Spec advice for friend<=£1300

[Revolve]

Hi everyone,

My friend is looking at getting a prebuilt as his current laptop has just died, he's tempted to move to a tower PC, and he's not confident building his own PC so a prebuilt is his best option.

We've heard very good things about PCSpecialist so he's looking to purchase from here, and I've got a couple of builds I think look alright for him but I'd like some input from people like yourselves who would know more than I do.

This will be a gaming PC which he will use for work also (office stuff). He's got a 1080p monitor at the moment he will be using for a while until he can get a better monitor at a later date (either 1080p 120/144Hz or 1440p 95Hz+). He is unlikely to want to upgrade stuff in future if avoidable and it's ideally going to last 4-5 years as his current laptop lasted about that long.

Edit: I've put the builds in the next post as I couldn't edit them in this post for some reason, sorry for the extra post.

 

[Revolve]

Couple of questions:

1. What model 5700XT do you guys use? is it a reference or one of the AIB models?
2. Is the 3600X worth the extra vs the 3600 at all?
3. How does your 240mm AIO compare to the coolermaster ones? There isnt a huge difference in price but every little helps and if the performance is similar it might be worth it.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (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 SUPER - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CV SERIES™ CV-650 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series RGB High Performance Liquid 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 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
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 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 12 to 14 working days
Price: £1,318.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/eCKzPVKJrv/

This is marginally higher than his budget but he would get a 2070 super which would be the faster, more reliable option.

Option 2:

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 5700 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CV SERIES™ CV-650 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series RGB High Performance Liquid 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 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
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
Firefox™
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 12 to 14 working days
Price: £1,221.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/m2Y5zGj8XJ/

This one is quite a bit below his budget and he gets a 5700XT which I'm a huge fan of but if it's a reference card then that would be an awful option.

 

[Dan79]

The stock AMD cooler is good enough for the 3600. Possibly a better m.2 drive (evo is quite a bit faster)

Others will probably advise on using a nvidia card (2070s) as AMD cards have driver stability issues (i'm not 100% on the 5700xt though)

 

[Scott]

I wouldn't recommend purchasing a GPU for a monitor that will be purchased at a later date. It's better to purchase the system with the GPU in that powers the current monitor..... save the cash that would have went to the higher level GPU and purchase the next generation card, which will be more powerful for less money, at the same time as the monitor upgrade (matched).

For 1440p around 75hz the 2060 Super is more than fine. The 2070 Super is a 144hz card.

With that in mind, there are a couple of other things to consider. You could opt for the 3600.... but the 3300X is probably the best choice for mostly gaming right now. The 3600 has more cores so is more powerful but most games only use a couple of cores anyway and the higher frequency should so it doing really well.

Because the budget allows for it I would recommend the X570 motherboard. It has better VRMs and will easily support the next generation AMD chips. The B450 will also allow for this usage but the chipset isn't as good, the VRMs aren't as stable/high and it's going to be a bit of a fudge to get the support. Not to mention PCIe 4.0.

Presuming that the current monitor is less than 100hz the 1650 Super is the perfect card to start with in the system. PCS have an open case policy so the GPU can be switched out at any time. The entire build fully supports any GPU your friend could wish to fit (power wise etc).

As the budget and build allows I've selected premium storage. It's insanely fast and worthwhile IMO. I've also added a storage drive for docs etc. This can be dropped if not wanted.

Thanks to the budget there are LOADS of top end choices being made here. You could cut corners and save money but this is a very solid high end build just in need of a GPU/Monitor combo to have it top tier.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 3 3300X Quad Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.3GHz/18MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 SUPER - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 520 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 5000MB/R, 4400MB/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 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 [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
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 12 to 14 working days
Price: £1,172.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/tswjQU8rQs/

 

[Revolve]

The stock AMD cooler is good enough for the 3600. Possibly a better m.2 drive (evo is quite a bit faster)

Others will probably advise on using a nvidia card (2070s) as AMD cards have driver stability issues (i'm not 100% on the 5700xt though)

Thanks for the reply. Yeah I've actually seen that the stock cooler is adequate but I've also seen that it can get quite noisy and £40 isn't a huge jump to get a massive jump in noise and performance (not to mention it will look better too) so I figured it's probably worth it.

I prefer nvidia cards myself for that reason but if it's not a reference 5700XT I think the £100 price difference would be worth consideration.

 

[Revolve]

I wouldn't recommend purchasing a GPU for a monitor that will be purchased at a later date. It's better to purchase the system with the GPU in that powers the current monitor..... save the cash that would have went to the higher level GPU and purchase the next generation card, which will be more powerful for less money, at the same time as the monitor upgrade (matched).

For 1440p around 75hz the 2060 Super is more than fine. The 2070 Super is a 144hz card.

With that in mind, there are a couple of other things to consider. You could opt for the 3600.... but the 3300X is probably the best choice for mostly gaming right now. The 3600 has more cores so is more powerful but most games only use a couple of cores anyway and the higher frequency should so it doing really well.

Because the budget allows for it I would recommend the X570 motherboard. It has better VRMs and will easily support the next generation AMD chips. The B450 will also allow for this usage but the chipset isn't as good, the VRMs aren't as stable/high and it's going to be a bit of a fudge to get the support. Not to mention PCIe 4.0.

Presuming that the current monitor is less than 100hz the 1650 Super is the perfect card to start with in the system. PCS have an open case policy so the GPU can be switched out at any time. The entire build fully supports any GPU your friend could wish to fit (power wise etc).

As the budget and build allows I've selected premium storage. It's insanely fast and worthwhile IMO. I've also added a storage drive for docs etc. This can be dropped if not wanted.

Thanks to the budget there are LOADS of top end choices being made here. You could cut corners and save money but this is a very solid high end build just in need of a GPU/Monitor combo to have it top tier.

Thanks so much for the advice. Your post made me realise I forgot to mention some things in my post which I've edited in now for future. He specifically mentioned to me that he wants it to be plug and play, he's unlikely to want to upgrade stuff in future and this is a computer he plans to keep as is (or as close to it as possible) for 4-5 years.

With that said, while it's not ideal to buy a computer for a future monitor it's pretty much where he's at at the moment, unless you can recommend a build which includes a monitor for around the £1300 mark. Likewise, he wont want to upgrade the GPU really and will just make do with what this build has as long as he can.

So from that, I think the 3600 is the lowest that would be likely to last him this length of time and a 2060/2060 super would really be the lowest GPU that would suit those limitations aswell, I think.

He also wont be storing lots of media on the computer, so 1TB should be more than enough for him and from what I've been able to see, premium storage doesn't seem to have a huge impact on performance in real world use. I haven't done a huge amount of research on this, though so I'll defer to you on this, but is it really worth over £100 more for the better m.2? on a budget like this

 

[Scott]

No worries at all.

There is no way for a system to last 4-5 years without upgrading and to actually be at the same level of performance. As more demanding games come out, at least the GPU will need upgraded to stay relevant. There is just no way to make a statement of what will be relevant in 2 years, never mind 5. When I recommend a build I do so with the base system being upgrade able so that it can stay relevant without having to replace the entire system. There's no sense to over-spending now to "future proof". The only way to future proof is to buy what you need, save what you don't and spend when you do

There's no way to get a decent build with a monitor inside £1300, not 1440p unfortunately.

The 3600 vs the 3300X won't make any difference to gaming at all, you could ffwd 10 years and the same would probably be true.
If nothing is being stored on the PC then the 1TB M2 drive on its own would be plenty.
If speed/performance isn't a consideration then the 1TB M2 drive could be dropped entirely for a 1TB SATA drive which would save considerable money. It wouldn't be my choice as the speed of the system loading etc relies on it but again, your friends choice.
With regards to whether the £100 is worth it, it's not a priority.... I was just working what I thought was the best kit for the budget.

I would personally be kicking myself if I purchased a 3600 with a 2060 Super only to not use it then realise, in very short order, that I could have had a 3060 in 6 months for the same money with 40% more power.