Help for a Relative newbie!

[jacobbouyer880]

I'm looking at this spec:

Case PCS 6003B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU) AMD Athlon X4 860K Quad Core CPU (3.7GHz/FM2+)
Motherboard ASUS® A68HM PLUS FM2+ (M-ATX, DDR3, USB 3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM) 16GB Corsair DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card 6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk 2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 3.5" SSHD
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive 24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling Super Quiet Titan DragonFly Heatpipe AMD CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
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 NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser Firefox™
Cable Management 3 x PCS 1.5M Zip Cable Tidy - Professional Cable Management

But being a relative newbie I could install most of this
(presuming it doesn't all come done with every single thing installed and running, couldn't quite tell)
But I'm still not entirely sure if what I've chosen works very well altogether!

I have about £8-900 to spend and VR Gaming is my end goal eventually along with just a cool looking case and computer I can fiddle with in a few years and upgrade

Any advice welcomed as I feel a little out of my comfort zone and don't want to blow money on unnecessary add ons or not enough on things it really needs

Thanks in advance

 

[Oussebon]

Do not buy this.

The FM2+ motherboards and the CPUs that go with them are terribly out of date. I was a little shocked to see these were back on sale to be honest. They will likely bottleneck the GTX 1060 in that build, nevermind future GPU upgrades you might perform down the line for more demanding gaming titles.

An Intel i5 8th Gen (e.g. i5 8400) is what you should be aiming at with this budget.

I'd normally post a graph of benchmarks showing the difference between the two, but that Athlon X4 is so low-end there are no benchmarks comparing the two, so you'll just have to take my word on how weak it is :/

Memory (RAM) 16GB Corsair DDR3 1600MHz (2 x 8GB)

8GB RAM is fine, and you can add more in the future.

1st Hard Disk 2TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 3.5" SSHD

SSHDs are expensive and won't improve gaming performance. Also they won't be terribly useful when you add a proper SSD in the future, as you very likely will.

Case PCS 6003B BLACK CASE

Go for a better case that supports more future GPU upgrade options.

e.g.


Case
GAME MAX FALCON BLACK GAMING CASE (RGB LED)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-8400 (2.8GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B360M-A: Micro-ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
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
PCS FrostFlow 100 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 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 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price £882.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-home-office-pc-ii/BfxteP6m7R/

But being a relative newbie I could install most of this
(presuming it doesn't all come done with every single thing installed and running, couldn't quite tell)

It comes pre assembled and with the OS and all necessary drivers installed. Plug the PC into the wall, attach monitor, KB, + mouse, switch on, and go

 

[jacobbouyer880]

Do not buy this.

The FM2+ motherboards and the CPUs that go with them are terribly out of date. I was a little shocked to see these were back on sale to be honest. They will likely bottleneck the GTX 1060 in that build, nevermind future GPU upgrades you might perform down the line for more demanding gaming titles.

An Intel i5 8th Gen (e.g. i5 8400) is what you should be aiming at with this budget.

I'd normally post a graph of benchmarks showing the difference between the two, but that Athlon X4 is so low-end there are no benchmarks comparing the two, so you'll just have to take my word on how weak it is :/

8GB RAM is fine, and you can add more in the future.

SSHDs are expensive and won't improve gaming performance. Also they won't be terribly useful when you add a proper SSD in the future, as you very likely will.

Go for a better case that supports more future GPU upgrade options.

e.g.


Case
GAME MAX FALCON BLACK GAMING CASE (RGB LED)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-8400 (2.8GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B360M-A: Micro-ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
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
PCS FrostFlow 100 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 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 8 to 10 working days
Quantity
1

Price £882.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-home-office-pc-ii/BfxteP6m7R/

It comes pre assembled and with the OS and all necessary drivers installed. Plug the PC into the wall, attach monitor, KB, + mouse, switch on, and go

Thanks for the reply. Just a quick extra question, is there anything there that you would tweak slightly for more performance or change for cooling (more fans for example or a change of processor cooling/paste?)

It says I don't need that much power but if I am upgrading in future I will probably, right? Ideally I'd like to future proof as much as possible but I know everything changes so quick lol

 

[Oussebon]

Thanks for the reply. Just a quick extra question, is there anything there that you would tweak slightly for more performance or change for cooling (more fans for example or a change of processor cooling/paste?)

I wouldn't, no. The cooling is more than fine, and should you every acquire a monster GPU in the future you can make a decision at that point about whether and what fans are necessary.

You could consider going for the Z370-P motherboard, which is only available under this configurator (all other parts the same). The main advantage being that it supports faster RAM should you want to get some as a future upgrade. But it takes you over budget and the performance gains in many titles may be slim at best.

It says I don't need that much power but if I am upgrading in future I will probably, right?

Yeah, that's my thinking. A 550W PSU could open up more GPU upgrade options in the future than a 450W one and for £5 difference or whatever it is atm isn't a bad idea.

 

[jacobbouyer880]

Okay, 1 last question - can I get a card with wifi? I selected it on my other build and it said no as the graphics card takes 2 slots - now it accepts it - does this new motherboard have more slots?

 

[Oussebon]

There is a different mix of slots, and different positioning of the slots, on the B360M-A and the A68HM PLUS.

The graphics card would block the slot you'd need for a wifi card on the A68HM PLUS, but on the B360M-A (or the Z370-P) this doesn't happen and you can have both.

Also, in my post above I mentioned the Z370-P motherboard available under a different configurator but forgot to include the link. Here's the link: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-z370-pc/