First build in 13 years. Would appreciate some advice!

[Ineedhelpplease]

Hi all,
I built my current pc in 2011 (with help from this forum!). Since then it's been through a few GPU upgrades and increased RAM but it's the same basic build with an intel i5 2500k cpu, 8gb of ram and currently an Nvidia970 GPU.
I play a lot of games and this pc has been surprisingly durable, still able to play newer games, but lately the minimum specs are often above what I have, and while I play a lot of older games, the time has come to build a new beast, capcable of playing whatever I like with high settings as well as being able to revisit things that never performed that well for me, like Kingdom Come.

Now, I have done my research and I see things are no less confusing than they were 13 years ago, but I think I'm settled on the following:

CPU - Ryzen7 7800X3D

GPU - Either RTX7900XTX or RTX 470 Super ti.

I'm leaning toward the AMD, just because it would be a change and I get the general feeling from reviews that the 7900 has very good performance with more RAM which the 4070 has simi9lar performance, better features but less RAM.
I'm not fussed about 4k gaming and ray tracing isn't a big deal to me so if I were to press the button today I think it would be the 7900, however I hesitate a bit because the many (many!) different comparison videos on youtube come to different conclusions with some showing 7900 at higher FPS and some the 4070, depending on games. My thinking is to not get bogged down in that too much as I know from last time it's easy to start caring too much about these things when the reality is they will both be playing brilliantly.

The advice I would appreciate is on the following,

Do you agree with my card options?
Is there any real benefit to the more expensive versions within the same card models? For example the 7900 ranges from £870 to £1200 on here but is there actually any reason not to get the cheaper end? (Im thinking the sapphire if it matters?).

How do I choose a motherboard? I remember last time it seemed they were all much the same to I went for one that allowed overclocking (which I never actually tried! Too scared!).
For example why would I choose the

Asus ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard at £470 over the Asus ROG Strix B650E-F Gaming WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard at £210?​

One that I've seen recommended as a decent not too expensive option is the MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard. What are your thoughts on that one?

Many thanks in advance..

 

[tamzzy]

just tell us your budget and we'll tell you what to get

 

[Ineedhelpplease]

just tell us your budget and we'll tell you what to get

Well, it's variable.... I'm looking at around £2000 as a target though. If it were well worth going higher I could, but at the same time I'm not into buying somthing that's just wild overkill (such as a 4090).

 

[tamzzy]

few parts are on preorder but these would be my suggestion:

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) = £209.99
• 1 x TeamGroup Delta RGB 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FF3D532G6000HC30DC01) (SKU: MY-0B8-TG) = £109.99
• 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 Phanteks XT Pro Ultra ATX Case Tempered Glass Window, White (SKU: CAS-PHK-01444) = £70.99
• 1 x Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX Pulse 24GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-3A5-SP) = £899.99
• 1 x MSI MAG A850GL 850W 80 Plus Gold ATX 3.0 PCIE5Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-012-MS) = £119.99
• 1 x Arctic Liquid Freezer III ARGB White High Performance CPU Water Cooler - 360mm (SKU: COO-ARC-01993) = £90.95

Total: £1,989.86 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

 

[Tetras]

I'm not fussed about 4k gaming and ray tracing isn't a big deal to me

Do you agree with my card options?

If you're not playing at 4K, why do you want to pay nearly £1K for a 7900 XTX? You could spend half that on a 7900 GRE and get decent performance at 1440p.

Is there any real benefit to the more expensive versions within the same card models? For example the 7900 ranges from £870 to £1200 on here but is there actually any reason not to get the cheaper end? (Im thinking the sapphire if it matters?).

The first consideration is if the price pushes you into paying for a higher tier card. That's less applicable for the 7900 XTX because there's no AMD card above it, but it still applies in terms of value for money, since £1200 is 40% more!

The second consideration is: does it actually give you anything? For some of these cards the answer is no, so it comes down to features (e.g. dual bios, rgb, support bracket) and the performance of the cooler. Higher-end coolers are usually quieter and cooler, but the Pulse is known (generally) for a good balance between noise and temperature. There's also the power limit which can influence performance and you sometimes have to dig to find that out, though that's mainly applicable when you're overclocking. I'd suggest checking reviews that do tear downs (like on TPU) and that give you figures for all the temperatures (VRM, memory, hotspot) and not just the core temp, since it can expose deficiencies in their PCB and cooler design.

How do I choose a motherboard? I remember last time it seemed they were all much the same to I went for one that allowed overclocking (which I never actually tried! Too scared!).
For example why would I choose the

Asus ROG Strix X670E-E Gaming WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard at £470 over the Asus ROG Strix B650E-F Gaming WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard at £210?​

One that I've seen recommended as a decent not too expensive option is the MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard. What are your thoughts on that one?

The first thing to decide with AM5 is: how much PCI-E gen 5 do I want? E.g. graphics and 1, 2, 3 M.2 slots? Once you decide that, you can pick the motherboard.

Generally: I'd start with the B650E-F, since that gives you PCI-E gen 5 graphics and 1x PCI-E gen 5 M.2 slot. If you don't think you care about PCI-E 5.0 graphics, you can step down to a B650 board like the Tomahawk or the TUF Plus.

The premium features you can get on (some) X670E motherboards: 10Gb LAN, dual LAN, USB4, WIFI7, USB PD / USB fast charge, DP over USB Type-C, integrated DAC/AMP, 2 or 3 PCI-E Gen 3 M.2 slots.

 

[Ineedhelpplease]

If you're not playing at 4K, why do you want to pay nearly £1K for a 7900 XTX? You could spend half that on a 7900 GRE and get decent performance at 1440p.


The first consideration is if the price pushes you into paying for a higher tier card. That's less applicable for the 7900 XTX because there's no AMD card above it, but it still applies in terms of value for money, since £1200 is 40% more!

The second consideration is: does it actually give you anything? For some of these cards the answer is no, so it comes down to features (e.g. dual bios, rgb, support bracket) and the performance of the cooler. Higher-end coolers are usually quieter and cooler, but the Pulse is known (generally) for a good balance between noise and temperature. There's also the power limit which can influence performance and you sometimes have to dig to find that out, though that's mainly applicable when you're overclocking. I'd suggest checking reviews that do tear downs (like on TPU) and that give you figures for all the temperatures (VRM, memory, hotspot) and not just the core temp, since it can expose deficiencies in their PCB and cooler design.


The first thing to decide with AM5 is: how much PCI-E gen 5 do I want? E.g. graphics and 1, 2, 3 M.2 slots? Once you decide that, you can pick the motherboard.

Generally: I'd start with the B650E-F, since that gives you PCI-E gen 5 graphics and 1x PCI-E gen 5 M.2 slot. If you don't think you care about PCI-E 5.0 graphics, you can step down to a B650 board like the Tomahawk or the TUF Plus.

The premium features you can get on (some) X670E motherboards: 10Gb LAN, dual LAN, USB4, WIFI7, USB PD / USB fast charge, DP over USB Type-C, integrated DAC/AMP, 2 or 3 PCI-E Gen 3 M.2 slots.

Thank you for your advice.

The reason I say Im not that fussed about 4k is that 1080p looks good. It's not like it's blocky, and spending a huge amount just on displaying the same graphics at higher resolution is not my priority, as I wopnt be buying a new monitor in the near future. However, I know when I do buy one it will be 4k so i want to be ready for that.

What you way on the various brands of the same card makes sense. I think perhaps i will stick with that saphire pulse.

As it's not much more than the tomoahowk i will go with the B650 you mention. I think I just had MSI in my head as solid because thats what ive had all these years and it's the component, aside from the cpu that has been most reliable.

Thanks again for your advice

 

[Ineedhelpplease]

few parts are on preorder but these would be my suggestion:

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) = £209.99
• 1 x TeamGroup Delta RGB 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FF3D532G6000HC30DC01) (SKU: MY-0B8-TG) = £109.99
• 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 Phanteks XT Pro Ultra ATX Case Tempered Glass Window, White (SKU: CAS-PHK-01444) = £70.99
• 1 x Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX Pulse 24GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-3A5-SP) = £899.99
• 1 x MSI MAG A850GL 850W 80 Plus Gold ATX 3.0 PCIE5Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-012-MS) = £119.99
• 1 x Arctic Liquid Freezer III ARGB White High Performance CPU Water Cooler - 360mm (SKU: COO-ARC-01993) = £90.95

Total: £1,989.86 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

Thank you for this.

I think this is a solid list. I will perhaps look for a different case just because im not looking at white components but otherwise all looks solid.

Could you let me know why a water cooler would be necessary? I assume the cooler/fan with the cpu is suficcient unless you overclock. Is that correct? Are you suggesting the extra cooling as a nice to have so I can do such things if wanted? Or is it actually a requirement?

Thanks for the advice

 

[Ineedhelpplease]

few parts are on preorder but these would be my suggestion:

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) = £209.99
• 1 x TeamGroup Delta RGB 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FF3D532G6000HC30DC01) (SKU: MY-0B8-TG) = £109.99
• 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 Phanteks XT Pro Ultra ATX Case Tempered Glass Window, White (SKU: CAS-PHK-01444) = £70.99
• 1 x Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX Pulse 24GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-3A5-SP) = £899.99
• 1 x MSI MAG A850GL 850W 80 Plus Gold ATX 3.0 PCIE5Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-012-MS) = £119.99
• 1 x Arctic Liquid Freezer III ARGB White High Performance CPU Water Cooler - 360mm (SKU: COO-ARC-01993) = £90.95

Total: £1,989.86 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

 

[sx_turbo]

Thank you for this.

I think this is a solid list. I will perhaps look for a different case just because im not looking at white components but otherwise all looks solid.

Could you let me know why a water cooler would be necessary? I assume the cooler/fan with the cpu is suficcient unless you overclock. Is that correct? Are you suggesting the extra cooling as a nice to have so I can do such things if wanted? Or is it actually a requirement?

Thanks for the advice

The freezer 3 is pretty much the best cooler on the market, and does beat air coolers hands down, so should run a lot quieter. You don't need the 360 version though, and if your not going for white case you won't want a white cooker either, I'd recommend the 280mm arctic cooler, but the 7800x3d is low power (relatively at 105w tdp) so you can also go for the 240mm cooker and be totally fine.

If you want to go air cooler go for the peerless assassin, should be less than £40 and has rave reviews everywhere.

 

[Tetras]

As it's not much more than the tomoahowk i will go with the B650 you mention. I think I just had MSI in my head as solid because thats what ive had all these years and it's the component, aside from the cpu that has been most reliable.

If you particularly like the Tomahawk model as an option and don't want to lose the B650E-F's features, you could get the X670E Tomahawk, which is actually one of the cheaper X670E boards.

However, I know when I do buy one it will be 4k so i want to be ready for that.

Hmm. Do you have any idea how long it might be? The reason I say that is because if you're only playing at 1080p, you could even buy a 4060 or 7600 XT instead of the 7900 GRE or 7900 XTX and when you're ready to upgrade to 4K the technology will have moved on and you should get a better deal for your money (in terms of 4K performance) than buying a card for 4K now when you're not intending to upgrade for several years.

I don't think it is worth buying these hugely expensive cards for their performance NOW unless you need it for 1440p UW or 4K, because you're paying the 'luxury' premium for being able to play at that resolution and we don't know how they'll hold up versus future cards as 4K gets more mainstream.

As an example: there are rumours that RDNA 4 is going to offer 7900 XTX performance for $500, which seems very unlikely given the stagnation of recent releases, but if it is true, decent 4K performance will get much more affordable.

 

[tamzzy]

I think this is a solid list. I will perhaps look for a different case just because im not looking at white components but otherwise all looks solid.

you could get the black version of the phanteks: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phan...empered-glass-window-black-cas-phk-01443.html
i just specced a white case and a white aio as i think it looks great on a case with black internals

this is one (white case, black internals) i just built for a birthday present, but of course pick whichever case you want

Spoiler

Could you let me know why a water cooler would be necessary? I assume the cooler/fan with the cpu is suficcient unless you overclock. Is that correct? Are you suggesting the extra cooling as a nice to have so I can do such things if wanted? Or is it actually a requirement?

it's not a requirement and the ryzen 7800x3d will be cooled sufficiently with an air cooler. the aio is more for aesthetics than an actual requirement

see the video comparing aios to high-end heatsinks

(shamelessly stolen from @Quartz 's posts lol)

 

[Ineedhelpplease]

few parts are on preorder but these would be my suggestion:

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) = £209.99
• 1 x TeamGroup Delta RGB 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FF3D532G6000HC30DC01) (SKU: MY-0B8-TG) = £109.99
• 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 Phanteks XT Pro Ultra ATX Case Tempered Glass Window, White (SKU: CAS-PHK-01444) = £70.99
• 1 x Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX Pulse 24GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-3A5-SP) = £899.99
• 1 x MSI MAG A850GL 850W 80 Plus Gold ATX 3.0 PCIE5Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-012-MS) = £119.99
• 1 x Arctic Liquid Freezer III ARGB White High Performance CPU Water Cooler - 360mm (SKU: COO-ARC-01993) = £90.95

Total: £1,989.86 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

What would you recommend for ram and SSD that is currently available?

 

[mickyflinn]

WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3

Order WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E) now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo EXPO 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - B

Order G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo EXPO 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - B now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo EXPO RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit

Order G.Skill Trident Z5 Neo EXPO RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

 

[tamzzy]

@Ineedhelpplease
here ya go.
the motherboard and psu are oos at ocuk but available elsewhere
the arctic aio is oos and ocuk and i think most places elsewhere, let us know if you want an alternative (or an air cooler)

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) = £209.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance RGB EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel (SKU: MEM-CRS-00997) = £119.99
• 1 x WD Black SN850X 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T2X0E) (SKU: HD-591-WD) = £149.99
• 1 x Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX Pulse 24GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-3A5-SP) = £899.98
• 1 x MSI MAG A850GL 850W 80 Plus Gold ATX 3.0 PCIE5Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-012-MS) = £119.99
• 1 x Phanteks XT Pro Ultra ATX Case Tempered Glass Window, Black (SKU: CAS-PHK-01443) = £66.95
• 1 x Arctic Liquid Freezer III ARGB High Performance CPU Water Cooler - 360mm (SKU: COO-ARC-01992) = £89.99

Total: £2,006.87 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

 

[Ineedhelpplease]

The freezer 3 is pretty much the best cooler on the market, and does beat air coolers hands down, so should run a lot quieter. You don't need the 360 version though, and if your not going for white case you won't want a white cooker either, I'd recommend the 280mm arctic cooler, but the 7800x3d is low power (relatively at 105w tdp) so you can also go for the 240mm cooker and be totally fine.

If you want to go air cooler go for the peerless assassin, should be less than £40 and has rave reviews everywhere.

Arctic Liquid Freezer III ARGB High Performance CPU Water Cooler - 280mm​

Would that be this one? Thanks for the advice on the coolers.

 

[tamzzy]

Arctic Liquid Freezer III ARGB High Performance CPU Water Cooler - 280mm
Would that be this one? Thanks for the advice on the coolers.

yes, that is it. but i would however caution on these coolers as arctic's aios are slightly thicker than normal, so in their 140mm fan guise (280/420)...there may be clearance issues with ram and motherboard heatsinks depending on case choice
(yes i have been sucker punched by an arctic 280mm before that's why i know lol)
for best compatibility, specifically for arctic liquid freezers, it's best to stick to their 120mm fan versions (ie 240/360)

 

[mickyflinn]

Arctic Liquid Freezer III ARGB High Performance CPU Water Cooler - 280mm​

Would that be this one? Thanks for the advice on the coolers.

If your going with @tamzzy case choice then the arctic won't fit in the top as it's 63mm and the case has a max 60mm clearance.

 

[Ineedhelpplease]

If you particularly like the Tomahawk model as an option and don't want to lose the B650E-F's features, you could get the X670E Tomahawk, which is actually one of the cheaper X670E boards.


Hmm. Do you have any idea how long it might be? The reason I say that is because if you're only playing at 1080p, you could even buy a 4060 or 7600 XT instead of the 7900 GRE or 7900 XTX and when you're ready to upgrade to 4K the technology will have moved on and you should get a better deal for your money (in terms of 4K performance) than buying a card for 4K now when you're not intending to upgrade for several years.

I don't think it is worth buying these hugely expensive cards for their performance NOW unless you need it for 1440p UW or 4K, because you're paying the 'luxury' premium for being able to play at that resolution and we don't know how they'll hold up versus future cards as 4K gets more mainstream.

As an example: there are rumours that RDNA 4 is going to offer 7900 XTX performance for $500, which seems very unlikely given the stagnation of recent releases, but if it is true, decent 4K performance will get much more affordable.

I dont have any real preference for the motherboard. Just saw it used as a "go to" on a few build channels and was always lead to believe MSI is solid. I'll happily go with the other one suggested.

I see what you're saying about the card being potentially overkill. I suppose there is an element of, it being so long since I upgraded, I want to have a top quality build with no compromises on graphics or performance. and if I buy a £600 card now and end up wanting an £800 one in a year or two I'll probably wish I just went in at the £800 one in the first place.

 

[Ineedhelpplease]

If your going with @tamzzy case choice then the arctic won't fit in the top as it's 63mm and the case has a max 60mm clearance.

Thanks. Well spotted! Any suggestions for a smiller option?

 

[Ineedhelpplease]

After a few of your comments, I am thinking around whether I should go with a different GPU. Maybe just a 4070 instead of the 7900XTX. It would probably be sufficient but then again...it's always a few hundred more and it could be spectacular instead