Spec me a PC - £1500

[tamzzy]

@Colin_M just FYI, i had a quick look at that rainforest site. the X34p is a huge £150 off compared to OCUK's prices!
up to you if you think the 950F is worth the extra £300.

(brings total cost to £350 less than your revised spec)

 

[Colin_M]

Thanks both, I am pretty keen on the LG but that is a decent saving so I'll do some further research before making a decision.

With the WD Blue SSD and 9700K on sale it seems like a worthwhile upgrade and PSU only £5 more.

I think I prefer the Corsair case and it's slightly cheaper so I'll stick with that.

Is the cooler really worth the additional cost on the basis I'm unlikely to overclock?

Changed the mobo back to the one orbitalwalsh originally spec'd. It's out of stock here but available and cheaper elsewhere. This seems to fit between the two and still keeps the PC under £1500.

Thoughts on this?

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x be quiet! Dark Rock 4 CPU Cooler= £61.99
• 1 x Corsair Carbide 275Q Silent Midi Tower Case - Black (CC-9011164-WW)= £69.95
• 1 x WD Blue 3D NAND 1TB 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0A)= £109.99
• 1 x MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ventus 8192MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £659.99
• 2 x Arctic Cooling P14 PWM PST Black Fan - 140mm= £6.95
• 1 x Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6GHz (Coffee Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - OEM= £349.99
• 1 x Gigabyte Z390 Gaming X Intel Z390 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £137.99
• 1 x Antec EarthWatts Gold Pro 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £79.99

Total: £1,496.99 (includes shipping: £13.20)
​

 

[tamzzy]

I think I prefer the Corsair case and it's slightly cheaper so I'll stick with that.

it isn't well ventilated. but up to you. your money.

Is the cooler really worth the additional cost on the basis I'm unlikely to overclock?

yes. intel turboboost allows the cpu to run at higher frequencies if it doesn't reach thermal limits.

Thoughts on this?

it won't run. no ram.

This seems to fit between the two and still keeps the PC under £1500.

i don't know why you'd want to split the budget if you need/are buying a whole new system. you should consider it (tower and peripherals) holistically.

 

[Colin_M]

it isn't well ventilated. but up to you. your money.

Fair enough, any other cases you would recommend? I'd prefer something compact and understated. No glass would be my preference and as quiet as possible.

yes. intel turboboost allows the cpu to run at higher frequencies if it doesn't reach thermal limits.

ok I'll get it changed.

it won't run. no ram.

Damn thought the price seemed low!

i don't know why you'd want to split the budget if you need/are buying a whole new system. you should consider it (tower and peripherals) holistically.

Point taken I'm just still very undecided on peripherals.

 

[tamzzy]

Fair enough, any other cases you would recommend? I'd prefer something compact and understated. No glass would be my preference and as quiet as possible.

not at the price point. to get a solid case, you'd have to compromise on noise or thermals.
i suggest just suck it up and get with the times. all half-decent cases at the £75 price point will have tempered glass side panels nowadays.

if you can't compromise, then:
My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x be quiet! Pure Base 600 Midi Tower Case - Black= £82.99
• 1 x Fractal Design Meshify C Midi Tower Case - Black= £74.99

Total: £171.18 (includes shipping: £13.20)​

​

pure base 600 will be quieter but poorly ventilated, so your cpu/gpu will run hotter.
meshify will be noiser, but cooler.
h500 is a compromise between those two.

Point taken I'm just still very undecided on peripherals.

just name your total budget and one of us will try and get the best value build.

 

[Colin_M]

just name your total budget and one of us will try and get the best value build.

Total budget is £3K but less would be better

Main use is going to be sim racing so iracing, ACC, RaceRoom some FPS games, VR and general browsing / office use.

Budget is to include the PC, Monitor, Keyboard, Mouse and mat, headphones with mic, stereo speakers would be good but not essential, sound card if needed and OS.

As mentioned I prefer discrete looks for the case and peripherals and want the system to be as quiet as possible whilst not running too hot.

I appreciate there are cheaper monitor options however I am fairly set on the 34GK950F so unlikely to budge on that.

Also been reading up on headsets and it does seem most people recommend getting standard audio headphones such as the and add a mic such as the AKG K702 and modmic 4.

Keyboard and mouse doesn’t need to be anything special but would prefer wireless at least for the mouse.

 

[tamzzy]

you've already practically decided what peripherals you want, so i can't be bothered to change your mind. so just stuck with what you went for.
left a bit of budget for your headset and windows.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x LG 34GK950F 34" 3440x1440 NANO IPS FREESYNC HDR 144Hz 1ms Curved Widescreen LED Monitor= £1,099.99
• 1 x Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6GHz (Coffee Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - OEM= £349.99
• 1 x Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Elite Intel Z390 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £179.99
• 1 x MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ventus 8192MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £659.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2D30= £98.99
• 1 x Antec EarthWatts Gold Pro 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £79.99
• 1 x WD Blue 3D NAND 1TB 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0A)= £109.99
• 1 x be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 CPU Cooler= £73.99
• 1 x Fractal Design Define R6 Midi Tower Case - Gunmetal Grey= £124.99
• 1 x OcUK Mega Mat XXL Premium Elite Tactical Gaming Surface= £16.99
• 1 x Logitech G305 Lightspeed Next-Generation Wireless USB Optical Gaming Mouse (910-005283)= £44.99
• 1 x Logitech G213 Prodigy RGB Gaming Keyboard (920-008091)= £49.99

Total: £2,912.98 (includes shipping: £23.10)​

​

 

[Colin_M]

you've already practically decided what peripherals you want, so i can't be bothered to change your mind. so just stuck with what you went for.
left a bit of budget for your headset and windows.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x LG 34GK950F 34" 3440x1440 NANO IPS FREESYNC HDR 144Hz 1ms Curved Widescreen LED Monitor= £1,099.99
• 1 x Intel Core i7-9700K 3.6GHz (Coffee Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - OEM= £349.99
• 1 x Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Elite Intel Z390 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £179.99
• 1 x MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ventus 8192MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £659.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2D30= £98.99
• 1 x Antec EarthWatts Gold Pro 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £79.99
• 1 x WD Blue 3D NAND 1TB 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0A)= £109.99
• 1 x be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 CPU Cooler= £73.99
• 1 x Fractal Design Define R6 Midi Tower Case - Gunmetal Grey= £124.99
• 1 x OcUK Mega Mat XXL Premium Elite Tactical Gaming Surface= £16.99
• 1 x Logitech G305 Lightspeed Next-Generation Wireless USB Optical Gaming Mouse (910-005283)= £44.99
• 1 x Logitech G213 Prodigy RGB Gaming Keyboard (920-008091)= £49.99

Total: £2,912.98 (includes shipping: £23.10)
​

Thanks tamzzy really appreciate it and all looks good to me. I get you're not keen on my choice of peripherals but you think this is a good choice for the PC that should last me a number of years and give scope to upgrade.

What is the reason for this mobo over say the gaming version that's slightly cheaper. Happy to pay the extra if it's worth it just thinking it may be overkill for me?

Also, is it worth me getting adding the two case fans?

 

[tamzzy]

that should last me a number of years

yes

give scope to upgrade

no. unfortunately with intel, you're on a dead-end platform. the only scope you have to upgrade to, is to the 9900k. see my previous post (quoted below for reference).

with respect to:
1) CPU:
intel has the single-core lead due to its clockspeed advantage. as @orbitalwalsh has said, an overclocked intel would be better for gaming workloads. (intel 9900k vs ryzen 2700x = ~12% in favour of intel).
however, as intel likes to change its CPU sockets frequently, you're (potentially) buying into a dead end route. though granted the future upgrade options you have are the 9700k and the 9900k.
whereas with AMD, they're going to support their AM4 platform until 2020. what this means is that ryzen 3000 (which is going to be released in 3-4 months) and potentially ryzen 4000 are going to be supported. now with ryzen 3000 series, AMD are gunning for intel's single-core lead and also piling on the cores on their CPU - so expect to see a 16 core chip for ryzen 3000.

What is the reason for this mobo over say the gaming version that's slightly cheaper. Happy to pay the extra if it's worth it just thinking it may be overkill for me?

better VRMs. will handle a 9900k's power draw

Also, is it worth me getting adding the two case fans?

no. define r6 comes with 3 fans preinstalled. hence you don't need to get any extra ones.

 

[Colin_M]

Thanks again for the help. The AMD spec does come out a bit cheaper..

I'll have a think tomorrow and make a decision.

Thanks

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x WD Blue 3D NAND 1TB 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0A)= £109.99
• 1 x Antec EarthWatts Gold Pro 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £79.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2D30= £98.99
• 1 x LG 34GK950F 34" 3440x1440 NANO IPS FREESYNC HDR 144Hz 1ms Curved Widescreen LED Monitor= £1,099.99
• 1 x be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 CPU Cooler= £73.99
• 1 x OcUK Mega Mat XXL Premium Elite Tactical Gaming Surface= £16.99
• 1 x Sapphire Radeon RX VEGA VII 16GB HBM2 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £649.99
• 1 x MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £119.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 Eight Core 2700X 4.35GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £329.99
• 1 x Logitech G213 Prodigy RGB Gaming Keyboard (920-008091)= £49.99
• 1 x Logitech G305 Lightspeed Next-Generation Wireless USB Optical Gaming Mouse (910-005283)= £44.99
• 1 x Fractal Design Define R6 Midi Tower Case - Gunmetal Grey= £124.99

Total: £2,822.98 (includes shipping: £23.10)​

​

 

[Vish Petrol]

Thanks again for the help. The AMD spec does come out a bit cheaper..

I'll have a think tomorrow and make a decision.

Thanks

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x WD Blue 3D NAND 1TB 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0A)= £109.99
• 1 x Antec EarthWatts Gold Pro 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply= £79.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2D30= £98.99
• 1 x LG 34GK950F 34" 3440x1440 NANO IPS FREESYNC HDR 144Hz 1ms Curved Widescreen LED Monitor= £1,099.99
• 1 x be quiet! Dark Rock Pro 4 CPU Cooler= £73.99
• 1 x OcUK Mega Mat XXL Premium Elite Tactical Gaming Surface= £16.99
• 1 x Sapphire Radeon RX VEGA VII 16GB HBM2 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £649.99
• 1 x MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £119.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 Eight Core 2700X 4.35GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £329.99
• 1 x Logitech G213 Prodigy RGB Gaming Keyboard (920-008091)= £49.99
• 1 x Logitech G305 Lightspeed Next-Generation Wireless USB Optical Gaming Mouse (910-005283)= £44.99
• 1 x Fractal Design Define R6 Midi Tower Case - Gunmetal Grey= £124.99

Total: £2,822.98 (includes shipping: £23.10)
​

+1 for the AMD system but save some money by getting a 2700 or 2600 and overclocking it. You won't see any difference between the at such a high resolution the difference between my Ryzen 1700 at 3.6 and 3.9 is nothing and if I had the 6 core 1600 there wouldnt be any real difference as the GPU is usually the bottleneck at higher res. I also game at 3440x1440. Put the savings towards a higher clocking 3000/4000 series cpu when they are on clearance in a few years as a drop in upgrade. The Radeon VII's 16gb HBM will hold up better with performance/value further down the line compared to the RTX cards.

The WD blue SSD's are slow in comparison to an M.2 NVME drive.

You can get an intel 660p m.2 1TB for £110 elsewhere or 2TB for £190 with the savings on the processor if you want a bigger SSD, and either will just slot right into the mobo. Intel SSD drives have historically been excellent and come with a long warranty.

I would also suggest a larger capacity power supply the 750W EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G2 LED is a much better buy for £79.99 from another site or the 850w version for £99.99 both with 10 year warranties. I was going to buy one but am going to be purchasing a white PSU

The ram has relatively loose timings and Ryzens infinity fabric benefits from faster frequency/timings. It may be worth getting some faster memory, whether its with a higher frequency, or lower timings

Lower timings
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...hannel-kit-black-cmk16gx4m2b30-my-445-cs.html

Even lower timings
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/g.sk...3000mhz-dual-channel-kit-black-my-10w-gs.html

Higher frequency
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cors...hannel-kit-black-cmk16gx4m2b32-my-456-cs.html

 

[tamzzy]

Thanks again for the help. The AMD spec does come out a bit cheaper..

That looks freakishly similar to my original spec
Except that if you look closely enough, you'd find that I've specced a 750w PSU. You'd need that ideally to run the GPU.

The WD blue SSD's are slow in comparison to an M.2 NVME drive.

That is indeed true. However, it is well recognised that nvme does not give significant real world gains outside of benchmarks for uses such as gaming.
If OP was hammering the storage subsystem (eg same-drive write/copy or video editing) then yes, nvme would be a better fit.
But for the same price, then yeah, nvme would be the better value choice.
Although that being said, I don't quite trust these QLC nand drives just yet. Reliability is still a wee bit unproven as they've only been out on the market for 6 months.

 

[orbitalwalsh]

grab x470 carbon ! b450 carbon is great, but if you plan to keep system for long run with ryzen 4000 in the long run , step up the board.
x570 budget boards should match or beat that x470 carbon there ^^ - all i can say for the time being . even at 7nm with 12 plus cores... takes a lot of juice when OC'd

as tamz has mentioned, 750W min!

worth looking at benchmarks for ryzen vs intel with rift. guessing you'll be CPU bound as well as GPU