Mac Convert - First PC for Gaming

[Auradan]

Hi Guys,

As in the title I'm old Mac man and I have been since the days early 90's but as I play more games now than for work I've decided to make the leap to PC. Having watching a few youtube videos I've compiled a PC that I think looks good (Mac side of me) with the performance and with a budget of £2000 (Monitor to be included).

What do I want/need from the PC:

1. I play FFXIV and World of Warcraft mainly.
2. For a system that's not going to be outdated in 2 years time.
3. For it to look good with option to either upgrade in the future and to add bits if required.

So here's what I've been looking at;

Case:
CORSAIR OBSIDIAN SERIES™ 500D SE CASE
Processor (CPU):
Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard:
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z390-E GAMING: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs, WIFI - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM):
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card:
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 Ti - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive:
1TB WD Blue™ 3D NAND 2.5" SSD, (upto 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
2nd Storage Drive:
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA PRO 3.5", 7200 RPM 128MB CACHE
Power Supply:
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
Processor Cooling:
Corsair H55 Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Ultra Quiet Fans
Thermal Paste:
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUND
LED Lighting:
2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans:
3x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
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
Monitor:
SAMSUNG LC27F591FDUXEN 27" Curved LED Monitor
Warranty:
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)

Total Price:£1,996.00 including VAT and Delivery

Please let me know if I've gone overboard or if you have any suggestions?

​

 

[polycrac]

Hi Auradan,

I think that there are some parts you need to look again at (I doubt the 'pro' drives are needed and you may want a better cooler). The power stands out as being very low - even if is is (just) sufficient, it means you'll struggle if you want to upgrade the GPU in years to come, which is likely.

At the top you said the monitor was included in the cost but I can't see it in the build and the build comes to £2k already - what monitor will you be using?

 

[Auradan]

Hi Polycrac,

Thank you for your reply, originally I did put down a 500w power supply but the website suggested the 350w but i'm willing to upgrade if its needed. This price includes the 'SAMSUNG LC27F591FDUXEN 27" Curved LED Monitor' and any suggestion what cooler would I need or should get? I can also change the Seagate to a 1tb I was only going to use that as a storage bin. One of the other reasons of going down the PC route is that I want to improve my loading screen especially in wow and hopefully the SSD drive should help with that.

 

[polycrac]

Sorry for not noticing that, I'm having a bad thinking day today.

The SSD would certainly help loading times, but a m.2 ssd would help even more (just look at the loading speeds to compare). At your budget level a lot of people find a m.2 for the operating system and some key games (say 125gb minimum, 250 or 500 gb if you feel flush) plus a larger hdd for bulk storage is a good set up.

It looks like your monitor is a 1080p, so the 1660 is a pretty good choice, should let you go for great settings and last a while. You should be aware though, that a cheaper PC build (not by much, mostly by switching to an amd cpu & motherboard) could potentially save enough to get you gaming at 1440p.

Even sticking with intel, there might be savings to be had from a cheaper motherboard.

 

[polycrac]

Oh, and have a look at the Vortex Adonis (from the 'Reviews' section of the website: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/configure-review/290/)

A fixed spec, so you can't change stuff, but you would save a fair bit - potentially enough to look at a 1440p monitor (and the RTX2070 should support that kind of monitor on pretty good settings too)

 

[Oussebon]

I'm far from convinced about the merits of spending £2000 on a PC to game at 1080p.

550W should be the minimum you're looking at as a PSU to allow for future upgrades.

The Vortex Adonis is one option, offering a decent spec overall and leaving enough in the budget for a 1440p 144hz monitor with gsync, just about

 

[Oussebon]

Another option would be an AMD system based around a Ryzen R5, and an RTX 2060 GPU (which is also very capable at 1440p).

e.g.

Case
CORSAIR OBSIDIAN SERIES™ 500D SE CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.25GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
---Tom Clancy's The Division 2 FREE w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs!
Motherboard
Gigabyte X470 AORUS Ultra Gaming: ATX, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2933MHz ~ (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 - HDMI, DP, DVI - VR Ready!
---Get BFV OR Anthem OR Metro: Exodus with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1[SUP]st[/SUP] M.2 SSD Drive
500GB WD Black™ SN750 M.2 NVMe SSD (up to 3470MB/s R | 2600MB/s W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x Hydro 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/Thunderbolt 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 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,421.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-pc/n5q4Udb978/

 

[Auradan]

Thank you guys, I'll will have a look over this tonight and repost the gigabyte cards does look great and I will be going for a bigger power supply and going for the M.2 SSD makes sense.

 

[Auradan]

Hi Guys,

After thinking hard this is what I'm thing of getting after taking your advise;

Case
CORSAIR OBSIDIAN SERIES™ 500D SE CASE
Processor
(CPU)Intel® Core™ i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
Gigabyte Z390 AORUS Master: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs WIFI - RGB
ReadyMemory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 Ti - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready
1st Storage Drive
M.2 SSD Drive500GB WD Black™ SN750 M.2 NVMe SSD (up to 3470MB/s R | 2600MB/s W)
2nd Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Ultra Quiet Fans
Thermal Paste
COOLER MASTER MASTERGEL MAKER THERMAL COMPOUNDLED
Lighting
2x 50cm RGB LED Strip
Extra Case Fans
3x Corsair LL120 RGB LED Fan + Controller Kit
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)

Monitor https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/computing/pc-monitors/pc-monitors/samsung-lc27jg50qquxen-quad-hd-27-curved-led-gaming-monitor-dark-silver-10186722-pdt.html unless I find a better one at a similar price.

Conclusion:
Power I have updated the power supply from 350 to 550w.
Storage Drives Gone with the 500gb M.2 SSD instead of the 1TB WD Blue™ 3D NAND 2.5" SSD. and went with the 2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD instead of the pro version.
Motherboard I have gone with Gigabyte Z390 AORUS Master: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs WIFI - RGB instead of ASUS® ROG STRIX Z390-E GAMING: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs, WIFI - RGB Ready for the ports at the back.
Monitor: SAMSUNG LC27JG50QQUXEN Quad HD 27" is now Quad HD 2560 x 1440p @ 144hz with HDMI x 2 - DisplayPort 1.2 x 1

I know that i'm going to spend more that my budget with the upgrade it now comes in at £2131 (i'll put the monitor on my card and pay off next month) but what do you think?

and Sorry I didn't want to go down the AMD route yet.

 

[Oussebon]

I'd suggest dropping the extra fan kit.

The case has room for 6 fans - 3 front, 2 top, 1 rear. It comes with 3 front RGB LED fans. The H100x takes up the top 2 fan mounts, and comes with 2 high quality fans of its own (and you're buying one with even quieter fans too!). So there's nowhere for the 3 extra RGB fans to go.

Furthermore, you're buying a fan controller as part of the kit and the case already has one (an integrated CORSAIR Commander PRO)

https://www.corsair.com/uk/en/Categ...m-Mid-Tower-Case/p/CC-9011139-WW#tab-overview

Monitor https://www.currys.co.uk/gbuk/comput...86722-pdt.html unless I find a better one at a similar price.

This monitor lacks any form of adaptive sync (freesync or gsync). Freesync used to only be for AMD GPUs but recently Nvidia - finally - started to support it.

You will want a monitor with adaptive sync.

The Dell S2716DG is 1440p 144hz and gsync and can be found for £430. Otherwise there are 1440p 144hz monitors with freesync available for less. Dropping the extra fan kit pays for most of the difference.

Motherboard I have gone with Gigabyte Z390 AORUS Master: ATX, LG1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs WIFI - RGB instead of ASUS® ROG STRIX Z390-E GAMING: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs, WIFI - RGB Ready for the ports at the back.

Do you need wifi and bluetooth? If not, get the AORUS Pro.