Gaming PC - is this a good deal?

[272BHP]

https://www.ebuyer.com/1145576-alphasync-rtx-3080-...

First Sub 2000 PC I have seen that has a RTX3080 installed does this look a good deal or have they skimped on the other components?

[Condi]

Not going to comment on that deal, but I bought an AlphaSync PC at the start of lockdown last year and it's been very good. First AMD processor I've had in years and very happy with it, general gaming performance is excellent. PC was well put together, would buy another without hesitation.

[CarCrazyDad]

272BHP said:

https://www.ebuyer.com/1145576-alphasync-rtx-3080-...

First Sub 2000 PC I have seen that has a RTX3080 installed does this look a good deal or have they skimped on the other components?

No, it has only 16 GB of ram in a 1x16GB configuration so you are not operating in dual channel mode.

The 120mm "AIO" is going to be rubbish, 120mm simply cannot handle the heat, the Ryzen 9 can be a warm one.


I would be looking at buying parts yourself or speaking with Ebuyer or another supplier like Scan, and getting them to spec you something different, with at least a 240mm AIO or a decent air cooler like a Noctua.

Most pre-builds are compromised in some way or another spec wise and also can be quite "richly " priced

[adaptive]

Case is pretty basic, front i/o is limited and poor airflow, especially for that cpu and graphics combo, the small liquid cooler wont help and single channel memory...

it's a no from me

[272BHP]

Would this be a better choice?

Comes in at 2034 with a 3080 specified and appears to have a 240mm cooler and dual channel memory.

https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/configurator/3xs-perfor...

[Steven_RW]

272BHP said:

Would this be a better choice?

Comes in at 2034 with a 3080 specified and appears to have a 240mm cooler and dual channel memory.

https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/configurator/3xs-perfor...

That looks fine to me. 3070 is ideal for any resolution before 4k. All the other components look like they will do the job.

[mmm-five]

272BHP said:

Would this be a better choice?

Comes in at 2034 with a 3080 specified and appears to have a 240mm cooler and dual channel memory.

https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/configurator/3xs-perfor...

Check whether the cooler will fit in the standard location at the top of the case, as some coolers won't fit there in some cases when you have certain memory modules fitted...and so they put it at the front of the case...which then limits the size of GPU you can fit in the case.

The iCUE 220T case has about 2cm gap in front of a RTX3080 FE - so there's no way a large AIO rad/fans would fit there.

Also, the cable routing side of the case is VERY tight which makes getting the side panel back on a bit of a pain. If I were to do the same build again, for £10-£30 more I'd probably go for the 465X (more space for GPU) or 500X (more space for GPU and wiring).

This is how close my 3080FE is to the standard case fans - see how close the H100i Pro AIO is to the RAM modules on the top...

[CarCrazyDad]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Cleaner look. Less case space taken up over the motherboard. H100i is a good AIO. Just preference I guess.

[TEKNOPUG]

What games do you want to play and at what resolution?

[HRL]

I went with a CPU AIO for the first time ever to cool my 5950X.

The fans don’t ramp up at all, which was kind of the point. Had a Noctua on my previous CPU and under heavy load it was an additional noise.

Not much in it temperature wise, but it’s definitely quieter.

Personally, I always go for a bigger case. Better airflow with minimal effort and always plenty of room for whatever GPU you end up with. Even my 3090FE looks small in my Corsair 750D case. In fairness though I don’t have it sat on or under a desk.

[272BHP]

TEKNOPUG said:

What games do you want to play and at what resolution?

My son has been saving up and wants as powerful machine as he can get. I guess there is an element of bragging rights which is why he wants to push for a 3080.

He plays mainly first person shooters, but he also also plays rocket league and twitch streams as well which is why I am concerned about the extra heat of the 3080 and thus noise. He would like a quiet machine while he streams.

I am thinking that speccing bigger case might be wise.

[CarCrazyDad]

Powerful
Cheap
Quiet

Pick two

[272BHP]

He is coming from a gaming laptop that is crazy loud so surely anything PC based should be quieter than that.

When he streams it is mainly with games that should not be too demanding. Ie Minecraft, Rocket League and Terraria.

[TEKNOPUG]

It will be the GPU that will make the most noise, rather than the CPU. Not all GPUs are equal, even if they are all "3080". Some will be a lot quieter than others. But this will be reflected in the price.

[FourWheelDrift]

mmm-five said:

Check whether the cooler will fit in the standard location at the top of the case, as some coolers won't fit there in some cases when you have certain memory modules fitted...and so they put it at the front of the case...which then limits the size of GPU you can fit in the case.

The iCUE 220T case has about 2cm gap in front of a RTX3080 FE - so there's no way a large AIO rad/fans would fit there.

Also, the cable routing side of the case is VERY tight which makes getting the side panel back on a bit of a pain. If I were to do the same build again, for £10-£30 more I'd probably go for the 465X (more space for GPU) or 500X (more space for GPU and wiring).

This is how close my 3080FE is to the standard case fans - see how close the H100i Pro AIO is to the RAM modules on the top...

I have a 220T (max GPU 300mm), I have an RTX 3070 in it (so plenty of space) 1x NVMe, with 2x SSDs on the rear mount, 2x HDDs in the caddy (so 4 sata cables to the mobo) and 4 SP120 RGB fans in the fan hub on the back. All fits, no panel bulge on mine

I bought my case for the last build however if I were to have a 3080 or 3090 then I would go with a longer case. I would go for the Lian Li 011 Dynamic Mini Snow Edition which has a 395mm max GPU length compatibility. Or maybe the Corsair 5000D.

[mmm-five]

This was my build by PCSpecialist...before I unclipped and untangled everything whilst trying to fit a Commander Pro and another HDD for backups.

Pictures are from the first time I opened it to see what I had to work with.

[272BHP]

That looks horrible. I will stay away from PC specialist then!

Scan seem to have a good reputation though - they have been mentioned a few times on threads I noticed.

[anonymous-user]

TEKNOPUG said:

It will be the GPU that will make the most noise, rather than the CPU. Not all GPUs are equal, even if they are all "3080". Some will be a lot quieter than others. But this will be reflected in the price.

Hmm sorry, can’t let this one go. My CPU cooler (dark rock tf) is louder than my founders edition 3060 Ti under full load.

[mmm-five]

272BHP said:

That looks horrible. I will stay away from PC specialist then!

Scan seem to have a good reputation though - they have been mentioned a few times on threads I noticed.

To be fair, other than the rat's nest of cabling, I've had zero issues with it - not a single crash in 8 months.

I've also seen the same case in another system built by another PCS employee and it was much neater (the builder and tester names are on your order page)...and the old excuse of busy 'cos COVID/global supply shortages would come into play if you challenged the quality of the workmanship (which I did, got an acknowledgement, but that was it).

Maybe the PSU was too big, as all the cables only have about a 2" gap to git through past the drive cage/sleds.

After 3 months waiting I just wanted the bloody thing, and wasn't going to send it back for a 4-6 week wait whilst they rebuilt it

But it did mean I got to know the insides of the PC a bit more than I was originally intending too (last time I did anything 'technical with a PC, it was to put an SSD into a 2021 MacMini).

Edited by mmm-five on Tuesday 10th August 10:04

[towser]

272BHP said:

That looks horrible. I will stay away from PC specialist then!

Scan seem to have a good reputation though - they have been mentioned a few times on threads I noticed.

I can't speak for PC Specialist but I had a Scan custom build done earlier this year and the experience was very good, pre-sales support excellent, PC obviously put together with care and attention to detail and it's been quiet and reliable.