New gaming rig - thoughts welcome

[PrayForWar]

Hi all,

I badly need to upgrade my nine year old gaming rig and I'm thinking of the spec below.

I'd really welcome people's thoughts in general, but also reactions to some specific thoughts:

1. I have sort-of settled on a GeForce RTX 3070 and a [EDIT] Ryzen 5900X but I'd be interested to know if people think there is a strong synergy between Intel/GeForce and AMD/AMD.
2. I suspect the Samsung 980 is a bit of overkill but I am so sick of staring at load-screens (esp. those minute- long screens on Total War) that I'm willing to shell out for insanely fast SSD. If you think the 980 won't be noticeably different from the 970 do say - it's supposed to be twice as fast but 2x nothing = nothing!
3. I may have slightly over-cooked the PSU (though I thought guidance for RTX3070 was 750w) but I want to be able to upgrade in the future and this buys space.
4. Not sure if I need liquid cooling but it's not expensive and my current PC gets hot.
5. I presume the case is fine for everything else (PC Specialist would flag a problem otherwise) and that it comes with all the necessary fans (I don't care about colour/LEDs) but if the case comes with fan-vents with fans not fitted please flag so I can order some extras.
6. I plan to wire my old HDD in as well so I will have an extra TB of space (and I won't have to transfer anything!). Is there any reason why I'd buy a new HDD?
7. I plan to buy Windows separately as I can get a licence much cheaper than the PC Spec price. Any good reason I should buy of PC Spec?

Right, enough of all that! Here's the proposed spec:

Case: NZXT H511 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (WHITE)
Processor (CPU): AMD Ryzen 9 [EDIT] 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard: ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM): 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card: 8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR (Pre-Order Only)
M.2 SSD Drive: 1TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
Power Supply: CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling: CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 120 High Performance Liquid Cooler

Let me know our thoughts!

 

[sck451]

It's definitely a decent start, but I'd question various aspects: the case (it's kind of toaster-iffic, not much airflow), the CPU (it's a last-gen 12-core -- a current gen 8-core would actually be better for gaming), the storage (I'd have two M.2 drives plus your existing HDD), your power supply (I'd go 850W for the sake of future upgrades) and the cooler (a 120mm cooler probably isn't enough: 240/280mm would be much better).

The key questions, though are (a) what's the budget?, (b) any purposes other than gaming?, and (c) what monitor will you be using?

As to your specific questions:

1) Not much, no. An AMD CPU helps an AMD GPU to some extent in some circumstances, but there's no problem with AMD+Nvidia.
2) It won't be a lot faster, but it will be a bit faster. I'd actually recommend my setup: a 980 boot drive and a 970 second drive for storing games and video editing projects.
3) As I say above, 850W is even better. Overspeccing a power supply is not a problem at all and often well worth it.
4) Do you need it? No. Will it be better for you? Probably, certainly from the PCS selection.
5) As above, the case is fine (everything fits), but it's not great for cooling. If you specifically want a white case, I'd suggest the Corsair 5000D (you'll have to order it elsewhere and send it in for PCS to build in).
6) Only if the old one is playing up. There are forum members here with 20-year-old HDDs.
7) If it's a genuine version of Windows, only that they'll set it up, install drivers, etc. But I'd be cautious of a Windows licence that seems too cheap to be trustworthy! But if you're retiring the old rig and it has Windows 10, you could transfer the licence from there.

But if you can say what the answer to those questions above are and especially if you can post your config link, I or plenty of others will be happy to help you!

 

[JUNI0R]

Hi all,

I badly need to upgrade my nine year old gaming rig and I'm thinking of the spec below.

I'd really welcome people's thoughts in general, but also reactions to some specific thoughts:

1. I have sort-of settled on a GeForce RTX 3070 and a Ryzen 3900X but I'd be interested to know if people think there is a strong synergy between Intel/GeForce and AMD/AMD.
2. I suspect the Samsung 980 is a bit of overkill but I am so sick of staring at load-screens (esp. those minute- long screens on Total War) that I'm willing to shell out for insanely fast SSD. If you think the 980 won't be noticeably different from the 970 do say - it's supposed to be twice as fast but 2x nothing = nothing!
3. I may have slightly over-cooked the PSU (though I thought guidance for RTX3070 was 750w) but I want to be able to upgrade in the future and this buys space.
4. Not sure if I need liquid cooling but it's not expensive and my current PC gets hot.
5. I presume the case is fine for everything else (PC Specialist would flag a problem otherwise) and that it comes with all the necessary fans (I don't care about colour/LEDs) but if the case comes with fan-vents with fans not fitted please flag so I can order some extras.
6. I plan to wire my old HDD in as well so I will have an extra TB of space (and I won't have to transfer anything!). Is there any reason why I'd buy a new HDD?
7. I plan to buy Windows separately as I can get a licence much cheaper than the PC Spec price. Any good reason I should buy of PC Spec?

Right, enough of all that! Here's the proposed spec:

Case: NZXT H511 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (WHITE)
Processor (CPU): AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard: ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM): 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card: 8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR (Pre-Order Only)
M.2 SSD Drive: 1TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
Power Supply: CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling: CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 120 High Performance Liquid Cooler

Let me know our thoughts!

Hi there! There's a lot to unpack here so I'll go through your questions then ask a few myself.

1) You could go for any configuration between Intel, AMD, NVIDIA and AMD... again, but the optimal choices right now is a AMD and NVIDIA pairing, AMD is blowing Intel out the water with CPU and NVIDIA Is still just about holidng the GPU crown (although AMD is catching up, fast!)

2) The 980 is unbeliveably fast, I believe it's one of the fastest consumer drives available. Booting your PC and loading into windows is where you'll notice the main difference, once you're on SSD, game times don't actually reduce all that much. I'd personally recommend a super fast 500GB boot drive (like the 980) then a slower larger SSD for games

3) A 750W will run this build fine, but for a bit more efficency and better future upgradability, I'd recommend higher wattage unit

4) Liquid cooling is awesome these days, I'd definetly recommend it for a higher end CPU. For a Ryzen 9, personally I'd look more towards the Corsair Capellix series.

5) The Case you've picked will fit everything but it's not a case I'd recommend, NZXT has fallen far behind on the high airflow trend. Corsair has some fantastic cases, namely the 4000 and 5000 series then the Cooler Master TD500 is pretty great too. If you're looking for a white case, you could always send one in if you're buying from the UK

6) Age mostly, if the HDD you have came with the 9 year old machine, I reckon it's probably time to change it. If it's considerably newer, it'll be a good way to save some time and money!

7) Often the cheap reseller key sites use stolen or non-genunie keys. Getting one from PCS will guarantee it's a genuine and legal copy of windows. They'll also set it all up for you!

 

[JUNI0R]

Onto the spec! From what I can see, it looks like a good start although could definetly do with some improvements. Although before we go through a full spec we'll really need some more info

A) Budget- What are you looking to spend on this PC?
B) Usage- What will this PC be used for? Just gaming? or other things too?
C) Monitors- What monitor(s) will you be using? It's pointless plugging that sweet 3070 into a 1080p 60hz screen! (either make and model or resolution and refresh rate)
D) Full spec- It'd also be great to see the full spec of this machine as well as a configurable link which will make it a lot easier for us to advise on changes (how to get this info can be found here)

Hope the info is useful!

 

[sck451]

Great minds,@JUNI0R!

 

[PrayForWar]

Thanks all. That's really helpful. It's mainly a gaming rig; the rest of what I do is undemanding.

First big thing to note is that I meant to select a 5900X not a 3900X (which explains why it was coming up £200 cheaper than usual - Doah!). I've edited the OP.

Secondly, while I like the white case it's not a deal-breaker. I've respecc'd with the Corsair 4000D and added a couple of extra fans and upgraded the cooling to 240.

Regarding storage, I have both an HDD and a Samsung 860 SSD in my current rig that I can plug in as extra storage so those, plus the 1TB 980, should be fine. I can always add more in the future (which is also my thinking about extra RAM).

This is the link to the full spec: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/u9zh3hBjRp/

£2000 is about my budget and this is pretty-much on the money.

As regards monitor, I am planning an upgrade to a 2K monitor (not included in the above budget) so recommendations welcome.

 

[JUNI0R]

For a Gaming build, this should do you nicely.

I’ve upped to the 5000X as it has 3 included RGB fans instead of 2 black ones and is an all round fantastic case. If you’re limited for space, you might want to move down to a 4000D or send an X in? For gaming, the 5900X really isn’t necessary and switching to the 5800X will give you equally fantastic performance for a considerable saving. I’ve swapped to 3200mhz as there’s minimal difference between the two that PCS provide. Plus if you add more down the road, I believe there's stability issues with 3600mhz on 4 sticks. I've reduced the SSD to a 500GB model with the idea this would just be used as a boot drive for Windows and programs then the SSD you have would be for games and the HDD for general files. I've upped the PSU to a higher quality RMx unit with 100W more too- this'll give a more comfortable running system as well as a bit more headroom for upgrades. The 5800X can be a toasty CPU so I've upped to the 280mm Corsair Capellix H115i, it's a wonderful unit. If you need Wi-Fi the AX200 is a no brainer as it'll add 5 Ghz connection and bluetooth for only a tenner more.

Good monitor choice for the 3070! What's your planned budget for it? We could give some suggestions once we know what you plan to spend.

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB 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)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
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 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 - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £1,969.00 including VAT and Delivery

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

 

[jamiephillips909]

For a Gaming build, this should do you nicely.

I’ve upped to the 5000X as it has 3 included RGB fans instead of 2 black ones and is an all round fantastic case. If you’re limited for space, you might want to move down to a 4000D or send an X in? For gaming, the 5900X really isn’t necessary and switching to the 5800X will give you equally fantastic performance for a considerable saving. I’ve swapped to 3200mhz as there’s minimal difference between the two that PCS provide. Plus if you add more down the road, I believe there's stability issues with 3600mhz on 4 sticks. I've reduced the SSD to a 500GB model with the idea this would just be used as a boot drive for Windows and programs then the SSD you have would be for games and the HDD for general files. I've upped the PSU to a higher quality RMx unit with 100W more too- this'll give a more comfortable running system as well as a bit more headroom for upgrades. The 5800X can be a toasty CPU so I've upped to the 280mm Corsair Capellix H115i, it's a wonderful unit. If you need Wi-Fi the AX200 is a no brainer as it'll add 5 Ghz connection and bluetooth for only a tenner more.

Good monitor choice for the 3070! What's your planned budget for it? We could give some suggestions once we know what you plan to spend.

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB 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)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
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 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 - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £1,969.00 including VAT and Delivery

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

Was literally speccing a 5800x system then boom junior strikes !!!

 

[DarTon]

I'd stick with a 5800X given your budget. The 5900X is nice but for gaming you don't need it.

Unless you love RGB or need extra large amounts of drive bays, I think the 4000D Airflow would be ideal. I'd also say you don't have to go for the Capellix version of the H115i cooler. The straight H115i RGB Pro is just fine. I've got a 5900X/3070 with a 4000D and H115i, and while playing TW:TK at 1440p, both the thermals and acoustics are great.

One thing to note is that the TUF board has no front USB-C header so any case with a front USB-C port will not be functional. The Corsair cases are in this category. I went for a STRIX 570 board to solve that issue but I had 5900X and really needed the USB-C.

In terms of RAM, don't go for the 3600MHz CL18 unless you plan to overclock it. Stick with 3200MHz CL16. I made this error.

Please don't bother transfering the HDD. HDDs become just intolerable once you have a PCIe NVMe SDD like a 980. Instead pair the 500GB 980 with a 1TB Intel 670.

I'd buy Windows from a third party if you can't transfer the license. PCS are a bit expensive for Win and the support is a bit average. Another unforced error I made.

 

[SpyderTracks]

PCS are a bit expensive for Win and the support is a bit average. Another unforced error I made.

What makes you say that?

For clarity to the OP, you can't really buy windows for cheaper than PCS sell it, or at least not a legal copy.

The places you find it really cheap are called Grey Markets where they deal in stolen keys. And if the key is found to be invalid, Microsoft will revoke your license meaning you have to buy a new one.

The grey world of key selling: Grey market sites come with many risks

What can happen if you buy a discounted activation key from a grey-market seller? Plenty, and none of it is good. Learn more.

us.norton.com

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/4fntxu

With the PCS license, you're not just paying for windows, you're paying for lifetime support of windows.

If you're au fait with windows installation and configuration and maintenance, then buy all means, do whatever you see fit. If you're not familiar with windows maintenance, then I'd strongly recommend the cost is well worthwhile.

There's a list of legitimate sites here:

Store reviews

isthereanydeal.com

 

[SpyderTracks]

Please don't bother transfering the HDD. HDDs become just intolerable once you have a PCIe NVMe SDD like a 980. Instead pair the 500GB 980 with a 1TB Intel 670.

Windows 11 will make substantial use of as fast a drive as possible with relation to games loading with the new direct storage technology, it’s the same principle that’s on the PlayStation 5, so get the fastest M2 drive you can afford for games.

If it’s just for storage, then stuff like videos, general files and music don’t benefit from SSD speeds, and HDDs are still far more reliable when they fail as it’s a sequential failure rather than terminal in one go like with SSDs. Windows says it has smart diagnostics for SSDs but it’s a brand new tech and still doesn’t really work 9 times out of 10.

 

[DarTon]

What makes you say that?

For clarity to the OP, you can't really buy windows for cheaper than PCS sell it, or at least not a legal copy.

PCS charged me £123 for Win Pro. I can get it from Amazon at £90 on a USB. That's not an illegal copy.

As I mentioned in my review, the tech support is pretty mediocre. The email support is wooden and basically involves them telling you to do everything that any idiot would have already have done (change the cables, reseat the GPU etc). It's not support, it's deflection.

When you finally (after 30 mins) get through to them on the phone, you get someone who reads from a script. They don't try to understand the issue or the email chain. Instead they quickly tell you to do a clean install. They don't help you do that install. You're on your own. At this point you tell them that you've paid PCS £123 to do a clean install. It's already a clean install. How will this possibly help? Moreover, if their clean install was not correct, it's their responsibility to sort it out. They should waste their time reinstalling it, not mine. That's what I'm paying for - their support.

At this juncture, after they have tried to deflect you again, they finally put you through to somebody who actually has some knowledge and listens. At which point that person instantly agrees that a clean install cannot possibly help with your specific issue and we actually try to solve the problem.

Sorry but this isn't good technical support. It's the equivalent of telling you to reboot your PC and hoping you go away. Now, eventually, if you persist you get through to someone who actually bothers to understand the problem. But you have to hack your way through too much scripting and deflection first.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I can get it from Amazon at £90 on a USB. That's not an illegal copy.

You can’t actually. You can from Amazon marketplace. Amazon don’t sell windows 10. Microsoft is their biggest competitor! And for all the listings I saw there were people saying that their keys were invalid as stated by Microsoft themselves. The reason I know a bit about these kinds of sellers is that I've ordered a USB Mac installation from Amazon, the USB wasn't even bootable. I've also ordered Windows "official" DVD's from there as well and the keys were invalid.

To use the example you gave, the "sponsored" listing for windows 10 pro is sold by a company called "Brown Panda", if you look into their business details on Amazon, it's actual company name is "EWENGER LTD":

Amazon.co.uk Seller Profile: Brown Panda

www.amazon.co.uk

If you do a bit of digging into companies house, you find that they were only incorporated at the beginning of this year (you can verify this by the company number being the same as on Companies House), yet the majority of their reviews on Amazon were from last year before they were even trading which is another sure sign of a scam:

EWENGER LTD overview - Find and update company information - GOV.UK

EWENGER LTD - Free company information from Companies House including registered office address, filing history, accounts, annual return, officers, charges, business activity

find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk

If you discount any reviews before they were incorporated, then there are only reviews from the beginning of June which is the likely start of their campaign on Amazon.

Fake reviews are also standard practice on Amazon:

Amazon Fake Reviews Scam Exposed in Data Breach

The SafetyDetectives cybersecurity team uncovered an open ElasticSearch database exposing an organized fake reviews scam affecting Amazon. The server contain

www.google.co.uk

This is standard practice. The companies pop up, do a quick campaign until they face enough heat to make it difficult, then they shut shop and dissolve, and create a new company under a different name for a new campaign.

Amazon is just as targeted for selling stolen goods as any other marketplace:

Home - BASIC thinking International

BASIC thinking International – online magazine covering all things tech, social media and marketing.

www.google.co.uk

Should Amazon Be Responsible When Its Vendors’ Products Turn Out to Be Unsafe?

Critics of Amazon say legal precedents justify holding the company liable for third-party sellers’ products. Others say Amazon’s scale makes it unfeasible to do so.

www.google.co.uk

If you know them personally and you can vouch they're not dealing in stolen goods, then that's one thing, but to state "they're not stolen keys" is naive and entirely misunderstanding how Amazon Marketplace works.

Bezos was only very recently in front of government anti trust bodies about this very thing:

Bezos Admits To Serious Issues For Retail Brands In Antitrust Inquiry. What Will Change?

Bezos testified before the US House Antitrust Subcommittee today. Here’s a summary of the key issues identified for brands selling on (or to) Amazon, and what the company is likely to do about them.

www.forbes.com

You will likely find these are actually volume license keys rather than Retail, note it doesn’t actually state what kind of key it is on the listing which is in itself suspect.

The point stands though, you’re not just paying for a license, you’re paying for support on that. What you found as wooden most members on here praise. To blankety expect people to be able to fix things themselves is not helpful. If the OP is knowledgeable in windows that’s one thing, but that needs to be factually stated not assumed.

And PCS have grown enormously over lockdown due to demand and as such have had to hire a lot of new staff, so it's not surprising there are support staff who aren't up to speed yet, it's just the way of it, it takes months to train good support staff.

 

[ubuysa]

And PCS have grown enormously over lockdown due to demand and as such have had to hire a lot of new staff, so it's not surprising there are support staff who aren't up to speed yet, it's just the way of it, it takes months to train good support staff.

And not only that but that's why these forums are here. Between us all we can fix just about any non-hardware issue there is.