New gaming pc

[BlueRed]

I've been looking at getting a new gaming pc (dealy able to do 4k) after using an old pc & laptop for years, I'm not too aware of the current market but I've put the one below together, with things like Microsoft Flight Sim, DCS & Cyberpunk in mind (hence the 64GB ram). While I could go higher I'm aiming to keep everything under £4,500 but absolutely under £5,300. I'm planing to get 2 new moniters below also have a BenQ GL2780 27 Inch 1080p 1 ms 75 Hz at the moment to use as a third moniter, any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY 3 XL AMBIENCE PRO TG
Promotional Item
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Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ Ultra 9 24-Core Processor 285 (Up to 5.6GHz) 36MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z890-F GAMING WIFI (LGA1851, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5200MHz CL40 (2 x 32GB)
Graphics Card
16GB PALIT GEFORCE RTX 5080 GAMINGPRO - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
4TB CORSAIR MP600 PRO NH NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6500 MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
8TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ ATX 3.1, MODULAR, CYBENETICS GOLD
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR ICUE LINK TITAN 360 RX RGB HIGH PERFORMANCE CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
ID-COOLING FROST X45 THERMAL PASTE APPLICATION
Extra Case Fans
1 x PCS ARGB LED Fan
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 11 Home Multi-Language Recovery Image - Supplied on USB Drive
Office Software
Microsoft® Office Home 2024 (1 Digital License)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Monitor
2x MSI 27" MPG 274URF QD - 3840 x 2160, 0.5ms, 160Hz
Monitor Cables
2x 2m DisplayPort Cable - DP (M) to DP (M) V1.2
Multi Monitor Mounts
PCS MULTI MONITOR 3 - 3 MONITORS
Surge Protection
6 Socket 2m Surge Protector
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)


Price: £4,386.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z890-pc/t8CtuWbeWy/

 

[sck451]

First things first, avoid Intel. There is no reason at all to use an Intel chip right now: AMD is better at essentially everything, while also being more reliable and promising longer-term upgradability.

Second, why do you want an 8TB hard drive?!

So the build I would make would look like this:

Case
FRACTAL MESHIFY 3 XL AMBIENCE PRO TG OTT case, but great
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core CPU (Up to 5.2GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5) The best gaming CPU bar none
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X870-F GAMING WIFI (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7) A touch overkill, but in a system of this budget...
Memory (RAM)
64GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 32GB)
Graphics Card
16GB PALIT GEFORCE RTX 5080 GAMINGPRO - HDMI, 3 x DP The 5090 may be within your "stretch" budget...
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6200 MB/W) Boot drive
1st M.2 SSD Drive
4TB CORSAIR MP600 PRO NH NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6500 MB/W) Games drive
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W HXi SERIES™ ATX 3.1 & 5.1 PCIe MODULAR 80 PLUS® PLATINUM V2 Overkill PSU is generally a good plan
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR ICUE LINK TITAN 240 RX LCD RGB HIGH PERFORMANCE CPU COOLER Plenty of cooling (the 360mm would offer no extra performance and may be louder)
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
Microsoft® Edge
Monitor
MSI 27" MPG 274URF QD - 3840 x 2160, 0.5ms, 160Hz
Monitor
MSI 27" MPG 274URF QD - 3840 x 2160, 0.5ms, 160Hz
Monitor Cables
2m DisplayPort Cable - DP (M) to DP (M) V1.2 I don't know why the config tool insists on these. I'd expect the monitors to come with higher-quality ones. If it really is a DP1.2 cable, you should not use it: you can get DP 2.1 cables now for the same kind of price
Multi Monitor Mounts
PCS MULTI MONITOR 3 - 3 MONITORS This seems wildly expensive for what it is...
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 5 to 7 working days
Price: £4,172.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/ysR7CY0Xrq/

 

[BlueRed]

Thanks, that's great to know about intel. I'd just kept with it since it's what I'd been using before, but the reliability and upgradability would be great.

Why an 8TB HDD, pretty much that there's a load of things I'd want to just keep in storage and even though I won't hit that limit soon it just feels like a good idea to get it now rather than wait to get it later.

I did consider looking at the 5090 but I'm not as sure how much it would be worth it compared to saving the money and using to upgrade in a few years.

Thats great to know about the processor cooling and moniter cables, I'll definitely look at picking some of those up instead.

And yeah the mount does feel a bit up there, I think I managed to read it as £108 instead. I guess with that it's just a matter of finding a cheaper one that looks good. There are some really cheap ones out there, they're just a bit too cheap to feel good about them.

 

[sck451]

Thanks, that's great to know about intel. I'd just kept with it since it's what I'd been using before, but the reliability and upgradability would be great.

Yeah, the last few generations have gone from "meh" to "not great" to "wow, that's hot" to "wow, it was so hot the CPU literally deformed itself".

Why an 8TB HDD, pretty much that there's a load of things I'd want to just keep in storage and even though I won't hit that limit soon it just feels like a good idea to get it now rather than wait to get it later.

If you really want that much storage, I'd suggest getting one of the higher quality drives like the IronWolf 8TB one: faster and more reliable. (And it'll be backed up, I trust?!)

I did consider looking at the 5090 but I'm not as sure how much it would be worth it compared to saving the money and using to upgrade in a few years.

That's the call I'd make too. Definitely a more value-for-money approach.

And yeah the mount does feel a bit up there, I think I managed to read it as £108 instead. I guess with that it's just a matter of finding a cheaper one that looks good. There are some really cheap ones out there, they're just a bit too cheap to feel good about them.

Totally. I'm sure there are some good ones: personally, I'd be inclined to look at whether three single monitor stands might be a better bet. I can't see how a triple mount won't be seriously wobbly because of the weight on it...

 

[BlueRed]

Yeah, the last few generations have gone from "meh" to "not great" to "wow, that's hot" to "wow, it was so hot the CPU literally deformed itself".

Definitely sounds like AMD then.

If you really want that much storage, I'd suggest getting one of the higher quality drives like the IronWolf 8TB one: faster and more reliable. (And it'll be backed up, I trust?!)

Sounds good thanks, I'll have a look (and yes I've got some external ones for things to be backed up on

Totally. I'm sure there are some good ones: personally, I'd be inclined to look at whether three single monitor stands might be a better bet. I can't see how a triple mount won't be seriously wobbly because of the weight on it...

Yeah, I had a look at what other people were saying and a lot of them were that triple mounts are super wobbly (maybe that's why this one is so much more and has an extra support leg?) it looks like there are some pretty decent (and cheap) single moniter stands out there, and I guess as well then if a mount did fail too it would only be one screen and not three that would get it.

 

[BlessedSquirrel]

If you really want that much storage, I'd suggest getting one of the higher quality drives like the IronWolf 8TB one: faster and more reliable. (And it'll be backed up, I trust?!)

I would hugely agree with this, for that kind of volume of data, the Red grade drives like ironwolf pro are their NAS tier drives. Western Digital's version are called WD Red Pro's.

The benefits of them are quite substantial:

1/. designed to be always on, so high response times

2/. far higher cache than a standard HDD, 256MB cache vs 64MB which is really important when writing large files as it sustains peak write performance far longer

3/. Standard warranty is 5 years vs 2 years (important to register the drive when you receive it, really easy to do)

4/. 550TB per year vs 180TB per year, Seagate back this up with 3 years professional data recovery as part of the warranty if it was to fail unsuspectedly. Even if you're not using this amount, it's just a metric of how much more enduring the drives are.

if you want really high quality monitor arms, I'd hugely recommend Lindy in the UK, they're a bit more expensive, but they're really over engineered. So long as you get the right weight rating, they're really solid.

They're modular as well, so you buy the pole type you want specific to if you want drill through, or clamp etc, then get the mounting arm you want. The good thing is if your monitors change, you can just change the arm and not worry about having to remove the pole mount

LCD, Plasma, Monitor Display Bracket - Wall Mount, Multi-Joint, Projector Ceiling Bracket, Plasma TV Trolley from LINDY UK

Our wide selection of display brackets includes LCD and Plasma versions for home installations and monitor designs suitable for offices and

www.lindy.co.uk

This mount bracket for example will manage 3 x 28" screens up to 6Kg per monitor 18Kg in total.

Triple Bracket Curved Arm, Black

Please note: A pole is not included and must be purchased separately. Four versions are available, a 400mm Desk Clamp Pole or Desk Clamp Pole with Grommet and a 700mm Desk Clamp Pole or a Desk Clamp Pole with Grommet. This Triple Bracket is part of a unique Black Modular Desktop Mounting...

www.lindy.co.uk

I used a Lindy mount for a few generations of screens before I moved to my 49" for which there were only a couple of gas filled mounts that could take the weight.