Build for gaming & game dev.

Z

zukias

Member
Needs: I'm a gamer but don't play games with high end graphics. Nevertheless, the games I do play can't be played on the highest graphics with my current PC... which I'd like. The main reason I'd like an upgrade is for unity game dev. I find my current PC is fairly slow with poor FPS in some of the more detailed scene views. It's also 3 years old now so it's getting a little slow on boot up, etc.

Current PC specs (£550):
CPU: AMD Ryzen 3 2300X Quad-Core Processor
GPU: Radeon RX 570 Series
RAM: 8GB

I'd like to see a significant improvement, but I don't need something that's orders of magnitude better based on my needs. If possible, it'd be great to get some advice on if I'm getting too much, or too little for my needs. I also changed the parts after selecting a template from https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/gaming-pc/ so would be good to get some advice on if I've introduced any compatibility or bottle neck issues.
My Display is DELL P2418D, 2560x1440, 60 Hz, 8-bit, RGB, SDR. Ideally I'd like a build that works well with this.

CPUIntel i5-11400F (2.6GHz) 12MB Cache
MotherboardGigabyte Z590 UD AC (LGA1200, USB 3.2, PCIe, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX, Wi-Fi) - ARGB Ready
RAM16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2x8GB)
GPU12GB NVIDIA RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP
Storage Drive1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5” HDD, 6GB/s, 7200 RPM, 64MB CACHE
PowerCORSAIR CV-650
CoolingPCS FrostFlow 150 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (180W TDP)
CaseVORTEX-XT
 
Last edited:
C

C836

Member
If you’d like anyone to help, please give us the FULL specs please. ‘The £23 one’ isn’t helpful
Anyways now I’ve spent the time to look up what the ‘£23 one ‘ is, no it’s not good - in a case you want airflow to keep the components nice and cool- one with an open or mesh front will do this the best. If it has rgb they can be switched off if you don’t like it
 
B

Bigfoot

Grand Master
An AMD based build will outperform Intel in almost all cases. Your PSU is only really suitable for office based PCs. For your budget you will only get a PC for 1080p and the 3060 isn’t the best value for this. A cheap case will have poor airflow and throttle the performance of your build. You really need a much faster drive than an HDD. You should be able to to get an NVME m.2 drive
 
B

Bigfoot

Grand Master
This is a starting point, which I am sure others will improve on. I have assumed you will transfer the Windows licence from your existing PC.

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB 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
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series ARGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
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
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
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 15 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/skN5NVtdJX/
 
Z

zukias

Member
Bigfoot said:
This is a starting point, which I am sure others will improve on. I have assumed you will transfer the Windows licence from your existing PC.

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB 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
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series ARGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
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
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
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 15 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/skN5NVtdJX/
Click to expand...
Thanks for this, it's very helpful, as I'm really not that savvy with hardware components. I based most of my decisions on gpu.userbenchmark.com & cpu.userbenchmark.com, and chose the one's that ranked highly. The CPU and GPU you suggested here do not seem to rate very highly. But of course it says nothing about how it'll perform with other components. Is it more important to choose components that will go well with each other, as opposed to selecting the 'best' components individually? Do benchmarking sites even have any value when selecting components?
 
B

Bigfoot

Grand Master
zukias said:
Sorry, ive updated the post with the monitor, and chosen a new case. I'll take a look at your build too, thanks. :)
Click to expand...
That’s a 1440p monitor, although only 60 Hz, so may need a better GPU. Your budget is low for a 1440p build. There will be others who are better at matching monitors to graphics cards who can advise.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
zukias said:
Thanks for this, it's very helpful, as I'm really not that savvy with hardware components. I based most of my decisions on gpu.userbenchmark.com & cpu.userbenchmark.com, and chose the one's that ranked highly. The CPU and GPU you suggested here do not seem to rate very highly. But of course it says nothing about how it'll perform with other components. Is it more important to choose components that will go well with each other, as opposed to selecting the 'best' components individually? Do benchmarking sites even have any value when selecting components?
Click to expand...
Userbenchmark is nothing more than utter lies, they’ve been banned from Reddit and other public forums because they literally promote garbage.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine

AMD Vs Intel

So some of you aren't aware of the reasons why so many people are heading away from Intel to AMD, so thought it would be important to lay that out for people to refer back to. A lot of you will go to cpubenchmark or userbenchmark to find performance metrics for CPU's. These sites are complete...
www.pcspecialist.co.uk www.pcspecialist.co.uk
 
B

Bigfoot

Grand Master
zukias said:
Thanks for this, it's very helpful, as I'm really not that savvy with hardware components. I based most of my decisions on gpu.userbenchmark.com & cpu.userbenchmark.com, and chose the one's that ranked highly. The CPU and GPU you suggested here do not seem to rate very highly. But of course it says nothing about how it'll perform with other components. Is it more important to choose components that will go well with each other, as opposed to selecting the 'best' components individually? Do benchmarking sites even have any value when selecting components?
Click to expand...
I would be careful what sites you use to get benchmarks from. The 5600x is a great CPU for gaming. The 1660 will handle 1080p monitors. I don’t know how good it will be for yours, but you are limited to 60 FPS anyway. Your budget limits what you can get. It is better to build a good base. The GPU, RAM ans storage can be easily upgraded later in the PC’s life.
 
Z

zukias

Member
Bigfoot said:
I would be careful what sites you use to get benchmarks from. The 5600x is a great CPU for gaming. The 1660 will handle 1080p monitors. I don’t know how good it will be for yours, but you are limited to 60 FPS anyway. Your budget limits what you can get. It is better to build a good base. The GPU, RAM ans storage can be easily upgraded later in the PC’s life.
Click to expand...
If my current PC can handle a 1440, then I'm sure those specs will be just fine. But I wish I didn't bother putting a budget up now, I'd like to just know the ideal setup for my needs.
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
zukias said:
If my current PC can handle a 1440, then I'm sure those specs will be just fine. But I wish I didn't bother putting a budget up now, I'd like to just know the ideal setup for my needs.
Click to expand...
For a 1440p system you’re looking around £1700 to £2000 at the moment, is that within reach?

We can’t really do much without a budget, as you go up the resolutions and cpu capabilities, obviously price increases pretty quickly.
 
Z

zukias

Member
SpyderTracks said:
For a 1440p system you’re looking around £1700 to £2000 at the moment, is that within reach?

We can’t really do much without a budget, as you go up the resolutions and cpu capabilities, obviously price increases pretty quickly.
Click to expand...
Actually I've had another think - I spend quite a lot of my day on the computer :rolleyes: so I think it will certainly be a worthwhile investment to have a PC that performs smoothly, so ignore budgets. I don't see the point in having a GPU that can't handle my monitor.I'd be interested in seeing such a build configuration if anyone has one saved anywhere :)
 
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Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
When most of these guys spec a machine you're looking at 7-10 years with a couple of GPU upgrades
 
Z

zukias

Member
I'd like something that works with my current display (DELL P2418D, 2560x1440, 60 Hz, 8-bit, RGB, SDR). I don't play any games with super high end graphics, but I'd still like a decent machine for game dev - some of the scene views can be very laggy on my current crappy £550 PC. My budget is around £2k.

I was recommended the following for a 1080p monitor:

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB 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
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 240 Series ARGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
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
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
Firefox™

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/skN5NVtdJX/

--------------------
But I have 1440p, so may need to upgrade the GPU. If I upgrade the GPU, I may also need to upgrade some other parts - and I am not at all savvy when it comes to hardware, so am looking for some advice. Any such advice will be much appreiacted. :)
 
Insane.Pringle

Insane.Pringle

Enthusiast
i'll leave the recommendations to those who have more of an idea of what works better but i'd drop the NVME drive to 500GB if you have a 2nd storage drive and use the savings from that to upgrade the graphics card to maybe a GTX3060 or 3070, that way you have a bit of future proofing for a new monitor.

not sure what the others will recommend tho i'm sure someone will be along shortly
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
This is where I'd go for a nice 1440p build, would match up nicely with samsung 27" G5 monitor

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB 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 Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
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
Corsair H115i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro 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)
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
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
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 12 to 15 working days
Price: £1,687.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/S7C4au4zzz/
 
SpyderTracks

SpyderTracks

We love you Ukraine
You can happily reduce the cooler on the above build significantly, the 5600x doesn't need anywhere near that much.
 
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