Bright green noob, does this spec look ok?

[nig87101]

Hi, so glad there is s a forum here to check for howlers. Current PC is 5 years old, been a great, stable Windows 7 friend, but, I would like a really good gaming PC now. Have been reseraching for a couple of weeks now, and I've now learnt just enough to be within 100 miles of a PC 101 entrance exam. Does this spec look ok? Am happy to stick with air cooling rather than water. Have tried to get the best spec for MS Flight Simulator 2020. I'm concerned with the memory, as far as I can gather, the NVME M.2 should do the operating system, games and all working apps, whilst the HDD will look after pictures, music, documents and media, is that right? Thanks in advance for any advice.

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3950X 16 Core CPU (3.5GHz-4.7GHz/73MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® CROSSHAIR VIII HERO (DDR4, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
External DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
8x Slim USB 2.0 External DVD-RW
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
LED Lighting
2x 50cm ARGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
3x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
Sound Card
ASUS STRIX Soar 7.1 PCIe sound card
Wireless/Wired Networking
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 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [MUP-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home & Student 2019 (1 Digital License)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE HDMI (M) to DVI (M)
Keyboard & Mouse
Corsair K55 RGB Gaming Keyboard (UK)
Headsets
ASUS Cerberus Gaming Headset
Cable Management
3 x PCS 1.5M Zip Cable Tidy - Professional Cable Management
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 21 to 23 working days
Price: £3,597.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Haywire23z]

GOOD? Mate what you have there will be one BEAST of a PC. I just bought a high end PC from pcspecialist and I do have a few recommendations based on the fact you're spending so much on this system. I'll start with the most important one:

Contact PCS and ask what model 2080ti they have in stock

Seriously. Do this. In case you didn't know, there are lots of different manufacturers of NVIDIA graphics cards and they all have different aesthetics, cooling, materials, and clock speeds. They also all have different features, for example, cheaper cards tend to have fewer DP/HDMI slots. Cheaper cards are also more likely to have a shorter lifespan due to higher temperatures and may be less efficient/effective.

When you order a graphics card from PCS, unless they specifically state the brand, you're likely to get a Palit or Zotac card. These are usually budget options and are not necessarily bad cards (although some are, so it's a gamble), and as you're going for the best of the best I would HIGHLY recommend getting a higher end model. I was in the same boat as you, dropping a lot of change on a computer, and when I contacted PCS to find the card I would get from them, I was disappointed to find it had terrible reviews on major tech channels and honestly was an eyesore.

Your solution to this would be to either buy one of their ASUS model cards (still ask for the model though and check the reviews/features), or buy your own card online and fit it yourself. Fitting a GPU is very easy and doesn't void your warranty. I'm sure people on here will tell you that their budget GPU from PCS has served them well, and I'm sure they're right, but if you're buying a 2080ti surely you're not gonna want a budget version.

The 3080ti is just around the corner

Another thing to consider is that the new 3000 series from Nvidia (including the 3080ti) is expected to release in September. These cards are rumoured to be 20-40% faster than the 2000 series. This is just something to keep in mind and you may not be too bothered by that as the 2080ti is already an excellent card by itself. Personally, I bought myself a 2070 super for £500 and intend to sell it and buy the 3080ti when it releases.

UPGRADE YOUR CPU COOLER!!!!

Ok this one probably should have been at the top. You're buying the highest end consumer CPU AMD is currently offering, and that thing is going to get HOT. Especially under heavy workloads and gaming. I'm running the Corsair h115i liquid cooler on my Ryzen 9 3900XT, and I'm reaching temperatures of up to 75 degrees. This is about average, but imagine what kind of temperatures you would be seeing with just the standard single fan cooler on it. The CPU will get too hot which may cause your computer to crash as it shuts itself down to stay safe, you'll see performance drops and a shorter lifespan. If you need to save money for a better cooler, you can safely reduce your RAM to 32GB.

Overkill

If you just want the best of the best despite the money - that is fair and I respect that. But if you are interested in price/performance ratio, here's a few of your selections where I feel you could safely downgrade without sacrificing much or anything:

64GB Ram - This is far more than you will need for a gaming computer. Unless you know you're going to be doing tasks that require a lot of memory, like working with 3D Graphics or having more than two Chrome tabs open, you can safely drop down to 32GB ram. 32 gigs is overkill for most people, and in your case I expect you won't even require 32 gigs. So drop down to 32 if you want to save a few bob.

3950x - Over £200 more than the 3900XT and you're certainly not getting £200 worth of performance. It's good of you intend on doing a lot of streaming or some other heavy duty tasks whilst you're gaming, but otherwise the 3900XT will be more than enough. So there's another option to save a few quid if you need it.

2080ti - A beastly card but in terms of price/performance ratio you're certainly overpaying. You'll get the most out if it if you're running a wide 1440p or 4k monitor, or if you're using VR. The most value in my opinion is at the 2070 super but if you want the best of the best, definitely look into getting a high end model rather than gambling with whatever PCS has in stock.

One last thing - I would recommend getting a HDD with 7,200RPM rather than 5,2000RPM. You'll notice a clear difference in speed between the two, especially if you start loading games on your HDD when your SSD gets full.

All this is my opinion but I hope it helps! Just please upgrade that cooler unless you've gotten bored of living in a house that isn't on fire!!!

EDIT: I just noticed you have included a soundcard. You don't actually need a sound card for audio as your motherboard has onboard audio (all motherboards do), and the Crosshair VIII has pretty damn good audio at that. There's a whole debate about when sound cards are worth using but I just thought you should know in case you thought it was necessary for audio - which it isn't.

 

[Deleted member 17413]

The build is unbalanced, its not a monster, its a big waste of money with half its components sitting half idle its entire life, and others that will burn themselves out or constantly throttle due to overheating without a proper cooler and suitable case for whats inside. I'd be surprised if you made it to 5 years without rebuilding or having to replace parts earlier than that.
You also havent said anything about what monitor you will be using, So i will assume a 1440 p 144Hz monitor.
Drop the CPU to a 3800XT (3900 and 3950 are completely pointless to you)
Drop the memory to 16gb 3600Mhz (and be prepared to buy 16GB more IF needed) MSFS2020 doesnt need 32Gb, but you want higher RAM speeds so start 16 add more if needed later.
GPU is a overshoot and a waste of money, new GPU's due out in a few months and a 2070 Super will do everything u need and more with a 1440p 144Hz monitor anyway.
soundcard is pointless unless you have full audiophile grade speakers, even then its not much of a didfference with modern onboard sound
The 1Tb Firecudas are far better M.2 drives
You will need a solid and reliable internet connection, upgrade it to the AX200 WiFi card
Change the 750 RM PSU to a 750 RMx PSU
Why the MSOffice home & Student?.... if anything get the Office 365, but are you actually going to use it? if not, not worth it use free software instead like openoffice
You CANNOT go witha basic cooler, the machine will run too hot.
Case is not suited to the build you have, but spec appropriately and proper cooling and it would be alright, but could be improved still.
Need to think about total budget and divide it up a little better, case is important.

Here is a rough starting point for you, if you want more RAM due to MSFS2020, which will run on 16Gb according to its spec requirements but does prefer 32Gb, you'll have to take 32GB of 3200MHz here or i'd suggest buying 16Gb more of the 3600MHz and adding it in (3600MHz would be more suited to the CPU). Lian Li is a good case and just an example... expect to pay 60-100 for a reasonable case, a build like this also needs proper housing. 220T might be ok here, but not great...
Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL II GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT Eight Core CPU (4.7GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4400MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM Hydro 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 INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
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]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 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
Firefox™

You are looking at around £2000 (not including monitor or keyboard/mouse etc) and will do what you need it to without breaking sweat still.
Would also last you 7 to 10 years, assuming couple of choice upgrades as you go along and its looked after (GPU, RAM etc over the years)

 

[nig87101]

HAYWIRE23Z and SIBUNI, many thanks for replying, I've tool forward your recommendations, especially the cooling, RAM and sound card, thanks again.