ CV-650 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 RGB Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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 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 Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 21 to 23 working days

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/nvgAH3uuhY/

Can people let me know if that is a decent setup. Is there anything there that would be a bottleneck, or is there anything there that is too powerful? I’m also curious if the cooling is suitable and is the case ok (it’s the cheapest case) if not which one is recommended?

Thanks for taking the time to read this.
Mark

 

[mark070797]

Welcome

Could you please edit to include the "Unique Configurable URL" from the post to forum page? Makes it easier for us to go in and amend if needed rather than doing the whole configurator. Thank you

What monitor is this going to be paired with? Resolution and refresh rate or make and model if unsure. The monitor dictates a gaming system to a great extent as the system can only ouput what the monitor can display (so putting a 1440p graphics card in a system would be wasted money if the monitor is only 1080p for example)

There are definitely areas that can be worked on in the spec but a lot depends on the monitor as graphics card use up significant budget. That case will definitely need changing too but we can sort that out

Oops! Sorry I didn’t realise the link had to go in (it’s there now!).

Monitor wise is something I haven’t put much thought into yet. I was thinking about getting a 1440p Curved 144Hz monitor probably in the Black Friday sales, so let’s assume that for now.

Since I posted that spec I have went in and changed the case, just to one that can house more than one cooling fan on the rear. I’d still like to know if the case I’ve chosen in the link will be suitable though.

Thank you again!

Edit: I am also curious about cooling. Is the cooling sufficient? If not, what would you recommend? Water cooled or air cooled?

 

[mark070797]

No worries..the link is easily overlooked. Just makes things easier for us.

Case-wise, it still needs a better one...generally the iCUE 220T and the ones to the right of it (with one or two exceptions) are ones we recommend.

Given you are not likely to get a new monitor till November, I am in 2 minds here. Thing is that new Graphics Cards are coming in September/October which will be more powerful than the current lineup. If I was in your position, I would be looking at a 1080p card for now to match your monitor and then upgrading your GPU to one of the new ones when you upgrade the monitor.

It's up to you as we can do specs for either scenario so if you let us know which you prefer. Of course, we could take the money saved (around £300) and put it into the basics of the system or you could save the money. It's your choice which way you would prefer.

I’d rather spec one out and get it now while I have the money rather than wait if you get me.

I‘m defiantly looking at getting a 1440p 144hz monitor by November at the latest so I am happy to build a PC now around that monitor. I’ve changed a few things from the previous spec (changed the case to the ICUE 220T, changed CPU from 3800XT to 3800X and upped the storage to 2TB).

Could you have a look and see if I’m in the right ball park with specs. Cooling wise as well I’m not sure if the cooling I’ve chosen is decent, or if I need to go liquid cooling.

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/S5dQ37Wqbh/

Thanks 😊

 

[mark070797]

Yeah...I completely understand. I am lways happy to help advise regardless..just like to make sure people are aware of any alternatives, especially given the huge jump in performance the new GPUs will give for very little (if any) extra money over what current cards cost.

So, you said in the first post there was some wriggle room but didn't specify the wriggle room value (to me wriggle room is up to 20% more but to you it might only be 5%). This is obviously based on my interpretation of wriggle room:

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
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
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
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
Standard Build - Approximately 21 to 23 working days
Price: £1,749.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/Kusq6uTvqR/

Yeah by wiggle room I meant anything up to £2000. Now you’ve put in the RTX 2070 Super it makes it very tempting because I have seen it does seem to out perform the 5700XT.

I keep coming back to cooling because I know how hot they can get. You’ve recommended liquid cooling so I’m guessing that’s the more efficient way to go. Is there any maintenance you need to do with it? Do you need to change the liquid in it every so often etc. Just worried if I’ve got to open the case to refill it might void the warranty.

 

[mark070797]

So, this is what I'd go with allowing the full £2k...obviously we can scale back if you really don't want to go to the limit:


Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT Eight Core CPU (4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
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
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM 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)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
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
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
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
Standard Build - Approximately 21 to 23 working days
Price: £2,000.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/9qZNB49xKj/

I like the look of that. I might still drop the 3800XT down to a 3800X though because I don’t think there’s much of difference between the two other than the XT using more power and running at a higher temperature.

I’ll post another reply in a second with what spec I have at the minute and if you could just let me know if that looks okay and there wont be any issues or bottlenecks that would be brilliant.

 

[mark070797]

So, this is what I'd go with allowing the full £2k...obviously we can scale back if you really don't want to go to the limit:


Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT Eight Core CPU (4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
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
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM 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)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
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
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
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
Standard Build - Approximately 21 to 23 working days
Price: £2,000.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/9qZNB49xKj/

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 120 2.5" SSD, (up to 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW)
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
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 Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 21 to 23 working days
Price: £1,831.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/NH922TTT4q/

 

[mark070797]

It's up to you...but I would disagree on the using more power part as the XT chips are using a newer process than the X so are more efficient. The main difference between them is the slightly increased peak speed. But if you don't feel the cost is worth it, then fair enough.

As to the rest of your updated spec, not entirely sure why you have taken so many components and replaced them with lesser parts? If you are trying to reduce the costs as much as possible, then you might just as well go with the first spec I posted.

The only things I changed were the storage (I’d prefer SSD over HDD), swapped out the 3800XT for the 3800X and the website recommended the 550W power supply over the 750W?

And I only just realised I put the wrong cooling on, it’s now the H100i As you recommended.

 

[mark070797]

Apologies if I came across a little harsh there...it happens sometimes when I am tired

PSU: 99% of the builds we recommend have that message...just ignore it as we always allow ample room. The reason the PSU was picked is it is much better than the TxM....quieter, less wires and the fan on it only runs when the system is under load so is more power efficient

Cooler: Yeah the RGB Platinum is a newer and better cooler than the Hydro

Hard drives: The SATA drive is there for just storage and nothing else so it only needs to be one of them...the primary drive in my spec was an M2 drive. M2 drives are basically the next generation of SSDS and are actually chips rather than actual drives. Much faster than SSDs ( a good way to compare the various hard drives is: SATA HDD=VHS tape; SSD=DVD; M2 drive=Blu-Ray; Gen 4 M2 drive=4k Blu-Ray). That's the best anaology for them I can think of...definitely recommended for the m2 drive...loading times are improved albeit not by huge margins (a few seconds for Windows to load up, a few less seconds for games etc) but they are much quicker for transferring data and for writing data to a drive.

No worries it didn't come across as harsh 😊

Thank you soo much for your help. You really could not have been more helpful! I‘m going to do a bit more research on hard drives and then I’ll probably order the spec I last posted with the few changes.

Again, thank you so, so much for your help 😊

 

[mark070797]

You're welcome.If you decide to go with the M2 drive and the SATA for storage, easiest thing to do is just click the link from the second spec I posted, change the CPU to the 3800x and you are good to go from there...saves missing things out. Either way, don't bother with the thermal paste option....all high end coolers like the Corsairs come with high-grade thermal paste anyway (not sure but it may even be better than the one PCS uses)

Yes, I forgot to remove the paste. I think I will go for the M2 and increase the SATA storage up a few TB and I will make sure the m2 drive is set so Windows is installed on that. Thank you again 😊