Newbie seeking advice on new PC

Hi there

I am looking at purchasing a new PC from PCS and I was hoping to obtain some advice from the knowledgeable people on here.

I have a budget of 1200 and am looking for an all round pc to ideally last 3 years and I have the following specs in mind

Ryzen 2600x
amd 580
16 gb memory
BLU RAY ROM /DVD writer
250 gb Samsung 970 evo
1tb 7200 rpm
WIN10
WIFI not required



or i5 9600k
1060 6gb
16 gb memory
BLU RAY ROM /DVD writer
250 gb Samsung 970 evo
1tb 7200 rpm
WIN10
WIFI not required


Can you please help by suggesting specs/components that meet my needs


Already have a 4k monitor.
Definitely want the 970 Evo.
Don't mind the case as long as it can support an internal blu/dvd writer.
Cant figure out what motherboard I need - again want to futurteproof it as best as I can.
Not sure what Ram speed I require but im thinking of 3000Mhz again looking to futureproof as best as I can.
2933 and 3000Mhz confuses me.
Not sure what my PSU should be - again looking to futureproof.
Don't need wifi
Don't need flashing lights

The current Fusion RX seems ideal at the right price point however the case wont support the BLU RAY plus PCS cant change the components of a promotional PC.
Should I simply purchase an external writer for the Fusion RX but how will the speeds compare to an internal writer. I will lost a USB slot I guess.

Apologies for all the newbie questions but I would appreciate some help as I am slowly tearing out my hair!

Thanks in advance



Cheers














I de
 

Stephen M

Author Level
Very few cases have DVD/Blu Ray drive bays now so an external drive and the Fusion is a good bet.

What sort of software will you be running and any gaming.
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Should I simply purchase an external writer for the Fusion RX but how will the speeds compare to an internal writer.
Yes.

If you manually configured the Fusion RX spec (i.e. without the discount) it would be just over £1300: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-pc/wEsJazwRrh/

So that's a lot more spec for your money.

Also your PC should last you a lot longer than 3 years. For gaming you'll probably want to upgrade the GPU in a few years, but you shouldn't need to buy a whole new PC in 3 years.
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
If you wanted to save some money:


Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Six Core CPU (3.4GHz-3.9GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
---Tom Clancy's The Division 2 FREE w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs!
Motherboard
Gigabyte X470 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
---Get an AORUS M3 Gaming Mouse w/ select GIGABYTE Motherboards!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2933MHz ~ (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 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-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)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
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 [KK3-00002]
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)
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 £1,020.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-pc/z4sZrMYbMA/

The R5 2600 is almost as fast as the 2600x, but is something like £70 cheaper. The RX 580 is almost as fast as the RX 590 (it's on par with the GTX 1060 6gb) and is £80 cheaper. The WD Black SSD is ~£10 cheaper than the 970 Evo and just as fast.

The stock AMD cooler is fine.

I picked a case that has 5.25" bays for blu ray drives. And I picked a better quality PSU.
 
Case
PCS 6003B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.25GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Tom Clancy's The Division 2 FREE w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs!
Motherboard

Gigabyte X470 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready


Get an AORUS M3 Gaming Mouse w/ select GIGABYTE Motherboards!


Memory (RAM)

16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2933MHz ~ (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!


1st Storage Drive

1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE


1st M.2 SSD Drive

250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 1500MB/W)


DVD/BLU-RAY Drive

16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE


Power Supply

CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-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)


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


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)


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



QTY

1



£930.00

ex VAT


£1,116.00

inc VAT and Delivery

hi Ouseebon thank you so much for the spec.
I have used it as a template to have a play and have come up with this.

2 questions
why am I limited to 2933 MHz?

how does this stack up to the Fusion rx as an allround PC rather than as a gaming PC?

I want to be able to watch 4k movies using this with my 4k monitor.

thanks in advance
 
Hi Oussebon many thanks for your reply and spec.

I have taken your spec and amended it slightly.
Cheaper case.
removed WIFI
Increased to 2600x
Added Samsung 970

I have come up with the following.




AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.25GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Tom Clancy's The Division 2 FREE w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs!
Motherboard
Gigabyte X470 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Get an AORUS M3 Gaming Mouse w/ select GIGABYTE Motherboards!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2933MHz ~ (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!
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 1500MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-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)
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 [KK3-00002]
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)
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 6 to 8 working days
QTY
1
£951.67
ex VAT
£1,142.00
inc VAT and Delivery

Its seems good to me however 4 questions.

Would you agree you get more bang to the buck with fusion rx at this price point?

Why am i limited to 2933Mhz RAM

Whats the difference between a b450 motherboard and x470 motherboard

Is there any real world difference in choosing a system with a 2600x with a 8gb radeon 580 and and i5 9600k with 1060 6gb.


Many thanks in advance
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
I would strongly recommend against a cheap case.

Cases aren't just about aesthetics, they impact airflow and cooling of the components a lot, and cooler components can equal better performance and longer lifespan. As well as upgrade options - cheaper cases often have less space for GPUs.

The 2600x is £70 more than the 2600. £70. That's ludicrous and a total waste of cash tbh. Especially with Zen 2 coming out this year.

Is there any real world difference in choosing a system with a 2600x with a 8gb radeon 580 and and i5 9600k with 1060 6gb.
Yes, the giant hole in your wallet from the more expensive Intel/Nvidia system. In terms of performance, they will be very similar. The RX 580 offers about the same performance as the 1060 across a range of modern games. And at this level, the GPU will be what limits performance far more than the CPU.

Whats the difference between a b450 motherboard and x470 motherboard
That depends on the exact B450 and X470. In this case the Gigabyte X470 Ultra Gaming has USB 3.1 Gen 2 Type C, better onboard sound, and a smattering of other features like SLI support. It would be enough for me to spend ~£30 more or so on it, but B450 is okay too.

Why am i limited to 2933Mhz RAM
I don't exactly know, but this seems to be how a lot of '3000MHz' RAM runs with Ryzen. And I guess PCS don't have a stable supply of 3200MHz+ Ryzen-compatible RAM, so 2933MHz is the best they can reliably offer.

Would you agree you get more bang to the buck with fusion rx at this price point?
Actually, no. See this topic for a bit of context https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?61540-Htpc&p=430010&viewfull=1#post430010 but in short the PC of the Month was released before the RTX 2060 came out, and while it has a great discount the balance of components doesn't necessarily add much value for gaming:

For ~£1150 I'd suggest something like:


Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Six Core CPU (3.4GHz-3.9GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
---Tom Clancy's The Division 2 FREE w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs!
Motherboard
Gigabyte B450 AORUS ELITE: DDR4, USB 3.1 - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2933MHz ~ (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP, DVI - VR Ready!
---Get Battlefield V -OR- Anthem with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Storage Drive
500GB Samsung 860 EVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (upto 550MB/sR | 520MB/sW)
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 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)
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 [KK3-00002]
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)
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 £1,129.00 including VAT and Delivery

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

i.e. an RTX 2060 which is way, way better than either the 1060 6gb or RX 580.

An RTX 2060 would let you play the odd game in 4k on your 4k monitor too, not just 1080p.
 
Last edited:
Thank you Oussebon for making my choice even harder as I had not even considered a 2060 graphics card.
Although i dont need the wifi, but do want the 970 evo and internal blu ray writer and I have selected the X470.

CaseFRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)

Processor (CPU)AMD Ryzen 5 2600 Six Core CPU (3.4GHz-3.9GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)

Tom Clancy's The Division 2 FREE w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs!

Motherboard Gigabyte X470 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB ReadyMemory

(RAM)16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2933MHz ~ (2 x 8GB)

Graphics Card6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP, DVI - VR Ready!Get Battlefield V -OR- Anthem with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!

1st Storage Drive1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE

1st M.2 SSD Drive250GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 1500MB/W)

DVD/BLU-RAY Drive16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE

Power SupplyCORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY

Power Cable1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)

Processor CoolingSTANDARD AMD CPU COOLER

Thermal PasteSTANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING

Sound CardONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Wireless/Wired Networking10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)

USB/Thunderbolt OptionsMIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS

Operating SystemGenuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence

Operating System LanguageUnited Kingdom - English LanguageWindows Recovery MediaWindows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image -

Unlimited Downloads from Online AccountOffice SoftwareFREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)

Anti-VirusBullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer ModeBrowser

Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)Warranty3 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

QTY 1
£1,006.67ex VAT£1,208.00inc VAT and Delivery


How does this compare in terms of performance compared to the fusion Rx.

Will the CPU limit this GPU?

Many thanks
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
It will significantly outperform the Fusion RX in almost all gaming situations. This is because the RTX 2060 GPU is way more powerful than the RX 590. The Fusion RX was launched by PCS as PC of the month before the RTX 2060 came out.

To give you an idea of the performance difference:
c585f013-3e77-40cd-a493-6438b4c69e7a.png
Compare the RTX 2060 (founders edition) versus the RX 590 there.

The CPU is fine for the GPU. Also, AMD are releasing Zen 2 CPUs later this year which should be compatible with existing AMD motherboards, so that if you find yourself doing really demanding CPU stuff (e.g. streaming, video editing, or maybe some future game that needs a lot from the CPU) you'll be able to upgrade to something far more powerful than either the R5 2600 or the R7 2700x - and more powerful than Intel's i9 flagship going by what AMD demoed at a recent conference

Your spec above as it stands looks good to me.
 
Thank you for your help Oussebon you have helped me considerably and I appreciate your seal of approval.

Last 2 questions ( I hope!)

Looking at the spec above for a Ryzen 2600 for £1208 , is it worth paying an extra £34 to get the 2600x instead as that spec comes up at £1242.

In day to day to use how quiet will this pc run - do I have to consider coolers/fans etc

thanks again
 

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
How quiet is a subjective thing. If you want to optimise for quiet though you'd probably want the Fractal Define S case, a TXm (or better still RMx PSU) and the Noctua CPU cooler. Obviously some of those components add a lot of £ onto the price tag.

The Define S case is probably the easiest /cheapest way to add a bit of noise mitigation.

You can always stick with the stock AMD cooler and if you're terribly bothered by its noise you can upgrade the CPU cooler yourself. You may find it's fine.

Whether the 2600x is worth £34 is up to you. I'd probably say not really, as that's £34 you can save towards a major CPU upgrade in the form of Zen 2 if you really decide you want more CPU performance down the line.
 
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