Critique this Spec please

[Saintbob001]

Hey all,

So I have this spec saved as a quote and I am on the verge of splashing out the £££ for it.

I'm hoping that some of you would be able to peruse your knowledgeable eyes upon my build and let me know if there are any improvements to be made or any bottleneck risks?

And just simply general thoughts on it.

I will be running a 4k monitor eventually, perhaps the G9 but at this moment in time I'll be going with what I have now which is some basic Viewsonic 60hz 1080p monitors, until I can save up for the G9.

Thanks in advance.

Case - BE QUIET! DARK BASE PRO 900 REV. 2 FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor - (CPU) AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard - ASUS® CROSSHAIR VIII HERO WIFI (DDR4, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM) - 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card - 12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 Ti - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive - 256GB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (500MB/R, 400MB/W)
2nd Storage Drive - 1TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
3rd Storage Drive - 1TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
4th Storage Drive - 2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply - CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling - Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste - ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans - 2x 120mm Thermaltake TOUGHFAN 12 Case Fans
Operating System - Windows 10 Professional 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence

 

[MrWilson]

Hi there,
Seems like you have a very healthy budget but could make a few adjustments to get as much bang for your buck as possible.
I would advise giving the following a quick read, there's lots of useful info here:

Please read before posting:- Collaboration of Helpful Hints

NB: These forums are not an official support channel. None of us work for PCS, we're all either customers or techies who just like to help out where possible. For any official support, you need to contact PCS directly either through your PCS account, or via the contact details on the main...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Once you've done that please could you let us know your budget, what you're going to be using the PC for, and then please could you post your full build including the config link to help us make edits more easily for you.

Thanks!

 

[Saintbob001]

Thank you for the reply, the info requested as below...

Monitor - is a very standard Viewsonic 1080p 60hz (I have 2 of these) However I will be upgrading to a Samsung G9 Monitor which is superwide 5120x1440 240Hz monitor.

I'll be using it mostly for 4k gaming (Eventually) and VR.

My budget is around £3000-£3500 (At the absolute max)

Case
BE QUIET! DARK BASE PRO 900 REV. 2 FULL TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® CROSSHAIR VIII HERO WIFI (DDR4, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX/SLI) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 Ti - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
256GB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (500MB/R, 400MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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
NOT REQUIRED
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
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 13 to 16 working days
Promotional Item
Get Battlefield 2042 with select GeForce RTX™ 30 Series GPUs
Price: £3,336.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/!ZqZKbUkN7/


Thank you kindly

 

[AgentCooper]

Just to check, the Samsung G9 isn’t a 4K 144Hz monitor (although the amount of pixels involved is very similar), it’s a superwide 5120x1440 240Hz monitor.

Are you sure you’ve got the right model?

 

[Saintbob001]

Just to check, the Samsung G9 isn’t a 4K 144Hz monitor (although the amount of pixels involved is very similar), it’s a superwide 5120x1440 240Hz monitor.

View attachment 28866

Are you sure you’ve got the right model?

Yes you are right, the monitor I will be getting is the one you have linked above. Sorry for the confusion.

 

[AgentCooper]

Yes you are right, the monitor I will be getting is the one you have linked above. Sorry for the confusion.

No problem, just wanted to make sure we were all on the same page. Great choice of monitor, by the way.

Not that many tweaks required with your spec, it’s fairly sound. I changed the case because the Thermaltake is unnecessarily huge! Whilst the Crosshair is a fantastic motherboard it’s not a necessity for the CPU, the ROG Strix would have you covered nicely. You get a wee performance boost from four matched sticks of RAM so made that adjustment. Your storage configuration seemed a little strange so I’ve streamlined it. Rather than having two separate, lower capacity and slower SSDs, changed it to having a 2TB faster M.2 drive, along with the 500GB Samsung as the primary drive. You won’t need the extra thermal paste with the cooler, it comes with its own good stuff. Added in the AX200 WiFi card as even if you’re using Ethernet it comes with Bluetooth connectivity and that’s always handy. Any reason why you need Windows Pro? Dropped BullGuard as it has a long and varied history of causing system instability. And I added the silver warranty; it’s only a fiver, it’d be foolish not to 😜

Case
CORSAIR OBSIDIAN SERIES™ 500D SE CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12 Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.8GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080 Ti - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB 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)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
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™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
SATURDAY DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 13 to 16 working days
Price: £3,199.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/XmKfduFUA!/

 

[Saintbob001]

Thank you very much for your suggestions and changes to my build, very much appreciated!

In regards to the points you made here are some of my thoughts...

The Case, although I am certain as you are that the case is huge, I chose the case on the look of it, and the fact the case is big. I currently have a very large case at around 660mm high, and I really like it. Not only that, but looking at the list of available cases in the config I'm not really sure I like many of them.

When you mention the motherboard and changed that to ROG Strix, you said that it was onot a necessity. Is there any particular reason the Corsair motherboard Is not as good as that, or why the ROG Strix is a better option, is it a performance thing, or is it simply it will do what I need it to do, but cheaper?

Thank you for the change in RAM to 4 sticks, I din't realise and overlooked the fact that they work better and give a bit of performance boost if they all match, so thanks for that!

My storage choices may seem a little strange, but I do have method in my madness.
So I really prefer to have a smaller SSD to house my windows installation seperate from everything else.
I then like to run an SSD purely for my games. However since 1TB really is (in my opinion) on the limit of enough storage for games these days (Some being closely around 100gb installs for some) I opted for 2 seperate 1TB SSD's simply to keep some organisation. The 2TB HDD is simply for what I call Junk, photos, videos, simple software etc.

Could you explain the benefits of an M.2 SSD over a traditional 2.5" SSD, most of the articles and read ups suggest there really isn't much difference?

The addition of the AX200 Wifi Card is great addition, and honestly I think the bluetooth capability is a no brainer! Thank you for that.
With regards to the Windows Pro, to be honest, no particular reason in that I usually always default to PRO version of Windows. However since you made me question it, I've read up and the benefits of the PRO version will not effect me at all, and so I will keep it to the Home version. Thanks!

Bullgaurd, I'd of got rid of that anyway.

And the Silver Warranty is a no brainer so thanks for that too.

Thanks for your time and input into the build.
Much Appreciated!

 

[Bigfoot]

M.2 drives are massively faster than SATA SSDs - the slowest m.2 drives are 4x faster than SATA SSDs and the faster ones are 13x or more faster. You really want your OS and programmes on a fast m.2. We normally recommend 500 GB to give some headroom as they start to slow down as they get above 50% full. A second slower m.2 would be for games (1TB or 2TB - Intel 670p is currently best value).

 

[AgentCooper]

The Case, although I am certain as you are that the case is huge, I chose the case on the look of it, and the fact the case is big. I currently have a very large case at around 660mm high, and I really like it. Not only that, but looking at the list of available cases in the config I'm not really sure I like many of them.

You can always send in your own case if there’s one you like that’s not on the configurator. And if you like big cases, check out the Corsair 7000D.

When you mention the motherboard and changed that to ROG Strix, you said that it was onot a necessity. Is there any particular reason the Corsair motherboard Is not as good as that, or why the ROG Strix is a better option, is it a performance thing, or is it simply it will do what I need it to do, but cheaper?

Exactly that. The Strix has more than adequate heat sinks and VRM to deal with the processor, all the Crosshair will gain you is a couple of extra USB ports at the back. The Crosshair is a brilliant board but it’s an unnecessary bit of extra expenditure.

Could you explain the benefits of an M.2 SSD over a traditional 2.5" SSD, most of the articles and read ups suggest there really isn't much difference?

The 500GB Samsung 980 is a blisteringly fast drive, have a look at the difference in read/write times compared to a SATA SSD. That’s why we’d highly recommend having that as the drive you’d use for your operating system and programs, your PC would boot to home within seconds of turning on the power and performance would be very snappy and responsive. We also recommend 500GB as the minimum because even an NVMe drive will slow down a tad when it gets to around 50%-70% capacity. Having that extra room is a safety net.

These drives also plug directly into the motherboard so there’s less cabling (contributes to a better ventilated system) and doesn’t require plugging into the PSU. As for the second, 2TB M.2 drive where you’d store current projects and your games library, you may not currently see much difference between that and a SATA SSD but that’s all going to change when Windows 11 releases. That will come with their new DirectStorage which will allow these drives to really shine. So whilst I completely understand that storage is a personal thing and people’s needs are different, I would strongly advise going with a 500GB Samsung 980 as your primary drive and having another 1TB/2TB M.2 in there as well. You can still add your standard SSDs and HDDs as well, but these drives really are the way forward.

 

[Saintbob001]

Thank you, that really does clarify a lot for me. I understand now the benefits of the M.2 and I'll definitely keep what you suggested on that point.

Looking at the configuration, there is no option to choose/select which drive the OS will be installed on. Am I right in assuming that PC Specialist will pre-install Windows for me, or is that left for me to do when the build is complete?

Thank you.

 

[Martinr36]

Thank you, that really does clarify a lot for me. I understand now the benefits of the M.2 and I'll definitely keep what you suggested on that point.

Looking at the configuration, there is no option to choose/select which drive the OS will be installed on. Am I right in assuming that PC Specialist will pre-install Windows for me, or is that left for me to do when the build is complete?

Thank you.

If you order W10 with the PC then PCS will put it on the fastest drive, when you place the order you'll get a message come up asking you to confirm the drive for windows installation

 

[Saintbob001]

If you order W10 with the PC then PCS will put it on the fastest drive, when you place the order you'll get a message come up asking you to confirm the drive for windows installation

View attachment 28896

Thank you, much appreciated!

Does PC Specialist do an Overclocking service, or would you say its not needed on my setup?

 

[Martinr36]

Overclocking isn't required on AMD, they self boost as and when required, in fact in a lot of cases overclocking AMD reduces performance

 

[Saintbob001]

Thank you, much appreciated!