Advice on spec.

R

ryawol

Member
Looking to order a build tomorrow, but i'm on a strict budget £800-£850 max. Main use will be for trading as i'm going for a 4 monitor setup hence my GPU selection but also casual gaming e.g Dota 2 and CS GO. Would an SSD drive on its own be ok? as i will be keeping most of my files on my laptop anyway and wont need the storage space. Also will my motherboard allow for possible upgrades when needed e.g RAM, GPU, additional SSDs in the future?

Many Thanks.

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)
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 580 - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
1st Storage Drive
240GB ADATA SU630 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 450MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W 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
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: £815.00 including VAT and Delivery
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Hoping that the £15 over budget is OK....

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 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 SUPER - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (1900 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W 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
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
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
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: £865.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/F5nkvRs5VV/
 
R

ryawol

Member
Thanks for your reply, will this spec be suitable for 4 monitors as the GPU states Max 3 monitors. Guessing I’ll be able to use the HDMI port from the motherboard to make it 4?
Many thanks.
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
ryawol said:
Thanks for your reply, will this spec be suitable for 4 monitors as the GPU states Max 3 monitors. Guessing I’ll be able to use the HDMI port from the motherboard to make it 4?
Many thanks.
Click to expand...

There isn't an onboard port on the motherboard. AMD don't have built in graphics. Apologies, I wasn't paying attention to that part. I believe the 580 that you selected has what you need. It might not be as friendly but it's powerful enough for what you are after :)
 
R

ryawol

Member
Looking to upgrade my current system I've had for 5 years now, only upgrades I've done personally are faster and more ram (32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz 4 x 8GB) and an additional M.2 drive but stupidly I only bought 512GB in storage. Still running the same GPU good old rx 570 although I have noticed a drop off in FPS. DOTA for example has dropped to around 110 FPS from 200 FPS over the last 5 years. I don't really wanna buy a new rig yet since I feel there's still life in this old girl! Are there any upgrades I can make such as a new GPU that has the same wattage as my current one so I don't have to replace the power supply.

Many thanks in advance!

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
Gigabyte B450 Aorus Elite
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (4 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 570 - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
1st M.2 Drive
256GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (1900 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
2nd M.2 Drive
500GB WD Black SN750
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W 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
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
 
Ekans2011

Ekans2011

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
ryawol said:
Are there any upgrades I can make such as a new GPU that has the same wattage as my current one so I don't have to replace the power supply.
Click to expand...
I don't see how you can fit any modern GPU with a 450W ATX2 power supply; you basically have no room to upgrade that platform without necessarily upgrading the PSU. What's your max budget for upgrades? What monitor are you using with it?
 
R

ryawol

Member
Yeah the power supply is the issue, I wanted to see if there was any upgrades I could make without changing it. Something like an rx 6600 which has the same wattage as my rx 570. Eventually I'll upgrade the whole rig but wanted to see if I could push it out another couple years. In terms of budget I haven't really got one just don't wanna spend loads on a couple parts when I can just buy a whole new pc. I have 4 standard 1080p 60HZ AOC monitors for day trading, although I am looking to upgrade them at some point. Main question is, is it worth popping a new GPU and power supply in for an increase in performance or is it better to spend a bit more to build a entirely new build?
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
If you're seeing more than 60FPS in the games that you are playing then there's no point in upgrading. The 60Hz monitor I going to be the limit of output anyway. The FPS readings that you are seeing is just a numbers game. There will be updates to the game that are more intensively using the GPU.

How did you end up with the 450w PSU? You had originally selected 550w and I had confirmed with the spec that the absolute minimum would be 550?

It's amazing what you could get for less than £1000 back then.
 
R

ryawol

Member
I suppose I won't see the difference in FPS cause of the monitor.

My original build was with the rx 580 which is more power hungry than the 570 thus the 550w PSU so saved a few pennies there going for the 570 and a 450w PSU.

Yeah it's crazy how cheap I got it then and that was during the first lockdown when supply issues started coming in so I was lucky to get something.

In summary, I should just upgrade my entire set up eg. monitors and pc?
 
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
ryawol said:
I suppose I won't see the difference in FPS cause of the monitor.

My original build was with the rx 580 which is more power hungry than the 570 thus the 550w PSU so saved a few pennies there going for the 570 and a 450w PSU.

Yeah it's crazy how cheap I got it then and that was during the first lockdown when supply issues started coming in so I was lucky to get something.

In summary, I should just upgrade my entire set up eg. monitors and pc?
Click to expand...

Unfortunately the money saved has now became the limitation of upgrading. I wouldn't normally even recommend the 550w option but the budget was the main limitation.

If you're not really looking for anything more then I wouldn't go spending money where you don't need to. When you want to do a proper upgrade you'll want to aim for 1440p to really knock your socks off.

You would be looking at in the region of £2500 for a good PC/Monitor setup nowadays though. If that's within budget, or will be in time, then it's worth it.

You're not going to see a huge deal of difference without a proper step up in visuals.
 
Ekans2011

Ekans2011

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
ryawol said:
In summary, I should just upgrade my entire set up eg. monitors and pc?
Click to expand...
It really depends on your budget, but basically, you'd need a new CPU, a new cooler, a new GPU with at least 12GB VRAM, a new M.2 drive for games, a new PSU, and a new 1080p gaming monitor.

I'd guess you'd need at least £800-900 to upgrade your rig, which is almost the same price as your initial configuration. I can't say I'd recommend this.
 
Last edited:
Scott

Scott

Behold The Ford Mondeo
Moderator
Ekans2011 said:
It really depends on your budget, but basically, you'd need a new CPU, a new cooler, a new GPU with at least 12GB VRAM, a new M.2 drive for games, a new PSU, and a new 1080p gaming monitor.

I'd guess you'd need at least £800-900 to upgrade your rig, which is almost the same price as your initial configuration. I can't say I'd recommend this.
Click to expand...
Just to highlight as well. The CPU would be a very old standard and not a modern offering. It would be more powerful than your current CPU but the B450 can only support up to that generation of hardware.

The GPU, drive & PSU wouldn't be lost in value though. You could get yourself bang up to date and at a decent tier of performance. You would want a monitor for sure though, 1440p glossy makes a huge difference.
 
Ekans2011

Ekans2011

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Scott said:
Just to highlight as well. The CPU would be a very old standard and not a modern offering. It would be more powerful than your current CPU but the B450 can only support up to that generation of hardware.
Click to expand...
Of course, the best CPU possible would be a 5700X3D, which I think would be at least 20-25% faster than the 3600X at 1080p.
I'm pretty sure the OP would have to update the BIOS before installing the new CPU regardless.

I was just giving him a rough calculation, but I wouldn't do it with my money. :)
 
B

blaster9999

Member
You are to a great extent where I was in 2022, looked at the refreshing my 1600x, 240 gb ssd and 1070 ( I drew the line with at that, as well you reach a point when you may as well buy a new pc.

Upgraded to 5600x , 512 and 3060. Still use my 2tb HDD, mainly for archived material. Once I recycled stuff on ebay, the cost to change inc workshop / transport costs from PCS was not far beyond £400.

Simple suggestion would be to work out the approx tdp of your stuff. If I was looking to upgrade today, from your set up, I would consider 5600t, for a decent cpu bump without spending too much (keeping to the same tdp of you 3600), Radeon 6600 or a 4060, not just on cost but both have a lower tdp than your 570. So in theory you should be able to stay with a 450 power supply.

As for SSD, why not keep the 500GB WD Black SN750 as a boot disc, but change 240gb one to a one TB 1. The 1TB ssd will still be around to use as an upgrade to any future pc.
 
R

ryawol

Member
I’ll have a look at prices for a new cpu and gpu while keeping the psu.

In terms of swapping the pcs drive out for the WD drive would I have to repurchase windows for the WD drive as the pcs drive is my boot drive?
 
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