Upgrading my PC

imsafethanx · Saturday at 23:40

Hey everyone

Need a little help in choosing the next PC upgrade.
I'll only be gaming on my PC and nothing else. I've been an Intel guy since day dot so all I've known is that. Never been torn away as it's always been reliable

I have tried to research but get a little lost in all the tech talk.

I have came up with this for now, I'm sure you'll change what you think is necessary and if there is something better or equivalent than me spending over the odds for something I don't need.

Price wise, yes I'd love it cheaper but I'd be happier around the 2k
I have a monitor ATM which I'll still use - 27"
I have been looking though for maybe a wide-screen 32"/34"? If you'd like to maybe suggest?
That would also be very nice of you ‍

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cart/restore/12b304bcc512cae540b487e21e8cf950

Hopefully that works

Many thanks

Gray2233 · Saturday at 23:45

imsafethanx said:
I'll only be gaming on my PC and nothing else. I've been an Intel guy since day dot so all I've known is that. Never been torn away as it's always been reliable

Then you'll be sad to know that Intel Raptor Lake (aka what the CPU you've chosen is) has well known problems with degradation, there's a fair chance you could run into problems with it and even die hard Intel fans are loathe to recommend them due to the fact. As far as we know the follow on series (Core Ultra) doesn't have those problems, but is so-so as a gaming CPU compared to even the prior generation.

That aside there's some iffy choices, a lot of unnecessary money on some components.

I take it that your budget is in the region of £2400-2500 or would you be willing to spend more?

What is the exact specification of your current PC?

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D Six Core 4.70GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-04829) = £269.99
1 x Phanteks AMP GH 1000W 80PLUS Platinum ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02521) = £128.99
1 x UK Mains Plug with 13A Fuse to IEC C13 Socket Lead 10A 2m (SKU: ACC-OCS-01709) = £0.00
1 x Crucial T500 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-01090) = £128.98
1 x PNY XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-PNY-04561) = £80.00
1 x MSI B850M Gaming Plus WIFI6E (AMD AM5) B850 DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-MSI-05943) = £149.98
1 x Antec CX600M ARGB M-ATX Mini Tower - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-04160) = £54.95
1 x Palit GeForce RTX 5080 Gaming Pro V1 16GB GDDR7 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-PAL-05810) = £929.99
1 x Thermalright Aqua Elite 360 Black ARGB V3 All In One CPU Cooler (SKU: COO-TLR-03256) = £49.99

Total: £1,804.86 (includes delivery: £11.98)

This would be faster than what you selected for a £500 or so less, you could spend another £200 and get the 9800X3D which is more powerful but not necessarily worth the cost.

The T500 will be just as fast as the more costly drive you selected for gaming, you're not benefiting from a high speed gen 5 drive.

The Thermalright AiO will perform just as well at a fraction of the cost as that NZXT model you selected for £200.

AMD is by far the strongest option right now for pure gaming, and has proven to be a lot more reliable than Intel over the past few years.

If you really wanted to push the boat out into the £2500 or so range you'd be better off going with what I've listed and ponying up another £200 to fit in a 5090, which is substantially faster than the 5080.

imsafethanx · Saturday at 23:56

Cheers for the quick reply
Obviously I'd go for AMD if that's better as a gaming rig. I've just never had a problem or issue with Intel
I'd like it to be around the 2k mark but I'm open to suggestions.
I would really like the PC to last me more than say 5 years without having to upgrade it.

My current PC is as follows
I7 10700 3.80GHz
3080
32 GB Ram Team Group 3600MHz
1TB WD Red X2 I think
Fractal 360 cooling fans
MSI motherboard
Aorus AD27QD monitor

Gray2233 · Sunday at 00:03

imsafethanx said:
Cheers for the quick reply
Obviously I'd go for AMD if that's better as a gaming rig. I've just never had a problem or issue with Intel

I edited/listed a build idea in my initial post that should fit the bill.

You could save more on the PSU too tbh, a good 850w version of the AMP for around £90-100 would be ample for the build, but the 1000w Platinum model is pretty well priced, I'd happily move that thing into another build after 5 years.

It's M-ATX but that's just a personal preference, you could move to a different ATX supporting case and appropriate motherboard for around the same money.

It's a shame regarding the Intel chips, Raptor Lake is actually a solid CPU series outside of the degradation problems and just aren't worth the risk, and as mentioned the new Core Ultra series is underwhelming in gaming but can be really good for work/productivity.

Tetras · Sunday at 00:07

imsafethanx said:
I have came up with this for now, I'm sure you'll change what you think is necessary and if there is something better or equivalent than me spending over the odds for something I don't need.

Price wise, yes I'd love it cheaper but I'd be happier around the 2k

It doesn't make sense to buy a 14900KF at this point, with big question marks over how long they will last and the potential power/heat you'd have to deal with.

If you're set on Intel, I'd go for a 265K. They're decently priced with the recent price cuts and though the 14900K/KF is a faster gaming CPU overall, you're unlikely to notice the difference at a higher resolution.

The best gaming CPU right now is the 9800X3D, but that's AMD.

I don't know if you're going for a white build or not, let us know.

Don't buy a monitor I suggest, I can't recommend one.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (Arrow Lake) Socket LGA 1851 Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-INT-03111) = £289.99
1 x Gigabyte Z890 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 ICE (LGA1851) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-GIG-03484) = £229.99
1 x Crucial Pro OC 64GB (2x32GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C40 6400MHz UDIMM Dual Channel Kit - White (SKU: MEM-CRU-04380) = £200.00
1 x XFX Quicksilver Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming Edition White 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-XFX-05453) = £619.99
1 x Crucial T500 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-01090) = £128.99
1 x Lian Li Lancool 216 Mid-tower PC case - White (SKU: CA-7B9-LL) = £95.98
1 x Phanteks AMP GH 850W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - White (SKU: POW-PHK-02520) = £114.95
1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE A-RGB White CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02666) = £34.99
1 x Philips 34" EVNIA 5000 34M2C5501A/00 2560x1440 Fast VA 180Hz 1ms Ambiglow Curved Widescreen Gaming Monitor (SKU: MON-PHP-03535) = £248.99

Total: £1,963.87 (includes delivery: £0.00)

imsafethanx · Sunday at 00:42

I appreciate the info

No I'm not 100% with Intel and can be persuaded to switch and go for AMD if that's purely based on a gaming PC.
I've just always had Intel

The 9800X3D would be the better option and I wouldn't mind paying that little bit extra to get the better running PC

Again white isn't a preference tbh just looked at certain PC's that had the best air flows. Again I've always liked NZXT.
If there is something better out there I'm all ears

What's the difference between the graphics cards other than massive price difference? Are Nvidia way better than AMD or is that not the case?

Many thanks again

Gray2233 · Sunday at 00:51

imsafethanx said:
What's the difference between the graphics cards other than massive price difference? Are Nvidia way better than AMD or is that not the case?

The 5080 is faster by around 15-20%, the 9070XT is roughly as quick in raw performance as a 5070ti.

The differences between Nvidia and AMD mainly are that Nvidia has DLSS upscaling whereas AMD has FSR, the 9000 series cards supporting FSR 4. The problem there being that FSR4 isn't as well supported or quite as good (although there's not much between them), there are workarounds to get FSR4 in most games but they're not perfect and can even trigger anti-cheat software. After that Nvidia also offers superior ray/path tracing, which is becoming more and more prevalent with some games even requiring it to be on such as the latest Doom.

That said, the 9070XT can be had for £600 and the 5070ti for around £680, I'd struggle to recommend the 5070ti over the AMD card, let alone spending a lot more money for an arguably minor increase to the 5080. However, if you intend to keep this system for 5 years without any upgrades that 15-20% could go a long way.

imsafethanx · Sunday at 01:01

Yes this graphics card needs to last me at least 5 years worth of gaming.
Cheers for the break down of the graphics cards ‍

I'll definitely go at least with the 5080

Tetras · Sunday at 14:10

imsafethanx said:
No I'm not 100% with Intel and can be persuaded to switch and go for AMD if that's purely based on a gaming PC.
I've just always had Intel

The 9800X3D would be the better option and I wouldn't mind paying that little bit extra to get the better running PC

Here's an ATX build with a 7800X3D and a 5080.

Same comment about the monitor as before, I can't recommend anything.

Personally, I'd spend another £100-£250+ to fit different parts (e.g. PCI-E 5.0 capable motherboard, higher capacity memory, higher-end SSD, 1000 watt PSU, maybe a different/better monitor), because I'm skimping on almost everything to get it under £2000. If it HAD to be under, I'd consider keeping your monitor for awhile longer.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £349.99
1 x MSI PRO B650-S WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-MSI-03371) = £124.99
1 x TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G6000HC38ADC01) (SKU: MY-0B2-TG) = £79.99
1 x Palit GeForce RTX 5080 Gaming Pro V1 16GB GDDR7 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-PAL-05810) = £929.99
1 x Team Group MP44L 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-TMG-03129) = £99.95
1 x Montech AIR 903 Base Midi-Tower Tempered Glass - Black (SKU: CAS-MON-01227) = £49.99
1 x Phanteks AMP GH 850W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02519) = £104.99
1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02665) = £29.99

1 x LG 34" 34WR50QK-B 3440x1440 VA 100Hz 1ms FreeSync UltraWide Gaming Monitor (SKU: MON-LGC-03335) = £228.95

Total: £1,998.83 (includes delivery: £0.00)