Spec advice

Hi,

I'm about to make a purchase from PCS but really need advice on spec, I'm very out of touch with currently technology as it is several years since I bought my last computer.

Budget is £1200 -£1500.

The rig will be used for image editing, Photoshop/Lightroom, and FPS gaming. I would like to include a monitor in the setup, also.

Thanks for any advice.

Possibly something like:

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
---Get Call of Duty: Black Ops 4 & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z370-P II: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 580 - HDMI, 3 x DP - DX® 12
---Up to 2 Games FREE w/ select RADEON RX GPUs!
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1[SUP]st[/SUP] M.2 SSD Drive
250GB WD Black™ M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/s R | 1600MB/s W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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
Genuine 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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Monitor
AOC Q3279VWFD8 31.5" QHD Monitor - 2560 x 1440, 5MS, HDMI, DVI, DP
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,469.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-pc/rzsy!vfJ8f/

But the RX 580 might be a bit sparse for gaming at 1440p. Depends on the games you want to play. What sort of FPS? Overwatch? or more demanding things?

Thanks for the prompt reply, Oussebon, much appreciated.

I play a lot in Insugency, and would like something that
would handle the new, Insurgency Sandstorm, which is pretty resource intensive by all accounts. Not sure if pushing to a better graphics card and cutting back on something which is up-gradable later, is also an option?

The single biggest thing to cut back on is the CPU, which while technically upgradable to a very limited extent would be a waste of money to upgrade down the line. Plus the CPU is important for photo editing.

You could get a cheaper monitor but that's not ideal for your photo editing I suppose.

A side note, for shooters a 144hz monitor would be preferable and 1080p 144hz monitors are the same price as the 1440p 60/75hz one as I included in the spec. But these 1080p 144hz monitors have TN panels which you won't really want for photo editing given a choice.

Buying without an SSD or with only 8gb RAM, while upgradable, is less than ideal for a photo editing PC.

Perhaps wait until the RTX 2060 graphics card is on offer and we know what the prices are. That would be good 1440p GPU and could be partially funded by a cheaper PSU (550W VS). The 2060 is due to go on sale on 15th Jan.

Apologies for bumping this thread.

I've still not put an order in and was wondering if there was any changes recommended as it's a couple of months since my initial post. Cheers.

Since then a few review specs have come out - these are fixed but carry a discount. One a little below your price point:

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/configure-review/300/


which has a cheaper CPU and a 2060 (See Oussebon's comments above about these aspects) and comes in at £1299

The review build is an option.

If going for an Intel build along the lines above:

PCS have the new version of the WD Black SSD, so go with that.

The GTX 1660 graphics card has been released and would be a better choice than the RX 580 for you, I think. It will do better at 1440p for gaming, and is still within the £1500 budget.

Thanks for the replies, such a great help.

That review spec does look good, so i guess it t between that (plus monitor) and this below spec.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Get Just Cause 4, PUBG & More w/ select Intel CPUs!
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z370-P II: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 Ti - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB WD Black™ SN750 M.2 NVMe SSD (up to 3100MB/s R | 1600MB/s W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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
Genuine 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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Monitor
AOC Q3279VWFD8 31.5" QHD Monitor - 2560 x 1440, 5MS, HDMI, DVI, DP
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,531.00 including VAT and Delivery

Review Spec would give better gaming performance, and has a few additional features (better cooler, more upgrade options including on the CPU). 9700k spec above would probably be a bit better in photoshop.

I've no idea what difference you'd see in PS (not familiar with the software or your specific workloads); could be slight, could be more noticeable. You'd definitely notice the difference in gaming between the two though.

Thanks for all the advice. I ended up ordering the review spec PC and a AOC 31.5inch monitor.

Sounds great, thanks for letting us know If you get the chance, keep us posted with how it all goes after you get it