Budget General Purpose Build

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Davisdynamos

Member
Hi all,

I'm trying to get the most I can for my money. I have a graphics card already and plan to upgrade it in a year or two to spread the cost of buying a new computer. My budget is around £400 (below would be great, a little above is fine). I also have a second HDD lying around that I can add myself. What do you think of this spec? I do some gaming, but nothing too heavy, but would like to be able to play most things (not at the highest settings, mind). Is there anything obvious that I'm missing or have gone over the top on that isn't doing much for me?

Basically, can I adjust this build slightly to get better performance without changing the cost?

Thanks in advance!

Case
PCS 6003B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 2600X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.25GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME A320M-K: Micro-ATX, AM4, USB 3.0, 6GB/s
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
NONE, I ALREADY HAVE A GRAPHICS CARD
1st Storage Drive
500GB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 2.5" SSD, (upto 560MB/sR | 535MB/sW)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY
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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
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 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
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Price: £444.00 including VAT and Delivery
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
The Geforce 730 isn't a gaming graphics card - it's a substitute for integrated graphics where CPUs don't have them. It will run 2D pixel art games and the occasional title on extremely low settings, but it's almost certainly not going to achieve even the modest goals you're after.

Any games in particular you can think of?

Do you already have a Windows licence?

If you do, you may be able to use that, saving £80-100. If you don't, perhaps you can run the system with Linux until you have the money for a Windows licence, letting you spend more on the hardware. Some games do run on Linux.
 
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Davisdynamos

Member
I don't have anything in particular in mind for what I want to play - I'm struggling through the latest Total War at the moment. I realise the graphics card is not going to cut it really, but was hoping to hold off a little bit and use it as a stop gap until a really good deal appeared (hopefully in a few months to spread the cost a bit).

I don't have a Windows licence that I can use unfortunately.
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
Total War titles are at least out on Linux, so you could defer the expense of a Windows licence and run on Linux.

The Geforce 730 might run Three Kingdoms at 720p at the lowest settings.

The problem is that you're spedning a lot of money, but not really spending enough to get much of a futureproof system

The 350W PSU will limit GPU upgrade options. The case will too and won't cool your components well.

You're buying 1 x 8gb slow RAM, which you'll end up having to replace with 2 x 8 faster RAM. The motherboard will bar you from getting one of the Zen 3 CPUs this year, which would likely be a meaningful improvement over the 2000 series.

Of your you can buy a really low level PSU, and replace it when you but a new GPU, and the case, and the RAM, and the motherboard, etc, but by the time you're done you'll have paid for everything twice over due to having to replace pretty much everything you bought.

Tbh, you'd be better off saving up more at the outset and buying something where you won't need to replace most of the core, non-gaming parts for a while.
 
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Davisdynamos

Member
Thanks, I'm coming round to that idea now. What would you suggest would be the best I could do in terms of value for a budget PC? I've been roaming the forums but a lot of the recommended prebuilt discount systems links don't seem to be live anymore.
 
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Davisdynamos

Member
And what does the b450 plus motherboard have over the cheaper option? Virtually everyone recommends it, but I can't find anything that says why.
 
VenatoS

VenatoS

Well-known member
My recommendation is to simply wait and save up a bit more so you can spend a little more.
That will make a lot more sense in the long run really.
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
B450 vs A320
B450 supports 3000 (and we believe forthcoming 4000 series) CPUs. A320 caps out at 2000 series
B450 supports overclocking - so can help yoiu squeeze a smidge more performance out
B450 has more features depending on the board e.g. USB 3.1 Gen 2, a 2nd M.2 slot
in PCS's instance, B450 is a full size ATX board, A320 is m-ATX.

Versus Intel's offerings they don't limit RAM speed like B360 or H310, and unlike H310 don't limit M.2 SSD speeds.

The ideal would be an R5 3600 on a B450 board. This is £78 more than an R5 2600x on an A320 board.

You'll also want a better case - the Fractal Focus G is about as low as I'd go. If you got one of the £40-ish ones you'd probably want to add more fans, so may as well get the Focus G which has more fans and better airflow to begin with.

A 550W PSU will give you a very free hand for GPU upgrades, saving money and the minor hassle of swapping out the PSU down the line.

RAM in dual channel (2x, not 1x) configuration, and slightly faster RAM.

Three Kingdoms runs on Linux apparently so you can buy the system without Windows.

You'll want a half decent GPU - GTX 1650/ 1650 Super / RX 570.

Performance on Linux is decent:

20-Way Linux Graphics Card Comparison For Total War: Three Kingdoms Review - Phoronix

www.phoronix.com www.phoronix.com

AMD posts similar performance under Windows, while Nvidia sees more of an uplift on Windows, presumably because their drivers for Linux aren't as good:
www.overclock3d.net

Total War: Three Kingdoms PC Performance Review - OC3D

Introduction This is going to be an ambitious performance analysis. The Total War series is one that demands more than a few hours of playtime and ships as a two-in-one gaming experience, providing players with turn-based campaigns and real-time battles. That means that there is a lot of...
www.overclock3d.net www.overclock3d.net

But Nvidia still offers a solid experience on Linux, apparently.

Rather than the Seagate SSD, the SX6000 M.2 SSD is a better buy.

So, something like this would be an option to aim for:

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 2666MHz (2 x 4GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 SUPER - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 8 to 10 working days
Price: £647.00 including VAT and Delivery

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

Member
Thanks for the info and help.

I've taken your advice about going for a more future proof case, motherboard and power supply. After whining to a friend about how much money things cost these days, he offered to sell his graphics card to me when he upgrades in a few weeks, so will go for something like your build but without the graphics card.
 
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Davisdynamos

Member
Sorry, can't remember the actual one, but it was slightly worse performing (but not by much) than the one I had in mind, the rx570. Technically free, I did him a favour a little while ago and this is him paying me back.
 
Oussebon

Oussebon

Multiverse Poster
RX 570 is a nice GPU. And free is a great price!

Apologies for asking. There have been more than a couple of stories on here that began "my mate sold me / is selling me X..." that didn't have quite the same happy ending as this one, so I tend to ask :)
 
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