AMD, Mid-Range Gaming PC, 1000 budget

Evening fellas. I'm going for an AMD build with a budget of 1000 to start with but I'm open to pay a little over if it means having a solid system. I plan to get ASUS MG248QR along with it so that will be 1080p 144hz Freesync etc. I would like the PC to be have a solid performance but without too much compromise on quality. I would also like the PC to last a few years, so something that can be upgraded easily.

So, I got some particular concerns with this build, I'm not sure about going for a either 580 or a 590. The performance seems maybe insignificant for the extra cost. It's also possible that either of those choices are wrong and it should be a GTX card. I'm not sure.

I'm also not entirely convinced on the case. I really dig the simple and practical design, but it seems too exposed on the top for dust to get in, unless there are dust filters up there, but it doesn't say on the description.

And lastly the cooling. Is it enough? Surely I don't need liquid cooling but perhaps paying the extra is worth it in the long run?

What do you all think? Cheers!

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 200R COMPACT GAMING CASE
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
ASUS® PRIME A320M-K: Micro-ATX, AM4, USB 3.0, 6GB/s
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
240GB KINGSTON UV500 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 500MB/W)
2nd 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 TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan 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
Quantity
1

Price £937.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-pc/rR3K5DdKPc/

The performance seems maybe insignificant for the extra cost.

Click to expand...

That's entirely right in my opinion. Tbh I'm not sure that's even a matter of opinion, the RX 590 is £80 more which is crazy.

MG248QR

Click to expand...

This is a very expensive freesync monitor isn't it? Pushing towards 1440p 144hz territory in price. Have you considered the AOC G2590FX (or PX, which has a better stand and I think PCS sell it)?

I'd suggest the B450 motherboard for some additional features, expansion options, and it would let you OC as well down the line.

And the Samsung 860 Evo. The UV500 is slow by the standards of Sata SSDs and only offers £7 savings versus the 860 Evo which is one of the best available.

I don't think there are dust filters on there. Consider the Fractal Define S case.

You probably could afford an RTX 2060 if you wanted, especially with a cheaper monitor and some other rejigging, but the RX 580 is good value and will keep you going for a bit. Unless you're desperate for Anthem/BFV and have no interest in the RX 580 bundled games where that might shift value a bit.

Thanks for the response. I agree with your suggestions and it's looking very nice. I never considered an AOC monitor, mainly because I don't recognise the brand and am unsure of its build quality, but this could be something for me to look more into.

Just a few more questions. Would liquid cooling make any substantial benefit to this particular build? Is the Hyper 212X adequate or is even that not worth the extra? And would a more powerful PSU be useful long-term for upgrade options?

212x is fine. So's the stock AMD cooler. There's an argument for the stock cooler in that it's fine for now and if you end up upgrading the CPU and overclocking in the future, you can buy a better cooler then. Without having 'wasted' money on a 212x - or an expensive water cooler that you might not end up using.

You could go for a 650W PSU as it could open up some future very high end GPU upgrade options, though 550W would already give you a wide range of choice.

AOC is a good brand. We have 4 of their monitors here. One of them had its speakers die after 5-6 years. Everything else still works 100%. That's not bad for a crop of ~£120 budget monitors that have seen a lot of service. You can look up reviews of that specific monitor online (I think pcmonitors.info has a review of the 2590PX but might have made that up).

Yeah the 212x seems like a safe bet as from what I hear AMD processor coolers can be considerably louder correct me if I'm wrong.

I’ve also had a further look around other threads on here. I got some hopefully last questions before I go and buy this possibly tonight.

I noticed the X470 is recommended often, will paying extra for that board benefit the system? Or is that an unnecessary cost?

Is there any significant benefit to using a M.2 SSD drive over a regular SSD drive? Like noticeable faster OS speeds, loading times etc.?

Many thanks!

They probably can be louder, but they're fine. They seem to be though of more highly than their intel stock cooler counterparts.

The X470 Ultra Gaming some has additional features like USB 3.1 Gen 2 type C, better onboard sound, and various bells and whistles like SLI support. It's not necessary, though worth considering for the features if you expect to keep the PC many years I suppose. It's not necessary, but worth looking at.

Note some M.2 SSDs are just 'regular' SSDs in an M.2 form factor. But M.2 allows some faster SSDs (PCIe NVMe) like the 970 Evo / WD Black. When people say "Buy an M.2 SSD, it;s faster" they mean "buy an NVMe SSD, it's faster"

How much faster the M.2 NVMe SSDs are will depend on what you're doing. Game loading speeds can vary from game to game. Some might load faster, some might not. Installing games from backups could be a lot faster.

Whether the price difference is worth it is up to you.