£1500 Build

[Jimbeam3678]

Purchase Timeframe:
No rush

Budget:
£1500

Usage:
Gaming at 1440p or 4K undecided yet. Currently have a 4k monitor

Preferences:
None

Current Hardware:
Mac Mini M4

Peripherals:
None required

Special Needs/Requirements:
A way to connect the system up to my Caldigit Dock - USB4? Or USB 3 Gen 2?

 

[Tetras]

Special Needs/Requirements:
A way to connect the system up to my Caldigit Dock - USB4? Or USB 3 Gen 2?

It looks like they use Thunderbolt, but I'm not sure? It would be important to clarify this, because USB4 would mandate certain motherboards (e.g. X870/X870E) and Thunderbolt I believe would need an Intel system. USB 3 Gen 2 is easy, you could get that with B850.

Here's a system which would have 2x Thunderbolt 4 (Type-C) on the rear, but this is not a CPU you'd pick solely for gaming.

​

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (Arrow Lake) Socket LGA 1851 Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-INT-03111) = £289.99
• 1 x Asrock Z890 Pro RS (LGA 1851) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASR-03363) = £214.99
• 1 x Intel Motherboard Master Key - Star Wars Outlaws (SKU: DIG-INT-04686) = £0.00
• 1 x Crucial Pro 48GB (2x24GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C46 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRU-01086) = £99.95
• 1 x PowerColor Radeon RX 9070 Reaper 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-PWC-04020) = £559.99
• 1 x Crucial T500 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-01090) = £128.99
• 1 x Lian Li Lancool 216 Mid-tower PC case - Black (SKU: CA-7BG-LL) = £85.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 850W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02519) = £104.99

• 1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE Black Dual Tower CPU Air Cooler (SKU: COO-TLR-03285) = £34.99

Total: £1,531.87 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

 

[Jimbeam3678]

Thanks. Would an AMD CPU and Motherboard work with USB 3 Gen 2, assuming I connect the monitors via HDMI/DP? Intel route with the additional cost seems like a big compromise for TB4.

Or do I have any other options? I should have included this in the opening post, the dock is a https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-4-element-hub/

 

[Tetras]

I should have included this in the opening post, the dock is a https://www.caldigit.com/thunderbolt-4-element-hub/

Looks like it is compatible with USB4, so you could switch to AM5 and X870/X870E.

Would an AMD CPU and Motherboard work with USB 3 Gen 2

Yes, there's loads of AM5 motherboards with USB 3.2 Gen 2 (Type C), but I can't find somewhere on that page where it says you can use that?

 

[Jimbeam3678]

Quick Google suggests it will. Assuming it does, what would you recommend? Is it worth stretching to 9070 XT?

 

[mickyflinn]

Quick Google suggests it will. Assuming it does, what would you recommend? Is it worth stretching to 9070 XT?

If your going to play at 4k or really want high FPS at 1440p then yes but then that brings the 5070ti into the mix which I personally would go for with better dlss tech and ray tracing.

Also brings into question the x3d CPUs but how far do you stretch your budget

 

[Jimbeam3678]

What are my options? I don't really want to go about £1500 but £100 or so should be ok.

 

[mickyflinn]

What are my options? I don't really want to go about £1500 but £100 or so should be ok.

This is what it would roughly cost with an x3d CP and a 5070ti but you can downgrade the CPU or GPU to bring closer to budget . X870 motherboard with usb 4 but if you happy using usb c then there a few more pounds to be saved.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Corsair Vengeance 32GB EXPO (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel (SKU: MEM-CRS-02786) = £98.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core 5.20GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-03517) = £449.99
• 1 x Gainward GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Phoenix V1 16GB GDDR7 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-GNW-04853) = £719.98
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95
• 1 x Team Group MP44L 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-TMG-03129) = £99.95
• 1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Black CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02724) = £29.99
• 1 x Antec C3 ARGB Midi Tower - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-02727) = £79.99
• 1 x Gigabyte X870 GAMING WIFI6 (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-GIG-03347) = £199.99

Total: £1,775.82 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

 

[Jimbeam3678]

Any reason for the 5070Ti over the 9070 XT?

 

[Quartz]

It looks like they use Thunderbolt, but I'm not sure?

Asus sell a Thunderbolt 4 card for £100

 

[Jimbeam3678]

If I lowered the spec on the CPU, would it be a Ryzen 5 to be looking at? Which model provides the best bang for buck?

Thanks for all the suggestions and help so far.

 

[Gray2233]

Any reason for the 5070Ti over the 9070 XT?

If you're wanting to play modern games at 4K on these cards you're going to have to use upscaling tech, and while FSR4 with AMD is much improved over prior iterations it still falls notably short of DLSS.

Nvidia is stronger with RT too which will help in a few situations, especially with games slowly starting to come with it baked in and impossible to turn off.

The 9070XT is a fantastic card don't get me wrong, but with the minimal price difference I'd opt for the 5070ti, especially if hoping to run at such a high resolution.

 

[Tetras]

If I lowered the spec on the CPU, would it be a Ryzen 5 to be looking at? Which model provides the best bang for buck?

The best Ryzen CPU (for gaming) is 7800X3D/9800X3D, you'd always get that if budget allowed. Next step down would be the 9700X. The 7600X is available around £150 and honestly, for 4K that's fine and you'd get more mileage from a beefier GPU in most games. That said, overall framerate consistency (especially the lows) is stronger with the X3D CPUs, so there comes a point it doesn't make sense to keep upping the graphics card, but that depends what kind of gamer you are. Competitive gamers aren't normally playing at 4K, so I'd assume you prefer image quality over framerate.

 

[Bounce]

If you wanted to you could always go down the second hand route for am4 , 5800x can be had for around £90, and an am4 motherboard would be around £60, and you can get the ram for around £30. When you add it up you’ll probably save hundreds of pounds and the performance difference would be negligible, only issue with buying second hand is usually no warranty and am4 is a dead end socket.

 

[Jimbeam3678]

So presumably, I could swap out the X870 and live without the USB 4 and replace it with ASRock B850m-X micro ATX M5 to shave off £85.

Thanks again, given me some real food for thought

 

[mickyflinn]

So presumably, I could swap out the X870 and live without the USB 4 and replace it with ASRock B850m-X micro ATX M5 to shave off £85.

Thanks again, given me some real food for thought

Sure could lots of options.

Let us know what you decide before you purchase.

 

[Jimbeam3678]

Of course need to sell my Mac mini and check with the boss of the house first! Genuinely thanks to all of you for the help and advice. Will bump this when before I pull the trigger.

 

[Tetras]

So presumably, I could swap out the X870 and live without the USB 4 and replace it with ASRock B850m-X micro ATX M5 to shave off £85.

Thanks again, given me some real food for thought

FYI: this board only has 1x Type-C on the rear, which is USB 3.2 Gen 1. It also has a pretty basic VRM and the primary PCI-E is gen 4.0, but it does have 2x M.2 slots.

 

[Jimbeam3678]

FYI: this board only has 1x Type-C on the rear, which is USB 3.2 Gen 1. It also has a pretty basic VRM and the primary PCI-E is gen 4.0, but it does have 2x M.2 slots.

I’m back with more questions.. is there something between x870 and the card I suggested? USB 3.2 gen 2 is what I need after some experimenting with my work laptop.

At a push usb 3.2 gen 1 could work but I’d rather avoid it if possible.

Any reason why I couldn’t use this case

Phanteks XT PRO ULTRA ATX Mid Tower Case?​

Some of the suggested items are on pre order PSU and Ssd any alternatives?

 

[mickyflinn]

Case is fine .

Motherboard is matx so would look somewhat small in that case.

Does this board have what you need I believe so but check.

Asrock B850 Pro-A WiFi (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard

Order Asrock B850 Pro-A WiFi (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

PSU

Phanteks AMP GH 850W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black

Order Phanteks AMP GH 850W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

M2 same price unless £100.

Kingston NV3 2TB PCI-e 4.0 NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive (SNV3S/2000G)

Order Kingston NV3 2TB PCI-e 4.0 NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive (SNV3S/2000G) now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk