Gaming Desktop Advice

[Nelafanji]

Hi everyone,

I used to be a techy guy but I've fallen way out the loop for years now, so I would appreciate advice on a new desktop build.

Background / Current PC
I have a great IRL friend who I used to game with every week, but my ~2013 desktop (AMD FX-9590, ASUS Sabertooth 990FX, GTX1080TI) is so dated now with Win7 (yeah, I know) that games that used to run, which we'd play together, have now become unsupported through their continuous updates. Steam itself will fail to work any day now.
For simplicity, I will run the new desktop build side-by-side with my current one. I will not transfer any components over (such as mechanical HDD's).

Uses
I need a desktop for occasional online gaming, titles including; EVE Online, Orcs Must Die 4, 7 Days To Die. I won't be gaming a lot but I'd like the build to last years into the future and not struggle to run future titles on medium graphical settings. I think games like Star Citizen, Cyberpunk 2077, eventually TES VI, are/will be "spec-heavy", and I hope to have the option of playing them smoothly.
I also do sporadic software development, video editing, graphics editing, and sometimes run a VM or two, but it's all not really worth mentioning since if my current desktop does it, a new one should too. I have no interest in streaming my gaming. Would be nice to have VR as an option.

Monitors
Triple monitor config (for years I had a quad set-up but I suspect any modern GPU will support 4 monitors should I ever revert)
Primary: MSI Optix MAG342CQR E2 (3440x1440@144hz, bought only a few months ago, not interested in changing it)
Secondaries: 2 x 1920x1080@60hz general purpose displays (DVI/HDMI)

Max Budget
My budget is a maximum of £2500 but realistically I'd like to see it land between £1000-2000.

I have saved a configuration, also pasted below. I went with ASUS parts where possible since I've happily used them before, same again with Corsair/Samsung selections. In the 2000's I was an AMD guy, but switched to Intel in 2010's, if there's any good reason to switch back, I'll listen. I also had a Xonar sound card for a long time which treated me well so I added one but it can be discarded. I think I've always underestimated desktop cooling, so if changing the case or cooling components is recommended to prolong hardware life, please say. Noise as a result of good cooling doesn't really bother me.

Thanks for any advice you can impart.

Case
PCS SPECTRUM II ARGB MID TOWER CASE (PWM)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 20-Core Processor 265KF (Up to 5.5GHz) 30MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z890-PLUS WIFI (LGA1851, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz CL30 (1 x 32GB)
Graphics Card
16GB ASUS PRIME GEFORCE RTX 5060 Ti OC - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR, 1625MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 990 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe 4.0 & 5.0 NVMe (up to 7150MB/R, 6300MB/W)
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
CORSAIR ICUE LINK TITAN 280 RX RGB HIGH PERFORMANCE CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND APPLICATION
Sound Card
ASUS Xonar SE 5.1-Channel Gaming Audio Card
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
Google Chrome™
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 6 to 8 working days
Price: £1,990.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Ekans2011]

Here's my suggestion for a high-end 1440p gaming PC within your maximum budget.

I would avoid Intel because of recent mistakes, and it would not compete with AMD in gaming.

Intel 13th and 14th Gen confirmed defective

None of this is based in any fact, but it’s a very interesting view

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Asus and Samsung have fallen far short of their previous standards; Gigabyte and Corsair/Crucial are now better options.

Case
LIAN LI O11DYNAMIC EVO RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core CPU (Up to 5.2GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X870E AORUS ELITE WIFI7 (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB SAPPHIRE PULSE RADEON™ RX 9070 XT GAMING - 2 x HDMI, 2 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6200 MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB CORSAIR CORE XT MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 5000 MB/R, 4400 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W HXi SERIES™ ATX 3.1 & 5.1 PCIe MODULAR 80 PLUS® PLATINUM V2
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR NAUTILUS 360 RS ARGB 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
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 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 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
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: £2,494.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/VUUNCW36qh/

 

[Nelafanji]

Cheers for the response, you've gone a bit out of my comfort zone, haha, but I will roll with it, I need to be open minded since I'm asking for help.

I've always been an Nvidia guy (FX5600, 7950GT, GTX275, GTX760 and the 1080TI is my history), I'm familiar with their stuff, so switching to the AMD is a shake-up. I suppose it will be the same functionality though, just different dressing...

I also have a mindset the OS SSD doesn't need to be huge, is that not the case anymore? How big is Win11 fully patched? I don't run huge software packages, and games will install on the secondary SSD, that's why I went with 512GB primary (granted it sucks it isn't Corsair). Just looking to avoid unnecessary expenditure.

That's also a very large PSU, future upgrade support I guess? It seems massive though, especially with technical power efficiency gains over the years. I have a Corsair 1050W in my current machine and I thought it was always overkill despite my many mechanical HDD's, and at one point a GTX275 SLI too. It never faltered under 'all the load'.

Ultimately, I guess my only real concern with your config is it maxes out my budget into territory I didn't expect to need to go for my requirements. Reeling it back to a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, RX7700 XT Gaming, 1000W PSU; it brings the price very close to £2k, and they still seem like strong components, what do you think?

 

[BlessedSquirrel]

especially with technical power efficiency gains over the years.

That is how it would theoretically work with architectural efficiency, but what we've seen since the RTX 2000 series launched is GPU power requirements almost double since then from 650W on the 2080ti to 1000W now for the RTX 5090, and that's MINIMUM recommendations, which you'd never stoop as low as if you wanted to operate within the optimal efficiency window of the PSU for both noise and power regulation health throughout the system over the lifetime.

This is even more important with any kind of rendering where it’s a constant 100% load on both the CPU and GPU for extended periods rather than the fluid loads of something like gaming

Reeling it back to a Ryzen 7 7800X3D, RX7700 XT Gaming

I wouldn't roll back to previous gen for the GPU, because the gains from RX7000 series to 9000 series is literally exponentially better. FSR4 vs 3.1 is the difference between being competitive with nvidia and not really being anywhere close, and it's a hardware requirement on the 9000 series that previous gen don't have. The same is the case with the 7800X3D vs 9800X3D, the jump is quite significant

You can scale it back and cheapen a system as much as you want to save a buck, it's the overall value and longevity that that actually reduces, not improves, you may think you're saving money now, but in the lifetime of the system, it's actually costing significantly more because you'll end up having to replace parts you otherwise wouldn't have to and doubling up on costs unecessarily. A quality system is not designed with current requirements in mind, but what may be needed in 8 or 10 years

If you state a budget, we'll work to that budget, if you then say but can you do it cheaper, then obviously you've mistated your budget and you really need to think about your limits for the purchase.

But a half decent 1440p system is going to be £2100 at entry level. Lower than that your compromising on the platform in some way.

 

[TonyCarter]

I also have a mindset the OS SSD doesn't need to be huge, is that not the case anymore? How big is Win11 fully patched? I don't run huge software packages, and games will install on the secondary SSD, that's why I went with 512GB primary (granted it sucks it isn't Corsair). Just looking to avoid unnecessary expenditure.

Our recommendation was a fast 500gb SSD for OS, apps and games launchers, but as PCS don’t offer any fast 500gb anymore so we went to 1TB…which are only about 10-20% more expensive anyway, and are usually faster than the same model in 500gb version.

 

[Scott]

It's a shame that there aren't any fast 500GB drives anymore, I liked them to keep the thought process in check for habits. I don't like waste either, so around 150-200GB was typically my primary drive (still is). When I upgraded to my latest system the best drives were 1TB so I went with that, which effectively means I'm wasting around 600GB of space compared to if I had a 500GB drive.

It does make sense though as there's so little difference in price nowadays that they're pretty much redundant. Just keep on top of your storage habits and all will be well.

 

[Nelafanji]

That is how it would theoretically work with architectural efficiency, but what we've seen since the RTX 2000 series launched is GPU power requirements almost double since then from 650W on the 2080ti to 1000W now for the RTX 5090, and that's MINIMUM recommendations, which you'd never stoop as low as if you wanted to operate within the optimal efficiency window of the PSU for both noise and power regulation health throughout the system over the lifetime.

This is even more important with any kind of rendering where it’s a constant 100% load on both the CPU and GPU for extended periods rather than the fluid loads of something like gaming

Understood, I'm with ya now, I didn't realise the top of the line GPU's had grown that power hungry. Kinda sounds like GPU industry steered away from Crossfire/SLI configurations.

I wouldn't roll back to previous gen for the GPU, because the gains from RX7000 series to 9000 series is literally exponentially better. FSR4 vs 3.1 is the difference between being competitive with nvidia and not really being anywhere close, and it's a hardware requirement on the 9000 series that previous gen don't have. The same is the case with the 7800X3D vs 9800X3D, the jump is quite significant

You can scale it back and cheapen a system as much as you want to save a buck, it's the overall value and longevity that that actually reduces, not improves, you may think you're saving money now, but in the lifetime of the system, it's actually costing significantly more because you'll end up having to replace parts you otherwise wouldn't have to and doubling up on costs unecessarily. A quality system is not designed with current requirements in mind, but what may be needed in 8 or 10 years

I hear ya, buy as far ahead as you can to stay relevant for longer. Like my previous error of ignorance, I didn't realise the gains were so significant between their generations, so I'm with ya.

If you state a budget, we'll work to that budget, if you then say but can you do it cheaper, then obviously you've mistated your budget and you really need to think about your limits for the purchase.

I tried to word my budget declaration carefully, but maybe not carefully enough. My position was more of, "Surely £2k will achieve my requirements, but I'll allow breathing room just in case", but the case seemingly being made is £2k is in fact not going to achieve a system build of great longevity (without future upgrades), nor offer the latest capabilities computer technology has to offer. So £2.5k is fine if it's justified, as opposed to it being a case of compiling a system to meet the maximum for the sake of it's existence
Thanks for your input, it is heeded.

But a half decent 1440p system is going to be £2100 at entry level. Lower than that your compromising on the platform in some way.

That in itself is interesting to hear, I didn't realise that was the 'calibration of the landscape'. I would have guessed a brand new £1.5k build could manage a 1440p experience well enough. Maybe with improvements in technology, the range between lowest to highest tier builds is bigger, and the pricing expanded to reflect that...

Our recommendation was a fast 500gb SSD for OS, apps and games launchers, but as PCS don’t offer any fast 500gb anymore so we went to 1TB…which are only about 10-20% more expensive anyway, and are usually faster than the same model in 500gb version.

I'm with ya on this too

No one's arguing against the first build config, so I'll do a little homework and check out the components on Toms Hardware and stuff. It sounds sweet though.

 

[BlessedSquirrel]

Maybe with improvements in technology, the range between lowest to highest tier builds is bigger, and the pricing expanded to reflect that...

It's unfortunately a legacy of the pandemic where logistics were severely hampered and production was even lowered due to a lot of people being out of work.

Unfortunately Motherboards and GPU's are 2 heavily affected components. GPU's pretty much doubled in price per tier, and people just kept paying for it, so nvidia and AMD kept that same pricing pretty much which is insane. Motherboards, I guess they've adopted new technologies like USB and Thunderbolt, but it's more that they're so overengineered these days, and have so much surplus to requirements like RGB that's elevated prices. I come from the time when a top end motherboard was around £200 - 250, that's now more entry level, nowadays you're talking £600 - 1000 for premium boards, it's just insane.

Those 2 components though have significantly increased general build costs.

 

[TonyCarter]

It's unfortunately a legacy of the pandemic where logistics were severely hampered and production was even lowered due to a lot of people being out of work.

Unfortunately Motherboards and GPU's are 2 heavily affected components. GPU's pretty much doubled in price per tier, and people just kept paying for it, so nvidia and AMD kept that same pricing pretty much which is insane. Motherboards, I guess they've adopted new technologies like USB and Thunderbolt, but it's more that they're so overengineered these days, and have so much surplus to requirements like RGB that's elevated prices. I come from the time when a top end motherboard was around £200 - 250, that's now more entry level, nowadays you're talking £600 - 1000 for premium boards, it's just insane.

Those 2 components though have significantly increased general build costs.

I'm used to paying Apple prices, so am used to being rinsed

 

[Scott]

Not that long ago a 1080p build was around £1k, a 1440p build was £1.5k and a 4k build was £2k. In each instance the GPU made up around 30-50% of those costs.

Those percentages haven't changed, but unfortunately the price of the GPU to achieve those levels has doubled.

At the same time, something pretty significant happened with motherboard pricing and the power requirements of the GPUs bumped up the base level PSUs.

The impact on pricing has been horrible. 1080p is now £1.5k, 1440p is £2k and 4k is £2.5k for entry builds (with sensible platforms of course). You can save a couple of £100 tops and get very much entry level builds but the future potential falls steeply off a cliff so it's just not worth it.

Pricing has done the opposite for gaming and brands than what we all hoped. The price of games themselves is now following suit.

 

[lousmaczylo]

I'm used to paying Apple prices, so am used to being rinsed

The thing with apple tax is that you get a product that is so stylish and feels so premium. It,s probably not but that's the hype

 

[Nelafanji]

Thanks for the help guys, I've placed the order. I retained the core components from the initial suggestion and avoided dialling them back. I even stayed with the suggested case, it's a bit pricier but looks nice. It should arrive around the start of my next week of booked holiday, which'll be noice.