Before I take the plunge....

[robert young 2,897]

4 minutes ago, mpw8679 said:

Your link is showing a z390 which is what u want.  I was curious about brand and model.  Could make a difference regarding overclocking

Corrected to z390. Apologies. I think there is a USA Cyberpower computer company but I do not know if it is related to the UK equivalent name. What I do know is that this company started with a very sceptical customer base who couldn't quite believe their prices could actually deliver a viable machine, but hundreds of stellar reviews later (bar a few complaints) this outfit has taken the Uk by storm. It consistently offers comparable specs at way below other Uk suppliers like overclockers, Dell (Alienware), Scan etc etc. I've trawled through all of them these last days and none of them come close to the price for the same spec.

Edited December 25, 2018 by robert young

[mpw8679 428]

1 minute ago, robert young said:

Corrected to z390. Apologies.

Can u spec a PC on there website and have it shipped to your area by chance??

[robert young 2,897]

1 minute ago, mpw8679 said:

Can u spec a PC on there website and have it shipped to your area by chance??

Yes you can but their Amazon UK ready-made systems appear to be a good deal cheaper. I don't think you can alter specs via Amazon UK but I could always phone their uk office.

[mpw8679 428]

7 minutes ago, robert young said:

Corrected to z390. Apologies. I think there is a USA Cyberpower computer company but I do not know if it is related to the UK equivalent name. What I do know is that this company started with a very sceptical customer base who couldn't quite believe their prices could actually deliver a viable machine, but hundreds of stellar reviews later (bar a few complaints) this outfit has taken the Uk by storm. It consistently offers comparable specs at way below other Uk suppliers like overclockers, Dell (Alienware), Scan etc etc. I've trawled through all of them these last days and none of them come close to the price for the same spec.

My last computer before I started building my own was a Cyberpower.  Was an excellent PC never had issues with it.  It had a Q6600 CPU and a GTX8800GT!

[robert young 2,897]

5 minutes ago, mpw8679 said:

My last computer before I started building my own was a Cyberpower.  Was an excellent PC never had issues with it.  It had a Q6600 CPU and a GTX8800GT!

That's good to hear. It rings true as there are many reviews from current self-builders who said that they could barely beat the price at Cyberpower even if they bought the same parts and did the labour themselves.

Edited December 25, 2018 by robert young

[mpw8679 428]

3 minutes ago, robert young said:

That's good to hear. It rings true as there are many reviews from current self-builders who said that they could barely beat the price at Cyberpower even if they bought the parts and did the labour themselves.

Very true.  I transfer a lot of hardware from old build to new build.  But if I were to start from scratch I would buy a Cyberpower with out hesitation. 

Edited December 25, 2018 by mpw8679

[robert young 2,897]

Just now, mpw8679 said:

Very true.  I transfer a lot of hardware from old build to new build.  But if I were to start from scratch I would buy a Cyberpower with out hesitation. 

Excellent news! Thanks for the generous time you've spent on this thread. I'm off now to enjoy the rest of the evening.

[rhumbaflappy 113]

I actually bought a scratch'n'dent Dell system. Best bang for my buck. One thing I did learn that would be relevant here: get 32GB memory if you can swing it. 16GB might be a bit shy for the future of our flight simming. Happy holidays to all.

[martin-w 3,234]

On 12/25/2018 at 5:36 PM, lownslo said:

Nice system at a pretty good price.  I'd be concerned about the PSU though... 650W is a bit low for a 9900K/2080.  That CPU can fell entire forests, jump tall buildings, and make even the best and most powerful PSU's whimper.  For that combo I'd like to see a quality 800W or more PSU.  And of course, they don't give the speed of the RAM (never do 😕).

Greg

 

Here's the thing about PSU's...

If you run the specs of the proposed build through a PSU calculator, you will be surprised just how low the wattage can be and still be adequate. According to the be quite PSU calculator 650 Watts to 850 Watts is adequate for the 9900K and 2080. 

https://www.bequiet.com/en/psucalculator

However... it's not just about total wattage required, there are other factors  to consider too.

1) What does the efficiency curve look like for your chosen PSU? In other words, where in the curve is it the most efficient. Modern PSU's do tend to have more flexibility in this respect and retain reasonable efficiency in the higher output range, often still above 90%, but it's still worth choosing a PSU that enables your rig to function, most of the time, close to the PSU's most efficient  range. The primary reason for doing this is PSU fan curves. Modern PSU's drop into zero fan mode when not over stressed, thus your PSU will be silent or at least very quiet most of the time. Most efficient range is usually about 50% of max output but this does vary with models. 

Slightly less PSU degradation and a running cost saving will also be realised but the savings are small. Small, because modern high efficiency PSU's, as mentioned, are still above 90% efficiency at quite high output. 

2) Capacitor degradation should be considered. PSU capabilities degrade over time. So if you intend to keep the PSU for a protracted period of time, additional wattage is advised to allow for degradation. 

For example... if I run my rig through the EVGA PSU calculator, and even add on a few extra drives and any hardware I might upgrade to, the total wattage required is 650 Watt's minimum to 750 watts. That's for a GTX 980 Ti overclocked, an 8700K overclocked and three hard drives. I have a 750 Watt EVGA P2. 

The bottom line is that minimum PSU wattage is ill advised but by the same token, very few of us require greater than 800 Watts as modern hardware has become much more efficient.

For the  9900K/2080 750 watts is adequate in my opinion. If future upgrades in mind, or the additional cost minimal, perhaps 850 Watts max. 

  

 

 

Edited December 30, 2018 by martin-w

[Paul Golding 92]

In case you're still looking Rob, I'd suggest the PC Specialist website is worth a try.  I've used them 3 times now and the menu system allows a lot of options, including the supply of overclocked PC's.  The dropdown menus are great for playing around with the config to see what the difference is between the cost of parts.  For example, your Amazon linked PC above can be built to order for a very similar price, but pre-overclocked to 4.9.  Swap the 2nd HDD for a 2GB SSD for an extra £200 odd etc.

Worth a look.

[pgde 571]

I think the big question about graphics cards is what resolution will you be running at? If you are doing 1080P or 1440, a 1070 is perfect. No reason to spend extra on a 2000 series card.

[ckyliu 1,749]

I max out a GTX980 using an even lowlier 2500K processor. Just remember CPU clock is king with P3D, not core count or hyperthreading. On that basis I'd say go for at least a 980Ti, 1080 or 2070 and then pair it up with the most overclockable CPU you can and hopefully you'll have a balance, my experience is that for those on a budget a top end i5k represents much better value for P3D than an i7 (or an i9 for that matter)

Edited January 4, 2019 by ckyliu