Build advice for Custom PC for £2k

[nav_dcfc]

Hi all.

I'm after a potential spec for a custom pc using potentially using a pre build as the basis for my cousin as a gift. It would currently be used for gaming (COD MW, RDR2), Stock Trading (hence UW Monitor), University Work using general off the shelf packages, browsing the web, possibly streaming, Youtube/Twitch in future etc

Note I have already gifted him the following monitor Acer Predator Z35P so he would need the remaining peripherals.

If i had more time myself I would build one but have never managed to build one without some issues even if minor and would rather have the peace of mind of a warranty for his first PC and also to save me having to drive to his house continually to fix something.

Whilst I have no preference to either Intel/AMD a recommendation for both would be appreciated.

Essentially I need something that will last him a good few years and give him the possibility of an upgrade path. I understand this would be more costly if going the Intel route.

Thank you ind advance all.

 

[nav_dcfc]

Anybody ?

 

[Danny75]

AMD:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower Case - Black= £64.99
• 1 x Arctic Cooling P12 Black Case Fan - 120mm= £5.99
• 1 x MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Super Ventus OC 8192MB PCI-Express Graphics Card= £469.99
• 1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport LT White Micron E-Die 16GB Kit (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 UDIMM= £74.99
• 1 x Corsair Force MP510 series 960GB NVMe PCIe M.2 Solid State Drive (CSSD-F960GBMP510)= £109.99
• 1 x Super Flower Leadex III 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply - Black= £89.99
• 1 x Noctua NH-D15S Dual Radiator Quiet CPU Cooler= £74.99
• 1 x MSI B450 GAMING PRO CARBON AC (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £119.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £289.99

Total: £1,315.01 (includes shipping: £14.10)
​

Intel:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower Case - Black= £64.99
• 1 x Arctic Cooling P12 Black Case Fan - 120mm= £5.99
• 1 x MSI GeForce RTX 2070 Super Ventus OC 8192MB PCI-Express Graphics Card= £469.99
• 1 x Crucial Ballistix Sport LT White Micron E-Die 16GB Kit (2 x 8GB) DDR4-3200 UDIMM= £74.99
• 1 x Corsair Force MP510 series 960GB NVMe PCIe M.2 Solid State Drive (CSSD-F960GBMP510)= £109.99
• 1 x Super Flower Leadex III 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply - Black= £89.99
• 1 x Intel Core i9-9900KF 3.6GHz (Coffee Lake) Socket LGA1151 Processor - Retail= £449.99
• 1 x Gigabyte Z390 Aorus Pro Intel Z390 (Socket 1151) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £179.99
• 1 x Noctua NH-D15S Dual Radiator Quiet CPU Cooler= £74.99

Total: £1,535.01 (includes shipping: £14.10)
​

Nvidia GPUs in both specs since the monitor is Gsync.

The motherboard in the Intel spec lacks wifi so if he needs that change to something like the Aorus Pro Wifi.

Plenty left in budget for any peripherals he needs, plus build fee. You could get a more expensive GPU but prices are crazy, the gains not exponential relative to price, and the 2070 Super will be good for most games at 3440x1440 for a few years, by which point he can upgrade to a faster card that doesn't cost as much as the 2080 Super or 2080Ti. Same with storage, if he doesn't need more than 1TB right now then wait before adding more as SSD prices will keep coming down (barring any negative phenomenons).

To inquire about a build quote, post in OcUK Customer Service - Pre-Sales Queries.

 

[nav_dcfc]

Thank you. He wont need wifi atleast when at home and i cannot imagine he needs masses of storage over and above 1TB possibly 2TB as a secondary drive.

 

[snips86x]

Without the risk of sounding like I'm repeating myself, I wouldn't bother with Intel at this point in time. AMD is the way to go for this.

Also look for the sabarent rocket on the rainforest, it's a cracking drive for the price.

 

[nav_dcfc]

Noted snips86x. I'm tending more towards the AMD for future protection but was after an equivalent Intel build so i could do a comparison. Would the B450 board listed be the best in terms of being able to support future CPUs and the addition of more storage or are there better options i could consider. I do notice it will take two M.2s and if was looking to get 32GB Ram with prices being what they are right now would it be better to get 2x16 or 4x8 of the same memory listed or consider other brands ?

 

[snips86x]

Noted snips86x. I'm tending more towards the AMD for future protection but was after an equivalent Intel build so i could do a comparison. Would the B450 board listed be the best in terms of being able to support future CPUs and the addition of more storage or are there better options i could consider. I do notice it will take two M.2s and if was looking to get 32GB Ram with prices being what they are right now would it be better to get 2x16 or 4x8 of the same memory listed or consider other brands ?

AMD would be the sensible move, especially since Zen3 is compatible with AM4 and Intels 10 series is a new chipset...so you'd be buying twice if you upgraded later on.

You can use both M.2 slots, but the 2nd slot means you loose slots PCIE_2,3,4,5.

As for RAM, AMD prefers 2 slots over 4 - but the performance impact I cannot comment on.

Edit; also worth noting that the 3700x trades blows with the 9900k and that's not even AMDs top CPU offering.

 

[lee32uk]

If you don't need wifi then the B450 Tomahawk MAX is £20 cheaper.

You can easily get away with a cheaper air cooler like the Scythe Mugen 5 Rev.B for £43, or the Arctic Freezer 34 esports duo for £35.

 

[snips86x]

If you don't need wifi then the B450 Tomahawk MAX is £20 cheaper.

You can easily get away with a cheaper air cooler like the Scythe Mugen 5 Rev.B for £43, or the Arctic Freezer 34 esports duo for £35.

Jesus, are they really putting 'esports' on a cooler?

 

[Matt_West_Mids]

Jesus, are they really putting 'esports' on a cooler?

Affraid so it is a decent budget cooler though.