#Spec Advice :)

1 messages Ā· Page 1 of 1 (latest)

covert yoke
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Hi there, I've been lurking around this server for a while now, thinking about getting a new PC, and I've finally had the free time to do some research and commit!

I've put together a spec (below), and I've mostly made up my mind on the main components, but I thought I should post it here before buying, just in case I'm making any huge mistakes!

  • My budget is around Ā£2500, but this is flexible (although I'm not about to jump up to a 4090 or anything, lol)
  • I'll be using it for a mix of gaming and some game programming work: running game engines, the odd bit of photoshop/video editing etc. (as well as day to day use)
  • I plan to use 2x 27 inch, 1440p, 180Hz monitors
  • Buying from the UK (Scotland)

There were also a few specific questions I had relating to the spec:

  • For the Intel CPU, should I just go with the "K" version? I'm aware that there are differences between the versions, like being overclockable and having integrated graphics, although I don't know how important integrated graphics are, and I have no plans to dabble with overclocking bsod
  • For the motherboard, I just chose the TUF Z790 WIFI, although there didn't seem to be many differences (other than price) between that and the TUF B760M WIFI, so would it make more sense to go with the latter?
  • I wasn't sure if I should go with the 6000MHz RAM, as it's only Ā£10 more than the 5600MHz?
  • I went with the 360 series liquid CPU cooler, was this the right choice? Or should I have gone with the cheaper 240 series one? (I'm guessing the cooler, the better though?)

Thanks for any advice! :)

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Spec:

Case
PCS PRISM TG WHITE ARGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
IntelĀ® Coreā„¢ i7 20-Core Processor i7-14700K (Up to 5.6GHz) 33MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUSĀ® TUF GAMING Z790-PLUS WIFI (LGA1700, DDR5, PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 6E)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 5600MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 Ti SUPER - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 990 PRO M.2, PCIe 4.0 NVMe (up to 7450MB/R, 6900MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
4TB CORSAIR CORE XT MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 5000 MB/R, 4400 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIESā„¢ MODULAR 80 PLUSĀ® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 360 Series ARGB 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
ONBOARD LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
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
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 365Ā® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chromeā„¢
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Price: Ā£2,499.00 including VAT and Delivery

stuck gale
#

whats "some game programming work"? is it for a few days per week of work for the day job, or more like once or twice a month for a hobby?

covert yoke
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I'm currently studying games programming in uni, and hope to eventually do it as a career, so it's more on the "frequent" side of things :)

stuck gale
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I still feel an AMD system might serve you better, for one, the 14700 and 14900 CPUs are end of the line as far as upgrades, and they are very hot for what they do, never mind the fact that the e cores are a bit very useless and are just itty bitty heaters for the most part, as the scheduling for them is still iffy at best

#

the 14700k has 8 p cores that boost up to 5.6GHz,
the 7800X3D has 8 cores that boost to 5.3GHz, so not a huge difference there

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even then, there are productivity focused options like the 7900 variants with 12-16 cores that run roughly as fast but have no useless e cores

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also, UE5 and the intel CPUs don't play nice and you have to disable something or downclock for it to run UE5 games in a stable manner

#

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 5000X RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 12 Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.6GHz/76MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUSĀ® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4070 Ti SUPER - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
4TB CORSAIR CORE XT MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 5000 MB/R, 4400 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIESā„¢ MODULAR 80 PLUSĀ® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 360 Series ARGB 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
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe 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 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
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 365Ā® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
Norton 360 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
Browser
MicrosoftĀ® Edge
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 5 to 7 working days

Price: Ā£2,418.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/3RFzW9c3N!/

PCSPECIALIST - Configure the AMD Am5 PC to your ideal requirements.

PCSpecialist is an award-winning manufacturer of high quality custom PCs & Laptops. Configure the AMD Am5 PC to your ideal requirements.

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12 cores of comparable speed, no useless ecores, and still coming out cheaper, with a solid upgrade path

covert yoke
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Thanks for the spec! Lemme check it out

stuck gale
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there is also still an ongoing issue with intel 14700 and 14900 CPUs commiting factory reset by themselves, AMD doesn't have that anymore

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if you ahd the extra too, you could go for the 7950X3D, which is a fantastic all rounder, it's a smidge faster, 16 full speed cores, and they lovely 3d vcache that makes gamings so much smoother

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to address your question about overclocking, these days it's more of an enthusiast sport, as CPUs are already at their limit, and have built in boost features to tickle that last bit out of them.

Any overclock you do apply gets you 2-3% extra performance, maybe 5-10% if you do some shenanigans, so it's not exactly worthwhile.

Also, overclocking voids your PCS warranty.

covert yoke
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Alright, well I think I'm going to give AMD some more consideration then, specifically leaning towards the 7800X3D... I'll do some more research though, it's a tough choice!

And about the overclocking, don't worry, I wasn't even considering it - too scary/risky lol

I did have a couple of other quick questions:

  • I noticed in your new spec, you changed the case - I'm guessing it has better airflow or something? Does that justify the Ā£70 increase?
  • I'm assuming 6000MHz RAM is worth it over 5600MHz RAM then?
  • Is the 360 series CPU cooler fine for both the 14700K and the 7800X3D, whichever I choose?
  • If I do go down the AMD route, is the B650 motherboard all I would need?

Thanks for your help so far!

stuck gale
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the case is larger and has better airflow, with additional fan options, it will definitely fit the AIO on top which is generally the better configuration, I'm not so sure about the case you picked as it might have the mounting options, but may not clear the RAM, and thanks to it's bigger size, future upgrades will fit without having to compromise much if at all.

the faster RAM is better, it's a few quid difference, for a better performing PC

the 360mm AIO is fine for the 14700k, overkill for the 7800X3D, the 7800X3D is fine with a 240mm AIO as well. Overkill is a good thing though, better too much cooling than too little

the B650 AMD board is fine as well, it doesn't have the PCIE 5.0 slot, but since there aren't any GPUs that use that yet, it's fine, if you wanted to opt for the 5.0 on AMD, then the TUF x670E is what I recommend

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a heads up, the 7800X3D is very much a gaming CPU, and is the best around, but isn't as capable for productivity/multitasking, due to "only" having 8 cores

covert yoke
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I decided that I'll go with the 7800X3D... it seems that the only downside of it would be the slightly poorer productivity performance, but I'm willing to sacrifice that. It'll still be miles better than what I have at the moment (Intel 6th Gen i7). Also, I don't really do any rendering or stuff like that (that's more the art side of things), so I should be able to get away with it :)

One final (I think) question, the configurator tells me that I could use a 750W power supply instead of the 850W one. It says I'd only use about 653W on average. So is it better to just stick with the 850W one, or go down to 750W?

safe remnant
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It always best to have a bit of headroom with a PSU, would also mean youre more likley to upgrade things without having to replace it as well

covert yoke
stuck gale
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the 850W allows elbow room for future upgrades, if you don't mind the idea of also having to get a new PSU with an upgrade, the sure

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I am actually in that boat, I got "enough" for my system, and now that I am considering upgrades, it means I need to beef up the PSU too no matter what