Build advice

[steventurnerpro]

Hi everyone,

I have bought a custom PC from PC Specialist many years ago. Gaming wise is was fine. I was able to play games for a number of years. As it became older and games became better I ended up having to play things on low settings. Now, I can barely play anything and it may be time for new.

I have not been keeping up to date with the Tech. Its all quite overwhelming.
I have read through the post where all the details/guides are kept together for people to read through for advise. Generally speaking I understood however I did find some of the recommendations possibly old as the items did not appear in the list when doing a build.

I wonder if someone could look at the below - let me know what you think.

I will be playing games like Warzone. My girlfriend wants to play the new game called Inzoi thats coming out soon. Some light video editing for basic YT possibly.

Monitor wise I currently use a basic cheap PC monitor. I would likely get a low/mid tier gaming monitor for the higher FPS but certainly wouldn't be anything top of the range etc.

In an ideal world I would love to spend less than £1.5k although if required can go a bit higher. This one below I put together based on the guide threads and just button clicked some of the other options. I don't fully understand each component or how good this setup would be. No doubt I have missed things required or added too much. Im a noob.

Case
FRACTAL POP SILENT CASE TG (WHITE)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.0GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 6600 - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
Graphics Card Support Bracket
PCS GRAPHICS CARD SUPPORT BRACKET
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 6500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W RM SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 200 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ASUS Xonar SE 5.1-Channel Gaming Audio Card
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
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
Google Chrome™
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Price: £1,509.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/9JWB54XHmu/

Look forward to your advise. Where I could save money or where I need to spend more.

Regards
Steve

 

[Martinr36]

Monitor wise I currently use a basic cheap PC monitor. I would likely get a low/mid tier gaming monitor for the higher FPS but certainly wouldn't be anything top of the range etc.

What are the specs of that monitor, if you don't know the specs then make and model, you're also going to need more than a 650W PSU, generally speaking we don't look at anything lower than 1000W, also give this a read

Please read before posting:- Collaboration of Helpful Hints

NB: These forums are not an official support channel. None of us work for PCS, we're all either customers or techies who just like to help out where possible. For any official support, you need to contact PCS directly either through your PCS account, or via the contact details on the main...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[steventurnerpro]

My monitor is literally a bog standard PC monitor. Not a gaming monitor. So whatever that is - 60fps probably.
I will look to buy a new monitor, but just a 1080p one will probably be fine.
I just need the computer to be able to run games smoothly and look decent.

 

[steventurnerpro]

What is the reasoning behind the power supply.
I am sure its good advice, but could you help me understand why I would need one so high when the PC specialist builder recommends a 550?

 

[Martinr36]

I will look to buy a new monitor, but just a 1080p one will probably be fine.
I just need the computer to be able to run games smoothly and look decent.

That's a contradiction in terms, about all 1080p is any good for is a secondary monitor

What is the reasoning behind the power supply.
I am sure its good advice, but could you help me understand why I would need one so high when the PC specialist builder recommends a 550?

several reasons, all the configurator is looking at is the bare minimum that you need now, it doesn't take into account any transient spikes in power or any system upgrades down the line

 

[steventurnerpro]

The main areas of unknown peril I am finding are

Cooling - no idea where to begin.
GPU - Is the graphic card chosen decent or are there better buys for the money? THe one in your linked guide isn't available in the drop down list.

 

[Martinr36]

GPU - Is the graphic card chosen decent or are there better buys for the money? THe one in your linked guide isn't available in the drop down list.

The graphic card is going to depend on the monitor

 

[Ekans2011]

It's important to keep in mind that GPUs with less than 12GB of VRAM are already essentially outdated.

 

[steventurnerpro]

Okay - what would you consider the best low/mid range monitor for gaming? Then based on that, how would you recommend I proceed with the build based on the info I have givem.

I really need to be lead as I don't have enough knowledge to do some of this myself.

 

[Ekans2011]

what would you consider the best low/mid range monitor for gaming?

What's the budget for the monitor?

PS: Even at 1080p, £1500 is a pretty low budget for a modern gaming PC.

 

[steventurnerpro]

£150? Not sure how much monitors go for.

In an ideal world would be looking to spend in the region of £1500 all in for the rig and monitor if thats possible.

I want to be able to play some games on it. Warzone + new game Inzoi.

Very light video edit although not very often and only basic cut and paste jobs.

Basic web browsing and video watching.

Regards
Steven

 

[SpyderTracks]

£150? Not sure how much monitors go for.

In an ideal world would be looking to spend in the region of £1500 all in for the rig and monitor if thats possible.

I want to be able to play some games on it. Warzone + new game Inzoi.

Very light video edit although not very often and only basic cut and paste jobs.

Basic web browsing and video watching.

Regards
Steven

You’d be looking at £1500 for an entry level gaming pc at 1080p and then another £200 on top for a monitor

 

[steventurnerpro]

Okay - taking into account the comments and a bit more reading. I have came up with a new spec. Please see below.

This includes a monitor. How good a setup would this be for what I require? Is the cooling sufficient?

Case
FRACTAL POP SILENT CASE TG (WHITE)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.0GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 6E)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB AMD RADEON™ RX 7900 GRE - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W 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
PCS FrostFlow 200 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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
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
Google Chrome™
Monitor
MSI 32" CURVED G32CQ4 E2 - 2560 x 1440, 1ms, 170Hz
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Price: £2,196.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/nc2rdsYkQU/

 

[Ekans2011]

Okay - taking into account the comments and a bit more reading. I have came up with a new spec. Please see below.

This includes a monitor. How good a setup would this be for what I require? Is the cooling sufficient?

Case
FRACTAL POP SILENT CASE TG (WHITE)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.0GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING X670E-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 6E)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB AMD RADEON™ RX 7900 GRE - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 7000MB/R, 5000MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W 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
PCS FrostFlow 200 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
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
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
Google Chrome™
Monitor
MSI 32" CURVED G32CQ4 E2 - 2560 x 1440, 1ms, 170Hz
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 3 to 5 working days
Price: £2,196.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/nc2rdsYkQU/

You went from a £1500 budget to more than £2,000?! What is your real maximum budget?

 

[steventurnerpro]

Its a very difficult one to answer. Im looking for real guidance however most of the responses have been further questions. I am feeling quite overwhelmed.

I appreciate all the help of course, but responses such as "The graphic card is going to depend on the monitor" are less than helpful as I still feel im figuring it out myself and not with much guidance or helpful responses. A more helpful response may have been instead "The graphics card is going to depend on the monitor, for a mid budget monitor that achieves x spec such as Y, this would be ideal for x graphics card which would achieve your desired outcome". Even some choices or alternative options and information to help me understand why 1 is good and why 2 might be better/worse.

My £1500 budget is right, however currently im just button clicking hoping that eventually I will get some real insight on the chosen items and some help to see where I might be able to save/make better more informed choices.

I hope im not coming across as negative, but its very clear I don't have much knowledge and hoped getting some guidance down particular paths might be easier.

 

[Ekans2011]

Its a very difficult one to answer. Im looking for real guidance however most of the responses have been further questions. I am feeling quite overwhelmed.

I appreciate all the help of course, but responses such as "The graphic card is going to depend on the monitor" are less than helpful as I still feel im figuring it out myself and not with much guidance or helpful responses. A more helpful response may have been instead "The graphics card is going to depend on the monitor, for a mid budget monitor that achieves x spec such as Y, this would be ideal for x graphics card which would achieve your desired outcome". Even some choices or alternative options and information to help me understand why 1 is good and why 2 might be better/worse.

My £1500 budget is right, however currently im just button clicking hoping that eventually I will get some real insight on the chosen items and some help to see where I might be able to save/make better more informed choices.

I hope im not coming across as negative, but its very clear I don't have much knowledge and hoped getting some guidance down particular paths might be easier.

I don't see the difficulty; how much money are you willing to pay at most?

We ask you questions not because we don't know what to do or for any other reason; the asks are intended to provide you with the best advise for your needs, including the reasons, of course.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Its a very difficult one to answer. Im looking for real guidance however most of the responses have been further questions. I am feeling quite overwhelmed.

I appreciate all the help of course, but responses such as "The graphic card is going to depend on the monitor" are less than helpful as I still feel im figuring it out myself and not with much guidance or helpful responses. A more helpful response may have been instead "The graphics card is going to depend on the monitor, for a mid budget monitor that achieves x spec such as Y, this would be ideal for x graphics card which would achieve your desired outcome". Even some choices or alternative options and information to help me understand why 1 is good and why 2 might be better/worse.

My £1500 budget is right, however currently im just button clicking hoping that eventually I will get some real insight on the chosen items and some help to see where I might be able to save/make better more informed choices.

I hope im not coming across as negative, but its very clear I don't have much knowledge and hoped getting some guidance down particular paths might be easier.

If £1500 is a fixed budget we can put a 1080p build together and you can upgrade the monitor at a later date.

But you’ll be handicapping the build up until you have a suitable monitor, just be aware of that

 

[SpyderTracks]

This is where I'd want to land, reason being is the GPU meets the minimum VRAM requirements for modern games (12Gb). I realise it's over budget, but not by a significant margin and if you can stretch to it, it's absolutely worth it

If you wanted to get it within budget, reduce the GPU to the RTX4060, but be aware that will struggle to run some newer games due to the VRAM

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.3GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
12GB AMD RADEON™ RX 7700 XT GAMING - HDMI, DP - DX® 12
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/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 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
PCS FrostFlow 200 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
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
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
Google Chrome™
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 3 to 5 working days
Price: £1,602.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/3nbc5feGMV/

 

[Ekans2011]

Here's an example of entry level 1080p build. I would not go any lower than that.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 205 MESH C GAMING CASE - Budget case with decent airflow
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core CPU (4.0GHz-5.2GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5) - Basic CPU, a Ryzen 7 would be preferable. Budget pick
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0, Wi-Fi 6) - Decent, solid MB
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 4060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR - 1080p GPU
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW) - OS Drive
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW) - Main Drive
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMe SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET - Not the best but it's ATX 3.1 at least; this will limit your future upgrade capability.
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR H100x RGB ELITE HIGH PERFORMANCE CPU COOLER - Cheapest, reliable cooler available
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
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
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 3 to 5 working days
Price: £1,517.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/PwZ7wyhjUc/

 

[Scoped Badger]

@steventurnerpro

It can be overwhelming. There are A LOT of options and countless combinations.

My advice is to stop playing with the configurator. Let everyone do that for you. That will take the emphasis off you getting things right (or wrong!)

The monitor/GPU comment above wasn’t meant to confuse you. The GPU is selected based on the monitor, not the other way round. This is to ensure that they are suited to each other. You don’t want to overspend on a 4K graphics card only to have a monitor that can’t display that resolution. On the flip side, you don’t want a 1080p GPU and a 4K monitor. You see the need for information.

By all means ask questions along the way. People here are patient and knowledgeable, we just require a lot of information of people initially in order to get you the best PC for your needs.