Gaming build ~1500-1800

Leww

Leww

Leww

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Joined
7 Jan 2021
Posts
91
Hi All,

I've been a lurker on here for a while, looking to build/buy a pc in the next 1-2 months (I realise stock issues will delay no massive issue).

The use is for gaming. I don't do any 4k gaming (my monitor is 27' 1920x1080 144hz). I will likely at some point this year buy a 31/32' 1440p monitor. I typically build/buy every 4-5 years with some minor upgrades in the interim. Ideally want to play most games at near max settings (I play Pubg/wow/witcher/read dead/mount & blade etc).

I don't have a particular affinity to intel/amd had both in the past. my current setup is:

i7-4790
16gb ddr3 1600
gtx 1060 6gb
micro-atx case (at the time was short on space)

Would love recommendations as i've been largely away from building/hardware the last few years and i had been pretty happy with my setup.

Best,
Lew
 
  • CPU - Ryzen 5800X.
  • Mobo - MSI X570 Tomahawk (best value X570 board). Can go B550 if you want to save some money.
  • Memory - DDR4-3600 CL16 16GB.
  • GPU - RTX 3080 or 6800XT (whatever is available at a reasonable price).
  • PSU - 850w is safe but a good 750w will perform well (Seasonic or Corsair).
 
@Mesai thanks for the quick reply! From some of my research it seems AMD is a good basis for a build current (despite availability 7 series seem back though).

One of the other areas i have no idea about is cooling/fans. I have a corsair pre-built cooling system now which seems decent enough but no idea if I'll need that or not.

I have about 2TB of games (thanks to steam library+ bnet)... what is the most efficient way of organising speed wise. Keep all games on separate SSD and windows only on boot SSD?
 
Leww said:
@Mesai thanks for the quick reply! From some of my research it seems AMD is a good basis for a build current (despite availability 7 series seem back though).
Click to expand...

Prices are a bit rough at the moment but more so on the GPU side; stock has picked up a lot for Zen3 so you should hopefully see decent pricing in the near future.

Leww said:
One of the other areas i have no idea about is cooling/fans. I have a corsair pre-built cooling system now which seems decent enough but no idea if I'll need that or not.

I have about 2TB of games (thanks to steam library+ bnet)... what is the most efficient way of organising speed wise. Keep all games on separate SSD and windows only on boot SSD?
Click to expand...

What's your current case and do you want to reuse it? You'll need a CPU cooler assuming you don't already have an aftermarket one with the right mounting hardware.

For storage, get a decent NVME drive for the OS/primary drive; something like the Sabrent Rocket (not the Q variant). For everything else, get a standard 2TB SATA SSD - HU have a great video on drive performance with games (below).

 
@Mesai Thanks for the help, i've put this together to so far and was able to grab a Zotac GeForce RTX 3070 Twin Edge 8GB OC GPU for about £585

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,201.64 (includes shipping: £12.30)​
​

Anything I am missing or unoptimised, everything will come out to around 1800 which is pretty ideal.
 
Leww said:
@Mesai Thanks for the help, i've put this together to so far and was able to grab a Zotac GeForce RTX 3070 Twin Edge 8GB OC GPU for about £585

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,201.64 (includes shipping: £12.30)
​

Anything I am missing or unoptimised, everything will come out to around 1800 which is pretty ideal.
Click to expand...

You could swap the case for a Corsair 4000D Airflow and use the savings to get a better NVME drive (Sabrent Rocket), but that’s just min maxing if you want to go that far. Otherwise, good build :)

For your own peace of mind, check that memory against the supported list on the MSI site or on PC part picker.
 
Appreciate it. I always get immediate buyers remorse/fomo on my timing etc.

Hopefully the card i managed to get a hold of is good value for the £585 (I realise I am lucky to get it), and probably huge bump from 1060. Vs 3080 it may not be the most futureproof but for 1-2 years it should be totally fine as I dont play 4k.
 
Leww said:
Appreciate it. I always get immediate buyers remorse/fomo on my timing etc.

Hopefully the card i managed to get a hold of is good value for the £585 (I realise I am lucky to get it), and probably huge bump from 1060. Vs 3080 it may not be the most futureproof but for 1-2 years it should be totally fine as I dont play 4k.
Click to expand...

Unfortunately it isn’t an ideal time, but the alternative is waiting several months or getting lucky. The CPU will likely last 5 years without any issues and the 3070 will also serve you well for a couple generations.
 
Hi welcome. Here is a cheaper alternative if you are just gaming.

The Phanteks P400A is a good budget case, and it has a mesh front for good airflow. The extra Arctic fan can be placed at the rear, and the pre-installed one moved to the front.

One of the best performing budget air coolers. The extra thermal paste isn't needed.

If you don't need wifi then the B550 version of the Tomahawk saves another £40.

The R5 5600X is pretty much the same as the 5800X if you are only gaming. The 5800X isn't great anyway from a price/performance aspect, as you can pickup the 5900X for about £80 more.

The 3200MHz kit is £21 cheaper. Not really going to see any difference between a 3200MHz CL16 and 3600MHz CL18 kit.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £911.18 (includes shipping: £12.30)
​
 
lee32uk said:
you can pickup the 5900X for about £80 more
Click to expand...

@lee32uk I picked up a 5800x for £429 (obviously can return) but haven't seen any 5900s for less that £575-£600 unless i am mistaken. I had a similar dilemma with 3070 and 3080 ive seen a few popping up around £600-650 for 3070 and £900 for 3080. My big worry there is i snagged a Zotac GeForce RTX 3070 Twin Edge 8GB OC (two fan) and it seems to get pretty meh reviews in the 3070 lineup :S) ... and I have that immediate fomo for a 3080 when i see how poorly 3070 performs even against 6800 for non 4k games (I dont 4k game).

ill take a peek at the other recommendations (I may end up needing wifi at least temporarily so might stick with x570 board). I also ended up getting the RM850 power supply as I didnt know if Id siwtch to 5900 or 3080....
 
also, forgive me I haven't done a fresh build in so long and never had to flash bios or w/e.

with the board I ordered above and cpu do I need to do something when I build in order to enable to boot? I ordered a digital windows key (i can create a boot flash drive off other pc when I first turn on).

Once I put everything together any advice for the admin i should get out of the way first?
 
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