Advice - £1800, configured pre-built

Flaevius · 24 Dec 2022 at 16:19

Afternoon,

Turning to the doyens of the Hardware section for your advice and common sense!

Current system is around 7 years old; 4-core i5-7600k 3.8ghz, GeForce 1060, 16GB 2400mhz RAM, 256GB SSD and 1TB HDD. The system operates fine but is beginning to lag in certain areas, e.g. CPU can struggle when gaming and watching SkyGo simultaneously (regular) and it has a tiny SSD where I'm constantly fighting for space. Games are stored on the HDD and are slow to load. I would like a new system rather than upgrade any specific area. I only need a tower: my dual monitors, Edifier speakers and peripherals would be repurposed.

Usage: Used extensively for home working, but not for high-end tasks. Stores a relatively large digital music collection. Gaming is not top-end, e.g. Football Manager, Total War, Civi VI, Hearts of Iron IV, Wreckfest.

I don't wish to build my own system, prefer a configured pre-built. I've been looking at systems for the past 12 months but with the current deals on Ryzen, and GPUs (seemingly?) coming down in price, now may be the time. What I would like is a balanced system that will remain competitive across the next 7-8 years. What do you think offers the best VFM right now? Ideal budget of £1800, within ~£100.

Fractal Meshify 2
Ryzen 7 5800x 8-core 4.7ghz
Asus Rog-Strix B550-F Gaming (DDR4)
32GB Corsair Vengeance 3600mhz
GeForce RTX 3070
NvME 1 System/Misc: 500GB Seagate Firecuda (7300/3000)
NvME 2 Gaming: 1TB Seagate Firecuda (7300/6000)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 2TB HDD
Cooler: Corsair H100i Hydro
Corsair 750W 80+ Gold
Windows 11

All-in, £1811.00

A few specific questions:

Is two NvMEs overkill - any reason not to do this?
GPU VFM in terms of my usage - 3060Ti, 3070 or 3070Ti?
Any glaring issues/changes worth considering?
Save on Windows, buy a digital key?

Appreciate full-build replies will be limited to configs of OCUK systems (which is my go-to anyway). It would be great to hear some thoughts and arguments for/against certain systems or pathways though, it will really help to inform my final decision.

Tetras · 24 Dec 2022 at 16:25

Flaevius said:
A few specific questions:

Is two NvMEs overkill - any reason not to do this?

GPU VFM in terms of my usage - 3060Ti, 3070 or 3070Ti?

Any glaring issues/changes worth considering?

Save on Windows, buy a digital key?

Appreciate replies will be limited to configs of OCUK systems (which is my go-to anyway). It would be great to hear some thoughts and arguments for/against certain systems or pathways.

1. No issue with it, but keep in mind that 1. AM4 motherboards don't tend to be full of slots, especially B550, so filling them with small drives may not be advisable (and 2. tend to be poorer value than larger drives).
2. Hard to say because the build prices can be different to retail prices. Generally the 3060 Ti is the best value though, yes. What resolution/settings are you planning to play at?
3. I'd want to be on AM5 if I was paying that much, but eh, pre-builds have their own pricing, so not sure if it's feasible.

mickyflinn · 24 Dec 2022 at 16:48

Keep your old 1tb and use that for storing photos, videos etc.

The second m2 slot on b550 motherboards is limited to pcie3 so your loosing speed if you go for another pcie4 m2.

FredFlint · 24 Dec 2022 at 17:40

I would go AM5 for a new build as it a new platform and will age much better. It has PCIe gen 5 for GPU + m.2, more m.2 slots. If you plan on keeping it for years, get AM5.

Change:
· Ryzen 7 5800x 8-core 4.7ghz
· Asus Rog-Strix B550-F Gaming (DDR4)
· 32GB Corsair Vengeance 3600mhz
To:
AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Six Core 5.30GHz
Pic a board that has what you want.
32GB 5200/5600 DDR5

You might also need to change cooler if it does not support AM5. Arctic Liquid Freezer II coolers work with AM5 and are cheaper but very good.

Flaevius · 24 Dec 2022 at 22:56

Tetras said:
1. No issue with it, but keep in mind that 1. AM4 motherboards don't tend to be full of slots, especially B550, so filling them with small drives may not be advisable (and 2. tend to be poorer value than larger drives).
2. Hard to say because the build prices can be different to retail prices. Generally the 3060 Ti is the best value though, yes. What resolution/settings are you planning to play at?
3. I'd want to be on AM5 if I was paying that much, but eh, pre-builds have their own pricing, so not sure if it's feasible.

Thank you @Tetras @mickyflinn @FredFlint

1. Fair points. Initially looked at splitting as it was more cost-effective than, say, a solitary 2TB Firecuda. But with a trade-off in performance, perhaps one larger NvME is the way forward.
2. Current monitors are the same age as PC, and 1080. Will likely look to upgrade those at a later date but didn't seem a priority for most of the gaming I do.
3. Considered AM5/DDR5, although it tends to push the build over the £2k mark. Doable if I drop the GPU down to a 3060Ti.

Is there a marked performance increase with AM5/DDR5, or is the value more in futureproofing upgrades at this stage? I tend not to upgrade systems, so that's less a factor for me personally.

All good food for thought, and I value and appreciate all of the input given. Especially on Xmas Eve!

Flaevius · 16 Jan 2023 at 01:31

Thanks again to those pitching in with advice before Christmas, it really was useful food for thought. I've flip-flopped between DDR4 and DDR5 numerous times as I couldn't quite get everything I wanted into the £1800 range. Decided to up my budget slightly and I've now reconfigured to the below DDR5 spec. May I have a final sense check?!

Lian Li Lancool 215
i5-13600KF 14-core (3.5GHz)
Gigabyte Z790 Gaming X AX (DDR5)
32GB Corsair Vengeance DDR5 5600MHz (2 x 16GB)
8GB Nvidia Geforce RTX 3070
NVMe: 2TB Seagate Firecuda 530 Gen 4
Corsair H100x Hydro
Corsair 750W RMx 80+ Gold

Tetras · 16 Jan 2023 at 03:23

Looks fine, if it was being self-built I'd say get the K instead of the KF because the price difference is often very small and never know when IGP might come in handy, but I don't know if that's an option.