Preparing to order.

[berserksteve]

Hello. Was hoping people could look over this config and requirements and offer any advice they had. There's a fair bit of text as I've tried to provide everything I can and have broke it down so hopefully its easy to follow. Cop/Paste config at the end .Thanks.

Use:
I don't care about looks.
Gaming (current and older, not competitive), streaming and recording gaming, video encoding/conversion, minor video editing.
Large amounts of file transfer (probably will always be moving something on or off a drive while I am doing something else).
Sound doesn't really matter I've bad hearing so will be using a usb headset.

Budget: £1800-£2000 (monitor etc are not a part of this, they are on a separate budget, saving money on monitor will not add money to this budget). There's also no benefit to going under the 1800 so bear that in mind as well.

Budget for the monitor will be up to £600 though I'm not rushing for the monitor so can also pick up a more expensive one in a sale if needed though looking at them there seems to be a decent selection about the net. Anyone any feedback on the 3 2160 res monitors PCS sell?

Concerns
- I see from reading that for high refresh hd gaming the processor on an intel wins out but in this situation I don't think it would be the correct choice given the uses outlined but maybe I'm wrong.
- I have no idea about the motherboards differences really, the only thing I would like is that it has 4 ram slots so I can add 2x8 more when prices drop, but other wise I may have picked a bad board, no idea.
- ram speeds I went for the highest as I read ryzen r7 benefits but so not sure if that's a waste.
- cooling, no idea on the differences between them, just picked one as I figured it needed but probably bad choice, probably needs looked at.
- power supply, picked the extra cost one as I worry about heat, is there a point? 550 also seems low but pcs say that accounts for 20% already.
- case, as mentioned I don't care for looks so just picked the only one was compatible with a disc drive that had 3 fans. could be a bad choice. hard to find one with a disc drive slot. (it will be burning a lot of data discs too so cant budge on getting the drive).

I pretty much want it ready to go as purchased and don't plan on touching/opening it other than to add ram at a later date, not comfortable overclocking etc.

Thanks again.

Case
InWIN 703 MID TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK/RED) ()
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Eight Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.35GHz/20MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
Gigabyte AX370 Gaming 3: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk
500GB WD Blue™ 3D NAND 2.5" SSD, (upto 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
2nd Hard Disk
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 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)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Total Order Price Inc VAT-------£1,868.00

 

[berserksteve]

Been continuing to research and seems that the 370 boards don't read clock speed over 2600 on ram and the 470 must be out of stock as it is grayed out. edited main post with new ram speed and to add price as I forgot.

 

[Oussebon]

- I see from reading that for high refresh hd gaming the processor on an intel wins out but in this situation I don't think it would be the correct choice given the uses outlined but maybe I'm wrong.

Agreed.

- I have no idea about the motherboards differences really, the only thing I would like is that it has 4 ram slots so I can add 2x8 more when prices drop, but other wise I may have picked a bad board, no idea.

I would wait for the X470. In addition to possibly better support for newer features like XFR 2.0 it also has 2 M.2 slots.

Been continuing to research and seems that the 370 boards don't read clock speed over 2600 on ram and the 470 must be out of stock as it is grayed out. edited main post with new ram speed and to add price as I forgot.

- ram speeds I went for the highest as I read ryzen r7 benefits but so not sure if that's a waste.

So the X370 / B350 / A320 motherboards all support RAM over 2666MHz, and this is why PCS sell them with 3000MHz (2933MHz?) RAM. Just like if you look at some older Intel CPUs they might say they only support 2133MHz DDR4, but run with 3000MHz fine. For Intel this involves using XMP, for AMD their equivalent.

So go for 3000MHz RAM with any Ryzen system (or indeed any Intel system at this kind of budget level).

the only thing I would like is that it has 4 ram slots so I can add 2x8 more when prices drop

Ryzen has not always been as happy with RAM compatibility as Intel CPUs/motherboards. You may find that even if you buy 2 sticks of (what appears to be) exactly the same RAM down the line, you will find they are not compatible.

For gaming and streaming, anything over 16gb is a complete waste. For video editing, 32gb could be useful.

Given that you say minor video editing, you may prefer to stick to 16gb and work on the assumption that this all you'll ever have. Which will be fine.

X470 and Ryzen 2 so have improved memory compatibility, so while not a guarantee that there would be no issues adding more RAM in the future, it's another reason I would favour X470.

- power supply, picked the extra cost one as I worry about heat, is there a point? 550 also seems low but pcs say that accounts for 20% already.

550W is fine for this system though you could go for 650W, especially if you even decide to dabble in overclocking, or want to try to aim for a lower proportion of the PSU's max capacity with the system under full load. Though the configurator does say that the 550W PSU is fine for the system as it stands, even with an allowance.

- case, as mentioned I don't care for looks so just picked the only one was compatible with a disc drive that had 3 fans. could be a bad choice. hard to find one with a disc drive slot. (it will be burning a lot of data discs too so cant budge on getting the drive).

I would go for a higher end case especially for a 1080 ti.

You could either go for an external drive, or something like the Fractal R6 or Corsair 540 Air, though these are more expensive.

 

[Oussebon]

Budget for the monitor will be up to £600 though I'm not rushing for the monitor

If you're not rushing for the monitor, tbh hold off on buying a 1080 ti as it may already have been made obsolete by a cheaper and more powerful GTX *1180.

Anyone any feedback on the 3 2160 res monitors PCS sell?

Yeah, don't buy any of them as none of them have Gsync. You will absolutely want Gsync for 4k gaming to smooth out FPS drops.

 

[berserksteve]

Thank you for the reply. That's good to know about the RAM, I was curious as usually the configure tool tells you if something doesn't work and jumping from 2.6 to 3 isn't really gonna affect cost at all. The price point is ridiculous and I guess the court case isn't gonna resolve soon, so I think I will just make do with the admittedly more than enough 16gb and if the video editing ever becomes more intensive I can go back to doing it on the other machine (reason I couldnt give you all this info in first thread is I was trying to decide on which of 3 machines to replace , thats also why funky budget restrictions)

Shot in the dark but from your experience with people shopping here, do you know how often they get things back in stock or I guess they probably have a customer support line I can ask. I am not in a rush so waiting for something as important as a mobo makes sense, just dont wanna wait too long as there's always something new coming.

With regards to overclocking - back when I was actually into hardware it was much more daunting than now (15 years ago). It seems most manufacturers almost expect it now. So I'm curious (as I basically rate my knowledge as non existant now) - in your opinion is overclocking Ryzen hard/risky for a non-techie user?

Thanks again, valuable input. Really good to know about the RAM speeds, every tech review and information site I could find only had the 470 as operating above 2600. Oh and thanks for the update about the monitors, refresh rate always seems "hard to find" on these "great deal" monitors so I want G sync and not free sync? I feel dumb

 

[Oussebon]

Edited my 2nd post for a typo.

If you try to place an order with the X470 it says:

Please note that the following products are not currently in stock and will delay your order. Please select an alternative product:

Gigabyte X470 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready (ETA: 21-06-201

That date's only an estimate, as you can you can always call them: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/contact-us/

Though they may not have more info to hand immediately that what's on the configurators.

I don't know about Ryzen overclocking. I believe it's a bit different to how you'd do it for Intel systems and that's all I have any experience on - and I'm no pro overclocker at that, nor do I mess with BCLK or any of that magic stuff

This video, which I haven't watched, might be of interest: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZRjoeyz4Z0 JayzTwoCents is usually quite accessible from a technical point of view

 

[berserksteve]

Ok thanks for pointing out I had actually missed that it was 2 posts and edited. Very informative. I guess for now I can investigate the cases and monitors and havee a look at that link, thanks for searching it out. That will also kill time to see if we get any announcements on the new hardware. I know people were talking q2 for the new nvidia so I guess it really should be any time.

 

[berserksteve]

Looking at monitors, was hoping for some opinions

IPS/TN 1ms/4ms

IPS tend to be more expensive it seems with better colour and 4ms

Is the 1/4 ms noticeably different and are there any other big things worth mentioning between the 2, like hold old lcds got screen imprint if an image was too long on.

Anyone know if full 2160 4k monitors (which I know only got to 60hz) go higher than that on 1440? I guess not a its never mentioned.

There are lots of opinions about the net, if people here have any it would be great.

 

[Oussebon]

I guess not a its never mentioned.

You guess right. There are 4k high refresh rate monitors (finally) coming out now though if you have ~£1500 to drop on one and a pair of 1080 tis to power it...

The TN versus IPS debate might be a little bit overrated, in that a good TN panel will still give you a pleasant image, while the slower response times of an IPS monitor probably aren't even worth thinking about if you're not playing CS:GO competitively.

As you say, a lot of opinions out there. I'd stick to an IPS panel myself, but that's based entirely around seeing budget IPS versus sort-of budget TN at 1080p in the ~£120 price range, and finding IPS the clear winner. Also I like Skyrim with mods and nice screenshots, and the thought of anything less than beautiful colours makes me sad.

Once you're looking at 4k gsync, I'm not sure anything is 'budget' tier any more I haven't compared 4k gsync TN vs IPS in the flesh.

 

[berserksteve]

Thanks for the reply. Seems very easy to waste a lot of money on monitors. I was looking at the dell and predators around 450, gsync 1440 and both have tn/ips available with a bit of price difference. Dropping to 1080 really drop the cost though and going anywhere qhd over seems to dramatically increase it for no real need or point for the spec roughly outlined here it seems.

 

[Oussebon]

Dropping to 1080 really drop the cost though and going anywhere qhd over seems to dramatically increase it for no real need or point for the spec roughly outlined here it seems.

Do you mean dropping to the GTX 1080? Or dropping to 1080p?

If you mean going for 1080p, there's no point buying a GTX 1080 ti for 1080p gaming, it's a total waste of cash. A 1080 ti would power a 1440p monitor very well, and 1440p has a much higher resolution than 1080p, giving a much sharper image. With a build of this budget, you should really be looking at 1440p, or even 4k gsync. I would expect about ~£500+ for a monitor to go with the above spec. Though there are 24" 1440p gsync monitors sometimes for sub £400.

1080p gsync seems a bit of a waste to me, unless you're die-hard about competitive shooters. Since these monitors are often over £300 and for less than £100 more you can start looking at, albeit 24", 1440p with around 80% greater pixel density.

The GTX 1080 (non-ti) would perform very capably at 1440p too.

If cost is an issue, you could drop the GPU to a GTX 1080 to get a decent 1440p gsync monitor, as these would pair well together. Or even get a 1440p 60hz monitor for £200. This would be a saving of about £500 versus a 1080 ti and a 1440p gsync monitor, which could be kept towards a future swanky monitor and GPU upgrade as required perhaps in a couple of years, with your 1440p 60hz monitor still being suitable as a 2nd screen in any such setup.

Sorry if the edit catches you unawares there, the above thought just occurred to me afterwards.

 

[berserksteve]

Yes I meant 1080p, and I thought that the case which was why I hadn't really considered that low. It seemed that I would have needed around 4-700. I only mentioned it to compare the prices, sorry.

been looking at stuff like this

https://uk-store.acer.com/predator-xb1-gaming-monitor-xb271hua

and the equivalents at the other manufacturers, dell asus and aoc I believe all have these kind of spec around similar prices.

 

[Oussebon]

One can find the XB281HK for £50 less, and it would be a good pairing for a 1080 ti.

If going for 1440p 144hz gsync, the GTX 1080 non-ti could be a very good pairing.

And as above with my edit, a 1080 non-ti and 1440p 60hz monitor would still be a reasonable pairing and the monitor would be ideal as a 2nd monitor in the future when you upgrade GPU and main monitor, say in 1-2 years.

 

[berserksteve]

Yeah I have found it at 440, that was just the quickest link to a decent overview I that google gave but thanks for the heads up anyway. Even when decided I will not be snap purchasing due to the variation in price across seller. Just because I can spend the money doesn't mean I want to waste it. However the monitor is being matched to the card due to the separate budgets and how we are receiving it so if needed to take advantage of the 1080ti I will go higher but from what I saw, 2160p gaming still isn't that much of a thing yet anyway.

It seems chances are that later in the year there will be no budget for a gpu upgrade and time wise can't afford to wait until the 1180 so it will be a 1080ti unless theres a miracle announcement this week or next. Also no point dropping to the 1080, the saved money cannot be used elsewhere. Would get allocated to a different project entirely sadly.

 

[Oussebon]

So what monitor are you going for? Or what resolution/refresh rate / gsync etc? Sorry, I'm just not following what the current thinking is

 

[berserksteve]

I am looking at spec around what I linked, all the models, higher seems a waste of money (due to lack of devs building for it atm), lower seems a waste of money (due to the card in question).

My basic question you answered I may not have made that clear - would a monitor that spec match the 1080ti well or would I need to go for a higher spec. So you saying that it matched well was enough of an answer. The rest was just rambled thoughts explaining how I reached the very annoying unique situation of why theres not much wiggle room on changing the card or point in going lower.

Thanks for your replies. Also the mobos are in stock again from 2 days ago which was surprising. 2 weeks earlier than the configurator said

 

[berserksteve]

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE R6
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Eight Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.35GHz/20MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
Gigabyte X470 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB
Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 2300MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

This is what I have ended at, in case it's of use for anyone else. Thanks for your help also thanks to Spyder for mentioning M.2s in other threads and making me realise I hadn't swapped out the 2.5 for an M.2 drive once I had moved to the 470 board.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE R6
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 2700X Eight Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.35GHz/20MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
Gigabyte X470 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB
Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 2300MB/W)
2nd Hard Disk
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

This is what I have ended at, in case it's of use for anyone else. Thanks for your help also thanks to Spyder for mentioning M.2s in other threads and making me realise I hadn't swapped out the 2.5 for an M.2 drive once I had moved to the 470 board.

Which monitor have you decided on out of interest?

 

[berserksteve]

Split between the Predator and the Dell @ 140 144hz/165hz gsync IPS, basically trying to see which I can get cheaper, with the current 1080p one thats in use as a second. I really wish more stores stocked them here so could actually go in and see. Haven't ordered it yet, won't have the computer for a bit anyway so there's no point unless I see a steal.