Last checkover

[felhfornow]

About to place my order, would appreciate a final lookover

Budget: £1.4k, hard limit
Uses: college work, programming, gaming, reading/writing, art, watching shows/films
Monitor: Samsung C24F390FHR
Notes: wifi is weak in my room, planning on getting an ethernet cable. also planning on getting a second monitor

Here's the spec:
Case | CORSAIR 4000D RGB AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 5700X Eight Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.6GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard | ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (AM4, DDR4, PCIe 4.0)
RAM | 32GB PCS PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
GPU | 8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6600 - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
Support Bracket | NONE
1st M.2 SSD | 512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
2nd M.2 SSD | 2TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
External DVD Drive | 8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
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)
CPU Cooling | PCS FrostFlow 200 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 | 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card | ASUS PCE-AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 (1201Mbps/5GHz, 574Mbps/2.4GHz + Bluetooth 5.2)
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™
Keyboard & Mouse | ASUS TUF K1 Gaming Keyboard & M3 Gen II Mouse Bundle
Mouse Pad | SteelSeries QcK Small Mousepad
Warranty | 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/syj0fJdVfR/

Price incl. VAT | £1,333.00

Thanks!

 

[Ekans2011]

About to place my order, would appreciate a final lookover

Budget: £1.4k, hard limit
Uses: college work, programming, gaming, reading/writing, art, watching shows/films
Monitor: Samsung C24F390FHR
Notes: wifi is weak in my room, planning on getting an ethernet cable. also planning on getting a second monitor

Here's the spec:
Case | CORSAIR 4000D RGB AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
CPU | AMD Ryzen 7 5700X Eight Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.6GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard | ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (AM4, DDR4, PCIe 4.0)
RAM | 32GB PCS PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
GPU | 8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6600 - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
Support Bracket | NONE
1st M.2 SSD | 512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
2nd M.2 SSD | 2TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
External DVD Drive | 8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
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)
CPU Cooling | PCS FrostFlow 200 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 | 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card | ASUS PCE-AX1800 Wi-Fi 6 (1201Mbps/5GHz, 574Mbps/2.4GHz + Bluetooth 5.2)
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™
Keyboard & Mouse | ASUS TUF K1 Gaming Keyboard & M3 Gen II Mouse Bundle
Mouse Pad | SteelSeries QcK Small Mousepad
Warranty | 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/syj0fJdVfR/

Price incl. VAT | £1,333.00

Thanks!

In my opinion, it's not a well-designed build, and the monitor is far from ideal for gaming.

If you could add a tiny amount to your budget, you would have a significantly better system.

Something like that would provide you more in the long term, despite the limited upgrade capabilities of a 750W ATX 3.1 PSU.

Case
CORSAIR 3000D AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.3GHz/40MB 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
16GB AMD RADEON™ RX 7600 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
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
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW)
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
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
Firefox™
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: £1,447.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/jY4fdtPzak/

 

[felhfornow]

In my opinion, it's not a well-designed build, and the monitor is far from ideal for gaming.

If you could add a tiny amount to your budget, you would have a significantly better system.

Something like that would provide you more in the long term, despite the limited upgrade capabilities of a 750W ATX 3.1 PSU.

Case
CORSAIR 3000D AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.3GHz/40MB 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
16GB AMD RADEON™ RX 7600 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
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
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW)
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
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
Firefox™
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: £1,447.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/jY4fdtPzak/

do you have any recs for a monitor i could get thats better for gaming? i want a dual set up anyway

 

[SpyderTracks]

do you have any recs for a monitor i could get thats better for gaming? i want a dual set up anyway

With 2 monitors the second doesnt benefit from high refresh so isn’t worth getting a gaming one as the second.

This is the best value 1080p gaming monitor, it’s a sanely cheap for a proper IPS panel, really good value

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/aoc-24g4x-full-hd-24-ips-lcd-gaming-monitor-black-10260337.html?istCompanyId=bec25c7e-cbcd-460d-81d5-a25372d2e3d7&istFeedId=4d7eb93e-055f-499d-8ee5-1cdcc50d67d1&istItemId=mxplawtli&istBid=t&srcid=198&cmpid=ppc~gg~0075+(Shopping+Ads)+Gaming+Monitors+-+PMAX~~Exact~71700000115259416~&mctag=gg_goog_7904&kwid=GOOGLE&device=m&ds_kids=&tgtid=0075+(Shopping+Ads)+Gaming+Monitors+-+PMAX&&gad_source=1&gbraid=0AAAAAD7JKSKrSFGdm20N1TLk1ri329aHw&gclid=Cj0KCQjw_sq2BhCUARIsAIVqmQv4_SfpQpnUJuKc84MaxsmIAg8vyS-xeomTD1Gnc2Om63xAKjLHYCwaAqMaEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds

For a review check the last chapter in this video

 

[TonyCarter]

 

[ThyThy]

I agree about choosing the AM5 platform.

If you want to stick within your budget's hard limit WITH the accessories you added, I would suggest either of those, assuming your tasks do not benefit much from multithreading:

If 1.5 TB is sufficient (easy and relatively cheap to upgrade later):

PCSPECIALIST - Configure the AMD Am5 PC to your ideal requirements.

PCSpecialist is an award-winning manufacturer of high quality custom PCs & Laptops. Configure the AMD Am5 PC to your ideal requirements.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

If you need 2.5 TB:

PCSPECIALIST - Configure the AMD Am5 PC to your ideal requirements.

PCSpecialist is an award-winning manufacturer of high quality custom PCs & Laptops. Configure the AMD Am5 PC to your ideal requirements.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

The cooler in the first config would obviously "scale" better if you later switch to a CPU with a higher PPT.

The VA panel is great for films but much less so for fast past games. So, it depends on your priorities and what types of games you play.

Lastly, if you are at college and with programming skills, you may have access to free copies of Win11 and the skill to install everything. You could spare £80 and bump a bit the performance.

 

[Ekans2011]

If you want to stick within your budget's hard limit WITH the accessories you added, I would suggest either of those, assuming your tasks do not benefit much from multithreading:

In my opinion, for a £50 difference, I would not limit my CPU, RAM, and cooler performance.

Even if it works, I don't believe it is a wise decision. But the choice is up to the OP.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Although this is unquestionably a fantastic value monitor and it’s really good to see these higher end specs at the entry level, I’m not sure I’d want a 7600 XT for 1440p.

Saying that though, a monitor is a long term investment, whereas a GPU isn’t. And 1440p is a far better experience generally. the RX 7600xt could average around 60FPS at 1440p which is by no means good but certainly playable, and then you could step up the gpu tier in a few years with a strong platform to support the extra power.

AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT review: double the memory and higher clocks, still Navi 33

RX 6700 XT still provides stiff competition at the same price.

www.tomshardware.com

So yeah, it’s definitely an option.

 

[ThyThy]

In my opinion, for a £50 difference, I would not limit my CPU, RAM, and cooler performance.

Even if it works, I don't believe it is a wise decision. But the choice is up to the OP.

Yeah but it's actually a £156 overshoot if you add the accessories and the 2TB P41+.
Also, higher for more can always be suggested for a PC (you can upgrade further with £50 more and so on), so I try to stick to the budget. Plus I've been a student I know 1 buck is 1 buck. 😉
RAM is aleady much nicer with DDR5.

About the cooler: I have yet to see a review showing that the H100X (or equivalent) is better than the Frostflow 200. I'm interested if you have. I have not find something decisive yet. I have also looked at "ID-Cooling" since it seems it is a rebranding of that.
However, I've seen that the H100i from Corsair faires worst among 12 liquid coolers of 240mm in a video from Hardware Canucks.

 

[TonyCarter]

About the cooler: I have yet to see a review showing that the H100X (or equivalent) is better than the Frostflow 200. I'm interested if you have. I have not find something decisive yet. I have also looked at "ID-Cooling" since it seems it is a rebranding of that.
However, I've seen that the H100i from Corsair faires worst among 12 liquid coolers of 240mm in a video from Hardware Canucks.

If you'd been on here longer, you would have seen the much higher level of failures that we see on the PCS components than on 'branded' version. This goes for coolers, RAM, SSDs, cases. On the coolers it tends to be pump failures or rattling fans. The SSDs just fail more frequently.

PCS branded stuff doesn't give you any information of what they really are, so it's difficult to compare specs...plus it enables PCS to change supplier without changing their offerings.

If PCS offered anything other than unknown white-label options then we could offer alternatives to the Corsair coolers and RAM (as we did when they offered DeepCool tower coolers). Even in the case of SSDs, we used to recommend Samsung over PCS, until we started seeing issues with them too (mostly resolved now, but it leaves a poor taste in the mouth). Solidigm are what used to be Intel SSDs, but we'll still recommend Corsair for the larger models as from experience we don't see many issues with them.

BUT, if you're on a tight budget there's not a lot of option but to use these budget parts, but it can be a false economy...as the effort of RMA'ing the PC/component whilst still in warranty can be a PITA.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Also worth mentioning, the H100x model has been around for about a decade. If you’re simply searching that rather than the particular version, then you’re likely to get an older version which had far inferior pumps. Need to be sure you’re looking at the right generation.

Also, both LTT and Hardware Canucks were heavily pushing aircoolers and did some very interesting videos, but on earlier ones, it turned out the test system was an open air bench system which completely invalidates any results as doesn’t account for being within a case. Hardware Canucks did address this later on. just need to be sure you’re watching one of the valid videos.

 

[Ekans2011]

Yeah but it's actually a £156 overshoot if you add the accessories and the 2TB P41+.

Sorry, I hadn't counted the accessories.

Also, higher for more can always be suggested for a PC (you can upgrade further with £50 more and so on), so I try to stick to the budget. Plus I've been a student I know 1 buck is 1 buck.

Because I count each euro, I believe it's preferable to invest a bit more upfront than to have to spend a lot more later.

It's my point of view, and surely not the absolute truth.

 

[ThyThy]

If you'd been on here longer, you would have seen the much higher level of failures that we see on the PCS components than on 'branded' version. This goes for coolers, RAM, SSDs, cases. On the coolers it tends to be pump failures or rattling fans. The SSDs just fail more frequently.

PCS branded stuff doesn't give you any information of what they really are, so it's difficult to compare specs...plus it enables PCS to change supplier without changing their offerings.

If PCS offered anything other than unknown white-label options then we could offer alternatives to the Corsair coolers and RAM (as we did when they offered DeepCool tower coolers). [...]

Thanks for the information.
I'm not that much surprised about the return-rate of the PCS components and I would not recommend most of them — unless I have evidence that they are good value or for the tightest budgets, as you say. However, air coolers may be an exception in my eyes, because the risk both in tech and cost is small. If the fan is not satisfying or fails you can change it easily. If the contact-plate is too crappy you can switch to another better air cooler and you just lost max £46. I'm just annoyed to recommend expensive liquid coolers just because PCS doesn't offer better air coolers. Maybe the reason is that they have a contract of exclusivity with Corsair for some components... sad nonetheless.

About PCS changing supplier for their white-label: well, you probably know that most brands such as Corsair, Asus, HP, Dell etc. also rely on several suppliers for the same "subcomponent". On the consumer side it can be annoying but it makes sense for the company, to strengthen availability and negotiation ability (which may be good to the consumer, too). The difference is that we expect from those brands to care more about the quality of their end-products, to keep their customers, but... we've see what hapenned with Asus, Samsung, Intel and plenty others.

Because I count each euro, I believe it's preferable to invest a bit more upfront than to have to spend a lot more later.

That's also how I prefer to spend: less often but better (which may not mean more expensive). Probably also because I like tech and taking the time to learn it, know about it, before investing. However, whereas I try to spend on quality/performance, I'm cautious about spending based on "what if one day". In some scenario it can be beneficial (e.g. if you plan), but often I will just never use the "option".

Also worth mentioning, the H100x model has been around for about a decade. [...]

[...] but on earlier ones, it turned out the test system was an open air bench system [...] Hardware Canucks did address this later on. just need to be sure you’re watching one of the valid videos.

The video I saw is actually about the iCUE Link H100i. It's the most recent video, here: