I could really use some upgrade advice.

[Boleyn]

Hello.

My main game is World of Warcraft which is just about to release a new expansion and my PC, that was fine pre expansion is struggling a little now (I usually play on full settings in 4K but I have to turn the graphic settings down now) so I've decided to upgrade.

Although I don't have a budget as such, I don't really want to spend anymore than £1400 but it is flexible.

I would like to get a new Motherboard, CPU and 64GB Ram*, I'd also would really like to get a new GPU (but it can wait), I currently have a RTX 2070* and my PSU is 1200w.

*I also play Forza Horizon 5, Cities skylines, Microsoft Flight Simulator and Skyrim with as many mods as my system will allow (very few currently but I want more) and use a Quest 3 for PCVR and am partial to having many, many tabs open in Firefox, I've hit 95% Ram usage before, I have 32GB DDR4 and my GPU doesn't like these games much either. I also plan when my system is upgraded to play Baldur's gate 3 and Starfield.

Brand wise, I don't mind if it's Intel, AMD or Nvidia. Overall I just want the best I can get for the money.

I've done a fair bit of research myself and have an idea of what to buy I'm just asking here first in case anything I've come up with is incompatible with each other, e.g. I buy the wrong type of ram for my new motherboard e.t.c.

Thank you all for looking.

 

[Tetras]

Although I don't have a budget as such, I don't really want to spend anymore than £1400 but it is flexible.

I would like to get a new Motherboard, CPU and 64GB Ram*, I'd also would really like to get a new GPU (but it can wait)

What case and CPU cooler do you have now? (assuming you want to keep them)

Do you need any new storage devices?

 

[Boleyn]

The case is a great big EVGA thing, I think it's called an DG-87? cooler I'm not sure but I can get another one.

I'm fine for storage devices right now.

Thank you.

 

[Gray2233]

What is your current system exactly?

I ask because WoW loves X3D cache and I believe the same is true of Skylines, to a degree where it's not uncommon for the 5700X3D to outperform current gen Intel as an example. Said chip is around the £200 mark and would be an easy drop in if you're running an AM4 setup, you'd have a lot left over for a new GPU that way and 4K isn't kind on the graphics card. Usually speaking 4K is GPU dependent but you're in the odd boat of running very CPU intensive games as well.

Switching to 64gb would be easy enough too.

 

[Boleyn]

What is your current system exactly?

I ask because WoW loves X3D cache and I believe the same is true of Skylines, to a degree where it's not uncommon for the 5700X3D to outperform current gen Intel as an example. Said chip is around the £200 mark and would be an easy drop in if you're running an AM4 setup, you'd have a lot left over for a new GPU that way and 4K isn't kind on the graphics card. Usually speaking 4K is GPU dependent but you're in the odd boat of running very CPU intensive games as well.

Switching to 64gb would be easy enough too.

i5-11400F, MSI B560 Motherboard (Not sure what model), RTX 2070 & 32GB DDR 4.

 

[Gray2233]

Best I can do for a ballpark build:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £329.99
• 1 x AMD - Space Marine & Unknown 9 Awakening Games Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-02908) = £0.00
• 1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Black CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02724) = £29.99
• 1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £59.98
• 1 x Antec CX500M RGB M-ATX Mini Tower - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-02734) = £59.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95
• 1 x Kingston FURY Beast 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KF556C40BBK2-64) (SKU: MY-29W-KS) = £158.99
• 1 x MSI Pro B650M-A WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-378-MS) = £159.99
• 1 x Powercolor Radeon RX 7900 XT HellHound 20GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-1AR-PC) = £629.99
• 1 x AMD Radeon - Space Marine & Unknown 9 Awakening Games Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-02939) = £0.00

Total: £1,513.87 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

X3D isn't fussed about RAM speed so I went with the cheapest 64gb set, for your usage I wouldn't go below a 7900XT personally or if you have a Nvidia preference the 4070ti Super (not the regular), but they're a good chunk more expensive.

It's M-ATX as that's my preference, you could spec a similar ATX build if necessary for the same sort of price.

 

[Tetras]

The case is a great big EVGA thing, I think it's called an DG-87? cooler I'm not sure but I can get another one.

I'm fine for storage devices right now.

Thank you.

I would like to get a new Motherboard, CPU and 64GB Ram*, I'd also would really like to get a new GPU (but it can wait), I currently have a RTX 2070* and my PSU is 1200w.

This assumes you re-use case, PSU and storage.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £329.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen - Space Marine & Unknown 9 Awakening Games Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-02908) = £0.00
• 1 x Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6K0-AS) = £169.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance EXPO 64GB (2X32GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK64GX5M2B5600Z40) (SKU: MY-4DL-CS) = £169.99
• 1 x MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER Ventus 2X OC 16GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics (SKU: GRA-MSI-01575) = £779.99
• 1 x NVIDIA - Black Myth: Wukong Standard Edition Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-NVI-02698) = £0.00

• 1 x Arctic Freezer 36 120m Black CPU Cooler - 2x 120mm (SKU: COO-ARC-02420) = £24.95

Total: £1,474.91 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

This is a complete build:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £329.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen - Space Marine & Unknown 9 Awakening Games Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-02908) = £0.00
• 1 x MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-375-MS) = £179.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance 64GB (2X32GB) DDR5 PC5-41600C40 5200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK64GX5M2B5200C40 (SKU: MY-4DC-CS) = £149.99
• 1 x MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ventus 2X E OC 12GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-MSI-02561) = £469.99
• 1 x NVIDIA - Black Myth: Wukong Standard Edition Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-NVI-02698) = £0.00
• 1 x WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58G-WD) = £109.99
• 1 x Phanteks XT Pro Ultra ATX Case Tempered Glass Window, Black (SKU: CAS-PHK-01443) = £74.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95
  

• 1 x Arctic Freezer 36 A-RGB 120m Black CPU Cooler - 2x 120mm (SKU: COO-ARC-02418) = £29.98

Total: £1,429.87 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

 

[Boleyn]

Best I can do for a ballpark build:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £329.99
• 1 x AMD - Space Marine & Unknown 9 Awakening Games Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-02908) = £0.00
• 1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Black CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02724) = £29.99
• 1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £59.98
• 1 x Antec CX500M RGB M-ATX Mini Tower - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-02734) = £59.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95
• 1 x Kingston FURY Beast 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KF556C40BBK2-64) (SKU: MY-29W-KS) = £158.99
• 1 x MSI Pro B650M-A WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-378-MS) = £159.99
• 1 x Powercolor Radeon RX 7900 XT HellHound 20GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-1AR-PC) = £629.99
• 1 x AMD Radeon - Space Marine & Unknown 9 Awakening Games Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-02939) = £0.00

Total: £1,513.87 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

X3D isn't fussed about RAM speed so I went with the cheapest 64gb set, for your usage I wouldn't go below a 7900XT personally or if you have a Nvidia preference the 4070ti Super (not the regular), but they're a good chunk more expensive.

It's M-ATX as that's my preference, you could spec a similar ATX build if necessary for the same sort of price.

Thank you so much.

Quite a bit of that basket I don't need, like the case, PSU and SSD.

As mentioned in my original post I did have an idea of what I wanted and the 7800X3D was the chip I was looking at.

Ram wise I was looking at the Corsair Vengeance EXPO 64GB (2X32GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel CAS 30-36-36-76, would that work with the motherboard you suggested? I mean is there any reason that the ram I'm looking at wouldn't work with a particular motherboard or will it fit all DDR5 boards?

And you would recommend Radeon over Nvidia? I don't mind which I get but I have been looking at a few videos on DLSS and FSR and most people seem to think DLSS is better though to my eyes I can't tell much difference and although FSR 2 or 3 have not been updated for World of Warcraft they did use FSR 1 for Shadowlands I believe.

Thank you so much for all your help.

 

[Boleyn]

This assumes you re-use case, PSU and storage.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £329.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen - Space Marine & Unknown 9 Awakening Games Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-02908) = £0.00
• 1 x Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6K0-AS) = £169.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance EXPO 64GB (2X32GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK64GX5M2B5600Z40) (SKU: MY-4DL-CS) = £169.99
• 1 x MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER Ventus 2X OC 16GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics (SKU: GRA-MSI-01575) = £779.99
• 1 x NVIDIA - Black Myth: Wukong Standard Edition Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-NVI-02698) = £0.00
• 1 x Arctic Freezer 36 120m Black CPU Cooler - 2x 120mm (SKU: COO-ARC-02420) = £24.95

Total: £1,474.91 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

This is a complete build:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £329.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen - Space Marine & Unknown 9 Awakening Games Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-02908) = £0.00
• 1 x MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-375-MS) = £179.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance 64GB (2X32GB) DDR5 PC5-41600C40 5200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK64GX5M2B5200C40 (SKU: MY-4DC-CS) = £149.99
• 1 x MSI GeForce RTX 4070 Ventus 2X E OC 12GB GDDR6X PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-MSI-02561) = £469.99
• 1 x NVIDIA - Black Myth: Wukong Standard Edition Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-NVI-02698) = £0.00
• 1 x WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58G-WD) = £109.99
• 1 x Phanteks XT Pro Ultra ATX Case Tempered Glass Window, Black (SKU: CAS-PHK-01443) = £74.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95
• 1 x Arctic Freezer 36 A-RGB 120m Black CPU Cooler - 2x 120mm (SKU: COO-ARC-02418) = £29.98

Total: £1,429.87 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

Wonderful, Thank you.

So that's two votes for the 7800X3D and I had that on my list as well, so I'll get that.

I will reuse the case, PSU and storage.

The Ram I was looking at is the one you suggested but the 6000MHz EXPO version - https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...00c30-6000mhz-dual-channel-mem-crs-02841.html will this memory or the one you suggested fit all DDR5 motherboards?

Lastly I guess it's either the RTX 4070S TI vs the RX7900XT.

Thank you.

 

[Gray2233]

Just make sure it's the Ti Super variant if you go for the 4070, I'd look at some reviews for your main games and decide on which is better for your usage.

The 3D cache on the 7800 usually works incredibly well with some games, sims, mmo's, colony management/rts type titles. Normally at 4K you don't need to worry about the CPU too much, but for your use case I'd argue the 7800X3D is a must or I'd have put more emphasis on the GPU and went for a cheaper processor.

 

[Tetras]

The Ram I was looking at is the one you suggested but the 6000MHz EXPO version - will this memory or the one you suggested fit all DDR5 motherboards?

Yeah, it'll work, but not worth paying the difference (£50?), in my opinion. Since as Gray2233 said above, the X3D isn't that bothered about RAM speed.

Lastly I guess it's either the RTX 4070S TI vs the RX7900XT.

From what I'm aware of, nvidia is usually better for VR, but since I don't use it you might want to investigate.

 

[Boleyn]

Thank you both for all your help.

One last question if you don't mind, the 7800X3D being an AM5 chip, there seems to be three types of motherboards available for it, the B650 you both suggested along with the A620 and the X670. Is there any major differences between the three? Some of the X670's are comparable in price to the B650's.

Thank you again.

 

[Gray2233]

Thank you both for all your help.

One last question if you don't mind, the 7800X3D being an AM5 chip, there seems to be three types of motherboards available for it, the B650 you both suggested along with the A620 and the X670. Is there any major differences between the three? Some of the X670's are comparable in price to the B650's.

Thank you again.

They're different tiers, as a rough breakdown:

A620 - The budget line, they might have limitations in many areas but more importantly relating to VRM and voltage in general. I wouldn't buy one unless making an office PC as honestly you don't really save a whole lot.
B650 - Supposed to be mid range, but often as good if not better than X670's as the features offered by X670's are rarely important to most users.
X670 - Supposed to be high end, see above.

Unless you really, very specifically need something offered by X670 there's frankly no point, but I would be very wary of A620 boards.

 

[Boleyn]

Thank you, B650 it is.

Sorry but may I ask, is this a good card? https://www.overclockers.co.uk/zota...y-black-16gb-graphics-card-gra-ztc-01497.html

 

[Gray2233]

Thank you, B650 it is.

Sorry but may I ask, is this a good card? https://www.overclockers.co.uk/zota...y-black-16gb-graphics-card-gra-ztc-01497.html

I own a Zotac 4070 and its been spot on, I know people with the one you've linked and they're happy with it.

Just remember to register it within 30 days for the full five year warranty.

 

[Boleyn]

Amazing, Thank you so much.

 

[Tetras]

Is there any major differences between the three? Some of the X670's are comparable in price to the B650's.

The main difference between the boards is the PCI-E version (B650E & X670E is PCI-E 5.0 graphics) and the number of M.2 slots, A620 usually has 2, B650 has 2 or 3 (4 in rare cases) and X670 has 3 or 4.

There's also a difference (depends on the board you're looking at) in the number of USB ports (including their speed and type, e.g. USB Type-C), the speed of the LAN and the sound. That's part of how B650 boards can be more expensive, if they're very well equipped.

The TUF B650-Plus is a good middle ground board, it has a decent enough VRM, PCI-E 4.0 graphics, 3x M.2 slots (1 is PCI-E 5.0) and plenty of USB ports (including 2x Type-C).

 

[Boleyn]

Wonderful, Thank you.

 

[Boleyn]

I'm considering delaying the GPU for a month and getting the 7950X3D over the 7800X3D.

I've looked at a gazillion compare sites between the two and some say it's marginal in favour of the 7950 and others go as far as to describe the 7950 as twice as good as the 7800.

Do you think it's wise to get the 7950X3D and delay the GPU a month or stay with the 7800X3D or perhaps there is a better CPU I'm not considering?

Thank you.

 

[Tetras]

I'm considering delaying the GPU for a month and getting the 7950X3D over the 7800X3D.

I've looked at a gazillion compare sites between the two and some say it's marginal in favour of the 7950 and others go as far as to describe the 7950 as twice as good as the 7800.

Do you think it's wise to get the 7950X3D and delay the GPU a month or stay with the 7800X3D or perhaps there is a better CPU I'm not considering?

Thank you.

The 7950X3D is potentially twice as good if you do fully multithreaded work because you have 16 cores instead of 8, but not for games it is not needed and adds unnecessary complications.