New PC Build - Update

[Tiny Clanger]

I posted a question back in August about a PC upgrade - which turned out to be a brand new build as my existing PC is so outdated. MissChief kindly specc'd me a build which would allow 60 fps performance at 1440p for games like Starfield. However, I now have a new monitor (Dell S3222DGM) so I would like to be able to push a bit beyond 60 fps. Having looked at other recommended builds on the forum, and with a budget of £1,500 - can I do better than this?
My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £379.99
• 1 x AMD - Avatar Ryzen Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-01185) = £0.00
• 1 x Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6K0-AS) = £149.99
• 1 x DeepCool AK500 CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: HS-01D-DC) = £49.99
• 1 x TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G6000HC38ADC01) (SKU: MY-0B2-TG) = £119.99
• 1 x SAPPHIRE PULSE AMD Radeon™ RX 7800 XT Gaming Graphics Card with 16GB GDDR6, AMD RDNA™ 3 architecture (SKU: GRA-SPR-00764) = £475.00
• 1 x AMD - Avatar Radeon Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-01186) = £0.00
• 1 x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 3D NAND NVMe Solid State Drive with Heatsink (SKU: HD-07N-CR) = £119.98
• 1 x Seasonic Focus GX-750 750W 80+ Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-06U-SS) = £119.99
• 1 x Lian Li Lancool 216 Mid-tower PC case - Black (SKU: CA-7BG-LL) = £89.99

Total: £1,504.92 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

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Thanks as always in advance to the good people of OCUK

 

[Tiny Clanger]

Blimey - thank you both for such quick replies!

For 1440p am I better prioritising CPU or GPU - or will that vary from game to game?

Also - it’s been years since I last built a pc - have things changed dramatically?

 

[Tiny Clanger]

In the AMD context, owing to be able to upgrade for three generations, the MB is pretty important so as to allow you to bung in a new 9XXX series CPU in a couple years time. I am uncertain you will have that flexibility with the ASUS boards as they struggle on a hardware level.

So - just to check - the MSI motherboard you mention above will be more likely to accept an upgraded CPU in a couple of years than the ASUS? If so - that makes a lot of sense to me - I'm assuming that the build Tetras suggested with the upgraded GPU will (in the fullness of time) require a CPU upgrade before it needs a GPU upgrade - and not having to replace the motherboard would make life a lot easier (and cheaper!).

The revised build would look something like this then:
My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x DeepCool AK500 CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: HS-01D-DC) = £49.99
• 1 x AMD - Avatar Radeon Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-01186) = £0.00
• 1 x MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-375-MS) = £199.99
• 1 x Gigabyte UD850GM PG5 850W 80 PLUS Gold Modular ATX Power Supply (SKU: CA-03K-GI) = £109.98
• 1 x Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XT Pulse 20GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-3A7-SP) = £740.00
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £218.98
• 1 x TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G5600HC40BDC01) (SKU: MY-0B3-TG) = £99.95
• 1 x Crucial P5 Plus 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 3D NAND NVMe Solid State Drive (SKU: HD-075-CR) = £114.95

Total: £1,533.84 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

Would I need any additional fans for the case or would it be good to go as is?

 

[Tiny Clanger]

Blast - missed out the case in the post above so I've added another £100 to the cost it seems...

 

[Tiny Clanger]

@Tetras and @Noughtboy - thank you both so much for your help and advice - I really do appreciate it!

Of course - I'm now thinking "Well, if I pushed the budget a bit more I could get the 7800X3D which would come with another Avatar bundle which I could sell so it wouldn't be that much more..." But I suppose that's the curse of PC building - you can always spend 'just that bit more' - and I imagine for my use case (1440p at up to 144Hz) then the 7600 will be sufficient...?

 

[Tiny Clanger]

So .... mulled over this last night - and got to this - a little over-budget but I have two game codes to get rid of and I expect I can get a few pounds for some of my old PC parts (CEX will pay £50 for my old Vega 56 for example). And the 7800X3D has come down in price...

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 - Avatar Ryzen Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-01185) = £0.00
• 1 x MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-375-MS) = £199.99
• 1 x Corsair RMx Series RM850x 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (CP-9020200-UK) (SKU: CA-267-CS) = £109.99
• 1 x Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XT Pulse 20GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-3A7-SP) = £739.99
• 1 x AMD - Avatar Radeon Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-01186) = £0.00
• 1 x TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G6000HC38ADC01) (SKU: MY-0B2-TG) = £119.99
• 1 x Phanteks Eclipse G300A Mid-Tower High Airflow PC Case - Black (SKU: CA-0C0-PT) = £64.99
• 1 x Arctic P12 PWM MAX Black Fan - 120mm (SKU: FG-05E-AR) = £8.00
• 1 x MSI SPATIUM M480 Pro 2TB SSD PCIe 4.0 NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-MSI-00815) = £114.94

Total: £1,687.88 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

And then Thermalright Phantom Spirit PS120 SE from 'somewhere else'.

Does this give me a PC which has some degree of future proofing for the next few years - with the capability to upgrade elements over time? With the upgraded CPU would the memory still be a good fit?

 

[Tiny Clanger]

@Tetras - brilliant - I can't thank you enough for your help - will go and order the bits now.

One thing I forgot - thermal paste - what would you recommend? The cooler seems to come with some thermal paste - would that be adequate?

 

[Tiny Clanger]

Fantastic - all ordered

Thank you everyone who replied to this thread for all your guidance and ideas

 

[Tiny Clanger]

Enjoy the build and if you have any problems building, drop a line.

Thanks for the offer - I plan to lock myself away next weekend and attempt the build - currently watching youTube 'How to Build a PC' in preparation! But - doubtlessly there will be issues so please be prepared for further crys for help

 

[Tiny Clanger]

I would recommend MX4 as it is relatively inexpensive and generally performs pretty close to the expensive TC's.

Thanks - having read the thread that @Tetras kindly linked to I've ordered some MX4 which comes with a spatula

 

[Tiny Clanger]

@Noughtboy - Cheers! I have build a few PC's in the past - but it's been years since I did my current one (which is a i5 4690k) and so I'm starting from first principles in terms of 'how to do it'

 

[Tiny Clanger]

Okay - so problem number one...

The Phanteks case comes with the standoffs preinstalled in (for me) the correct locations. However - 2 of the standoffs are a different height to the others and look as if they haven't been finished correctly - would that be correct?

 

[Tiny Clanger]

@Tetras - I'm afraid not - it simply says that they are already installed. In terms of position - if you were to look at the case the locations were top centre, middle centre. The other 7 locations are all the same height as the one on the left in my picture. I would have thought that the board would need to be flat - whereas if I screw these in it will (I guess) produce a warp.

Unfortunately there's only one spare provided (which is the height of the one on the left too) and anything I've got from historical builds are all the wrong height too.

 

[Tiny Clanger]

I believe the slightly raised standoffs is to align the motherboard and stops it slipping around.

Ah - okay then - will make a start then - thanks guys

 

[Tiny Clanger]

Check the raised standoff on your motherboard first to make sure.

Yup - checked and the raised part fitted - when you explained it's function it made sense

 

[Tiny Clanger]

All done - with lots of breaks to watch informative videos between each step!

Everything seems to be working so far (touching wood and of course metal in case of static ). One question though - according to HWMonitor the CPU idles at ~40 - however it also randomly spikes for no apparent reason - sometimes up to 60. I've run the 3D Mark Timespy benchmarks and the temps are in the 60's for the graphics tests and 73 on the CPU test. Is this normal behavior for a 7800x3d or is there something I need to address/resolve?

 

[Tiny Clanger]

That’s a relief - thank you. I was worried that I’d stuffed up putting the CPU cooler on in some way. But, I suppose the idle temps would be higher if I had made an error?