1k gaming rig

[sniffy]

Hey guys,

The rig I purchased in 2013 is starting to show its age so looking for a totally new system. I'm really out of the loop in terms of what's decent nowadays so I'd appreciate peoples' thoughts on the following spec:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Team Group Vulcan TUF Gaming Alliance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C19 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Blac= £79.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £299.99
• 1 x MSI MAG B550 TOMAHAWK (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard= £179.99
• 1 x Samsung 1TB 860 QVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 64 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-76Q1T0BW)= £109.99
• 1 x Seagate 4TB Barracuda 5400RPM 256MB Cache Internal Hard Drive (ST4000DM004)= £92.99
• 1 x Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower Case - Black= £64.99
• 1 x Super Flower Leadex III ARGB 650W 80 PLUS Gold Modular Power Supply - Black= £114.95
• 1 x InLine Cable Tie Set 10 Pieces 100mm - Black= £1.19
• 1 x Arctic Freezer 34 eSports 120mm CPU Cooler - Black / Grey= £29.99

Total: £974.07 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​

I'll be using my RX 480 until the new graphic cards come out. CPU is a bit excessive but hoping it will last for a good while.

Is it still recommended to buy some good thermal paste? I've noticed it doesn't seem to be included in specs now.

Thanks!

 

[VortexA1]

I don't think youll need to put good thermal paste on it tbh.

I've noticed youre going to order cable ties. I had loads in total in my mobo,case and PSU, mind you at £1.19 you can't go wrong.

 

[RandomJozza]

The arctic stuff is pretty good that comes with the cooler so you should be good although I may be tempted to take a slightly better cooler as oppised to a 4tb hard drive; but if you need that kind of storage, go for it

 

[EsaT]

Scrap that Samsung brand overpriced drive with QLC Flash, whose native writing speed without buffering is worser than in 10 years old spinning rust.
You can get TLC SATA drive for £15 less:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/wd-b...-solid-state-drive-wds100t2b0a-hd-54j-wd.html

Alternately £15 more would get TLC based NVMe drive capable to 4x transfer rates over SATA drives.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/wd-b...-solid-state-drive-wds100t2b0c-hd-56l-wd.html

Most coolers come with decent enough TIMs and especially Arctics come with very competent MX-4.

 

[sniffy]

Thanks for the feedback

I've changed things up a bit. Different mobo, better cooler and better SSD (thanks EsaT!).

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Team Group Vulcan TUF Gaming Alliance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C19 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Blac= £79.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £299.99
• 1 x Seagate 4TB Barracuda 5400RPM 256MB Cache Internal Hard Drive (ST4000DM004)= £92.99
• 1 x Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower Case - Black= £64.99
• 1 x Super Flower Leadex III ARGB 650W 80 PLUS Gold Modular Power Supply - Black= £114.95
• 1 x InLine Cable Tie Set 10 Pieces 100mm - Black= £1.19
• 1 x WD Blue SN550 1TB NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0C)= £124.99
• 1 x Scythe SCMG-5PCGH Mugen 5 "PCGH Edition" CPU Cooler= £46.99
• 1 x Asus TUF Gaming B550-Plus (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard= £169.99
• 1 x BitFenix Spectre 120mm Fan - Plain Black= £4.99

Total: £1,001.06 (includes shipping: £0.00)​

​

How's the case? I like the plain look and seems decent enough but open to suggestions

 

[EsaT]

Very frugal in power draw 3700X doesn't need 900 gram cooler.
Scythe's Intel optimized base with convexity isn't even that good match for AMD's usually flat or even tiny smidge convex in center heatspreader and Zen2's off center heat producing dies.
That simply gives good contact only in small area.
Though "lapping"/grinding base flat could solve that:
https://www.igorslab.de/en/kuehlerb...amd-and-conkav-reader-test-and-picture-story/
(+PCGH's slow speed 800 PRM fans limit performance below single fan versions)

Alternately £43 Alpenfohn Brocken 3 has guaranteed flat base, because of how direct contact heatpipe coolers are made:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/alpenfohn-brocken-3-cpu-cooler-140mm-hs-05a-al.html

 

[sniffy]

Thanks again EsaT. I've changed to that cooler and spent a bit more on a case. Just placed my order now