Really need help configuring a Pre-Build

[pgsonline]

Hello everyone.

I have to confess to knowing very little about computers and am not brave enough to dip my toe into building my own machine quite yet. I know what I want, but am finding it hard to configure a system to meet my aims.

I use my current PC mostly for gaming and storage of music and photos. I'm hoping to get a machine that can cope with AAA gaming, 1440p - partly to try and ensure it will serve me a good few years.

I've heard good things about the 2070 Super, so have focused on that. Ideally I'd like to run two monitors, my current old one, but a new one that is for gaming at 1440p. Recommendations received gratefully. Probably around £200-£300?

Super 2070k
I7-9700k (heard good things about this. Would be happy with lower if not too much loss in performance/future proofing. Would consider AMD as well, but heard of a few issues recently. Did they get fixed?)
16gb ram
512 SSD for main games and OS. Think there are different types, not sure what is best/budget friendly.
2tb for pics and music and slower applications.
Ideally wifi and blu tooth so I can stream music.
Would be good to have a cd/DVD writer.
Case - like all the bright colours, but ultimately focusing on airflow as suspect I'll need my money for components.
Motherboard - no idea here. Whatever copes with the above.
Will need Windows and possibly Office for work.

Can anyone get that into one of the Overclocker pre-builds and help cover my blindspots like cooling requirements, motherboard, power supply etc. My original budget was £1200 for the build. But I think that is too low. Perhaps £2k including monitor. Any lower would be good of course...

Sorry for long message and would be so very grateful for any help. I work for the NHS and at the moment I'm finding gaming a great release!

Cheers,

Paul

 

[Gray2233]

What's your maximum budget?

 

[Burnt_Custard]

1440P gaming is mainly dependant on the GPU. 2070 Super is currently the best performing gfx card without being overly expensive. But this loses out to the RX 5700 XT in the value department (I think the 2070 Super is only 10% faster but at £100 cost).

At 1440p the speed between the upper higher end CPUs will be marginal to non existent. A Ryzen 7 3700x would be of better value as it offers 8 cores and 16 threads (9700k is 8C8T) at a lower price and the motherboards are cheaper as well. If you are looking to buy later in the year and insistent on Intel then take a look are the new intel Core i7 10700K as it will be 8C16T and "should" be similar price to the i7 9700K

As for SSD any will do. But at these current prices you might as well go Nvme. The speed gain is very high .....even though realistically you wouldn't really see a difference.

 

[pgsonline]

What's your maximum budget?

Hoping for 2k with 1440p monitor ideally.

 

[Gray2233]

Something like this would work:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £289.99
• 1 x Team Group Night Hawk RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - RGB Black (TF1D= £158.99
• 1 x Seasonic Core Gold GC-650 650W 80+ Gold Power Supply= £79.99
• 1 x WD Blue SN550 1TB NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0C)= £149.99
• 1 x Seagate 1TB BarraCuda 7200rpm 64MB Cache Internal Hard Drive (ST1000DM010)= £36.95
• 1 x Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER WindForce OC 3X 8G 8192MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £499.99
• 1 x Scythe SCMG-5100TUF Mugen 5 TUF RGB CPU Cooler With PWM Fan - 120mm= £49.99
• 1 x Aerocool Aero One Mini Eclipse ARGB Micro- ATX Case - Black Tempered Glass= £49.99
• 1 x MSI B450M Mortar MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 mATX Motherboard= £109.99
• 1 x Acer Nitro VG271UP 27" 2560x1440 WQHD 144Hz 1ms FreeSync HDR400 Widescreen Gaming Monitor= £299.99

Total: £1,743.98 (includes shipping: £18.12)​

​

You can ask OCUK to build the spec for you, which they'll do for a fee and of course you'll have full warranty through them by doing so. I'm not sure what said fee will be, but I expect your system will be under the £2000 mark regardless.

The only thing you'd need to do yourself is install Windows 10, which is very easily done via USB, you can get keys for very little.

You might want to query when/if they'll get some of the parts back in stock, there's availability issues at the moment for a lot of stuff unfortunately.

Went with an AMD build, there's very little reason to go with Intel right now, AMD has much better price/performance and the 3700X will have better longevity when compared to the more expensive 9700K.

 

[Charlatan]

Post this spec into the customer services forum, and see how much for them to build and install windows

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £129.95
• 1 x Team Group 8Pack Edition 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C16 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/= £119.99
• 1 x TeamGroup 1TB Vulcan SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 3D NAND Solid State Drive= £99.95
• 1 x Phanteks Eclipse P400 Glass Midi Tower Case - Black= £74.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £289.99
• 1 x WD Blue SN550 500GB NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS500G2B0C)= £71.99
• 1 x Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER WindForce OC 3X 8G 8192MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £499.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £96.95

Total: £1,397.00 (includes shipping: £13.20)​

​

 

[pgsonline]

I really appreciate your feedback - you've given me some good food for thought. I had thought the i7-9700k the better option for me, but your comments on the AMD 3700k were interesting and I think I may go with it.

In terms of connectivity - should I look for internal components to ensure wi-fi/blu tooth is possible? I'm not sure where the new system will live, so may need to reply on wireless for a while. Likewise with blu-tooth. I was thinking of getting a dongle to put in one of the USB slots - but they seem to fill up quite quickly. So I wonder if I should add it inside - if so, what would I need to add/adjust to what's been suggested so far?

In terms of cooling - is there a general thing to look for? My PC tends to sit in a more enclosed space (with some airflow around). I notice in Gray's build the case has fans included and he has added cooling. Whereas Charlatan's don't include any cooling, part from what the case has installed in it. What would be the thing to look for here? I see all sorts of water cooling etc, but I don't know what sort of requirement is realistic in a build such as this.

I hadn't appreciated that some stick was quite so low.

Thanks again for any help. It is so nice to have such a forum for those uneducated such as myself!

Paul

 

[Gray2233]

If you want Wireless and Bluetooth there are motherboards that come with both built in, such as the following:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £139.99

Total: £139.99 (includes shipping: £0.00)​

​

The cases suggested in both builds will have excellent cooling, although the one I suggested comes with more fans built in. The components you're looking at don't run particularly hot anyway, the heatsink I suggested in my build could be considered a little overkill for the 3700X in honesty, but you've the budget for it and it will be of benefit over the stock.

 

[Charlatan]

What @Gray2233 said. Was going to suggest that board. The cooler with the 3700x is a lot better than the 3600 and 3600x one, but easy enough to add one at a later stage. I've used this one and is excellent value

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Arctic Freezer 34 eSports Duo White CPU Cooler - 2 x 120mm= £34.99

Total: £37.73 (includes shipping: £2.74)​

​

 

[pgsonline]

Sorry, one additional ask. I was looking to include a CD/DVD writer. Is there something recommended - and will the cases noted accommodate it?

 

[Burnt_Custard]

Sorry, one additional ask. I was looking to include a CD/DVD writer. Is there something recommended - and will the cases noted accommodate it?

Nope. 90% of the recent cases that come out no longer have 5.25" bays. So no more internal CD/DVD Writers. Only option is now external USB CD/DVD writers which are fairly cheap now

 

[Gray2233]

An external USB drive is your best bet if you really need one, you can just put it out of sight when not in use.

 

[pgsonline]

So, based on the excellent help I've received, I've come up with this. I've taken ideas from what people have said and amended a few items to those in stock.

Does this look ok? Will it cope with high end gaming ok? Have I made a terrible mistake with any part I've added?

Regards Windows 10 - I've seen a few people mention getting it from keys? I'm assuming that's legit? Where would I look for that?

Next plan - find a good monitor!

Thanks once again people. Much appreciated.


My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER WindForce OC 3X 8G 8192MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £499.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £289.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 16GB (2x8GB) 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Dual Kit= £139.99
• 1 x Super Flower Leadex III 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply - Black= £99.95
• 1 x WD Blue SN550 1TB NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0C)= £149.99
• 1 x Seagate 2TB Barracuda 7200RPM 256MB Cache Internal Hard Drive (ST2000DM008)= £59.99
• 1 x MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £139.99
• 1 x Corsair Carbide 275R Airflow Midi Tower ATX Case - Black Tempered Glass (CC-9011181-WW)= £72.95
• 1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition CPU Cooler= £46.99

Total: £1,513.03 (includes shipping: £13.20)
​

 

[Charlatan]

Looks pretty solid. Swap the memory for https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...3600mhz-dual-channel-kit-black-my-08q-tg.html

As for Windows 10, well known auction site, don't pay more than 4-5quid. Might be worth adding a USB flash drive to your order for the windows install disk, if you don't have one spare

 

[Gray2233]

Here's another option if you're after RGB:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Team Group Night Hawk RGB 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - RGB Black (TF1D4= £89.99

Total: £89.99 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​

The RAM specified by @Charlatan is much better stuff than that Corsair memory.

 

[EsaT]

• 1 x Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 16GB (2x8GB) 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Dual Kit= £139.99

• 1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 RGB Black Edition CPU Cooler= £46.99

At that price level you should be looking towards absolutely future proof 2x16GB instead of R(idiculously) G(rossly) B(loated) overpriced basic size kit.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/patr...dual-channel-kit-pvs432g320c6k-my-106-pa.html
Myself wouldn't pay more than £100 for basic 2x8GB.

That Coolerhamster is another Ridiculously Grossly Bloated price product.
It's at the level of half cheaper Arctic Freezer 34.
And plenty of other in stock products
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/alpe...ced-black-rgb-cpu-cooler-130mm-hs-05b-al.html
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/alpenfohn-brocken-eco-advanced-cpu-cooler-120-mm-hs-05j-al.html


And there are expandable/upgradable cases with 5.25" bays, including having those bays hidden behind doorwhen not in use:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/search?sSearch=silent+base+600

 

[pgsonline]

Thanks for your input EsaT.

I've found this case which seems to have ok cooling and a bay for a cd/dvd writer. I have seen a few others, but for some, cooling looks an issue. Just need to have a talk with myself and see if an extra £20 for the case is worth not having to have an external drive lying about!

I hear what you say regards 32gb RAM. I have indeed pondered it, but most resources say it is overkill currently. I want to future proof, but just need to keep an eye of my budget. Unfortunately, the ones you noted are out of stock and I've tried to focus on components that are available.

I'll think about your comments on the cooler. The ones you have noted are indeed cheaper and the reviews I've found suggest they are reasonable.