Help with gaming build please

[Sylence]

Hi all, I'm looking to get a new PC entirely for gaming.

My max budget is £3000 but ideally I'd like to spend a bit less if possible. I'm currently playing games like Diablo 4 and seriously looking forward to Baulders Gate 3 tomorrow. I mainly play 1 player story driven games, Starfield probably being next up.

I'm currently using a 1440p 144hz 27" monitor, but will upgrade in the coming weeks to a 4k 144hz monitor so if there are any suggestions there I'd appreciate it!

I've taken a look around the forums and discord channel and have come up with the below at a cost of £2716.00.

I'm not particularly fussed with going either AMD or Intel for the CPU but would like to stick with Nvidia for the graphics card.

My last build was with a 1080TI back in 2017 so I thought it's worth going for the 4080 with 4k gaming in mind, along with the fact it's unlikely i'll upgrade any parts in the near future. With those types of games though am I better off saving £330 and going for a 4070ti or am I good with what I've selected?

Finally, on the configuration page it has asked me where do I want to mount the radiator for the cooler, any suggestions?

Any advice would be really appreciated.

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.0GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE B650 AORUS ELITE AX: (WIFI 6E, DDR5, USB 3.2) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4080 - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR, 1625MB/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 iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX XT RGB 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

Price: £2,716.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.ie/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/x5SDenUtm6/

 

[sck451]

This looks like a very solid start. There's nothing you need to change (well, you should remove Norton, but everything else is fine).

I would, however, suggest a few changes. First, I'd go for the Tuf B650 motherboard. It's basically the same quality and features but a bit cheaper. Second, I'd upgrade the primary storage to the P44 Pro: it's £20 and definitely a nice bump for the boot drive. (The 512GB P41+ is quite slow.) The H150i is unnecessary, but I guess it's there for aesthetics? The H100i (or even a decent air cooler) would be plenty.

Finally, I would be inclined to go for the Radeon 7900 XTX, rather than the 4080. They're very similar in performance, but the AMD card is cheaper. AMD also have a good recent record of significant performance improvements through driver updates over the life of their cards.

All that takes around £200 off the cost of the build while maintaining or improving performance.

Here's the overall build I'd be inclined to go for in your shoes:

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER 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 B650-PLUS WIFI (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
24GB AMD RADEON™ RX 7900 XTX - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti 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 iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX XT RGB 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 [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
Microsoft® Edge
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 7 to 9 working days
Price: £2,537.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.ie/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/VmwWQYb2rc/

 

[Scott]

If sticking with Nvidia you would need to decide if the 4070Ti or 4080 was the best fit for you. The 4070Ti is definitely a 4k capable card, but the 4080 will push things a little further. You'll either get the same FPS with the eye candy turned up a bit, or slightly more FPS.

How important that is to you depends on how critical the FPS rates are.

The difference in price is significant though. From Nvidia I think the 4070Ti is probably the best bang for buck. I've got the 4080, with my main concern being VR, I still feel like I gave away a child to get it though.

AMD definitely offers the best value right now though. The cheaper 6950XT is the best value going, it's a 4k card but probably just below the 7900XT (Non XTX) in performance. I would also recommend the likes of the XTX for better value but only if VR is definitely not on the horizon for you.

 

[Sylence]

Thank you both for the feedback, i'll take a look at the AMD graphics card.

Sck451, you mentioned a good air cooler, is there anything you'd recommend?

I think with the graphics while I want the game to run smoothly, it's more about it looking pretty rather than cranking out a few extra fps.

 

[Scott]

For cooling the H100i is the lowest I would recommend from the current offerings. All you really gain with the H150i is the aesthetic of covering the whole panel in shiny glow. There aren't any air coolers available at the moment that I would recommend. The Deepcool's have sold out at the moment.

I would have a look at youtube for 4070Ti vs 4080 comparisons. The settings will always be identical but it will show you the FPS variation you are likely to experience. Flat panel gaming it wouldn't bother me in the slightest so I would pocket the savings. Be sure to check specific titles that you'll be playing though, just to ensure a good playing experience. MSFS is my main game, I would have went 4090 for it if I didn't enjoy my organs so much.

 

[Sylence]

With the H150i does it matter where the cooling radiator is mounted?

 

[Scott]

With the 5000X I would go with the top. It'll give you the look of 3 fans from the case over the front and the 3 fans from the H150 on the roof

You could mount it at the front but this wouldn't be the ideal airflow solution and it would look a bit strange with RGB fans on top of fans I imagine.

 

[Sylence]

Thank you! This will be my 3rd PCS purchase and as always this forum is amazing.

 

[sck451]

If sticking with Nvidia you would need to decide if the 4070Ti or 4080 was the best fit for you. The 4070Ti is definitely a 4k capable card, but the 4080 will push things a little further. You'll either get the same FPS with the eye candy turned up a bit, or slightly more FPS.

How important that is to you depends on how critical the FPS rates are.

The difference in price is significant though. From Nvidia I think the 4070Ti is probably the best bang for buck. I've got the 4080, with my main concern being VR, I still feel like I gave away a child to get it though.

AMD definitely offers the best value right now though. The cheaper 6950XT is the best value going, it's a 4k card but probably just below the 7900XT (Non XTX) in performance. I would also recommend the likes of the XTX for better value but only if VR is definitely not on the horizon for you.

Good shouts: I always forget to think in terms of VR because I would never contemplate it! Both times I tried it I felt very unwell...

 

[Scott]

Good shouts: I always forget to think in terms of VR because I would never contemplate it! Both times I tried it I felt very unwell...

I'm actually fortunate that I don't get any kind of motion sickness or anything (Save for when inadvertently going backwards in a racing sim, that gives me the weird motion feeling you get on a train).

The main reason I'm fortunate is that I spent £1k on kit before even contemplating it might be an issue

My mate can't do any driving or fast paced games at all on it. Most are OK with beat saber and more static position games.