Advice Please

[tamzzy]

have you updated the motherboard bios? in the depths of my memory somewhere i do remember issues with running 10 series gpus and newer without a motherboard bios update on the z68/z77 series motherboards

 

[Backtogaming]

I sent back the 1080ti, decided to get a, new motherboard / CPU / ram. I have about £400 is that possible for something alright? Can go over a bit.
The GPU I will get something 2nd hand like a 4000 series, I will get a new PSU outside of that cost too. The 1080ti failed tests, so decided to change it all.

Thanks guys


And tamz yeah I did bios too mate.

 

[Tetras]

I have about £400 is that possible for something alright? Can go over a bit.

I made a build suggestion in post #10 that comes in just under £400 (I think I assumed you'd use the box cooler).

 

[Backtogaming]

I am not on as much a budget anymore, would you still use those specs? And are they good with a 4000 series card, and not using the box cooler mate no, I will buy a, good cooler

 

[Tetras]

I am not on as much a budget anymore, would you still use those specs?

Can you clarify, is the £400 excluding GPU or including GPU?

And are they good with a 4000 series card

It'd work fine with a 4060 or 4060 Ti. 4070... yeah, but an entry-level i5 12th gen is not ideal for a 4080 or something (which I assume you're not buying anyway).

 

[Backtogaming]

Hi mate

Yeah it's excluding GPU, PSU, case, everything else mate. Just need motherboard, CPU and ram and will spend out whatever is needed for a 4080 or whatever my son wants.
Looking for something that lasts a while mate, don't know if that will be i7 or above. Really not sure anymore. But disregarding how much I said, I can spend a bit more if I need to mate.

Thank you.

 

[Tetras]

Yeah it's excluding GPU, PSU, case, everything else mate.

In that case, I'd upgrade my spec from the 12400F to the 12600K and include DDR5 instead of DDR4.

You could just about fit an AM5 build for that budget too, which is preferable for future CPU upgrades (12th gen is fine, but 13th-14th gen is potentially dodgy).

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Intel Core i5-12600K 3.70GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-69X-IN) = £149.99
• 1 x MSI B760 Gaming Plus WIFI (LGA 1700) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-37M-MS) = £139.99
• 1 x PNY XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-51200C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-PNY-04564) = £77.99
• 1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Black CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02724) = £29.99

Total: £405.95 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

Looking for something that lasts a while mate, don't know if that will be i7 or above.

It is hard to say anything 100% because we don't know how it'll work out, but pushing your spec up to a Ryzen 7 or i7 will consume nearly your whole budget, so it is not something I'd recommend.

If you realistically might buy a 4080, then I think it would be wise to have a rethink on how much you're willing to spend, but with a midrange GPU like a 4060 or 4070 there's nothing wrong with a 12600K, Ryzen 7600, Ryzen 9600X, or something like that.

I'd expect a build based on say... a 4070 Super/5070 or 9070, to last around 4-5 years if the expectations are reasonable (i.e. not 200+ fps in the latest AAA games).

If I recall correctly, you said the monitor is 1440p? If so, a 4060 would be on the boundary of playability already in some games (at least, without upscaling), but the majority of esports games would still be fine. I'd be surprised if a 4060 survived (in terms of acceptable frame rates) more than 2-3 years though, if regularly playing at that resolution.

 

[Gray2233]

AM5 alternative to the above:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £199.99
• 1 x PNY XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-PNY-04561) = £79.99
• 1 x Asrock B850M-X (Socket AM5) DDR5 mATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASR-04011) = £115.00
• 1 x Thermalright Assassin X120 Refined SE ARGB CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02726) = £17.99

Total: £420.96 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

You'll get better platform longevity if you decide to go for future upgrades on AM5, the motherboard is pretty barebones but should be fine for anything gaming related.

Went with the RGB version of the PNY RAM for a couple of quid more, don't know many kids that don't like flashing lights.

The HSF isn't as good but it's still more than ample for the processors being recommended.

Worth noting that the 7600 can be had for around the £170 mark, the price seems to have went up on OCUK.

I'd keep an eye out on the upcoming 9060 GPU release, fingers crossed it's a decent price/perf offering in the mid range.

 

[tamzzy]

The 1080ti failed tests

urrgh, how annoying

 

[Backtogaming]

Sorry lads, have been in work so missed all these posts. As spend I can spend more and if it is worth it, that is ok with me. I appreciate all the advice here, so lost as it has been years I have been out of the loop now. I think ryzen 7 or i7 is worth shooting for, if you guys agree and think so too, my son would be happy I am sure, and a 4080 looks a great card.

 

[ppJOhn]

That 2600K still holds up surprisingly well for its age, especially at 4.2GHz. You could throw in a used 1660 Super or RTX 2060 for now to get Apex running decently, but yeah — full platform upgrade will be needed soon. Good monitor though, definitely worth building around!

 

[Tetras]

I think ryzen 7 or i7 is worth shooting for, if you guys agree and think so too, my son would be happy I am sure, and a 4080 looks a great card.

If you're getting a card like the 4080 (or anything around that kind of performance level, including the 5080 and 7900 XTX), I'd normally have the 7800X3D or 9800X3D in the spec.

The 9700X is a step down on the X3D CPUs, but still performs very well.

It being a Ryzen 7 isn't necessarily an advantage, most games still run perfectly fine with 6 cores, but the X3D's cache is a big bonus and the 9700X has good single thread performance and high clocks. Getting a 7600 or 9600 would truthfully be indistinguishable with the 7700X/9700X in a lot of games, it is just that when you're forking out £1K+ for a graphics card, does it really make sense to limit it with a £200 CPU?

The i7 is a difficult one. The 12600K is something I only suggest because of the price, since with a DDR4 build it can undercut the AM5 options. The 12700K is a nice CPU, but as a gamer, the i5 K CPUs are more than capable and the i7/i9 CPUs offer the greatest benefit in productivity (due to the increase in P and E core counts). For that reason, it is hard to recommend, especially if paying nearly £100 extra, though you can often get the 12700KF pretty cheap.

The 13th-14th gen i7 CPUs are potentially problematic, there are a few on other forums who had to RMA their CPU twice. You do get an extended warranty on retail boxed CPUs, but for a gamer I don't see the point taking that gamble when you can just go AM5.

You could get a 265K instead, which is problem free (so far as we know), but like the 13th-14th gen i7 CPUs, this is mainly competitive in productivity and in some cases it performs slower in games than the CPUs it replaced (with decent memory and all the patches, they're definitely performing better than they did on release day).

With the 4080 specifically, are you looking at used cards? Personally, for 1440p, I'd try and get a 9070 as close to £500 as possible. It'd have more than enough performance for a good few years and won't break the bank. Unfortunately that's a tough ask right now.