Should I buy...

Aug 23, 2020
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Happy Sunday!
I currently own have a Surface Book 2 (1060 GPU 16gb Ram) - It's ok. Whilst I did not buy it to game on, turns out it's a little worse than hoped. Thankfully good at the good stuff ....

So alas, as someone who is getting into PC gaming. Things across the board from Planet Zoo (don't talk to me about escaped Hippos), to Her Story, to Prey and Metro. I think it time to get a gaming desktop. I've spec'd one up
The main bits are...

3600x AMD
x570 Plus Motherboard
2070 Super GPU
16GB Ram 3200
650 fully mod gold PSU
Undecided on cooler (after quietness...) H100 or H115i (with quiet fans) or Air NH-U14S - I won't be overclocking
Firecuda 500GB

Approx £1,500 (fully built.....I know I could probably build it cheaper, however I just want it arrived and ready :) )

Now, I understand the 3000 series of GPU's are due out soon. However, I figure they will be expensive and the 2070 Super will 'do a job' for a few years at 1440p


Regards
 
Aug 23, 2020
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Hi.....Zombie Post!

Ok, back in the game.....

Currently got a Asus TUF 1440p 144Hz Monitor.


I've had a look at PC Specialist again and spec'd up this (the old, go big or go home ethos)

Case NZXT 511 Mid Tower
Processor 3600
Motherboard X570 Plus
RAM 16GB 3200MHZ
Graphics Card 3080 RTX (How long before it's available mind...)
SSD 970 EVO PLUS 500GB
Power 750w RMx Fully Modular Ultra Quiet
Cooling H115i RGB Platinum

Plus postage and warranty extra. £1,723 (only a bit over budget)

I am on the buy quality once. Figure this has me set for a few years.
 

Zoid

Community Contributor
Hi.....Zombie Post!

Ok, back in the game.....

Currently got a Asus TUF 1440p 144Hz Monitor.


I've had a look at PC Specialist again and spec'd up this (the old, go big or go home ethos)

Case NZXT 511 Mid Tower
Processor 3600
Motherboard X570 Plus
RAM 16GB 3200MHZ
Graphics Card 3080 RTX (How long before it's available mind...)
SSD 970 EVO PLUS 500GB
Power 750w RMx Fully Modular Ultra Quiet
Cooling H115i RGB Platinum

Plus postage and warranty extra. £1,723 (only a bit over budget)

I am on the buy quality once. Figure this has me set for a few years.
This is a pretty good build overall with two caveats:
  1. AMD just announced their Zen 3 processors, so since you're waiting on an RTX 3080 anyway, why not go for a Ryzen 5 5600X instead of the 3600X? They're due out next month and set to offer a solid performance boost over Zen 2.
  2. You might be surprised how quickly a 500GB SSD fills up. SSD prices have come down enough now that I'd recommend going for 1TB.
 
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Aug 23, 2020
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So CPU. I emailed PC to see in reality how long the 3080 will take to arrive. This could impact me changing up the CPU. But then I think. The 3600/x/xt still do a job / cheaper.
Space. As someone with a Surface Book 2 15 256GB. I know this pain. Again, just to keep the price down. I figure 500GB will do, and I can then add in more space in the future (and will be cheaper to buy another 970 off amazon I suspect)
 
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Zoid

Community Contributor
If you're not in a hurry, wait a few weeks to see what prices on the 5600X are like. I wouldn't be surprised if we see them drop below MSRP this holiday season. But there's also precedent for the previous generation Ryzen chips getting big price cuts when the new ones come out, so maybe you'll find a super cheap 3600X.
 
Good luck trying to get a RTX 3080. NVIDIA have stopped selling the Founder's Edition directly now. As soon as stock arrives it sells instantly.
EVGA have announced a queuing system to stop bots buying them but so far this is just for US customers.

I would wait at least until AMD's BigNavi are announced in just over two weeks. You can't get a 5600X until after then anyway. It's worth comparing the performance of that with the RTX3080. Apparently your monitor supports both G-Sync and Freesync so going with an AMD card shouldn't be an issue.

Don't get a 500gb SSD. Really it's just not big enough these days. Modern AAA games are getting to be around 80-100GB already.

Amazon Prime day has some decent 1TB drives at significant reductions and you are likely to see deal's on these around Black Friday as well.
 
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Yeah, we will see what PC Specialists say on the 3080....Potentially I just order that and see what other graphic cards are available (see what is available first)

As I'm ordering the build from the above. I am happy to get a 500GB and then purchase a 1TB later. As you mention, be worth waiting until Black Friday to buy another drive :)

Just noticed in a back issue of PC Gamer the cooler was highly recommended, so least I know I'm on the right track with that one! :)
 
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Spoke to PC S today., pretty sound guy on the end of the phone. Said what everyone knows. 3080 short of stock. Maybe Dec-20.

So I've put in the order. I'll be on a list I guess. If in the mean time the new AMD cards come out and are in stock, I can always swap the card he said.

Quite happy to just order, and then see what happens. It will then save me reading around what parts to spec! In the meantime, I have an issue with a Hippo escaping on planet zoo on my Surface Book 2 to deal with! :)
 
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Spoke to PC S today., pretty sound guy on the end of the phone. Said what everyone knows. 3080 short of stock. Maybe Dec-20.

So I've put in the order. I'll be on a list I guess. If in the mean time the new AMD cards come out and are in stock, I can always swap the card he said.

Quite happy to just order, and then see what happens. It will then save me reading around what parts to spec! In the meantime, I have an issue with a Hippo escaping on planet zoo on my Surface Book 2 to deal with! :)

So, I took a punt and changed my order to the 6800xt........They mentioned I ordered it earlier that 'it' may arrive prior to Christmas- but lets see.
Then whilst I was at it. Increased the hard drive space. Was always going to need increasing and I get an AC Game thrown in. Processor change to the 3600x as it was only £20 more




Case NZXT H511 MID-TOWER GAMING CASE (WHITE)
Processor (CPU)AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Change to: AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Six Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
MotherboardASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card10GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3080
Change to: 16GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6800 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12 (Delivery before Xmas not guaranteed)
1st Storage DriveNOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
Change to: 1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY DriveNOT REQUIRED
Power SupplyCORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor CoolingCorsair H115i RGB PLATINUM Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Change to: Corsair H115i PRO Cooler w/ PCS Ultra Quiet Fans
 

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