Decent spec?

[MilRob]

Hi folks
Recently bought a sytem from PCS. Outstanding advice and communication until it arrived. The side panel was badly dented. The shipping box was undamaged. Strange.
I imeediately sent an email with photo of the damage to PCS on the 3rd September. No reply. On 11th September I sent a request for RMA to return for refund.
My concern was (is) that there could be unseen damage to component/s. RMA approved by email today but disappointingly no explanation apology whatever from PCS.

OK I'm going to buy a pre-built from Currys.

However, my 2 friends who recommended PCS in the first place have persuaded me otherwise. Thank them PCS!!

So I'm giving it another go.

I mainly play FPSs like just cause and far cry (waiting for FC6)

I am not that interested in graphics quality (the first game I played was wolfenstein 3D on DOS!) I play for the gameplay and normally set graphics to low settings to reduce heat (I have always played on a gaming laptop) I am retired and on a very tight budget but I have realised that it is much simpler and cheaper to upgrade a desktop system.

So, given tight budget and low expectations of graphics, this is my quote.

Any comments or advice would be welcome. Especially if it results in a lower price!!

Thanks in advance

Case
PCS GENESIS G1B CASE + SD CARD READER
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-10400F (2.9GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B460-PLUS: ATX, LGA1200, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W CV SERIES™ CV-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language

 

[AgentCooper]

Hi there, what’s the budget and what monitor will you be using please? Resolution and refresh rate or make and model would be helpful info 👍

 

[MilRob]

Howdy. Budget is +/-£800 monitor is Acer K222HQL

 

[MilRob]

This quote comes in at £840

 

[MilRob]

Away until tomorrow. Good night

 

[AgentCooper]

Tight budget, the following spec is the closet I could reasonably do for you but I’d still ideally like another £50-£100 to work with. Would start by recommending that you chose an AMD chip, they’re outperforming Intel on pretty much all fronts these days. Looks like your monitor is a 60Hz, so I think that the GTX 1650 Super might be a more appropriate choice...

Case
CORSAIR 275R AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 SUPER - 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 550W CV SERIES™ CV-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
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
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)
Home Installation
NONE
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Price: £860.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/TcJNr7!b5k/

 

[MilRob]

AgentCooper
Many thanks for taking the time and trouble to help me out. I am fairly uneducated hardware wise and have been learning bits as I have gone along the last few years. So I hope you don't mind me asking some questions as to your choices.

One thing that has been apparent over time is that the higher the number involved (price, processor number, RAM, model number, storage capacity etc.) then (normally!) the better performance. Right? Wrong?

1: I have had a bad experience in the past with AMD so while I'm sure you are correct in your comments about Intel vs AMD, I am personally more comfortable with Intel. Given that, would you agree with i5 10400f?

2: Why have you gone for a 450 motherboard as opposed to a 460. I went for a 460 for a bit of future proofing. Is it not a better motherboard?

3: Why have you gone for a HDD and a (relatively) small SSD as opposed to one large SSD?

4: It is possible I may go for a better monitor at some time. GTX 1660 or 1650 Super?

5: Does the case make a difference? Noise? Cooling?

I could stretch to £920 but that would be my limit

What do you think?

Thank you very much again for your time. Much appreciated and keen to learn!

Cheers
Miles

 

[Grumpywurzel]

AgentCooper
Many thanks for taking the time and trouble to help me out. I am fairly uneducated hardware wise and have been learning bits as I have gone along the last few years. So I hope you don't mind me asking some questions as to your choices.

One thing that has been apparent over time is that the higher the number involved (price, processor number, RAM, model number, storage capacity etc.) then (normally!) the better performance. Right? Wrong?

1: I have had a bad experience in the past with AMD so while I'm sure you are correct in your comments about Intel vs AMD, I am personally more comfortable with Intel. Given that, would you agree with i5 10400f?

2: Why have you gone for a 450 motherboard as opposed to a 460. I went for a 460 for a bit of future proofing. Is it not a better motherboard?

3: Why have you gone for a HDD and a (relatively) small SSD as opposed to one large SSD?

4: It is possible I may go for a better monitor at some time. GTX 1660 or 1650 Super?

5: Does the case make a difference? Noise? Cooling?

I could stretch to £920 but that would be my limit

What do you think?

Thank you very much again for your time. Much appreciated and keen to learn!

Cheers
Miles

1. Honestly AMD have got their stuff sorted, you are wasting money on old technology, trust me, I know.
2. B450 is a AMD motherboard.
3. SSD is a bit more expensive, again money is a factor here. HDD's are cheaper. So in your case a smaller SSD is used for the OS and maybe a couple of games etc and the rest of your stuff is stored on the HDD.

Cases arent my thing, so will leave the rest to the other guys

 

[SpyderTracks]

1. Honestly AMD have got their stuff sorted, you are wasting money on old technology, trust me, I know.
2. B450 is a AMD motherboard.
3. SSD is a bit more expensive, again money is a factor here. HDD's are cheaper. So in your case a smaller SSD is used for the OS and maybe a couple of games etc and the rest of your stuff is stored on the HDD.

Cases arent my thing, so will leave the rest to the other guys

If you bought an AMD processor before about a year or two ago to about 2005, then that was a bad move and anyone in the know would have advised you against doing so.

AMD now are NOTHING like they used to be. Now it's the case that anyone in the know will advise you against buying intel for the same reasons they used to advise you against AMD. AMD are now STREETS ahead of intel in almost every area.

Seriously, don't go with Intel, you'll thoroughly regret it. There are too many reasons to list, I've done it so many times over the last year, am bored of trying to convince people anymore, just google AMD vs Intel and you'll see the proof for yourself.

 

[AgentCooper]

Hi there, of course I’m happy to go through it.

1. AMD have had some bad press in the past but they’re now far superior to Intel CPUs. They’ve got a built in frequency boost that allows them to essentially overclock without any faffing about. They have better thermal performance and multi threading. And most importantly, they’re not plagued with security issues like Intel chips are. Every patch that Intel have to release to fix the issue will negatively impact performance. It’s your money, but I’d categorically state that I wouldn’t have any of Intel’s current chips in my machine.

1. 460 motherboards aren’t available with AMD CPUs, I would have ideally put a 550 in the spec for future proofing but that was taking you further over your desired budget.

1. The logic behind the two drives is that you have one for your OS, programs and perhaps your currently played game(s), the larger HDD is for storage. The benefit of this is that if anything happens and you need to do a clean install of Windows at any point, you won’t lose everything on your computer. I also opted for an M.2 SSD. These are the next generation off solid state drives, they’re amazingly fast and your PC will boot up in literally seconds.

1. I would stick with the recommended card for now. We try and spec very much with the monitor in mind. I, for example, generally plot to be looking for a new monitor whenever I think of getting a new graphics card. It’s pointless overspeccing the card if you’re getting no benefit from having it in there. Tech moves so fast that things will be much cheaper when you’re ready to upgrade and that’s when you’ll see the cost/return benefit.

1. Case is of huge importance, possibly the most vital part of the build. It gets overlooked so often and can throttle a whole system if the airflow is poor.

Hope that info was of some use, please let me know if there’s anything I can help with 👍

 

[Grumpywurzel]

If you bought an AMD processor before about a year or two ago to about 2005, then that was a bad move and anyone in the know would have advised you against doing so.

AMD now are NOTHING like they used to be. Now it's the case that anyone in the know will advise you against buying intel for the same reasons they used to advise you against AMD. AMD are now STREETS ahead of intel in almost every area.

Seriously, don't go with Intel, you'll thoroughly regret it. There are too many reasons to list, I've done it so many times over the last year, am bored of trying to convince people anymore, just google AMD vs Intel and you'll see the proof for yourself.

You cant educate everyone mate, you tried the best with me if i remember correctly

 

[AgentCooper]

I spent so long typing that out that TWO people got in there before me. The perils of doing this on my phone 😆

 

[MilRob]

Good morning Folks

Thanks again for all the input and advice.

I think I would be foolish to ignore several people who obviously have greater knowledge of the subject (CPUs)

AMD it is.

My friends both warned me about noise levels so I have gritted my teeth and shelled out extra for a quiet case and power supply. Also upgraded the motherboard as advised.

I have opted for the OS to be installed on the M.2 drive. Will this then be my primary drive? IOW would that be my C drive to which everyhting is downloaded unless I specify otherwise?

Could I dispense with the HDD and just have the M.2 drive? 512 Gb is sufficient space for me for games and programmes (Ihave lived with a 256GB ssd for the last 5 years). I have all my media, documents etc on an external USB 3.0 drive.

Again my thanks

Case	CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 275Q QUIET CASE
Processor (CPU)	AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT Six Core CPU (4.5GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard	ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)	16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card	4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 SUPER - 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)
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	ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card	ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking	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
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	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)
Home Installation	NONE
Delivery	STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time	Standard Build - Approximately 11 to 13 working days
Welcome Book	PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland

Pricing Information
Price (Ex VAT)	£810.00
Price	£972.00
Order Quantity	1
Bulk Discount	£0.00
Total Order Price (Ex VAT)	£810.00
Total Order Price	£972.00

 

[AgentCooper]

Morning! Great move going for the upgraded PSU, that would've been one of my preferred amendments when I was doing your original spec. However, the case is a bit more restrictive on airflow so I personally wouldn't go for that.

Yep, your M.2 drive will be the primary so you would just need to specify if you wanted things storing elsewhere. If you're happy with your external drive, then by all means dispense with the HDD, you could perhaps put that money towards faster RAM (AMD chips love fast RAM, 3200MHz / 3600MHz would be best).

 

[nabznab]

If you bought an AMD processor before about a year or two ago to about 2005, then that was a bad move and anyone in the know would have advised you against doing so.

AMD now are NOTHING like they used to be. Now it's the case that anyone in the know will advise you against buying intel for the same reasons they used to advise you against AMD. AMD are now STREETS ahead of intel in almost every area.

Seriously, don't go with Intel, you'll thoroughly regret it. There are too many reasons to list, I've done it so many times over the last year, am bored of trying to convince people anymore, just google AMD vs Intel and you'll see the proof for yourself.

SpyderTracks I feel you should pin a new thread on this forum titled “Why AMD is better than Intel” and summarise (for the last time!) all the points you have repeatedly told consumers. And whenever someone asks just link them to that particular thread.

 

[ubuysa]

SpyderTracks I feel you should pin a new thread on this forum titled “Why AMD is better than Intel” and summarise (for the last time!) all the points you have repeatedly told consumers. And whenever someone asks just link them to that particular thread.

I think this is an excellent suggestion.

 

[AgentCooper]

SpyderTracks I feel you should pin a new thread on this forum titled “Why AMD is better than Intel” and summarise (for the last time!) all the points you have repeatedly told consumers. And whenever someone asks just link them to that particular thread.

Yep! Totally agreed 👍