Finally time for a new build.

Robba44 · 18 Oct 2023 at 13:12

Hey All,

It's finally time to build a new PC after 7+ years. My trusty 1060 6GB has served me well since I bought it on release but it's time for a successor. I've been following hardware releases and reviews since then but not been directly involved purchasing parts so would appreciate a review of my choices to make sure everything works together.

A few things to make note of:

- I do not want to push the budget any further unless its really worth it
- I plan to use the PC for 5/6 years for gaming (if it lasts) but will most probably not be upgrading the tower after this as I will need to swap to a laptop so I am fine with the dead end cpu socket
- No need for an OS
- I have chosen Nvidia over AMD as I specifically want to play cyberpunk with Path tracing
- All prices without VAT as I am ordering from Gibraltar

1 X Intel Core i5-13600KF (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail - £241.66
SKU: CP-6B8-IN

1 X Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C18 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMK32GX4M2D3600C18) - £66.66
SKU: MY-4D1-CS

1 X Corsair Force MP600 CORE XT 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 M.2 Solid State Drive (CSSD-F1000GBMP600CXT) - £40.79
SKU: HD-06U-CS

1 X Lian Li Lancool 205 Midi-Tower Case - Black Window - £54.16
SKU: CA-785-LL

1 X Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo V2 CPU Cooler - 120mm - £33.29
SKU: HS-08F-CM

1 X Iiyama 34" G-Master GB3466WQSU-B1 3440x1440 VA 144Hz 1ms Freesync Premium Curved Gaming Monitor - £291.99
SKU: MO-13K-IY

1 X Zotac GeForce RTX 4070Ti Trinity 12GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics Card - £649.99
SKU: GX-13M-ZT

1 X NVIDIA - Alan Wake 2 Game Bundle - £0.00
SKU: DIG-NVI-01056

1 X MSI MPG A850GF UK PSU 850W, 80 Plus Gold certified, Fully Modular - £91.66
SKU: CA-00J-MS

1 X Gigabyte B760M DS3H DDR4 (LGA 1700) DDR4 Micro-ATX Motherboard - £95.82
SKU: MB-5C0-GI

Grand Total: £1,641.01

Thanks Guys! Appreciate any assistance.

Tetras · 18 Oct 2023 at 19:10

AMD alternative for same price:

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DV-AM) = £257.49
1 x MSI MAG B650M Mortar WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-377-MS) = £149.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G5600HC40BDC01) (SKU: MY-0B3-TG) = £83.29
1 x Zotac GeForce RTX 4070Ti Trinity 12GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-13M-ZT) = £649.99
1 x NVIDIA - Alan Wake 2 Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-NVI-01056) = £0.00
1 x Seagate FireCuda 520 1TB SSD PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive (ZP1000GV3A012) (SKU: HD-3EW-SE) = £47.49
1 x Lian Li Lancool 205M Mesh Micro-ATX PC Case Black (SKU: CA-7B2-LL) = £58.29
1 x Seasonic Focus GX-750 ATX3.0 750W 80 Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-08N-SS) = £99.99
1 x Gigabyte 27" G27Q 2560x1440 IPS 144Hz 1ms FreeSync/G-Sync Compatible LED Backlit Widescreen Gamin (SKU: MO-009-GI) = £241.64

Total: £1,643.16 (includes delivery: £54.99)

Intel/DDR5 alternative for same price:

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Intel Core i5-13600KF (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6B8-IN) = £241.66
1 x MSI B760 Gaming Plus WIFI (LGA 1700) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-37M-MS) = £133.33
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C36 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLBD532G5600HC36BDC01) (SKU: MY-0BB-TG) = £83.29
1 x Zotac GeForce RTX 4070Ti Trinity 12GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-13M-ZT) = £649.99
1 x NVIDIA - Alan Wake 2 Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-NVI-01056) = £0.00
1 x Seagate FireCuda 520 1TB SSD PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive (ZP1000GV3A012) (SKU: HD-3EW-SE) = £47.49
1 x Lian Li Lancool 216 Mid-tower PC case - Black (SKU: CA-7BG-LL) = £74.99
1 x Seasonic Focus GX-750 ATX3.0 750W 80 Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-08N-SS) = £99.99
1 x Gigabyte 27" G27QC A 2560x1440 VA 165Hz 1ms FreeSync/G-Sync Curved Widescreen Gaming Monitor (SKU: MO-008-GI) = £224.99

Total: £1,610.72 (includes delivery: £54.99)

Cooler: peerless assassin, reviewed here.

throwaway4372 · 18 Oct 2023 at 19:21

212 cooler isn't good enough

Robba44 · 18 Oct 2023 at 19:32

Tetras said:
AMD alternative for same price:

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DV-AM) = £257.49

1 x MSI MAG B650M Mortar WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-377-MS) = £149.99

1 x TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G5600HC40BDC01) (SKU: MY-0B3-TG) = £83.29

1 x Zotac GeForce RTX 4070Ti Trinity 12GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-13M-ZT) = £649.99

1 x NVIDIA - Alan Wake 2 Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-NVI-01056) = £0.00

1 x Seagate FireCuda 520 1TB SSD PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive (ZP1000GV3A012) (SKU: HD-3EW-SE) = £47.49

1 x Lian Li Lancool 205M Mesh Micro-ATX PC Case Black (SKU: CA-7B2-LL) = £58.29

1 x Seasonic Focus GX-750 ATX3.0 750W 80 Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-08N-SS) = £99.99

1 x Gigabyte 27" G27Q 2560x1440 IPS 144Hz 1ms FreeSync/G-Sync Compatible LED Backlit Widescreen Gamin (SKU: MO-009-GI) = £241.64

Total: £1,643.16 (includes delivery: £54.99)

Intel/DDR5 alternative for same price:

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Intel Core i5-13600KF (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6B8-IN) = £241.66

1 x MSI B760 Gaming Plus WIFI (LGA 1700) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-37M-MS) = £133.33

1 x TeamGroup Vulcan 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C36 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLBD532G5600HC36BDC01) (SKU: MY-0BB-TG) = £83.29

1 x Zotac GeForce RTX 4070Ti Trinity 12GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-13M-ZT) = £649.99

1 x NVIDIA - Alan Wake 2 Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-NVI-01056) = £0.00

1 x Seagate FireCuda 520 1TB SSD PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive (ZP1000GV3A012) (SKU: HD-3EW-SE) = £47.49

1 x Lian Li Lancool 216 Mid-tower PC case - Black (SKU: CA-7BG-LL) = £74.99

1 x Seasonic Focus GX-750 ATX3.0 750W 80 Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-08N-SS) = £99.99

1 x Gigabyte 27" G27QC A 2560x1440 VA 165Hz 1ms FreeSync/G-Sync Curved Widescreen Gaming Monitor (SKU: MO-008-GI) = £224.99

Total: £1,610.72 (includes delivery: £54.99)

Cooler: peerless assassin, reviewed here.

Thanks for the suggestions! I forgot to specify I want to go ultrawide with my monitor so would need to adjust that.

I had looked initially at an AMD cpu build but with DDR5 it just seemed more expensive than the intel equivalent, not to mention when I looked at benchmarks the 7700 seemed to perform a bit worse than the i5? I guess it might age better due to the extra 2 cores though. I'll give that a think and check more review data, thanks again.

Tetras · 18 Oct 2023 at 19:38

Robba44 said:
Thanks for the suggestions! I forgot to specify I want to go ultrawide with my monitor so would need to adjust that.

I had looked initially at an AMD cpu build but with DDR5 it just seemed more expensive than the intel equivalent, not to mention when I looked at benchmarks the 7700 seemed to perform a bit worse than the i5? I guess it might age better due to the extra 2 cores though. I'll give that a think and check more review data, thanks again.

You're welcome. I didn't have much to say about your build really, so I just came up with these as a point of interest and you might find something you prefer in the spec.

Robba44 · 18 Oct 2023 at 20:08

throwaway4372 said:
212 cooler isn't good enough

What do you think would be a good alternative? Would rather keep to air coolers. Thanks

throwaway4372 · 18 Oct 2023 at 20:21

Robba44 said:
What do you think would be a good alternative? Would rather keep to air coolers. Thanks

pricey options: Noctua NH-D15, Noctua NH-U12A
cheaper option: peerless assassin, reviewed here.

Robba44 · 18 Oct 2023 at 20:30

Thanks guys I guess I'll go with the peerless assassin.

Quartz · 18 Oct 2023 at 20:45

Robba44 said:
1 X Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo V2 CPU Cooler - 120mm - £33.29

I agree with @Tetras and @throwaway4372 - you'll want a better cooler.

Robba44 said:
Lian Li Lancool 205 Midi-Tower Case - Black Window - £54.16

I'm a big fan of the Kolink Citadel Mesh as a cheap mATX case. And if you're quick there's a B grade one for cheap

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Kolink Citadel Mesh Micro-ATX Case - Black (SKU: CA-051-KK) = £52.99
1 x Kolink Citadel Mesh RGB Micro-ATX Case - Black (SKU: CA-052-KK) = £64.99
1 x B Grade Kolink Citadel Mesh RGB Micro-ATX (CA-052-KK) (SKU: BG-03M-KK) = £39.95

Total: £157.93 (includes delivery: £0.00)

Also available in ATX, BTW.

With regards to gaming performance, you're going to be limited by your GPU, and if you want to play with path tracing I'm surprised that you're not going for the 4090. Indeed, does the 4070Ti have sufficient VRAM for path tracing at 3440x1440?

Robba44 · 18 Oct 2023 at 21:13

Quartz said:
I agree with @Tetras and @throwaway4372 - you'll want a better cooler.

I'm a big fan of the Kolink Citadel Mesh as a cheap mATX case. And if you're quick there's a B grade one for cheap

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Kolink Citadel Mesh Micro-ATX Case - Black (SKU: CA-051-KK) = £52.99

1 x Kolink Citadel Mesh RGB Micro-ATX Case - Black (SKU: CA-052-KK) = £64.99

1 x B Grade Kolink Citadel Mesh RGB Micro-ATX (CA-052-KK) (SKU: BG-03M-KK) = £39.95

Total: £157.93 (includes delivery: £0.00)

Also available in ATX, BTW.

With regards to gaming performance, you're going to be limited by your GPU, and if you want to play with path tracing I'm surprised that you're not going for the 4090. Indeed, does the 4070Ti have sufficient VRAM for path tracing at 3440x1440?

Hey Quartz thanks for the suggestions I'll take a look at those cases. As for the GPU I'd love a 4090 but that's way out of my budget! From seeing benchmarks I should be just about fine with DLSS + FG...I know its not quite the same as native and "real" frames but it seems feasible enough.

Robba44 · 22 Jan 2024 at 14:05

Hey guys had to put this on hold due to other financial commitments but am pretty much ready to go now. Have made some adjustments and wouldn't mind a second opinion.

1 X Noctua NH-D9L CPU Cooler - 92mm - £44.99

SKU: HS-028-NC

1 X Corsair Force MP600 PRO LPX 2TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 M.2 Solid State Drive with Heatsink (CSSD-F2000GBMP600PLP) - £141.66

SKU: HD-06M-CS

1 X Kolink Unity Lateral Performance Midi Tower Case - Black - £54.16

SKU: CA-07N-KK

1 X Acer 34" Nitro XV345CURVbmiphuzx 3440x1440 VA 165Hz 0.5ms FreeSync Widescreen Curved Gaming Monitor - £291.66

SKU: MO-15F-AC

1 X Asus TUF Gaming A620-Pro WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard - £124.99

SKU: MOT-ASU-01162

1 X AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Six Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail - £174.99

SKU: CP-3DG-AM

1 X TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G6000HC38ADC01) - £83.29

SKU: MY-0B2-TG

1 X Seasonic Focus GX-850 ATX3.0 850W 80 Gold Modular Power Supply - £116.66

SKU: CA-08M-SS

It's missing the GPU as I am planning on adding the GTX 4070Ti Super upon release. I also swapped out the case for this one as I saw one in person and quite liked it.

The biggest change though was going over to AMD with the 7600X and ddr5. I've heard that you generally need faster RAM with AMD have I made a good choice with these TG Vulcan's? My main reason for going AMD was that I hope this PC now lasts longer than my original plan of 5/6 years. I aim to eventually upgrade the CPU to the "8800X3D" or whatever the latest AM5 X3D chip that gets AM5 support is in several years with the hopes it will be able to hold its own with a new GPU down the line. I know it requires a crystal ball but does that seem feasible?

Thanks again guys any insight appreciated.

Robba44 · 24 Jan 2024 at 07:35

Update to the above I have decided to go with a 7700 instead of the 7600X. Slightly better performance, less wattage and comes with its own cooler (not OC at this time so it should suffice). The extra 2 cores will hopefully give it longer legs in the coming years too. Is there anything I should know with regards AMD setups? I've heard about the longer boot times due to memory training etc.