New system for 1440p Gaming

[Thrasher]

Hi,

Been a while since I was here, but it's that time again (not the best time admittedly) to get a new system. Just looking for a sanity check on this spec I'm thinking about.

• Use is for 1440p 144hz gaming primarily.
• Budget approx £1500
• No GPU required (luckily managed to acquire a 3070 from a friend)
• Quiet as possible
• Easy to clean / minimise dust
• I want it to look good - first time caring about this but I want a windowed case to show it off a bit in my new "office". Tasteful RGB acceptable but nothing OTT.

CPU
I'm currently running with an i7 7700k and thinking to get the best out of the 3070 I'll need a bit more power there, so thinking of going with a Ryzen this time as I've had intel for the last 10-15 years. The Ryzen 5600X seems to be at a good point for cost/benefit for my use - I don't have any productivity needs and no plan to in the future.

Motherboard
Not sure what the main differences are for motherboard choice though, I've seen a lot of people recommending the B450s but what's different about the B550 and X570s? Any CPU upgrade paths I need to think about?

RAM
Is 3200MHz the best fit for me? I see I could go 3600Mhz but read that shouldn't have any noticeable impact on gaming performance. Should I bump it up to 32GB?

Cooling
Just by default picked the Hyper 212 air cooler as I'm familiar with it. I've always been a bit wary of liquid cooling for some reason, but I do like the aesthetics and actually wanting a windowed case this time for the first time ever so I want it to look nice (but not too much RGB). How are they these days? Is there any maintenance or anything at all I should be concerned about? I have no plans to overclock so don't need to go hardcore about it.

Extra case fans a good idea? Just picked 2 extra default ones for a bit more extraction but if those Coolermaster / Corsair ones are worth going for I might do that.

Case
Always enjoyed Fractal cases so just stuck between the Meshify C / S2 really. Just want something that looks good, has great cooling, can be quiet as possible and easy to keep clean.



Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY C BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
1st Storage Drive
2TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NOT REQUIRED
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 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 10 to 12 working days
Price: £1,032.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/UxV!gW5mw8/

 

[Steveyg]

With a budget of £1500 we can do much better than that mate, have a gander at this beast.

I noticed you left out Windows & Wireless Card. I'm assuming you're experienced with setting up Windows and will be connecting via ethernet? Any questions fire away

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/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
NOT REQUIRED
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 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 10 to 12 working days
Price: £1,491.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/ytr3fn4kJ0/

 

[Thrasher]

Thanks for the response. Yeah, I'll sort out Windows just fine and I was planning on trying out a powerline adapter this time instead of wifi.

Spec looks nice though. Think I'll see gains with that Ryzen then? I just assumed going 12 core was a bit OTT for non-productivity use. Case looks good too, quite similar to the Meshify, I'll check some reviews of both. Any reason you picked that one or just a Corsair guy?

I'll have to look up the CPU cooler too - as I mentioned I'm a bit green when it comes to liquid solutions.

 

[Steveyg]

Thanks for the response. Yeah, I'll sort out Windows just fine and I was planning on trying out a powerline adapter this time instead of wifi.

Spec looks nice though. Think I'll see gains with that Ryzen then? I just assumed going 12 core was a bit OTT for non-productivity use. Case looks good too, quite similar to the Meshify, I'll check some reviews of both. Any reason you picked that one or just a Corsair guy?

I'll have to look up the CPU cooler too - as I mentioned I'm a bit green when it comes to liquid solutions.

Yeah quick answers, I went with AMD because the Ryzens are beating Intel in every category at the minute. Really isn't a reason to buy an Intel CPU unless you restricted via proprietary programs. As for the 5900x yeah it's a bit OTT but it's in your budget and why not eh? If you wanted a save a few £ you could drop to the 5800x and then change to the X570 TUF motherboard. You would want the best cooler available for the 5800x though as it runs really really hot. I'd recommend the H150i from Corsair. I will say in defence of the 5900x choice gaming is moving closer and closer to multicore focus so having the extra cores could be a benefit in future with how the consoles are designed, at the end of the day the consoles dictate how games are made and designed and they will be focusing on more cores going forward.

As for the case the 5000D is just a brilliant case, it's massive and is designed with airflow in mind to help keep temps low. Plus it has loads of room to add pretty much anything you'd like in future and tonnes of room for fans. It's my go to case in this budget I just think it's the best one available, plus it looks great in my opinion

finally the cooler selection, I just went for the best cooler available in your budget. As for liquid cooling these Corsair AIO's are known as "closed loop systems" which basically means there's no maintenance involved with them. You just have to dust off the radiator and fans every now and then. The Coolant should never need changed is what I'm saying

 

[Thrasher]

Yeah Ryzen seems to be the way to go now so happy with that. I do like a bit of Corsair as well and having more hardware plugged into iCUE would be pretty handy I think.

I'll do some reading now on your suggestions. Thanks again.

 

[DarTon]

As an aside I've just bought a system from PCS system that isn't miles away from the core of the @Steveyg spec. It's a 5900X, STRIX X570-F, 3070, H115i AIO (not Capellix). I play some games but also run some productivity apps and VMs so I did go for 32GB RAM.

Tbh my research showed little or no real add from the 5900X vs. 5800X. Even the likes of Total War series, which can be somewhat CPU bound, seems to use 8 cores really well but not the extra 4. I just went larger because the 5800X-5900X price differential felt decent at £90 over a longer time horizon.

I'd consider going fully M2 NVMe if you have the budget. I went for a 1TB Samsung 980 and 1TB Intel 670, using both M2 on the 570 board. This meant I wouldn't need to fit any HDD or SATA SDD. That decision made me more comfortable dropping from the 5000D to the smaller 4000D (currently flipping in/out of stock). That won't work if you want a H150i cooler but is fine with a H115i.

I'm very happy with the 4000D case and I'm sure 5000D would be even nicer. I'm very impressed with the acoustics of the case/H115i combo. Thermals are also excellent. I think the H115i is a good part of that but I also think having no drive cages helps airflow. With a 5000D, you'd have so much empty space it would be great. Of course my prior custom build was an overclocked i-4790K which could be considered less a CPU and more a minature frying pan!

 

[Steveyg]

Tbh my research showed little or no real add from the 5900X vs. 5800X. Even the likes of Total War series, which can be somewhat CPU bound, seems to use 8 cores really well but not the extra 4. I just went larger because the 5800X-5900X price differential felt decent at £90 over a longer time horizon.

The difference is minimal right now yes, but games have only started utilising the higher number of cores. This is going to become more apparent in the coming years I believe. I like to suggest builds with the future in mind as opposed to building a machine to suit now

In saying that you wouldn't go wrong with either the 5800x or the 5900x but are on the top end of the scale

 

[Thrasher]

I'd consider going fully M2 NVMe if you have the budget. I went for a 1TB Samsung 980 and 1TB Intel 670, using both M2 on the 570 board. This meant I wouldn't need to fit any HDD or SATA SDD. That decision made me more comfortable dropping from the 5000D to the smaller 4000D (currently flipping in/out of stock). That won't work if you want a H150i cooler but is fine with a H115i.

That sounds like a good idea actually and tbh I got a 5TB HDD in one of my old systems that's hardly filled up in 5+ years. Also got plenty of external USB ones so I might just do that.

 

[jamiephillips909]

Personally I would go 5800x new consoles are 8 cores and lets be honest games are mainly developed with them in mind gaming wont use 12 cores for the foreseeable future not for at least 5 years if the 5900 wasnt £200 more then the 5800x and was its old price of £50 more then why not but for £200 more and you wont be using your pc for productivity it would be better to spend that budget in other areas

 

[Thrasher]

Been doing some research on the recommended parts since yesterday. One thing I've just noticed after saving the build to PCPP is this note/warning...

Corsair 5000D AIRFLOW ATX Mid Tower Case has a front panel USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A port, but the Asus ROG Strix X570-F Gaming ATX AM4 Motherboard does not have sufficient USB 3.2 Gen 1 headers. The case USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type A port will not be usable.

Is there a way around this? I get a bit confused with all the different USB types now to be honest.

EDIT - I might just change it to the Meshify S2.

 

[Scott]

It's not a limitation of the case, it's the motherboard. It just means that one of the USB ports on the case won't be functional.

 

[DarTon]

@Thrasher. You are not the only one who finds USB ports confusing. Motherboard manfacturers such as ASUS could be bit more clear about what USB headers they provide on their boards. This was another reason I downgraded from the 5000D to the 4000D since I wasn't 100% clear that all three front ports on the 5000 would be usable.

I found this cheatsheet producing by ASUS quite useful to summarize the differences https://www.asus.com/microsite/motherboard/AMD-X570/doc/ASUS_X570_Full_Specs.pdf.

My old Corsair Obsidian Airflow case (i-4790K, Maximus Ranger VII MB) has 4 front USB ports but the motherboard header only supported two. The custom builder who put that together actually routed cables from two of the many back USB ports to these front ports to make them operational. That may be possible here.