First ever gaming pc

VisMeh

Member
Looking to buy my first pc with a max budget of £1750 which will be used for gaming at 1440p. The types of games I will be playing are COD, Rocket League, League of Legends, GTA, Valorant, Apex Legends, and more. Currently, I haven't bought a monitor yet but have looked into flat 1440p 144hz ones. This monitor is the one I am going to buy from the Currys website.

ACER Nitro VG270UPbmiipx Quad HD 27" LCD Gaming Monitor - Black​

For the pc itself, I wanted a build that allows making future changes and improvements. I won't be able to have a windows key that I can transfer to a new pc. Also, I wanted advice on the case that I picked out making sure it has good airflow and if it's a general good case. As for the graphics card shall I keep the 3070 or have the 3060 ti for 1440p? Overall I want to be playing games at high fps.

Any changes or advice?

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
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
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
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 [KUK-00001]
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
Firefox™
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 - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £1,742.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/7ZXbWKGJGW/
 

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
You've pretty much nailed it to be honest if you can stretch to £1806 i've tweaked the storage slightly to give you the HDD for general storage, a really fast M.2 for system drive and a fast M.2 for your games, so if you ever need to reinstall the OS you don't need to download all your games again

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
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
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
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 [KUK-00001]
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
Firefox™
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 - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £1,806.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/EBSGTjx9v5/
 

VisMeh

Member
You've pretty much nailed it to be honest if you can stretch to £1806 i've tweaked the storage slightly to give you the HDD for general storage, a really fast M.2 for system drive and a fast M.2 for your games, so if you ever need to reinstall the OS you don't need to download all your games again
Thanks for replying, yes I may look into stretching my budget a bit to fit the storage in. Do you have any monitor recommendations for this pc?
 

JUNI0R

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Looking to buy my first pc with a max budget of £1750 which will be used for gaming at 1440p. The types of games I will be playing are COD, Rocket League, League of Legends, GTA, Valorant, Apex Legends, and more. Currently, I haven't bought a monitor yet but have looked into flat 1440p 144hz ones. This monitor is the one I am going to buy from the Currys website.

ACER Nitro VG270UPbmiipx Quad HD 27" LCD Gaming Monitor - Black​

For the pc itself, I wanted a build that allows making future changes and improvements. I won't be able to have a windows key that I can transfer to a new pc. Also, I wanted advice on the case that I picked out making sure it has good airflow and if it's a general good case. As for the graphics card shall I keep the 3070 or have the 3060 ti for 1440p? Overall I want to be playing games at high fps.

Any changes or advice?

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
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
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
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 [KUK-00001]
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
Firefox™
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 - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £1,742.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/7ZXbWKGJGW/
Agree with Martin here, you’ve got it pretty much on the head. In regards to your comments, the 220T is a lovely case, and a good case for airflow, but it’s a bit on the small side especially if think you might add in an AIO or super large/ beefy graphics card down the line (something 30 series STRIX esque). The TD500 is also a good case for airflow, comes with RGB fans and is generally larger plus it’s the same
Price. The 3070 and 60TI are both great 1440p cards, but the 60TI seems to be a myth right now so that sort of plays the hand for you. The other option is the 6700XT from AMD which sits between the two but you do miss out on some of the NVIDIA features.

For monitors, the G5 is a strong shout from Martin, I have one of its competitors, the AOC CQ27G2U and love it. both of those are curved but there is a flat version of the AOC called the Q27G2U. Both AOC’s are currently great prices at Curry’s.

I did notice that Martin’s spec only had a 500GB secondary SSD, where as we normally recommend a 1TB (assume this was a simple miss-click). I’ve upped the Games SSD to 1TB and swapped to 3200MHz RAM, for a gaming load there’s minimal difference between the two and it saves some cash. I’ve left the case as the 220T for now. Swapping to the 6700XT would save another £35

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
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
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
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 [KUK-00001]
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
Firefox™
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 - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £1,828.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/3mGX!KC85u/
 

VisMeh

Member
Agree with Martin here, you’ve got it pretty much on the head. In regards to your comments, the 220T is a lovely case, and a good case for airflow, but it’s a bit on the small side especially if think you might add in an AIO or super large/ beefy graphics card down the line (something 30 series STRIX esque). The TD500 is also a good case for airflow, comes with RGB fans and is generally larger plus it’s the same
Price. The 3070 and 60TI are both great 1440p cards, but the 60TI seems to be a myth right now so that sort of plays the hand for you. The other option is the 6700XT from AMD which sits between the two but you do miss out on some of the NVIDIA features.

For monitors, the G5 is a strong shout from Martin, I have one of its competitors, the AOC CQ27G2U and love it. both of those are curved but there is a flat version of the AOC called the Q27G2U. Both AOC’s are currently great prices at Curry’s.

I did notice that Martin’s spec only had a 500GB secondary SSD, where as we normally recommend a 1TB (assume this was a simple miss-click). I’ve upped the Games SSD to 1TB and swapped to 3200MHz RAM, for a gaming load there’s minimal difference between the two and it saves some cash. I’ve left the case as the 220T for now. Swapping to the 6700XT would save another £35
Thanks, I will switch over the case to the TD500 as if it's the same price as the iCUE 220T then why not. Also, I'm going to go with the AOC Q27G2U for my monitor.

Quick question, would it be fine to downgrade from the 500GB Samsung 980 pro to the 500GB Samsung 970 EVO Plus or will this be a bad idea because I'm trying to keep the overall price as close to £1800 or lower.
 

JUNI0R

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Quick question, would it be fine to downgrade from the 500GB Samsung 980 pro to the 500GB Samsung 970 EVO Plus or will this be a bad idea because I'm trying to keep the overall price as close to £1800 or lower.
That would be a perfectly fine swap to make. In the real world, the 970 is still a balistically fast drive and the difference between them loading into Windows would likely be a matter of seconds. Yes it'd be nice to have a Gen 4 drive on the spec sheet, but the 970 is already a fantastic SSD and I serously doubt you'd get buyers remorse because it's not fast enough!
 

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I have the 970 Evo and genuinely it takes longer to POST than it does to boot afterwards. A 980 is amazing, but it's definitely not necessary. (Though, for the price difference, I do still think I'd go for the 980 if I were shopping today.)

I also have the Q27G2U and can't speak highly enough of it (except that plugging the mouse into the integrated USB hub prevents the computer from sleeping).
 

VisMeh

Member
That would be a perfectly fine swap to make. In the real world, the 970 is still a balistically fast drive and the difference between them loading into Windows would likely be a matter of seconds. Yes it'd be nice to have a Gen 4 drive on the spec sheet, but the 970 is already a fantastic SSD and I serously doubt you'd get buyers remorse because it's not fast enough!
Thank you for your help today :)
 

VisMeh

Member
I have the 970 Evo and genuinely it takes longer to POST than it does to boot afterwards. A 980 is amazing, but it's definitely not necessary. (Though, for the price difference, I do still think I'd go for the 980 if I were shopping today.)

I also have the Q27G2U and can't speak highly enough of it (except that plugging the mouse into the integrated USB hub prevents the computer from sleeping).
Thanks, I will take that into consideration before purchasing. 👍
 
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