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First Time Build Anxiety

BigFatUglyStinkyManChild
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Go to solution Solved by Dr. Will0hlep,

Now in budget (I selected the wrong motherboard by accident in last post).

 

The case comes with 3 fans included, so there is no need to buy 5 more and a fan controller. Plus fans are cheap and easy to upgrade later. Meanwhile your Vram isn't.

 

I've selected a cheaper ram kit with the exact same specs.

 

I've also swapped the motherboard to a cheaper model with a similar level of functionality. Motherboards don't really effect performance (apart from in a handful of edge cases like overclocking). So this should be an ideal replacement.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor  (£266.41 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (£29.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B650-E WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  (£132.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (£81.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: SK Hynix Platinum P41 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£69.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Kingston NV3 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£91.64 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Palit GamingPro GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card  (£705.46 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case  (£71.12 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2025) 850 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£113.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £1562.57

Posted

Budget: £2,000 (ideally closer to £1,800 and this includes the monitor)
Country: England
Planned Purchase Date: Within ~2 days

Use Case:

  • Gaming: Dune: Awakening (my first AAA game experience!)

  • Productivity: Coding, 3D modelling, some rendering

Planned Build: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/JsmHZc - £1,542
Planned Monitor: BenQ MOBIUZ EX2710Q – 1440p @ 165Hz - £198
Planned Total: £1,740

Current Update Build: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/BkBpLc

 

This will be my first computer until now I’ve only used laptops. I’ve spent a good chunk of time researching components, and while I’ve genuinely enjoyed the process and learning about all this, it’s been a bit nerve wracking, especially with the amount of money involved. I’m aiming for a build that gives me solid performance in modern games (even just stable 60 fps would be a huge upgrade for me), but I also want something versatile for development and creation. I don’t have strict demands on resolution or frame rate as I’ve mostly gamed at 30 – 40 fps at 1080p and been fine, since I’m stepping up to a dedicated machine and a 1440p monitor, I’d like to make sure the components are getting me the most for my money !
 

I’d really appreciate any feedback at all, I'm mainly worried about the cpu, bottlenecks and imbalances within the build but I'd also like to maybe get closer to my £1,800 target without compromising if at all possible. If you could give me some build tips it'd also be very helpful as this is my first time build and would give me peace of mind as I'm very anxious about this despite the excitement !

Extra Notes:
The secondary smaller 1TB SSD is going to be dedicated to the OS although this is a bit overkill I know, I believe I read that 500GB was minimum for an OS SSD and the 1TB version was only a very small price bump
 

Thanks so much in advance to anyone who takes the time to help your advice genuinely means a lot to me

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7 minutes ago, BigFatUglyStinkyManChild said:

I’d really appreciate any feedback at all, I'm mainly worried about the cpu, bottlenecks and imbalances within the build but I'd also like to maybe get closer to my £1,800 target without compromising if at all possible.

The 5070 is not a great choice in terms of value for money due to it's 12GB of Vram, I recommend either a 5070Ti or a 9070XT.

Also, I probably recommend the 9700X over the 7900X if gaming is the primary use case.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor  (£266.38 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (£29.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  (£164.95 @ AWD-IT) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (£104.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: SK Hynix Platinum P41 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£69.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Samsung 990 Pro w/Heatsink 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£160.72 @ Ebuyer) 
Video Card: Palit GamingPro GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card  (£705.46 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case  (£71.12 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2025) 850 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£113.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 PST 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fans 5-Pack  (£26.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Fan Controller: ARCTIC Case Fan Hub Fan Controller  (£6.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Total: £1720.50

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Trust but Verify! I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need. Expand this signature for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components.

 

Common build advice:

1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticably improve performance past 240mm.

 

Useful Websites:

https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

Bio:

He/Him - I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 4 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). Aside from computers, I also dabble in modding/homebrew retro consoles, support Southampton FC, and enjoy Scuba Diving and Skiing.

Fun Facts

1) When I was 3 years old my favourite toy was a scientific calculator. 2) My father is a British Champion ploughman in the Vintage Hydraulic Class. 3) On Speedrun.com, I'm the world record holder for the Dream Bobsleigh event on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010.

 

My Favourite Games: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii, Balatro

 

My Computers: Primary: My main gaming rig - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C Second: Hosts Discord bots as well as a Minecraft and Ark server, and also serves as a reinforcement learning sand box - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P NAS: TrueNAS Scale NAS hosting SMB shares, DDNS updater, pi-hole, and a Jellyfin server - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C Foldatron: My folding@home and BOINC rig (partially donated to me by Folding Team Leader GOTSpectrum) - Mobile: Mini-ITX gaming rig for when I'm away from home -

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19 minutes ago, BigFatUglyStinkyManChild said:

Budget: £2,000 (ideally closer to £1,800)
Country: England
Planned Purchase Date: Within ~2 days

Use Case:

  • Gaming: Dune: Awakening (my first AAA game experience!)

  • Productivity: Coding, 3D modelling, some rendering

Planned Build: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/JsmHZc
Planned Monitor: BenQ MOBIUZ EX2710Q – 1440p @ 165Hz

Current Update Build: I'll update this whenever I change anything so its easy to keep track of

 

This will be my first computer until now I’ve only used laptops. I’ve spent a good chunk of time researching components, and while I’ve genuinely enjoyed the process and learning about all this, it’s been a bit nerve wracking, especially with the amount of money involved. I’m aiming for a build that gives me solid performance in modern games (even just stable 60 fps would be a huge upgrade for me), but I also want something versatile for development and creation. I don’t have strict demands on resolution or frame rate as I’ve mostly gamed at 30 – 40 fps at 1080p and been fine, since I’m stepping up to a dedicated machine and a 1440p monitor, I’d like to make sure the components are getting me the most for my money !
 

I’d really appreciate any feedback at all, I'm mainly worried about the cpu, bottlenecks and imbalances within the build but I'd also like to maybe get closer to my £1,800 target without compromising if at all possible. If you could give me some build tips it'd also be very helpful as this is my first time build and would give me peace of mind as I'm very anxious about this despite the excitement !
 

Thanks so much in advance to anyone who takes the time to help your advice genuinely means a lot to me

 

Can save a bit on storage, and go with a much better 7800x3D/5070 Ti build

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor  (£340.30 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (£29.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Motherboard: MSI MAG B650 TOMAHAWK WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  (£164.95 @ AWD-IT) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (£104.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: SK Hynix Platinum P41 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£69.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Kingston NV3 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£91.64 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: MSI VENTUS 3X OC GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card  (£728.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case  (£71.12 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2025) 850 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£113.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Case Fan: ARCTIC P12 PST 56.3 CFM 120 mm Fans 5-Pack  (£26.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Fan Controller: ARCTIC Case Fan Hub Fan Controller  (£6.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Total: £1748.87
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-23 10:35 BST+0100

 

AMD R9  7950X3D CPU/ Asus ROG STRIX X670E-E board/ 2x32GB G-Skill Trident Z Neo 6000CL30 RAM / ASUS TUF Gaming AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX OC Edition GPU/ Phanteks P600S case /  Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 ARGB cooler/  2TB WD SN850 NVme + 2TB Crucial T500  NVme  + 4TB Toshiba X300 HDD / Corsair RM850x PSU/ Alienware AW3420DW 34" 120Hz 3440x1440p monitor / ASUS ROG AZOTH keyboard/ Logitech G PRO X Superlight mouse / Audeze Maxwell headphones

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23 minutes ago, will0hlep said:

The 5070 is not a great choice in terms of value for money due to it's 12GB of Vram, I recommend either a 5070Ti or a 9070XT.

Also, I probably recommend the 9700X over the 7900X if gaming is the primary use case.

Thank you for the feedback, I've looked into it a little more and I might change the CPU to the 9700X although are you sure it'd be worth the power cost of over double this may also throw off my cooling but it should be fine my cpu cooler was a little overkill. For the gpu choices I can 100% agree but it goes over what I wanted for my budget by quite a bit to get the 5070Ti costing around £200 more

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1 minute ago, BigFatUglyStinkyManChild said:

I might change the GPU to the 9700X

Do you mean "I might change the CPU to the 9700X" or do you mean "I might change the GPU to the 9070XT"?

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Trust but Verify! I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need. Expand this signature for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components.

 

Common build advice:

1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticably improve performance past 240mm.

 

Useful Websites:

https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

Bio:

He/Him - I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 4 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). Aside from computers, I also dabble in modding/homebrew retro consoles, support Southampton FC, and enjoy Scuba Diving and Skiing.

Fun Facts

1) When I was 3 years old my favourite toy was a scientific calculator. 2) My father is a British Champion ploughman in the Vintage Hydraulic Class. 3) On Speedrun.com, I'm the world record holder for the Dream Bobsleigh event on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010.

 

My Favourite Games: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii, Balatro

 

My Computers: Primary: My main gaming rig - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C Second: Hosts Discord bots as well as a Minecraft and Ark server, and also serves as a reinforcement learning sand box - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P NAS: TrueNAS Scale NAS hosting SMB shares, DDNS updater, pi-hole, and a Jellyfin server - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C Foldatron: My folding@home and BOINC rig (partially donated to me by Folding Team Leader GOTSpectrum) - Mobile: Mini-ITX gaming rig for when I'm away from home -

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16 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D 4.2 GHz 8-Core Processor  (£340.30 @ Amazon UK) 

I'm slightly out of the loop here, do the 3D chips still struggle outside of gaming?

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Trust but Verify! I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need. Expand this signature for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components.

 

Common build advice:

1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticably improve performance past 240mm.

 

Useful Websites:

https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

Bio:

He/Him - I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 4 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). Aside from computers, I also dabble in modding/homebrew retro consoles, support Southampton FC, and enjoy Scuba Diving and Skiing.

Fun Facts

1) When I was 3 years old my favourite toy was a scientific calculator. 2) My father is a British Champion ploughman in the Vintage Hydraulic Class. 3) On Speedrun.com, I'm the world record holder for the Dream Bobsleigh event on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010.

 

My Favourite Games: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii, Balatro

 

My Computers: Primary: My main gaming rig - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C Second: Hosts Discord bots as well as a Minecraft and Ark server, and also serves as a reinforcement learning sand box - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P NAS: TrueNAS Scale NAS hosting SMB shares, DDNS updater, pi-hole, and a Jellyfin server - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C Foldatron: My folding@home and BOINC rig (partially donated to me by Folding Team Leader GOTSpectrum) - Mobile: Mini-ITX gaming rig for when I'm away from home -

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3 minutes ago, BigFatUglyStinkyManChild said:

Thank you for the feedback, I've looked into it a little more and I might change the CPU to the 9700X although are you sure it'd be worth the power cost of over double this may also throw off my cooling but it should be fine my cpu cooler was a little overkill.

The 9700X consumes less power than the 7900X, by quite a lot.

 

4 minutes ago, BigFatUglyStinkyManChild said:

For the gpu choices I can 100% agree but it goes over what I wanted for my budget by quite a bit to get the 5070Ti costing around £200 more

Oh just noticed your budget includes a monitor. Okay, we should make changes elsewhere then to get a 5070Ti in budget. For example, cheaper storage, a 990 pro is a complete waste in a system that only contains a 5070. I'll reply with a new build shortly.

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Trust but Verify! I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need. Expand this signature for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components.

 

Common build advice:

1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticably improve performance past 240mm.

 

Useful Websites:

https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

Bio:

He/Him - I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 4 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). Aside from computers, I also dabble in modding/homebrew retro consoles, support Southampton FC, and enjoy Scuba Diving and Skiing.

Fun Facts

1) When I was 3 years old my favourite toy was a scientific calculator. 2) My father is a British Champion ploughman in the Vintage Hydraulic Class. 3) On Speedrun.com, I'm the world record holder for the Dream Bobsleigh event on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010.

 

My Favourite Games: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii, Balatro

 

My Computers: Primary: My main gaming rig - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C Second: Hosts Discord bots as well as a Minecraft and Ark server, and also serves as a reinforcement learning sand box - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P NAS: TrueNAS Scale NAS hosting SMB shares, DDNS updater, pi-hole, and a Jellyfin server - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C Foldatron: My folding@home and BOINC rig (partially donated to me by Folding Team Leader GOTSpectrum) - Mobile: Mini-ITX gaming rig for when I'm away from home -

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20 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

Can save a bit on storage, and go with a much better 7800x3D/5070 Ti build

I forgot to clarify but yes I could probably save a bit on storage, aside from this I agree with the 5070TI although its a bit out of my range and as for the 7800x3D its as you said ~£100 more expensive whilst being specific for gaming and I'll be using it for work as well which it doesn't quite stand up to, the jump is also minimal from what I can see although I may be wrong

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One moment, mistake in build. correcting

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Trust but Verify! I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need. Expand this signature for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components.

 

Common build advice:

1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticably improve performance past 240mm.

 

Useful Websites:

https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

Bio:

He/Him - I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 4 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). Aside from computers, I also dabble in modding/homebrew retro consoles, support Southampton FC, and enjoy Scuba Diving and Skiing.

Fun Facts

1) When I was 3 years old my favourite toy was a scientific calculator. 2) My father is a British Champion ploughman in the Vintage Hydraulic Class. 3) On Speedrun.com, I'm the world record holder for the Dream Bobsleigh event on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010.

 

My Favourite Games: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii, Balatro

 

My Computers: Primary: My main gaming rig - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C Second: Hosts Discord bots as well as a Minecraft and Ark server, and also serves as a reinforcement learning sand box - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P NAS: TrueNAS Scale NAS hosting SMB shares, DDNS updater, pi-hole, and a Jellyfin server - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C Foldatron: My folding@home and BOINC rig (partially donated to me by Folding Team Leader GOTSpectrum) - Mobile: Mini-ITX gaming rig for when I'm away from home -

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2 minutes ago, BigFatUglyStinkyManChild said:

I forgot to clarify but yes I could probably save a bit on storage, aside from this I agree with the 5070TI although its a bit out of my range and as for the 7800x3D its as you said ~£100 more expensive whilst being specific for gaming and I'll be using it for work as well which it doesn't quite stand up to, the jump is also minimal from what I can see although I may be wrong

The build is exactly on your £1800 budget

Sure 7900X is more powerful in all core loads (by 50%..) if you prioritize productivity tasks (ie compiling, rendering etc), your choice

But the 5070Ti is really better than the meh 5070 as other posters also stated, certainly the best 50 card (ok the rest isn't that good...), no real reason to not get it if you can afford it

AMD R9  7950X3D CPU/ Asus ROG STRIX X670E-E board/ 2x32GB G-Skill Trident Z Neo 6000CL30 RAM / ASUS TUF Gaming AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX OC Edition GPU/ Phanteks P600S case /  Arctic Liquid Freezer III 360 ARGB cooler/  2TB WD SN850 NVme + 2TB Crucial T500  NVme  + 4TB Toshiba X300 HDD / Corsair RM850x PSU/ Alienware AW3420DW 34" 120Hz 3440x1440p monitor / ASUS ROG AZOTH keyboard/ Logitech G PRO X Superlight mouse / Audeze Maxwell headphones

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1 minute ago, will0hlep said:

Still working on it, but this is closer to your ideal budget (£1857.57 including the monitor).

 

  • The case comes with 3 fans included, so there is no need to buy 5 more and a fan controller. Plus fans are cheap and easy to upgrade later. Meanwhile your Vram isn't.
  • Also, I've selected a cheaper ram kit with the exact same specs.
  • I've also swapped the motherboard to a cheaper model with a similar level of functionality.

Thank you, I also checked the 9700X I did get it mixed up thanks for the suggestions I'll swap the parts over now !

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Just now, BigFatUglyStinkyManChild said:

Thank you, I also checked the 9700X I did get it mixed up thanks for the suggestions I'll swap the parts over now !

1 min, I made a mistake in my build.

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Trust but Verify! I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need. Expand this signature for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components.

 

Common build advice:

1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticably improve performance past 240mm.

 

Useful Websites:

https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

Bio:

He/Him - I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 4 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). Aside from computers, I also dabble in modding/homebrew retro consoles, support Southampton FC, and enjoy Scuba Diving and Skiing.

Fun Facts

1) When I was 3 years old my favourite toy was a scientific calculator. 2) My father is a British Champion ploughman in the Vintage Hydraulic Class. 3) On Speedrun.com, I'm the world record holder for the Dream Bobsleigh event on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010.

 

My Favourite Games: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii, Balatro

 

My Computers: Primary: My main gaming rig - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C Second: Hosts Discord bots as well as a Minecraft and Ark server, and also serves as a reinforcement learning sand box - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P NAS: TrueNAS Scale NAS hosting SMB shares, DDNS updater, pi-hole, and a Jellyfin server - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C Foldatron: My folding@home and BOINC rig (partially donated to me by Folding Team Leader GOTSpectrum) - Mobile: Mini-ITX gaming rig for when I'm away from home -

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Posted
  • Solution

Now in budget (I selected the wrong motherboard by accident in last post).

 

The case comes with 3 fans included, so there is no need to buy 5 more and a fan controller. Plus fans are cheap and easy to upgrade later. Meanwhile your Vram isn't.

 

I've selected a cheaper ram kit with the exact same specs.

 

I've also swapped the motherboard to a cheaper model with a similar level of functionality. Motherboards don't really effect performance (apart from in a handful of edge cases like overclocking). So this should be an ideal replacement.

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor  (£266.41 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (£29.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Motherboard: Asus TUF GAMING B650-E WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  (£132.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Memory: Patriot Viper Venom 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (£81.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: SK Hynix Platinum P41 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£69.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Kingston NV3 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£91.64 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Palit GamingPro GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card  (£705.46 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Case: Fractal Design Pop Air ATX Mid Tower Case  (£71.12 @ Amazon UK) 
Power Supply: Corsair RM850e (2025) 850 W Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£113.98 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £1562.57

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Trust but Verify! I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need. Expand this signature for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components.

 

Common build advice:

1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticably improve performance past 240mm.

 

Useful Websites:

https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

Bio:

He/Him - I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 4 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). Aside from computers, I also dabble in modding/homebrew retro consoles, support Southampton FC, and enjoy Scuba Diving and Skiing.

Fun Facts

1) When I was 3 years old my favourite toy was a scientific calculator. 2) My father is a British Champion ploughman in the Vintage Hydraulic Class. 3) On Speedrun.com, I'm the world record holder for the Dream Bobsleigh event on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010.

 

My Favourite Games: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii, Balatro

 

My Computers: Primary: My main gaming rig - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C Second: Hosts Discord bots as well as a Minecraft and Ark server, and also serves as a reinforcement learning sand box - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P NAS: TrueNAS Scale NAS hosting SMB shares, DDNS updater, pi-hole, and a Jellyfin server - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C Foldatron: My folding@home and BOINC rig (partially donated to me by Folding Team Leader GOTSpectrum) - Mobile: Mini-ITX gaming rig for when I'm away from home -

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Posted
1 hour ago, BigFatUglyStinkyManChild said:

Budget: £2,000 (ideally closer to £1,800 and this includes the monitor)
Country: England
Planned Purchase Date: Within ~2 days

Use Case:

  • Gaming: Dune: Awakening (my first AAA game experience!)

  • Productivity: Coding, 3D modelling, some rendering

Planned Build: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/JsmHZc - £1,542
Planned Monitor: BenQ MOBIUZ EX2710Q – 1440p @ 165Hz - £198
Planned Total: £1,740

Current Update Build: I'll update this whenever I change anything so its easy to keep track of

 

This will be my first computer until now I’ve only used laptops. I’ve spent a good chunk of time researching components, and while I’ve genuinely enjoyed the process and learning about all this, it’s been a bit nerve wracking, especially with the amount of money involved. I’m aiming for a build that gives me solid performance in modern games (even just stable 60 fps would be a huge upgrade for me), but I also want something versatile for development and creation. I don’t have strict demands on resolution or frame rate as I’ve mostly gamed at 30 – 40 fps at 1080p and been fine, since I’m stepping up to a dedicated machine and a 1440p monitor, I’d like to make sure the components are getting me the most for my money !
 

I’d really appreciate any feedback at all, I'm mainly worried about the cpu, bottlenecks and imbalances within the build but I'd also like to maybe get closer to my £1,800 target without compromising if at all possible. If you could give me some build tips it'd also be very helpful as this is my first time build and would give me peace of mind as I'm very anxious about this despite the excitement !

Extra Notes:
The secondary smaller 1TB SSD is going to be dedicated to the OS although this is a bit overkill I know, I believe I read that 500GB was minimum for an OS SSD and the 1TB version was only a very small price bump
 

Thanks so much in advance to anyone who takes the time to help your advice genuinely means a lot to me

64GB of RAM, RTX 5070 Ti, SSD w/DRAM cache and a board that supports PCIe 5.0 for the gpu seeing how these new AMD and Nvidia gpu's support PCIe 5.0. 

 

https://www.msi.com/Monitor/G272QPF-E2  

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor  (£266.41 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (£29.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Motherboard: *MSI PRO B850-P WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  (£167.94 @ CCL Computers) 
Memory: *Corsair Vengeance 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (£179.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: *MSI SPATIUM M480 PRO 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£129.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: *Zotac GAMING SOLID CORE GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card  (£728.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case  (£49.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A850GN PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  (£68.94 @ CCL Computers) 
Monitor: *MSI G272QPF E2 27.0" 2560 x 1440 180 Hz Monitor  (£158.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £1780.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-23 11:23 BST+0100

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3 minutes ago, PDifolco said:

The build is exactly on your £1800 budget

Budget is £1800 including a £200 monitor (I missed that detail too)

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Trust but Verify! I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need. Expand this signature for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components.

 

Common build advice:

1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticably improve performance past 240mm.

 

Useful Websites:

https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

Bio:

He/Him - I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 4 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). Aside from computers, I also dabble in modding/homebrew retro consoles, support Southampton FC, and enjoy Scuba Diving and Skiing.

Fun Facts

1) When I was 3 years old my favourite toy was a scientific calculator. 2) My father is a British Champion ploughman in the Vintage Hydraulic Class. 3) On Speedrun.com, I'm the world record holder for the Dream Bobsleigh event on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010.

 

My Favourite Games: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii, Balatro

 

My Computers: Primary: My main gaming rig - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C Second: Hosts Discord bots as well as a Minecraft and Ark server, and also serves as a reinforcement learning sand box - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P NAS: TrueNAS Scale NAS hosting SMB shares, DDNS updater, pi-hole, and a Jellyfin server - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C Foldatron: My folding@home and BOINC rig (partially donated to me by Folding Team Leader GOTSpectrum) - Mobile: Mini-ITX gaming rig for when I'm away from home -

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2 minutes ago, Why_Me said:

64GB of RAM, RTX 5070 Ti, and a board that supports PCIe 5.0 for the gpu seeing how these new AMD and Nvidia gpu's support PCIe 5.0. 

 

https://www.msi.com/Monitor/G272QPF-E2  

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor  (£266.41 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (£29.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Motherboard: *MSI PRO B850-P WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  (£167.94 @ CCL Computers) 
Memory: *Corsair Vengeance 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (£179.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: *TEAMGROUP MP44L 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£99.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Video Card: *Zotac GAMING SOLID CORE GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card  (£728.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case  (£49.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A850GN PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  (£68.94 @ CCL Computers) 
Monitor: *MSI G272QPF E2 27.0" 2560 x 1440 180 Hz Monitor  (£158.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £1750.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-23 11:10 BST+0100

Yeah, this is better.

I might be experienced, but I'm human and I do make mistakes. Trust but Verify! I edit my messages after sending them alot, please refresh before posting your reply. Please try to be clear and specific, you'll get a better answer. Please remember to mark solutions once you have the information you need. Expand this signature for common PC building advice, a short bio and a list of my components.

 

Common build advice:

1) Buy the cheapest (well reviewed) motherboard that has the features you need. Paying more typically only gets you features you won’t use. 2) only get as much RAM as you need, getting more won’t (typically) make your PC faster. 3) While I recommend getting an NVMe drive, you don’t need to splurge for an expensive drive with DRam cache, DRamless drives are fine for gamers. 4) paying for looks is fine, just don’t break the bank. 5) Tower coolers are usually good enough, unless you go top tier Intel or plan on OCing. 6) OCing is a dead meme, you probably shouldn’t bother. 7) "Bottlenecks" rarely matter and "Future-proofing" is a myth. 8) AIOs don't noticably improve performance past 240mm.

 

Useful Websites:

https://www.productchart.com - helps compare monitors, https://uk.pcpartpicker.com - makes designing a PC easier.

 

Bio:

He/Him - I'm a PhD student working in the fields of reinforcement learning and traffic control. PCs are one of my hobbies and I've built many PCs and performed upgrades on a few laptops (for myself, friends and family). My personal computers include 4 windows (10/11) machines and a TrueNAS server (and I'm looking to move to dual booting Linux Mint on my main machine in future). Aside from computers, I also dabble in modding/homebrew retro consoles, support Southampton FC, and enjoy Scuba Diving and Skiing.

Fun Facts

1) When I was 3 years old my favourite toy was a scientific calculator. 2) My father is a British Champion ploughman in the Vintage Hydraulic Class. 3) On Speedrun.com, I'm the world record holder for the Dream Bobsleigh event on Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games 2010.

 

My Favourite Games: World of Tanks, Runescape, Subnautica, Metroid (Fusion and Dread), Spyro: Year of the Dragon (Original and Reignited Trilogy), Crash Bash, Mario Kart Wii, Balatro

 

My Computers: Primary: My main gaming rig - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/NByp3C Second: Hosts Discord bots as well as a Minecraft and Ark server, and also serves as a reinforcement learning sand box - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/cc9K7P NAS: TrueNAS Scale NAS hosting SMB shares, DDNS updater, pi-hole, and a Jellyfin server - https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/will0hlep/saved/m37w3C Foldatron: My folding@home and BOINC rig (partially donated to me by Folding Team Leader GOTSpectrum) - Mobile: Mini-ITX gaming rig for when I'm away from home -

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  • Author
17 minutes ago, Why_Me said:

64GB of RAM, RTX 5070 Ti, SSD w/DRAM cache and a board that supports PCIe 5.0 for the gpu seeing how these new AMD and Nvidia gpu's support PCIe 5.0. 

 

https://www.msi.com/Monitor/G272QPF-E2  

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor  (£266.41 @ Amazon UK) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (£29.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Motherboard: *MSI PRO B850-P WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard  (£167.94 @ CCL Computers) 
Memory: *Corsair Vengeance 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (£179.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: *MSI SPATIUM M480 PRO 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£129.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: *Zotac GAMING SOLID CORE GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB Video Card  (£728.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case  (£49.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A850GN PCIE5 850 W 80+ Gold Certified ATX Power Supply  (£68.94 @ CCL Computers) 
Monitor: *MSI G272QPF E2 27.0" 2560 x 1440 180 Hz Monitor  (£158.97 @ Amazon UK) 
Total: £1780.20
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-06-23 11:23 BST+0100

 

15 minutes ago, will0hlep said:

Yeah, this is better.

Thank you both of you I'll use this build, also nice seeing Why_Me I just watched the video with you in it where they put the 3 Forums against one another !

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