Pelase take a look at this build - can I get better value?

[mattyfez]

Hi all

The template thing is a good idea!

So i'm pulling my hair out here but i've come up with the below parts - any suggestions on better value?


Purchase Timeframe: Next few months

Budget: no upper budget but i'm very value concious

Usage: gaming is the most demanding thing it will do

Preferences: excellent 1440p performance, decent 4k performance. Don't want an Nvidia GPU.

Current Hardware: See sig - I'm keeping that system but I may swap the GPU/PSU around, etc. This system wil be replacing an i5. 16gb ddr4 build running an rx480 8gb

Peripherals: no, just need the parts listed below

Special Needs/Requirements (inc Wi-Fi): Mobo needs wifi and bluetooth, internal USB-c header, 4x sata without crippling the the x16 graphics lane & a few M.2

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 MSI B840 GAMING PLUS WIFI (AMD AM5) B840 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-MSI-03996) = £124.99
• 1 x Crucial Pro OC 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRU-02219) = £89.99
• 1 x CORSAIR RMe Series RM850e Fully Modular ATX 3.1 Power Supply (CP-9020296-UK) (SKU: POW-CRS-03875) = £99.95
• 1 x XFX Swift Radeon RX 9070 XT Triple Fan Gaming Edition 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-XFX-05454) = £629.99

Total: £1,144.91 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

 

[Gray2233]

Corsair changed OEM with the current gen RME series and the quality has taken a hit, so I'd recommend against it.

I'd go for these:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95
• 1 x PNY XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-51200C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-PNY-04564) = £77.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D Six Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-04829) = £269.98

Total: £440.92 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

You are paying more for the X3D but it's a healthy jump performance wise, and will help if you keep the system long term.

Cheaper RAM that would work just as well.

The Phanteks AMP is a solid PSU and 750w is more than enough for a 9070XT, although I would consider the 5070ti for another £40-50. It does depend on the games you play, but Nvidia has the benefits of DLSS, being a little quicker on average, and having superior RT/PT. FSR4 has been a big improvements but it lacks the same level of support as DLSS, and while there are workarounds the solutions aren't perfect, they can even result in anti-cheat software trigging in multiplayer games.

 

[pastymuncher]

Surely you have acess to the MM? There is a Sapphire Nitro+ 9070XT in there for £520 and a brand new 9800x3d for £350 both of which are bargains.

 

[mattyfez]

Ok thanks...food for thought...

Not sure Im comfortable buying second hand gear that's that expensive!

RE the Phanteks 750 - Now I'm the first one to not go overspecced on PSU as long as it's high quality, but that GPU is reccomended 800w min? is that pushing things a bit much?

 

[mattyfez]

Actually I'm having a re-think now, it seems the 7600x3d isn't even as good as the i5 136600k I already have, for gaming, unless I'm missing something, that's a lot of money to spend on a mid-range CPU...?

 

[tamzzy]

Not sure Im comfortable buying second hand gear that's that expensive!

i would, especially from the MM, and with decent savings off new prices
forumers will usually help with rma if required in future

most of my primary and secondary computers are built from used components! (so i practice what i preach )

 

[Gray2233]

RE the Phanteks 750 - Now I'm the first one to not go overspecced on PSU as long as it's high quality, but that GPU is reccomended 800w min? is that pushing things a bit much?

Nah, not even close tbh. Manufacturers tend to overspec the PSU requirements for graphics cards because there's so many crap supplies on the market.

Radeon RX 9070 XT (ASUS TUF OC) review (Page 5)

We review the Radeon RX 9070 XT (ASUS TUF OC). The most striking improvement lies in the number of AI and ray tracing (RT) accelerators, which have seen a noticeable boost compared to previous generations. The RX 9070 XT packs 64 RDNA 4 compute units, 64 RT accelerators, and 128 AI accelerators.

www.guru3d.com

Typical gaming load of 335w with a peak of 364, the GURU3D recommendation is 750W and most other tech sites say the same, but that's going to take into account that some people might go nuts with other components like top tier high power usage CPU's etc. I know people running the things happily on good 650W supplies, same with the 5070ti which has a similar power draw.

If you're that concerned the 850W version is around the £100 mark.

 

[mickyflinn]

I would just upgrade the GPU and consider the 5070ti although it's up in price ATM but has DLSS 4 and better Ray Tracing.

Check Games you play if they favour Nvidia or AMD

 

[Gray2233]

Actually I'm having a re-think now, it seems the 7600x3d isn't even as good as the i5 136600k I already have, for gaming, unless I'm missing something, that's a lot of money to spend on a mid-range CPU...?

I actually missed this.

Why are you "upgrading" from a 13600K shy of it having degradation issues? It's still a really strong all around CPU, there are instances in which the X3D will annihilate it but they're more on the niche side more often than not. If you already have that CPU keep it, it's stupidly strong, keep the entire rig in fact and put the difference into a better GPU if you've issues with frames in the games that you play.

Hold in mind that not everyone can see your signature, if posting on mobile especially. You have a high enough post count on a tech forum to give the impression that you might want a second rig or simply need a genuine upgrade, and you did state you wanted to keep the whole prior system. I wont defend myself there as I thought I had checked your signature, possibly confused it with another thread and as such I apologise for not catching things earlier. Even your current PSU should be fine with either a 9070XT or 5070ti, and unless you're really into CoD or something that massively benefits AMD I'd go for the latter.

 

[tamzzy]

Hold in mind that not everyone can see your signature, if posting on mobile especially.

Or, like me, have sigs turned off as it keeps the forum clutter to a minimum lol

 

[mattyfez]

OK so it might help if I explain a bit more, I was trying to keep it simple for this thread but here goes!

I have 2 PC's

A gaming pc in my bedroom hooked up to a 4k OLED spec:​

13600k - Asus Z790a - 6800XT - 32gb DDR5 @6000mhz - Corsair RM750 - Lian-Li PCA10A -WD Black - Noctua NH-D15​

An office/casual gaming/home entertainment center PC in my living room hooked up up to a 1440p dell 27" monitor, another LG OLED tv (as a second monitor forced down to 1440p) and a hi-fi system via analogue out on the mobo​

6600k - basic gigabyte board- rx480 8gb - 16gb DDR4 @3000mhz but this board doesnt suport xmp so it running at whatever the stock spped is) - Bequiet 380w psu - Lian li lancool II - 4x 2.5" sata SSDs - thermalright peerless assassin cooler​

What I want to accomplish for the living room pc is:
windows 11 capable
4k@120hz (the rx480 can only do 4k@60hz (older HDMI version on gpu) this card obvs isnt good enough to game at 4k other than indie games.

So I was toying with the idea of an AM4 system as I already have DDR4 ram, but then I thought that would be silly, may aswell go AM5 and sling a cheap chip in it, as long as its better then the skylake i5 I don't really care what cpu, as I could upgrade the cpu in future, if needed.
and I thought I could use maybe the GPU from the bedroom pc in the living room pc, and put a radeon 9070 or whatever in the 'gaming' pc to replace it.

Then the price got expensive and I realised that £200 AMD chips an't really any better than my gen13 i5, and now i'm going round in circles.

I only really play forza horizon 5 on the office/living room pc so it doesnt need to be a gaming power house, just competent. But when a new forza horizon (or similar game)comes out, I presume it will be more demanding Id like to be able play it at decent settings - Im currently managing about 70fps @1440p in this game which is fine, but that hardware is right at its limit.

Hope that all makes sense!

 

[alec]

I could use maybe the GPU from the bedroom pc in the living room pc, and put a radeon 9070 or whatever in the 'gaming' pc to replace it.

Then the price got expensive and I realised that £200 AMD chips an't really any better than my gen13 i5, and now i'm going round in circles.

it is a sound plan
don't get distracted that a "new" cpu is not much faster than 13600K, it is still not a bad gaming CPU, not obsolete by any means

An option is to lift the Intel/6800XT bits to office PC and have an excuse to build a more powerful gaming PC. Essentially only get a better CPU compared to what you originally planned, so not much more expensive

 

[mickyflinn]

So you will need a GPU that has at least HDMI 2.1 for 4K 120Hz or Display port 1.3 or higher.

Take at look at 4k benchmarks for Forza 5 to see the level of performance required.

Quote.

To boost frame rates though, the Ultra preset comes in 30% faster than the Extreme preset, while dropping back to the High preset isn’t far off double the performance of Extreme. Medium is only 12% more performant than High however, while the Low preset is over 250% faster than the Extreme preset. Very Low, meanwhile, obviously delivers the highest frame rates, offering over 3x the performance of the Extreme preset.

Forza Horizon 5 PC Performance Benchmark: 30+ GPUs Tested - KitGuru

Forza Horizon 5 launches publicly today, but those who bought the premium edition have had early acc

www.kitguru.net

 

[Craig_d1]

just to say if you go down the am5 route and get a 7600 cpu, you'll be wanting to enable pbo to get the best performance out of it...a b840 mobo is locked and you can't do that, you'll need a b850 board for that

nice little vid to show you how a 7600x compared to a 9800x3d...unless you're using a 5090, at 4k there's no difference and barely any at 1440p which might be more relevant as more like playing 4k with upscaling...they use a 5090/5080/9070 (not the xt variant..so that will be 10/15% better) and a 9060XT...and from looking earlier see a 7600x is £157 today(not on ocuk) as an idea on price..if you're playing 1440p or 4k and need it for a 2nd pc, just go with that

 

[mattyfez]

So you will need a GPU that has at least HDMI 2.1 for 4K 120Hz or Display port 1.3 or higher.

Take at look at 4k benchmarks for Forza 5 to see the level of performance required.

Quote.

To boost frame rates though, the Ultra preset comes in 30% faster than the Extreme preset, while dropping back to the High preset isn’t far off double the performance of Extreme. Medium is only 12% more performant than High however, while the Low preset is over 250% faster than the Extreme preset. Very Low, meanwhile, obviously delivers the highest frame rates, offering over 3x the performance of the Extreme preset.

Forza Horizon 5 PC Performance Benchmark: 30+ GPUs Tested - KitGuru

Forza Horizon 5 launches publicly today, but those who bought the premium edition have had early acc

www.kitguru.net

Yeah I optimised setting for thet game a long time back... im on mostly 'high' settings with a few 'medium'.

 

[mattyfez]

just to say if you go down the am5 route and get a 7600 cpu, you'll be wanting to enable pbo to get the best performance out of it...a b840 mobo is locked and you can't do that, you'll need a b850 board for that

nice little vid to show you how a 7600x compared to a 9800x3d...unless you're using a 5090, at 4k there's no difference and barely any at 1440p which might be more relevant as more like playing 4k with upscaling...they use a 5090/5080/9070 (not the xt variant..so that will be 10/15% better) and a 9060XT...and from looking earlier see a 7600x is £157 today(not on ocuk) as an idea on price..if you're playing 1440p or 4k and need it for a 2nd pc, just go with that

The thing is, I could buy another 13600k and a chapish mobo which is cheaper than the 7600x and arguably better, certainly for games. The only real benefit for me to move to AMD CPUs that I can see is If I drop a really cheap AM5 chip in (but better than the skylake i5) and I could put a better one in, in future.

Intel Core i5-13600K vs AMD Ryzen 7 7700X and Ryzen 5 7600X Face Off

Zen 4 vs Raptor Lake, Fight!

www.tomshardware.com

 

[MissChief]

Nah, not even close tbh. Manufacturers tend to overspec the PSU requirements for graphics cards because there's so many crap supplies on the market.

Radeon RX 9070 XT (ASUS TUF OC) review (Page 5)

We review the Radeon RX 9070 XT (ASUS TUF OC). The most striking improvement lies in the number of AI and ray tracing (RT) accelerators, which have seen a noticeable boost compared to previous generations. The RX 9070 XT packs 64 RDNA 4 compute units, 64 RT accelerators, and 128 AI accelerators.

www.guru3d.com

Typical gaming load of 335w with a peak of 364, the GURU3D recommendation is 750W and most other tech sites say the same, but that's going to take into account that some people might go nuts with other components like top tier high power usage CPU's etc. I know people running the things happily on good 650W supplies, same with the 5070ti which has a similar power draw.

If you're that concerned the 850W version is around the £100 mark.

9070XT and a 5950x on a Superflower Leadex III Gold 650w. Not a bit of bother

 

[Craig_d1]

The thing is, I could buy another 13600k and a chapish mobo which is cheaper than the 7600x and arguably better, certainly for games. The only real benefit for me to move to AMD CPUs that I can see is If I drop a really cheap AM5 chip in (but better than the skylake i5) and I could put a better one in, in future.

Intel Core i5-13600K vs AMD Ryzen 7 7700X and Ryzen 5 7600X Face Off

Zen 4 vs Raptor Lake, Fight!

www.tomshardware.com

if you can get another 13600k for less, yup, nothing wrong with that...i looked at 3 sites and the 13600k was over £200 on all of them so for £157...the 7600x is cheaper, and at 1440 and 4k playing you'll be gpu bottlenecked probably, so makes little difference...pair it with a b650 board even, but seeing as you can get a b850 now for £125, might as well go pcie5...but whatever is cheaper cpu/mobo combo...ram is ram, so you'll need the same anyway, though from memory, I thought intel liked faster memory to get the most out of it

 

[mattyfez]

So after a few beers, I bought this:

​

OcUK Gaming B57 Bundle - Ryzen 7 5700X3D MSI B550M 32GB DDR4 £319.99
Phanteks AMP GH 850W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black £104.99
XFX Quicksilver Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming Edition 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card £629.99

​

I think Ill put the 9070xt and phanteks PSU into my intel build and put the 6800xt and corsair RM750 into my lounge build?

 

[Gray2233]

I think Ill put the 9070xt and phanteks PSU into my intel build and put the 6800xt and corsair RM750 into my lounge build?

Sounds like a plan.