Memoir One | RTX 5070 12GB + i5 12600KF | Ready-to-Go Gaming PC | PC36

⛰️ Memoir One

The build that ignores the memory market

Memoir One exists because DDR5 got expensive and DDR4 did not. That is the whole idea behind the series, and it is worth understanding before you decide whether it suits you.

Intel's LGA1700 platform is mature, well understood and still runs DDR4. By building on it we sidestep the memory pricing that is currently pushing every DDR5 machine upward, and put the difference into the parts you actually feel: an RTX 5070 and a 360mm liquid cooler. For 1440p gaming at this price, very little else comes close.

The trade is a shorter processor upgrade path than a current platform offers. We think that is the right compromise at this price, and we would rather explain it than bury it.

🧬 Built to last, designed to evolve

This system is built on the mature Intel LGA1700 platform using DDR4 memory. That is a deliberate choice and it is worth being straight about the trade-off. DDR4 is considerably cheaper than DDR5 right now, which is what lets this build carry a proper graphics card and a 360mm cooler at this price. The cost is a narrower CPU upgrade path than a current platform offers, since LGA1700 is at the end of its life rather than the start. Everything else stays wide open: graphics card, storage, memory capacity, cooling and case are all straightforward to change later.

📃 Specifications

• 🧠 CPU: Intel Core i5 12600KF
  Click or tap for deeper spec info

  • 10 cores and 16 threads, split as 6 performance cores and 4 efficient cores, with 20MB of L3 cache
  • 4.9GHz maximum boost, 3.7GHz base. 125W base power and 150W under a full turbo load
  • The hybrid layout suits this machine well. Games sit on the performance cores while background work, streaming software and Windows itself get pushed onto the efficient cores, so the two stop competing for the same resources
  • This is a 12th generation Alder Lake processor, and it is the reason Memoir One costs what it does. Its six performance cores still keep pace with an RTX 5070 at 1440p, which is the only thing that matters at this tier. What you give up against a newer chip is multi-core throughput in heavy rendering work, not frame rate in games
  • The F suffix means no integrated graphics. On a machine with a 5070 in it that is a saving rather than a loss, though it does mean there is no backup display output if the graphics card ever fails
  • Honest note on the K: this chip is unlocked, but the B760 chipset it sits on does not permit CPU overclocking, and we do not think you should want it to. See the motherboard section below
• ❄️ CPU cooler: Thermalright Aqua Elite V6 360mm ARGB
  Click or tap for deeper spec info

  • 360mm radiator with three ARGB fans, mounted in the top as exhaust
  • This is comfortably more cooler than a 150W processor requires, and that is the point. A radiator with plenty of surface area spends its life turning slowly rather than working hard, so the machine stays quiet under sustained load instead of merely staying within limits
  • Three 120mm fans across a 360mm radiator move the required air at low RPM. Fan speed is what you hear, so more surface area is the cheapest route to a quiet machine
  • Top mounted as exhaust, so processor heat leaves the case immediately rather than being pushed back down across the graphics card
• 🔲 Motherboard: MSI B760 Gaming Plus WiFi DDR4 (ATX)
  Click or tap for deeper spec info

  • 12 phase power design, which is far more than a 12600KF asks for even at its 150W ceiling. Plain English translation: the board holds the processor's boost clocks under sustained load rather than backing off when the power stages get warm, and it has the headroom for the larger Intel chips used further up the Memoir range
  • Four DDR4 slots supporting up to 128GB. Two are used by the memory fitted, so unlike a small form factor build you can add capacity later rather than replacing what is there
  • Two M.2 slots, both PCIe 4.0 x4, so a second fast drive can be added without touching the first
  • PCIe 4.0 x16 for the graphics card, which is full bandwidth for an RTX 5070
  • Intel Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 and Realtek 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet onboard
  • Why a B760 and not a Z-board. Z-series is the chipset that unlocks CPU overclocking, and the DDR4 versions of those boards are effectively no longer available in the UK. Manufacturers stopped making them when the platform moved to DDR5. So on any current DDR4 LGA1700 build, from us or anyone else, the processor runs at its stock boost behaviour. We would rather tell you that plainly than let you find out when you go looking for the multiplier. Memory tuning and graphics card overclocking are both unaffected, and for what it is worth we would not recommend overclocking this processor even if the option existed - see the setup section below
  • PC36 only uses motherboards chosen for stability and longevity. See our Trusted brands page
• 📏 Memory / RAM: 16GB (2×8GB) DDR4-3200 CL16
  Click or tap for deeper spec info

  • XMP-tuned dual channel DDR4-3200 CL16. DDR4-3200 is the speed Intel rates this processor for, so this kit runs exactly at specification rather than being pushed to reach it
  • Alder Lake responds well to tuned memory, and this is the one area of this build where there is genuine performance left on the table. The Premier and Ultimate options below both address it
  • 16GB is the right starting point for 1440p gaming and everyday use, and enough for gaming with a browser and Discord alongside
  • Two of the four slots stay free, which is the practical advantage of a full size board. Adding another 16GB later is a genuine option rather than a replacement kit
  • DDR4 pricing is the entire reason this series exists. If you want more memory, talk to us on live chat rather than using the dropdown, because we can usually do considerably better than the listed option on DDR4 specifically
  • Specification guaranteed, model may vary. Happy to confirm the exact part on request
• 💾 Storage: 1TB NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSD (QLC)
  Click or tap for deeper spec info

  • PCIe 4.0 speeds for quick boots and fast game loading. In normal use it feels identical to any other modern NVMe drive
  • QLC is the flash type, and it is what keeps a 1TB drive affordable. The one place you would notice it is writing very large files back to back, where sustained transfers of tens of gigabytes slow down once the drive's fast cache fills. Gaming, browsing and everyday work never do this
  • Worth flagging if you intend to edit video or capture gameplay: ask us about a TLC drive on live chat, since that is the part of this build that would hold that work back first
  • A second M.2 slot sits free, plus mounts in the case for four 2.5 inch drives
  • Specification guaranteed, model may vary. Happy to confirm the exact part on request
• 🎮 Graphics card: NVIDIA RTX 5070 12GB
  Click or tap for deeper spec info

  • Built for 1440p at high refresh, which is what this machine is aimed at. High settings in modern AAA titles, and very high frame rates in competitive shooters
  • 12GB of GDDR7 on a 192-bit bus, with the Blackwell ray tracing hardware and DLSS 4 multi frame generation. In supported titles that turns ray tracing from a slideshow into something you can leave switched on
  • Also does real work outside games. The NVENC encoder handles streaming and recording without touching the processor at all, which matters more on this build than most, since the 12600KF has no integrated graphics to fall back on for encoding
  • The chipset and VRAM are guaranteed: it will always be an RTX 5070 with 12GB. The AIB brand varies with availability, and we only use established manufacturers. See our Trusted brands page for more info
• 🧰 Case: Corsair Frame 4000D RS ARGB
  Click or tap for deeper spec info

  • A high airflow mid-tower with a 3D Y-pattern steel front panel that Corsair measure at up to 12% more airflow than the previous 4000D
  • The InfiniRail fan mounting system is the interesting part. Instead of fixed screw holes, the fans slide along steel rails and clamp wherever you put them. It means we position fans where the airflow actually needs them for this specific build, rather than where a factory drilled a hole
  • Three RS120 ARGB fans come pre-installed as front intake, daisy chained so they run from a single PWM connector and a single ARGB header. Fewer cables in the chassis, which is exactly what you want
  • Supports graphics cards up to 430mm and CPU coolers up to 170mm tall, with room for two 360mm radiators simultaneously. There is a great deal of upgrade headroom here
  • Fully modular panels and reverse-connector motherboard support, plus mounts for two 3.5 inch and four 2.5 inch drives
• 🌬️ Case cooling: 3 × 120mm ARGB front intake and 1 × 120mm rear exhaust, plus 3 × 120mm on the AIO radiator
  Click or tap for deeper spec info

  • Three Corsair RS120 ARGB fans pull cool air in through the mesh front, straight across the graphics card. We add a 120mm exhaust at the rear so warm air leaves on the shortest path
  • The 360mm radiator sits in the top as exhaust. Front in, top and rear out, which is the configuration this case is designed around and keeps processor heat away from the graphics card
  • Seven fans in total, all tuned to a manual curve before dispatch rather than left on the motherboard's defaults
  • Slight positive pressure by design, so air enters through the filtered front rather than through every gap in the chassis. In practice that means noticeably less dust inside a year from now
  • ARGB throughout, controllable from motherboard software, and it can be turned off entirely without affecting the look of the build
• ⚡ Power supply: Deepcool PL750D 750W ATX 3.1
  Click or tap for deeper spec info

  • Includes a native 12V-2x6 PCIe 5.1 cable. That is the connector current and next-generation graphics cards use, so a future GPU upgrade needs no adaptor and no dongle
  • Cybenetics ETA Silver rated, an independent efficiency measurement taken across the full load range, which in practice is a more useful signal than the 80 PLUS badge on its own
  • 750W against a build that draws roughly 400W under a hard combined load. That margin matters on an Intel build, because turbo behaviour is spikier than AMD's, and ATX 3.1 certification is specifically about absorbing those spikes rather than tripping over them
  • Non-modular, which in a standard tower is genuinely fine. The excess tucks into the dead space behind the motherboard tray, out of sight of the glass, and there are no spare cables for you to lose
  • If you plan to fit an RTX 5080 class card in future, an 850W Gold unit is available as a quick-add
• 🔌 Cabling: Stock black cabling, neatly arranged
  Click or tap for deeper spec info

  • Black cables throughout, routed behind the motherboard tray and out of sight through the glass
  • Tidy but not overtightened, which keeps future upgrades straightforward rather than a dismantling job
  • Braided cable extensions in your choice of colour are available via the upgrade options if you want the combed look
• 📶 WiFi / Bluetooth / Ethernet: Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.3 and 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet, included
  Click or tap for deeper spec info

  • Intel Wi-Fi 6E and Bluetooth 5.3 built into the MSI B760 Gaming Plus WiFi. No separate adapter needed, and the aerial is supplied in the box
  • Wi-Fi 6E adds the 6GHz band, which is usually far less congested than 2.4 and 5GHz if your router supports it. Intel wireless is worth having over the budget alternatives, and it is one of the reasons we picked this board
  • 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet for a wired connection, which we would still recommend for competitive play
• 🪟 Operating system: As chosen by you from the listing options below. Windows 11 Home (OEM) is recommended.
• 🧹 Setup and optimisation: PC36 High-Class Standard. Full stress test with certificate, bloat-free installation, and BIOS set up properly
  Click or tap for deeper spec info

  PC36 High-Class Standard, included free with every build

  • Ready the moment you open the box. Your PC boots straight into Windows with a local account already set up. No account sign-in wall, no first-run questionnaire, no half-hour of setup before you can use the machine you just bought
  • BIOS updated and configured properly: manual fan curves, XMP enabled, sensible power limits set rather than the board manufacturer's aggressive defaults, and Secure Boot enabled
  • Vanilla Windows 11 installation if you choose Windows, with no bloatware added by us, and all drivers loaded and ready to go
  • Full stress test with certificate. Every system is torture tested on CPU, RAM and GPU before dispatch, and ships with the certificate to prove it

  PC36 Premier Optimisation, available in the listing options

  • CPU tuning to bring thermals and noise down with minimal performance loss, plus a deeper strip and debloat of Windows
  • This is the option that does the most on an Intel build like this one. The 12600KF responds very well to a modest undervolt and properly set power limits: you keep essentially all of the gaming performance while cutting the heat, and therefore the fan speed, that comes with it. On AMD builds we describe this as a nice-to-have. Here it is the one we would actually recommend

  PC36 Ultimate Performance Tune, available in the listing options

  • Memory tune and GPU overclock on top of everything in Premier. Note that CPU overclocking is not part of this on any Memoir build
  • Being straight about what this includes and what it does not. The B760 chipset does not permit CPU core overclocking, so there is no multiplier tuning to sell you here and we are not going to pretend otherwise.
  • More to the point, we would advise against CPU overclocking on this platform even if the chipset allowed it. Pushing voltage into a 13th or 14th generation Intel processor is what caused the degradation problems those chips became known for, and while this 12th generation part is not affected by that issue, the general principle holds: on a mature Intel platform the sensible tuning direction is downward, not upward. Undervolting buys you a quieter, cooler, longer-lived machine. Overclocking buys you a few percent and a shorter life. We would rather sell you the first one.
  • What Ultimate does buy on this build is a proper memory tune, which Alder Lake genuinely responds to, and a graphics card overclock, which on a 5070 is worthwhile. If a fully unlocked processor is what you want, our AMD builds are the ones to look at and we will point you there honestly
• 🛡️ Warranty: 3 years parts & labour (return to base)
  Click or tap for deeper spec info

  • Standard 3-year coverage included, parts and labour both
  • Optional extended warranties in the listing options below

👁️ Transparency notes

• On the Intel instability reports you may have read about. Worth addressing directly, because it is the first thing a careful buyer searches. The degradation problem Intel identified affected 13th and 14th generation desktop processors running at excessive voltages. Memoir One uses a 12th generation chip, which is not affected by it at all. Memoir Two and Three do use 14th generation processors, and on those we fit a current BIOS carrying Intel's microcode mitigation, set sensible power limits ourselves rather than accepting a board manufacturer's aggressive defaults, and supply brand new chips that have never run without the fix in place. We would rather explain that across the range than leave you to work out which listing it applies to.
• This chipset does not allow CPU overclocking, and we would not recommend it anyway. The 12600KF is an unlocked processor, but DDR4 Z-series boards are no longer available in the UK, so a B760 is the only sensible option on a DDR4 LGA1700 build. It is stated in the specification list as well, because it is the sort of thing a buyer discovers afterwards and feels misled about. For the avoidance of doubt: this is not a limitation we are apologising for. On a mature Intel platform we tune downward for heat and longevity rather than upward for a few percent, and we would give you that advice on a Z-board too.
• LGA1700 is a mature platform at the end of its life, not the start. That is what makes the pricing work, and it means the processor upgrade path is limited to what already exists for this socket. Graphics card, memory, storage, cooling and case all remain fully upgradable. If a long CPU upgrade runway matters more to you than the price today, our AM5 builds are the better choice and we will say so on live chat.
• Product images are representative photos of a similar spec in the same style. Your PC will look similar but not identical. A Corsair Nautilus 360mm liquid cooler is pictured from an earlier photoshoot; if you would prefer that specific cooler, contact us. Our support team can help clarify anything you're unsure of.
• RGB heatspreaders on the RAM are not guaranteed unless the quick add-on is chosen.
• Most parts are named models and will be what is delivered. RAM, SSD and graphics card will instead carry a spec guarantee due to current market conditions making stock very variable. This keeps us agile enough to offer good pricing and honest spec lists. If you want clarity on precise models we will use, drop us a live chat on the day you're ready to purchase and we'll confirm it.

🛠️ Popular upgrade options

• Memory upgrade to 32GB: available in the listing options below, or via live chat for the best price.
  Click or tap for more info

  Worth it if you edit video, stream, or keep a lot open alongside a game. 16GB is enough for gaming today but it is the first thing this build runs short of. Two slots are free so it can also be done later, but do talk to us on live chat rather than using the dropdown, because DDR4 pricing moves and we can usually beat the listed option.

• Storage upgrade to 2TB, or to a TLC drive: available in the listing options below, or via live chat.
  Click or tap for more info

  The capacity upgrade is worth it if your game library is large, since modern AAA installs regularly run past 150GB each. The TLC upgrade is the one to ask about if you edit video or capture gameplay, because it holds its write speed through long sustained transfers where the standard drive slows once its cache fills.

• Need a monitor, keyboard or mouse? Scroll past the add to cart button. We've paired specific peripherals to get the best out of this build.
  Click or tap for more info

  This machine is built for 1440p at high refresh. If your monitor is a 1080p 60Hz panel, that is where the next money should go, because it is currently discarding most of what this build produces.

• PSU upgrade to 850W 80+ Gold: choose it from the quick-add upgrades, or speak with us via live chat.
  Click or tap for more info

  Worth adding only if you plan to fit an RTX 5080 class card in future. The 750W unit handles everything up to and including a 5070 Ti comfortably, so on the stock spec this is peace of mind rather than a fix for anything.

• Braided cable extensions: available from the quick-add upgrades section.
  Click or tap for more info

  Worth it if you want the interior to match, since the Frame 4000D's glass panel leaves the main chamber on show. Choose your colours by leaving a note on your order or contacting us via live chat.

• White colourway: available via live chat.
  Click or tap for more info

  The Frame 4000D comes in white, and we can match the cooler and fans to it. Ask us and we will price it up.

🎯 What is this PC best for?

• 1440p gaming at high to ultra settings in modern titles
• Esports and competitive gaming at high refresh rates
• Gaming and streaming at the same time, with the efficient cores absorbing the background load and the graphics card handling the encoding
• Light to moderate creative work, photo editing and productivity
• Buyers who want the most graphics performance per pound available right now and are comfortable trading future CPU upgrades for it

📊 Performance estimates (1440p)

These figures are based on 1440p resolution. FPS will be higher at 1080p. Performance varies with game updates, maps, settings and background apps. These are estimates, not guarantees.

Fortnite - 1440p Competitive Settings (click or tap to expand)

Estimated average FPS: 220-280 FPS
Native testing (no upscaling or frame generation).

Cyberpunk 2077 - 1440p Ray Tracing Medium (click or tap to expand)

Estimated average FPS: 85-110 FPS
Upscaling set to Auto (DLSS / FSR / XeSS based on GPU).

Battlefield 6 - 1440p High Settings (click or tap to expand)

Estimated average FPS: 95-125 FPS
Native testing (no upscaling or frame generation).

DaVinci Resolve - PugetBench Standard (click or tap to expand)

Estimated score: 6,000-7,000

💬 Need help?

Not sure if this is the right spec for you? Ping us on live chat and we'll help you choose the perfect PC for your games, work and budget. You'll be talking to one of us, not a chatbot.