Please check my spec

[Jij]

Hi all,

Please can you have a look at my spec. I've tried to follow the really helpful advice on this forum, coupled with my needs (medium-high end gaming). A few questions:
- It looks like the 3060 Ti has around 6 weeks wait time. I'm happy to wait as I think it's the right card for me, but is there any additional info on wait times?
- When I go to proceed with the build PCSpecialist tells me I dont need higher than a 450W power supply, but I have seen other advice saying I should go higher?
- I would like the option to add a sound card in future, I assume that's possible with this build?
- I am still not sure at all about cooling, and would like to keep this cost to a minimum if possible - what cooling do I need?

Thanks a lot.


Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 665p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 2000MB/sR | 1925MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W CV SERIES™ CV-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 High Performance Liquid 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 (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
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
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month 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: £1,526.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/wXN4vWNfnc/

 

[sck451]

What monitor are you using? (Resolution and refresh rate.) The 3060 Ti is ideal for a 1440p 144Hz monitor.

I'd suggest you should go for a current-generation six-core CPU rather than a last-gen eight-core one. This means the 5600X, which saves you quite a bit. I'd then upgrade the motherboard to the B550 (or the X570 if your budget will stretch). This is a much better pair than the 3800X and B450.

I'd change your Intel SSD to a Samsung one, and then add a second PCS own-brand one for storing games on.

The PSU can be upgraded, both for quality (the RMx series is a big upgrade) and for capacity (850W gives you loads of room for upgrades, as well as allowing you to run at a lower and quieter setting on the power supply).

With the 5600X you can stick with the included CPU cooler, though the CoolerMaster will do an excellent job if you want that bit of extra headroom or like the aesthetics of an AIO.

Finally it's worth sticking £5 of extra warranty on as well.

Here's the build I'd go for with your kind of budget:

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/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
STANDARD AMD 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 (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
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
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
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: £1,597.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/5PUSdxB62G/

 

[CallumMace810]

Adding on from above if you are definite on an 8 core I would suggest downscaling to the 3700x to save a few quid. It is functionally the same with the difference from a 3800x averaging less than 5%. As for cooling the 3700x stock cooler is decent and has some rgb flash to it if you're interested in that, however I'm not sure if the AMD Standard cooler means you get the Wraith Prism if you have selected a 3700x.

 

[Jij]

Thanks a lot for these really useful tips, I'll be changing the CPU to the 5600X as suggested. I will be buying a 1440p monitor separately (just got an old 1080p one at the moment).

My only other question is about the suggestions on the SSDs. To what extent do I need a high spec M.2 SSD? From googling I have seen different opinions about whether it's necessary to have a fast M.2. Is the purpose of the better SSD just faster load times? I'm keen to keep the total price around £1500 and can achieve that by changing your suggested build to just a 1TB intel M.2, which has just over half the R/W times of the Samsung. However, is it worth spending the extra money as you suggest?

 

[Martinr36]

Thanks a lot for these really useful tips, I'll be changing the CPU to the 5600X as suggested. I will be buying a 1440p monitor separately (just got an old 1080p one at the moment).

My only other question is about the suggestions on the SSDs. To what extent do I need a high spec M.2 SSD? From googling I have seen different opinions about whether it's necessary to have a fast M.2. Is the purpose of the better SSD just faster load times? I'm keen to keep the total price around £1500 and can achieve that by changing your suggested build to just a 1TB intel M.2, which has just over half the R/W times of the Samsung. However, is it worth spending the extra money as you suggest?

And the Intel wont last as long as the samsung, generally for fast system M.2 we go with either the samsung 980 or 970 and then for the secondary M.2 (for saving games on), we go with the PCS 1TB M.2 which are wonderful value for money (that's why I have 2 in my PC annd 1 in my laptop)

 

[sck451]

I agree with @Nursemorph entirely. The one thing I might suggest is going for the 500GB 970 Evo as the M.2 SSD to get the fast boot speed, as you could then later on upgrade by adding a second M.2 SSD. It's a really easy upgrade to do.

I'm currently running a 500GB 970 and 2TB HDD and will shortly be doing this exact upgrade.

But storage is probably the most personal thing in a computer build, other than the aesthetics of the case, so there's a strong element of YMMV.