Is this a good build for a budget gaming PC?

[Oktubus]

Hi Folks!

Could I get some advice on this build? It's for the child of a friend and I want to check that this has the right pieces and that I haven't gone under/over board with any of the components.

Much appreciated!

Case
CORSAIR 175R RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5500 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE B550M DS3H: DDR4, USB 3.2, RGB
Memory (RAM)
16GB PCS PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4060 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR FORCE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 4950 MB/R, 4000 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W CX-M Series™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® BRONZE
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V3 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)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS


Price: £760.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[sck451]

What's the budget? What monitor will they be using?

This is a very tight price point for a gaming PC: possible, but only with compromises.

 

[Oktubus]

The budget is £800 max (but it's appreciated if it's a bit lower). And will be used with a 23 or 24" 1080p monitor.

 

[Martinr36]

The budget is £800 max (but it's appreciated if it's a bit lower). And will be used with a 23 or 24" 1080p monitor.

Get a console, a PC at that price point is throwing money away

 

[sck451]

That's intentionally without a Windows licence, I think? I can't get your build close otherwise.

Anyway, here's what I'd do.

Case
PCS SPECTRUM II ARGB MID TOWER CASE (PWM) Much better case (the Corsair 3000D would be an option too)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Six Core CPU (3.5GHz-4.4GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4) Much better CPU
Motherboard
GIGABYTE B550M DS3H: DDR4, USB 3.2, RGB
Memory (RAM)
16GB PCS PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6600 - HDMI, DP - DX® 12 Better value graphics card, enough for 1080p
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW) Cheaper SSD
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CX-M Series™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® BRONZE I'd strongly encourage you to look at better (a 750W one) for upgrade potential, but this is technically "enough"
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler OK for the 5600
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 6E AX210 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0 Presuming you need WiFi?
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 As above...
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
Norton 360 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
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 8 to 10 working days
Price: £770.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/3!6KGkMNA8/

 

[SpyderTracks]

I'd drop the norton from the build above.

This is the kind of performance you can expect, assuming it's actually a gaming monitor at 144Hz, you could play on high settings at over 100fps which is respectable.

But bear in mind that's currently. Fortnite as with any online game of it's kind is constantly updating, so eventually you will need to upgrade the GPU, and if you go for the 650W you'll be heavily limited in what you can fit.

Bear in mind also, your friends child will grow up quickly over the expected lifetime of a PC (7 to 10 years), and a build so limited will reduce the potential of upgrades. Their gaming preference will change, and fortnite is a very low demanding game, as soon as you look at AAA games, this build won't be powerful enough.

I would strongly suggest it's worth saving up even an extra £200 as the good that does to the platform longevity is absolutely massive.

The platform above is last generation and 6 core CPU, you can't upgrade the CPU generation as you could on a current platform, and even consoles now are all on 8 core CPU's. With the way games are quickly becoming far more demanding on the CPU, my guess is 6 cores won't be enough within a few years.

 

[sck451]

I'd drop the norton from the build above.

This is the kind of performance you can expect, assuming it's actually a gaming monitor at 144Hz, you could play on high settings at over 100fps which is respectable.

But bear in mind that's currently. Fortnite as with any online game of it's kind is constantly updating, so eventually you will need to upgrade the GPU, and if you go for the 650W you'll be heavily limited in what you can fit.

Bear in mind also, your friends child will grow up quickly over the expected lifetime of a PC (7 to 10 years), and a build so limited will reduce the potential of upgrades. Their gaming preference will change, and fortnite is a very low demanding game, as soon as you look at AAA games, this build won't be powerful enough.

I would strongly suggest it's worth saving up even an extra £200 as the good that does to the platform longevity is absolutely massive.

The platform above is last generation and 6 core CPU, you can't upgrade the CPU generation as you could on a current platform, and even consoles now are all on 8 core CPU's. With the way games are quickly becoming far more demanding on the CPU, my guess is 6 cores won't be enough within a few years.

I agree with every word of this. @SpyderTracks summarises what I meant by "compromises" perfectly!

Personally I think this is a better bet than a console because you can't do your homework on a console. But purely for gaming it's true.

 

[Oktubus]

Hey folks! Thanks a lot for the comments and I really appreciate the suggestions!

Indeed the PC will be used for homework and some gaming. The 'kid' (15 yo) already has a PS for pure gaming, but he plays a lot of Roblox on PC. The current PC is plugged to a powerline adapter, so no need for a wifi adapter. And about windows, it will reuse the license from the current PC (a retail copy of windows 10).

The kid has a younger sister, so I won't be surprised if after a few years the old kit is handed down.


I don't have children, but when I started gaming (Q1/Q2 old days), I had a cheap and cheerful nvidia riva 128. It did the job (I did look with a bit of envy to some friends that had a Voodoo card). I just hope children nowadays are happy to run things on minimal settings

 

[sck451]

Hey folks! Thanks a lot for the comments and I really appreciate the suggestions!

Indeed the PC will be used for homework and some gaming. The 'kid' (15 yo) already has a PS for pure gaming, but he plays a lot of Roblox on PC. The current PC is plugged to a powerline adapter, so no need for a wifi adapter. And about windows, it will reuse the license from the current PC (a retail copy of windows 10).

The kid has a younger sister, so I won't be surprised if after a few years the old kit is handed down.


I don't have children, but when I started gaming (Q1/Q2 old days), I had a cheap and cheerful nvidia riva 128. It did the job (I did look with a bit of envy to some friends that had a Voodoo card). I just hope children nowadays are happy to run things on minimal settings

That all makes sense to me. It's the kind of compromise that to me does make sense.

However, if you don't need WiFi, I'd strongly suggest taking the money from that and buying a better power supply, probably the Corsair RM850x. That will make the system much more upgradable. If the "kid" takes a summer job at Tesco and earns a few hundred quid, he could buy something way better (like, say, a 6900 XT for £500) and get a way, way more powerful PC. But a cheapish 650W power supply won't be enough.