New rig from scratch - deffo need some help :)

Biggilus

Biggilus

Biggilus

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14 Aug 2009
Posts
197
So my current rig is an i3 4690K and RX480. Old but still fairly decent at 1080p. Building a new setup and a lot has changed in those years with undervolting sounding like its the new overclocking, all sorts of talk I see about PCIe and lane sharing on some boards (still don't get what this means overall). Price isn't a huge factor for me and can go above what I priced up below:

1 X Asus ROG Strix X670E-A Gaming WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard - £379.99
SKU: MB-6J7-AS
1 X Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XT Gaming 20GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card - £829.99
SKU: GX-3A2-SP
1 X AMD Radeon™ Get The Game Bundle - The Last of Us™ Part I - £0.00
SKU: XX-03D-AM
1 X Corsair Vengeance EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK32GX5M2D6000Z36) - £149.99
SKU: MY-4DF-CS
1 X Corsair RMx Series RM750x 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (CP-9020199-UK) - £129.95
SKU: CA-266-CS
2 X Crucial P5P 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 x4 3D NAND NVMe Solid State Drive - £179.99
SKU: HD-075-CR
1 X Phanteks NV7 D-RGB with Front and Side Glass Panels Full Tower Case - Black - £199.99
SKU: CA-0BQ-PT
Grand Total: £2,049.89

But deffo want some advice/input on the above for my needs 90% gaming at 1440p (will want to go 4k but don't think that's worth unless I grab a 4090 and expensive monitor).

CPU - Preordered a 7800X3D three hours after going on sale so have plenty of time to sort out these other bits I need.
GPU - Did intend to go for a 6800XT but after watching a Hardware Unboxed vid it seems the 7900XT is better £/performance (just about). Did think about hitting up a 7900XTX which isn't out of the equation too. Happy to look at nVidia but AMD seems cheaper as usual. Main toughts on this is to upgrade eventually to full RT at 4k in a few years time.
Motherboard - is that too excessive in terms of "futureproof" features? Seems like a lot for a mobo but I know AM5 ones are priced a lot higher than usual.
Storage - Guess my situation would be one fast one slow(er) like I have now (SSD and HDD) but happy to have two fast if price is negligible.
Cooling - always gone for air cooling but happy to give water cooling a try if its a lot more beneficial for AM5 - how many more fans/things would I need?
Case - Not a fan of multicoolour RGB (despite the fact full RGB makes things run 10-15% better) but I have seen some sexy two tone setups like white and red. But would adding this significantly alter the price?
PSU - Not much to say but a quiet one that covers the needs of the above is grand.

Would love input, thoughts and recommendations :)
 
sorry just got home so this is a fuller reply

cheaper mobo - also has pcie 5 storage for whatever it's worth...not a lot imo
better latency ram + cheaper
7900XTX
top-of-the range AIO + 6 year warranty (if you can get the 280mm version, even better - not stocked at ocuk)
better psu + 850w + ATX3/PCIE5 compatibility
altered the ssd setup slightly (850x can be the main drive, 770 can be the media drive)
cheaper case, just as flexible

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £2,544.86 (includes delivery: £11.98)​



​
 
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail
CP-3DT-AM
£500 (incl. VAT)
£350 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Asus TUF Gaming B650M-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro ATX Motherboard
MB-6K2-AS
£180 (incl. VAT)
£160 (incl. VAT)
FREE DELIVERY
Find out more
be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850W ATX 3.1 80 Plus Gold Power Supply
CA-14R-BQ
£110 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Lian Li O11 Air Mini, Midi-Tower, Tempered Glass - Black
CA-79J-LL
£95 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Last edited:
Amazing thanks for the info. Don't think I'lll ever need to add on to that so a micro ATX should suffice - never considered this.
Never done liquid cooling before, is it a pain to setup? Guessing I'll be fine with a YT vid or two.
Love how an XTX is therre and the overrall price iss very simillar too. Should see me through quite a while

Ty :)
 
Alternative build with a Phanteks case:

AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail - £439.99
AMD Radeon™ Get The Game Bundle - The Last of Us™ Part I - £0.00
Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard - £237.95
TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G6000HC38ADC01) - £128.98

Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX Pulse 24GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card - £1,079.99

2 X WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E) - £136.99

Phanteks Eclipse P600S Glass Silent Midi Tower Case - Black - £152.99
Phanteks M25 140mm PWM High-Airflow Chassis Fan - Black - £9.95
be quiet! Pure Loop 240 Performance CPU Water Cooler - 240mm - £89.99
be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850W ATX 3.0 80 Plus Gold Power Supply - £124.99

Grand Total: £2,550.80 (includes delivery charge, £11.99)

Biggilus said:
Motherboard - is that too excessive in terms of "futureproof" features? Seems like a lot for a mobo but I know AM5 ones are priced a lot higher than usual.
Storage - Guess my situation would be one fast one slow(er) like I have now (SSD and HDD) but happy to have two fast if price is negligible.
Cooling - always gone for air cooling but happy to give water cooling a try if its a lot more beneficial for AM5 - how many more fans/things would I need?
Case - Not a fan of multicoolour RGB (despite the fact full RGB makes things run 10-15% better) but I have seen some sexy two tone setups like white and red. But would adding this significantly alter the price?
PSU - Not much to say but a quiet one that covers the needs of the above is grand.
Click to expand...

Motherboard: I've chosen one with 3 M.2 (one is PCI-E 5.0) and a PCI-E 4.0 graphics slot. I don't think PCI-E 5.0 graphics is worth it, since a PCI-E 4.0 4090 only loses a few percent in a PCI-E 3.0 board.
Storage: a higher-end drive with DRAM for the OS isn't a bad idea, but I've chosen two SN770, they're TLC with decent endurance (1200 TBW), though no DRAM.
Cooling: if going air, I'd get this, but I've chosen a 240mm cooler to be installed in the roof.
Case: I don't think this case (NV7) comes with any pre-installed fans, I've switched to the P600S which is semi-silence oriented and comes with 3 140mm fans.
 
Last edited:
Sweet thanks for the input. Your sentence regarding the storage all went over my head though!
Cooling wise I'd like a quiet setup so assume water is better for that?

Last thing I need to decide on is gpu. Love the fact you two priced up a system fir the same as what I did and got a 7900xtx in there but the sheer gall to spank £1k on a gpu just doesn't sit right with me. May opt for a 6800xt and upgrade when RT can be done well at 1440p at least and maybe 4k (nonono 4090 just no lol)
 
Biggilus said:
Cooling wise I'd like a quiet setup so assume water is better for that?
Click to expand...
my arctic aio is pretty silent :)

Biggilus said:
Last thing I need to decide on is gpu. Love the fact you two priced up a system fir the same as what I did and got a 7900xtx in there but the sheer gall to spank £1k on a gpu just doesn't sit right with me. May opt for a 6800xt and upgrade when RT can be done well at 1440p at least and maybe 4k (nonono 4090 just no lol)
Click to expand...
your budget is £2.5K so that's the best combination for the budget
of course if you want best value...then you're well past the value curve
 
I know it seems silly when I write it down, probably will end up with the £1k card as my budget isn't set in stone. Just got to suck it up that current times makes it super pricey.

So if I went air cooling, I'd need a decent CPU heatsink and a bunch of 140mm fans? Three front and three back/top?
 
Biggilus said:
So if I went air cooling, I'd need a decent CPU heatsink and a bunch of 140mm fans? Three front and three back/top?
Click to expand...
at noise normalised testing, aios provide better cooling
youtu.be

The Champ: $41 Thermalright Peerless Assassin CPU Cooler Review & Benchmarks

Sponsor: Thermaltake Ceres 500 TG on Amazon - https://geni.us/8An8nnThe Peerless Assassin 120 CPU tower cooler ranges from $35 to $55, depending on which mod...
youtu.be youtu.be
so going air cooling by extension...will be noisier (and added to that...more case fans = more noise)
 
The pc I just built has a fractal design define case and noctua nh15 air cooler. 2 front fans, one rear. It's pretty quiet.
Not silent but wouldn't you need passive cooling on everything to be totally silent?

I have a 7700 CPU but the nh15 is over specced for that. I'd have gone for one of those assassins had I known about em.
 
Oh yea not looking for totally silent, just don't want it sounding like a hair dryer is inside the thing at half load. I remmeber I had an AMD GPU years ago a HD 6870 or something that jesus that thing got loud.
 
tamzzy said:
my arctic aio is pretty silent :)


your budget is £2.5K so that's the best combination for the budget
of course if you want best value...then you're well past the value curve
Click to expand...
This got me thinking, where do yoou see the payoff for performance/price? I totally get I'm on the pricey end with all the new kit, but an alternative I was thinking aboout was a 5800x3d on AM4 tech.
 
Biggilus said:
This got me thinking, where do yoou see the payoff for performance/price?
Click to expand...
£1.5k

Biggilus said:
but an alternative I was thinking aboout was a 5800x3d on AM4 tech.
Click to expand...
nah, that's old tech and not worth investing in.
the only use for the 5800x3d is for AM4 users to upgrade to...not to buy new
5800x3d+b550+32gb ddr4 = 300+110+80 = £490
7600x+b650+32gb ddr5 = 240+180+140 = £560
if you're already spending that much, might as well pay the extra £70 and get a platform with an upgrade path

This is what I would get if I were in the market for a new PC now
Cooler is just a placeholder for the Thermalright coolers available elsewhere

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £1,508.87 (includes delivery: £11.99)​



​
 
AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Six Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail
CP-3DG-AM
£240 (incl. VAT)
£170 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850W ATX 3.1 80 Plus Gold Power Supply
CA-14R-BQ
£110 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Lian Li Lancool 205M Mesh Micro-ATX PC Case Black
CA-7B2-LL
£70 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Asrock B650M PG Riptide (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard
MB-18Y-AK
£159 (incl. VAT)
£155 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Last edited:
tamzzy said:
£1.5k


nah, that's old tech and not worth investing in.
the only use for the 5800x3d is for AM4 users to upgrade to...not to buy new
5800x3d+b550+32gb ddr4 = 300+110+80 = £490
7600x+b650+32gb ddr5 = 240+180+140 = £560
if you're already spending that much, might as well pay the extra £70 and get a platform with an upgrade path

This is what I would get if I were in the market for a new PC now
Cooler is just a placeholder for the Thermalright coolers available elsewhere

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £1,508.87 (includes delivery: £11.99)​

​
​
​
Click to expand...
This setup looks tasty too. Coming from an i5 4960k at 3.5ghz and rx 480 8gb, I'm assuming the experience with the above kit would be astronomical despite being mid range by today's standards. And now I'm wondering if it's worth the extra £1k if the difference isn't notable between the above and the more pricey system.

I'll order all the pieces once the 7800x3d ships, or may go with the above and hold out for the 8xxxx3d. Prices of these bits may well go down by the time the 7800x3d is back in stock at ocuk.

Appreciate your input and ideas.
 
AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Six Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail
CP-3DG-AM
£240 (incl. VAT)
£170 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 850W ATX 3.1 80 Plus Gold Power Supply
CA-14R-BQ
£110 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Lian Li Lancool 205M Mesh Micro-ATX PC Case Black
CA-7B2-LL
£70 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Asrock B650M PG Riptide (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard
MB-18Y-AK
£159 (incl. VAT)
£155 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
the 7900xtx is ~60% (1.6x) faster than the 6800xt but at 1.85x the price
similarly, cost-per-frame for the 7600x vs 7800x3d is in favour of the 7600x

basically about £600 is a fixed cost (RAM/SSD/PSU/cooler/case)

the rest is how you want to spend it
£1000 for a 7600x/cheaper b650/6800xt
vs
£1700 for a 7800x3d/more expensive b650/7900xtx

you won't see double the performance going from a 7600x/6800xt build to a 7800x3d/7900xtx build
10% if it's a fully cpu-bound game
60% if it's a fully gpu-bound game
the reality is probably somewhere in the middle...and i'll guess around 40-50% (games will likely be more gpu limited that cpu limited) between both builds

ofc for workloads that utilise all cores maxed out, then the 2 extra cores of the 7800x3d would be beneficial

the other way to rationalise spending £2.5k is to look at total system cost...basically cost-per-frame would be similar in this scenario :)
 
Last edited:
Helpful breakdown - interesting coisting it all up for £/fps but does have merit.
Fairly set on the 7800x3d but still in two minds about a gpu; either 6800xt as a placeholder for next year/later this year or the 7900xtx for maybe 4 or 5 years would be my thoughts. Even thinking of a 4080 as I've seen these down to £1100, just a few quid more than a 7900xtx. Both don't seeem partiuclarly great value but nothing does on the gpu scene for now.
 
Biggilus said:
Fairly set on the 7800x3d but still in two minds about a gpu; either 6800xt as a placeholder for next year/later this year or the 7900xtx for maybe 4 or 5 years would be my thoughts.
Click to expand...

Since you lasted this long with a 480, I think I'd go for the 6800 XT. You can also get a 6800 under £500, which would be my choice. A 6800/6800 XT should be good for 1440p/60 without ray tracing for 2-3 years, at which point I think DLSS/FSR & ray tracing will have matured and be baked in without being borderline usable like they are now.
 
I'm actually surprised how well my rx480 and i5 4960k (at stock 3.5ghz) have lasted. RDR2 was a bit pants but Res Evil 7 and 8 were >120fps most of the time along with Fallen Order (but noticeable stutter). All 1080p of course.

Hopefully all the components take a bit of a nose dive over the next couple of months as I don't see myself getting in early for a 7800x3d - and all the advice and recommendations here have made me 90% sure on a new setup now :)
 
Tetras said:
Since you lasted this long with a 480, I think I'd go for the 6800 XT. You can also get a 6800 under £500, which would be my choice. A 6800/6800 XT should be good for 1440p/60 without ray tracing for 2-3 years, at which point I think DLSS/FSR & ray tracing will have matured and be baked in without being borderline usable like they are now.
Click to expand...
Exactly what I'm thinking - next gen or two will hopefully make ray tracing a standard on both platforms - 4k 120hz full RT I'm hopeful for :D
 
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