PC Build for Elden Ring

[Mark617]

Budget - $2000 USD

Usage - Office, Internet, and Elden Ring. Since any system that can run Elden Ring will be able to handle the other basic stuff, Elden Ring (gaming) is the focus of this build.

I will be using my television as my monitor. It's from 2015 - Samsung 55" JS 8500. It can display 4k, but I'll likely play @ 1920x1080. If going to 4k @ 60 FPS makes sense financially, so be it. But I am not trying to spend $1500+ on a GPU for that. My old eyes probably can't tell the difference between 4k and 1080 anyway.

I've looked around here and Reddit, and am just throwing the following out as a starting point:

CPU - Intel Core i5-12400 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor (seems to be a popular pick)
CPU Cooler - Noctua NH-D15 (it was awesome back in the day, and I am a fan, no pun intended, of all things Noctua).
Motherboard - Gigabyte B660M DS3H DDR4 Micro ATX LGA1700 Motherboard (seems common recommendation w/above CPU)
RAM - no idea
PSU - no idea
Case - Not gonna lie, kinda loving the Fractal Torrent line. Would like to get smallest that will fit parts (probably Torrent Compact)
Case Fans - No idea. Probably something from Noctua.
HDD - All set on storage drives. As for main drive, I can port over my 1 TB Sata SSD or get an NVME drive. Worth it for gaming???
GPU - no idea. Probably between a 6600 xt and a 3060 ti, yeah? No clue.

Thanks for any information. Ask away if I can / need to clarify anything.

​

 

[stompah]

CPU - Intel Core i7-12700K $395
CPU Cooler - Noctua NH-D15 (it was awesome back in the day, and I am a fan, no pun intended, of all things Noctua).
Motherboard - Gigabyte B660M DS3H $120
RAM - CORSAIR Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB (2 x 16GB) $158
PSU - CORSAIR RM850 $125
Case - Fractal Design Torrent Compact FD-C-TOR1C-03 White Steel RGB $150
Case Fans - No idea. Probably something from Noctua.
HDD - Western Digital WD BLACK SN850 NVMe M.2 2280 1TB $150
GPU - GIGABYTE Vision GeForce RTX 3070 Ti White $900


$2,003 Before tax. There is a rebate here and there listed on Newegg. You can go with the 12400k and use the savings for cooling. And maybe go without RGB on the case to get some extra fans. And there are cheaper NVMEs out there. Price is calculated by Newegg.

The cheapest 3070Ti was in white. So, rest of build was priced out using white components.

All of this is in stock and is sold by Newegg.

Enjoy your new build, whatever the final specs may end up as.

 

[Mark617]

CASE: LIAN LI LANCOOL II MESH C RGB SNOW WHITE
- Would you add any additional case fans? It comes with 2x140s in the front, and a 120 in the back. Also, on that note, how do I go about handling the fans (if more than 1-1 per M/B connection). Just Y-splitters into a single motherboard connection, use a powered hub, etc.?

CPU: Intel Core i7-12700K

CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-D15

GPU: GIGABYTE Vision GeForce RTX 3070 Ti
- Any reason to look at a 3060 ti? I see some for $700, though I would have to confirm with y'all the brand etc.

HDD: WD_BLACK 1TB SN850 NVMe Internal Gaming SSD Solid State Drive with Heat sink
- Opinions on heat sink, or no?

MOTHERBOARD: Gigabyte B660M DS3H

PSU: CORSAIR RM850

RAM: CORSAIR Vengeance RGB Pro 32GB

Thank you!

 

[Woomack]

If I'm right then without special unlocks, Elden Ring runs at 60FPS max and it's also not scaling well with hardware, so I wouldn't spend a lot on the PC unless you want to run it at max details. It doesn't look so great at max details too. I was checking it on 12600K+RX6800XT at 1440p max details and FPS was fine with one more game minimized and some stuff in the background, but I don't know what FPS I was getting.
If it's a matter of this game only then I would get a PS5 that will be probably a better experience and much cheaper. The PC version is really annoying in some places and clearly isn't optimized for the keyboard/mouse.

 

[Mark617]

I'm right there with you. I know PC porting is always an issue for FromSoftware. DS1 was awful. But over time they have done better. DS3 was fine (for a FromSoftware title haha).

None the less, I take your point and I may go that route. Thanks for the input.

 

[JLK03F150]

The motherboard comes with a heatsink for the upper NVME slot, so you won't need to buy one for the WD SN850. But the lower slot doesn't have one, so you'll probably want a heatsink when you populate that slot. You can get an aftermarket heatsink for $20 or less.

 

[Mark617]

Perfect, thanks.

As for airflow, how would one best set that up? I've read the positive / negative pressure guide, but curious how one would go about it here.

1: I was thinking about adding 1x 120 fan (to the left of the #1 in the graphic, so toward the rear / top) as an exhaust.

2: Comes with 2x 140 fans, acting as intakes.

3: Comes with 1x120 mm fan, acting as an exhaust.

4: Should one bother installing anything here? I'll have 2x WD Red Plus HDDs installed in the cage, and the PSU on the bottom left. Feel like there isn't a need, as fans here may disrupt the flow to the PSU, while the other case fans should handle the HDD heat.

Thank you.

 

[EarthDog]

K.I.S.S.

Front/sides = intake, Top/Rear = exhaust.

I wouldn't worry about fans on #4, but like the idea of adding another on the rear of #1.

 

[Woomack]

Yep, actually fans on #4 won't give you much as the PSU fan is optimal to take cold air from the outside of the case (fan is on the bottom), and fan cage+PSU are blocking everything from the bottom. You can still install fans on #4 if you want them to be RGB and give an additional illumination.

 

[Mark617]

Perfect guys. Thanks for the replies. I can't order anything for about a week, since I'm not due back home until between 3/17 and 3/21. Leaving this stuff at my front door for days on end is just asking for it all to end up on Youtube when my doorbell camera catches some thief walking away with the boxes.

I am going to order what stompah posted in his reply with the following changes / additions:
(1) Case Fans: Replacing the case fans / adding to the top exhaust as I stated above, a Noctua NF-A12x25 and NF-A14s. This is a QoL change only. I simply prefer the noise profile (not volume, per se) of these fans.
(2) Case: I only selected the above case(s) based on popularity. If there are other recommendations / better cases, I'm all ears.
(3) Motherboard: Same as the case. I only selected the one in my initial post based on popularity. If there are other recommendations / better motherboards, I'm all ears.

I'll bump this in a week probably, just in case there is some awesome sale going on, or, with my luck, because half the stuff (esp. the GPU) is sold out and I need new recommendations.

 

[Mark617]

So after lots of reading, watching, and listening, I think I am close. I have tried to make the below as succinct as possible. There is some repetition between what's below and the OP. I am just putting everything here so you do not have to scroll up.

Computer Use - Gaming only. In fact, this computer is being built, specifically, so I can play Elden Ring. My current computer can play it, but it's a horrible experience. All the other games I play require less / will play on the below system specs. I play at 1080, and will for the foreseeable future. I will not be overclocking.

Budget - Began at $2000. But I have managed to trim a lot (almost all, I think) of the fat.

My Rationale - I build for today, not the future. Basically, as another poster talked about in a thread I read, build for n + 20% (just in case). That's kind of where I am. I want to maximize the performance : price ratio.

Build (alphabetical order based on the component):

1. Case: Corsair Airflow 4000D
2. Case Fans: Arctic P12 (3x front intake, 2x top exhaust, 1x incl. Corsair as rear exhaust)
3. CPU: Intel 12400f
4. CPU Cooler: Arctic Freezer 34 eSports DUO
5. GPU: ???????????????????????????????
6. Motherboard: Gigabyte B600M DS3H
7. PSU: Corsair RM750x
8. RAM: TEAMGROUP T-Force Vulcan Z DDR4 16GB Kit (2x8GB) 3600 CL18
9. Storage: I have a Samsung 860 EVO 1 TB from my current build I will be using in this build.

I am fairly locked in on numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 9, unless there are some major objections. I know I could save money on the CPU Cooler, but I have always had good experiences with Arctic (both re hardware and customer service) so spending $20 or so extra (over a 212, V5, etc.) is something I am willing to do.

My questions are as follows:

A) Given my intentions, does the above build look okay / any glaring problems?

B) I know I could run 32 GB RAM, but for strictly gaming, I fail to see the necessity. Opinions?

C) GPU (#5 above). This is the big one. My plan is to either purchase a 3070 ti (sub $750 like the EVGA one that was recently on sale for $729) or grab a sub $600 3060 ti. The 3060 ti seems to be a much better performance : price buy, so that's where I am leaning. But, I am not purchasing for about six days, so if a solid 3070 ti deal comes about for the above price, I would jump all over that. Opinions?

Thank you for your time.

 

[Woomack]

One more, not really straight answer, XBOX X is significantly cheaper and most PC games are available too In one of the previous posts, I said PS5 but I noticed it's much harder to get and at least on my local market costs much more than the XBOX X. Actually, after browsing for some answers I got myself XBOX X in a promo price ...

A - It looks fine. Maybe not a future-proof build but for your needs it will work.
B - For this specific usage, 16GB will be fine. If you think about a PC for longer and run multiple tasks at once like a game + many web browser tabs + other soft, then I recommend 32GB.
C - If you can get 3070Ti for ~$730 then for sure it's a better option than the 3060Ti for $600.

 

[Mark617]

First thing I did after I began this thread was look for a PS5 locally, since I didn't think I could beat the bots online, and driving anywhere with gas at $6.30 / gallon (here) is just a waste of money with my truck.

Good to know about the XBOX X. That gives me more options. Which is good and bad, I suppose.

Thank you!

 

[Woomack]

XBOX seems like a good idea since you need hardware for one specific game (for now) and everything else can run on a much cheaper setup. XBOX also has most games from PC and if you dig on the right sites then you can find deals for the XBOX Pass service (or how to combine them to get something for free). My friend sent me one guide to a Polish website (since I live in Poland). In short, I got 17 months of the Pass Ultimate service for ~$70. A single typical new game costs ~$50. Here is the link I used. It's in Polish, but links to deals are from international/online stores or to the microsoft store. I'm not guaranteeing anything as deals are changing.
In most stores, you should find XBOX X for $500. XBOX S will be still good enough for Elden Ring and costs $300. Even though both should support current games about the same then the X version supports 4K while the S supports 1440p. In some time, there can be titles that won't work on the S version so well because of lower specs.

Just some things to think about as PC hardware is recently way too overpriced.