WFH/Gaming PC £1200-1300

[intheinaka]

Hi all. I'm putting together a budget gaming PC for about £800. I already have my monitor/keyboard/mouse/speakers etc set up and ready to go as I already have a Macbook Air that I use for studying and general work, but I would like to build a PC that will allow me to play a decent range of games. I'm not bothered about playing at particularly high settings, and as a student my £800 budget is unfortunately fairly inflexible. My monitor is a Philips 241E (Full HD, 75hz).

This is what I have put together so far:

Case
PCS P209 ARGB MID TOWER CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-A320M-S2H: Micro-ATX, AM4, USB 3.1, 6GB/s
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
1TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W CV SERIES™ CV-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 80 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
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 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 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00027]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 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™
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
Price: £812.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/SVM!TKpy2V/

My main questions are whether it makes sense to have two separate hard drives, one for the OS etc and one for storage, as it doesn't seem to make much difference cost-wise, and whether the power supply/cooling systems will be okay, as these are the aspects that I know the least about.

Any help or advice greatly appreciated!

 

[Steveyg]

Yeah mate no one is really going to recommend that build it's pretty bad and has no room to even make upgrades in future so essentially dead straight off the bat

If you wanted a machine for £800 then we're talking about base primarily without a GPU and then adding the GPU later. What this will do is let you have a machine that will work but will become very very strong if you add a GPU later down the line when you get some cash again

For example this is where I'd go, then I'd start saving to add a GPU as soon as I could.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Six Core CPU with Radeon™ Graphics (3.9GHz-4.4GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 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)
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
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 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
Firefox™
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
Price: £806.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/BGZ4fZMjh9/

 

[intheinaka]

Yeah mate no one is really going to recommend that build it's pretty bad and has no room to even make upgrades in future so essentially dead straight off the bat

If you wanted a machine for £800 then we're talking about base primarily without a GPU and then adding the GPU later. What this will do is let you have a machine that will work but will become very very strong if you add a GPU later down the line when you get some cash again

For example this is where I'd go, then I'd start saving to add a GPU as soon as I could.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Six Core CPU with Radeon™ Graphics (3.9GHz-4.4GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 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)
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
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 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
Firefox™
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
Price: £806.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/BGZ4fZMjh9/

Thanks for the swift response!

What should I be looking at/thinking about to know whether it's going to be upgradable in the future? What is it about the build I posted that means I wouldn't be able to upgrade to something better in the future?

Also, would it be capable of playing games without the GPU? As mentioned, I'm not looking to play anything particularly intense, mainly just FFXIV and my back catalog of Steam games that I can't play on the Mac for now.

Sorry to bombard you, as you can tell I'm new to this custom build lark!

 

[Steveyg]

Yeah the 5600G has a very rudimentary integrated GPU it's not very powerful though. Close to the 1030 in power so it would struggle on anything graphically intensive

As for your build above the CPU is 3 years old now and soon to be two generations behind so it'll be very dated by the end of this year.

The motherboard is a Micro board which are mostly trash and limiting in terms of both features an ability to add components. They have their uses but I don't like compact builds either

The PSU is also extremely limiting. It's basically an office computer PSU and not something designed for a gaming machine, you need something with enough power and overhead to be able to power a GPU properly and with the newer GPU's using more and more power the PSU is extremely important these days. I usually recommend a minimum of 750W on every build these days but the £800 budget is extremely limiting, PC parts costs has never been this high so it really doesn't go far

The case you selected is also terrible and if you put anything in there at all capable of generating any sort of heat then it'll turn into a oven

 

[intheinaka]

Yeah the 5600G has a very rudimentary integrated GPU it's not very powerful though. Close to the 1030 in power so it would struggle on anything graphically intensive

As for your build above the CPU is 3 years old now and soon to be two generations behind so it'll be very dated by the end of this year.

The motherboard is a Micro board which are mostly trash and limiting in terms of both features an ability to add components. They have their uses but I don't like compact builds either

The PSU is also extremely limiting. It's basically an office computer PSU and not something designed for a gaming machine, you need something with enough power and overhead to be able to power a GPU properly and with the newer GPU's using more and more power the PSU is extremely important these days. I usually recommend a minimum of 750W on every build these days but the £800 budget is extremely limiting, PC parts costs has never been this high so it really doesn't go far

The case you selected is also terrible and if you put anything in there at all capable of generating any sort of heat then it'll turn into a oven

Brilliant, thank you so much for the detailed info. I'll probably go down this route then and see if I can convince my partner to fund a GPU when my birthday rolls around in March. I'm assuming it won't be too tricky to install one, as someone who's never attempted to build their own PC before?

 

[Steveyg]

Brilliant, thank you so much for the detailed info. I'll probably go down this route then and see if I can convince my partner to fund a GPU when my birthday rolls around in March. I'm assuming it won't be too tricky to install one, as someone who's never attempted to build their own PC before?

Yeah it's very easy, plenty of youtube guides on how to do it and you can always ask here for help

 

[intheinaka]

Great, I'll do that then. If this build can be reasonably upgraded I guess I'll try and get a 1650 or something cheap in March and then save for an upgrade in the next year or so.

 

[Steveyg]

Great, I'll do that then. If this build can be reasonably upgraded I guess I'll try and get a 1650 or something cheap in March and then save for an upgrade in the next year or so.

For you 75Hz monitor I would aim for a 1660 just encase. That would for sure give you good performance at the 1080p 75FPS that your monitor can support

EDIT: Just look at the costs for a 1660 and GPU prices are absolutely stupid right now £400 is a robbery price for that GPU

 

[Steveyg]

You can get an RTX 3060 from PCS at almost the same cost as a 1660 Super at the minute, which is a horrible place to be in but hey it's the obvious choice. If you do go this route you should get a better monitor 1080p 144Hz should be the goal for the 3060 or entry level 1440p

 

[intheinaka]

You can get an RTX 3060 from PCS at almost the same cost as a 1660 Super at the minute, which is a horrible place to be in but hey it's the obvious choice. If you do go this route you should get a better monitor 1080p 144Hz should be the goal for the 3060 or entry level 1440p

I'll bear that in mind - this will definitely be an ongoing project, hopefully I'll have my thesis filed away in the next few months and I might be able to start saving a bit more cash to upgrade!

 

[intheinaka]

UPDATE: So, I should hopefully be starting a new WFH job soon, and as I'll be at my desk 9-5 and earning a little more money, I'm looking to put together a PC that can do a bit of everything. My budget is probably going to max out at around £1300, but there is probably a little wriggle room there if a little extra investment will make a big difference.

Initially I'm planning on going with a decent build with a modest GPU and upgrading the graphics card further down the line as the priority to begin with is the WFH aspect, and the only games I currently play regularly are FFXIV and Civ 6. I know that GPU prices have been pretty high in recent times so this seemed like a sensible move in my mind, although I'm aware I'll probably be overpaying considerably for a low-end card all the same.

I know very little about motherboards, cooling, and power supplies, so there's probably a whole lot wrong with this configuration, but this is what I've thrown together so far. Any help is greatly appreciated!

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3800X Eight Core CPU (3.9GHz-4.5GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 120 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
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 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 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 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™
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 11 to 13 working days
Price: £1,227.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/My3HJuTkAk/

 

[DarTon]

Hi. Your spec above is based on a prior gen Zen 2 CPU. The cooling is probably inadequate. A single drive is ok but 2 drives would be better.

It might be useful to understand they nature of the WFH. If it's office type apps, you probably don't need an 8 core CPU or 32GB of RAM. That will free money for a more balanced build. With £1200-1300, you can get an adequate 1080p gaming build with a 1660 Super, that can handle office apps quite easily. Something based around an Intel 12400F will give you far better single core and lightly threaded performance (at the expense of some loss of multi-core, heavy threaded performance) than a 3800X.

 

[intheinaka]

Hi. Your spec above is based on a prior gen Zen 2 CPU. The cooling is probably inadequate. A single drive is ok but 2 drives would be better.

It might be useful to understand they nature of the WFH. If it's office type apps, you probably don't need an 8 core CPU or 32GB of RAM. That will free money for a more balanced build. With £1200-1300, you can get an adequate 1080p gaming build with a 1660 Super, that can handle office apps quite easily. Something based around an Intel 12400F will give you far better single core and lightly threaded performance (at the expense of some loss of multi-core, heavy threaded performance) than a 3800X.

Thanks for the reply and all the helpful feedback. It will be a translation project planner role, so a lot of Excel, project management software, and translation software suites. Plus Zoom/Teams meetings.

 

[DarTon]

If you wanted to go with a 12400F adn 16GB of fast RAM, you could fit a 1660 Super and two separate drives for around £1,275. I suspect this is adequate for your work.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-12400F (2.5GHz) 18MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B660-PLUS WIFI D4: ATX, LGA1700, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - 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 M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
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
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 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™
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 11 to 13 working days
Price: £1,264.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/VcQp3x5FY4/

If you want a bit more CPU power, then we can downgrade back to the 1650 again. You can then fit a 10-core 12600K, 16GB and 2 drives for £1,320. If you cut back to a single SSD this comes back down below £1,300 but two drives is far better.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 10-Core Processor i5-12600K (3.7GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B660-PLUS WIFI D4: ATX, LGA1700, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT 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)
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
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 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™
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 11 to 13 working days
Price: £1,318.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/djJQnvDK!S/

 

[intheinaka]

If you wanted to go with a 12400F adn 16GB of fast RAM, you could fit a 1660 Super and two separate drives for around £1,275. I suspect this is adequate for your work.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-12400F (2.5GHz) 18MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B660-PLUS WIFI D4: ATX, LGA1700, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - 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 M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
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
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 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™
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 11 to 13 working days
Price: £1,264.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/VcQp3x5FY4/

If you want a bit more CPU power, then we can downgrade back to the 1650 again. You can then fit a 10-core 12600K, 16GB and 2 drives for £1,320. If you cut back to a single SSD this comes back down below £1,300 but two drives is far better.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 10-Core Processor i5-12600K (3.7GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B660-PLUS WIFI D4: ATX, LGA1700, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT 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)
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
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 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™
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 11 to 13 working days
Price: £1,318.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/djJQnvDK!S/

Thank you so much for taking the time to provide these options, I really appreciate it.

My instinct is to go for the more powerful basic build and then slot in a better GPU in 6-12 months when I've saved a bit of cash, so I'm leaning towards the second option. Out of curiosity, what are the benefits of having two SSDs?

 

[DarTon]

The advantages of two drives are various but
a) Tidyness: you can put the OS and main programs on one drive, and data/games/personal stuff on the other.
b) If you need to reinstall the OS, you won't need to reinstall anything on that second drive.
c) the system can access both drives at the same time. This can improve performance

Remember you can always start with a single drive and add later. The B660 motherboard has 4xM2 slots. So you could start off with a single 1TB M2 SSD. Add another 500GB M2 SSD later. Reinstall OS on the new (probably faster) 500GB SSD and then use the older 1TB one for data/games etc.

Memory, storage, GPU are very easy to upgrade. It's the motherboard, CPU, PSU, cooler that some find more problematic.

 

[intheinaka]

The advantages of two drives are various but
a) Tidyness: you can put the OS and main programs on one drive, and data/games/personal stuff on the other.
b) If you need to reinstall the OS, you won't need to reinstall anything on that second drive.
c) the system can access both drives at the same time. This can improve performance

Remember you can always start with a single drive and add later. The B660 motherboard has 4xM2 slots. So you could start off with a single 1TB M2 SSD. Add another 500GB M2 SSD later. Reinstall OS on the new (probably faster) 500GB SSD and then use the older 1TB one for data/games etc.

Memory, storage, GPU are very easy to upgrade. It's the motherboard, CPU, PSU, cooler that some find more problematic.

Brilliant, thanks for all the help!