A £1200 pc Build

Wakizashi31

Wakizashi31

Wakizashi31

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Hi Guys,

I built a pc around 14years ago and i am really badly out of the loop with all the developments!

I am looking for a medium/small build pc. I do play the occasional games like assassins creed, Halo and Gears (although not on the old pc haha)

my budget is between £1200 and max £1300 (10% give way)

I currently have:

1. Two monitors
2. Docking station
3. Steelseries Keyboard and Mouse

the case doesnt need to be mega expensive as i see it more as a cosmetic thing...but would like it to be white so it blends in much better.

I would want the build to have a good stability and last me Atleast 5-7years without considering huge upgrades.

I also wanted some suggestions as to this build (which i sort of liked but wanted to just get more advice to feel at ease)

1. AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Processor (8C/16T, 36 MB Cache, 4.4 GHz Max Boost)

2. MSI X570-A PRO Motherboard ATX, AM4, DDR4, LAN, USB 3.2 Gen2, Type-C, M.2, HDMI, AMD RYZEN 2nd and 3rd Gen

3. Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 Super WINDFORCE OC 3x 8G

4. Corsair TX-M Series 650 Watt 80 Plus Gold Certified PSU (UK) Hybrid Modular Power Supply Unit

5. Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3200 MHz C16 XMP 2.0 High Performance Desktop Memory Kit, Black

6. Seagate 2 TB BarraCuda 3.5 Inch Internal Hard Drive (7200 RPM, 256 MB Cache, SATA 6 Gb/s, Up to 220 MB/s, Model: ST2000DMZ08/DM008) - storage only

7. Kingston SSD A400 Solid State Drive 2.5 inch SATA 3 - 480 GB - windows only

8. GameMax Expedition MATX PC Gaming Case, Micro-ATX Mobo Compatibility (really did like the white spec but cant tell if its big or could go abit smaller but do want it to be white)

Really appreciate the help :)
 

random_matt

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1) Good stuff
2) Probably swap for an Aorus one
3) Good stuff
4) Find a full modular one
5) Find some 3600 ones
6) Why?
7) Make it a terabyte NVMe
8) Go for a meshify or the phanteks P400 Air
 

Wakizashi31

Wakizashi31

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random_matt said:
1) Good stuff
2) Probably swap for an Aorus one
3) Good stuff
4) Find a full modular one
5) Find some 3600 ones
6) Why?
7) Make it a terabyte NVMe
8) Go for a meshify or the phanteks P400 Air
Click to expand...

Thanks for the advice.

2. Which one are you referring to please? Any suggestions?

4. not the greatest with the psu.

5. will have a look for the 3600mhz ones. Ill get back to you on that.

tbh i wanted space for installation as these games are super huge. I could consider a 1tb ssd For games only and a NVME for windows?
 

Wakizashi31

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lee32uk

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You are fine with 3200MHz Ram and the Corsair TXM is also ok. The Seasonic psu above is only semi modular anyway, so not sure why that was suggested over the semi modular TXM.

A hard drive is still useful for mass storage.
 

Nightingale

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Wakizashi31 said:
Hi Guys,

I built a pc around 14years ago and i am really badly out of the loop with all the developments!.....
Click to expand...

I am in the process of doing something similar to you, so during recent lockdown I've been doing a fair bit of reading about all things building and recent hardware.....

Here are my thoughts as someone new to the game, as it were.

1. Not going to go far wrong there.
2. The X570-A PRO has had some shocking reviews regarding overheating VRMs throttling the system. Tomahawk may be a better option. If you are going for the MicroATX build, maybe the B550 Mortar Wifi when it is released in the middle of this month?
3. Don't see much wrong with the graphics card choice.
4. Corsair RM650X maybe? Modular and generally good reviews. Sounds less like a freight train when under load, unlike the TX (apparently).
5. Check that your memory choice is supported by your motherboard choice. Some are more suited than others. It will be in your motherboard specs. Heard good things about Team Group.
6. Seagate Barracuda and WD Blue are both generally reliable.
7. If the SSD is going to be a boot drive for windows only 480GB is probably too much. If you went for a NVMe SSD it would speed things up. For windows only, a 128GB NVMe can be got for under £30. Samsung970EVO+ 500GB breaks the £100 margin but would give wriggle room for your gaming.
8. The case you chose is mATX but the motherboard you chose is full ATX - it wouldn't fit. That said, NZXT H510 (£75) or Meshify C (£92) both come in white. They will take a full ATX board but as 'compact' ATX cases, an mATX board will give you more wriggle room for a neat and tidy build. With the graphics card and CPU you've selected, you need a case that will give good cooling prospects (I would go for the Meshify)
 

Wakizashi31

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Nightingale said:
I am in the process of doing something similar to you, so during recent lockdown I've been doing a fair bit of reading about all things building and recent hardware.....

Here are my thoughts as someone new to the game, as it were.

1. Not going to go far wrong there.
2. The X570-A PRO has had some shocking reviews regarding overheating VRMs throttling the system. Tomahawk may be a better option. If you are going for the MicroATX build, maybe the B550 Mortar Wifi when it is released in the middle of this month?
3. Don't see much wrong with the graphics card choice.
4. Corsair RM650X maybe? Modular and generally good reviews. Sounds less like a freight train when under load, unlike the TX (apparently).
5. Check that your memory choice is supported by your motherboard choice. Some are more suited than others. It will be in your motherboard specs. Heard good things about Team Group.
6. Seagate Barracuda and WD Blue are both generally reliable.
7. If the SSD is going to be a boot drive for windows only 480GB is probably too much. If you went for a NVMe SSD it would speed things up. For windows only, a 128GB NVMe can be got for under £30. Samsung970EVO+ 500GB breaks the £100 margin but would give wriggle room for your gaming.
8. The case you chose is mATX but the motherboard you chose is full ATX - it wouldn't fit. That said, NZXT H510 (£75) or Meshify C (£92) both come in white. They will take a full ATX board but as 'compact' ATX cases, an mATX board will give you more wriggle room for a neat and tidy build. With the graphics card and CPU you've selected, you need a case that will give good cooling prospects (I would go for the Meshify)
Click to expand...

Hi Really appreciate the feedback and some quality information.

1. Consensus is the Ryzen 7 is a good choice so that’s guaranteed on the shopping list

2. Would all the components selected here fit the Mortar? Is the Tomahawk expected to also get an upgrade? If so which would you recommend? There are couple which make it difficult to choose haha

3. Definitely expensive GPU. I mean im not keen on the VR elements for sure (gives me migraines). Could have actually gone slightly lower....but thought it could give me longer lifecycle perhaps.



4. Corsair RMX650 sounds like a good choice and has got some really good reviews. Alittle expensive but that’s expected given the market shortages and its fully modular

5. i have heard Teamgroup mentioned a few times but failed to bring anything. Could you suggest? Potentially B550 and Tomahawk but will need to wait a couple of weeks. Don’t usually the motherboards have issues when first released with all the BIOS crap?

6. I chose the Samsung Evo Plus 250gb nvme for the boot drive with some additional emergency space. I am considering a kingston SSD as a second drive? 960gb would be more than enough. Cna be upgraded if im really desperate later. Could i have two nvme?is that an option?

7. I do like fractals case designs and the mesh with the glass on the side looks fantastic. Comes with two fans but might need probably two more to help the airflow?

Build is coming to around £1350
 

random_matt

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Wakizashi31 said:
Hi Really appreciate the feedback and some quality information.

1. Consensus is the Ryzen 7 is a good choice so that’s guaranteed on the shopping list

2. Would all the components selected here fit the Mortar? Is the Tomahawk expected to also get an upgrade? If so which would you recommend? There are couple which make it difficult to choose haha

3. Definitely expensive GPU. I mean im not keen on the VR elements for sure (gives me migraines). Could have actually gone slightly lower....but thought it could give me longer lifecycle perhaps.



4. Corsair RMX650 sounds like a good choice and has got some really good reviews. Alittle expensive but that’s expected given the market shortages and its fully modular

5. i have heard Teamgroup mentioned a few times but failed to bring anything. Could you suggest? Potentially B550 and Tomahawk but will need to wait a couple of weeks. Don’t usually the motherboards have issues when first released with all the BIOS crap?

6. I chose the Samsung Evo Plus 250gb nvme for the boot drive with some additional emergency space. I am considering a kingston SSD as a second drive? 960gb would be more than enough. Cna be upgraded if im really desperate later. Could i have two nvme?is that an option?

7. I do like fractals case designs and the mesh with the glass on the side looks fantastic. Comes with two fans but might need probably two more to help the airflow?

Build is coming to around £1350
Click to expand...

Just buy these: https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...3600mhz-dual-channel-kit-black-my-001-8p.html

Ryzen is best between 3600-3733mhz, why someone said 3200 is fine is bizarre. Nice low timings, won't need to fiddle with them.
 

Nightingale

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Apologies to mods - didn't know about the "competitor information" rule - won't do it again.

I guesstimate the B550 Mortar wifi price point to be around the £170-£180 mark, and it should carry all the components you list without breaking a sweat so will bring the costs down a touch compared to the X570 Tomahawk as well as having the Wifi, so that should offset the cost of the better PSU which will save you some pennies later based on improved power delivery compared to the TXM series PSU. Plus it is true modular so you only need to fit the cables you actually use for a cleaner build.

Corsair 280X can be had in white if you are going for an mATX board, but is a bit dearer than the Meshify C. Both come with two fans fitted for cooling IIRC. Mesify C has good reviews regarding airflow, and the 280X segregates the PSU and drives from the main compartment, so the cooling is coming directly across the components that actually need it without interference. Both of them can have extra fans fitted later should you find cooling an issue.

Running through your component like sans GPU, you have c. £275 left from your £1200 build for the GPU, £375 if you add the 'wriggle room' to take the build to £1300.

My current build project (bits I have thus far)
CASE: Fractal Meshify S2 Blackout
PSU: EVGA 850-P2
CPU: Ryzen 5 3600
NVMe: Samsung 970Evo+ 500GB
GPU: MSI Radeon RX580 Gaming X 8G
My total costs for those have been £655, but the PSU and GPU were in effect B stock so discounted.

I found my way to OCUK for best advice and source of RAM; https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...3600mhz-dual-channel-kit-black-my-001-8p.html looks good.

Like you I have a choice to make regarding motherboards. I was looking at the X570 Unify, because it is over-engineered for what I need and therefore likely to outlast most else. Then the X570 Tomahawk came along and got me wondering. Then my research took me to the B550 chipset boards soon to be released, so project is on hold for a few weeks until I can get some feedback on those.

If I went with the Unify and the RAM listed above, it would take my total build cost to a little shy of £1100, but the system would be imbalanced (pretty much everything would be overengineered when you look at the demands of the CPU and GPU) but those could be upgraded in a year or two as the base platform of the build will be sufficient to cater for that.
 

Wakizashi31

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Nightingale said:
Apologies to mods - didn't know about the "competitor information" rule - won't do it again.

I guesstimate the B550 Mortar wifi price point to be around the £170-£180 mark, and it should carry all the components you list without breaking a sweat so will bring the costs down a touch compared to the X570 Tomahawk as well as having the Wifi, so that should offset the cost of the better PSU which will save you some pennies later based on improved power delivery compared to the TXM series PSU. Plus it is true modular so you only need to fit the cables you actually use for a cleaner build.

Corsair 280X can be had in white if you are going for an mATX board, but is a bit dearer than the Meshify C. Both come with two fans fitted for cooling IIRC. Mesify C has good reviews regarding airflow, and the 280X segregates the PSU and drives from the main compartment, so the cooling is coming directly across the components that actually need it without interference. Both of them can have extra fans fitted later should you find cooling an issue.

Running through your component like sans GPU, you have c. £275 left from your £1200 build for the GPU, £375 if you add the 'wriggle room' to take the build to £1300.

My current build project (bits I have thus far)
CASE: Fractal Meshify S2 Blackout
PSU: EVGA 850-P2
CPU: Ryzen 5 3600
NVMe: Samsung 970Evo+ 500GB
GPU: MSI Radeon RX580 Gaming X 8G
My total costs for those have been £655, but the PSU and GPU were in effect B stock so discounted.

I found my way to OCUK for best advice and source of RAM; https://www.overclockers.co.uk/team...3600mhz-dual-channel-kit-black-my-001-8p.html looks good.

Like you I have a choice to make regarding motherboards. I was looking at the X570 Unify, because it is over-engineered for what I need and therefore likely to outlast most else. Then the X570 Tomahawk came along and got me wondering. Then my research took me to the B550 chipset boards soon to be released, so project is on hold for a few weeks until I can get some feedback on those.

If I went with the Unify and the RAM listed above, it would take my total build cost to a little shy of £1100, but the system would be imbalanced (pretty much everything would be overengineered when you look at the demands of the CPU and GPU) but those could be upgraded in a year or two as the base platform of the build will be sufficient to cater for that.
Click to expand...


Thanks for that. It sort of gives more clarity to what i need and really think waiting for the B550 would be a sensible thing to do.

I do want a decent graphics card that will last me, but don't want to go insanely crazy for a graphics card that i wont fully utilise. (Like VR...not really the biggest fan of it...) ofcourse i would want the best for value. Want a system thats running smoothly just slightly overclocked to reach its potential.

I originally started with the Ryzen 5 and ended up with a Ryzen 7 so that ate alittle bit into the budget and a better PSU but that I know is definitely needed

The Ram with the 3600mhz is a good choice i think giving me a better overall performance.
 

Joxeon

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Wakizashi31 said:
Thanks for that. It sort of gives more clarity to what i need and really think waiting for the B550 would be a sensible thing to do.

I do want a decent graphics card that will last me, but don't want to go insanely crazy for a graphics card that i wont fully utilise. (Like VR...not really the biggest fan of it...) ofcourse i would want the best for value. Want a system thats running smoothly just slightly overclocked to reach its potential.

I originally started with the Ryzen 5 and ended up with a Ryzen 7 so that ate alittle bit into the budget and a better PSU but that I know is definitely needed

The Ram with the 3600mhz is a good choice i think giving me a better overall performance.
Click to expand...
Unless your planning to run a gen 4 nvme SSD a B450 would be perfectly fine for your needs and would save the best part of £80 which you could reinvest in to improve other areas of the build since your budget is finite.
 

Nightingale

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One thing that I am considering is that the motherboard is the platform which ties together all the gucci things with the high specs that we want to push a little.

It's like spanners. You can buy El Cheapo yakamahuki spanners that aren't quite there, and the metal isn't really right for the job. Then when they bend or break, or you get upset with rounding out a nut because the tolerances aren't right on the spanner then you have to go out and get a good one, like Snap-on or Mac Tools (hope OCUK doesn't get upset with the naming, since they don't do high end workshop tooling!).

I digress, and my point is this: Since the Motherboard is the thing that ties everything together, it is worth getting something that will last, and will do every job you ask of it, and (if you pardon the pun) be something that you can build on. Nothing in technology is wholly 'future proof' (even the wheel as we know it may become obsolete at some stage in the future!)

My personal thoughts is that the NVMe is "a good thing" and therefore I am waiting on the B550 boards to come out. Bear in mind though that although on (for example) the MSI Mortar the top PCIE slot for your graphics card will also be 4th gen, the benefits won't really be tangible given the limitations of the graphics cards until you get to REALLY top end (think "this card cost more than my entire budget!") For me, an NVMe 4th gen for your fast stuff and the lower 3rd Gen slot with a cheaper storage option card (but which is still several times faster than a SATA connection) is definitely worth a couple of weeks wait.
 
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