New Custom PC Advice

Wreckreation

Wreckreation

Wreckreation

Associate
Joined
29 Nov 2019
Posts
41
Heya folks, was looking at getting a custom PC from OCUK and wanted some advice.

Budget is ideally around £2100 with a monitor, and I'm looking into the ASUS VG27AQ, which is at £484.99 at the moment. Mostly for gaming at 1440p, some Photoshop and some 3D animation on the side, just on a hobbyist level.

I'm finding a bit odd that if I want to get the AMD build they only do liquid/AIOs for it, I'd personally prefer an air-cooled build, but hey ho.

It kinda sucks that I'm stuck into choosing an 850W PSU, as I'm pretty sure a 550W PSU would be enough for my build. Little things that could've potentially dropped the price down further.

I also wish that I could get a B450 motherboard as well as I won't be making much use of the X570 boards, although I guess that does go towards a bit of "futureproofing", but they do add to the price a bit.

Lian-Li PC-O11 Dynamic Midi-Tower - Black Window
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core 4.2GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - MPK
Gigabyte X570 GAMING X (AMD AM4) DDR4 X570 Chipset ATX Motherboard
NZXT Kraken X52 AIO Water Cooling Unit - 240mm
Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz
Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER Gaming OC 3X 8192MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card
WD Black 1TB SN750 M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0C)
Seagate BarraCuda 2TB 7200RPM 256MB Cache HDD - *System Stock*
Power SupplyCorsair RMx Series RMx850 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020180-UK)
Current total with deals - £1,569.82

I'm needing advice on the motherboard, what's the best budget one to get? The ASUS TUF is what I would've gone for however it's not in stock at the moment.

Also, with regards to the case, IIRC that specific case doesn't come with any fans. Will that be something I'll have to buy separately, or is that something OCUK can do for me?

Oh and as a side note, I'm pretty set on the RTX 2070 Super, so that's something I'm not willing to change.

Would appreciate any help/suggestions!
 
Hi welcome to the forums :)

You can ask them to build you a system to your own spec if you don't want to build it yourself. You would just need to post your basket in the customer services section (Pre build) and take it from there. That way you are not limited in choice.


So for example:



My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,883.63 (includes shipping: £20.82)




You are correct regarding the case. You would need to add fans into the cost as it doesn't come with any. It can fit 9 x 120mm fans in total but you might not need that many. Other option would be to go with a different case that has some fans pre-installed.

The Gigabyte X570 board is a solid option. You could go with something like an MSI B450 Tomahawk MAX for £100 or so less. Not sure if you want RGB so just a note that the Gigabyte gpu wouldn't sync with the MSI board as they have their own software (Gigabyte RGB Fusion, MSI Mystic Light etc).

Not a lot of choice for air coolers in the Lian-Li as you are limited to 155mm. The Cryorig H7 should fit ok though.

Cheaper monitor, although out of stock at the moment. It has been in stock quite recently though.

Went with the 3700X but if you are happy with the 6 core then that is another saving. The 3600X (And 3700X) both qualify for a free game, and 3 months of xbox game pass for pc so bear that in mind. See link below.

https://www.amd.com/en/gaming/equipped-to-win


Pre Sales section: https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/forums/pre-sales-queries.117/
​
 
I had no idea I could have them build my own spec that wasn’t in a configurator. That makes this all much more fun! My main question is though - the configurators have a 3 year warranty included with it. Does the same apply to this?

Thanks for the suggestions!

I was actually hoping to get an LG GL850 or the GL83A but they just seem to not want to sell it in this country. I did consider the AD27QD for awhile but I really like the look of the TUF, that and my desk is really small and the stand for the ASUS fits my desk better lol, same with the LGs. I’ve got a small flat so sadly that’s bottlenecked my monitor options.

I guess I’ve got a better choice of cases now. I do really like the O11 dynamic but part of me really wants to wait for the Lancool II to release, sadly its not worth waiting with the savings I’ll get by buying before the Black Friday deals end. Maybe I should go worth the 011 air instead, although I heard the dust filters in it block some airflow. Plus the dynamic just looks a lot nicer.

With regards to cooling, do you think the Cryorig H7 would be sufficient for cooling? I’d probably get at least 3 or 4 fans for the case as well, and maybe add them in later on if I feel it needs it.
I know AIO’s have come a long way, however I’m still weary to go with them as I feel like if something should go wrong the risks/damage would be worse than if a fan breaks. Or am I being too paranoid about it?

As for the motherboard, if it was your money, would you go for an X570, or save and get a B450 instead? Besides being able to get a Gen 4 m2 SSD I’m not sure there’s a lot else I could get out of it.

On a side note, I’ve always used Intel before, and was eyeing a 9700k build. Would you say that the R7s are just superior now? I know the 9700k tends to top the 3700x in gaming in pretty much all the tests I’ve seen, but the gains are marginal and may not be that cost effective.

thanks for the input!
 
Last edited:
Yes you will still get a system warranty as long as you are buying all the bits from ocuk. And of course the individual parts will have their own warranty as well. The Super Flower psu for example has a 7 year warranty, so even after the ocuk warranty expires you will still have the manufacturers warranty left.

The Asus TUF monitor gets good reviews so no issues there if you prefer that one.

The PC-O11 Air does indeed have a restrictive front air filter. I know when Gamers Nexus did the review they saw a big difference in temps with it removed. On the plus side the O11 Air does come with 3 fans and it is cheaper as well.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £101.69 (includes shipping: £11.70)
​


The Cryorig H7 is a good budget cooler. Also the 3700X doesn't really overclock so you just let the cpu boost on it's own. It will keep it in check though. Even the stock cooler can handle it although it would be a bit louder. There are water coolers that have 5 year warranties (Corsair are one) and if it did leak and damage anything then they should cover the cost. Pretty sure that is Corsair's stance on it. The OCUK Guy's might be able to confirm that.

Hard to say on the board. The B450 Tomahawk MAX or B450 Gaming Pro Carbon will both easily handle the 3700X. If you want to save the money then the Gaming Pro Carbon is the best of the MSI B450 boards. You also get onboard wifi with it which is handy to have. The Gigabyte board does have a stronger VRM though so it would easily cope with a 3900X or 3950X. Not really something you need for gaming though.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £130.49 (includes shipping: £10.50)
​


There is probably little difference in fps between a 3700X and 9700K at 1440p with a 2070 Super. You might see more of a gap with a 2080 ti. Unless you need Intel for other things that can use the onboard gpu i.e Video editing then Ryzen makes more sense. Also there is little upgrade with Intel as you only have the 9900K. With Ryzen you still have the 4000 series to come.
 
Awesome, thanks for the info! I'm gonna have and make some pretty quick decisions and have this ordered by tomorrow hopefully.

Yeah I'm gonna decide last minute if I go with the Dynamic or the Air. I really prefer the look of the Dynamic, but the Air is cheaper and any little saving helps. If I do go with the Dynamic, what kind of fans should I go for? Is that something I should probably ask OCUK about when I put my order in? I don't really know much about fan configurations so I wouldn't know what the best way to do it would be.

Going with the Cryorig as well, I'm not one for overclocking anyway. Is there a slightly better cooler? Like, what's the next step up for an air cooler? I don't mind spending a little more in this department for a better performing and hopefully quieter cooler. Would the H7 Ultra be a decent upgrade? Also, would it still need the same AM4 bracket?

Yeah I wanted to get the Carbon, too bad it's out of stock. I've decided to go with the Tomahawk, won't be needing an X570 and I save quite a bit by going with a B450 board.

Edit: Just realized the Tomahawk only has 1 M.2 slot and I'm wanting to have 2 as I'd like to upgrade to a 2nd 1TB M.2 slot sometime next year, so I think I'll be going with the B450 Aorus Elite instead. And although I actually don't (didn't) care about RGB I guess that at least gives me the option to now that my GPU and mobo match :p
 
Last edited:
With the fans it depends if you want to fill every fan mount (9) or if you are happy to go with less. I guess it depends on your OCD levels :D You could probably just go with 3 intake and 3 exhaust and see how it is. If you check out the Gamers Nexus review that they did I think they tested the different fan configurations.

As for fan choice that depends on what you want to spend. You can go expensive like Noctua or BeQuiet etc or cheaper like Arctic Cooling. You can ask the ocuk guys for advice though on that.

I would stick with the standard H7 if it was me. Not sure the Ultra is worth the extra £20 or so for a tiny bit of extra cooling performance (140W TDP vs 160W TDP).

You would be best avoiding Gigabyte B450 boards. The VRM's are a bit weak sauce. Maybe ask when the Gaming Pro Carbon is due back in stock.
 
Yeah I just watched a video from Gamers Nexus about the best AMD motherboards.. The Gigabyte B450 made it on just purely for it's features. As you mentioned the VRM's are hot garbage however it did have 2 m2 slots which I wanted, and as long as overclocking isn't being considered (it isn't) it's not a bad board otherwise. I'll ask OCUK when I send it to them, but I think I'll go with both the Gigabyte GPU and mobo. May consider the 570 Gigabyte mobo too actually now, at least it's better and gives some room for the future, if ever. But an extra £100 when I still need some fans is a lot to add at this point.

Thanks for the point about the cooler, I'll stick to the cheaper one.
 
I didn't realise that their customer service is closed on Sundays - I'm a bit worried about missing out on the Black Friday deals if it all ends on Monday. I don't finish work til late at night after their opening hours, and can I assume I'll lose out on these prices if I don't confirm my order before the end of the day on Monday? I guess I'll just have to lay out my concerns and hope for the best.
 
So, here's what my final spec is looking like, if all goes well, save for the case fans. I took your advice anyway and went the MSI way, the Tomahawk would still be the better motherboard even if I only get 1 M.2 slot, and I'm asking them if they know when they'll get more stock for the Carbon.

At the moment I'm still sticking with the 011 Dynamic, as it's just so nice, however depending on how it all goes I may go with the Air just to drop the price a bit more.

At the last second I decided to take out the soundcard I added - I know majority of people say they're not really worth it and onboard audio is fine, however I can actually tell the difference as I've always had dedicated sound cards, and I really would prefer to have one. Space is limited for me as well so an internal soundcard would have been the way to go over getting an external solution, however in trying to keep the price down it's something I can always add down the line if I was so inclined.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,870.67 (includes shipping: £20.82)

Not too bad overall, don't know how much surcharge they'll potentially add for the building costs, hopefully it won't go over £2k but we'll see. Warranties and just getting everything from the same place is worth it. Hope I make it with the deals intact.:eek:

Thanks very much Lee for all your help and suggestions!​
 
Last edited:
Hmm so slight annoyance, now the B450 Tomahawk has gone out of stock as well. As they don't really know when they'll be getting more stock of either, my only choice now would be to get the Gigabyte B450 Aorus Elite, or avoid that upgrade instead to an X570 board instdead. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...4-x570-chipset-atx-motherboard-mb-57w-gi.html

It does hike the price up just over £100 -- Do you think that's worth the price jump? Or is the Gigabyte B450 board something I can get away with? I'm fairly happy to spend the money if it really is a better buy, but if I can keep the price down at this point, that would be better. As I'm not going to be overclocking, I'm hoping the 450 would be enough, to keep the totals under my £2000 budget.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom