Brand New Build @ £3000+ Budget

[PhilipOmnis]

Hi all,

Five years ago I went all-in on a fantastic PC and it's coming to the end of its lifespan for the level I enjoy gaming at (massive thanks to those who helped me build the last one). I'm looking to spec a no-peripherals, all-in brand new build. Budget is set around £3000 but I can cautiously go higher if diminished returns aren't too bad. The PC is used for excessive, gratuitous gaming and occasional streaming. I'm an avid VR user and really want to max out that performance, along with finally moving from QHD to UHD gaming. I'm by no means flush with cash but this is one of those "work hard, play hard" type of situations so ideally not compromising too hard on certain parts. Priority is performance, I don't care for RGB or mind loud components (currently running heavy duty Noctua fans, sounds like Gatwick airport in here). I read a commenter elsewhere categorise this kind-of build as a hobbyist vanity project, so something along those lines but still practical in design. I was originally going to hold out for the NVIDIA 5000 series release but frankly I just don't have any patience left. Perfectly capable of building myself, but not averse to a pre-build if there's any good deals going on at the moment. Please let me know if you have any specific questions.

As always, incredibly grateful for the recommendations and research you guys put in.

Cheers! ^_^

 

[Tetras]

I'll let someone else do the inevitable X3D build, so here is an Intel one.

I'd consider swapping the 14700K for a non-K (or -F if the saving is worth it and you have a spare graphics card for testing).

Don't buy a monitor from my recommendation (I know nothing), but you could try here.

I don't know which 4080 Super model would be best, so consider this a price placeholder.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Intel Core i7-14700K (Raptor Lake-S) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-INT-00800) = £399.95
• 1 x Gigabyte B760 AORUS ELITE AX (LGA 1700) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-5BS-GI) = £190.00
• 1 x Crucial Pro 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C46 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRU-01085) = £169.99
• 1 x Gigabyte GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Gaming OC 16GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics (SKU: GRA-GIG-01550) = £1,129.99
• 1 x Seagate FireCuda 520 2TB SSD PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive (ZP2000GV3A012) (SKU: HD-3EX-SE) = £114.95
• 1 x Phanteks Eclipse P600S Silent Midi Tower Case - Black (SKU: CA-08V-PT) = £139.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP 1000W V2 80PLUS Gold Power Supply - Black (SKU: CA-0C5-PT) = £159.95
• 1 x EK Water Blocks EK-Nucleus AIO CR360 Dark All In One CPU Water Cooler - 360mm (SKU: HS-016-EK) = £109.99
• 1 x Samsung 28" Odyssey G7 LS28BG700PXXU 3840x2160 IPS 144Hz 1ms FreeSync HDR HDMI 2.1 Widescreen Gaming Monitor (SKU: MO-24T-SA) = £599.99

Total: £3,030.79 (includes delivery: £15.99)​

 

[dfour]

Challenge accepted!!

Something different. Mini ITX build but still has all the power of the above build and you can always set the little rgb off.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Asus ROG Strix B650E-I Gaming WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 Mini ITX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6JZ-AS) = £239.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £349.99
• 1 x Crucial Pro 48GB (2x24GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C48 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRU-01087) = £169.99
• 1 x Kolink Rocket Heavy Vented Edition Aluminium Mini-ITX Case - Gunmetal Grey (SKU: CA-064-KK) = £79.99
• 1 x Thermaltake Toughpower SFX 850W 80 Plus Gold Native PCIE 5 Power Supply (SKU: CA-1BU-TT) = £189.95
• 1 x Gainward GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER Panther OC 16GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics (SKU: GRA-GNW-01539) = £998.99
• 1 x Crucial P5 Plus 500GB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 3D NAND NVMe Solid State Drive (SKU: HD-073-CR) = £48.95
• 1 x Crucial T500 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-01090) = £154.99
• 1 x Arctic Liquid Freezer II High Performance CPU Water Cooler - 240mm (SKU: HS-07B-AR) = £99.95
• 1 x Ssupd Meshroom PCIe 4.0 Riser Cable - 17CM - Matx Use (SKU: CA-013-SU) = £59.99

Total: £2,392.78 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

 

[tamzzy]

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £349.99
• 1 x Asus ROG Strix B650E-F Gaming WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6JX-AS) = £190.00
• 1 x G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo EXPO 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - B (SKU: MEM-GSK-01361) = £239.99
• 1 x Zotac GeForce RTX 4080 Super Trinity Black 16Gb Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-ZTC-01496) = £959.98
• 1 x MSI SPATIUM M480 Pro 2TB SSD PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-MSI-00815) = £125.99
• 1 x MSI MPG A1000G PCIE5 UK PSU 1000W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply (SKU: CA-00W-MS) = £169.98
• 1 x Montech KING 95 Midi-Tower, Tempered Glass, ARGB - Black (SKU: CAS-MON-01478) = £114.95
• 1 x Arctic Liquid Freezer III ARGB High Performance CPU Water Cooler - 360mm (SKU: COO-ARC-01992) = £89.99

Total: £2,252.86 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

 

[dfour]

Looking again I realized you could fit a 4090 in your budget.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Gainward GeForce RTX 4090 Phantom 24GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-20L-GW) = £1,649.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £349.99
• 1 x MSI MPG A1000G PCIE5 UK PSU 1000W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply (SKU: CA-00W-MS) = £169.98
• 1 x TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G6000HC38ADC01) (SKU: MY-0B2-TG) = £99.95
• 1 x Crucial P5 Plus 500GB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 3D NAND NVMe Solid State Drive (SKU: HD-073-CR) = £48.95
• 1 x Crucial P3 PLUS 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 NVMe Solid State Drive (SKU: HD-07B-CR) = £113.98
• 1 x Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower Case - Black (SKU: CA-09F-PT) = £72.95
• 1 x Jonsbo CR-2000 GT Dual Fan ARGB 120mm CPU Cooler - Black (SKU: HS-005-JB) = £34.99
• 1 x Asus ROG Strix B650E-E Gaming WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6JW-AS) = £259.98
• 4 x Phanteks M25 120mm PWM High-Airflow Chassis Fan - Black (SKU: FG-02X-PT) = £5.96
• 2 x Phanteks M25 140mm PWM High-Airflow Chassis Fan - Black (SKU: FG-033-PT) = £9.94

Total: £2,844.47 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

​

Ignore the jonsbo cooler and replace it with a thermalright frost spirit 140 for £33. Absolute bargain at that price for its cooling ablility.​

​

Frost Spirit 140 BLACK V3 – Thermalright

www.thermalright.com

 

[PhigBill]

Note that the LianLi Lancool 216 case comes with 3 pre-installed fans and a FAN/RGB controller, I would also say 32gb DDR5 Ram is the sweet spot for gaming, think I would only go over this if I was using the computer for some heavy productivity, formatting or rendering work.

First option with a 4090:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £349.99
• 1 x Lian Li Lancool 216 Mid-tower PC case - Black (SKU: CA-7BG-LL) = £89.99
• 1 x Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6K0-AS) = £169.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel (SKU: MEM-CRS-01125) = £124.99
• 1 x Crucial P5 Plus 500GB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 3D NAND NVMe Solid State Drive (SKU: HD-073-CR) = £48.95
• 1 x Crucial T500 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-01090) = £154.99
• 1 x DeepCool AK620 Digital CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: HS-01J-DC) = £69.95
• 1 x Gainward GeForce RTX 4090 Phantom 24GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-20L-GW) = £1,649.99
• 1 x Kolink Regulator 1000W 80 Plus Gold Gen5 Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-07W-KK) = £124.99
• 1 x Kolink AT/ATX "Kettle Plug" 1.2 5A Fuse Meter Mains Cable (SKU: CB-002-KK) = £0.00

Total: £2,783.83 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

Second option with a new 4080 SUPER:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £349.99
• 1 x Lian Li Lancool 216 Mid-tower PC case - Black (SKU: CA-7BG-LL) = £89.99
• 1 x Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6K0-AS) = £169.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel (SKU: MEM-CRS-01125) = £124.99
• 1 x Kolink Regulator 850W 80 Plus Gold Gen5 Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-07V-KK) = £110.00
• 1 x Kolink AT/ATX "Kettle Plug" 1.2 5A Fuse Meter Mains Cable (SKU: CB-002-KK) = £0.00
• 1 x Crucial P5 Plus 500GB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 3D NAND NVMe Solid State Drive (SKU: HD-073-CR) = £48.94
• 1 x Crucial T500 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-01090) = £155.00
• 1 x DeepCool AK620 Digital CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: HS-01J-DC) = £69.94
• 1 x Palit GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER GamingPro OC 16GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-PAL-01809) = £1,100.00

Total: £2,218.84 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

Both leave you room if you'd rather a better MOBO / RAM / AIO COOLER, or if you want to put the rest of your budget towards something like a new monitor etc.

 

[PhilipOmnis]

Some awesome recommendations so far, so thank you so much all!

I've noticed you're all being incredibly generous and giving me good wiggle room on my budget, but I'm definitely not shying away from scooping out the big bucks. I'm also saving buying a monitor for the following paycheck so it's not needed in the OG budget, the £3000+ is dedicated purely to the rig itself.

Having sifted through price-to-performance benchmarks, I feel comfortable looking at 4090s and also potentially the 7950/7950X3D, if that affects anyone's build ideas. I'm honestly not too concerned about costs running high as my previous build five years ago (albeit a lower budget of that time) has really paid off squeezing out those extra £££s. Also definitely happy to splurge that bit extra things like 64GB RAM. This rig is going to get put through its paces, for sure.

Thanks again for all the current builds!

 

[mickyflinn]

Don't be getting a kolink PSU in your dream machine unless you get a free fire extinguisher with it.

Gold rated with a 10 year warranty is the standard.

 

[Tetras]

I'm also saving buying a monitor for the following paycheck so it's not needed in the OG budget, the £3000+ is dedicated purely to the rig itself.

I was one of the ones that included the monitor in the budget, but I honestly wouldn't change anything about my spec even with the extra £600 (apart from making sure you get a good monitor, since I didn't know what to include).

14700K and 4080 Super is decent 4K gaming, good enough for me.

 

[tamzzy]

4080 Super is decent 4K gaming, good enough for me.

agreed. rather save that extra £600 to be spent another day (or the monitor...OLED seems to be the theme of the day)

4k 240hz 32 inch curved qd-oled
Alienware AW3225QF

Dell Alienware AW3225QF Review

The Dell AW3225QF is a 4k, 240Hz QD-OLED gaming monitor with a curved screen. It's the first model available in North America featuring this high-resolution QD-O...

www.rtings.com

if you don't want the curved screen then:
1440p 360hz 27 inch flatpanel qd-oled
Alienware AW2725DF
(cheaper too)