Specs for Gaming PC

Whyliez · 17 Nov 2019 at 21:51

Hey guys,

New member here, I've gone through OCUK, and I've seen quite few good builds and specs suggestions.

I would like to build a Gaming PC, just need a Tower - budget £500-600, as I have a monitor, keyboard, and mouse. This is my first time building, so I'll obviously be looking through how to build, and learn.

The frame rate/quality doesn't need to be high-end, medium would do, as long as it runs smoothly.

Desktop would be used for gaming, such as CS, Fortnite, and others that are similar. As well as general surfing, youtube, netflix and etc.

Any tips/suggestions is hugely appreciated.

Thanks.

Minibiker · 17 Nov 2019 at 22:08

Welcome

I've put together a rough guide to what you could get, with a few tweaks here and there you'll be sorted... The case is just the bog standard one but I find its better to spend the budget on decent components first then case later with remaining money... If you went used you could probably get a stronger GPU for the same price

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £99.95
1 x AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core 4.2GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £185.99
1 x Team Group Vulcan TUF Gaming Alliance 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Blac= £59.99
1 x PowerColor Radeon RX 570 Red Dragon 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £119.99
1 x Bitfenix Formula Series 550W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply= £66.95
1 x TeamGroup 240GB L5 Lite SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 3D NAND Solid State Drive= £29.99
1 x Aerocool V2X Black Edition Midi-Tower - Black= £24.95

Total: £602.51 (includes shipping: £14.70)

I'm sure some other members with more experience will be along to help out soon

Gray2233 · 17 Nov 2019 at 22:35

You can get a RX590 for £150 right now, I'd SERIOUSLY consider spending the extra £30 even if it means going a little over budget. The RX570 at £120 is not a good buy at the moment in my opinion.

Would consider spending a little more on a larger SSD also, but expanding storage down the line is pretty simple if required.

@Minibiker 's build looks solid other than that.

Whyliez · 17 Nov 2019 at 22:40

@Minibiker build is good, I can work with that, spending money on components is better than the looks.
Thanks for your suggestions, appreciate it hugely.

@Gray2233 I can live with spending little bit more for a better usage, the SSD is okay for now, if needed, I could expand on that maybe in the future.

I'll wait a bit to see if there are any other suggestions before proceeding with the options.

Thanks for your inputs, helps so much.

Gray2233 · 17 Nov 2019 at 22:52

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x PowerColor Radeon RX 590 Red Dragon 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card *BLACK FRIDAY DEAL*= £149.99

Total: £149.99 (includes shipping: £0.00)

There's the 590 I was talking about.

It really is worth it over the 570 for the sake of £30, it's a very good jump in performance and has double the VRAM.

Whyliez · 17 Nov 2019 at 22:55

Yea, I saw that one, I added that into the basket, for now, till probably for an hour or 2 before I go for it.
The offer seems good for that in comparison to the 570.

Minibiker · 17 Nov 2019 at 22:58

Definitely go for the 590 like @Gray2233 has mentioned, I didn't see that one must have scrolled past it thinking it was a 570

but if you can spend that little extra then do it

tamzzy · 17 Nov 2019 at 23:04

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 5 Six Core 2600 3.90GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £124.99
1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD416G30= £55.99
1 x MSI B450-A PRO MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £88.99
1 x PowerColor Radeon RX 590 Red Dragon 8192MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card *BLACK FRIDAY DEAL*= £149.99
1 x CoolerMaster MasterWatt 650 - 650W 80 Plus Bronze Semi Modular Power Supply= £64.99
1 x Seagate 500GB 2.5" BarraCuda 120 SATA Solid State Drive (ZA500CM1A003)= £56.99
1 x Zalman i3 Midi-Tower Case - Black Window= £42.95

Total: £597.19 (includes shipping: £12.30)

went with the ryzen 2600 to keep the total cost down
in return - rx 590, 500gb ssd
case is very good value as it includes 3 led fans

Whyliez · 17 Nov 2019 at 23:19

@tamzzy more storage seems good, especially if the total cost is lower.
The case seems good too, along with the updated rx590 included and 650W PSU instead of 550W PSU.

Gray2233 · 17 Nov 2019 at 23:22

The build would run just fine on a 550W with room to spare, the 550W unit in question is actually of a much higher quality than the 650W CM MasterWatt. That said, either would be functional enough for your intended uses, and unlike the BitFenix the CM650 is modular (semi), so it'll look cleaner in a windowed build.

@tamzzy That case actually has 4X120mm LED fans from the looks of it, excellent value at the price point.

Whyliez · 17 Nov 2019 at 23:25

What would you suggest with both suggestions mixed, I mean, rather it run longer, and be good for a while.

Gray2233 · 17 Nov 2019 at 23:28

The 3600 is a better CPU, but you do save a lot of cash by going with the 2600.

You could consider going with a smaller SSD and adding more storage later, but things will get tight fast on a 250gb drive.

The CM PSU is a decent budget unit and you'd probably be absolutely fine with it, also comes with a good 5 year warranty. I'd personally spend a little more on a better unit, but it isn't entirely necessary.

Considering how cheap the 2600 is while still being very respectable, it could tide you over until the end of next year when the new AMD 4000 series should be out. You could always pop a nice new CPU in then if you wanted, it's a platform with a lot of options.

tamzzy · 17 Nov 2019 at 23:28

@Whyliez i specced the 650w psu because it's modular. they both carry a 5 year warranty, though as @Gray2233 says, the bitfenix has better quality components (but you lose the semi-modularity)
the 550w coolermaster is currently out of stock else i'd have specced that instead
went with a ryzen 2600 rather than the newer 3600 because it's better balanced (and doesn't ask you to break your budget)
(of course the ryzen 3600 is a better chip - but means that you'll be (a) overbudget, and (b) low capacity ssd - which means you'll have to spend even more sooner to get a larger capacity ssd/hdd)

basically it all depends on when you'd be looking to next upgrade your computer...

Whyliez · 17 Nov 2019 at 23:35

I'd say fitting into the budget helps a lot, and less clutter using semi-modularity would be a factor too.
Larger capacity at the moment would probably be better than getting it after a short moment, and as long it could last at least a year or so, it should be decent.
Upgrading my computer would probably be maybe after a year minimum, once I can get boost my budget.

tamzzy · 17 Nov 2019 at 23:50

Whyliez said:
Upgrading my computer would probably be maybe after a year minimum, once I can get boost my budget.

well tbh, my spec would last a couple of years easily without needing any upgrades as long as you're not looking for max fps at max detail
reason being is that it already combines a decent cpu with a decent gpu with a large ssd

whereas if you opt for a ryzen 3600:
good cpu with a low-end gpu (570)/decent gpu (590) with a small ssd
1) going for the 570 will mean you're in budget but you'll need to upgrade the gpu and ssd
2) going for the 590 means you're overbudget and you'll need to upgrade the ssd at extra cost

Whyliez · 17 Nov 2019 at 23:55

Yea, I don't go for max fps, or at max detail, I'm used to playing at low quality aha, but your options helps hugely, making it into the bracket.
I will go for your options, for:
1. Cheaper + fits into the budget
2. The case has 4 included fans, white LED
3. Has more storage SSD

Don't think there's more reasons to it, as it would run okay.

Thanks guys!

tamzzy · 17 Nov 2019 at 23:56

Gray2233 said:
@tamzzy That case actually has 4X120mm LED fans from the looks of it, excellent value at the price point.

Whyliez said:
2. The case has 4 included fans, white LED

haha yes it is indeed 4 fans. #fatfingers

tamzzy · 17 Nov 2019 at 23:59

@Whyliez
we specced someone that case before...here are some real life shots of the build with the zalman i3:

MrBraindown said:
Some moody night shots:

My cable management was ok, the only issue I've got is what to do the cables that lead to the GPU. As I used two separate cables there are a few redundant 'heads' bobbing about and because the cables are quite stiff and chunky I struggled to bend them anywhere!

Whyliez · 18 Nov 2019 at 00:01

@tamzzy That looks good aswell, hopefully I'll be okay handling the cables xD

tamzzy · 18 Nov 2019 at 00:05

@Whyliez it'll be okay

also do note that there are two versions: i3 and i3 edge
you want the i3 and not the i3 edge.
i3 edge has a plastic front = poor air flow