Game PC for Minecraft, Kerbal with a bit of future proof

[DavidBennett371]

Hi all,

I'm looking to get a PC for my son for mainly gaming but also a bit of MS Office, Adobe apps. The main games he plays are Minecraft, Kerbal Space Program, Train Sim, Scrap Mechanic. I realise this spec might be a bit too much, but a bit of future proofing would be nice. Any advice would be appreciated...I used to keep quite up to date with PC components, latest news, etc, but I've lapsed over the last few years and things change quickly! Budget I'm looking at is about £1500 and I will also be looking at a 27" monitor (on top of this), so any suggestions for that, please feel free to offer? I've put my initial spec below and thanks in advance for any advice.

Dave

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600G Six Core CPU with Radeon™ Graphics (3.9GHz-4.4GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE B550 GAMING X V2 : DDR4, USB 3.2 - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W 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)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
ASUS PCE-AX58BT Wi-Fi 6 (802.11ax) 2400Mbps/5GHz, 600Mbps/2.4GHz + BT 5.0
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 Professional 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
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 14 to 17 working days

Price: £1,515.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/VcjbGgSgZE/

 

[Bigfoot]

Please add the configuration link, as we can improve on this. What monitor are you planning to get, or what is your budget for the monitor? 27” isn’t ideal for 1080p.

 

[DavidBennett371]

Hi,

Sorry, just added that. He's currently got an old 23" monitor that I'll use with with his old PC, so was just thinking to increase size a bit. Budget for monitor £250-£300, does that sound reasonable?

Thanks,
Dave

 

[AgentCooper]

If there’s a possibility of stretching the budget a bit more you could get a system with a stronger base for him that’ll last for years, with an occasional GPU update. It’ll be 1440p as well, that resolution is much more suited to a 27 inch monitor than 1080p.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 2500MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
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
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
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
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 - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £1,670.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/uwuWXfhnNF/

 

[sck451]

Totally reasonable: you can get great 1440p 27" monitors in that price range. The ASUS Tuf VG27AQ1A for £299 is arguably the best in the price range, but the Samsung G5 and the AOC Q27G2U (which is what I have) are also very strong candidates.

£1500 is a fairly low-end budget for a 1440p build. It's not a problem, but it's slightly lower in spec than I'd often do for a 1440p system. The other thing to note is that the graphics card is currently out of stock, so there might be something of a wait for it...

Obviously my build is very similar to @AgentCooper's one, with just a few differences for the sake of budget. (I'd prefer theirs, but this is the alternative.)

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W 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)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
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 [KUK-00003]
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
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 - Subject to stock availability on pre-order products
Price: £1,515.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/9ADZZuqJ9c/

 

[DavidBennett371]

Hi all,

Thanks for the quick replies....there is a bit of wiggle room in the price. He's been saving up for ages, so thought I'd use a bt of his money and then put the rest towards it. He has autism so tends not to spend any money he gets and saves it for big purchases so soemtimes it can take a while, so thought I'd try and get this sorted for Christmas as a surprise!

I think I originally had the graphics card that @AgentCooper selected but noticed it was pre-order, so moved away from it.

Thanks,
Dave

 

[sck451]

Hi all,

Thanks for the quick replies....there is a bit of wiggle room in the price. He's been saving up for ages, so thought I'd use a bt of his money and then put the rest towards it. He has autism so tends not to spend any money he gets and saves it for big purchases so soemtimes it can take a while, so thought I'd try and get this sorted for Christmas as a surprise!

I think I originally had the graphics card that @AgentCooper selected but noticed it was pre-order, so moved away from it.

Thanks,
Dave

The graphics card world is in a total mess right now: things are in and out of stock for all kinds of prices... One option if you don't want to wait is the Asus Dual 3070: if you change my build above to that it comes to £1668 and should be in stock, so will be with you in three weeks or so.

I'm autistic too, so I very much get your son and his saving style! Let's hope you can get sorted with this.

 

[AgentCooper]

Looking at recent order/delivery thread info, if you ordered sooner with a 3060Ti rather than later, there’s a very good chance you’d have your system in time for crimbo. The longer you leave it, the more people will be placing orders.

P.S - you’re a good dad 👍

 

[DavidBennett371]

Don't mind waiting a bit, but it's a balance isn't it as I don't want to leave it too late...pity there's no timescale on the pre-order so you have more of an idea.

This is all so helpful though, I really appreciate the time and trouble you're taking to help!

Thanks,
Dave