Config for entry-level Gaming PC

[chrroc308]

Hi guys,

what do you think of the following config for an entry-level gaming PC ~ £1000?

Thanks for any advice!
Chris

Case
CORSAIR 3000D AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE

Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X Eight Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.6GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (AM4, DDR4, PCIe 4.0)

Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)

Graphics Card
16GB MSI GEFORCE RTX 4060 Ti VENTUS 2X BLACK OC - HDMI, 3 x DP

1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (3500 MB/R, 3100 MB/W)

1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6200 MB/W)

Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CX SERIES™ CX-650 POWER SUPPLY

Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler

Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)



Price: £1,189.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/9Kp94qDbHy/

 

[sck451]

Poor value because you're buying into an old platform. If you must have a system and can only spend £1200 on it, then it's not far off what I'd go for, because a PCS system on a modern platform realistically starts at £1300ish. But I wouldn't spend my money that way.

What's the actual budget? What monitor will you be using? What games do you play?

 

[chrroc308]

Hi,

thanks a lot for the prompt reply. The PC is for my son who's turning 12 soon, he's still mostly playing Roblox at this time His brothers have been happy with a similar setup for the last few years, playing mostly Fortnight, Terraria, GTA, Subnautica, etc, with the most demanding games in my understanding being Ready-or-Not and Squad.

They're all using 1080p screens. I don't want to spend more than ~ £1200 at this time, instead I want them to be able to upgrade their config in the future if they feel the need.

Thanks again for your advice,
Chris

 

[sck451]

Well, upgrading is the key question. You can't upgrade the system you've posted significantly because it's on an old platform, AM5. This means that there will be no more CPUs released for it, ditto memory. You will be able to upgrade the graphics card, but the time will come when even that will be limited by the CPU power, which will become a bottleneck. It will perform OK today, but will not have a long lifespan.

The other option is to buy a PC that is less powerful today, but is on a modern platform to make upgrades more practicable. This means going for a weaker graphics card (realistically the 7600 is as much as you can afford) and getting a more modern platform with a superior power supply, which will last you much longer and will take upgrades to CPU and memory much more easily. That would be my approach, but obviously both are compromise options.

Here's that £1200 AM5 build:

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS 2 ARGB GAMING CASE (BLACK)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core CPU (4.0GHz-5.2GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB GIGABYTE RADEON™ RX 7600 GAMING OC - 2 x HDMI, 2 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW) Only one SSD, but this is an easy upgrade
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 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
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
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
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
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed
Price: £1,196.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/fEZMsCNzuj/

 

[SpyderTracks]

For some clarity, the system @chrroc308 posted is already over 4 years old, so it's halfway through it's available lifespan. So would only last about 4 years before it needed replacing.