Gaming PC

[lucyinsussex]

Hi - I have just been reading a post where the PC is being built for gaming, but have no clue on how to do this (for my son!)
Annoyingly I purchased a desktop + monitor for Christmas but he has now decided to play Fortnite and it just isn't up to the job.

Can anyone recommend a PC - we have a monitor, which I was hoping to continue using. It's the lagging that seems to be the problem with the PC and because of the size of the pc, a graphics card is not an easy option.

Can we get a decent gaming pc for £800 ish - I an completely clueless!

Many thanks

 

[MrWilson]

Can we get a decent gaming pc for £800 ish

In short, I'm afraid that for £800 you're going to struggle to get something decent.
Component prices are at an all time high and what you might have got for £800 a year ago may set you back closer to £1200.
Have you considered opting for a console instead? The new Xbox and PS5 are very powerful systems and to match them in gaming performance you're looking at spending £1500 on a PC. Xbox also has compatibility with keyboard and mouse if that is something you are set on. Buying a cheap PC would mean making lots of compromises on parts and essentially removing all longevity and futureproofing from the build. giving you a plug in and play model that will need to be replaced in 2-3 years. One of the upsides of the PC gaming route is having the ability to upgrade your build over time; if that's not possible due to budget a console is a much better value proposition.
What monitor do you have? Make/model or resolution and refresh rate would be handy to know.
Would you be able to stretch the budget at all? Depending on the monitor we might be able to put together something that can run Fortnite with it, but it will still likely cost us at least £1000.
Other knowledgable people on here might disagree with me, but from where I'm standing your two options are to buy a console, or stretch your PC budget.

 

[lucyinsussex]

Hi - Thanks MrWilson...yes can be a bit more flexible with the PC budget, can go up to £1200. I didn't realise that prices had increased so much in the last year, nor that Xbox has mouse/keyboard compatibility, as that is something my son wanted.

The monitor is HP fw with Audio - this is the spec

• Full HD 1920 x 1080p
• Refresh rate: 75 Hz
• Response time: 5 ms
• Input: HDMI / VGA
• Built-in speakers

I like the idea of being to upgrade over time, so I think maybe PC option is best.

 

[MrWilson]

Thanks for providing the info. It really helps to have as much detail as possible so we can really maximise the budget. It is a big shame about current pricing, recent projections say that prices might not recover until the end of the year, which is very disappointing.

Got this within 1200, ideally I would have wanted the 5600x CPU in there which is the latest generation version, but it pushed slightly over the budget.
The 1660 graphics card is a great pairing for your monitor, and should comfortably handle Fortnite.
If you opt for this and go to proceed with the order you'll get a dropdown notification with two things. Firstly regarding power consumption it will tell you that you only need a 350W power supply. The reason we have gone with the 750W RMx is firstly because it is fully modular, meaning it only uses cables for each individual component rather than having a scary mass of cables spilling out of it. It is also a high quality product that will likely outlive the rest of the PC. Its fans only switch on during heavy loads too, so it will run very quietly most of the time.
The other thing you will be asked is which drive you want Windows on. You want it on the m.2 SSD as it is the fastest drive, and that is the default option so you're all set on that front. I did actually forget to ask if you were keeping the old desktop. If you aren't you can transfer the Windows License across so you won't have to buy Windows for this PC. This will save you ~£100 that you could invest in the 5600x CPU.
Included the AX200 Wireless Card which gives wifi and bluetooth support. If you are going to have an ethernet connection you can drop this and save £19.
Silver Warranty for £5 is well worth it.

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Six Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.4GHz/36MB 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
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, 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
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W 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
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 12 to 15 working days
Price: £1,164.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/sUn9qnfdYp/

 

[lucyinsussex]

Thank you! Yes hopefully we would transfer Windows over - how much extra does the 5600x CPU come in at, as I think it's probably worth going for that?

 

[MrWilson]

Great to hear! Funnily enough the difference in price between the 3600x and 5600x is the same as the cost of Windows 10, so the price stays the same! The 5600x really is worth the extra as it is a big performance increase over the previous generation and so will futureproof you a lot better with a really solid foundation for your build. I would expect this build to last you 7-10 years, with room for upgrades down the line.

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS 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
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, 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
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W 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
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 12 to 15 working days
Price: £1,164.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/S8bT6zWEZn/

 

[lucyinsussex]

Do you reckon the graphics card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
will be sufficient? My son has just looked and says he thinks it won't be - but I guess this will be what boosts the price up, tried another one and it came in at £2k

 

[AleTax]

Do you reckon the graphics card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
will be sufficient? My son has just looked and says he thinks it won't be - but I guess this will be what boosts the price up, tried another one and it came in at £2k

You could go with the RTX 2060 for around 100-120 more bringing your price to 1283 but that's up to you

 

[MrWilson]

Your monitor only has a 75hz Refresh Rate. If it was 144hz I would agree that a 1660 Super or 2060 would be a better pairing, but your monitor can only output up to 75fps, so a better graphics card wouldn't be of benefit.
Certainly in a couple of years you can upgrade the graphics card and monitor, that's one of the reasons we've gone with a larger PSU, but based on your current monitor the 1660 will be ample.

 

[sck451]

I'd think the 1660 is more than ample for the task. If anything it's slightly overkill (a 1650 Super would be the ideal), but there isn't really anything PCS (or, to be fair, anyone else) has in stock right now that would be the sweet spot. As it is, the 1660 will output many more frames than the monitor is capable of displaying. You'll be just fine.

 

[lucyinsussex]

Thanks everyone!