Help choosing specs (high end, but not highest)

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Hey,

So I've decided it's time to upgrade to a new computer, mine was built back in 2014 (i5 4670k, 1080gtx, ddr3 8gb at present) and while it performs "ok" in some games I play it's starting to lag massively in others.

Budget wise I'm not sure but nothing too crazy, probably around 2k, 3k at the most... I'm wanting to (currently) run most games on ultra at 60fps and in the near future at 144fps (both 1440p) and I'm 99% decided on the CPU & GPU;

CPU - Ryzen 9 5900X (I don't think the 5950X is worth the price difference?)
GPU - Asus rog strix 3080 (non-OC?/custom OC by OCUK?)

My main game is Path of Exile, I'm looking to run PoE better in fully juiced delirium content where I currently get 5fps and prepare a sytem for (which is hopefully going to be great) Ashes of Creation, as mentioned I currently play at 1440p on a 60hz monitor and in the not so distant future I'll be looking into 1440p 144hz which is why I'm thinking of the above specs.

Other than that though, I could use some clarification there and advice on other parts. I've not yet decided on anything else, so the case, ram, whether I get an nvme ssd (are they worth it for gaming, or will be anytime soon?) or sata, whether I should get water cooling or go with fans, everything really except peripherals.

Bare in mind I'm having this computer made here by OCUK as a custom prebuilt so if it was watercooled etc I wouldn't need to know how to install it.

Needs wise, I'm not into flashy/rbg things, I just want a quiet case with decent temperatures and good airflow, ram I'm thinking 64gb (overkill I know, kinda, but I tend to have a lot of browser tabs open) ddr4 of some kind. I'm generally fine with fan noise by the way as long as they're decent quality; it's unfortunate that the asus rog strix 3080 I heard has coil whine issues, much like my gigabyte 1080 and I really wanted to get away from that but it seems unavoidable if I want the "best" gtx 3080? I'm kind of rambling now, any advice and/or suggestions would be appreciated :)
 
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Soldato
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32 gig of ram is overkill. 64 gig is wastefull and pointless.
In my opinion the 5900x is also overkill for gaming. Most games dont even use 8/16 yet although it should become the norm with all the consoles now using 8/16 thread chips in them.
Nvme drives are good. They may not make much difference in game loading times (unless your using a mechanical drive) but if you just use 2 mvmew drives on your rig it will tidy up the cable spaghetti no end.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,443.79 (includes shipping: £15.90)

Just add the 3080 srtix for £900 (when you can get it at a decent price)
 
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32 gig of ram is overkill. 64 gig is wastefull and pointless.
In my opinion the 5900x is also overkill for gaming. Most games dont even use 8/16 yet although it should become the norm with all the consoles now using 8/16 thread chips in them.
Nvme drives are good. They may not make much difference in game loading times (unless your using a mechanical drive) but if you just use 2 mvmew drives on your rig it will tidy up the cable spaghetti no end.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,443.79 (includes shipping: £15.90)

Just add the 3080 srtix for £900 (when you can get it at a decent price)

I like this setup.

I would get the B550 Master as it’s a better memory overclocker but other than that, absolutely.
 
Soldato
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mine was built back in 2014 (i5 4670k, 1080gtx, ddr3 8gb at present) and while it performs "ok" in some games I play it's starting to lag massively in others.

CPU - Ryzen 9 5900X (I don't think the 5950X is worth the price difference?)
That's lack of "not needed for gaming" i7 and HT causing that massive lagging.
As in CPU running out of workers to do all the simultaneous tasks with available workers having to keep jumping from one task to another.
Hence much nothing is done in time.

12 core is enough for long time.
It's going to get old otherwise before games need 16 cores.

Similarly 32GB is going to last longer than overall performance.

Again basic NVMe SSD doesn't really cost any more than same size SATA SSD.


Bare in mind I'm having this computer made here by OCUK as a custom prebuilt so if it was watercooled etc I wouldn't need to know how to install it.
If you want basically zero worries PC, take heatpipe cooler.
Only wearing part in them is fan and its failure can't kill all cooling, unlike typical failure modes in waterpipe coolers.
Besides AMD's TDPs are lot more honest than those of Intel.
Something like Alpenfohn Brocken 3 would be very competent for any Ryzen.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/alpenfohn-brocken-3-cpu-cooler-140mm-hs-05a-al.html
 
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I disagree. The dual bios will drive you insane on the B550 Master if doing overclocking.
Yes, I know about the dual BIOS on Gigabytes motherboards. I had one. Hated it.

Buildzoid calls Gigabytes dual BIOS implementation an ‘un-feature’ that makes the product worse.

I agree, the other great memory overclocking motherboard was the B550 Unify-X, however, that only has 2 DIMM slots.

I much prefer MSI to Gigabyte.
 
Soldato
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If you have up to £3K to spend then you could get a new 1440p 165Hz monitor as well.

The Phanteks P400 Air is a bit cheaper, but the P500 is more spacious. I would add a couple of fans like the Arctic P12 120mm and put them in the rear. Then the pre-installed rear 140mm can go to the front.

A B550 board is a bit cheaper. The Tomahawk is solid if you don't need wifi. I would get the X570 Tomahawk over the X570 Elite if spending £200ish on a board.

The 850W Phanteks psu is better value than the RMx as you get an extra 100W and 12 yrs warranty for an extra £3.

Solid air cooler. There is a single fan version for £10 or so less.

The Gigabyte monitor is pretty good, although there are others you can consider like the Asus VG27AQ for more money.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,806.90 (includes shipping: £28.02)
 
Soldato
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manchester,uk
Yes, I know about the dual BIOS on Gigabytes motherboards. I had one. Hated it.

Buildzoid calls Gigabytes dual BIOS implementation an ‘un-feature’ that makes the product worse.

I agree, the other great memory overclocking motherboard was the B550 Unify-X, however, that only has 2 DIMM slots.

I much prefer MSI to Gigabyte.

If it had actual bios switches then it would be a solid choice.

The B550 Unify-X would be good if he wanted to do Ram overclocking. Other wise there are way cheaper options like the B550 Tomahawk if he just wants plug and play.
 
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If you have up to £3K to spend then you could get a new 1440p 165Hz monitor as well.

The Phanteks P400 Air is a bit cheaper, but the P500 is more spacious. I would add a couple of fans like the Arctic P12 120mm and put them in the rear. Then the pre-installed rear 140mm can go to the front.

A B550 board is a bit cheaper. The Tomahawk is solid if you don't need wifi. I would get the X570 Tomahawk over the X570 Elite if spending £200ish on a board.

The 850W Phanteks psu is better value than the RMx as you get an extra 100W and 12 yrs warranty for an extra £3.

Solid air cooler. There is a single fan version for £10 or so less.

The Gigabyte monitor is pretty good, although there are others you can consider like the Asus VG27AQ for more money.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,806.90 (includes shipping: £28.02)
Looks good, regarding monitor not looking to get one just yet so can disregard that, I do have a few questions if you don't mind

Is there any reason other than budget you chose the 3200MHz ram as opposed to 3600MHz set?

Is there any downside to having two M.2 SSD's installed? It seems that mobo would support it (for future needs)

The cpu cooler, think I'd be better off with the Noctua NH-D15? I've done some research and it seems to be regarded as the "best" cpu air cooler on the market. Also if so, would I need a larger case? Since it's so big :p

Thanks for your help so far and everyone else
 
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Looks good, regarding monitor not looking to get one just yet so can disregard that, I do have a few questions if you don't mind

Is there any reason other than budget you chose the 3200MHz ram as opposed to 3600MHz set?

Is there any downside to having two M.2 SSD's installed? It seems that mobo would support it (for future needs)

The cpu cooler, think I'd be better off with the Noctua NH-D15? I've done some research and it seems to be regarded as the "best" cpu air cooler on the market. Also if so, would I need a larger case? Since it's so big :p

Thanks for your help so far and everyone else

patriot Viper Steel 3200 is micron Rev E and can run at 3600 with a tiny overclock.

if you don’t like the idea of overclocking, get DDR4-3600 RAM and enable XMP.

the Noctua is expensive but an excellent cooler - it’ll keep up with an AIO, it’s just very heavy and large, which can be an issue for RAM clearance and mounting pressure.
 
Soldato
Joined
9 Nov 2005
Posts
10,910
Location
manchester,uk
Looks good, regarding monitor not looking to get one just yet so can disregard that, I do have a few questions if you don't mind

Is there any reason other than budget you chose the 3200MHz ram as opposed to 3600MHz set?

Is there any downside to having two M.2 SSD's installed? It seems that mobo would support it (for future needs)

The cpu cooler, think I'd be better off with the Noctua NH-D15? I've done some research and it seems to be regarded as the "best" cpu air cooler on the market. Also if so, would I need a larger case? Since it's so big :p

Thanks for your help so far and everyone else

You can tweak the 3200 to 3600 or just try and tighten the timings and leave it at 3200. There is a good video from Hardware Unboxed on Ryzen memory tuning.


There should be no issue adding a 2nd M.2 SSD later on.

The D15 is a good cooler, but the Alpenfohn will cope fine. Also as mentioned above the D15 can cause issues with taller ram as it covers all the slots. There is the D15S if you want Noctua, and they have a Chromax version which looks nicer than the standard beige colour. That cooler is offset, so taller ram shouldn't be an issue. It would fit ok in a case like the Phanteks P500 Air.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £98.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)
 
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