Please check this set up for gaming and general work use.

[ENK]

Hi,

I am looking to order a custom build and put together the below using some of the information from the April 2023 build guide. Honestly, I know nothing about PC specs, so I would appreciate it if someone could check over everything.
- The warning on PC specialist mentioned my motherboard had the Wifi so wouldn't need a separate wireless network card unless I selected something better. Not sure if what is included on the motherboard is enough?

Generally, the computer will be used for gaming, primarily MMORPGs (WoW/GW2/D4), youtube/twitch and office work, so use two monitors as well.

I could go up to about £1,500 if it would make a significant difference.

Thanks


Monitor:
ASUS TUF Gaming VG249Q, 23.8 InchFHD (1920x1080) Gaming monitor, IPS, up to 144Hz, 1ms MPRT, D-SUB, DP, HDMI, FreeSync, Low Blue Light, ELMB, Shadow B

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 4000X RGB Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX Case
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 14-Core Processor i5-13600K (Up to 5.1GHz) 24MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B760-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, PCIe5.0, USB 3.2)
Memory (RAM)
8GB PCS PRO DDR4 3200MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3050 - HDMI, DP, LHR
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR, 1600MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR, 1600MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W CV SERIES™ CV-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 RGB V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
2 x 50cm White LED Strip
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD LAN PORT
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 [KK3-00027]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
Microsoft® 365 Personal (12 Month Subscription - Digital Key)
Anti-Virus
Norton 360 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
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 6 to 8 working days
Price: £1,188.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/2Ffge96AhD/

 

[sck451]

Here's what I'd be inclined to go for. It's towards the top end of your budget, which isn't strictly necessary, but it allows for an upgrade path when you decide to upgrade the display. With appropriate upgrades (certainly the GPU, maybe the CPU) it could last 7+ years.

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 4000X RGB Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX Case
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core CPU (4.0GHz-5.2GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5) Modern AMD CPU
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)0
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5600MHz (2 x 16GB) I'd prefer 6000MHz, but not currently stocked
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6650 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12 All you need for 1080p
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/W) Boot drive
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW) Huge games drive
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET Plenty of capacity for upgrades
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler Plenty for the 7600
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
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 Don't use Norton - it's awful
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
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 6 to 8 working days
Price: £1,426.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/kAU4uV0yDr/

 

[ENK]

Thanks for the response.

As I mentioned before, I have no clue about the specs. With some research, I've seen AMD is currently ahead of Intel? If I was to stick to around a £1,300 budget, would Intel be a better option?

If not, with the set up you have suggested, would there be any alternatives to the components that would reduce cost as I still need to buy anti-virus and office packages etc.
- The 6000MHz, is that a noticeable improvement?

Thanks

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thanks for the response.

As I mentioned before, I have no clue about the specs. With some research, I've seen AMD is currently ahead of Intel? If I was to stick to around a £1,300 budget, would Intel be a better option?

If not, with the set up you have suggested, would there be any alternatives to the components that would reduce cost as I still need to buy anti-virus and office packages etc.
- The 6000MHz, is that a noticeable improvement?

Thanks

You don't need antivirus, windows comes with windows defender built in which is far better than most 3rd party solutions anyway, has much less of a performance impact and is free.

 

[sck451]

If you want to bring it down under £1300, you could have something like this on AMD's Ryzen 5000 platform.

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 4000X RGB Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX Case
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X Eight Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.6GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4) The 5800X3D would be great, but adds over £100
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 16GB) Maybe 2x8GB would be enough for you?
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6650 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW) Maybe 1TB would be enough?
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition Enough for the 5700X
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 6E AX210 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
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 6 to 8 working days
Price: £1,268.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/C3352kNfS!/

 

[ENK]

For the graphics card, I would probably prefer a NVIDIA. Not sure if it is just personal bias but generally from research they seem to be more reliable longer-term? If so, would the 8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3050 - HDMI, DP, LHR suit the rest of the build?

Thanks

 

[sck451]

For the graphics card, I would probably prefer a NVIDIA. Not sure if it is just personal bias but generally from research they seem to be more reliable longer-term? If so, would the 8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3050 - HDMI, DP, LHR suit the rest of the build?

Thanks

If you like spending more money and getting worse performance, I agree, the 3050 is the card to choose!

Basically, no: at this kind of budget, AMD cards are the way better choice unless you have specific needs, mainly around video encoding.

 

[ENK]

Here's what I'd be inclined to go for. It's towards the top end of your budget, which isn't strictly necessary, but it allows for an upgrade path when you decide to upgrade the display. With appropriate upgrades (certainly the GPU, maybe the CPU) it could last 7+ years.

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 4000X RGB Tempered Glass Mid-Tower ATX Case
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core CPU (4.0GHz-5.2GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5) Modern AMD CPU
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM)0
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5600MHz (2 x 16GB) I'd prefer 6000MHz, but not currently stocked
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6650 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12 All you need for 1080p
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SEAGATE FIRECUDA 530 GEN 4 PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 3000MB/W) Boot drive
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2700MB/sW) Huge games drive
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET Plenty of capacity for upgrades
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler Plenty for the 7600
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
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 Don't use Norton - it's awful
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
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 6 to 8 working days
Price: £1,426.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/kAU4uV0yDr/

In terms of upgrading the display, what would you recommend? Thanks again

 

[sck451]

In terms of upgrading the display, what would you recommend? Thanks again

You'd want to go for something 1440p, 144Hz or better, IPS, probably in the region of £300. The above spec would need to be tweaked, though, to get a build that would match that display.

 

[ENK]

Hi,

I posted a few months ago asking for guidance. I am revisiting to purchase the PC and looking at the specs below. Personally, I know nothing about PC specs, so any guidance would be appreciated:

- I use the PC solely for gaming, Diablo/Guild Wars 2/Overwatch, watching YouTube, and general office work.
- The current budget below for the PC is pretty much my max as I plan to purchase a monitor.
- I have had my current PC for 6 years. Whilst I like the idea of upgrading parts, I have no idea how I would do it, hence simply want this to last new spec to last as long roughly the same amount of time before requiring a change.

A few questions/queries:
1. I bought a PC previously and the case was way too big for the components I purchased, so a lot of wasted space. Want to make sure that doesn't happen again.
2. I currently have this monitor: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B082NRKT4K/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&th=1 ; I use a second one that needs upgrading, so want to make sure the PC can use 2 monitors and if anyone could recommend a second monitor please?
3. As I have no idea about PC specs, just want to maker sure that i'm not lacking in areas i.e., SSD brand, cooling etc, or overspending in any area where I won't see the benefits.

Thanks in advance!

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 465X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D Eight Core CPU (3.4GHz-4.5GHz/100MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X570S UD: ATX (USB 3.2 Gen 1, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (1 x 32GB)
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6650 XT - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR, 1625MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W CV SERIES™ CV-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR iCUE H100i ELITE CAPELLIX XT RGB 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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6E AX210 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
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 4 to 6 working days
Price: £1,531.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/SmEk8g4cKc/

 

[ENK]

Just bumping the above message.

Thanks

 

[sck451]

OK, so this is more budget than before, so that's helpful. I'd go with a very different build, based on the new Ryzen 7000 platform rather than the old Ryzen 5000 platform.

I'd bank on getting a new 1440p display and using your existing 1080p one as the secondary display.

And I'd get a system like this one:

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS 2 ARGB GAMING CASE (BLACK) Great little case
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core CPU (4.0GHz-5.2GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5) More modern CPU
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
16GB AMD RADEON™ RX 7800 XT GAMING - HDMI, DP - DX® 12 Much faster, 1440p ready graphics card
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW) Fast boot drive
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 3325MB/sW) Very strong second drive for games
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET Plenty of power capacity
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler Enough cooling
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
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 You can probably transfer Windows from your old PC to save ~£100
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
Microsoft® Edge
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
Price: £1,497.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/AWbJvn!ctA/

 

[ENK]

@sck451 Thank you for the help so far, and sorry to ask yet another question.

Just to future-proof a little more I am considering upgrading the CPU to either the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 or AMD Ryzen 7 7700X. In this case, would the power supply and cooling you initially suggested above still be sufficient?

The £1,500 I initially placed as my budget isn't strictly a hard cap but the region I would like to be around.

 

[sck451]

@sck451 Thank you for the help so far, and sorry to ask yet another question.

Just to future-proof a little more I am considering upgrading the CPU to either the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 or AMD Ryzen 7 7700X. In this case, would the power supply and cooling you initially suggested above still be sufficient?

The £1,500 I initially placed as my budget isn't strictly a hard cap but the region I would like to be around.

Get the 7700 and you'll be fine, though the cooler has actually gone out of stock now. You should probably look at something like the H100x or the H100i, though obviously they end up costing a decent bit more.