In need of advice on gaming computer build - will this work?

P

P&T

Member
Hi, this forum is great and I’d really appreciate a spec check on gaming PC & monitor. New to this so welcome opinions on whether this is a good, balanced, future proofed spec and advice on any amendments.

Budget max £1,100. For my 12 year old son to use for gaming and schoolwork. Please also see some notes I’ve added to spec in italic/underline caps.

Thanks for looking over.


Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Six Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4) - 3600 OUT OF STOCK (3600X £20 MORE) BUT IS 3300X AS GOOD AN OPTION?
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready! - BUT IS 450 AS GOOD?
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI - BUT IS 6GB WORTH GETTING INSTEAD?
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) - ALSO SEEN THAT 500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN IS RECOMMENDED, BETTER?
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W CV SERIES™ CV-550 POWER SUPPLY - ALSO SEEN CORSAIR 550w TXm SERIES ULTRA QUIET IS RECOMMENDED, BETTER?
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
Bullguard free 90 day trial
Browser
Google Chrome™
Monitor
IIYAMA G2530HSU-B1 24.5" Gaming Monitor
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 16 to 18 working days
Price: £1,024.00 including VAT and Delivery
 
M

mark20040

New member
Good spec but I would drop down to a 450 motherboard in order to up the graphics. You can also drop Windows 10 and install it yourself at a fraction of the cost if you would be confident in doing so. That would save around £100 which is 10% of your build
 
M

mark20040

New member
Yes. You can do that build for £1112 if you drop the timed delivery and swap to geforce 1660 Super. If you swap the motherboard to a Strix B450 too it comes in at £1083. The 1660 Super blows the 1650 into the weeds.
 
N

Notapcspecialist

Active member
Please ignore the advice above.

Don’t drop the motherboard to the B450, stick with the B550. The B550 will allow you to upgrade to next gen Ryzen CPUs and massively increase the lifespan of your machine.

For the GPU, I can’t see whether the monitor you’ve gone for is 1080p 60 hz or 1080p 144hz. You only want the 1660super if the latter as the monitor will bottleneck otherwise.

Hope that helps.

Edit: 1650super is enough for that monitor.

So...

- go down to 3300x if your son isn’t into streaming, 3600X if he is

- b550 everyday of the week. Will ensure the base system is fine for years.

-upgrade the PSU to the TxM (550 or 650 depending on how much GPU upgradability you would like to have)

- the storage drives you’ve gone for are great. For this budget the PCS M2 is fine - it’s a good drive and really good price. The money on upgrading to the firecuda could be better put towards a better monitor and the 1660 super.
 
Last edited:
P

P&T

Member
That really helps me with the spec, appreciated - couple of follow ups

- for the PSU, the Corsair Ultra Quiet is a bit more £ but do you know if it actually does what it says, have seen mixed reviews
- thanks for checking the monitor in the spec is 144hz (I couldn’t find that info!) - but as you say, it might be worth going for a better monitor - do you have a suggestion on that?
 
G

Grumpywurzel

Bright Spark
If you go for a better monitor then you might need to increase the spec of the GPU.

Basically think about the type of use the PC is gonna get, general niff naff tinterweb surfing and a bit of school work means you dont need cutting edge components. If you throw into the mix some AAA/Top Title games and maybe some streaming then this throws everything out of whack.

Decide on your monitor type, 1080p, 1440p or 4k and the refresh rate and then we can try to build u a decent spec PC.
 
P

P&T

Member
This will be my son’s first gaming PC (started off he was going to get a bog standard off the shelf computer for his start at secondary school but that’s now changed somewhat both spec and budget-wise!) he will need to do school stuff but will be gaming/streaming. Issue may be £1,100 budget (?) which may be tight and not allow for bells and whistles? If in that budget we can stretch to a 1440p 60/75hz monitor or he can have a good gaming PC with a 1080p 144hz monitor - and accounting for changes to GPU etc with each option.

Appreciating the guidance - totally new to this and want to get him the best gaming PC for my £ so thanks!
 
G

Grumpywurzel

Bright Spark
P&T said:
This will be my son’s first gaming PC (started off he was going to get a bog standard off the shelf computer for his start at secondary school but that’s now changed somewhat both spec and budget-wise!) he will need to do school stuff but will be gaming/streaming. Issue may be £1,100 budget (?) which may be tight and not allow for bells and whistles? If in that budget we can stretch to a 1440p 60/75hz monitor or he can have a good gaming PC with a 1080p 144hz monitor - and accounting for changes to GPU etc with each option.

Appreciating the guidance - totally new to this and want to get him the best gaming PC for my £ so thanks!
Click to expand...
Have a look at this awesome guide by @Scott

Desktop Building Guide - April 2023

A "quick" reference guide to building the perfect system. This is the sort of logic I go through when suggesting systems, so thought I would jot it down on the page. Clearly this is an ever changing suite of options but I'll update periodically as my default go-to's change... I'm noticing the...
www.pcspecialist.co.uk www.pcspecialist.co.uk

You arent gonna get a decent rig including a monitor at 1440p with the budget you have tho. @Nursemorph or @SpyderTracks might be able to do their magic here.

Mid entry 1440p for £1200 without the screen- https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/mXndDgqCNn/

Have you seen this prebuilt PC's that are available? https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers-next-day/pc/
 
P

P&T

Member
Read Scott’s guide the other day, really helpful & clear and hope I’ve followed his advice - here’s the latest spec version, differs from the one at start of thread given forum advice with change to motherboard (gone up to B550), GPU (gone up to 1660), and PSU (gone up to TXm 550). Coming in at £1,100 budget but with 1080p 144hz monitor (if that’s not a good option for spec could increase another £100 for a better monitor) - link at bottom - what do you think?

Case
THERMALTAKE V200 2.0 TEMPERED GLASS RGB EDITION 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 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
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 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
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
Google Chrome™
Monitor
IIYAMA G2530HSU-B1 24.5" Gaming Monitor
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 16 to 18 working days
Price: £1,109.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/HvP9a93z4E/
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
As above, you would need £120 more to get into the 144hz territory as per the below.

Additionally, I must need to stress the importance of a decent case more on my guide. It's the one thing that consistently seems to be ignored for the shiny lights ;)

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
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 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
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 650W 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 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
Google Chrome™
Monitor
MSI 23.6" Optix MAG241CPUK - 1920 x 1080, 1MS, 144Hz
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 16 to 18 working days
Price: £1,219.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/2d0Rnu96FB/
 
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Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
P

P&T

Member
@Nursemorph, @Scott - thanks, compared 2 specs - given still got keyboard and mouse to get will go for the @Nursemorph spec and as you say, that also gives capacity to upgrade graphics and monitor in the future as outlined in @Scott spec.

Before I go ahead and order, I couldn’t see what the refresh is on the IIYAMA G2530HSU-B1 24.5" Gaming Monitor - I think it needs to be 144hz?
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
The G2530HSU-B1 is 75hz. It's recommended as it pairs well with the budget and the GPU. You need to spend more for higher spec.
 
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P

P&T

Member
Scott said:
The G2530HSU-B1 is 75hz. It's recommended as it pairs well with the budget and the GPU. You need to spend more for higher spec.
Click to expand...

That makes sense for a balanced spec - given budget will go ahead and order spec @Nursemorph posted & can always upgrade monitor and graphics in the future.

Thanks both for taking the time to look this over 🧐 and brushing up the spec, appreciate it(y)(y)
 
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