Build help / critique please

ben1987

ben1987

ben1987

Associate
Joined
30 May 2023
Posts
193
Location
sheffield
Hi,

I’m the next couple of weeks I’m hoping to build a new PC. It’ll be my first build in well over a decade. My last build was a core 2 duo, BFG 8800 and 4 gb ram.

During covid I got back into games and picked up a ps5 but I’ve been eyeing up a pc build ever since and think it’s about time.

I predominantly play FPS games mainly Warzone but fancy playing through Hogwarts Legacy at some point too.

I’ve been doing a bit of research but I’m almost totally out of the loop. I’m thinking an AMD build as I hear they’re slightly better for frames in COD.

At the moment I just need the tower. I’ve got a controller, headset, keyboard, mouse etc. I’ll buy a new monitor later. Possibly the Samsung 1440 240htz offering.

I’ve thrown this together and I was wondering what you thought? Ideally not spending too much more. I’ll worry about a rear fan later.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £2,260.84 (includes delivery: £0.00)​



​

Thanks in advance
 
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail
CP-3DT-AM
£500 (incl. VAT)
£429 (incl. VAT)
FREE DELIVERY
Find out more
Samsung 970 EVO Plus 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 3.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive
HD-23Z-SA
£200 (incl. VAT)
£160 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard
MB-6K0-AS
£180 (incl. VAT)
FREE DELIVERY
Find out more
Asrock Radeon RX 7900 XTX Phantom Gaming OC 24GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card
GX-013-AK
£999 (incl. VAT)
£900 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
NZXT Kraken 240 Black RGB AIO CPU Water Cooler - 240mm
HS-02E-NX
£160 (incl. VAT)
£130 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Fractal Design North Charcoal Black TG Dark Windowed Mid Tower Case - Black
CA-0AV-FD
£140 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
I would dump the AIO for a peerless assassin and use the money to up the PSU.

Would also change the SSD to a Firecuda 530 or P5 Plus.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £407.96 (includes delivery: £7.99)​
 
Tetras said:
I would dump the AIO for a peerless assassin and use the money to up the PSU.

Would also change the SSD to a Firecuda 530 or P5 Plus.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £407.96 (includes delivery: £7.99)​
Click to expand...

Thank you very much. I don’t mind paying the extra for the PSU if 1,050w would be preferential over 850. I see the one you recommended is platinum rather than the gold version I had anyway so certainly looks worthwhile.

If it’s not too much trouble could you explain to me what the difference is between the two storage drives? It was all sata hard drives back when I last built anything.
 
ben1987 said:
Thank you very much. I don’t mind paying the extra for the PSU if 1,050w would be preferential over 850. I see the one you recommended is platinum rather than the gold version I had anyway so certainly looks worthwhile.
Click to expand...

One thing I like about the PF3 is that it has plenty of ports and the XTX needs 3x 8 pin connectors. You don't have to use a separate cable for each, but it is recommended and the PF3 has enough to do it.

ben1987 said:
If it’s not too much trouble could you explain to me what the difference is between the two storage drives? It was all sata hard drives back when I last built anything.
Click to expand...

In short, the P5 Plus or Firecuda 530 are high-end PCI-E 4.0 drives, while the Samsung is a (now outdated) high-end PCI-E 3.0 drive. It's not quite that simple, because Samsung have since updated the 970 to use the latest NAND and controller, but it is still subject to the limits of PCI-E 3.0. On paper, the Firecuda 530 has the highest specs (read/write and endurance) of all three drives, but in reality, I believe the Firecuda 530 has similar hardware to the P5 Plus.
 
Tetras said:
One thing I like about the PF3 is that it has plenty of ports and the XTX needs 3x 8 pin connectors. You don't have to use a separate cable for each, but it is recommended and the PF3 has enough to do it.



In short, the P5 Plus or Firecuda 530 are high-end PCI-E 4.0 drives, while the Samsung is a (now outdated) high-end PCI-E 3.0 drive. It's not quite that simple, because Samsung have since updated the 970 to use the latest NAND and controller, but it is still subject to the limits of PCI-E 3.0. On paper, the Firecuda 530 has the highest specs (read/write and endurance) of all three drives, but in reality, I believe the Firecuda 530 has similar hardware to the P5 Plus.
Click to expand...

Brilliant thanks. I will certainly swap out the storage then and psu.

I think 2tb will likely be enough initially and then I may grab a second in future if I get carried away buying games. Realistically I’ll probably play 2/3 games.

I was expecting the whole thing to need a re-work and be totally incompatible as I’ve been out the game so long.

Thank you very much.
 
ben1987 said:
I was expecting the whole thing to need a re-work and be totally incompatible as I’ve been out the game so long.
Click to expand...
Nope, is all good on that front.

I would have said go for EXPO instead of XMP, but your memory is on the QVL of the motherboard, so that should be fine too.

I did check the GPU length, but I assume your AIO is going in the top, so you aren't subject to the 300mm restriction?

The case manual isn't very clear, but it looks like the RAM clearance with an AIO in the top is 35mm (page 33), which might be an issue for RGB Fury? I'm not familiar with how to determine the issue here (e.g. is it related to the rad thickness, or something else)?
 
Last edited:
Tetras said:
Nope, is all good on that front.

I would have said go for EXPO instead of XMP, but your memory is on the QVL of the motherboard, so that should be fine too.

I did check the GPU length, but I assume your AIO is going in the top, so you aren't subject to the 300mm restriction?

The case manual isn't very clear, but it looks like the RAM clearance with an AIO in the top is 35mm (page 33), which might be an issue for RGB Fury? I'm not familiar with how to determine the issue here (e.g. is it related to the rad thickness, or something else)?
Click to expand...

Wow, you really have gone over and above there and in far more detail than I had checked with the case.

The plan was the aio at the top. Stick to the existing front 3 fans as input. The two on the aio and one more fan of grab for exhaust fans at the top and rear.

Sounds like it might be a tighter fit than I’d realised though so I may look at something slightly larger.
 
Looks decent. Lower latency 6200 memory would give slightly better performance. For the NVME drive I’d buy on cost per gigabyte, avoiding QLC drives unless very well priced.
 
Placed an order this week. Thank you for the advice.

Decided to go for a larger case and went for the NZXT H7 Elite. From reading reviews the Fractal case was going to be pretty tight with a 7900XTX and an AIO cooler. The NZXT was the AIO I liked the look of so went for the 360 elite to go with the case. As the case already has fans installed that all match it saved buying any fans too.

I went for the fire cuda storage and the 1050w psu as advised above (thanks)

Through work I get a few discount codes so managed to get £100 off an asus tuf 7900xtx and got an Alienware 27” 1440 280 htz monitor for £300.

The GPU and monitor arrived yesterday just waiting on Overclockers to ship the rest then it’s build day.

I had one more question, does anyone have any experience with a peripheral switch? I work in IT so spend most of my day at my desk using my work laptop. I’ve got a keyboard and mouse already so would be good to use the same one for both machines without physically moving the usb. I’ll be gaming on a ps5 controller so it’s just for windows use.
 
ben1987 said:
I had one more question, does anyone have any experience with a peripheral switch? I work in IT so spend most of my day at my desk using my work laptop. I’ve got a keyboard and mouse already so would be good to use the same one for both machines without physically moving the usb. I’ll be gaming on a ps5 controller so it’s just for windows use.
Click to expand...
Do you mean a dock, or a KVM?
 
Tetras said:
Do you mean a dock, or a KVM?
Click to expand...

Ahh a KVM is what I’m looking for.

I have a usb-c Lenovo docking station for the work laptop.

I want to use the same keyboard and mouse on both machines without swapping the usb’s.

Monitor wise both systems will be completely independent. I’ve got a long desk with 3 monitors. Two are for work and the new one is sitting on the end for gaming only.

I’ll look into a KVM to switch the KB&M between the two.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom