Hi,
I last built my own PC in the mid 2000's and since then I have just bought bog standard workstations. My latest PC is about 5 yrs old, whilst it runs everything day to day OK, I want to do a few new things. and as it is a plain old desktop, there is no capacity to put a good GPU in. The things I'd like to do are Gaming although probably only really Flight Sim as I am quite happy using my PS5, but that may change, some lightweight audio and video editing. But my main interest is learning more about AI and Large Language Models which need a GPU.
In terms of this, I was looking more for longevity hoping whatever I buy is going to do me 6-7 yrs+. Whilst I could have built it my self, I didn't want the bother.
I thought go big with the CPU / RAM /Motherboard. As I haven't use a PC with a dedicated Graphics Card in 10+ years that was my only cost compromise. Where I went with the card that kept it under £3k. As I appreciate this is a lot of money to spend and I had to agonise with myself thinking about how much I'm spending on a PC .
I thought no point in going DDR4, and the GPU needs to be min 16GB, cheaped out a little on the SSD, but I figured if it is an issue I could always get a 2TB WD 'faster' one and put the OS on that and use the one with it as a secondary.
If I clipped the spec down too much, I felt it wasn't worth it, and in the end went with pretty much what I thought was best because it only really made a small difference in cost.
This is the spec:
Case
PCS LUMIN ARGB MID TOWER CASE (PWM)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 16 Core CPU (4.3GHz-5.7GHz/80MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X870E AORUS ELITE WIFI7 (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 32GB)
Graphics Card
16GB ZOTAC GEFORCE RTX 5060 Ti TWIN EDGE - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ ATX 3.1, MODULAR, CYBENETICS GOLD
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB (2024)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND APPLICATION
LED Lighting
2 x 35cm Corsair LS350 Aurora RGB Light Strips
Extra Case Fans
3 x PCS ARGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe 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 Professional 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 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: £2,611.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/0knS9sh28B/
To start with I will continue to use my 2 Dell 27" Monitors. If I need to purchase new ones I will at a later date.
Have I made some good choices, or just wasted a pot of cash
Thanks in advance for any pointers.
Frank
I last built my own PC in the mid 2000's and since then I have just bought bog standard workstations. My latest PC is about 5 yrs old, whilst it runs everything day to day OK, I want to do a few new things. and as it is a plain old desktop, there is no capacity to put a good GPU in. The things I'd like to do are Gaming although probably only really Flight Sim as I am quite happy using my PS5, but that may change, some lightweight audio and video editing. But my main interest is learning more about AI and Large Language Models which need a GPU.
In terms of this, I was looking more for longevity hoping whatever I buy is going to do me 6-7 yrs+. Whilst I could have built it my self, I didn't want the bother.
I thought go big with the CPU / RAM /Motherboard. As I haven't use a PC with a dedicated Graphics Card in 10+ years that was my only cost compromise. Where I went with the card that kept it under £3k. As I appreciate this is a lot of money to spend and I had to agonise with myself thinking about how much I'm spending on a PC .
I thought no point in going DDR4, and the GPU needs to be min 16GB, cheaped out a little on the SSD, but I figured if it is an issue I could always get a 2TB WD 'faster' one and put the OS on that and use the one with it as a secondary.
If I clipped the spec down too much, I felt it wasn't worth it, and in the end went with pretty much what I thought was best because it only really made a small difference in cost.
This is the spec:
Case
PCS LUMIN ARGB MID TOWER CASE (PWM)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 9950X 16 Core CPU (4.3GHz-5.7GHz/80MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X870E AORUS ELITE WIFI7 (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 32GB)
Graphics Card
16GB ZOTAC GEFORCE RTX 5060 Ti TWIN EDGE - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ ATX 3.1, MODULAR, CYBENETICS GOLD
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
NZXT Kraken Elite 360 RGB (2024)
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND APPLICATION
LED Lighting
2 x 35cm Corsair LS350 Aurora RGB Light Strips
Extra Case Fans
3 x PCS ARGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe 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 Professional 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 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Platinum Warranty (3 Year Collect & Return, 3 Year Parts, 3 Year labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: £2,611.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/0knS9sh28B/
To start with I will continue to use my 2 Dell 27" Monitors. If I need to purchase new ones I will at a later date.
Have I made some good choices, or just wasted a pot of cash
Thanks in advance for any pointers.
Frank