First ever build and flexible

[Jerome]

Hello all,

First ever post and also my first ever build.

Current spec is an i7-7700HQ, 16GB RAM, 1050Ti laptop which is becoming a bit long in the tooth now.

I'm looking to build a new desktop which I'd use to get back into a little more gaming with a primary focus on MSFS and other random games (from RDR2 all the way through to the next GTA whenever it may be released).

I work on my computer most of the day although web development based and nothing really intensive (no AI, no advanced video editing, etc.) but it's good to be mindful that it's not strictly for gaming, rather a combination.

My idea so far:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler
Motherboard: MSI B650 GAMING PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6400 CL32 Memory
Storage: 2x Crucial P3 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive
Video Card: Asus ProArt OC GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER 16 GB
Case: Fractal Design Pop XL Air ATX Full Tower Case
Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2023) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX
Fans: ARCTIC P14 72.8 CFM 140 mm Fans 5-Pack

Estimated around £2,300 depending on the price of the 9800X3D (for comparison a 7800X3D build was around £2,200)

I'd considered going for a 7900XTX as I don't really care about raytracing but everything I've read suggests the 4080 is more stable. If the 5080 has huge improvements over the 4080 I'd likely swap over the card in January.

My budget is fully flexible.. if there's things I should be spending more on and can be justified, I'm happy to do so. I absolutely cannot justify spending another grand on upgrading to a 4090 though.

In regards to the case, I believe in practicality over design. I don't care how big and ugly it looks as long as I'd much prefer more space in the case and ample airflow.

I use a primary 4K monitor and two secondary 1080p monitors.

All suggestions and feedback welcome!

 

[Tetras]

All suggestions and feedback welcome!

Some thoughts:

Motherboard: MSI B650 GAMING PLUS WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard

I'm all for saving money on the motherboard, but if you're going to fork out for a 9800X3D and 4080 Super, I'd really want to at least have PCIE 5.0 and USB4.

You'd also have only 2x M.2 slots with the Gaming Plus, if you were to buy another M.2 drive in future.

Fractal Design Pop XL Air ATX Full Tower Case

Are you buying the RGB version of the case? If you are, I think it comes with 4x120mm fans already.

Corsair RM850e (2023) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX

Not a bad PSU, but it is a lower tier model compared to Corsair's RMx or RMx SHIFT (loses 3 years of warranty and has lesser components).

2x Crucial P3 Plus 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive

I'm not a fan of the P3 Plus because it is QLC-based and has poor endurance ratings (TBW) versus TLC drives (e.g. 440 TBW in 2TB capacity, versus 1200 TBW on most TLC drives, including the MP44L in my suggested spec).

Suggested changes (7800X3D is a placeholder):

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £399.95
• 1 x Asrock X870 Pro RS WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASR-03308) = £219.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance EXPO 64GB (2X32GB) DDR5 PC5-4800040 6000MHz Dual Channel (SKU: MEM-CRS-02842) = £179.99
• 1 x Crucial T500 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-01090) = £133.99
• 1 x Team Group MP44L 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-TMG-03129) = £99.95
• 1 x Zotac GeForce RTX 4080 Super Trinity Black 16Gb Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-ZTC-01496) = £919.99
• 1 x NVIDIA - Star Wars: Outlaws Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-NVI-03030) = £0.00
• 1 x Lian Li Lancool 216 Mid-tower PC case - Black (SKU: CA-7BG-LL) = £89.99
• 1 x Asus TUF Gaming 1000W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply (SKU: CA-05Z-AS) = £119.99

• 1 x (unchanged) Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE Dual Tower CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02723) = £36.95

Total: £2,200.79 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

The X3D CPUs are usually less sensitive to memory speed than other CPUs, so you can get away with slower speeds, but I'd recommend waiting for memory scaling articles (they're available for non-X3D, TPU has one here).

Changed the GPU from the ProArt model, just because of warranty length and price (5 year on the Zotac versus 2 year on the ProArt).

There's a review of the TUF PSU here:

The ASUS TUF Gaming 850W Gold PSU Review: Tough But Fair

www.anandtech.com

and the case here (OCUK stock the RGB version too):

 

[Jerome]

Thanks for such a detailed reply. I really appreciate it.

I'm all for saving money on the motherboard, but if you're going to fork out for a 9800X3D and 4080 Super, I'd really want to at least have PCIE 5.0 and USB4.

You'd also have only 2x M.2 slots with the Gaming Plus, if you were to buy another M.2 drive in future.

It appears I hadn't done enough research on motherboards. I certainly prefer the newer tech and extra slot, so good shout.

Are you buying the RGB version of the case? If you are, I think it comes with 4x120mm fans already.

I am, although I read the fans were quite slow in comparison to the ones I had considered. I will double check that of course.

Changed the GPU from the ProArt model, just because of warranty length and price (5 year on the Zotac versus 2 year on the ProArt).

Definitely prefer the extended warranty and saving money is a bonus.


All other points noted too, and will likely follow your recommendation on all counts.

 

[Craig_d1]

MS flight loves x3d and also dlss, so wouldn't change any part of that
vengeance 64gb 6000C30 can be had for £195 away at mo if you want tighter timing
as above, I would be going pcie5 if going high end, andthe asrock board would be my choice at mo also
according to gamernexus 9800x3d will be launched thurs for $480 in US. that's £371 uk...at 20%vat that's about £445..so £450..no doubt thell put it £30 more then at £480....anyway. GN should have reviews dropping tomorrow as when embargo gets lifted

 

[Tetras]

All other points noted too, and will likely follow your recommendation on all counts.

FYI: if you switch to Corsair's RMx SHIFT do check case compatibility (there's a checker on Corsair's SHIFT PSU page), since it has side-mounted cables.

It appears I hadn't done enough research on motherboards. I certainly prefer the newer tech and extra slot, so good shout.

I assumed you wanted to save money, which I usually agree with, but in this case maybe not

Here's a recent roundup:

I am, although I read the fans were quite slow in comparison to the ones I had considered. I will double check that of course.

Ahh, I see.

Definitely prefer the extended warranty and saving money is a bonus.

You have to register the card with Zotac directly for the 5, by the way, otherwise it is 3.

 

[Jerome]

MS flight loves x3d and also dlss, so wouldn't change any part of that

Glad to hear that!

according to gamernexus 9800x3d will be launched thurs for $480 in US. that's £371 uk...at 20%vat that's about £445..so £450..no doubt thell put it £30 more then at £480....anyway. GN should have reviews dropping tomorrow as when embargo gets lifted

In my mind I had thought the same.. whatever the USD price is, it'll be the same in GBP after accounting for VAT and the usual premium.

FYI: if you switch to Corsair's RMx SHIFT do check case compatibility (there's a checker on Corsair's SHIFT PSU page), since it has side-mounted cables.

I'll do a check now to see.


Just out of curiosity, beyond waiting for the 9800X3D to be released in the coming days, is there any benefit in waiting for Black Friday? I'm in no urgent rush to build this (especially if it's beneficial to save a few quid by waiting another couple of weeks) but I know in recent years it's a bit of a gimmick.

 

[Tetras]

is there any benefit in waiting for Black Friday? I'm in no urgent rush to build this (especially if it's beneficial to save a few quid by waiting another couple of weeks) but I know in recent years it's a bit of a gimmick.

I would. I'd be surprised if there was a great deal on the 9800X3D when it has just launched, but the 4080 Super is very expensive and EOL so just a 5-10% discount would be a lot and I'd expect some deals on large capacity RAM and SSDs.

 

[Nathlm]

Wow, what a first build that's going to be, I'm sure you'll love the massive upgrade

 

[Jerome]

I'm really looking forward to it.

First 9800X3D benchmarks are looking really good.. so that's what I'll be going for.

Black Friday can't come soon enough!

 

[Game]

I'm really looking forward to it.

First 9800X3D benchmarks are looking really good.. so that's what I'll be going for.

Black Friday can't come soon enough!

some of the best deals can be in the week or so leading up to it do keep your eyes pealed

 

[kg648]

some of the best deals can be in the week or so leading up to it do keep your eyes pealed

Or even AFTER Black Friday.

 

[Craig_d1]

I'm really looking forward to it.

First 9800X3D benchmarks are looking really good.. so that's what I'll be going for.

Black Friday can't come soon enough!

if you didn't get a 9800x3d on launch at £450 from OCuk, you wont be getting one any time soon. If you want one now expect to pay £520 at least (cheapest I've seen now for 'in stock' from a shop with delivery 15th nov). OCuk preorders are sold out with last out for delivery in Dec, so you'll at leat be waiting into the new year now. a couple places haven't launched their stock yet so maybe you have a chance. I'm guessing their waiting for it to clear customs...
already some deals on good 2tb ssd out there at mo, and 6000c30 ram. x870 boards to new to be discounted i think...maybe something like a pcie5 gpu/cpu b650e board like the asus B650e-f or B650e-e might come back down in price..they were £215 and £230 but now back to £235 and £265...not worth it now as might as well go for a x870 board..B650e-f would need to be down to £200 area to make it palatable, otherwise you might as well go x870 and get the benefit of wifi7 and usb4 (at least come upgrade time, that should be more desirable and be more preferable than an older b650 board)

 

[Game]

Or even AFTER Black Friday.

pretty much last Year I got the youngest a laptop outside of black friday it was never even close in price again and went up in price for black friday

 

[Jerome]

I managed to get a 9800X3D on launch day for £475 (unfortunately not OCuk as multiple batches were already out of stock) and it's scheduled to arrive after the 15th - we will see though. I hadn't intended to buy any parts until the end of the month as I didn't expect it to be snapped up as much as it had but decided to bite the bullet and I'm glad I did - as I wouldn't have waited until next year.

One question in regards to GPUs - I know Tetras kindly suggested Zotac - is there much difference between brands? I see they vary around ~£200 for the same model with different makes. I'm most likely going to sell it when the 5080 becomes available so I'd like to maximise resale value where possible.

I'm keeping an eye on parts and if any deals crop up I'll be buying them early, otherwise holding off until Black Friday week.

As usual, many thanks for the help of everyone so far. I'm desperate to get it built, so the end of the month can't come soon enough.

 

[Craig_d1]

I managed to get a 9800X3D on launch day for £475 (unfortunately not OCuk as multiple batches were already out of stock) and it's scheduled to arrive after the 15th - we will see though. I hadn't intended to buy any parts until the end of the month as I didn't expect it to be snapped up as much as it had but decided to bite the bullet and I'm glad I did - as I wouldn't have waited until next year.

One question in regards to GPUs - I know Tetras kindly suggested Zotac - is there much difference between brands? I see they vary around ~£200 for the same model with different makes. I'm most likely going to sell it when the 5080 becomes available so I'd like to maximise resale value where possible.

I'm keeping an eye on parts and if any deals crop up I'll be buying them early, otherwise holding off until Black Friday week.

As usual, many thanks for the help of everyone so far. I'm desperate to get it built, so the end of the month can't come soon enough.

tbh, different countries prefer different brands, but they all perform similarly as nvidia lock that down so not much scope to black around. zotac offer a extended 5 year warranty and i believe the rma service is in the uk. you have to register for the 5yrs warranty and I'm not sure if it's transferable when you sell it. not really a problem if you selling it, though those on MM normally help out if there's a problem (you'll need 1000 posts to access it though)...other than that you get the loewer tier ones and higher..generally the lower tier have slight lower clocks and plastic casing, higher slightly faster and metal shrouds etc...also the cooling generally better on the higher cards..there is a tier list on a website if helps, but again, if you're only keeping a short time, wouldn't worry too much
which level are you loking at , just so you know, you'll take a bigger hit on it when new cards come out

 

[Tetras]

One question in regards to GPUs - I know Tetras kindly suggested Zotac - is there much difference between brands? I see they vary around ~£200 for the same model with different makes. I'm most likely going to sell it when the 5080 becomes available so I'd like to maximise resale value where possible.

Apart from the warranty, it depends on the model, with the kind of build quality/cooler differences that Craig_d1 has noted.

My general rule of thumb is that you should never pay close to (or more) than the tier of GPU above, because a premium model doesn't give you much (if any) extra performance so the value diminishes. When we're talking about cards that are 1K+ that rule is not very helpful because the next card is like.. 2K, but still, I wouldn't want to pay a lot more for a premium model (maybe 10-15%), unless it offered a lot of value in the build quality, cooler and maybe accessories (like the sag support).

In terms of resale value, I can't really comment because I don't keep up with used cards.

 

[Craig_d1]

Apart from the warranty, it depends on the model, with the kind of build quality/cooler differences that Craig_d1 has noted.

My general rule of thumb is that you should never pay close to (or more) than the tier of GPU above, because a premium model doesn't give you much (if any) extra performance so the value diminishes. When we're talking about cards that are 1K+ that rule is not very helpful because the next card is like.. 2K, but still, I wouldn't want to pay a lot more for a premium model (maybe 10-15%), unless it offered a lot of value in the build quality, cooler and maybe accessories (like the sag support).

In terms of resale value, I can't really comment because I don't keep up with used cards.

..rule of thumb goes out the window when you go from 1k to next tier up at 2k. that did make me laugh out loud

totally agree though...could never buy a 4070ti super strix lets say for more money than a 4080super standard (as an example without looking at any prices) no matter how nice it looks...doesn't make your game play faster..though i guess when you get up to 4090, there is no tier above, just more more expensive cards

 

[Craig_d1]

i like the fuf cards though if not much more...generally metal casing and have 2 hdmi 2.1 connections..good for running to tv as well as monitor(and i use a lc oled as monitor also)...though last 2 cards i've bought have been FE cards

 

[Jerome]

Managed to get a few parts on various offers that I saw over the last few days. Thankfully I received the 9800X3D yesterday and it's sitting in its box ready to be built in the next week or so (ideally before the 14-day period is up).

Using some of the helpful advice above, the parts I've ordered:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D
Motherboard: ASRock X870 Pro RS WiFi
GPU: Zotac Nvidia Geforce RTX 4080 Super Trinity
Case: Lian Li Lancool 216 Black ATX
PSU: 1000W Corsair RMx Series RM1000x

In regards to CPU coolers, is there much difference between the Phantom Spirit and Peerless Assassin? Is it worth going for an 'AIO' cooler? If I do ever overclock in future it's only going to be minimal and certainly not pushing the limits.

I'll likely opt for the RAM recommended above (64GB) and the storage solutions too. I'll also pick up a dust filter for the case and go for Windows 11 (somewhat begrudgingly). I'll also pick up the set of 140mm case fans I mentioned for the exhaust at the top and intake on the bottom.

Counting down the days now.

If anyone has any further advice on what they'd change or add I'd love to hear. If I've made any critical mistakes I can always change parts at this stage.

 

[Tetras]

Is it worth going for an 'AIO' cooler?

216 can support either config, but personally: no, I wouldn't, though you're more likely to need some fan curve tweaking to get the peerless assassin/phantom spirit operating how you want.