Looking for Advice on a Long-lasting Build for Cities Skylines 2 & Heavily Modded Cities Skylines

[dangal]

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE - WHITE
Promotional Item
Buy select GeForce RTX 40 Series*, get Indiana Jones & The Great Circle
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 16 Core CPU (4.3GHz-5.7GHz/80MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5200MHz (2 x 32GB)
Graphics Card
16GB PALIT GEFORCE RTX 4080 SUPER INFINITY 3 OC - HDMI, 3 x DP
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 850W 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
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series ARGB High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
4 x Corsair RS120 ARGB PWM Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
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
Norton 360 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
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 6 to 8 working days
Price: £2,649.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/XSVRCSKKAZ/

 

[TonyCarter]

I've got lots of thoughts, but don't know if they'll help you as we've got no idea what you want to use the PC for.

If it's just gaming then the CPU is not the best choice. If it's for 50/50 gaming/rendering then I'd wait and get the 9900X3D or 9950X3D. If it's just for rendering then the 9950X is perfect.

The 850W ATX2.4 PSU you've selected is probably not enough headroom for that level CPU and GPU, we'd recommend the 1200W Shift (or another high power ATX3.1 PSU).

PCS cooling options are not great, so a Corsair Titan 360 would be my preference.

Norton is malware, so remove the trial as it's better for it never to have been anywhere near the PC, rather than you having to remove it yourself and risk leaving something behind.

If you want a white case, then you might want to change the extra fans to the white version to match...or pick the 5000X case which comes with 3 white fans.

 

[dangal]

Hi Tony, Thanks for sharing your thoughts—they’re definitely helpful! This PC will be primarily for gaming, with Cities: Skylines 2 and a heavily modded Cities: Skylines 1 being the main focus. I hadn’t considered the PSU headroom much, so I appreciate the recommendation for the 1200W Shift or another high-power ATX3.1 option. Cooling is also something I want to get right, Which is why I picked the case, I’ll also make sure to ditch the Norton trial straight away—I didn't realise it was selected heh.. As for the case, I initially wanted the black version, but it was out of stock. That said, I’m happy with how the black fans look against the white case, so I think I’ll stick with it for now. Let me know what you think would be best for Cities Skylines 2 - My current build really struggles to run the game, RTX 2080S and my cpu is getting a bit behind

I've got lots of thoughts, but don't know if they'll help you as we've got no idea what you want to use the PC for.

If it's just gaming then the CPU is not the best choice. If it's for 50/50 gaming/rendering then I'd wait and get the 9900X3D or 9950X3D. If it's just for rendering then the 9950X is perfect.

The 850W ATX2.4 PSU you've selected is probably not enough headroom for that level CPU and GPU, we'd recommend the 1200W Shift (or another high power ATX3.1 PSU).

PCS cooling options are not great, so a Corsair Titan 360 would be my preference.

Norton is malware, so remove the trial as it's better for it never to have been anywhere near the PC, rather than you having to remove it yourself and risk leaving something behind.

If you want a white case, then you might want to change the extra fans to the white version to match...or pick the 5000X case which comes with 3 white fans.

 

[sck451]

For a Cities Skylines 2, you need every bit of CPU horsepower you can possibly get. It uses every core of my 5900X: it's genuinely astonishing. And I still only get 40ish FPS in a big city. In your shoes I'd absolutely wait for the 9950X3D. It's by far the best option.

 

[dangal]

Hi everyone,

I’m looking to build a PC that will last me for 4–5 years and can handle some demanding tasks. Specifically, I need something that can:

• Run Cities Skylines 2 reasonably well, even with mods.
• Handle a very heavily modded Cities Skylines 1.
• Have decent airflow to keep things cool during long gaming sessions.

Here’s what I’m aiming for so far:

1. GPU: I was considering the NVIDIA 4080 Super
2. CPU: I’m thinking of going with an Intel 14th Gen i7-14700K or the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 16 Core CPU
3. RAM: 64GB for mod-heavy scenarios.
4. Resolution: My target is 2K, but I might move to 4K in the future.
5. Cooling: I’d like the system to run fairly quietly with great airflow.

Are these specs overkill, underwhelming, or just right for my use case? Also, if you have any specific recommendations for cases, cooling setups, or other components, or configurations I’d really appreciate it. I'm not very good or experienced with this stuff.

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Scott]

Hi there,

This support forum is for PCS customers looking to purchase PCs through their configurator. If it's a self build project you will need to head over to an open forum such as Toms hardware.

Couple of things to note on your journey, if by 2k you are referencing 1440p when I would stick with saying 1440p. 2k is technically 1080p as the "2" and the "4" references the amount of horizontal pixles rounded up/down to the nearest thousand. With 1440p it would be more accurate to call it either 3K or 2.5K. I hate all of that referencing though, for that very confusion than it creates. 4k is the only truly universal accepted reference.

Next, don't go near Intel.... don't listen to anyone that suggests it's even remotely a good idea as they're quite a ways off the pulse. AM5 platform is the best option, you don't necessarily have to go for the 9000 series though, the 7000 series still offers good value. The best thing to do with your uses in mind is hold off until January for the next generation X3D chips to be released with the higher core count. This would do very well in your scenarios.

Best of luck with your build

 

[dangal]

Hi there,

This support forum is for PCS customers looking to purchase PCs through their configurator. If it's a self build project you will need to head over to an open forum such as Toms hardware.

Couple of things to note on your journey, if by 2k you are referencing 1440p when I would stick with saying 1440p. 2k is technically 1080p as the "2" and the "4" references the amount of horizontal pixles rounded up/down to the nearest thousand. With 1440p it would be more accurate to call it either 3K or 2.5K. I hate all of that referencing though, for that very confusion than it creates. 4k is the only truly universal accepted reference.

Next, don't go near Intel.... don't listen to anyone that suggests it's even remotely a good idea as they're quite a ways off the pulse. AM5 platform is the best option, you don't necessarily have to go for the 9000 series though, the 7000 series still offers good value. The best thing to do with your uses in mind is hold off until January for the next generation X3D chips to be released with the higher core count. This would do very well in your scenarios.

Best of luck with your build

Hi, Thanks for the advice. I’m looking to purchase a PC through the PCS configurator but I’ve been struggling to finalize a build. I’ve tried configuring two setups so far, but each time I was told they wouldn’t work for one reason or another, and now I’m feeling a bit stuck!

 

[Scott]

We can certainly help with that. Have a look at the below thread and post back with the main answers regarding budget/monitor etc, be precise with the specs of things to help avoid the back and forth. The model number of the monitor would be especially helpful. Always include the budget as with a high end 64GB RAM system the sky is the limit really (geddit, geddit?? )

Please read before posting:- Collaboration of Helpful Hints

NB: These forums are not an official support channel. None of us work for PCS, we're all either customers or techies who just like to help out where possible. For any official support, you need to contact PCS directly either through your PCS account, or via the contact details on the main...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[dangal]

We can certainly help with that. Have a look at the below thread and post back with the main answers regarding budget/monitor etc, be precise with the specs of things to help avoid the back and forth. The model number of the monitor would be especially helpful. Always include the budget as with a high end 64GB RAM system the sky is the limit really (geddit, geddit?? )

Please read before posting:- Collaboration of Helpful Hints

NB: These forums are not an official support channel. None of us work for PCS, we're all either customers or techies who just like to help out where possible. For any official support, you need to contact PCS directly either through your PCS account, or via the contact details on the main...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Monitor: 1440p resolution, 165Hz refresh rate.
Uses: The system will primarily be for gaming. My main focus is Cities Skylines 2 (with mods) and heavily modded Cities Skylines 1. I don’t need it for VR, streaming, or video processing.
Max Budget: £2400.
Storage Requirements: I’d like two drives:

• A 2TB drive for general storage.
• A 500GB drive

Let me know if theres anythign I missed and if it helps at all, heres the last configuration I made : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/about-to-purchase-this-build-thoughts.99192/

 

[Scott]

You were quite a bit over your £2400 budget in the link above, so I've went under the assumption that the £2650 is closer to your limit. If it's not, feed back and we can pull some costs in.

Before considering the below, keep in mind that the next generation of X3D top end chips are due out in late Jan/Feb next year, the same goes for the next generation GPUs (5000 series, I would presume). With that in mind you would get a lot more performance all round for your money. Either the prices of the below will come down, or they will be comparable with counterparts for the same price with far more performance. I don't think anyone would recommend purchasing right now.

I don't think the budget is there for a "have it all" so I've compromised a little, more-so with the CPU, as it's an easy no brainer upgrade. The GPU will always be looked at for upgrading as well. I don't think you have anywhere near the need for a 4080 GPU though, I've just kept it in as it was your selection. The 4070Ti would be far closer to your requirements as Skylines is more CPU hungry than anything else for actual performance, the Mods tend to hammer the RAM while the GPU is only minimally affected. I think the reason for this is the ridiculously poor optimisation in the game. It asks a lot of the GPU in processing, while delivering very little. It's not a fast paced game though so I would always dial back the GPU needs for this style of play.

Ideally I would want the 9950X3D paired with a 5070 in the build below. This would be next years build for me. The rest is nicely balanced and has you covered for future upgrades.

Case
CORSAIR 3500X ARGB TEMPERED GLASS MID-TOWER (WHITE)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X 16 Core CPU (4.5GHz-5.7GHz/80MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 32GB) KIT
Graphics Card
16GB PALIT GEFORCE RTX 4080 SUPER INFINITY 3 OC - HDMI, 3 x DP
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 1200W RMx SHIFT 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 LCD XT RGB 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
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
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
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 5 to 7 working days
Price: £2,635.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/Agw20zwxrw/

 

[dangal]

Monitor: 1440p resolution, 165Hz refresh rate.
Uses: The system will primarily be for gaming. My main focus is Cities Skylines 2 (with mods) and heavily modded Cities Skylines 1. I don’t need it for VR, streaming, or video processing.
Max Budget: £2400.
Storage Requirements: I’d like two drives:

• A 2TB drive for general storage.
• A 500GB drive

Let me know if theres anythign I missed and if it helps at all, heres the last configuration I made : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/about-to-purchase-this-build-thoughts.99192/

Thank you! I noticed that the configuration doesn't have any extra case fans? Should I add any extra?

 

[Scott]

I wouldn't personally. You'll have 3 fans with the case as standard and 3 fans with the selected AIO. PCS will typically add a rear exhaust fan, I don't know if this is every time or only where the feel it's necessary, regardless it will be more than enough

 

[dangal]

alright thank you, so I could go ahead and order this and all should be fine as is then? I appreciate the help!

 

[Scott]

Yeah, it's a good build. I would consider what I said about both the GPU being overkill for your needs and the fact that loads of new tech is out next year which would give you better value and more performance.