Gaming PC for ~£600?

[Raz3011]

Hi everyone,

New poster here - apologies if I'm posting this in the wrong section of the forum. I was wondering if anyone could offer me some advice on whether it's possible to get myself a decent gaming PC if my budget is only around the £600 mark? I've had a read through some of the other posts and people generally seem to have higher budgets than me so I'm worried if I do buy something it will be below the quality I should be after. If it helps I would mainly be wanting to play Warzone on it, alongside some other titles. I'm a total PC newbie so apologies in advance if this is a silly question!

Cheers.

 

[Scott]

Hi there. Unfortunately most of us would only recommend systems with budgets over £800. You can put a system together for that budget but it wouldn't be considered very good and it wouldn't be advised.

The best option would be to look at an XBox or the new PS5. You get a LOT of power for your money with these consoles.

 

[Raz3011]

Hi there. Unfortunately most of us would only recommend systems with budgets over £800. You can put a system together for that budget but it wouldn't be considered very good and it wouldn't be advised.

The best option would be to look at an XBox or the new PS5. You get a LOT of power for your money with these consoles.

Hi Scott,

Thanks for the reply. Would £800 be doable then? I may be able to stretch to that - £600 was my initial budget as I'd seen some websites offering pre-built PCs for around that price. As I say I'm a total novice so don't really know what to be looking for.

 

[Scott]

Does £800 include a monitor and peripherals? If you're playing on a TV or have a separate budget for monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc then this is where I would look to start. This sort of system has potential for upgrades and future potential, so it could be a modular build over years to get you to the higher level of system without the one off cost.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3500X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.1GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CV SERIES™ CV-650 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 13 to 15 working days
Price: £794.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/zyX9kBK9Qz/

 

[Raz3011]

Does £800 include a monitor and peripherals? If you're playing on a TV or have a separate budget for monitor, keyboard, mouse, etc then this is where I would look to start. This sort of system has potential for upgrades and future potential, so it could be a modular build over years to get you to the higher level of system without the one off cost.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3500X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.1GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CV SERIES™ CV-650 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 13 to 15 working days
Price: £794.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/zyX9kBK9Qz/

Ah brilliant, thank you for that

I already have a monitor - it's a Samsung one that I've been using for console gaming. I was just going to use that. Mouse, keyboard and any other accessories - I would need to pick up on top of the PC but I can't see that being an issue.

So the build that you've configured there - would that be sufficient to play Warzone, amongst other games, at a higher spec that my Xbox One for example? Again, apologies in advance if these questions are a little dumb haha.

Thanks.

 

[Scott]

Ah brilliant, thank you for that

I already have a monitor - it's a Samsung one that I've been using for console gaming. I was just going to use that. Mouse, keyboard and any other accessories - I would need to pick up on top of the PC but I can't see that being an issue.

So the build that you've configured there - would that be sufficient to play Warzone, amongst other games, at a higher spec that my Xbox One for example? Again, apologies in advance if these questions are a little dumb haha.

Thanks.

Unfortunately you just cannot compete with a console at this level. I think it would be close with the XB1 but you're not gaining much.

The main consideration with a PC is the modularity of it. You can add to it over years, so with the correct base you will get 10 years of use out of it (with GPU upgrades).

As an example, it's a fair comparison to say the latest generation of console are the equivalent of a £1500 PC (at least). It's serious hardware in the consoles now, but they make their money through licensing fees and various other revenue sources. I believe the games are £60 now, or thereabouts.

PC gaming always offers the best value for money when it comes to the actual games, but the initial outlay is steep.

 

[Raz3011]

Unfortunately you just cannot compete with a console at this level. I think it would be close with the XB1 but you're not gaining much.

The main consideration with a PC is the modularity of it. You can add to it over years, so with the correct base you will get 10 years of use out of it (with GPU upgrades).

As an example, it's a fair comparison to say the latest generation of console are the equivalent of a £1500 PC (at least). It's serious hardware in the consoles now, but they make their money through licensing fees and various other revenue sources. I believe the games are £60 now, or thereabouts.

PC gaming always offers the best value for money when it comes to the actual games, but the initial outlay is steep.

Blimey - fair enough! I appreciate your help. I definitely want to make the switch to PC so it's something to think about.

Cheers.

 

[MP1983]

Hi everyone,

New poster here - apologies if I'm posting this in the wrong section of the forum. I was wondering if anyone could offer me some advice on whether it's possible to get myself a decent gaming PC if my budget is only around the £600 mark? I've had a read through some of the other posts and people generally seem to have higher budgets than me so I'm worried if I do buy something it will be below the quality I should be after. If it helps I would mainly be wanting to play Warzone on it, alongside some other titles. I'm a total PC newbie so apologies in advance if this is a silly question!

Cheers.

Hey Raz,

Just wanted to chip in and say, from bitter experience, the absolute minimum I would consider for Warzone at decent settings is 16gb of RAM (included in the build suggested by Scott) but also a GFX card with 6gb of RAM.

I'd expect the 4gb 1650 to struggle, especially if you like sniping!

I'm running an intel 6600k, 16gb of 3200mhz RAM and a 6gb 1060 and it handles Warzone very well.

I had to upgrade my RAM from 8gb to 16gb to achieve that though - with 8gb it was unplayable.

I can run WZ at 1080p, most settings to mod-high, with textures at high and hit 60 frames per second for 95%+ of the time. When drops do occur they're just down to ~50fps in very specific scenarios (aiming out of windows in some of the busier areas of the map).

Hope the above is of some use. Welcome to the PC Master Race!

 

[Raz3011]

Hey Raz,

Just wanted to chip in and say, from bitter experience, the absolute minimum I would consider for Warzone at decent settings is 16gb of RAM (included in the build suggested by Scott) but also a GFX card with 6gb of RAM.

I'd expect the 4gb 1650 to struggle, especially if you like sniping!

I'm running an intel 6600k, 16gb of 3200mhz RAM and a 6gb 1060 and it handles Warzone very well.

I had to upgrade my RAM from 8gb to 16gb to achieve that though - with 8gb it was unplayable.

I can run WZ at 1080p, most settings to mod-high, with textures at high and hit 60 frames per second for 95%+ of the time. When drops do occur they're just down to ~50fps in very specific scenarios (aiming out of windows in some of the busier areas of the map).

Hope the above is of some use. Welcome to the PC Master Race!

That's really helpful, mate - thanks!

I've reached out to a few friends who play on PC and they're giving me some feedback - I never knew how complicated PC's can be haha.

One thing I've noticed with PC Specialist is that there is an option to spread the cost over 12 months which would mean I could increase my budget more than expected - hopefully I can work something out.

 

[MP1983]

That's really helpful, mate - thanks!

I've reached out to a few friends who play on PC and they're giving me some feedback - I never knew how complicated PC's can be haha.

One thing I've noticed with PC Specialist is that there is an option to spread the cost over 12 months which would mean I could increase my budget more than expected - hopefully I can work something out.

No problem at all. I'm currently in the process of planning on treating myself to a new rig and just generally discussing this stuff is fun!

It may be complicated but it's so worth it.

Consoles have their pros, but if you can afford a PC that'll run the games you want to play at the resolution and frame rates you want to experience, it's a whole new world.

The 12 months interest free credit option is just gold. I've bought two rigs from PCSpecialist using that route and am probably about to order a third.

You're buying at a great time as well, with the Nvidia/AMD war that's going on.

Any further questions please feel free to let me know, I've been doing a fair bit of reading around key points recently

 

[Raz3011]

No problem at all. I'm currently in the process of planning on treating myself to a new rig and just generally discussing this stuff is fun!

It may be complicated but it's so worth it.

Consoles have their pros, but if you can afford a PC that'll run the games you want to play at the resolution and frame rates you want to experience, it's a whole new world.

The 12 months interest free credit option is just gold. I've bought two rigs from PCSpecialist using that route and am probably about to order a third.

You're buying at a great time as well, with the Nvidia/AMD war that's going on.

Any further questions please feel free to let me know, I've been doing a fair bit of reading around key points recently

The initial reason I became interested in switching to PC was the ability to change the field of view - something they've included in the new Cold War game on consoles ironically but I'm not aware whether they will introduce that setting in Warzone too.

So in your opinion - with the addition of a higher quality GFX card - do you think the build Scott very kindly put together for me above would be suitable? Or are there any other modifications you would recommend from your experience playing FPS?

 

[MP1983]

The initial reason I became interested in switching to PC was the ability to change the field of view - something they've included in the new Cold War game on consoles ironically but I'm not aware whether they will introduce that setting in Warzone too.

So in your opinion - with the addition of a higher quality GFX card - do you think the build Scott very kindly put together for me above would be suitable? Or are there any other modifications you would recommend from your experience playing FPS?

Hhhmmm that's a good question r.e. whether they'll introduce FOV changes to Warzone on consoles. Given there will be some integration of cold war content into Warzone (which is how I currently understand it anyway!) they might do.

It's a moot point for me though - playing FPS games with a mouse and keyboard is just a million miles ahead of a controller in my opinion.

R.e. the proposed rig from Scott, that CPU is marginally better than my 6600k (https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-6600K-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-3500X/3503vs4052), the RAM is the same as mine, the motherboard is better that my ASUS Z170-P, so provided you've got a GFX card as good as a 6gb 1060 it should be fine for 60fps at 1080p in Warzone.

Points I'd raise from the build:

1) The B550 motherboard is very good, but if you could stretch to an X570 that would give you better onwards upgrading options I believe, plus a PCI-E 4.0 slot which I think will come in handy for future generations of graphics cards and/or storage drives (happy for someone to correct me if I'm wrong on this). I'd recommend a YouTube video by JayzTwoCents on the B550 vs X570.

2) You've got a 512gb M.2 SSD and a 1TB HDD. What you include for storage really depends on what you plan on having installed where, obviously; and how much you want to faff around uninstalling/reinstalling games as you want to play them.

The OS will of course go on the M.2, leaving about 250gb of free space on there for games etc which may benefit from the extra speed, which doesn't seem like a lot to me (especially for Warzone!).

I'd consider dropping the M.2 and going for a larger normal SSD and a HDD for extra storage where you need it (say a 1TB samsung 870 and a 2TB barracuda - install the OS on the SSD and still have 750gb for games that'll benefit from it, and games that don't benefit so much can go on the HDD. This is an area giving me the biggest headache for my next rig by the way.

This isn't as much of a pain as it may seem - you can just use the game launchers you'll be using (Battlenet for Warzone, Steam, Origin, Epic, Rockstar launcher for Red Dead 2 etc) and tell them what you want installed where.

Note: I've read and heard lots about the next gen of games potentially being hugely benefitted by storage speed. The Xbox Series X and PS5 are really doubling down on high speed storage and this will have a knock on affect across the gaming industry as a whole.

TLR - SSD's are going to become more important for gaming, imo.

3) Don't know much about the case but do your research, it can make a huge difference in my experience.

4) Don't know what the stock cooler that comes with the 3500x is like. The one that comes with the new 5600x is apparently excellent but again, worth researching, a bespoke PCU cooler may be worth it.

5) Always invest good money in a quality PSU. Always. I believe the 650w Corsair Scott recommended is gold+ rated, which is good.

6) On-board sound is fine unless you want to run yours through some epic 7.1 home sound system, in which case the extra £28 for a creative audigy is worth it!

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hhhmmm that's a good question r.e. whether they'll introduce FOV changes to Warzone on consoles. Given there will be some integration of cold war content into Warzone (which is how I currently understand it anyway!) they might do.

It's a moot point for me though - playing FPS games with a mouse and keyboard is just a million miles ahead of a controller in my opinion.

R.e. the proposed rig from Scott, that CPU is marginally better than my 6600k (https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-6600K-vs-AMD-Ryzen-5-3500X/3503vs4052), the RAM is the same as mine, the motherboard is better that my ASUS Z170-P, so provided you've got a GFX card as good as a 6gb 1060 it should be fine for 60fps at 1080p in Warzone.

Points I'd raise from the build:

1) The B550 motherboard is very good, but if you could stretch to an X570 that would give you better onwards upgrading options I believe, plus a PCI-E 4.0 slot which I think will come in handy for future generations of graphics cards and/or storage drives (happy for someone to correct me if I'm wrong on this). I'd recommend a YouTube video by JayzTwoCents on the B550 vs X570.

2) You've got a 512gb M.2 SSD and a 1TB HDD. What you include for storage really depends on what you plan on having installed where, obviously; and how much you want to faff around uninstalling/reinstalling games as you want to play them.

The OS will of course go on the M.2, leaving about 250gb of free space on there for games etc which may benefit from the extra speed, which doesn't seem like a lot to me (especially for Warzone!).

I'd consider dropping the M.2 and going for a larger normal SSD and a HDD for extra storage where you need it (say a 1TB samsung 870 and a 2TB barracuda - install the OS on the SSD and still have 750gb for games that'll benefit from it, and games that don't benefit so much can go on the HDD. This is an area giving me the biggest headache for my next rig by the way.

This isn't as much of a pain as it may seem - you can just use the game launchers you'll be using (Battlenet for Warzone, Steam, Origin, Epic, Rockstar launcher for Red Dead 2 etc) and tell them what you want installed where.

Note: I've read and heard lots about the next gen of games potentially being hugely benefitted by storage speed. The Xbox Series X and PS5 are really doubling down on high speed storage and this will have a knock on affect across the gaming industry as a whole.

TLR - SSD's are going to become more important for gaming, imo.

3) Don't know much about the case but do your research, it can make a huge difference in my experience.

4) Don't know what the stock cooler that comes with the 3500x is like. The one that comes with the new 5600x is apparently excellent but again, worth researching, a bespoke PCU cooler may be worth it.

5) Always invest good money in a quality PSU. Always. I believe the 650w Corsair Scott recommended is gold+ rated, which is good.

6) On-board sound is fine unless you want to run yours through some epic 7.1 home sound system, in which case the extra £28 for a creative audigy is worth it!

Never use userbenchmark, it’s completely garbage results based on absolutely zero real world data. They are pure disinformation.

The 3600 is just another planet compared to the 6600k in actual performance.

AMD Vs Intel

So some of you aren't aware of the reasons why so many people are heading away from Intel to AMD, so thought it would be important to lay that out for people to refer back to. A lot of you will go to cpubenchmark or userbenchmark to find performance metrics for CPU's. These sites are complete...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[MP1983]

Never use userbenchmark, it’s completely garbage results based on absolutely zero real world data. They are pure disinformation.

The 3600 is just another planet compared to the 6600k in actual performance.

AMD Vs Intel

So some of you aren't aware of the reasons why so many people are heading away from Intel to AMD, so thought it would be important to lay that out for people to refer back to. A lot of you will go to cpubenchmark or userbenchmark to find performance metrics for CPU's. These sites are complete...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Cheers for that, I did wonder.

I was in the process of writing that the 3500x (as was recommended by Scott, not the 3600, just FYI) would mangle my 6600k but I thought, "I better check that" and did a quick search.

I would expect much better overall performance from a Zen 2.

 

[MP1983]

Never use userbenchmark, it’s completely garbage results based on absolutely zero real world data. They are pure disinformation.

The 3600 is just another planet compared to the 6600k in actual performance.

AMD Vs Intel

So some of you aren't aware of the reasons why so many people are heading away from Intel to AMD, so thought it would be important to lay that out for people to refer back to. A lot of you will go to cpubenchmark or userbenchmark to find performance metrics for CPU's. These sites are complete...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Would you recommend CPU-monkey or any other site for reliable CPU comparisons?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Cheers for that, I did wonder.

I was in the process of writing that the 3500x (as was recommended by Scott, not the 3600, just FYI) would mangle my 6600k but I thought, "I better check that" and did a quick search.

I would expect much better overall performance from a Zen 2.

Yeah, you have to be really careful, userbenchmark comes up 1st in most cpu searches and because of that people think it's legitimate, but they're an absolute sham, obviously paid by Intel to misinform people into buying intel. Any comparison site like that like userbenchmark, cpubenchmark etc should be generally avoided as they don't take into account any real world metrics like IPC which is far more relevant than frequency.

All advice is listed in the article I linked about where to get actual benchmark results.

Just additionally, all current consoles allow keyboard and mouse. They really are just mini PC's at this stage.

 

[MP1983]

Yeah, you have to be really careful, userbenchmark comes up 1st in most cpu searches and because of that people think it's legitimate, but they're an absolute sham, obviously paid by Intel to misinform people into buying intel. Any comparison site like that like userbenchmark, cpubenchmark etc should be generally avoided as they don't take into account any real world metrics like IPC which is far more relevant than frequency.

All advice is listed in the article I linked about where to get actual benchmark results.

Just additionally, all current consoles allow keyboard and mouse. They really are just mini PC's at this stage.

Thanks for the reply - didn't actually notice the article first time around! My brain processed it as part of your message signature/footnote for some reason. Contains some great info, cheers.

 

[Scott]

Just keep in mind that my suggestions are all based on a limitation of budget. If the budget changes, my suggestions would change accordingly.

The following will give you a reasonable understanding of the thought process behind the choices.

Desktop Building Guide - April 2023

A "quick" reference guide to building the perfect system. This is the sort of logic I go through when suggesting systems, so thought I would jot it down on the page. Clearly this is an ever changing suite of options but I'll update periodically as my default go-to's change... I'm noticing the...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[Raz3011]

Hey guys, I was just doing a bit of browsing on the PCS site again and noticed this pre-built system. Is this something that would be suitable for gaming? The main difference with this one and the ones discussed above is it only has 8GB of memory instead of 16GB. Would that be bad? Again - I appreciate all your help on this.

PCSPECIALIST - Custom Computers and Laptops Built to Order

PCSpecialist is a manufacturer of high quality custom computers and laptops. Configure your ideal computer in just a few simple steps with a broad range available.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[Scott]

Hey guys, I was just doing a bit of browsing on the PCS site again and noticed this pre-built system. Is this something that would be suitable for gaming? The main difference with this one and the ones discussed above is it only has 8GB of memory instead of 16GB. Would that be bad? Again - I appreciate all your help on this.

PCSPECIALIST - Custom Computers and Laptops Built to Order

PCSpecialist is a manufacturer of high quality custom computers and laptops. Configure your ideal computer in just a few simple steps with a broad range available.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

The speed of the RAM isn't good either. There are a whole host of compromises with that build. As suggested, I would check out the Desktop Building Guide for some understanding to what you are looking for and what the costs and compromises are for the varying options