Rig upgrade time

[Estonic]

Hi all,

My rig officially hit its 10 year anniversary last week! To celebrate... I'm throwing her in for a newer model . I'm looking for something fairly high end, primarily for gaming, but will also be using it for work (AutoCAD). I'd like to use it for VR. These are the current monitors I am using, but I'd be happy to upgrade to make full use of the rig:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B088LYZYKX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I'd like to keep it overall below £3k, but if the upgrade/s are worth it, I'd be happy to go more. I'm interested in 4k gaming, which I believe will need the 3070?

I'm not sure on the cooler or case, so any recommendations please.

Case
PCS PRISM-X ARGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 16-Core Processor i9-12900K (3.2GHz) 30MB Cache
Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z690 UD (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 4800MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
1TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W 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 RGB V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fans
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 11 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Price: £2,301.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[JUNI0R]

Hi all,

My rig officially hit its 10 year anniversary last week! To celebrate... I'm throwing her in for a newer model . I'm looking for something fairly high end, primarily for gaming, but will also be using it for work (AutoCAD). I'd like to use it for VR. These are the current monitors I am using, but I'd be happy to upgrade to make full use of the rig:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B088LYZYKX/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1

I'd like to keep it overall below £3k, but if the upgrade/s are worth it, I'd be happy to go more. I'm interested in 4k gaming, which I believe will need the 3070?

I'm not sure on the cooler or case, so any recommendations please.

Case
PCS PRISM-X ARGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i9 16-Core Processor i9-12900K (3.2GHz) 30MB Cache
Motherboard
GIGABYTE Z690 UD (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 4800MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
1TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W 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 RGB V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fans
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 11 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Price: £2,301.00 including VAT and Delivery

Heya, a 10th anniversary dumping sounds like the perfect gift 😂

CAD isn't a speciality of mine, but I'm happy to get the thread up and running. When you say overall below 3K, does this include monitor upgrades? Or is that just for the PC? And would you be able to provide the spec link for this build? It'll make suggesting changes much easier! Also, is there any particular reason why you've gone DDR5? At this point in time, it adds quite a lot to the cost for really not that much extra performance, if any in a lot of cases.

 

[Estonic]

Thanks for getting things started! I could use all the advice I can get . The 3K budget ideally would include the monitor upgrade, but I could stretch to 4K if the monitor is going to let me down. Sorry I forgot to include the link! Please see below.

PCSPECIALIST - Top Spec Custom PCs & Laptops Built to Order

Manufacturer of performance custom computers and laptops. Customise your ideal gaming PC or laptop using our advanced configurator.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

If the cost/performance ratio is rubbish for the DDR5, I'll happily swap it out for DDR4 in that case. I haven't really done my research on the differences, so any suggestions on the RAM (or any of it of course) will be much appreciated.

 

[JUNI0R]

Thanks for getting things started! I could use all the advice I can get . The 3K budget ideally would include the monitor upgrade, but I could stretch to 4K if the monitor is going to let me down. Sorry I forgot to include the link! Please see below.

PCSPECIALIST - Top Spec Custom PCs & Laptops Built to Order

Manufacturer of performance custom computers and laptops. Customise your ideal gaming PC or laptop using our advanced configurator.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

If the cost/performance ratio is rubbish for the DDR5, I'll happily swap it out for DDR4 in that case. I haven't really done my research on the differences, so any suggestions on the RAM (or any of it of course) will be much appreciated.

Thnk we could get you in quite happily under 4K for the right PC and monitor Thanks for the link! Hardware Unboxed this morning released a video on DDR4 VS DDR5 and the conclusion was stick with DDR4 unless you're just wanting best of the best and throwing value out the window, so I think we'll stick to DDR4 for now!

Wanting to go 4K gaming, there's 2 monitors I'd recommend for this the Gigabyte M28U and M32U. The M28U is the better monitor, but the M32U is the more ideal size for 4K.

Any questions, ask away!

Case
CORSAIR 5000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE The Prism X is a nice looking case but it's on the budget side, so not something you want when spending 4 figures. This 5000D airflow is a fantastic top end high airflow case
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700K (3.6GHz) 25MB Cache For gaming, there isn't a massive difference between the 12900K and 12700K as the 12900K just adds a couple more E-Cores. If you wanted to swap to the 12900K for CAD then that's perfectly fine
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready Ample motherboard to handle the 12700K, if you wanted the 12900K I'd step up to the STRIX Z690-A or AORUS Elite
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 16GB) Top end DDR4 RAM
Graphics Card
10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 - HDMI, DP, LHR For the monitor above, you'll really want a 3080
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W) Significantly faster boot SSD for Windows and applications
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW) Dedicated games and active projects SSD
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE Not much more for 2TB, this will be for file/ old project storage
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W HX SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® PLATINUM, ULTRA QUIET Seems crazy now, but will cover you nicely for future upgrades
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H150i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler Top end cooling for the 12700K and will look great in the 5000D
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
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] I'd personally stick to Windows 10, until all the bugs of W11 are ironed out
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Gold Warranty (2 Year Collect & Return, 2 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: £2,681.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/pj6W6CRHbk/

 

[Estonic]

Some really excellent info here, thank you! I'll check out the differences between the 12900K and 12700K, I didn't realise it was 8P and 4E so yeah the 12700K is probably a much better option for me (the upgrade wouldn't really be worth it just for CAD).

My only concern with the 3080 is its availability as PCS website is saying pre-order? I was planning on ordering this week in the hopes of having it by March. I don't mind waiting a bit to try and get the perfect rig for me, but is there any way of determining waiting periods?

Regarding the M.2 drive selection, would you suggest it better to split the gaming/project drive out from the windows/applications drive then? Is there not much benefit to going for a larger primary and including games on that (like the Samsung 980 6900/5000 R/W)?

Power supply does seem quite large. What sort of expansion would that give way for? As I wouldn't expect to have additional GPUs, only potential storage.

Good shout on the Windows 10. I'm still running 7 on this machine (don't judge please lol) and wanted to try and get ahead of the curve, but if it's a bit premature then I'll stick to 10.

Finally with regards to the monitors, I'd like to have 4 screens hooked up so the middle would be the 4K one for gaming (quite like the look of the 28" one, will need to check I've got the space for 32"), the two sides could be the amazon ones I referenced, and the 4th my "discord/spotify" screen for gaming or something equally static for work on a mount. Does that sound suitable?

 

[JUNI0R]

My only concern with the 3080 is its availability as PCS website is saying pre-order? I was planning on ordering this week in the hopes of having it by March. I don't mind waiting a bit to try and get the perfect rig for me, but is there any way of determining waiting periods?

Wait times are generally pretty good these days, nothing like they were this time last year. There’s a 3080 wait thread, although it seems to have died down rather in recent months (indicating the better wait times). Your best bet would be to contact PCS and ask, although (in my experience) they generally give pretty generous estimates to avoid unhappy customers so it’ll likely come before they say. I think my only hesitance about the 10GB would be the 12GB- it wouldn’t surprise me at all if NVIDIA is trying to phase out the 10GB for the 12GB meaning stock is harder to get and so they can make evennn more money. That said, I wouldn’t pay hundreds more for the 12GB (it’s a scam of a card) and the 3070TI isn’t quite there in performance (or value compared to the 70 and 80). Even if it takes a few more weeks, I’d encourage you to wait for the right card.

Regarding the M.2 drive selection, would you suggest it better to split the gaming/project drive out from the windows/applications drive then? Is there not much benefit to going for a larger primary and including games on that (like the Samsung 980 6900/5000 R/W)?

I would indeed. Having Windows on a seperate drive means if it decides to brick itself (I’ve had it happen before) you don’t also have to reinstall your games and lose all your project files with a fresh install. Games and files also don’t really need the blistering speed that Gen 4 offers. It’s also pretty expensive to go for a large Gen 4 drive

Power supply does seem quite large. What sort of expansion would that give way for? As I wouldn't expect to have additional GPUs, only potential storage.

It’s more for future GPU power requirements than adding a 2nd card. With the 3090TI announced, NVIDIA recommend 1000W PSU’s for that card and power requirements are only going one way. If you want to keep up with the performance curve and purchase a 50 or 60 series when they release, god knows how much power they’ll use. It seems like a waste now, but it’s one of the best ways you can prepare your build for the future- plus installing a new PSU can be rather fiddly if it’s your first time working with PC’s.

Good shout on the Windows 10. I'm still running 7 on this machine (don't judge please lol) and wanted to try and get ahead of the curve, but if it's a bit premature then I'll stick to 10.

No judgement here 😂 I remember when 8 released I was trying desperately to find a W7 key I could use. I’m on 10 and haven’t yet upgraded and don’t plan to for a while I know a number of people that have upgraded to 11 that are unhappy, and a number that are happy. I Have nothing against W11 if you’d like to jump ahead of the curve then go ahead!

Finally with regards to the monitors, I'd like to have 4 screens hooked up so the middle would be the 4K one for gaming (quite like the look of the 28" one, will need to check I've got the space for 32"), the two sides could be the amazon ones I referenced, and the 4th my "discord/spotify" screen for gaming or something equally static for work on a mount. Does that sound suitable?

Sounds good! I’d be slightly wary of the screen above. I had a TV mounted above 3 monitors for my XBOX which wasn’t great for neck strain, so I’d make sure whatever on it is something you look at at a glance.

 

[Estonic]

Thank you for all your help! I'll check with PCS on the 3080 stock. I was checking out the 3080Ti, that's quite a jump in price (but also performance). What's your take on that?

 

[JUNI0R]

Thank you for all your help! I'll check with PCS on the 3080 stock. I was checking out the 3080Ti, that's quite a jump in price (but also performance). What's your take on that?

Last time I checked it was ~£500 for the upgrade from an 80. At 4K it’s an average of 8 FPS more than the 3080, or more than £60 a frame- it’s terrible value and never a card I’d recommend unless you’re going for “give me literally the best build you can” which it doesn’t seem like you are. I’d still stick with the advice of even if it’ll take a little longer, go for the right card.

 

[DarTon]

I've got a 3080 Ti and I never would have bought if it hadn't been because I got a FE version at £1,050 and was selling my 3070 for a £200 profit to some mining type.

Basically, the only "good value" 4K card is the 3080 10GB. It was such good value Nvidia has been trying their best to kill it off ever since!

The 3090 can be very good value for some applications given the large amount of VRAM but for gaming it's totally unnecessary. The 3080 12GB and 3080 Ti are poor value but some do feel a sense of comfort from that extra 2GB of VRAM.

 

[CMP01]

Last time I checked it was ~£500 for the upgrade from an 80. At 4K it’s an average of 8 FPS more than the 3080, or more than £60 a frame- it’s terrible value and never a card I’d recommend unless you’re going for “give me literally the best build you can” which it doesn’t seem like you are. I’d still stick with the advice of even if it’ll take a little longer, go for the right card.

View attachment 32016

I'll admit I haven't checked the configurators in a while but... given that quibbling and potentials for increased cost and wait times/decreased availability due to Nvidia dicing around with various 3080's, isn't AMD an option here?

 

[JUNI0R]

I'll admit I haven't checked the configurators in a while but... given that quibbling and potentials for increased cost and wait times/decreased availability due to Nvidia dicing around with various 3080's, isn't AMD an option here?

Not quite. The closest match PCS has to the 3080 is the 6800XT which comes in at about £150 more than the 10GB for slightly less performance and a loss of the NVIDIA features (DLSS better Ray Tracing and all that stuff). It’s an option for OP, for sure, but not one I’d personally prefer making myself. For reference the 12GB is £140 more than the 6800XT and the 80TI is £120 more than that.

 

[CMP01]

Not quite. The closest match PCS has to the 3080 is the 6800XT which comes in at about £150 more than the 10GB for slightly less performance and a loss of the NVIDIA features (DLSS better Ray Tracing and all that stuff). It’s an option for OP, for sure, but not one I’d personally prefer making myself. For reference the 12GB is £140 more than the 6800XT and the 80TI is £120 more than that.

Seriously? Wow. In which case the 3080 is definitely the better option (if not the 3080 12Gb/ti) but that's a real surprise. 6800XT's have previously been cheaper, sometimes absurdly so (mine was £1200 when 3080's ranged from £1800-2400) and generally more available, then and now. Personally, it's not a biggie for me to lose out on better RT and DLSS (they're not in enough games to decide a buy with even half the price difference as above imo) but I'm baffled that 6800XT's could ever actually cost more.

 

[Estonic]

Some excellent advice here, thank you all. I will definitely push for the 3080, but the deciding factor will be the wait times/stock issues. As long as I can get hold of it within the next few months, as I don't really want to wait until summer (my current rig's CPU is already struggling with modern games, a GPU upgrade helped prolong it for now).

 

[JUNI0R]

Seriously? Wow. In which case the 3080 is definitely the better option (if not the 3080 12Gb/ti) but that's a real surprise. 6800XT's have previously been cheaper, sometimes absurdly so (mine was £1200 when 3080's ranged from £1800-2400) and generally more available, then and now. Personally, it's not a biggie for me to lose out on better RT and DLSS (they're not in enough games to decide a buy with even half the price difference as above imo) but I'm baffled that 6800XT's could ever actually cost more.

I’m the same with RT and DLSS honestly. If I wanted a fast build I’d probably go with the 6800XT between the 3 non pre-order options honestly, I knew forgetting the AMD cards exist 😂

Some excellent advice here, thank you all. I will definitely push for the 3080, but the deciding factor will be the wait times/stock issues. As long as I can get hold of it within the next few months, as I don't really want to wait until summer (my current rig's CPU is already struggling with modern games, a GPU upgrade helped prolong it for now).

I don’t expect you’ll be waiting until summer, those days seem to be behind us gladly. If I had to guess I’d say that you’ll be waiting 6-8 weeks at most, it’d be interesting to hear what PCS says though

 

[Estonic]

I’m the same with RT and DLSS honestly. If I wanted a fast build I’d probably go with the 6800XT between the 3 non pre-order options honestly, I knew forgetting the AMD cards exist 😂


I don’t expect you’ll be waiting until summer, those days seem to be behind us gladly. If I had to guess I’d say that you’ll be waiting 6-8 weeks at most, it’d be interesting to hear what PCS says though

All ordered up! Thanks for all your help guys, especially JUNI0R! PCS reckon 4 weeks, possibly early March, for the 3080 10GB. Which works out well since my birthday is end of March , early birthday treat! I haven't ordered the monitor yet, I'm going to do a bit more research but I've saved the two links you posted.

 

[JUNI0R]

All ordered up! Thanks for all your help guys, especially JUNI0R! PCS reckon 4 weeks, possibly early March, for the 3080 10GB. Which works out well since my birthday is end of March , early birthday treat! I haven't ordered the monitor yet, I'm going to do a bit more research but I've saved the two links you posted.

Brilliant!, you're very welcome and that wait doesn't sound toooo bad either! Let us know how you get on with monitors and it'd be great to see the build all set up once it arrives!

 

[Scott]

Might be worth considering the G9 and replacing the 3 wrap around monitors altogether?

Nothing else to add as everyone has covered all the bases already

 

[SpyderTracks]

Chants... G9... G9... G9!!!

 

[SpyderTracks]