New PC

[Aurynn]

New PC to replace 4770k and 1060.

Budget: Around £3,000

Use: Gaming with light use of Sketchup, CAD, GIS software, Bentley iModel/iTwin.
Games include - Planet Coaster (1 & 2), Planet Zoo, Total War series & mods, Cities Skylines series & mods, Red Dead, GTA, Witcher, Cyberpunk, New World, Homeworld series & mods.

Monitor: Currently using a DEL UltraSharp 34 Curved Monitor U3415W 3440 x 1440 @ 60Hz. Will be replacing with a curved ultrawide, unsure which yet, still doing research and seeing how tech develops (DP2.1 limits and mini LED). Eying up:

1. 49" Odyssey G95C (5120x1440 240Hz)
2. 57" Odyssey G95NC (7680x2160 240Hz) [keeping an eye on DP2.1 and cable length limits and how this develops]
3. ROG Strix XG49WCR (5120x1440 144Hz)
4. LG 45" UltraGear DQHD (5120x1440 200Hz)
5. Lenovo Legion R45w-30 44.5" (5120x1440 170Hz)

Will ask PCS or do myself a QX140 icue link fan in the back of case.

Case
FRACTAL NORTH TG XL GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12 Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.6GHz/76MB CACHE/AM5) - Will change order to 7800x3d when available.
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 6E)
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 32GB) - high ram for the use of mods and asset mods in games (e.g. City Skylines, City Skylines 2, TW mods)
Graphics Card
24GB AMD RADEON™ RX 7900 XTX - 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
1TB CRUCIAL T705 GEN 5 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 14,500MB/sR, 12,700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB CORSAIR CORE XT MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 5000 MB/R, 4400 MB/W)
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 LINK H150i 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
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
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour) - undecided if to drop to £5 option. ASUS RMA issues is main driver but understand may be over-reacting
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Price: £2,884.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/wq0ZK5fHku/

 

[sck451]

The only concerns I'd have here are over value-for-money, though that's plainly not the theme of this build.

• You will gain nothing from X670E over B650, and it costs around £100 more
• A PCIe gen 5 SSD offers no practical improvements in PC performance or gaming performance and, at present, is only really relevant for server use. (I'd get a P44 Pro instead.)
• A 1200W power supply is unnecessary. 1000W would be fine, though for £40 at this budget I kind of agree with you.
• That cooler is comically overpowered for that CPU. Not a problem, just not value for money.

Other than those concerns (and the SSD is the only one I'd 100% change), I think this is probably irreproachable.

 

[Scott]

I would be very surprised if the games, even with insane mods, used 32GB, never mind 64GB. There's no down side other than cost of course, but it's a fair chunk of change to throw at it.

Above advice is sound, I would definitely stick with the 1200w PSU though... not for the 1200w but for the ATX3.1 with GPU cabling etc.

 

[sck451]

I would be very surprised if the games, even with insane mods, used 32GB, never mind 64GB. There's no down side other than cost of course, but it's a fair chunk of change to throw at it.

Above advice is sound, I would definitely stick with the 1200w PSU though... not for the 1200w but for the ATX3.1 with GPU cabling etc.

Cities Skylines 2 is increasingly outrageous. Now probably you'll be more limited by CPU than RAM (I play it occasionally and frequently get 100% utilisation of my 5900X), but in a system that's pushing £3k, I don't think it's foolish to be over-provisioned. Nothing here is precisely "value for money" after all!

 

[Aurynn]

Thanks for the comments.

Cities Skylines RAM table below. It really is the only game that will probably utilise all the ram at the current time. The CL rating and stock PCS have might sway on the 2x16GB and 2x32GB as well, do i really want 2x32GB CL40 if the 2x16GB is CL32? Forums and Reddit are full of people showing demands and usage. I probably also need to check in with some 'Lets Play' series to see actually usage rather than forum posts that can have an element of exaggeration and 'mine is better than yours'. Also asking myself, do i really want to get this much RAM for just one game.

The average rule of thumb for the base game is:
4GB: 0-10 assets
8GB: 100-400 assets
12GB: 400-800 assets
16GB: 800-1200 assets
24GB: 1200-2000 assets
32GB: 2000-2800 assets
64GB: 2800-6000 assets

Noted on the power. If PCS get the 1,000W ATX3.1 in stock at time of order, will likely switch to that.

Gone with the X670e for the lifespan of the PC, AM5 socket life span and the possibility of GPU with Gen 5 connectivity. Might not come, might come during the lifespan. Bit of a gamble and a question on how much money to bet on the gamble.

Cooler, noted. Its registered as on sale and prices to the smaller corsair link were not too drastic. Also adds possible upgrade paths should the 'shove more power, make more heat to make better' be the way to go. I can't go with a full fish box case because of the location of this and end of life risks from the wife, so figure get some RGB with this case and try to get a fire place look. Always wanted a fireplace

Storage. Honestly I am 50/50 on this. Its basically get Gen 5 because I can.

 

[Scott]

I've got a 360mm AIO on the 7800X3D as well, it utilises it at full chat and keeps the frequency high. The chip is ridiculously sensitive to temperatures for pulling the frequency. There isn't a lot of difference in the lower spec AIOs from Corsair (and I would always have an AIO anyway nowadays, especially on the 7800X3D) so the H150i makes at least some sense. It's what I would do also.

The case you have chosen is lovely, it's a really nice looking aesthetic. It's got the glass panel so you can have your way with the RGB colouring

With regards to the RAM. Does the game break if you exceed the asset needs, or does it simply page and lose a little performance? If it's the latter I would probably go with 32GB, otherwise it's only money

 

[Aurynn]

The issues with Cities Skylines and mods and the impact really depends on the order the mods are loaded and what happens. It can lead to a CTD, it can lead to missing assets or reduced performance. That is, is it a mod that impacts the game AI and modelling, or a mod that just changes the appearance of an item or adds to it.

The issue on the RAM can also be managed by the selection of asset packs that use the same models, rather than larger variety.

Can I be bothered to have to manage assets, or just buy my way past it.

In regards to the case, it is nice. There is a risk of the glass side not showing depending on the monitor. At the moment, DP2.1 has a hard limit of ~1.2m in length, Samsung connectors are on the left side of the screen, therefore case needs to go on the left.

Eitherway, I have a month to think things over while waiting for 7800x3d stock.

 

[Scott]

I wouldn't be overly concerned with the DP2.1 aspect of it. You're never going to get dual 4K running 240hz anyway (outside of the desktop).

I would tend to opt for the OLED G9 1440p offering, rather than the dual 4k model. Although it is some piece of tech

Had a nosey there. The 4090 outputs 1.4DP. The HDMI 2.1 port is probably a better shout to use. You're still not going to hit 240hz output though.

There's a good video below on it: