New PC build - request for compatibility and bottleneck check

MNo05 · 28 May 2025 at 22:14

Hi everyone,

I'm a PC building novice, so I'd like to ask for your help. I want to build my first PC, but I'm worried about the compatibility of components and having bottlenecks by ordering unequal parts. Can you please review my shoping list at the bottom and advice if all is fine or suggest what to change?

Purchase timeframe - I'd like to order all components either this or next week unless there’s a reason to wait.

Exact Overall Budget - My budget is somewhere between £2k-£3k, of course rather the bottom of the range, but can be higher if justified.

What exactly is the build for in terms of use? - The PC is to be used for gamining with my Gigabyte M34WQ monitor at 1440p resolution and some streaming as well. It will also be used as a workstation for large databases and I also want to use it for movie editing and animation.

Preferences - I'm pretty set on team Blue and Green, so Intel and Nvidia. I also prefer to have as many parts as possible from the same brand, as I feel (perhaps irrationally) that they will communicate and complement each other better. That is why I have chosen both GPU and Mobo from Gigabyte as I also have Gigabyte monitor and why most of the rest is Corsair.

What are the exact specifications of your current hardware? - My current personal PC is a more then 10 years old laptop Lenovo Z50, so I do not plan to reuse any of its components. That's why I want to build my new PC desktop from all new and maybe slightly more higher-end parts as I don't intend doing upgrades every (other) year.

Do you require peripherals? - No, I have all the peripherals I'm looking for right now.

Do you have any special needs or requirements? - No, I don't think I have any.

Here is the list of components I've selected:

Would you mind reviewing this and share your thoughts?

Thank you.

hornetstinger · 28 May 2025 at 22:19

The AMD X3D CPU's are better for gaming, that's a fact.
You don't need to match brands, also from what I read Gigabyte use lousy fans in their GPU's.
Checkout 9070XT as well, it fairs well against the 5070ti and is a couple of hundred quid less, although the Nvidia are better for video encoding.

tamzzy · 28 May 2025 at 22:28

MNo05 said:
I'm pretty set on team Blue and Green, so Intel and Nvidia

Any particular reason for this?

Tetras · 28 May 2025 at 22:29

MNo05 said:
Preferences - I'm pretty set on team Blue and Green, so Intel and Nvidia.

MNo05 said:
Would you mind reviewing this and share your thoughts?

If you prefer Intel, I would strongly recommend that you switch to a 265K, which is decently priced at the moment.

We still don't know if the BIOS updates have fixed the 13th-14th gen issues and there are some users who have had to swap CPUs even though they were running the penultimate fixes. It is also much easier to cool than a 14900K running at full pelt.

tamzzy · 28 May 2025 at 22:35

Tetras said:
If you prefer Intel, I would strongly recommend that you switch to a 265K, which is decently priced at the moment.

intel is the wrong choice for anyone except for absolute fanboys
also if OP is absolutely intent on brand-matching everything we might be on to a loser here :cry:

for OP's budget and aiming for a 14900k, the only intel alternative is the 285k
the ryzen 9950x3d is much better for games and trades blows with the 14900k/285k for productivity tasks
the 9950x3d is the obvious choice for anyone but intel fanboys

need to do a bit of extrapolation, but the data is there:

Intel Core Ultra 200S Content Creation Review

We examine the performance of Intel's new Core Ultra 200S series desktop processors in content creation applications.

www.pugetsystems.com

AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and 9900X3D Content Creation Review

AMD's 9950X3D and 9900X3D are the best CPUs in the world for gaming. But does that come at the cost of content creation performance?

www.pugetsystems.com

Tetras · 28 May 2025 at 22:45

tamzzy said:
for OP's budget and aiming for a 14900k, the only intel alternative is the 285k

For the Intel side, the reason I say the 265K is because of the price. The 285K only has 4 extra cores and they want £200+ for it. I'd have to be in mega time-is-money situation to buy one instead.

I'd accept the step down in performance from the 14900K because of the better efficiency, it is way easier to cool/manage and less likely to be broken.

tamzzy · 28 May 2025 at 22:48

Tetras said:
The 285K only has 4 extra cores and they want £200+ for it.

that is true.

for a £2-3k budget for OP, this is what i'd get:
My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D Sixteen Core 5.70GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-04501) = £699.95
1 x Gigabyte B850 Aorus Elite WIFI7 (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-GIG-03856) = £219.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance RGB XMP 96GB (2X48GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C40 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRS-05111) = £209.99
1 x Phanteks AMP GH 1200W 80 Plus Platinum ATX 3.1 PCIe 5.1 Fully Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-04741) = £159.95
1 x Crucial T500 4TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-02889) = £239.99
1 x Zotac GeForce RTX 5080 Solid Core 16GB GDDR7 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-ZTC-04544) = £999.95
1 x Thermalright Aqua Elite 360 Black ARGB V3 All In One CPU Cooler (SKU: COO-TLR-03256) = £49.99
1 x Phanteks XT View ATX Case Tempered Glass Windows, Black (SKU: CAS-PHK-01445) = £84.95

Total: £2,664.76 (includes delivery: £0.00)

9950x3d will run rings around the 14900k
96gb ram for server/database goodness + rgb bling-bling
1.2kw platinum psu
cheaper ssd and just as good as the 850x
5080 > 5070ti (obvs)
cheaper cooler and just as good, with rgb bling bling
bling-bling case to add as a cherry on top

(i've matched the case and the psu, and the mobo to the existing monitor...i hope that satisfies OP's OCD :cry:

)

why the rest are not matched:
1) not matching the ram to the ssd - the crucial version of the ram is (a) more expensive, (b) slower timings, (c) no rgb
2) not matching the aio to the case/psu - the phanteks aio aren't great. thermalright is (a) cheaper, (b) better performance
3) not matching the 5080 - (a) heck not paying an extra £170/200 just for the brand name lol, (b) zotac have longer warranties - 5 years - if you register the card within the first 28 days of purchase

Gray2233 · 28 May 2025 at 22:49

For the 3K mark you're eking into Nvidia 5090 territory without an X3D chip or 5080 with so it's a complicated budget to work with, at least with a primarily gaming focus. Database/workstation I'd go for a 9950X3D with a 5080 every day of the week.

Intel is a very, very bad purchase decision right now.

The Core series is all over the place in terms of performance, and the prior two generations have degradation issues that we've zero real evidence of resolution on.

Tetras · 28 May 2025 at 23:29

Gray2233 said:
The Core series is all over the place in terms of performance

Funnily enough, they seem more like a tinkerers option right now, since with tuning and good part choice you can get more out of them than other CPUs, but if the platform will ever reach maturity? Seems unlikely, so could be forever a 1st gen testbed for Intel's new tech.

I'd be comfortable with buying one for the OP's usage, especially to get away from the suspect 14900K, but can't argue with a 9950X3D for a top-end mixed use build.

Gray2233 · 28 May 2025 at 23:33

Tetras said:
Funnily enough, they seem more like a tinkerers option right now, since with tuning and good part choice you can get more out of them than other CPUs, but if the platform will ever reach maturity? Seems unlikely, so could be forever a 1st gen testbed for Intel's new tech.

I'd be comfortable with buying one for the OP's usage, especially to get away from the suspect 14900K, but can't argue with a 9950X3D for a top-end mixed use build.

If I liked to faff I might be interested for sure, I really enjoyed that sort of thing back in the day but I just can't be bothered anymore for the most part. :cry:

I'd feel happier going with a Core Ultra for sure.

tamzzy · 28 May 2025 at 23:35

Gray2233 said:
I really enjoyed that sort of thing back in the day but I just can't be bothered anymore for the most part.

showing your age now, eh?

Gray2233 · 28 May 2025 at 23:40

tamzzy said:
showing your age now, eh?

I'm eyeballing a bright red convertible with rear wheel drive as we speak.

Quartz · 28 May 2025 at 23:44

MNo05 said:
It will also be used as a workstation for large databases and I also want to use it for movie editing and animation.

Tell us more about these databases and how much video stuff you will do. Databases are an area where NVME drives can shine but you need to size them appropriately and a dedicated drive might be best.

tamzzy · 28 May 2025 at 23:44

Gray2233 said:
I'm eyeballing a bright red convertible with rear wheel drive as we speak.

username and hair colour matches

Quartz · 28 May 2025 at 23:48

And don’t get the SFF video card as it will be noisier than the full size one.