Advice on first gaming PC please...

[NML]

Hi. I’m looking at this spec for a first gaming PC for my son and I have no clue what I’m doing! What I want to know is have I missed anything crucial or are any of these peripherals inappropriate for the rest of the PC? He will want to use it almost exclusively for gaming...is there anything you’d change? Really appreciate any advice. Many thanks. N



Case
CORSAIR iCUE 465X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 3900X 12 Core CPU (3.8GHz-4.6GHz/70MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB AMD RADEON™ RX 5600 XT - HDMI, DP, DX® 12
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W CV SERIES™ CV-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100i RGB PLATINUM 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 (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
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 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
Google Chrome™
Monitor
MSI 23.6" Optix G241VC - 1920 x 1080, 1MS, 75Hz
Monitor
MSI 23.6" Optix G241VC - 1920 x 1080, 1MS, 75Hz
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 17 to 19 working days
Price: £1,764.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[NML]

Hi and thank you very much. The budget is about £1800. Maybe a bit more, say £2000 if it’d make a huge difference! The games will be things like Call of Duty, Rocket League and Flight Simulator. We don’t know where to spend the money to get the best value/speed. Really appreciate any advice

 

[AgentCooper]

Okie dokie!

So with the budget you've got, you can get him a really nice 1440p build, everything will look amazing compared to the image he'd be looking at on a 1080p monitor. The following system is specced with gaming in mind and should last the best part of a decade with a couple of graphics cards updates along the way. There'll be just over £300 left from the max budget which will get him a cracking monitor (the link for which I have included at the bottom).

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 465X RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB 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 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
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 (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
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 [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 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 17 to 19 working days
Price: £1,681.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/kvkaUzYc0v/

Samsung Odyssey C27G55TQWU 68.6 cm (27\

Samsung Odyssey C27G55TQWU, 68.6 cm (27\

www.smartteck.co.uk

 

[NML]

Thank you for the reply and I’m sorry if these are obvious questions to an expert....but!

I see you’ve lowered the spec of the CPU and RAM but upgraded the graphics card and gone for 2 separate hard drives. What are the advantages in doing that?

Also I had thought I’d need to get 2 monitors (1 for the PC and one for XBox). Would this monitor be able to switch easily between both?

I really appreciate you taking the time to help with this. ATB N

 

[AgentCooper]

No problem, happy to help

The idea behind having two M.2 drives is that you have the smaller and faster of the two as your OS and programs drive. You then use the second one as fast storage for your games, which is a real boon for games like Flight Sim with epic loading times. It'll speed things up considerably. A fringe benefit is that if you need to do a reset/reinstall of Windows at any point, your games are safe on that second drive and you won't have to go through all the hassle of downloading them all over again.

Most games won't ever touch 32GB of RAM usage, 16GB is pretty much the 'industry standard'. Flight simulators are the exception as they have to make lots of complex calculations. However, this most recent iteration of Microsoft Flight Sim seems to have balanced this out as a lot of users are reporting seeing no real difference between 16GB and 32GB. If you wanted to play it safe you could add the 32GB back in. I'd personally see how things go before purchasing extra RAM, it's the easiest upgrade on a PC that you can do yourself!

The CPU is in a similar position as the RAM, six cores is plenty for a gaming build. Flight Sim historically has favoured more cores but this latest release has again ironed out these issues and it's much more reliant on the graphics card.

You'd be fine with just the one monitor as you could use the DisplayPort connection for the PC and the HDMI connection for the Xbox.

 

[NML]

Thank you AgentCooper. All ordered....just need to sit back and wait for it to arrive! Really appreciate all your help. Cheers N

 

[Skyewalker]

@Skyewalker It's better to start your own thread detailing your needs etc so then it can be discussed etc.

Thanks will do!

 

[AgentCooper]

I have already moved your post, @Skyewalker, and replied to you on that new thread