New rig spec...

[FluffySheep]

Hi all

Working through the usual spec me time. I'm trying to get the cost down a little to keep Mrs FluffySheep happy (she hasn't seen the list yet!). General gaming setup, nothing too heavy, but my 12 year old is starting to get into gaming so I'd like something that won't age badly in 5 minutes and a little future proof. At the moment, the main game I play is World of Warships. Other jobs will be the usual school and general house admin work/jobs. Any suggestions or comments before I run it past the missus???

One question I definately am blind on is the PSU about the right size?

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Corsair NAUTILUS 240 RS All In One CPU Cooler - 240mm (SKU: COO-CRS-03513) = £74.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £199.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance EXPO/XMP 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRS-00996) = £89.99
• 1 x Crucial P3 PLUS 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 NVMe Solid State Drive (SKU: HD-07B-CR) = £100.99
• 1 x Seagate 6TB Barracuda HDD 5400RPM 256MB Cache Internal Hard Drive (ST6000DM003) (SKU: HD-39D-SE) = £139.99
• 1 x Microsoft Windows 11 Home 64-Bit DVD - OEM (KW9-00632) (SKU: SW-18J-MS) = £107.99
• 3 x Akasa AK-CBSA05-50BK Super slim SATA rev 3.0 data cable with securing latches - 50cm, Black (SKU: CB-078-AK) = £3.95
• 1 x Sapphire Radeon RX 7600 XT Gaming OC 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-SPR-01589) = £299.99
• 1 x Seasonic Focus SGX 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular SFX Power Supply (SKU: CA-06N-SS) = £124.99
• 1 x Lian Li Lancool 216 Mid-tower PC case - Black (SKU: CA-7BG-LL) = £85.99
• 1 x Asus TUF Gaming A620-Pro WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASU-01162) = £139.99

Total: £1,376.75 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

(after 3 SATA cables as my current rig is MacGyvered together as over time I've knackered up several SATAs)

Thanks in advance
FluffySheep

 

[Quartz]

Corsair NAUTILUS 240 RS All In One CPU Cooler - 240mm (SKU: COO-CRS-03513) = £74.99

Save yourself a few quid and get yourself a Peerless Assassin for about £30. Ryzen CPUs don't consume nearly as much power as Intel ones do.

Seagate 6TB Barracuda HDD 5400RPM 256MB Cache Internal Hard Drive (ST6000DM003) (SKU: HD-39D-SE) = £139.99

HDDs have little place in PCs these days. Unless you're going to repurpose your current PC as a server and the HDD is going in that then you're better off buying a second NVME or SSD.

 

[Tetras]

is the PSU about the right size?

No, the Lian Li supports ATX PSUs, so there's not really a reason to buy SFX unless you're buying a small case. I'd also recommend 750 or 850 to account for future graphics upgrades.

 

[Gray2233]

snip

I'm assuming you need the HDD for some reason so included it, the case I've listed does claim to have a 3.5 mount but I'd double check if you do opt to go for it.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Crucial T500 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-01090) = £127.99
• 1 x Asrock B850M-X (Socket AM5) DDR5 mATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASR-04011) = £115.00
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95
• 1 x TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G6000HC38ADC01) (SKU: MY-0B2-TG) = £79.99
• 1 x Antec CX600M ARGB M-ATX Mini Tower - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-04160) = £54.95
• 1 x Thermalright Assassin X120 Refined SE ARGB CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02726) = £17.98
• 1 x Seagate 6TB Barracuda HDD 5400RPM 256MB Cache Internal Hard Drive (ST6000DM003) (SKU: HD-39D-SE) = £140.00
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £199.99
• 1 x Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-SPR-03983) = £649.99

Total: £1,470.84 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

Alternatively you could save by waiting out for a 9070 (not XT) and come closer to your original price, both are considerably faster graphics cards vs that 16gb 7600XT. That said, if you only really play World of Warships you'd be fine with a £200 6600/7600.

M-ATX as it's my preference, but you could source an ATX build for a similar price.

£300 for a 7600XT is poor value, W11 is stupidly over priced too given you can run it without a licence and only lose minor functionality and keys can be found for £10-20.

Better NvME, cheaper PSU, an SFX isn't necessary for the case you chose.

Much cheaper but still ample HSF.

It's a touch blingy but again you can turn the RGB off or go for something less flashy for similar money.

 

[FluffySheep]

Thanks Quartz, Tetras and Gray2233 - updated specs below:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £199.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance EXPO/XMP 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRS-00996) = £89.99
• 1 x Crucial P3 PLUS 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 NVMe Solid State Drive (SKU: HD-07B-CR) = £100.99
• 1 x Sapphire Radeon RX 7600 XT Gaming OC 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-SPR-01589) = £299.99
• 1 x Lian Li Lancool 216 Mid-tower PC case - Black (SKU: CA-7BG-LL) = £85.99
• 1 x Asus TUF Gaming A620-Pro WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASU-01162) = £139.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95
• 1 x Thermalright Assassin X120 Refined SE ARGB CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02726) = £17.99

Total: £1,027.78 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

Some explanations...
Case needs to be below 25sc width to fit in gap in room, so the CX600M is out and Lian Li 216 still in
HDD binned - showing my age there...
Motherboard I want 5.1 channel (or better) to use the speaker setup I have now, so going with Asus A620
Cooler - feels like a downgrade to go back to air only, but hey, ho...I'll take your word that Ryzens are not as hot
Windows - using 'alternative' way to get the OS!

My big stumbling black is the GPU. Currently using a GTX950. Not bothered about ray tracing having read about it, but even spending 30% of the total build cost on the GPU stings (even well above the CPU price), let alone £650 on a RX9070...Any opinions on when they'll come down on price? The whole section of the market looks daft to me at the moment.

Thanks again all

FluffySheep

 

[Gray2233]

My big stumbling black is the GPU. Currently using a GTX950. Not bothered about ray tracing having read about it, but even spending 30% of the total build cost on the GPU stings (even well above the CPU price), let alone £650 on a RX9070...Any opinions on when they'll come down on price? The whole section of the market looks daft to me at the moment.

£650 for the 9070XT is around MSRP, given the cards only just launched and they're in high demand prices wont be coming down anytime soon.

GPU prices have been through the roof for years now and that's not looking to change anytime soon either. Given what you're coming from, I'd rather spend £200 on a 7600 or less again on a 6600 even with 8gb over £300 on a 7600XT. You used to be able to get a 6750XT for around the £300 mark which would have been a better pick and not badly priced even now, but they're like hens teeth unfortunately.

The Intel B580 might be a good middle ground if you can find one for a decent price:

Intel Arc B580 Review - Excellent Value

The next-generation Intel Arc graphics cards are here! The B580, powered by the Battlemage architecture, is priced at a highly competitive $250. Testing in our review confirms that Intel's new card outperforms both NVIDIA's GeForce RTX 4060 and AMD's RX 7600, and it now supports frame generation...

www.techpowerup.com

 

[Tetras]

My big stumbling black is the GPU. Currently using a GTX950. Not bothered about ray tracing having read about it, but even spending 30% of the total build cost on the GPU stings (even well above the CPU price), let alone £650 on a RX9070...Any opinions on when they'll come down on price? The whole section of the market looks daft to me at the moment.

Unfortunately £250-£300 is only considered entry level nowadays (i.e. 1080p).

You have to spend more like £450+ for a respectable midrange card that can maintain decent FPS at 1440p with some headroom for the future.

There was a 9070 available for £450 not too long ago, which is perhaps where they will land once availability is better. FSR4 could turn out to be rather useful feature in the longer-term, so I'd rather have it than not.

The 7700 XT is a significantly stronger card than the 7600 XT, despite having 4 GB less VRAM, but not keen on paying more than £350 for one.

It is possible that when the 9060 XT and 5060 come out, it will be more interesting at the lower-end of the market, because it has been bad for some time.

The 7600 XT isn't a terrible card, to be fair, but their raw grunt is dated and we really need something like a 7700 XT / RX 6800 non-XT as the entry level card now, or they'll get left behind in upcoming games.

 

[freddie64]

Few alternatives to consider.

Case very similar to Lian li. (although Lancool 216 is a very good case)
B650 Motherboard.
CL30 RAM.
Better NVME.
All black cooler with no RGB.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Montech AIR 903 Base Midi-Tower Tempered Glass - Black (SKU: CAS-MON-01227) = £49.99
• 1 x Gigabyte B650 EAGLE AX (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-GIG-03573) = £139.99
• 1 x WD Black SN7100 2TB SSD NVME M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-WDC-04135) = £104.99
• 1 x Arctic Freezer 36 120m Black CPU Cooler - 2x 120mm (SKU: COO-ARC-02420) = £22.99
• 1 x Kingston FURY Beast EXPO 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-KNG-03705) = £99.95

Total: £429.90 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

 

[FluffySheep]

Unfortunately £250-£300 is only considered entry level nowadays (i.e. 1080p).

You have to spend more like £450+ for a respectable midrange card that can maintain decent FPS at 1440p with some headroom for the future.

There was a 9070 available for £450 not too long ago, which is perhaps where they will land once availability is better. FSR4 could turn out to be rather useful feature in the longer-term, so I'd rather have it than not.

The 7700 XT is a significantly stronger card than the 7600 XT, despite having 4 GB less VRAM, but not keen on paying more than £350 for one.

It is possible that when the 9060 XT and 5060 come out, it will be more interesting at the lower-end of the market, because it has been bad for some time.

The 7600 XT isn't a terrible card, to be fair, but their raw grunt is dated and we really need something like a 7700 XT / RX 6800 non-XT as the entry level card now, or they'll get left behind in upcoming games.

Me thinks I need to re-boost my post count to get back into the MM and try and pick up something there...but need the PC soon, so going to bite the bullet probably this weekend coming...

FluffySheep

 

[Tetras]

Me thinks I need to re-boost my post count to get back into the MM and try and pick up something there...but need the PC soon, so going to bite the bullet probably this weekend coming...

If I had to buy now, then from a little scoot around, you can get a 7700 XT for £350, which isn't too bad. Otherwise, I'd be tempted by the B580 suggested above.

If you wanted to just get something decent(ish) for the time being, the (Sparkle Orc) Arc A750 for £170 at OCUK (pre-order) is a reasonable price for 6600/2060 level of performance. The Ryzen 7600 has integrated graphics which can handle office/school work and some very light gaming, if OCUK take awhile to deliver it.