Looking to buy my first proper gaming pc

C

codelyoko373

Member
As the title says, I'm currently looking to buy a gaming pc and I'm quite happy with the specs I've gone for below. I simply edited the Pulsar Elite default build a bit such as increasing the ram and changing the 1660 to a 1660 TI. Aside from that and some other things, it's exactly the same as default. I'm not that much of a wiz on computers and even less on building them so I'd love some opinions.

For games I play, I sorta play everything from League of Legends to Rainbow Six Siege. This system maybe is a "little" overkill for those but I'm intending on using this PC for many years (hopefully) so I want it to be as good as it can be within the price range of £900-£1000. I think the only thing I'm sorta concerned about is the case fans as I'm not sure how many I should have to have decent cooling.

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 275R TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-9400F (2.9GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z390-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 Ti - 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
256GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1200 MB/W)
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
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
LED Lighting
50cm Blue LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
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/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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 12 to 14 working days
Price: £905.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-pc/CMuXyXnNxN/
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Cooling / airflow isn't just about adding fans, it's also the design of the case. Having loads of fans to in case doesn't make for good airflow if the fans are a bit starved of air.

The 275R is fine. Not great for cooling afaik at least in the stock configuration, but fine, especially for mid range hardware. That said, if you want a bit better than fine and are going to buy extra fans to achieve that, it usually makes more sense to just buy a better case outright. e.g. Fractal Define S. Which is barely any more expensive (£72) versus the 275R (£59) plus the 2 case fans (£9) you're buying anyway.

I would, in any event, suggest faster RAM as some games can benefit quite a bit and while you may upgrade the GPU from time to time, you should aim to keep the CPU and RAM for as long as reasonably possible. So it's an investment.

Go with the RGB LED strip so at least you get a choice of colours. Z390-P doesn't support RGB but Gigabyte Z390 US does. And it's a decent board for what it is.

Go for the 512gb SSD as it's not much more expensive and is a lot more convenient when having multiple games installed.

This takes the price up to £957.

I'd ideally have suggested an AMD R5 build, as it could be a bit more futureproof. It has 6 cores and 12 threads vs the Intel's 6/6. And with a B450 motherboard actually works out cheaper, if you stick with the stock cooler. AMD's stock coolers are alright, vs Intel's which really aren't so good.

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE S BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

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Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 Ti - 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
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
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
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
50cm RGB LED Strip
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/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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 12 to 14 working days
Price: £940.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/ppEtg3pXW4/

Note that the next CPU up, the 3600x is not normally worth buying as it's not much faster but is quite a bit dearer. But it is currently bundled with a choice of either Borderlands 3 or The Outer Worlds. If either game is of interest to you, go for the 3600x for £39 more, which is a decent price for one of those games + a smidge more performance.
 
C

codelyoko373

Member
Oussebon said:
Cooling / airflow isn't just about adding fans, it's also the design of the case. Having loads of fans to in case doesn't make for good airflow if the fans are a bit starved of air.

The 275R is fine. Not great for cooling afaik at least in the stock configuration, but fine, especially for mid range hardware. That said, if you want a bit better than fine and are going to buy extra fans to achieve that, it usually makes more sense to just buy a better case outright. e.g. Fractal Define S. Which is barely any more expensive (£72) versus the 275R (£59) plus the 2 case fans (£9) you're buying anyway.

I would, in any event, suggest faster RAM as some games can benefit quite a bit and while you may upgrade the GPU from time to time, you should aim to keep the CPU and RAM for as long as reasonably possible. So it's an investment.

Go with the RGB LED strip so at least you get a choice of colours. Z390-P doesn't support RGB but Gigabyte Z390 US does. And it's a decent board for what it is.

Go for the 512gb SSD as it's not much more expensive and is a lot more convenient when having multiple games installed.

This takes the price up to £957.

I'd ideally have suggested an AMD R5 build, as it could be a bit more futureproof. It has 6 cores and 12 threads vs the Intel's 6/6. And with a B450 motherboard actually works out cheaper, if you stick with the stock cooler. AMD's stock coolers are alright, vs Intel's which really aren't so good.

Case
FRACTAL DEFINE S BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

down_right_arrow.gif

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 Ti - 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
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
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
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
50cm RGB LED Strip
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/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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 12 to 14 working days
Price: £940.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/ppEtg3pXW4/

Note that the next CPU up, the 3600x is not normally worth buying as it's not much faster but is quite a bit dearer. But it is currently bundled with a choice of either Borderlands 3 or The Outer Worlds. If either game is of interest to you, go for the 3600x for £39 more, which is a decent price for one of those games + a smidge more performance.
Click to expand...

Hey! Thanks for the reply and the improved system :) I have made some changes so was hoping you could give a look to see if it's alright?

Case
CORSAIR SPEC-DELTA RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

down_right_arrow.gif
Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs

down_right_arrow.gif
The Outer Worlds -OR- Borderlands 3 & XBOX Game Pass w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 Ti - 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
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W VS SERIES™ VS-650 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
LED Lighting
50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
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/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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 12 to 14 working days
Price: £1,103.00 including VAT and Delivery

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

I had a look at the case you suggested though I'm not the biggest fan of it to be honest. I was wondering if the new case I picked is any better?
Wanted to ask as well if there is any other motherboard you'd suggest to get instead? Most don't seem that much more expensive so I'm okay with changing if there is a better one? I know I've gone way over my mentioned budget haha but as long as it's not £1,200 then I'm okay.

The AMD Stock coolers are normally fine though I've found that they're so noisy so would prefer not to use them. Any recommendations for a CPU cooler? Not sure if the one I've selected is good. It supports up to 150W TDP which seems a bit overkill considering the CPU is apparently 65W
 
Last edited:
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
If you're just gaming and not streaming to Twitch etc, stick to the R5 3600 as the 3700X doesn't really offer any more performance for games. Nothing close to proportionate to the extra cost. Or the 3600x but only if you really want one of the games and would pay full price for the game anyway.

If you look at the Spec Delta case you can see the front is almost completely covered up in plastic so that only about half a a fan gets direct access to air. The airflow on that thing looks awful.

The PCS Spectrum looks like it might be okay for airflow. Or otherwise the more expensive Corsair 460X is an excellent case and not awfully expensive.

The 650W VS series isn't very good value. If you want a cheap PSU, 550W VS is fine. If you want to spend more on a PSU, go with the TXm series as they're modular, more efficient, and better quality.

Drop the extra case fans, they're not really needed with a decent case. If you're buying a cheap case + fans - just buy a better case.

Drop the thermal paste. It's not needed. And if you're buying a cheap cooler with expensive paste, just buy a better cooler.

e.g.

Case
CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 460X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

down_right_arrow.gif
Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 Ti - 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
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
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
PCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
50cm RGB LED Strip
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/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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 12 to 14 working days
Price: £1,019.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/mBkDsHc!V0/

Wrangles the price down a bit too as a bonus.
 
C

codelyoko373

Member
Oussebon said:
If you're just gaming and not streaming to Twitch etc, stick to the R5 3600 as the 3700X doesn't really offer any more performance for games. Nothing close to proportionate to the extra cost. Or the 3600x but only if you really want one of the games and would pay full price for the game anyway.

If you look at the Spec Delta case you can see the front is almost completely covered up in plastic so that only about half a a fan gets direct access to air. The airflow on that thing looks awful.

The PCS Spectrum looks like it might be okay for airflow. Or otherwise the more expensive Corsair 460X is an excellent case and not awfully expensive.

The 650W VS series isn't very good value. If you want a cheap PSU, 550W VS is fine. If you want to spend more on a PSU, go with the TXm series as they're modular, more efficient, and better quality.

Drop the extra case fans, they're not really needed with a decent case. If you're buying a cheap case + fans - just buy a better case.

Drop the thermal paste. It's not needed. And if you're buying a cheap cooler with expensive paste, just buy a better cooler.

e.g.

Case
CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 460X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

down_right_arrow.gif
Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 Ti - 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
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
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
PCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
50cm RGB LED Strip
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/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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 12 to 14 working days
Price: £1,019.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/mBkDsHc!V0/

Wrangles the price down a bit too as a bonus.
Click to expand...

Not that I don't like your suggested case but I was also wondering what you thought of the CoolerMaster MasterBox MB530P? From what I've heard, it's got good airflow plus it's made by coolermaster so I'd of thought that it would haha.

Have you used the PCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler? Just wondering if it's any good since it's one of pc specialists own isn't it? So it doesn't have many reviews at all.
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
That case is fine but expensive for a budget build; it's ~£40-50 that could go elsewhere potentially. But not ludicrously expensive, and the rest of the spec is decent enough

the Frostflow is by ID cooling.. SE 214X or something, can't remember off the top of my head. Or at least the V1 was. I don't think it's really worth buying; I'd stick to the stock cooler. Or save £50 on the case to spend on the Cooler Master Lite 240, which seems to offer decent performance.

The monitor is a good pairing for the build.
 
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