Gaming pc build - looking for advice!

[Joe_B123]

Hi everyone,

I'm finally looking to buy a gaming pc and I was hoping for some advice because this is my first build. The PC will be used for gaming and low intensity university work so I'm hoping this will be powerful enough? The build comes to £709 which is within budget but I'm trying to keep the budget as low as possible because I'm a student. If you can suggest something that costs more and is significantly better please do suggest it, I'd definitely consider it, but I'm trying to keep the cost around £700 if I can. I haven't chosen a monitor yet but again because of budget it will only be 1080p so hopefully that'll be okay

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (1900 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
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
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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
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
Google Chrome™
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 18 to 20 working days

Also a few things I wanted to check:

1) Because the monitor will be 1080p, does that mean there's no point in getting a better graphics card even if money wasn't a problem?

2) I originally had a power supply with a higher wattage than 350W but the PC builder suggested I lower it to a 350 - will that still be okay with the added extras like the monitor, keyboard etc plugged in too?

3) The case has 3 intake fans at the front but no fans at the back - Is it worth ordering the extra fan as its only £6? Also because the case is an airflow design will it make it noticeably loud even with headphones on?

4) I can get windows for free from my university - will I just be able to use my laptop to get it on a USB, plug it in and go or are there more steps involved like drivers etc?

5) Is having the small M.2 drive and a normal large hard drive a good idea or is it better to just have one bigger M.2 or SSD? I only went with that to keep the cost down but is it really that much better to just have one fast drive?

Sorry for asking so many questions, any advice is much appreciated!

 

[Chris-Wenger]

1080p is fine the GPU you have chosen once you start getting to the 2000 series GPUs then it starts to get a little overkill depending on which one you get but you will get very high fps if you chose to have a high GPU with 1080p but id recommend you get 144hz if that was the case.
I would suggest a higher Watt power supply as you need an extra 20% I also don't know the output of the system but a 500w should be fine and be able to cope with further upgrades if you wanted. The fans shouldn't be a problem you have already 3 in the front which will suck cold air through and blow over the components and go out the back which should be sufficient enough however if you wanted to squeeze a little bit of performance you can always get the fan. in my opinion I would get it. All you need is a device to download the windows 10 from and laptop should be fine and you would need a USB stick that 8gb or more. A larger SSD would be faster than the HDD however large SSD is costly and could go over your budget so a SSD and HDD would be fine. You could drop the wifi card as it can save some money if you don't need it. But other than that the PC build seems fine for your budget and whats its intended for

 

[Joe_B123]

That's great, thanks for the help!

 

[keithbeaks]

Hi everyone,

I'm finally looking to buy a gaming pc and I was hoping for some advice because this is my first build. The PC will be used for gaming and low intensity university work so I'm hoping this will be powerful enough? The build comes to £709 which is within budget but I'm trying to keep the budget as low as possible because I'm a student. If you can suggest something that costs more and is significantly better please do suggest it, I'd definitely consider it, but I'm trying to keep the cost around £700 if I can. I haven't chosen a monitor yet but again because of budget it will only be 1080p so hopefully that'll be okay

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (1900 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
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
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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
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
Google Chrome™
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 18 to 20 working days

Also a few things I wanted to check:

1) Because the monitor will be 1080p, does that mean there's no point in getting a better graphics card even if money wasn't a problem?

2) I originally had a power supply with a higher wattage than 350W but the PC builder suggested I lower it to a 350 - will that still be okay with the added extras like the monitor, keyboard etc plugged in too?

3) The case has 3 intake fans at the front but no fans at the back - Is it worth ordering the extra fan as its only £6? Also because the case is an airflow design will it make it noticeably loud even with headphones on?

4) I can get windows for free from my university - will I just be able to use my laptop to get it on a USB, plug it in and go or are there more steps involved like drivers etc?

5) Is having the small M.2 drive and a normal large hard drive a good idea or is it better to just have one bigger M.2 or SSD? I only went with that to keep the cost down but is it really that much better to just have one fast drive?

Sorry for asking so many questions, any advice is much appreciated!

For question 1 you are definitely correct, there is no point buying a GPU that can do better than 1080p if you only have a 1080p monitor.

2.)I think the PSU will be fine


3.) You won't need extra fans, the case is important though and you might need to change this to help with airflow and temps.

4.) I don't know

5.) To keep costs down the way you've done things is fine.

It's possible for a bit more money can will be able to improve the system a fair bit. But that will need more expertise than I have.

 

[Joe_B123]

Hi everyone, I think I'm ready to make my final purchase so I just wanted to make a post and see if anyone had any final recommendations for me. The PC will be for personal use mainly for low-intensity university work and for gaming. The build comes in at £725 which is within budget but on the basis that I'm a student, I'm not looking to spend much more unless it's really worth doing. This is the spec I'm thinking of:

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX B450-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 SUPER - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (1900 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W CV SERIES™ CV-450 POWER SUPPLY
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
Extra Case Fans
1x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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
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
Google Chrome™
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 21 to 23 working days
Price: £725.00 including VAT and Delivery

Also there are a few things I wanted to query:

1) I've chosen the 3600 CPU, I know the 3300 ones are back in stock now but I've heard people say that as the 3600 is newer it is likely to be more future proof? I'm hoping to keep the PC for a very long time so if it is better in the long run I'd prefer to do that

2) With the motherboard, I've heard that the case I've chosen the fans can get a bit loud but using the BIOS you can slow the fan speed based off internal temperature? (Like in this video) I assume I can do this on this motherboard should I need to?

3) Graphics card - I haven't decided on a monitor yet but I know it will only be 1080 so I presume to get a better gpu would be unnecessary? Also worth noting I have found a monitor that's 75hz for essentially the same price as one that is 60hz so would the gpu be able to cope with that?

4) Power supply - I think 450W should cover me but the 550W version is only £5 more, is it worth getting the 550W version just to be safe or could that damage my system in the long term?

5) 'USB/Thunderbolt Options' I still have no idea what this is, is that okay?

Thank you for any input you can offer, literally any comments/opinions are welcome.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Generally you've sacrificed important components to suit a lower budget, but it's not a good choice for a good platform, and @Nursemorph build is far better. To answer your questions:

1) I've chosen the 3600 CPU, I know the 3300 ones are back in stock now but I've heard people say that as the 3600 is newer it is likely to be more future proof? I'm hoping to keep the PC for a very long time so if it is better in the long run I'd prefer to do that

They're both same generation, but the 3600 has more cores and is much more powerful. It's a better choice no question.

2) With the motherboard, I've heard that the case I've chosen the fans can get a bit loud but using the BIOS you can slow the fan speed based off internal temperature? (Like in this video) I assume I can do this on this motherboard should I need to?

The fans on the case are not PWM fans, so you can't adjust the speeds of them. They just run at a constant rate. I wouldn't choose that motherboard as it's older generation, the B550 in @Nursemorph build is far better for longevity and upgradeability.

3) Graphics card - I haven't decided on a monitor yet but I know it will only be 1080 so I presume to get a better gpu would be unnecessary? Also worth noting I have found a monitor that's 75hz for essentially the same price as one that is 60hz so would the gpu be able to cope with that?

The 1650 Super will manage 1080p 60Hz which is very very poor by modern standards, it's bare minimum. A 1660 Super would be the absolute minimum for any "gaming" system in this day and age which would suit 1080p 144Hz. The 1650 Super wouldn't be able to output 75Hz at 1080p.

4) Power supply - I think 450W should cover me but the 550W version is only £5 more, is it worth getting the 550W version just to be safe or could that damage my system in the long term?

The system only draws what it needs, so doesn't matter if you spec a 20000W PSU, it will only draw the same amount of power. The higher the rating, the better for future upgradeability of GPU etc. A 550W CV would be the absolute minimum imho.

Additionally, you've reduced to 8Gb RAM which will be a bottleneck, 16Gb is the minimum these days. To get the build you've configured up to spec it would be more expensive than the one @Nursemorph specced out previously.