His and Hers

markwilliams82

markwilliams82

markwilliams82

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Joined
15 Sep 2009
Posts
1,694
Location
Birmingham
My wife wants to get into the world of PC gaming now she’s seen some of the games due out such as Fable, Hogwarts Legacy 2 etc

Great to take the pressure of me gaming when she isn’t but not great for my wallet

We don’t have the biggest room to share a setup so in coincidental timing, I saw the Thermaltake Capo X. A unique idea that would suit us, replace my case with something taller to accommodate 2 PCs

So to think about pricing; I’d be after a spec to kit out with 2 pcs

My setup for 4k gaming and then hers for 1440p or lower quality 4k (she’s not as fussed about graphics)

I’d like to reuse some bits from mine to keep costs down - Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 5080, WD Black M2, Corsair RM1000x PSU and 64GB DDR5 PC5-48000 (split to 32GB per system)

So I’m thinking I’d need; 2 x motherboards, 1 x PSU, 1 x CPU, 1 x GFX, 1 x HDD?
 
What is your budget exactly?

Hard to recommend otherwise, especially in this climate.

Any aesthetic considerations you want to keep in mind or is it less of a concern? I believe the Capo-X is a dual M-ATX fishtank type case?
 
As an alternative, consider getting a couple of rackmount 4U or 5U cases and a small 19" rack. Not so photogenic, of course, but it will double as a table.
 
markwilliams82 said:
I’ve not done m-atx builds before so recommendations would be welcome
Click to expand...

Without knowing your budget, here's an idea:

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £1,256.89 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

This assumes you want to stick with Nvidia, an AMD 9060XT 16gb would be ample given what you've described but they appear to have blown up in cost on OCUK and should frankly be under the £400 mark. If Nvidia isn't something you're glued to, you can get a 9070 for the same price or a 9070GRE for roughly £40-60 less.
 
AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D Six Core 4.5GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail
PRO-AMD-06394
£240 (incl. VAT)
£200 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Sapphire Nitro+ B850M WiFi (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard
MOT-SPR-05690
£120 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
MSI MAG A750GL ATX 3.1 PCIe 5.1 750W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply
CA-013-MS
£100 (incl. VAT)
£80 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
ADATA 860 2TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive
STO-ADA-07788
£300 (incl. VAT)
£210 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Zotac GeForce RTX 5070 Solid OC 12GB GDDR7 PCI-Express Graphics Card
GRA-ZTC-04529
£570 (incl. VAT)
£540 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Last edited:
markwilliams82 said:
I’ve not done m-atx builds before so recommendations would be welcome
Click to expand...
markwilliams82 said:
I’d like to reuse some bits from mine to keep costs down - Ryzen 7 9800X3D, RTX 5080, WD Black M2, Corsair RM1000x PSU and 64GB DDR5 PC5-48000 (split to 32GB per system)

So I’m thinking I’d need; 2 x motherboards, 1 x PSU, 1 x CPU, 1 x GFX, 1 x HDD?
Click to expand...
I'd generally not recommend buying 2x of the same board, but they're good value for the spec and not sure what you mean about the OCD.

GRE is a good chunk faster than a 9060 XT 16GB, which are now way overpriced (compared to their launch price). 9070 non-XT has an extra 4GB of VRAM (versus GRE) which could come in handy in the longer-term.

9070 GRE is a more compact card than some, ~280mm, which may or may not be important with a compact case (can't find any specs of the one you mentioned).

PSU looks good for the price (I use SPL's tier list), 8-year warranty and a ball bearing fan.

The SSD I'm not recommending, just a placeholder. I assume 2TB is what you want?

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £1,337.93 (includes delivery: £7.99)​
 
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail
CP-3DT-AM
£365 (incl. VAT)
£300 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Sapphire Nitro+ B850M WiFi (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard
MOT-SPR-05690
£120 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 GRE Gaming OC 12GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card
GRA-SPR-08166
£480 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Asus TUF Gaming EVO 750W ATX 3.1 PCIe 5.1 80 Plus Bronze Modular Power Supply
POW-ASU-07629
£80 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Team Group NV5000 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCIe 4.0 Solid State Drive
STO-TMG-07235
£240 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Last edited:
Quartz said:
As would an Arc B580.

Click to expand...

Cheapest one in stock at OCUK currently is almost £400, stock elsewhere is very iffy too from what I can see.

You can get a 9060XT 16gb for that, and it's a much better card, not sure how much I'd trust some of the cheaper outlets I know that do stock the b580.
 
markwilliams82 said:
get into the world of PC gaming now she’s seen some of the games due out such as Fable, Hogwarts Legacy 2 etc
Click to expand...
get into gaming = not worth spending a bunch tbh, if she don't like it then you're going to sell the pc at a loss. personally would just buy a cheaper pc first, can always upgrade it later down the line if she really gets into it
 
tamzzy said:
get into gaming = not worth spending a bunch tbh, if she don't like it then you're going to sell the pc at a loss. personally would just buy a cheaper pc first, can always upgrade it later down the line if she really gets into it
Click to expand...
An off the shelf entry level gaming PC has the huge advantage that should it go wrong, it’s not your fault.*

* You’ll get blamed anyway.
 
@markwilliams82

Hold on a sec. Good thing you said your 'wife', because if it was just your girlfriend etc I'd say get on one knee and marry her 'now'.I'd buy my wife a 5090 if she ever said she'd want to get into gaming. At the mo when I'm home i get a 'look of pity' with the thought ', well if that's how you want to waste your life'.
I very nearly managed it when the kids were young and we got her on the xbox to play lego harry potter 1-3. We went into London and bought the yrs 4-6?? on disc...got home, openned the box and the disc wasn't in there....and that was tyhe last time she tried gaming.

shame the below case isn't out yet. Perfect for your needs
event.thermaltake.com

CAPO X — Dual System Chassis | Thermaltake

Designed for streaming, AI workflows, creators, and shared setups. CAPO X redefines the dual-system chassis experience.
event.thermaltake.com

as for gpu, I'd plumb for either a 9070 for 527.99 on oc or a 9070xt at 629.99. both 16gb vram ...9070 10% better raster with the extra4gb vram...seeing as your wife not needing full bells and whistles, don't have to worry too much about RT or PT, or the 9070xt, which is on a par with 5070ti perf...nice thing is depending on game you cvan jump onto the 9070xt and enjoy the one that favour amd (though with a 5080 don't think that's necessary really(...does mean with thxt ity covers 4k gaming better than the non xt, and 5070 vram limitations at that level
 
tamzzy said:
get into gaming = not worth spending a bunch tbh, if she don't like it then you're going to sell the pc at a loss. personally would just buy a cheaper pc first, can always upgrade it later down the line if she really gets into it
Click to expand...

Well I’ve got her set to next to me at the moment with an older laptop to play the basics that she likes. If she does and want to play more which she says she wants to. I’ll upgrade

The case doesn’t seem to be coming out to Fall 2026 so gives me time to test her out before I spend
 
markwilliams82 said:
Well I’ve got her set to next to me at the moment with an older laptop to play the basics that she likes. If she does and want to play more which she says she wants to. I’ll upgrade

The case doesn’t seem to be coming out to Fall 2026 so gives me time to test her out before I spend
Click to expand...
Is there no room on your desk for a small PC using a Lian li A3 or similar?
 
It’s the perfect styling for the room but not really

It’s not the biggest room so she would be sitting next to me. To keep space on the desk I’m trying to keep the desk free bar monitors and speakers

I’ve got my pc in the corner but having a second pc wouldn’t look great I dont think

 
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