Budget build for a first gaming PC

[Thrasher]

Hi, my friend has asked me for help to get his son his first ever gaming PC but doesn't have a budget much more than around £500-600. I know this could be tricky so looking for some suggestions. It will be for basic homework tasks and 1080p gaming (fortnite, warzone, apex etc) so looking for best performance we can get around this.

Monitor, peripherals and windows have already been aquired so no need for anything else except the main rig.

First thing I have come up with :

Case
PCS SPECTRUM G ARGB MID TOWER CASE (PWM)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i3 Quad Core Processor i3-12100F (Up to 4.30GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME H610M-A-CSM D4 (mATX, LGA1700, DDR4, PCIe 4.0)
Memory (RAM)
16GB PCS PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6500 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (3500 MB/R, 3100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W CX SERIES™ CX-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD CPU COOLER LGA1700
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
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
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 5 to 7 working days
Price: £597.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-home-office-pc-V/g4SexmustD/

 

[Scott]

There's nothing I would personally recommend at that budget. It would be a throwaway system at best. That build is filled with compromise and there's no future potential for it at all. It would be an unwise investment.

With £600 I would look to purchase a PS5 or Xbox for the gaming side of things and an entry level laptop for the homework stuff.

It's £1k minimum to get anything worthwhile that won't be fit for the bin in a year or 2.

 

[Thrasher]

I knew it would be difficult with that budget honestly and told him so. Perhaps pushing up slightly to an AM5 platform, but going in at the lower end would provide room for future upgrades. Something like this...?

To confirm expectations he's not going to be wanting to play AAA titles at max settings for the next 5 years, I think some FPS like I mentioned in OP and some other smaller less demanding indie games - he'll be brand new to Steam so will have a massive catalogue of easy to run games to choose from.

Case
PCS SPECTRUM G ARGB MID TOWER CASE (PWM)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core CPU (4.0GHz-5.2GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME A620M-K (mATX, AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0)
Memory (RAM)
16GB PCS PRO DDR5 4800MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6500 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (3500 MB/R, 3100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W CX SERIES™ CX-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 200 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
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe 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
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
Norton 360 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Price: £752.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/24ng3u3BD5/

 

[Scott]

Even playing no games at all it's impossible for me to get inside that sort of budget. For clarification, in the latest build:

Entry Level Case - We wouldn't recommend these for anything but the most basic of systems. You want good airflow and a nice house for components to last. Lancool 215 would be the lowest I would go.

Prime A Motherboard won't have the same connectivity, performance or future upgrade potential as the "B" series boards. We would never recommend an A-series for anything other than a throwaway PC, which is against the point of getting a PC to begin with. Lowest here is typically the TUF B650 as it includes Wifi. The Prime B650 is fine but will require an additional card if WIFI is wanted.

Very, very, slow RAM. This will seriously hamper the performance of the system. 6000Mhz is the sweet spot for AMD. Spending lots of money on poor performing RAM is ill advised.

Single low end M2 drive - Having all the eggs in one basket is never recommended. Having it in a low end, low rate drive isn't a good choice. By the time Windows is on there with a few games you will be over 50% capacity which will crush performance and lead to frustration.

Low end PSU - No upgrade potential with low end PSU. Can't take any of the bigger GPUs down the line should an upgrade be wanted. End up needing to replace many parts. Bare minimum 750w nowadays IMO. Regardless of build. TXm series is OK, but RM preferred.

Norton should be avoided and the silver warranty would be well worth considering.

However, by the time all of the above was put right... even to just what I would state as entry level, you're at £1k.

 

[Thrasher]

All good points and appreciate your response. Obviously if it was my own build I would expect to push the budget much higher but that's all I was given to work with and knew from the start it would be a struggle to achieve.

 

[Scott]

I do get it, it's a tricky place to be in. I guess my main point is that I wouldn't want anyone to waste £700 on something that wasn't going to be worthwhile. Genuinely better with a console and a laptop. A PS5 is the equivalent of a £1500 gaming PC, performance wise. It's just not even close.