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PC Experts please give me some suggestions

hinch7

Member
PC.png


No Windows and little over budget but I'm sure you can find an OEM Windows 11 key for under £20. Plus hardly any ARGB but can swap in about more premium ones for aesthetics. Can also swap out the motherboard to a ASUS X670-P which is the same price for PCI-E Gen 5 support though do update bios if any overclocking (like RAM) as we had the whole x3D burn out debacle a few months ago and that fixes that.

But basically top of the line gaming performance without compromise. If you're spending around 2.5K on a PC you might as well get the best stuff and not 4080 or below. Anything under a 4090 isn't going to cut it for 4K and Path Tracing in Phantom Liberty if you want decent fps.
 
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lmimmfn

Member
For £2000 you should easily be able to pickup a better rig than quoted. I spent 2000 euro back in March April for:
Nvidia 4070Ti
7800x3d
Asus X670E(pcie5 gpu and pcie5 nvme support)
32 gig 6400 ddr5(might be 6200)
2TB NVMe
And some other stuff
The prices have dropped dramatically since I built so I would expect the above to be had for 1700euro today.
I didn't need case, PSU, kb, mouse or monitor but definitely a 4800 with the above including case and psu is possible for £2000 easily.
 

Celcius

°Temp. member
Since no one else is saying it then I'll be the one - wait until next month when the Intel 14th gen CPUs come out, watch the reviews, and then most likely grab one of those - especially the 14700k.
 
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GHG

Member
Since no one else is saying it then I'll be the one - wait until next month when the Intel 14th gen CPUs come out, watch the reviews, and then most likely grab one of those - especially the 14700k.

I thought those were just going to be a refresh?

What kind of performance uplift are we expecting the 14700k to have over the 13700k?
 

Bojji

Member
I thought those were just going to be a refresh?

What kind of performance uplift are we expecting the 14700k to have over the 13700k?

I think no more than 5%. It's just refresh, raptor had more L2 cache than alder bo no difference like that right now.

7800x3d is amazing gaming CPU, there is no need to look at current Intel line up (maybe in the future). Plus on am5 you can be sure you can get Zen 5 when it releases, Intel platform is dead after 14 series.
 

TrebleShot

Member
Just a piece of advice from me, if you can spend a couple hundred more on future proofing, do it.
I spent a silly amount on my first build, then about 6 months later wanted to have better cooling and more overhead for power so ended up spending another 500 on a case, fans, power unit etc, now I am thinking of moving to AM5. It doesnt make that much difference for 4k120 but damn it i want mine future proof.

I will also say this, your core experience in games will be the same, youll get prettier graphics and more options but youll also get some awkward things to deal with. Sometimes its best to just think consoles are for gaming, no noise but a basic machine that runs things at decent graphics and FPS is all you need.

Id actually recommendaa steam deck.
 

Jigsaah

Gold Member
I recently came into some money and I'm thinking about entering into the PC zone. Always been a console gamer, but figured if I can afford it, why not see if I can enjoy my hobby even more with a PC that outperforms my current gen consoles.

Problem is, I dont know where to start. Looked in PC Specialist (i'm in the UK) and was overwhelmed by all the different options, Nvidia, Radeon....i5, i7, just lost me.

Thought I might offer up what I'm looking for and see what you guys might suggest?

Budget around £2.5k

I game solely on an OLED S95B 65" from the couch, primarily using my Elite V2 controller.

Just need something to run the latest and greatest (eg CP2077, Starfield, RDR2, GW2) in 4k with high frames.

Many thanks!
First thing I ask any person I'm trying to recommend a build to is "What is your budget?"

Second question is "What do you want to do with the PC?" Is it just gaming, are you looking to do any streaming or video editing? Are you into music production?

Third "For gaming, are you looking to play at the highest graphical settings with no compromises?" What resolution and hertz is your monitor/TV going to be? What is more important, resolution or framerate?

Generally speaking you can have best of both worlds depending on what you play, which brings me to my final question. What kinda games are you interested in?

Answer these and I'll shoot you a build.

EDIT:
Ok so really just need to answer if you wanna stream at all. I'm guess because you're gaming from your couch, the answer is no. Probably same for video editing. Feel free to correct me if I'm wrong.

I would say go with:
GPU RTX 4080 - 4090 is you can find it cheaper

CPU: Ryzen 7 7800x3d

Motherboard: just make sure it's AM5 socket and X670 is going to be more expensive than B650 motherboards. Difference is mainly PCIE 5.0 support. If you want to make sure you don't have to upgrade for some time go X670, or B650e. Consider how many Usb 3.0(or higher) slots there are on the motherboard. Also consider the amount of M.2 Slots for your SSDs. I think 3 is pretty much standard at this point for an ATX (regular size) motherboard

Cooling: If you're not building it yourself, go with a nice Watercooled solution, ensure your case can fit the radiator...typically mounted at the top of your case. Though some cases allow you mount to the front as well.

Memory(RAM): I typically go with G. Skill. When choosing a motherboard, make sure you know what RAM speeds it supports, also make sure that RAM speed is best for your CPU. For the 7800x3d, most people use 6000 speed DDR5 RAM.

Case: Highly personal preference, just make sure it fits your motherboard (ATX, Micro or Mini ATX). Consider whether you would like a PSU shell ( area that holds the Power Supply Unit) or no.

Storage: I would only consider SSDs as your main boot drive, particularly M.2 SSDs. Samsung Pro 980 or 990 should be perfectly fine. Get one for now, add more as you need them.

PSU: Personally, I undervolt my 4090, so I can get away with a 750w power supply. I would probably recommend 850w power supply. Make sure it's rated at least 80+ Gold and is fully Modular.

Accessories: Keyboards and Mice are largely personal preference as well, just go with what you like as you're shopping around.

I made a mock build that may be around your budget. I'm not sure how shipping works in the UK and prices may vary. But take a look. This will at least give you an idea
 
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Build your own PC rather than buying a prebuilt. Better value for money. AMD Ryzen CPUs are the best for performance and Value. While Nvidia has been shirt birds recently with their GPUs, they're still worth picking up especially if games has DLSS, black magic that.
 
You will probably be disappointed using a PC on a TV from the couch. PCMR defense force coming at me in 3.. 2.. 1..

I'd spend the money elsewhere. If you're a console guy used to being on the couch with a big TV, you'll probably fade away from PC gaming, even with it outperforming consoles.
I have a hard time gaming from a desk. Plus a lot of ports suck these days. ha!
I thought about doing one of those handhelds as my "pc gaming". I have no issues using handhelds.
Idk what this is about ….

I game on my PC sitting on my couch using my 4K TV just like I do with my consoles. All you need is a Bluetooth mouse and keyboard, I also play games with a controller so there is literally no difference between gaming on PC with a TV vs console lol. You can get a long HDMI cord or just move your PC in the same room as your TV.

As for OP question Freeman76 Freeman76 , I jumped back into PC games this year and what I suggest is buying a very high quality prebuilt to start out. If you have the money of course, skip trying to build your own for now and just buy a very high end PC to start out.

In a couple years you can worry about adding to it yourself but for now I think the idea of going from having no PC knowledge to buying all those expensive parts and trying to build it yourself plus learn the ins and outs of gaming on PC will be too overwhelming. Just buy one out the gate if that aligns with your budget.

Once you jump into PC you will not look back at consoles, I barely use my PS5 since I got the PC, the performance, graphics and customization on PC is amazing. You won’t be crying about frame rates or begging for a overpriced and underperforming “pro” console anymore lol.
 
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th4tguy

Member
Looking at all of these builds, do people not have to buy windows anymore? That was always another $100 back in the day.
 
What kind of performance uplift are we expecting the 14700k to have over the 13700k?
+200mhz and 4 more efficiency/small cores... so not much.

but a 14700k will make the 12700k and 13700k a lot cheaper, which is the real win.
 
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Tams

Member
While a 4090 is certainly dosable with that budget, and certainly so with a few hundred more, if you do go that way just be sure you want to.

You will almost certainly be keeping That card for a long time if you go with it. And it will very likely age well.

But, bear in mind that a 4090 (and 4080) are big in both price tag and size.

Personally, I'd go with a 4070Ti or RX7900XT or even lower and spend more on other components. Then upgrade the GPU more often.
 

Reckheim

Member
Didn't want to create a new thread so I figured I would ask here. Below is what I currently have and i'm thinking of just upgrading the CPU and graphics card and wait for a full upgrade when ever the 5000 series comes out. I currently game on a 1440p Ultrawide screen.
I really don't care much about FPS as long as its above 60fps. But I do want to play on ultra settings with Ray tracing on if available.

Was thinking of Getting the RTX4070, but not sure what CPU to pair it with, I wont be upgrading the mother board so it will be an AM4 socket. I don't plant to do anything else on the PC, strictly just for gaming.

can you guys recommend a CPU? Is it worth upgrading to an RTX4070TI if I don't really need to push past 60fps?

Budget is around $1000 USD.

Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core Processor 3.90 GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB
RTX2070S
 
Didn't want to create a new thread so I figured I would ask here. Below is what I currently have and i'm thinking of just upgrading the CPU and graphics card and wait for a full upgrade when ever the 5000 series comes out. I currently game on a 1440p Ultrawide screen.
I really don't care much about FPS as long as its above 60fps. But I do want to play on ultra settings with Ray tracing on if available.

Was thinking of Getting the RTX4070, but not sure what CPU to pair it with, I wont be upgrading the mother board so it will be an AM4 socket. I don't plant to do anything else on the PC, strictly just for gaming.

can you guys recommend a CPU? Is it worth upgrading to an RTX4070TI if I don't really need to push past 60fps?

Budget is around $1000 USD.

Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core Processor 3.90 GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB
RTX2070S
If you’re sticking with AM4, which I think is a good idea, then there’s really only one option that makes sense and that’s the 5800X3D.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Looking at all of these builds, do people not have to buy windows anymore? That was always another $100 back in the day.
Only reason to do so is to remove the watermark and change background. that's not worth 100 dollars.

There are free alternatives that do both without any key.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Was thinking of Getting the RTX4070, but not sure what CPU to pair it with, I wont be upgrading the mother board so it will be an AM4 socket. I don't plant to do anything else on the PC, strictly just for gaming.
Considering your current build and circumstances, not sure why you wouldn't just get a 5800x3d.
 

64bitmodels

Reverse groomer.
Maybe overkill? I'm might just do that tho
What's overkill now will become very useful to you in the future. Take it from a guy who bought an 8GB GPU because he thought it was good enough. Never lowball or settle on specs, if you gotta save up for more do it
 

Crayon

Member
enjoy my hobby even more with a PC that outperforms my current gen consoles.

I got a tip. No matter what anyone tells you here, go look at gpu reviews that are thourough like gamers nexus or hardware unboxed and see what games look and perform like compared to your console. YOUR judgement. Don't just take someone's word for it when they say a 4070 is going to destroy a ps5 or whatever. In some situations, the judgement of the user is that it does, and in some, it doesn't. Depending on display, seating, and you yourself, you might find you need to spend a whole lot of money to get an upgrade you are satisfied with. But please go see with your own eyes before deciding how much to spend!!
 

MikeM

Member
I got a tip. No matter what anyone tells you here, go look at gpu reviews that are thourough like gamers nexus or hardware unboxed and see what games look and perform like compared to your console. YOUR judgement. Don't just take someone's word for it when they say a 4070 is going to destroy a ps5 or whatever. In some situations, the judgement of the user is that it does, and in some, it doesn't. Depending on display, seating, and you yourself, you might find you need to spend a whole lot of money to get an upgrade you are satisfied with. But please go see with your own eyes before deciding how much to spend!!
I have both a PS5 and PC attached to a LG C1. Both have their use cases but console seems to be better day 1 than PC. Hell, I bought Dead Space on PS5 over PC even tho my PC slaps my console. Stutter gate has been real on PC as of late.
 

Buggy Loop

Member
I can't think of a better build for a TV setup.

Has to be mini-ITX imo, and a small surface area case like the SSUPD. I think i managed to find everything you need for a mini-ITX with a 7800x3D & 4080, in your budget.


No RGB crap. Memory selected to be under the NH-L12s cooler, has to be low profile.

SSUPD meshilicious is one of the best case to beat still to this day imo. I have one with the NH-L12S, fuck water cooling, go air. The 2 noctua A12x25 fans i included are the best fans for air pressure in small volume cases, you make them pull air out of the case and it makes the GPU cooling improve, the NH-L12s to be oriented with the fins horitontally so that the fans pulling the air out from the front also improves CPU.

Mine is setup with a 5800X3D with PBO adjustment and it kicks major ass.

 
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Zug

Member
Didn't want to create a new thread so I figured I would ask here. Below is what I currently have and i'm thinking of just upgrading the CPU and graphics card and wait for a full upgrade when ever the 5000 series comes out. I currently game on a 1440p Ultrawide screen.
I really don't care much about FPS as long as its above 60fps. But I do want to play on ultra settings with Ray tracing on if available.

Was thinking of Getting the RTX4070, but not sure what CPU to pair it with, I wont be upgrading the mother board so it will be an AM4 socket. I don't plant to do anything else on the PC, strictly just for gaming.

can you guys recommend a CPU? Is it worth upgrading to an RTX4070TI if I don't really need to push past 60fps?

Budget is around $1000 USD.

Processor AMD Ryzen 5 3600 6-Core Processor 3.90 GHz
Installed RAM 16.0 GB
RTX2070S
I had a 3700x +2070s last year, upgraded to a 5800x3D + 4070Ti while keeping all the rest, everything runs 60+fps @4k+DLSS (including Cyberpunk with path tracing and all bells and whistles). Should be slightly more than 1k$, but probably the best bang for the buck as other AM4 CPUs are probably not worth putting money on, and the difference between a 4070 and a 4070Ti is big enough to justify the price gap. A cheaper alternative would be to keep your CPU and go for a 4070, which would still offer a good upgrade, but not fit for high end graphics in all games.
Make sure you have at least DDR4-3200 RAM too, preferably 3600. 16GB should be enough most of the time, but 32GB offers more leeway.
 

//DEVIL//

Member
7800x3d
Motherboard for it
32gb ddr5 (6000MHz at least?)
Rest for GPU - 4080 probably
Agree with this. But make sure the motherboard letter start with B or X. There are cheaper boards that are not good to be used ( 99% of the boards in UK probably start with B or X anyway.)

As for GPU yes don't go below 4080 if you want something to last. That or a 3090 used if it's in great condition and around the price of 4070ti ( less is better )
 

Crayon

Member
I have both a PS5 and PC attached to a LG C1. Both have their use cases but console seems to be better day 1 than PC. Hell, I bought Dead Space on PS5 over PC even tho my PC slaps my console. Stutter gate has been real on PC as of late.

Yah what's the use of having options if you are too rigid to use them, right? I might get a game on console because it's easier to visit a friend with. Or might get one on pc because I want to map the expanded keyboard controls to a controller. Make full use of whatever you are blessed to have and don't get married to the idea that one is always better.
 

RayHell

Member
Got 2 Zotac never had a problem with them
I have 3 RTX 4090, MSI, Gigabytes and Zotac. The Zotac broke after 1 month, sent it to RMA a month ago now and they still don't know when I will get my card back because they don't have a replacement currently. Meanwhile I can buy the same card shipped the next day from Amazon.
Crappy product with shitty warranty.
 
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Crayon

Member
Don't forget to set your xmp if you have to. Take the built machine for a test-drive but go back and make sure the xmp is on not long after. There are more bios settings but that one thing lets your memory work at the advertised speed so consider it not optional.

Don't forget!! >:0
 
Youll have to forgive me for not knowing which PC stores are best in the UK so ill be listing MSRP prices.

Native 4K is a farce.
DLSS your way to 4K.

So that pretty much locks you into buying an Nvidia card.
RTX 4070 - 600 dollars
RTX 4070Ti - 800 dollars - The 4070Ti is def 200 dollars better than the 4070 btw.
RTX 4090 - 1600 dollars

AMD AM5 motherboard: I believe in MSI so any of them will get the job done. - B650 is totally fine and will save you like 100 dollars vs getting X670, but if you need the extra PCIE lanes and USB ports get an X670.

CPU - 7800X3D - You cant go wrong with the 7800X3D

850W - 1000W power supply from like Corsair or SuperFlower

32GB DDR5 - 6000 mt - 150ish dollars.

Samsung 990 Pro or Western Digital SN850X 1 - 2TB OS drive where youll also put your most played games and most used apps.
Crucial P3 2 - 4TB drive where youll put most of your storage and games, the perf difference in gaming between the P3 and the more expensive drives is negligible.


Thats well in your budget, you can splurge a bit on either the motherboard, more storage, the case or if you can squeeze it a 4090.
The 4080 isnt good value, the 4070Ti is right on its heels and the 4090 is almost twice as fast, so both of those cards end up being the better buy.


When I was last in the UK Arctic had the P and F12 - 14 5 packs that were absolutely amazing value, they daisy chain together so you dont even need to use multiple fan headers and even come in RGB if thats your poison.
P12_PWM_PST_Value_Pack_G00_Award_(1).png



If you are aircooling your case - and you should be.
The Fractal Torrent is pretty much the gold standard:
7AlBVt4.gif



Torrent-Black-Solid-AC-2-1697x1200.jpg



The Peerless Assassin is the best value CPU especially for an 7800X3D, itll keep that bitch cool as fuck.
ffb77f16-7897-4614-bbd7-7f25194f6168.jpg




The cheapest 4090 ive seen from the UK is 1500 pounds and its a Zotac trinity......never buy Zotac.
Youll realistically be looking closer to 1600 - 1700 pounds.
AM5 doesnt support DDR4.

4090 Founders Edition is currently £1519 on the Nvidia store in the U.K.
 

S0ULZB0URNE

Member
Since no one else is saying it then I'll be the one - wait until next month when the Intel 14th gen CPUs come out, watch the reviews, and then most likely grab one of those - especially the 14700k.
And not be future ready.
AM5 is better for that.
9kN57lI.jpg
 

Tangerine

Member
I think it was covered in this thread but I'm a PC building newb these days. I built/modefied one or two 15-20 years ago. I never kept up with the latest since then.

But I'm thinking it might be worth holding off with the socket change and new intel CPUs coming out end of year right?

Or is it vast majority use amd CPU's with Nvidia graphics cards?

I was thinking of buying this at some point. Probably vastly over priced but looks and sounds great. UK too with sone money to burn soon; wanting to get into PC gaming again.


Any thoughts? On the components rather than the price. Because unless I find something I like more this is looking like I'll pull the trigger before too long.

But if it is a BIG rip off I'd like to know.
 
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StereoVsn

Member
And not be future ready.
AM5 is better for that.
9kN57lI.jpg
How often do people really upgrade CPUs without upgrading the platform? That 14700k will easily last 3-4 years. New AMD platform will be out by then, same with Intel of course.

IMO, most of the time it’s pointless to aim for “longevity “ CPU side unless you are getting a cheap CPU temporarily for budgetary reasons and plan to upgrade in say a year or so.

So yeah, wait till Intel 14 gen benches get released. In some of new games like Cyberpunk 2.0 and Starfield Intel 13th gen already outperforms AMD 7800x3d or is on par.

Heck, I have the AM5/7800x3d combo, it’s a good chip, but it’s worth the waiting couple weeks to see what’s up on Intels side.
 
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StereoVsn

Member
I wouldn't gamble with an Asus motherboard with the X3D CPU, they overvolt the CPU and can literally burn them out.
Yeah, it was a real shitshow early on release. They fixed it, but meh on ASUS. I got that particular combo, of course, and it was ok at the end, but really distrust them.

Issue is all motherboard vendors generally suck.

  • ASUS - bunch of different shenanigans recently. AM5 problems, capacitors issues, etc
  • Gigabyte - terrible in general for warranty claims. Remember the burning PSUs during Covid?
  • MSI - been denying 4090 warranty issue claims recently when those connectors burned up. Haven’t heard bad stuff on motherboard side , but who knows.
  • ASRiock - had also issues on Intel side not that long ago… seems to have gotten better recently though.
So it’s hard to choose really. They are all not that good from customer perspective.
 
I think it was covered in this thread but I'm a PC building newb these days. I built/modefied one or two 15-20 years ago. I never kept up with the latest since then.

But I'm thinking it might be worth holding off with the socket change and new intel CPUs coming out end of year right?

Or is it vast majority use amd CPU's with Nvidia graphics cards?

I was thinking of buying this at some point. Probably vastly over priced but looks and sounds great. UK too with sone money to burn soon; wanting to get into PC gaming again.


Any thoughts? On the components rather than the price. Because unless I find something I like more this is looking like I'll pull the trigger before too long.

But if it is a BIG rip off I'd like to know.
God lord dude that’s a buttload of money. Like yeah it’s water cooled and I guess some are prepared to pay a lot for the custom design or something. But to me it seems absurd to spend that much and not even get a 4090.

CPU wise, Intel is fine, but most people go for AMD because they run cooler and they have the best of the best for gaming with the X3D processors. But it’s not some huge difference
 
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GHG

Member
I think it was covered in this thread but I'm a PC building newb these days. I built/modefied one or two 15-20 years ago. I never kept up with the latest since then.

But I'm thinking it might be worth holding off with the socket change and new intel CPUs coming out end of year right?

Or is it vast majority use amd CPU's with Nvidia graphics cards?

I was thinking of buying this at some point. Probably vastly over priced but looks and sounds great. UK too with sone money to burn soon; wanting to get into PC gaming again.


Any thoughts? On the components rather than the price. Because unless I find something I like more this is looking like I'll pull the trigger before too long.

But if it is a BIG rip off I'd like to know.

  1. If you're buying something like that then you should have a solid understanding of custom watercooling loops for maintenance purposes.
  2. If you have the required knowledge then you can build that yourself for a fraction of the cost.
 

Dream-Knife

Banned
Just a piece of advice from me, if you can spend a couple hundred more on future proofing, do it.
I spent a silly amount on my first build, then about 6 months later wanted to have better cooling and more overhead for power so ended up spending another 500 on a case, fans, power unit etc, now I am thinking of moving to AM5. It doesnt make that much difference for 4k120 but damn it i want mine future proof.

I will also say this, your core experience in games will be the same, youll get prettier graphics and more options but youll also get some awkward things to deal with. Sometimes its best to just think consoles are for gaming, no noise but a basic machine that runs things at decent graphics and FPS is all you need.

Id actually recommendaa steam deck.
There is no future proofing technology.

It will be "outdated" in 1-2 years. That doesn't mean it stops working.
 

Danknugz

Member
for cooling may I suggest the asus rog Ryujin 360 argb AIO. Keeps my idle cpu 30-40c and never really goes above 70c.

This is for lga1700 not sure about amd.
 
Maybe overkill? I'm might just do that tho
The 5600/X is also a great value, but the performance increase isn’t that big compared to the 3600X. You might want to try pairing the 3600X with the 4070 for now if you’re fine with 60 fps and see if it’s good enough for you.

The 5600X3D could also be a great option if it’s available to you and you feel the 5800X3D is too much. (I forgot this existed since it doesn’t actually exist in Europe)
 
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