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#BrandedLegend’s thread - PC build
zinc lantern
feral oriole
awesome thanks
Okay so I'm a games designer looking to buy myself a Custom Built PC or even Prebuild if that's what is best, so i need as much guidance as possible. I'm looking to spending around 3 thousand pounds (about 3.7k dollars).
Usage-
The PC will need to operate big programs such as, 3DS Max, Maya, Unreal Engine 5.1, ZBrush, Substance Painter, Substance Designer, FMod and more. Often 2 or 3 of these at the same time. I also play lots of big games all the time in my free time and stream/record a lot. so it needs to be a pretty bulky PC.
I will be setting up a triple monitor setup with a laptop that will be connected as a 4th screen for certain occasion so the PC would need 4 HDMI's and have the components to run 4 smoothly.
Plan-
these are things I think I will be going for but with my limited knowledge, feel free to challenge me on this.
- RTX 4090
- Double SSD
Questions-
I have many questions about various questions, and the answers will likely add more questions.
- Should I be looking under Gaming PCs or Streaming PCs
- Should I go for Intel, Nvidia or AMD
- How many CPU cores is best and which type
- What motherboard to get
- Is there such thing as too much RAM
- Why is there an option for Graphics card support bracket, what does this change. brackets should be standard and simple surely?
- Is there a thing as too much storage, e.g. opting in for 2 SSD's and 4 storage drives all at max size
- Is Raid 0 recommended (I hate the sound of Raid 1).
- Should a disk tray be put in, this isn't a necessity for me, but if i can have 1 with 0 downsides, i may as well.
- Memory Card reader? again, should be standard?
- Power Supply, and cable, What does this change and which is recommended.
- Thermal Paste, again, why is this not standard and which should i choose?
- Which fan/cooler should i go for? (I've been recommended against Liquid cooling as I don't have the skills to maintain it)
- Are extra case fans needed for the type of specs I'm needing (I assume yes)
- LED Lighting, has no option of where to put it, do we install that ourselves?
- Sound Card, are external speakers recommended? or perhaps both, I only ask as my current PC doesn't have a sound card.
- What's the network card/wireless network card do and what's the difference in them?
- Do I need a streaming card?
- What is FireWire?
- I cant find the exact name on this PC config I'm looking at but, Wired internet slot, how do I know which I need, and can you have both wired and wireless capability, I plan on going wired but don't want to lock that in for life.
I appreciate any and all help from anyone, whether there's a response or 2 already, I appreciate this is a tall order, I'm just scared of messing up.
burnt ice
Okay so I'm a games designer looking to buy myself a Custom Built PC or even Pre...
so know this is for pcs only so we can’t help on self builds or pre builds unless it’s from pcs goes under rule 7 just putting this here since you mentioned dollars you have
feral oriole
so know this is for pcs only so we can’t help on self builds or pre builds unles...
I'm talking about a PC Specialist PC? I just included conversion so non British people know what my budget is
burnt ice
I'm talking about a PC Specialist PC? I just included conversion so non British ...
alright i want hating i was just making sure some people wait ages just to be told can’t help since they’re American 😅
feral oriole
alright i want hating i was just making sure some people wait ages just to be to...
Aha, I'm British
glad relic
What programs/program do you see yourself using the most? The benchmarks out there generally seem to rate the 13900k above AMD but you'd be best checking for your specific software. I went with a 13900k because I use Premiere and After Effects most (on top of Photoshop etc.) and the Intel's have quick sync for faster video decoding.
Do you intend to stream a lot? If so, maybe a streaming card would be worth it - if not, I would say no. I wouldn't say you require a sound card unless you're specifically delving into music/sound production - but again your call. Firewire used to be a USB alternative for faster data transfer.. now I think it's close to redundant with the advancement in USB speeds.
Only you can answer the questions on how much storage you need for your work.. and whether you need that to be in a raid format or you'll run manual backups?
Going for a high-end CPU which you would most likely do for a build of this calibre.. then taking on of the top end AIO coolers will be sufficient. I would recommend against a liquid build for your situation as like you say, it does require maintenance.
Also.. after having a quick spec up, you might have to make some sacrifices to get down to your £3k budget. What I would be recommending as a start is coming out around £3,190.
feral oriole
Also.. after having a quick spec up, you might have to make some sacrifices to g...
The budget is flexible, I could go up to 4k if needed, 3k was more of a goal than a set budget
So you recommend this 3.2k one?
glad relic
Ah ok cool, that gives some flexibility then 🙂
I would tweak the above to upgrade that first SSD to a faster one, but apart from that - yeah I think that's a good starter for what you need
feral oriole
I use every program Iisted often aswell as the ones you mentioned, video editing and photoshop
And on terms of streaming, I average at like 8 hours a day
glad relic
It looks like the 13900k and 7950X are pretty close to each other depending on the program.. but the Intel build is cheaper
so I'd be inclined to go that way
I mean, you'd be able to stream just fine with a 13900k+4090 - it would be your call on the stream card front. I'm not familiar with them to be honest.
feral oriole
Is it an external or internal component?
feral oriole
Perfect
glad relic
Ah sorry - just speaking to my colleague.. those cards are used for capturing from another PC
glad relic
Well not unless you're wanting to stream from another device
it captures the output from the other device
feral oriole
May be something I get in the future but I'll pass for now
glad relic
You may find a streaming accessory useful depending on what you do
feral oriole
I got that exact one on the right
glad relic
Ah perfect
feral oriole
I'm gonna take a look at the build you sent and modify it to my needs, I'll come back shortly with follow up questions.
glad relic
So you say you're recording video and working with video.. do you think you'll need a lot of storage?
feral oriole
Yes I will
glad relic
Ok, so my suggestion would be to keep the 500gb drive for your c: drive, windows and essential programs
the secondary m.2 for your games and a cache drive
then maybe add a standard HDD just for file storage?
glad relic
Yeah, whatever works for you
I run 1TB / 2TB at home, then have another m.2 for games/cache and 2 other HDDs for my asset storage etc.
feral oriole
Still keep the C: drive as a small one (aka 500GB)
100% worth doing so
Oh right okay, how come?
fast copper
If ever anything goes wrong and you need to re-install windows fresh, all you are losing is the data on said C: drive and you don't have to touch the other drives
To some it might seem overkill, but in reality, it's really good practise
feral oriole
Yeah that makes sense
glad relic
Yeah I learnt the hard way many years ago and since then I partitioned my hard drive to keep windows on a separate partition
now it's easier with multiple small m.2 drives 😄
feral oriole
I think I'm gonna opt in for home set up so hoping whoever arrives can help with that
glad relic
it will all be ready for you to plug and play when it arrives
fast copper
Also happened to my youngest last week. The only thing needed was the fresh install of Windows and they didn't lose anything else. Saves you a lot of time and stress over lost data
glad relic
windows installed on the smaller m.2 and your separate ones empty and ready for your programs/files
feral oriole
Jem, could you send a link to that PC build please
feral oriole
it will all be ready for you to plug and play when it arrives
Oh awesome
glad relic
This would be my starter suggestion then - feel free to tweak/ask questions 🙂
https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z790-ddr5-pc/pETsdKwe4g/
The case comes with 2 x fans - you may want to add 1 or 2 more for maximum airflow. The cooler will also have 3 fans and be top mounted to the case.
Also feel free to throw your 2p into that @fast copper 😄
feral oriole
Ill opt in for every fan I can 🤣 best be safe
fast copper
OP mentioned that they are a game designer...
Not knowing what software is being used I am just making a assupmtion here...
If budget can be stretched then I would potentially suggest going for 64GB RAM @ 6000Mhz
Also, as they are a game designer, I would probably go for the Arctix thermal paste
fast copper
And I just read up, you mentioned the software and yes....would go for the 64GB...additional speed optional
feral oriole
Oh, does this build support 4 monitors?
fast copper
Every modern GPU these days supports four monitors
Port types may vary slightly
feral oriole
I wanna avoid using a dgi cable, preferably all hdmi
glad relic
Yeah that's a good point. I'd dropped it to 32gb to try and fit to the £3k budget.. but yeah, I would up to 64gb or even 96gb if money allows.
I went with 96gb for After Effects.
feral oriole
Yeah I think I'll go for 96 too
I'm also upping the case, the one selected is a bit plain, and with all the money I'm spending I want it to look sick
Thinking this one
feral oriole
Oh i'm sorry 😅
glad relic
glad relic
Ha no 🙂
feral oriole
That looks sick
glad relic
That's the 5000T + 4 x LL120 fans + Corsair H150i LCD cooler
which would up your budget quite a lot just FYI
feral oriole
I kinda like the look of this but I also think it's too much
glad relic
Yeah that's definitely a marmite case.. some love it, others hate it
feral oriole
Aha
glad relic
I think it's unique for sure
you can set it up to play tetris on the case front if you so desired 😛
feral oriole
I won't be getting it but I could picture some cool uses
feral oriole
you can set it up to play tetris on the case front if you so desired 😛
Omg amazing
glad relic
Hmm.. good question. Let me ask as when I had my PC built 4 x 24 wasn't an option because of compatibility issues running 4xDDR5 sticks on an Intel build.
There's likely to have been BIOS updates since then that make it possible.
glad relic
Yeah compatibility is all good now and no difference in performance - so dealers choice 🙂
4 x 24 may be cheaper, 2 x 48gb gives you potential upgradability if needed
fast copper
Counter argument...
4 x 24's might be "safer" in a sense when one stick fails, you are not missing out on too much power until you have a replacement stick
But this is, as Jem said, dealers choice.
I am not trying to plant worries on your mind at all
feral oriole
I'm not a PC person at all, I'm thinking performance is better than safety in this sense, but depends how much performance and how much safety does it comprise.
I'm not educated enough to make this choice so you tell me what I should do and I'll do it
fast copper
I wouldn't worry and always opt for performance where budget allows
Yes, things pieces of hardware can fail but those are "edge cases"
feral oriole
I'll be getting 3 year warranty
fast copper
I might add that, by going via PCS, should anything go wrong, you are covered. And the PCS Support team is absolutely fantastic. I had a GPU issue with one of my previous builds, reported it and had the replacement card with me the following day
feral oriole
That's amazing, in my case though it would need replacing by a professional
If I poke around inside my tower, I'll break it
fast copper
Replacing RAM and GPU is one of the easiest things to do
Yes, if you've never done it it can seem quite daunting. But it's super simple really
But again, this is a "if it happens" case which might not even happen
feral oriole
Yeah. I appreciate all the ifs and buts
Why is the second graphic card options so limited
feral oriole
Fair enough, I can't afford 2 top tier cards anyway, but I heard in some cases. 2 bad cards are better than 1 good
fast copper
Not when you're going with a 4090 😉
feral oriole
Aha, awesome then
glad relic
To be fair.. you can still use dual graphics cards for rendering
without them being SLI
feral oriole
Sorry, this is probably gonna happen a few times but why is a bracket a choice, what the hell does this change
glad relic
but you have a few issues with the 4090 card
a) it's really big.. so fitting 2 in a case is a real problem and there's no many cases that have that capacity
fast copper
Sorry, this is probably gonna happen a few times but why is a bracket a choice, ...
New cards are huge and heavy.
A bracket supports that weight and prevents the PCIe port from bending
feral oriole
New cards are huge and heavy.
A bracket supports that weight and prevents the PC...
But why let me choose and not just give me the one I need?
glad relic
b) it's super powerful, so the motherboards literally don't have the power available to deal with the information being pushed through 2 cards
so where you'd get pretty much double the power from 2 x 3080 cards before
feral oriole
Ah right okay, 1 should do me well anyway
glad relic
it won't work like that with 2 x 4090 cards
you'll end up with them running at 1.5x rather than 2x
feral oriole
Yeah, is the 4090 still recommended or would you personally go for. Say. 2 4060s
fast copper
But why let me choose and not just give me the one I need?
One is "boring" the other is "fancy" RGB lights
Your choice
feral oriole
Oh right, wish the website made that clear
I'm thinking if I choose wrong, it's gonna break
glad relic
I would still go for the 4090
because of the 24gb VRAM it has
when you're building 3D scenes, you need as much of that as possible
the 4060's only have 12gb ?
well the 4060ti only has 8gb
the 4060 isn't officially launched yet
feral oriole
How are 20 series better than 40 series
feral oriole
Oh right
glad relic
so as far as single cards go.. they're no where near
feral oriole
So I am at the highest possible VRam
glad relic
Yep you are
feral oriole
Perfect
glad relic
and these are your CPU scores for Cinebench with single core and multi-core scores:
so the Intels win outright for both
feral oriole
Awesome
Can you explain RAID 0 briefly please. I don't want RAID 1 as that's halfing my storage
glad relic
I can't I'm afraid - I've never used it, nor looked into it
I would just have to Google
feral oriole
Alright, I'll have a read into it, thank you
Memory card reader, what dat
For £6 may aswell get it
glad relic
memory cards.. SD cards/Compactflash
if you don't use them, you don't need it
you can always buy a USB one at a later date
feral oriole
So it's for external memory?
glad relic
yep
feral oriole
Ight
glad relic
if you click the '?' next to each line - it'll open up a dialog with description/photos
glad relic
feral oriole
How come you selected liquid cooling? I thought that was high maintenance
fast copper
In on mobile rn
Pro tip: on mobile the '?' only works in landscape mode 😉
glad relic
Those liquid coolers are AIO's and need no maintenance
they're different to a full liquid build
and with the 13900k you do need a good cooler to keep the temps down
feral oriole
Ah right okay, so I'll be fine?
glad relic
so I wouldn't recommend anything lower than the PCS 360, or if you want to go all out.. one of the Corsair H150i's
feral oriole
I think I'm best going all out, overheating is a common issue
fast copper
What Jem said!!! If you want to go fancy and blingy...go 150 with LCD
glad relic
The LCD is what I have but only because the Capellix was out of stock 😄
I didn't really want to fork out that amount of money
but now I have a cat jamming on my cooler so.. you win some you lose some
feral oriole
Ah
fast copper
Cat jamming is totally worth the extra cash 🤣
feral oriole
Is there a way to choose where the option LED Lighting goes
fast copper
But seriously, the LCD can show more than cats. You can set it to monitor temps and such. To some it's quite a useful gimmick
feral oriole
What the hell is cat jamming
fast copper
Jem has a gif showing on the AIO LCD screen
glad relic
fast copper
Instead of the temp showing in the below, Jem just set it to a gif with a cat jamming
aaaand Jem beat me to it with a proper showcase
feral oriole
That's awesome 🤣🤣
I was gonna go for ad many extra fans as possible but 10 seems overkill and worse to me, so I'm thinking this one.
glad relic
if you're going for the 5000T, then it will already have 3 at the front.. and the Corsair H150i has 3
so you may not even get 5 in there
I went with 4 (the option above) and that's what you see in the photos I posted
Even running a 10 minute CPU benchmark, my CPU didn't go above 75 degrees
feral oriole
Ah right okay, what I was thinking is 10 wouldn't even fit 🤣
This is required for wireless connection right?
glad relic
Actually.. I tell a lie.. I think it might have had a few peaks at 85.. but the 13900k won't thermal throttle until it reaches 100c
the motherboard already has WiFi, you don't need another card
when you get your welcome box, it will have antenae in it to screw into the back of your case for your wifi
feral oriole
Hm?
I don't get what you mean
I kinda understand why I don't need that card but what do I need to screw? I thought it arrives ready to go
And I assume the same goes for network card
Only need the onboard one?
And after having a look, there's only 1 final question.
I plan on having it wired into a WiFi booster plug I'll have plugged in. Is this a good idea?
glad relic
Wifi booster plug that works off the internal electrics of the house?
Yeah I know a few people who use it like that
feral oriole
Yeah
Just boosts the signal and let's me plug an Ethernet cable from that to the PC
glad relic
then yeah - no problems there
thick cairn
The second point is just telling you where they will install windows, nothing to fix
The first point just means not all your front ports on the case will be useable - and if you're ok with that just leave it (you'd need a different motherboard to get them all useable)
glad relic
Yeah because of the extra fans you've chosen.. they take up connections on your motherboard
it's the same with my build.. only 2 of the 4 usb ports I have on the front of my case work
thick cairn
Ah yeah if thats what using them, you may never get to use all of them
feral oriole
Ah right okay, so how many USB will be usable cause I'll need some for my mouse and keyboard etc
Other stuff like my light up mouse mat is going into a USB bank, but mouse and keyboard need to be in pc
glad relic
you'll have loads of ports on the back of your PC
feral oriole
Okay awesome
glad relic
and if it's the 5000T case, you'll have 1 x usb-c and 2 x usb on the front
feral oriole
Usable or not usable?
glad relic
2 usable, 2 unusable
feral oriole
That also makes sense why my current pc had plastic covering a USB slot too
glad relic
normally the 2 left ones will be useable
feral oriole
2 usable, 2 unusable
Ah okay, that's managable
Yeah, that works for me
And the second problem, is what it's doing with windows okay?
glad relic
the hard drive is there as a cheaper storage solution
so keep that for files/videos/etc.
feral oriole
Yeah
feral oriole
This would be my starter suggestion then - feel free to tweak/ask questions 🙂
...
How do I see my build in this view. I would like to send it for a final check
Oh I see, it's cause im on mobile
I'll send shortly
glad relic
You click proceed then 'post to forum' and there should be a dedicated URL on that page
glad relic
links aren't banned 🙂
links to competitors are
and you have to level up to 'spark' before you can send them altogether - but you're fine
feral oriole
Ah right
I am spark I think
Main reason I ask was I saw the bot auto remove a link and warn someone
glad relic
Some may get removed if they look dodgy to the bot - but no you're good
feral oriole
Alright nice
glad relic
still keeping the USB card reader?
glad relic
it's on that link 🙂
glad relic
You can remove the thermal paste with the cooler you've chosen as that comes with a good thermal pad on it already
feral oriole
MiBu said I needed that 1
glad relic
Also - the fans you've chosen (you might not be able to see this on mobile) - but they're the white ones, not the black ones
feral oriole
Oh right. Yeah, no images
glad relic
Yeah he was probably talking about the PCS cooler - you don't need it with the Corsair one
glad relic
Well they'll take the already sufficient cooling pad on the Corsair one... remove it.. and replace it with the thermal paste you've chosen
to no real benefit to cooling
feral oriole
Ah
glad relic
so I don't see the point
glad relic
I would remove the anti-virus.. Windows has defender already built into it which does a perfectly good job
and in the past I know Norton/McAfee to be heavyweight on a system and slow it down
glad relic
apart from that - yeah I think it all looks good
feral oriole
Awesome
glad relic
I seem to of skipped a few levels lol
errr.. yeah. No idea about that 😐
we'll look into that
feral oriole
For monthly payments, is it just a set ammount each month or is there a down payment.
And what time frame options are there
glad relic
There's an option to pay off the build in 12 months and just pay a £29 admin fee
or spread the cost over 4 years I believe it is
minimum 10% deposit
feral oriole
1 year is what I was hoping for
glad relic
yeah so 10% deposit now.. pay the balance off before the 12 months is up and you'll be charged a £29 admin fee
that's it
thick cairn
we'll look into that
Probably due to the nitro-boost 🙂
glad relic
Oh I'm an idiot.. I thought it might be that but then didn't see it in the boost channel
I'm blind
feral oriole
yeah so 10% deposit now.. pay the balance off before the 12 months is up and you...
Automatic or do I send the money monthly?
thick cairn
Adds xp and at low levels its probably a lot
glad relic
(it's not automatic)
glad relic
Automatic or do I send the money monthly?
You'd have to confirm that with #📞support I'm afraid - I wouldn't want to say for sure
feral oriole
Okay, that's thrown me off in referring to this at the top of the screen. I was hoping to pay a set ammount each month.
glad relic
if you go to the finance link I sent, it explains it
thick cairn
If you want financing through PCS yes, you can obviously pay in one go or sort out some other financing from elsewhere if you want
feral oriole
I'll go with that one. Probably pay 50% upfront and pay the rest of in 6 months
It's just about my memory 🥴
fast copper
Set yourself reminders on your phone 
thick cairn
Or teh Windows calendar
fast copper
Or post-it notes plastered all over your monitors 🤣
feral oriole
🤣🤣
Thank you all for all the help, what's the deal with this now? Does it need to be closed/deleted. If you have too then could you let me know first so I can save the contents of it
thick cairn
No we leave the threads here 🙂
feral oriole
Awesome