After waiting ages for GPU prices to get a bit saner, I built a new system based on the Seasonic Q704 case. My (strict) budget was £2,000 which I managed to stick to. The PC was built mainly for playing MSFS at 1440. The final cost was £2,025.77. I delayed a month between buying the GPU and the rest of the system, hoping for a deal on the GPU. I got the 7800 XT Pulse for £699 in the recent promotion including Starfield.
I started out looking at the usual Intel / nVidia options and ended up with AMD / AMD which was a surprise. My last AMD build was an Athlon 64 3200+ and ATi Radeon X800 GT in 2005. I went for the AM4 platform as I got most of the performance of AM5 for ~£500 less. I don’t upgrade my system often enough for future proofing to matter. The 5800X3D is a great value CPU for MSFS, and the 20GB of VRAM on the 7800 XT should cope with the next release of MSFS.
I chose the upside-down Q704 case because I liked the design of having the GPU at the top of the case so rising heat won’t affect the CPU (the reality was slightly different!) The Q704 is also good value for money as it comes with a platinum 850-watt PSU.
Seasonic Syncro Q704 Midi Tower inc. Syncro DGC-850 80+ Platinum
Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming AM4 DDR4 ATX
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Kingston HyperX Fury Beast RGB 16GB DDR4 PC4-28800C18 3600MHz (x2)
Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XT Pulse 20GB GDDR6
Crucial P3P 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 NVMe SSD (CT2000P3PSSD8)
be quiet! Pure Loop 2 FX 360 ARGB CPU Cooler 360 mm (BW015)
be quiet! Light Wings ARGB 140 mm PWM Triple Fan Black (BL078)
be quiet! Light Wings ARGB 140 mm PWM Fan Black (BL074)
be quiet! Light Wings ARGB 120 mm HS PWM Triple Fan Black (BL077)
EK-Loop D-RGB Extension Cable (510mm) (x2)
EK-Cable PWM Extension Cable (30cm)
Arctic MX-6 Thermal Compound 2g
I also used an Aqua Computer Aquaero Temp Sensor 70 cm (53026) left over from my old (water-cooled) system. I mounted this to the side of the top case fans, where it is out of the airflow and where I figured heat build-up would be the greatest.
The AIO came with 3 x bq! BL077 high-speed 120 fans, and I added a second set for a push/pull setup. The four bq! 140 mm BL074 low-speed fans are for the case, 3 top, 1 rear. I built the rig with the six 120 mm radiator fans blowing air into the case, and the four 140 mm case fans blowing air out. The top fans were just above the GPU so the theory was they would suck out the rising heat.
The case temp during stress testing was easily getting up to 35 C and the GPU was getting too hot, I had to really ramp up the fan curves to keep the card within limits. I swapped the top case fans to blow air in, and this surprisingly dropped case and GPU temps significantly. I guess the proximity of the top case fans to the GPU affected the flow of air into the card’s cooler by the GPU fans. Anyway, I now have 9 fans blowing air into the case, and one blowing it out. CPU temps weren’t affected by blowing warm air from the GPU over the AIO block, so the upside-down case design didn’t help with this build.
The bq! fans are far quieter than the Typhoon’s included with the case. I work on the PC during the day and its almost completely silent. Even at full tilt, the fan noise isn’t too bad.
Front
Back
Radiator
Rear Case Fan
Got this lot in 1990 on a SystemPro maintenance course in Richmond. Still works!
Build Mat
I started out looking at the usual Intel / nVidia options and ended up with AMD / AMD which was a surprise. My last AMD build was an Athlon 64 3200+ and ATi Radeon X800 GT in 2005. I went for the AM4 platform as I got most of the performance of AM5 for ~£500 less. I don’t upgrade my system often enough for future proofing to matter. The 5800X3D is a great value CPU for MSFS, and the 20GB of VRAM on the 7800 XT should cope with the next release of MSFS.
I chose the upside-down Q704 case because I liked the design of having the GPU at the top of the case so rising heat won’t affect the CPU (the reality was slightly different!) The Q704 is also good value for money as it comes with a platinum 850-watt PSU.
Seasonic Syncro Q704 Midi Tower inc. Syncro DGC-850 80+ Platinum
Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming AM4 DDR4 ATX
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D
Kingston HyperX Fury Beast RGB 16GB DDR4 PC4-28800C18 3600MHz (x2)
Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XT Pulse 20GB GDDR6
Crucial P3P 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 NVMe SSD (CT2000P3PSSD8)
be quiet! Pure Loop 2 FX 360 ARGB CPU Cooler 360 mm (BW015)
be quiet! Light Wings ARGB 140 mm PWM Triple Fan Black (BL078)
be quiet! Light Wings ARGB 140 mm PWM Fan Black (BL074)
be quiet! Light Wings ARGB 120 mm HS PWM Triple Fan Black (BL077)
EK-Loop D-RGB Extension Cable (510mm) (x2)
EK-Cable PWM Extension Cable (30cm)
Arctic MX-6 Thermal Compound 2g
I also used an Aqua Computer Aquaero Temp Sensor 70 cm (53026) left over from my old (water-cooled) system. I mounted this to the side of the top case fans, where it is out of the airflow and where I figured heat build-up would be the greatest.
The AIO came with 3 x bq! BL077 high-speed 120 fans, and I added a second set for a push/pull setup. The four bq! 140 mm BL074 low-speed fans are for the case, 3 top, 1 rear. I built the rig with the six 120 mm radiator fans blowing air into the case, and the four 140 mm case fans blowing air out. The top fans were just above the GPU so the theory was they would suck out the rising heat.
The case temp during stress testing was easily getting up to 35 C and the GPU was getting too hot, I had to really ramp up the fan curves to keep the card within limits. I swapped the top case fans to blow air in, and this surprisingly dropped case and GPU temps significantly. I guess the proximity of the top case fans to the GPU affected the flow of air into the card’s cooler by the GPU fans. Anyway, I now have 9 fans blowing air into the case, and one blowing it out. CPU temps weren’t affected by blowing warm air from the GPU over the AIO block, so the upside-down case design didn’t help with this build.
The bq! fans are far quieter than the Typhoon’s included with the case. I work on the PC during the day and its almost completely silent. Even at full tilt, the fan noise isn’t too bad.
Front
Back
Radiator
Rear Case Fan
Got this lot in 1990 on a SystemPro maintenance course in Richmond. Still works!
Build Mat
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