how is this pc build for a budget of about £2.1k?

[Moiré]

hey there everybody, i hope you're all well . so last year i made a post looking at getting my first dedicated pc but ultimately decided to wait until the new generation of amd & nvidia gpus to purchase one. i intend to use it mainly for a mixture of 1080p gaming of recent demanding titles and music production and i am essentially looking for as much fps and longevity as possible in my purchase. i do admittedly prefer the idea of getting a prebuilt just for peace of mind since unfortunately for various reasons building a pc myself would be quite difficult but i managed to configurate a build on the oc uk website which i quite in terms of its specs and aesthetics, and am wondering what your thoughts are on this build? here is my custom amd pc build

from what ive been told the 9070 xt should be a great graphics card for gaming and from my understanding the 9800x3d should be particularly great also for gaming especially at 1080p and hopefully would also be well-suited to music production too? if it is at all useful info, i mainly use ableton live and fl studio (if anyone reading this knows how that might be relevant!). some people have also suggested the 9950x3d but unfortunately i don't think that can fit in my budget as it is super duper pricey. anyway, sorry if perhaps i don't seem too knowledgeable haha but thanks in advance a bunch for any feedback!

 

[RamboFB]

For music production I wouldn't look past the 265K. Pairing that with good quality dual channel DDR5 6400mhz 64GB should be a good fit. The downside is the boards a more expensive.

 

[ezekial]

I think the 9800x3d would be more tha sufficient for music production.

As for gaming at 1080p, the 9070 xt and 9800x3d would smash it.

 

[Moiré]

For music production I wouldn't look past the 265K. Pairing that with good quality dual channel DDR5 6400mhz 64GB should be a good fit. The downside is the boards a more expensive.

thanks for the recommendation, i'll definitely look more into it! i admittedly haven't spent much time researching the intel ultra processors and have mainly been focusing on their i7 range as well as amd's ryzen cpus. would you say that it would still be sufficient for gaming? for me i suppose that both gaming and music production are equally important so admittedly i do find it difficult to weigh them up haha

 

[Moiré]

I think the 9800x3d would be more tha sufficient for music production.

As for gaming at 1080p, the 9070 xt and 9800x3d would smash it.

fantastic, thanks that's good to know. in that case i'll definitely maintain the combo as a consideration, i've heard of a few people using these two specific components together so it sounds like it's probably a solid bet.

 

[RamboFB]

thanks for the recommendation, i'll definitely look more into it! i admittedly haven't spent much time researching the intel ultra processors and have mainly been focusing on their i7 range as well as amd's ryzen cpus. would you say that it would still be sufficient for gaming? for me i suppose that both gaming and music production are equally important so admittedly i do find it difficult to weigh them up haha

Most people aren't going near 13/14th gen chips, issues with the socket and overheating issues, that to be fair Intel say is sorted. If you want gaming with a little music production on the side go with the 9800x3d. If you are running multiple or complex arrangements with heavy VSTi's, I think the 265k will give better performance and is cheaper. It will be difficult to find any real data other than typical CPU testing programs like Cinebench. You will find plenty game framerate data on youtube, look for recent reviews if possible. Spend some time and look at some data it will pay you back. Hope you get you want, you have a good budget.

 

[Tetras]

from my understanding the 9800x3d should be particularly great also for gaming especially at 1080p

Yes, it is the best choice for that resolution.

i intend to use it mainly for a mixture of 1080p gaming of recent demanding titles

from what ive been told the 9070 xt should be a great graphics card for gaming

At the price they're supposed to be, they're very strong 1440p cards and decent at 4K. For 1080p? That's overkill, but would still fit in your budget. I'd advise that you check how your software does with AMD cards first though, don't want any weird glitches.

some people have also suggested the 9950x3d but unfortunately i don't think that can fit in my budget as it is super duper pricey.

There's not much advantage for gaming in this CPU anyway, would only be a good idea if you are hammering multiple cores all day long.

 

[Moiré]

Most people aren't going near 13/14th gen chips, issues with the socket and overheating issues, that to be fair Intel say is sorted. If you want gaming with a little music production on the side go with the 9800x3d. If you are running multiple or complex arrangements with heavy VSTi's, I think the 265k will give better performance and is cheaper. It will be difficult to find any real data other than typical CPU testing programs like Cinebench. You will find plenty game framerate data on youtube, look for recent reviews if possible. Spend some time and look at some data it will pay you back. Hope you get you want, you have a good budget.

for sure, i was initially looking at the 14th gen cpus myself but then after doing quite a bit of research i heard a lot about the problems that people have been experiencing with them so just as you recommended i ultimately thought it's better to go for something else. as for my projects, i often do use quite a lot of effects vsts especially but some of the workload is offloaded by the fact that i also use hardware to an extent, as opposed to a solely-daw approach.

for a number of years i've been using a laptop with an rtx 2060 and an i7 10750h which has honestly done me pretty well until recently. as i say even in projects with quite a lot of vsts (from brands like soundtoys, native instruments and arturia mainly), as long as i increase the buffer size i'd say my laptop can handle it all pretty well most of the time - but at the same time, i recognise that it's also good to have some decent headroom since i hope that my new pc will last me a while to come.

and thanks for the good wishes, i'll definitely do my best to think about it before i pull the trigger

 

[Moiré]

Yes, it is the best choice for that resolution.



At the price they're supposed to be, they're very strong 1440p cards and decent at 4K. For 1080p? That's overkill, but would still fit in your budget. I'd advise that you check how your software does with AMD cards first though, don't want any weird glitches.


There's not much advantage for gaming in this CPU anyway, would only be a good idea if you are hammering multiple cores all day long.

i gotcha - thanks for the affirmation that it's a solid choice since i wasn't 100% sure. i've definitely had a couple of people tell me it might be overkill short-term but i guess i thought since i can just about stretch the budget, combined with how annoyingly unoptimised some recent games seem to be these days, i might as well go for it lol.

i was initially looking at some of the recent nvidia gpu lineup like the rtx 5070 ti but i think that definitely is overkill, and it's kinda hard to justify the substantial increase in price. from what i've seen it looks like amd's hardware should work well with the software i use so hopefully that won't be a problem. the main ryzen model i'm looking at seems to have both more and faster cores than what i'm using now so admittedly it's tempting but i'll still consider the intel ultra 7 265k recommendation from above for sure!

 

[RamboFB]

for sure, i was initially looking at the 14th gen cpus myself but then after doing quite a bit of research i heard a lot about the problems that people have been experiencing with them so just as you recommended i ultimately thought it's better to go for something else. as for my projects, i often do use quite a lot of effects vsts especially but some of the workload is offloaded by the fact that i also use hardware to an extent, as opposed to a solely-daw approach.

for a number of years i've been using a laptop with an rtx 2060 and an i7 10750h which has honestly done me pretty well until recently. as i say even in projects with quite a lot of vsts (from brands like soundtoys, native instruments and arturia mainly), as long as i increase the buffer size i'd say my laptop can handle it all pretty well most of the time - but at the same time, i recognise that it's also good to have some decent headroom since i hope that my new pc will last me a while to come.

and thanks for the good wishes, i'll definitely do my best to think about it before i pull the trigger

Are you getting latency issues?

 

[Moiré]

Are you getting latency issues?

even though i do sometimes record music in real-time in the studio with my various sequencers, synths etc, the latency is nothing that i notice or that particularly affects me honestly - even if it is increased slightly.

 

[RamboFB]

even though i do sometimes record music in real-time in the studio with my various sequencers, synths etc, the latency is nothing that i notice or that particularly affects me honestly - even if it is increased slightly

Cool it sounds like your current setup is good for the music production side then. Who knows where VSTI's will go in the future? More demanding certainly but mostly towards RAM if current trends continue. Most DAW's and VSTI's have fairly modest hardware requirements. Connectivity with your audio interface could be a thought, if you use one. I think your most satisfying upgrade here is going to be on the gaming side and that will by default increase your processing power for music production.

 

[Moiré]

Cool it sounds like your current setup is good for the music production side then. Who knows where VSTI's will go in the future? More demanding certainly but mostly towards RAM if current trends continue. Most DAW's and VSTI's have fairly modest hardware requirements. Connectivity with your audio interface could be a thought, if you use one. I think your most satisfying upgrade here is going to be on the gaming side and that will by default increase your processing power for music production.

nice, thank you that's very useful to know and it's reassuring to hear that this build should do well for me! it's a pretty big upgrade so if i go for it i definitely look forward to being able to use it. i suppose the final thing i have to check is what the connectivity is like with the motherboard - i'll have to look into what ports it has since i do plan on connecting a few pieces of hardware (including my audio interface and a couple other bits and bobs). i might see if i can upgrade it slightly if needed, but hopefully whether i need that or not everything should be good! thanks again for all the help & guidance

 

[Tetras]

i gotcha - thanks for the affirmation that it's a solid choice since i wasn't 100% sure. i've definitely had a couple of people tell me it might be overkill short-term but i guess i thought since i can just about stretch the budget, combined with how annoyingly unoptimised some recent games seem to be these days, i might as well go for it lol.

Well, honestly at 1080p I think something like a 7700 XT would do fine, but if you want ALL the eye candy into the future, there can be a place for spending more.

I must say though, wouldn't switching to 1440p, or even 4K be beneficial for your work? The extra screen space is great for productivity.

i was initially looking at some of the recent nvidia gpu lineup like the rtx 5070 ti but i think that definitely is overkill, and it's kinda hard to justify the substantial increase in price. from what i've seen it looks like amd's hardware should work well with the software i use so hopefully that won't be a problem.

Pricing and unavailability is so poor at the moment maybe the price increase isn't that substantial

I do agree though, I'd not pay ~£800 for 1080p.

the main ryzen model i'm looking at seems to have both more and faster cores than what i'm using now so admittedly it's tempting but i'll still consider the intel ultra 7 265k recommendation from above for sure!

Yeah, it is a good uplift in both single and multithreaded performance.

The Core Ultra CPUs are good for productivity, they're competitive there, but for 1080p gaming I'd personally want an X3D because that's where they're great and can make a big difference to framerates.

This is an example of what I'd consider a pretty strong 1080p gaming build:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £428.99
• 1 x Gigabyte B650 EAGLE AX (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-GIG-03573) = £139.99
• 1 x Crucial Pro 48GB (2x24GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C48 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRU-01087) = £119.99
• 1 x SAPPHIRE PULSE AMD Radeon™ RX 7700 XT Gaming Graphics Card with 12GB GDDR6, AMD RDNA™ 3 architecture (SKU: GRA-SPR-00767) = £379.99
• 1 x AMD Radeon - Monster Hunter Wilds Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-04649) = £0.00
• 1 x Crucial T500 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-01090) = £127.99
• 1 x Kolink Tranquility Silent Midi Tower Case - Black Noise Dampened (SKU: CA-03W-KK) = £62.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95

Total: £1,344.89 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

 

[Moiré]

Well, honestly at 1080p I think something like a 7700 XT would do fine, but if you want ALL the eye candy into the future, there can be a place for spending more.

I must say though, wouldn't switching to 1440p, or even 4K be beneficial for your work? The extra screen space is great for productivity.


Pricing and unavailability is so poor at the moment maybe the price increase isn't that substantial

I do agree though, I'd not pay ~£800 for 1080p.


Yeah, it is a good uplift in both single and multithreaded performance.

The Core Ultra CPUs are good for productivity, they're competitive there, but for 1080p gaming I'd personally want an X3D because that's where they're great and can make a big difference to framerates.

This is an example of what I'd consider a pretty strong 1080p gaming build:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £428.99
• 1 x Gigabyte B650 EAGLE AX (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-GIG-03573) = £139.99
• 1 x Crucial Pro 48GB (2x24GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C48 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRU-01087) = £119.99
• 1 x SAPPHIRE PULSE AMD Radeon™ RX 7700 XT Gaming Graphics Card with 12GB GDDR6, AMD RDNA™ 3 architecture (SKU: GRA-SPR-00767) = £379.99
• 1 x AMD Radeon - Monster Hunter Wilds Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-04649) = £0.00
• 1 x Crucial T500 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-01090) = £127.99
• 1 x Kolink Tranquility Silent Midi Tower Case - Black Noise Dampened (SKU: CA-03W-KK) = £62.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95

Total: £1,344.89 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

thanks for the suggested build, i appreciate it - you've chosen some good parts there! it's a totally fair point about switching to 1440p with my build and i definitely don't have anything inherently against it - it's moreso a matter of practicality since there's only really one place in my household to have my setup (up in the attic!) and i happen to have a slanted ceiling right above me so i can't have too big a monitor. that being said, bearing in mind that my whole life i've been using laptops with screens ranging from 17" to 14" i have no doubt that a 24 inch screen will probably feel massive in comparison and i can imagine the extra size will probably itself make a great difference in comfort. perhaps if one day in the future i find myself yearning for more i'll look at upgrading to 1440p, but at the moment 1080p should definitely be sufficient for my needs. even if my components are overkill for now, i'm a sucker for very high framerates lol and i have little doubt that they'll last me for years to come!

since my last post i can report that i ended up going for original build i posted with some differences in specs - namely i upgraded the power supply and the motherboard to higher-quality components and also for better connectivity. im not gonna lie, i am super excited! and seeing availability become out of stock on the evening of the same day i purchased it definitely makes me realise it was the right decision since im not too sure i want to wait much longer haha. just wanted to say to everyone again, thank you very much for the help and it's really appreciated! im quite excited also to get the new generation of amd gpus since i've heard great stuff about them. anyway, ill stop talking too much! but thanks again everyone

 

[RamboFB]

thanks for the suggested build, i appreciate it - you've chosen some good parts there! it's a totally fair point about switching to 1440p with my build and i definitely don't have anything inherently against it - it's moreso a matter of practicality since there's only really one place in my household to have my setup (up in the attic!) and i happen to have a slanted ceiling right above me so i can't have too big a monitor. that being said, bearing in mind that my whole life i've been using laptops with screens ranging from 17" to 14" i have no doubt that a 24 inch screen will probably feel massive in comparison and i can imagine the extra size will probably itself make a great difference in comfort. perhaps if one day in the future i find myself yearning for more i'll look at upgrading to 1440p, but at the moment 1080p should definitely be sufficient for my needs. even if my components are overkill for now, i'm a sucker for very high framerates lol and i have little doubt that they'll last me for years to come!

since my last post i can report that i ended up going for original build i posted with some differences in specs - namely i upgraded the power supply and the motherboard to higher-quality components and also for better connectivity. im not gonna lie, i am super excited! and seeing availability become out of stock on the evening of the same day i purchased it definitely makes me realise it was the right decision since im not too sure i want to wait much longer haha. just wanted to say to everyone again, thank you very much for the help and it's really appreciated! im quite excited also to get the new generation of amd gpus since i've heard great stuff about them. anyway, ill stop talking too much! but thanks again everyone

Absolutely brilliant, very happy for you. Bear in mind anything you buy from Overclockers will work. What anyone has suggest will give the extra 5% etc its not like it wont work, also some components may perform better than visible testing. Enjoy thoroughly please.