First Gaming PC

G

glevai

Member
I am after a gaming pc that would be able to run simulation games such as cities skylines, truck simulator etc, but also games like GTA and shooting games. The budget that i had in mind was about £1,500 -£2,000 depending on what would be worth it. Im unsure on what specification i should be getting, i know a bit about pc's but unsure where/what i should be spending my money on. If any one would be able to help that would be great thank you :)
 
polycrac

polycrac

Super Star
Hi Glevai, is this including monitor, keyboad etc? And if not, what make/resolution/refresh rate is your monitor? Do you plan to use it for anything else than gaming?
 
G

glevai

Member
not including monitor, keyboard. its just and older monitor atm but will upgrade later down the line. It's use will be used for mostly gaming but with the odd photoshop/video editing software being used. This is what I'm thinking, but unsure if i should change anything about it? Screenshot 2018-10-24 at 18.13.52.png
 

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polycrac

polycrac

Super Star
How long until you get the monitor? And what do you plan on getting? I ask because the graphics card needs to be beefy enough to for it, so a standard HD screen takes much less graphical grunt than a 1440p of a 4k monster. Plus, if you are not buying it for ages then getting the card for it now may not be smart - prices change, new graphics cards get released and so on. Finally, AMD cards work with freesync, a tech that is widely available on monitors (helps avoid mismatch in frames produced and displayed) while nvidia cards use gsync and that costs a fair bit more to get a monitor that uses it.

Ideally, you want to plan the pc and monitor together, so that they match.
 
polycrac

polycrac

Super Star
OK,

Then your budget is actually quite generous. I'd suggest starting with something like this and tweaking it to suit:

Case
CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 460X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.25GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450M-A (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready! ()
1st Hard Disk
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3400MB/R, 2300MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11 AC1200 867Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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
Quantity
1

Price £1,494.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-pc/S3xcfUwz7H/

You could swap to a 1070 graphics card and a 550w power supply if you wanted to save further, but the current options give you a little more futureproofing. The case is a personal choice, you may like the look or not!

Disclaimer: I like to try and help people but others on the forum are much more knowledgable than I. I suggest waiting to see if anyone else contributes their builds.
 
polycrac

polycrac

Super Star
Fractal focus g has several case fans already, I don't think you need the extras.

The cooler might be overkill, for a stock-clocked processor.

I'd replace the SSD with a faster one from the M.2 NVMe menu.

I think the motherboard is a bit pricy, you could find cheaper options.

The psu might be enough, but a little headroom for power isn't a bad thing and gives you more upgrade options

As I said above, the 1070ti is an option, but the 2070 is better and not much more, given your budget ' if you do get a fancy monitor soon, you'll be glad of it
 
G

glevai

Member
Okay thank you :)

What cooler do you think i should change it too?

What SSD from the M.2 NVMe menu would you recommend?

I was thinking of changing the motherboard to ASUS® TUF Z370-PLUS GAMING II, would that be good enought?

you think i should increase the PSU?

yeah i noticed that as well so i went for the 2070
 
polycrac

polycrac

Super Star
The main issue people mention with the stock intel cpu is that it is a bit noisy, so the frostflow if you are pinching pennies, the noctua otherwise (excellent and very quiet).

The 970 is s great choice, but a few, like the intel 760 are a little cheaper and still plenty fast.

The z390ud would save you a great deal and while it isn't as fancy, it is newer (motherboards are things I'm only starting to learn about - you should seek another opinion on this)

And yes, the psu is a pain to replace so best to give yourself some headroom. The txm are better quality than the vs, but the vs are still good. Either way, I'd want 550 as a minimum.
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
The stock case fans are usually fine.

The H100x is definitely overkill for a stock clocked CPU (that's locked, so you couldn't OC it if you wanted to)

The mobo is for extreme overclocking. Something much less expensive like the AORUS Pro will offer a huge range of features and still is a lot cheaper. Or the Z390-E with its built in wifi and bluetooth.

The Pro HDD is insanely expensive. Like, over twice the price of a regular HDD. This is not worth it for 99.9% of users.

And ther is no point spending this kind of money on a system that is just being paired with a regular HD monitor. You're just spending money on performance you won't use. And if the idea is 'futureproofing' by the time you are using that performance, newer hardware offering more performance for a lower price will be out by then anyway.

The VS series PSU is not ideal for a build of this budget. And 450W may limit your future upgrade options.

Totally agreed about the RTX 2070 being a better option at these prices too!

For £2000 you could easily buy a 1440p gaming system, and a 1440p 144hz gsync monitor (these start at £450)

The build in the screenshot it about £1800.

Just tweaking the build cuts £150-£200 off:

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700 (3.2GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z390-E GAMING: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs, WIFI - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2070 - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready! ()
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
500GB WD Blue™ 3D NAND 2.5" SSD, (upto 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
2[SUP]nd[/SUP] Hard Disk
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 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)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)


Price £1,621.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z370-pc/MGnjk!hhfu/

But given Intel's CPU pricing and, if you go 1440p which at this budget you really ought to, polycrac's suggest on an AMD build is probably a better plan. At higher resolutions there's even less performance difference between Intel and AMD CPUs.

Edit: If you're not overclocking and not using an otherwise quiet system I don't think there's much point to the Noctua. Why spend £60 on a quiet CPU fan when the case fans and GPU fans will be relatively loud anyway.
 
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Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
To suggest a monitor that would pair nicely with an RTX 2070, the Dell S2716DG has been very popular on these forums and offers 1440p, 144hz, gsync, and a fast response time.

PCS don't sell it but it shouldn't take you long to find it for £450-£480.
 
G

glevai

Member
okay thanks for the heads up :)

this is what ive managed to change it to based on both of your recommendations, would there be anything that you would change?

Screenshot 2018-10-24 at 19.32.52.png
 
polycrac

polycrac

Super Star
If it were me I'd go for a 760p or samsung 970 on the M.2 menu for your fast drive. I'd also go for the txm over the vs for the power supply. Cases are quite a subjective thing - nothing wrong with the one you picked and a lot of case reviews focus on how easy it it to build in them (which is kinda pcs's problem, not yours!).

That said - if Oussebon and I disagreed over the details for a build I wanted to buy for myself, I'd probably side with him over me. He is the expert on this stuff!
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
It's fine I think.

An AMD system would be better value and the performance would be near enough the same as makes no difference.
 
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