Check if the advice fits your needs for future-proofing with these components.
Check if the advice fits your needs for future-proofing with these components.
Hello and thank you ahead of time.
I have assembled a new work machine within a £1500 budget (plus an extra £100 if necessary). There is room to enhance it further in a few months, but I’m aiming for a solid base right now. I’d like to place the orders soon, though advice is more valuable:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/eayajb/saved/gKj3Hx
I’ll handle the case and operating system later.
The machine will mainly serve Unity Game Development. - lighting, animation, rendering (some load), mostly coding and building with Machine Learning (using cores and threads). I would greatly appreciate a sanity check on my approach:
* Ryzen over Intel (13/14 gen) – good core-to-power ratio? x3d seems excessive or underused here
* Strong motherboard for PCIe Gen 5 graphics (maybe it’s too expensive?) – focus on avoiding throttling PCIe lanes for future upgrades (PCIe / NVME lane sharing)
- x870Gigabyte Aorus Elite / x870 AsRock Steel Legend – both limit main x16 lane, useful for extra NVME and PCIe slots
- MSI x870-P Pro / ASUS Prime x870-P – more affordable options but feel a bit lacking
* RAM can be upgraded to 64GB later (Ryzen doesn’t handle quad well?)
* RTX 5060Ti 16GB – sufficient for now; CPU and board support 5080/5090 in the future
* Storage – Samsung for OS (DRAM) – WD_Black for large files and storage
* AIO cooling would be nice, but it pushes the budget a bit over – perhaps for another time
My main worry is the power specifications.
* Power – 1000W – Is this a reasonable price? Should I reduce to 850W? Thinking about larger cards later
- I’m uncertain about sufficient cabling/connectors – but I don’t see a strong need for extra hardware
- ATX 3.x with A rating, SPL PSU tier list – any suggestions would be appreciated.
You don't necessarily require an X870 chipset unless you're specifically after the newest options. I would have chosen a B850 instead. If you prefer, consider memory kits with higher frequency, and if sticking with G.Skill, their Neo series is worth checking out. You might also explore this RAM option:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product...x-...6g64c38u5b
or this alternative:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product...x-...2g64c40u5b
For those not interested in RGB, these models include AMD's E.X.P.O. built-in support.
Beyond that, your setup is solid right away. The power supply should be determined by your needs. If you don't plan to upgrade your GPU beyond an RTX5080 without overclocking, then it's fine as it is.
Great, thank you for the quick reply!
I did do a lower spec on the B650:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/user/eayajb/...iew=M47kjX
The B870 was to gain PCIe 5 on the graphics slot which I don't think was offered in the B650.
Thank you for the suggestions. From what I have read the Ryzen prefers DDR5 6000 at CL30 or lower. I've seen it be clocked on this board, but I just want stable and punchy.
Really glad to hear I've not gone completely off the rails though. Thank you.
Adjustments allow for a 64 GB RAM setup while staying near the price range.
PCPartPicker Part List
CPU: AMD Ryzen 9 9900X 4.4 GHz 12-Core Processor (£334.90 @ Amazon UK)
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Royal Pretor 130 BLACK 81.88 CFM (£42.00 @ Computer Orbit)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B850 AORUS ELITE WIFI7 ATX AM5 (£190.00 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Memory: G.Skill Flare X5 64 GB (2 x 32 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 (£202.86 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: SK Hynix Platinum P41 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME SSD (£58.90 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: SK Hynix Platinum P41 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME SSD (£119.99 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Asus PRIME OC GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16 GB (£435.97 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: be quiet! Pure Power 12 M 1000 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX (£125.00 @ Computer Orbit)
Total: £1509.62
Costs encompass shipping, taxes, and applicable discounts
Created by PCPartPicker
2025-08-01 15:19 BST+0100
Consider checking a used 7900X since the performance gap between 7th and 9th generation Ryzen models isn’t significant enough to justify the cost difference, saving you £100 that could be better spent on a 5070 instead of a 5060Ti.
Thank you for your response!
I've adjusted the question based on the guide.
There was a small budget allowance, and the usage details were a bit unclear.
That's a good tweak on the drives for RAM! I've received some excellent drives from Samsung, so I tend to stick with the repeat offenders, but ordering directly from the manufacturer is much better.
The only concern I noticed with the Gigabyte Aorus was that it throttles the PCIe 5.0 graphics to x8 when using CPU_NVME. I'm not entirely sure about this, but I had to quickly learn and gather specifications.
I believe the original MSI X870 Tomahawk doesn't have this issue, so I removed graphics to make room for larger and more powerful models (5090) – https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/MAG-X870...cification
Thanks for the advice!
When the M2B_CPU or M2C_CPU connector is connected, the PCIEX16 slot functions in up to x8 mode. I'm not entirely sure, but this might indicate bandwidth problems. It seems similar to what I experienced with other options I considered. To be safe, I removed several specifications.
Odd, since unless I'm blind, I can't see that on the B850.
https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B85...v-1x/sp#sp
Just opened the manual. M2B and M2C are slots 3 and 4 for M.2. If you don't use more than two SSDs, it shouldn't be a problem.