Friends pc

Wrightyuk · 2026-11-04T08:32:48+0000

A friend at work asked me to help him out with a new PC. He's got a budget of around £2,500 and was looking at either buying a pre-built or getting the parts separately and having me build it for him.
I've put a build together using Overclockers UK, but would appreciate it if a few people could have a look and let me know if there's anything they'd change, swap out or tweak.
The aim is 1440p gaming. Not sure on the monitor refresh rate yet as he hasn't picked one, and he's not fussed whether it's AMD or Nvidia.
Also going with two separate drives, one for Windows and one for games.
Any suggestions or improvements welcome!

CPU - Ryzen 7700x
CPU Cooler - Thermalright assassins peerless Dual Tower
Board - Asus B850 Max WiFi
Ram - Patriot Viper Venom 32gb 6000 c36
Game Drive - Crucial p310 2tb
Boot Drive - Kingston nv3 500gb M.2 nvme
GPU - Sapphire Pulse Radeon 9070XT
PSU - Asus Tuf 1000W
Case - Phanteks g400A
Top 3 Fans & Bottom 3 Fans - Phanteks M25 120mm

Mcnumpty2323 · 2026-11-04T09:10:11+0000

Your build list link doesn't work
Build lists not my strong point anyway
Will do my usual
and tag someone for you who is good at build lists
@Tetras
It's a decent budget though you didn't say
If that is just pc no monitor or peripherals
But you will definitely get less for
Your money in the current crazy times

Wrightyuk · 2026-11-04T09:19:31+0000

Mcnumpty2323 said:
Your build list link doesn't work
Build lists not my strong point anyway
Will do my usual
and tag someone for you who is good at build lists
@Tetras
It's a decent budget though you didn't say
If that is just pc no monitor or peripherals
But you will definitely get less for
Your money in the current crazy times

Oh yeah I explained to him that this day and age building pc is expensive, also just the PC he has the periphials except monitor which he has some money for already.

Message edited with parts list

Mcnumpty2323 · 2026-11-04T09:34:07+0000

Wrightyuk said:
Oh yeah I explained to him that this day and age building pc is expensive, also just the PC he has the periphials except monitor which he has some money for already.

Message edited with parts list

Yeah just the ram and GPU is half the budget
Storage not cheap either
I noticed in forum yesterday there's flash/lightning
Ram sales that might be worth looking at
Though even those the price is painful
Glad I have a top end am4 build upgrading to am5
Would hurt badly it's the worst situation I have ever seen

tamzzy · 2026-11-04T09:44:09+0000

better build

9850x3d
scrapped the dual ssd spec - not required in this day and age tbh
2tb gen 5 ssd
nice pretty aio
matx build with a nice case

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D Eight Core 5.60GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-06938) = GBP399.95
1 x Gigabyte B850M GAMING X WIFI6E (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-GIG-03861) = GBP154.99
1 x KLEVV FIT V EXPO 32GB (2x16GB) 6000MHz C30 DDR5 Dual Channel Kit - Black (SKU: MEM-KLV-07036) = GBP398.99
1 x KIOXIA EXCERIA G3 2TB SSD NVME M.2 2280 PCIe 5.0 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-KIO-07152) = GBP259.99
1 x EK Water Blocks EK-Nucleus CR360 Lux D-RGB All In One CPU Cooler - Black (SKU: HS-00W-EK) = GBP64.99
1 x Asus TUF Gaming 1000W ATX 3.1 PCIe 5.0 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-05Z-AS) = GBP115.00
1 x Lian Li Vector V100R Mini ARGB mATX Tower Case - Black (SKU: CAS-LIA-06780) = GBP59.99
1 x PowerColor Radeon RX 9070 XT Reaper 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-PWC-04017) = GBP799.99

Total: GBP2266.88 (includes delivery: GBP12.99)

PS: I also use the case too

tamzzy said:
I just swapped my case from white to black (Jonsbo D31 to a Lian Li V100 mini)
With the right internals...looks pretty damn good lol

Wrightyuk · 2026-11-04T09:56:23+0000

Only thing is air cooled would be wetter for a basic build cause of my experience with aio isn't brilliant so maybe keep the fans i picked and the 2 ssd thing is a personal preference always preferred windows separately

tamzzy · 2026-11-04T09:59:31+0000

Wrightyuk said:
and the 2 ssd thing is a personal preference always preferred windows separately

why waste his money unnecessarily?

Mcnumpty2323 · 2026-11-04T10:07:31+0000

If its within budget
A second drive isn't a bad thing
Though I would use it for backups
But could fit games on there too i guess

Aio is personal choice
But a pump is an added point of failure
Compared to an air cooler

Wrightyuk · 2026-11-04T10:11:23+0000

Mcnumpty2323 said:
If its within budget
A second drive isn't a bad thing
Though I would use it for backups
But could fit games on there too i guess

Aio is personal choice
But a pump is an added point of failure
Compared to an air cooler

Yeah that's why I don't wanna put a liquid cooler in there if it was mine I would be tempted go liquid cooled eventually

Wrightyuk · 2026-11-04T10:13:49+0000

tamzzy said:
why waste his money unnecessarily?

It's not a waste as its good imo to separate the 2 drives and he was happy with doing that I gave him the choice and explained why and he wants 2 drive setup (I have 2 drives myself)

tamzzy · 2026-11-04T10:20:02+0000

ok

his money his choice, not my money not my problem

Wrightyuk · 2026-11-04T10:38:16+0000

tamzzy said:
ok his money his choice, not my money not my problem

Exactly

Wrightyuk · 2026-11-04T10:40:01+0000

Took the advice on the GPU saved 100 quid

Wrightyuk · 2026-11-04T16:18:06+0000

tamzzy said:
ok his money his choice, not my money not my problem

Updated it with new GPU you suggested

CPU - Ryzen 7700x3d

CPU Cooler - Thermalright assassins peerless Dual Tower

Board - Asus B850 Max WiFi

Ram - Patriot Viper Venom 32gb 6000 c30

Game Drive - kioxiaria Experia 2tb G3

Boot Drive - Kingston nv3 500gb M.2 nvme

GPU - power colour reaper 9070xt

PSU - Asus Tuf 1000W

Case - Phanteks g400A

Top 3 Fans & Bottom 3 Fans - Phanteks M25 120mm

tamzzy · 2026-11-04T16:26:49+0000

Wrightyuk said:
CPU - Ryzen 7700x3d

don't understand why not just go for the 9800x3d/9850x3d since there's enough in the budget
unless you're getting a deal on it, the 7700x3d is in no-man's land, not cheap enough to be disposable for a quick upgrade (eg 7500x3d), and too expensive when compared to the top-tier x3d cpus

Wrightyuk said:
Ram - Patriot Viper Venom 32gb 6000 c30

cheaper, with rgb: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/v-co...mhz-dual-channel-kit-black/MEM-VCR-08341.html

Wrightyuk said:
Top 3 Fans & Bottom 3 Fans - Phanteks M25 120mm

£60 on fans is a bit much, if you really want to spend on fans, just get the top-mounted fans and do without the bottom fans.
the gpu doesn't require the bottom fans anyway and the build will be quieter overall with 3 less fans

Gray2233 · 2026-11-04T16:30:53+0000

Wrightyuk said:
Updated it with new GPU you suggested

CPU - Ryzen 7700x3d

CPU Cooler - Thermalright assassins peerless Dual Tower

Board - Asus B850 Max WiFi

Ram - Patriot Viper Venom 32gb 6000 c30

Game Drive - kioxiaria Experia 2tb G3

Boot Drive - Kingston nv3 500gb M.2 nvme

GPU - power colour reaper 9070xt

PSU - Asus Tuf 1000W

Case - Phanteks g400A

Top 3 Fans & Bottom 3 Fans - Phanteks M25 120mm

Run a partition on a single 2tb drive, it's cheaper and 512gb SSD's are poor value.

There's similarly capable motherboards for £150 which would save money.

PSU is pretty overkill but not bad option.

You don't need to add more fans, the case comes with more than enough, it's needless added expense.

There's cheaper on par RAM available.

Tbh you should ask your friend to read this and make his own post:

Read first: Build and Upgrade Advice + Template!

Disclaimer: Are you intending to build the PC yourself? Please let us know what your intentions are: (1) You are building your own PC, or will have someone doing this for you (2) You want OCUK to build your custom PC (3) You want an off-the-shelf PC As computer enthusiasts, we normally...

forums.overclockers.co.uk

Wrightyuk · 2026-11-04T16:35:25+0000

It's a £90 cost for the CPU upgrade from 7700x3d

Don't know much about that brand of ram tbh usually prefer known branded stuff personally

Oh ok that's a good point could always scrap the bottom ones saves 30 quid

Mcnumpty2323 · 2026-11-04T16:41:35+0000

.if really want the extra fans
Those are always available in b grade section
A lot cheaper

Would agree 9850x3d if for gaming
Rather get the better CPU
And b grade fans to offset some of the cost
I buy b grade fans often never been anything wrong with them

tamzzy · 2026-11-04T16:44:33+0000

Wrightyuk said:
Don't know much about that brand of ram tbh usually prefer known branded stuff personally

don't see the problem when there's lifetime warranty with ocuk
from the horses mouth:

Dave2150 said:
@Gibbo What is the warranty on the V-Color kits?

Gibbo said:
Lifetime with OcUK.

why waste money?

Wrightyuk · 2026-11-04T16:49:23+0000

Gray2233 said:
Run a partition on a single 2tb drive, it's cheaper and 512gb SSD's are poor value.

There's similarly capable motherboards for £150 which would save money.

PSU is pretty overkill but not bad option.

You don't need to add more fans, the case comes with more than enough, it's needless added expense.

There's cheaper on par RAM available.

Tbh you should ask your friend to read this and make his own post:

Read first: Build and Upgrade Advice + Template!

Disclaimer: Are you intending to build the PC yourself? Please let us know what your intentions are: (1) You are building your own PC, or will have someone doing this for you (2) You want OCUK to build your custom PC (3) You want an off-the-shelf PC As computer enthusiasts, we normally...

forums.overclockers.co.uk

Yeah didn't think about a partition tbh but then still takes up some of the 2tb space when games are very big in space nowadays but noted,
Which boards are they?
Yeah could drop the PSU tbh to maybe 850 that's a good shout.

I couldn't find any ram cheaper that was of same branded as rather use something I know of.

He has read most of this been sharing the info with him