New PC for Christmas

L

londondan

Bronze Level Poster
Hi all, I've decided I need a new PC as my first ever and current PCS one can't be improved any further (Old i5-4460, LGA1150 Mobo which only takes DDR3 RAM etc), so I've decided to get a new build for Christmas that is a bit more futureproof and upgradeable down the line (I know Christmas is 2 months away but I'm planning ahead! :p) Below is the spec I'm making. Feel free to point anything out that I'm missing/don't need etc.

In terms of GPU I'm taking the GTX1660 I've bought recently and am using that. With regards to the 256GB SSD, I've only included it as you can't order a PC without a HDD/SSD, however again I will taking my current 1TB SSD+1TB HDD which already has my whole OS and files on it already and slotting it in.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-9600K (3.7 GHz) 9 MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z390-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
1st Storage Drive
256GB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (500MB/R, 400MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W CV SERIES™ CV-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 120 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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
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 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
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 10 to 12 working days
 
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L

londondan

Bronze Level Poster
AgentCooper said:
If you’re looking for something that has a future proofed aspect it to it, you may want to consider going for an AMD processor. They’re making an embarrassment out of Intel these days...

AMD Vs Intel

So some of you aren't aware of the reasons why so many people are heading away from Intel to AMD, so thought it would be important to lay that out for people to refer back to. A lot of you will go to cpubenchmark or userbenchmark to find performance metrics for CPU's. These sites are complete...
www.pcspecialist.co.uk www.pcspecialist.co.uk

It’d actually be worth getting an M.2 drive on your new system and porting your OS onto that, it’ll be crazy fast compared to your SSD.

What’s your budget?
Click to expand...
Whoops, I plead ignorance, it's been a few years since my last visit! :p

I'll be honest, I haven't given the budget much thought but up to £700 is a good base, as I don't need storage or GPU. Nor the whole Intel vs AMD issue, should I be taking a further look? I'm generally more familiar with Intel hence my bias towards using them. I may actually put in M.2 later however, so that's a good shout. I don't do crazy amounts of gaming either, I think my most played games the last few months have been Sims 4 and American Truck Sim!
 
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L

londondan

Bronze Level Poster
Speaking of ATS, agreed definitely looking forward to Colorado, as much as I like the detail of Idaho it's too sparely populated to be exciting. I've spent too many journeys as well raging at being stuck behind another truck going uphill again at 40mph because it's a single lane road through a national park/forest again.

Anyway back to the build, I've done a few comparisons and it definitely looks like the AMD Ryzen comes out on top against the Intel chips I selected. I've noticed there's only standard coolers and thermal paste in this build but that's likely due to budget, is it worth putting in a non stock cooler even such as a PCS FrostFlow? I can be flexible so going up to £750 shouldn't be an issue.
 
AgentCooper

AgentCooper

At Least I Have Chicken
Moderator
Ha! I feel your pain there, I’ve got a dodgy knee and I had to turn on automatic recently because of the amount of low range gear changing that was keeping me from stalling on those hills.

Chucking the thermal paste on there isn’t a bad shout but there’s no need to change the cooler. The 3600 range come bundled with an absolutely cracking fan cooler 👍
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
AgentCooper said:
Ha! I feel your pain there, I’ve got a dodgy knee and I had to turn on automatic recently because of the amount of low range gear changing that was keeping me from stalling on those hills.

Chucking the thermal paste on there isn’t a bad shout but there’s no need to change the cooler. The 3600 range come bundled with an absolutely cracking fan cooler 👍
Click to expand...
5000 series CPU's are now in the configurator, they're very good value, the 5600x would be a great shout in this system.
 
L

londondan

Bronze Level Poster
AgentCooper said:
Ha! I feel your pain there, I’ve got a dodgy knee and I had to turn on automatic recently because of the amount of low range gear changing that was keeping me from stalling on those hills.

Chucking the thermal paste on there isn’t a bad shout but there’s no need to change the cooler. The 3600 range come bundled with an absolutely cracking fan cooler 👍
Click to expand...
Ah even better, yeah I'm splashing out on the extra £9 of thermal paste because why not, but I think I've got my build sorted. Now to wait until December :(
 
L

londondan

Bronze Level Poster
SpyderTracks said:
5000 series CPU's are now in the configurator, they're very good value, the 5600x would be a great shout in this system.
Click to expand...
AgentCooper said:
Very good point there, if our OP has indeed got an extra few quid that’s a wise move to make.

But I’ll need to call on your endless well of tech knowledge here, does the 5600X come with the Stealth, as rumoured? Because I’d seen rumblings that it’s not quite as good as the Spire which is bundled with the 3600XT.
Click to expand...
I've just actually seen a quick comparison between the 3600XT and the 5600X...stop making this harder! :p But no thanks for the heads up, definitely something I'm going to keep in mind, I may have to stretch to the 5600X if available.
 
L

londondan

Bronze Level Poster
Just a quick addition, because I went and got a GTX1660, will it be a bottleneck or an issue when alongside the 5600X or not really?
 
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