Help Needed Please!

[Emergetic]

Hi Folks,

I am replacing my trusty old Ryzen 5 FINALLY! (Inspiron 5675, 1400 quad core, 3200mhz, GeFore GTX 1060 6GB, SSD SanDisk X400 M.2 2280, 8GB RAM) With a 28" AOC Monitor, meant to be 4k but never run it as 4k, so its a 1080p, 60hz. (model U2879G6)

I am sticking with Ryzen because it has served me so well for the past 7 years.
There is still a part of me that's tempted to upgrade mine with a 32gb ram and 2tb SSD but not sure it can handle it (any tips be appreciated!)

So anyway, figure the 9 is the best shout. And after some research the 7950X3D 16 core seems amazing so I'm building around that.
I am not to good with motherboards and not sure which one to choose, so just shoved one one that looks half decent.
Have only put an 8gb graphics on due to monitor basically being 1080p but who knows, with a better rig I might be able to run on 4k?

I am a part time gamer, but run pretty small games that currently run ok on my 5.
I do A LOT of video editing, streaming and also use for my day job so run multiple programmes at once.
My 5 has never really struggled too badly, the ram and SSD being the huge let downs.
So I know I am totally exceeding what I need - however I am hoping with a better rig I can play some better games and work faster!

Ideally I don't really wanna spend more than £1500, but happy to go as high as £2000 if I'm going to end up with a beast than can handle anything I throw at it!

This is what I've got so far - please feel free to tell me where I've gone wrong haha!

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Promotional Item
Get a discount code for 20% off select peripherals at Corsair.com
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 16 Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.7GHz/144MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 6E)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3050 - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 990 PRO M.2, PCIe 4.0 NVMe (up to 7450MB/R, 6900MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W CX SERIES™ CX-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 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
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
Google Chrome™
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 4 to 6 working days
Price: £1691.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/m0Ega6f7T0/

 

[Scott]

I think you need to work closer to the £2k budget to get a meaningful upgrade. If you are happy with the performance of your current system though, the RAM & SSD upgrade might be worth considering.

Build I would suggest below. Note that I've lowered the CPU and increased the GPU. The CPU is still a great performer but the increased GPU performance means that your video editing can be handled with the Cuda Cores (which the 16GB Ti card seems designed for).

Supporting elements all chosen with this all in mind. With regards to the storage, you want at least 2 drives in any modern system. One purely for the OS & programs. Another for fast storage (cache/games/etc). Don't use any partitions or anything like that. It may be worthwhile considering a 3rd 1TB drive purely for cache but it depends how serious you want to get with your uses.

If you are putting the current PC out to pasture you could transfer your windows license and save £100 on the below.

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.0GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 6E)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
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 1000W 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 H100x RGB ELITE 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
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
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Price: £1,943.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/Ht6E2bNz!V/

 

[Emergetic]

I think you need to work closer to the £2k budget to get a meaningful upgrade. If you are happy with the performance of your current system though, the RAM & SSD upgrade might be worth considering.

Build I would suggest below. Note that I've lowered the CPU and increased the GPU. The CPU is still a great performer but the increased GPU performance means that your video editing can be handled with the Cuda Cores (which the 16GB Ti card seems designed for).

Supporting elements all chosen with this all in mind. With regards to the storage, you want at least 2 drives in any modern system. One purely for the OS & programs. Another for fast storage (cache/games/etc). Don't use any partitions or anything like that. It may be worthwhile considering a 3rd 1TB drive purely for cache but it depends how serious you want to get with your uses.

If you are putting the current PC out to pasture you could transfer your windows license and save £100 on the below.

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.0GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 6E)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
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 1000W 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 H100x RGB ELITE 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
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
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 4 to 6 working days
Price: £1,943.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/Ht6E2bNz!V/

Hey, thank you so much for this!

OK so I have a couple of questions if you don't mind.

Going for the Ryzen 9 only bumps it up by about £100....for such a low increase is it worth going for it? I always feel if I can get top spec I may as well, and for £100 more i feel like I should! Ha!

Completely get the 2 storage drives reasoning. Thanks!
Do you mind me asking if the Samsung Pro ones which have a faster read speed are worth the extra £100 or so? I initially chose them for their read speeds as that's all I'm really clued up about on SSD differences haha!

Two other questions, I choose (and you kept) the Corsair 1000w Power Supply and the cpu cooler.
I just noticed the CPU cooler is RGB which I do not need so went on to change and noticed both options add quite a chunk to the overall.
I'm wondering if you have any suggestions for perhaps lowering the overall but amending these two choices? If possible to do so?

I'm a Windows 10 user so I think I have to bite the bullet and move to Windows 11 when I get this, hopefully no dramas moving the license! 😄

Thank you again so much for your help!

 

[Scott]

With the CPU it really depends. The 7900 would be a fair choice but the 7900X3D would be a poor choice. The way the chip is designed it has 2 chiplets, with the X3D only one has a gaming side so it needs configured for optimal gaming & non-gaming tasks. It's not difficult to work with but it's just something that creates a bit of faff. The 7800X3D will perform very well for all your tasks, and as I said if the GPU is in place it will take on the work anyway..... making a more powerful CPU moot. I genuinely wouldn't spend the extra here. Better to pocket it and upgrade the CPU down the line, if/when you want more juice.

I wouldn't choose the Samsungs personally. The difference is negligible and you will end up with double the storage space on the primary drive which won't help anything. The second drive doesn't need to be overly fast but if you did want a bit more speed you could choose the P44 as a secondary also. IMO you'll never notice the difference.

I chose the cooler as it is a top performer. The RGB can be switched off but there is no non-RGB alternative AIO that I would recommend. If you wanted to save you could opt for the AK620, which will do an OK job for most situations. You will get heat soak during intensive tasks though and you will lose a bit of performance if this happens as the chips are quite sensitive to temperature nowadays. The 1000w PSU is the minimum I would get in a new system nowadays. As much as you don't need 1000w right now, it means that should you wish to get something more powerful down the line to aid the encoding, you have the headroom there to almost go all out.

If you're moving the license you can remove the Win11 license from the build above. This will save you £100. It's so easy to do this now. All you do is make sure you have a M$ account and your PC is registered to it. When you get the new PC, just go through the troubleshooting/hardware change option and you can transfer the license. This presumes you are retiring the rig right enough, or gifting it to someone else to put their own license onto it.

 

[Emergetic]

With the CPU it really depends. The 7900 would be a fair choice but the 7900X3D would be a poor choice. The way the chip is designed it has 2 chiplets, with the X3D only one has a gaming side so it needs configured for optimal gaming & non-gaming tasks. It's not difficult to work with but it's just something that creates a bit of faff. The 7800X3D will perform very well for all your tasks, and as I said if the GPU is in place it will take on the work anyway..... making a more powerful CPU moot. I genuinely wouldn't spend the extra here. Better to pocket it and upgrade the CPU down the line, if/when you want more juice.

I wouldn't choose the Samsungs personally. The difference is negligible and you will end up with double the storage space on the primary drive which won't help anything. The second drive doesn't need to be overly fast but if you did want a bit more speed you could choose the P44 as a secondary also. IMO you'll never notice the difference.

I chose the cooler as it is a top performer. The RGB can be switched off but there is no non-RGB alternative AIO that I would recommend. If you wanted to save you could opt for the AK620, which will do an OK job for most situations. You will get heat soak during intensive tasks though and you will lose a bit of performance if this happens as the chips are quite sensitive to temperature nowadays. The 1000w PSU is the minimum I would get in a new system nowadays. As much as you don't need 1000w right now, it means that should you wish to get something more powerful down the line to aid the encoding, you have the headroom there to almost go all out.

If you're moving the license you can remove the Win11 license from the build above. This will save you £100. It's so easy to do this now. All you do is make sure you have a M$ account and your PC is registered to it. When you get the new PC, just go through the troubleshooting/hardware change option and you can transfer the license. This presumes you are retiring the rig right enough, or gifting it to someone else to put their own license onto it.

You are a star. Thank you so so much!

Right, now time to figure out how to pay for it! 😆
Just spent nearly £1k repairing my bloody car yesterday which was waaaay more than expected 🤣

I think the old credit card will be getting some abuse hahhaha!

Thank you again for all of your help. Truly appreciated so much!

Probably is overkill for what I need at present but I have big plans and always better to invest in something that will keep up with my plans!
Mine was a decent budget 7 years ago and has served me well despite not being quite enough (I had to get an external ssd for it) so I'm hopeful this will last just as long and actually keep up with me and my ever growing needs!

So excited. Thank youuuuu