What do you think of this build?

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Hi,

It’s been nearly 8 years (and a few more grey hairs!) since I bought all my parts from Overclockers to build my first PC.

I recently tried to download Windows 11, but my PC didn’t meet the CPU requirements (I’m using an Intel i3), so I think it's time for a new build.

I'll mainly use the PC for MS Office and web browsing, with occasional CAD work and gaming most flight simulator & racing type games.

What do you think of this build? And is the graphics card I've chosen (PowerColor Hellhound OC Radeon RX 7700 XT 12 GB) a good option?

Here are my curremt Parts:

CPU

CPU AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 4.7 GHz 12-Core Processor

CPU Cooler


Lian Li Galahad II Trinity SL-INF 61.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler

Motherboard

Asus ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard

RAM

Memory Corsair Vengeance RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory

Storage

Solidigm P44 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive

Solidigm P44 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive

Graphics Card

PowerColor Hellhound OC Radeon RX 7700 XT 12 GB Video Card

Case

Case Fractal Design North XL ATX Full Tower Case

Power Supply

Power Supply Corsair RM1000e (2023) 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply

Fans

Fractal Design Aspect 14 RGB PWM 78 CFM 140 mm Fan

Fractal Design Aspect 14 RGB 41 CFM 140 mm Fans 3-Pack




Thanks
 
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What do you think of this build?
Hard to make good comments when we don't have part prices because you might be making good picks given the prices available to you.

And is the graphics card I've chosen (PowerColor Hellhound OC Radeon RX 7700 XT 12 GB) a good option?
What CAD software do you use? I know a lot of this software is not very demanding, but are you sure it runs well on AMD graphics?

I recently tried to download Windows 11, but my PC didn’t meet the CPU requirements (I’m using an Intel i3), so I think it's time for a new build.
Which i3 specifically? 6th and 7th gen PCs can be made compatible with Windows 11's installer, even without removing the hardware requirements with RUFUS (or similar).

CPU Cooler
You can cool these CPUs with a peerless assassin/phantom spirit, which is much cheaper than most AIOs.

CPU AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 4.7 GHz 12-Core Processor
Do you use the cores with your software? If you don't, the 7800X3D/9800X3D are likely to be the best option (and sims+some racing games tend to like the cache too), however current prices on the 7800X3D are really inflated.

Note that the 7900 non-X comes with a cooler you could keep and use in an emergency (e.g. problems with the AIO and it needing to be sent back), but the 7900X does not.

Power Supply Corsair RM1000e (2023) 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply
These aren't bad PSUs, but tend to be priced high, considering they are a step down in warranty length and build compared to the RMx SHIFT (which is not compatible with all cases).
 
specifically MS flight sim..that games loves x3d cpus, and also dlss...assetto corsa also for drivng sim. I'd be tempted to wait for the 9000 series x3d release next week. from leaked benchmarx, the 9800x3d has much improved performance for non gaming applications..if it does well in gaming, might drive down the price of 7000 series x3d cpu's..actually see the 7800x3d just dropped £40 odd below £400 again all of a sudden.. hmm, must be a coincidence with the 9800x3d performance leaks..


Crucial T500 2tb cheaper on ocuk than the p44 pro for similar performance/endurance
 
Thanks for all your replies,much appreciated I'll try answer all of them in this post.

In terms of pricing see below, (I couldn't edit my original post)


* I will mostly be using the PC for CAD work with software such as Revit & AutoCad to produce floor plans.

*Main reason to upgrade to Windows 11, I heard some point next year Microsoft will stop provinding support for windows 10.

*I also want a new PC so I can pass my current one on to my daughter, who’s starting her GCSEs. She's using a laptop that isn’t the best (perfect excuse to justify a new PC to the missus)!



CPU

CPU AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 4.7 GHz 12-Core Processor £314.97

CPU Cooler

Lian Li Galahad II Trinity SL-INF 61.3 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler £169

Motherboard

Asus ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard £204.95

RAM

Memory Corsair Vengeance RGB 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL36 Memory £104.98

Storage

Solidigm P44 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive £90.97

Solidigm P44 Pro 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive £154.47

Graphics Card

PowerColor Hellhound OC Radeon RX 7700 XT 12 GB Video Card £368.58

Case

Case Fractal Design North XL ATX Full Tower Case £164.97

Power Supply

Power Supply Corsair RM1000e (2023) 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply £119.99

Fans

Fractal Design Aspect 14 RGB PWM 78 CFM 140 mm Fan £23.27

Fractal Design Aspect 14 RGB 41 CFM 140 mm Fans 3-Pack £36.97

Total £1,753.12
 
* I will mostly be using the PC for CAD work with software such as Revit & AutoCad to produce floor plans.

CPU AMD Ryzen 9 7900X 4.7 GHz 12-Core Processor £314.97
It depends on the software and how you're using it, but the 9700X despite being less effective with multithreaded has higher single thread performance and in Puget's Autocad article, they say that it is primarily single threaded?

PowerColor Hellhound OC Radeon RX 7700 XT 12 GB Video Card £368.58
The Hellhound is a nice card, but the 7700 XT has been on offer quite a lot recently, as low as £300, whereas you're approaching 7800 XT money there. It is not a terrible buy, but something to keep in mind.

Asus ROG STRIX B650E-F GAMING WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard £204.95
If you care about USB4 you can get X870 boards for that kind of money (or a bit more).

Case Fractal Design North XL ATX Full Tower Case £164.97

Fans

Fractal Design Aspect 14 RGB PWM 78 CFM 140 mm Fan £23.27

Fractal Design Aspect 14 RGB 41 CFM 140 mm Fans 3-Pack £36.97
From what can I gather (I find their website confusing), this case comes with 3x140mm fans, right? If it does, you don't really need those extra ones.

I'm more a fan of cases that include the fans like Lian Li's 216 and Antec's C5.
 
thanks for your post, much appreciated ;).

I've added the prices on a seperate post now, the builds coming up to nearly £1753 :eek:

I'll be mostly using Autocad and revit. CAD for populating 2d drawings and producing takeoffs with Bluebeam.

Just checked my CPUS again, it actually a i5 (Intel Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail).

Not sure if I use the CPU cores lol , I'll check out the CPU's you mentioned.




Hard to make good comments when we don't have part prices because you might be making good picks given the prices available to you.


What CAD software do you use? I know a lot of this software is not very demanding, but are you sure it runs well on AMD graphics?


Which i3 specifically? 6th and 7th gen PCs can be made compatible with Windows 11's installer, even without removing the hardware requirements with RUFUS (or similar).


You can cool these CPUs with a peerless assassin/phantom spirit, which is much cheaper than most AIOs.


Do you use the cores with your software? If you don't, the 7800X3D/9800X3D are likely to be the best option (and sims+some racing games tend to like the cache too), however current prices on the 7800X3D are really inflated.

Note that the 7900 non-X comes with a cooler you could keep and use in an emergency (e.g. problems with the AIO and it needing to be sent back), but the 7900X does not.


These aren't bad PSUs, but tend to be priced high, considering they are a step down in warranty length and build compared to the RMx SHIFT (which is not compatible with all cases).
 
Just checked my CPUS again, it actually a i5 (Intel Core i5-6600K 3.9GHz (Skylake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail).
Since you're planning to hand it down, it doesn't really matter, but yeah, you can run Windows 11 on that CPU without 'hacks'.

It requires secure boot to be enabled and a TPM 2.0 module installed (assuming there's a header available). Once that's done it will work fine (don't attempt it when there's data to lose on the PC).

A 7th gen CPU loses less performance than a 6th gen CPU when all of the Windows 11 security features are enabled (the majority of Skylake PCs can be upgraded to a 7th gen).
 
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I'm assuming the case is a must (and the fractal is very nice looking indeed), but going somewhat cheaper case, you can go from a 7700XT to a 4070super. As @tetrus says, at over £200, you're in x870 pricing just about. Ended up doing a white build just to see with the asrock pro rs wifi. Has actually beefier vrm's than the b650e-f, not that it makes a difference, but it does run cool in stress test that HU did on the board. Also has wifi7 if you ever upgrade router down the line, and the 2 usb4 - c type 40gbs connections on the back if you need to do large data transfers etc..still has 3 m.2, one of which is pcie5 and pcie5 gpu slot. board can be found cheaper elsewhere also
the 7800x3d of course is a gaming cpu..the 9800x3d is being shipped on 7th nov, and pricing in the US has just been release at $479 which equates to £371.40 at currect exchange rate..would have been less but sterling been hit a bit in last 2 days..add 20% vat and that's £444.68 (be interesting if the sell it for £450 or just do the usual 1:1 ration and £480)...reviews might show it's good for productivity as well as the 3dv cache is now placed below the cpu die, meaning the cpu can ran at higher clock speed, so be better for non gaming applications too...anyway..price revieal shows why the 7800x3d just had £50 slashed off it's price

worst case if reviews are up to scratch for productivity, the price is the same as the 9900X, and the 7900x is cheaper...so gives you an idea anyway

still have 2 ssd..the g70 and t500 are both decent drives like the p44 pro, just cheaper

ocuk doesn't have the best selection of white ram, so stuch black in anyway as placeholder...you can of course swap everything for black..the psu is £10 cheaper and you can save £30 going for a zotac twin edge 5070super, or swithc to a 3 fan design card at same price...so really, price should dip below £1700 more so if you go 7900x

edit: clicked wrong arctic 36..same cooler non b grade is same price

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £1,741.79 (includes delivery: £0.00)​
 
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Thanks, Craig, for your post—really appreciate it! :)

After considering my options, I came full circle and decided on the Fractal North case, so will be sticking to this.

I’ve made a few changes to my original build based on the suggestions and have settled on the following. :)

Before finalizing my order with OC, I need an alternative graphics card since the one I selected is currently on pre-order. Also, are there any compatibility issues I should be aware of?

Thank you.



1 X Fractal Design North XL Full Tower Charcoal Black Case - £169.99
SKU
: CAS-FTL-02372

1 X AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail - £399.95
SKU
: CP-3DT-AM

1 X Lian Li Galahad II Trinity SL-INF AIO 360mm ARGB CPU Water Cooler - Black - £169.99
SKU
: HS-00N-LL

1 X MSI MAG X870 Tomahawk WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard - £279.99
SKU
: MOT-MSI-03298

1 X Crucial P3 PLUS 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 NVMe Solid State Drive - £100.99
SKU
: HD-07B-CR

1 X Crucial P3 PLUS 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 NVMe Solid State Drive - £58.99
SKU
: HD-07A-CR

1 X Corsair RM850x Shift ATX 3.0 80 Plus Gold Power Supply (CP-9020252-UK) - £149.99
SKU
: CA-279-CS

1 X Lian Li UNI SL120 INF Addressable RGB Black 120mm Fan - £29.99
SKU
: FG-00Z-LL

1 X Lian Li UNI SL120 INF Addressable RGB Black 120mm Fan Triple Pack with Controller - £89.98
SKU
: FG-011-LL

1 X Corsair Vengeance RGB EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel - £98.99
SKU
: MEM-CRS-00997

1 X Gigabyte Radeon RX 7800 XT Gaming OC 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card - £399.95
SKU
: GRA-GIG-03709

Grand Total: £1,948.80
 
I need an alternative graphics card since the one I selected is currently on pre-order.

1 X Gigabyte Radeon RX 7800 XT Gaming OC 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card - £399.95
You could get the XFX for roughly the same. OCUK have Sapphire's Pulse for an extra £20.

Also, are there any compatibility issues I should be aware of?
Looks fine, but I must say those drives are a step down on the T500 in Craig's spec or the P44 Pro in your original spec. They're DRAMless QLC-based, as opposed to DRAM TLC-based (rated TBW: 1200 in 2TB capacity, whereas the P3 Plus is 440).
 
You could get the XFX for roughly the same. OCUK have Sapphire's Pulse for an extra £20.


Looks fine, but I must say those drives are a step down on the T500 in Craig's spec or the P44 Pro in your original spec. They're DRAMless QLC-based, as opposed to DRAM TLC-based (rated TBW: 1200 in 2TB capacity, whereas the P3 Plus is 440).
Thank you for highlighting this. I've swapped the drives back to the original spec.
 
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