Custom Build PC Or Laptop for gaming & softwares?

[Kaiser]

Hi,

I really don't know much about custom built laptops & PC's, so I need some advice and help.
I am going back to University in the middle of January 2018 and I require a really good PC built or Laptop around £500.
I just need the custom built to run all of Adobe Creative Cloud software's, such as After Effects, Photoshop, Premier In, Dreamweaver, Flash, Audition, Muse, Character Animator ETC and most importantly AutoCAD.
Also, I need this custom built pc or laptop to run games on steam, as I have got a steam link and controller years ago which I've never used. I need a pc or laptop for both studies and gaming. Someone please advise me or help me, I'll appreciate the help.

Thanks.

 

[Kaiser]

I don't mind tweaking the price too, drop me some suggestions. Thanks guys

 

[Oussebon]

£500 is definitely not going to be viable for a laptop. PCS barely sell anything in that price range anyway, and what they do have lacks a dedicated GPU - as would almost all other options in all other stores.

Does your university supply Windows licences? If so, that would be a huge help in extending your budget. If you don't know, find out.

They may well also supply MS Office licences, though if not you can use Open Office.

Even for a desktop (and even assuming you don't need the monitor etc) £500 is barely enough to get a system that could run modern games. You'd be looking at a dual core Pentium and a Geforce 1030. To give you some idea of what that means, a GT 1030 will more or less fail to deliver playable framerates for Witcher 3, released in 2015, at 1080p on the lowest settings.

A dual core pentium is not at all optimal for heavy duty use like Premere Pro rendering.

A steam link is generally used to let you remote control a PC on your network with another device, and stream gameplay to that device. e.g. you have a PC in your bedroom, and the steam link connected to your TV in the livingroom. The steam link and controller let you play/control the game on your TV set, using the PC in the other room to render the game. It won't help you actually run the game in the first place.

 

[Kaiser]

Yeah, I mean a good enough PC or laptop to run games on steam, my bad. I can push the budget higher, that's no problem as long as it's the perfect pc for both educational use and gaming. Also I don't know if they supply windows license, I need to ask them when I get back. If you have any custom links which is a good build to my requirements, I'd like to check it out and purchase it straight away. Thanks a lot for the information btw.

 

[Oussebon]

Well, whether they supply Windows licences is quite important. because if they don't then you need to spend about £90 on a windows licence that you could be spending on hardware.

You haven't said what you max budget would be, but perhaps something like:

Case
PCS GENESIS G1B CASE + SD CARD READER
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 3 1200 Quad Core CPU (3.1GHz-3.4GHz/10MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME A320M-K: Micro-ATX, AM4, USB 3.0, 6GB/s
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1050 - DVI, HDMI, DP
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 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 Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
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 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £574.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-home-office/ypaJg9!4Y4/

I suggest ordering it without Windows. Either your Uni can provide a licence or you can buy one yourself for about £90 after you get the PC. No point spending £90 on Windows before you know if you can get it for free.

This is not going to be a particularly high performing system (you'd be looking at maybe £800 for something a bit more towards the sweet spot of performance/price) but should at least run modern games at 1080p, and support a range of future upgrades.

 

[Kaiser]

Yeah that's a perfect budget I will purchase that. Also I don't mind putting my budget to £800, if it makes a lot of difference, what do you suggest? If its a huge difference then I'd rather end up spending £800. Thanks a lot for the help.

 

[Kamichalik]

Yeah, £800 would make quite a difference, even for £80 you get much more, for £30 extra you can get a 1050ti, which has double the vram (video memory), and it performs better in games, too I would recommend a ssd for quick booting/loading times, a 120gb Kingston ssd for £50.

 

[Oussebon]

An £800 budget would make a truly huge difference. It would net you vastly more performance, and support a lot more future upgrade options.

Something like:

Case
CORSAIR SPEC-04 MID TOWER GAMING CASE - BLACK/RED
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 1600 Six Core CPU (3.2GHz-3.6GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME A320M-K: Micro-ATX, AM4, USB 3.0, 6GB/s
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2133MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1050 Ti - DVI, HDMI, DP
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
1TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 32MB CACHE
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB SAMSUNG PM961 M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 2800MB/R, 1100MB/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 Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
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 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £837.00 including VAT and delivery

Unique URL to re-configure : https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-pc/njsG7NGfvF/

The R5 1600 is far, far better than an R3, and would be a huge asset for the CPU-intensive uses you've set out.
I agree with the post above that an SSD would be a huge asset but would suggest you steer clear of the UV400. It's much, much slower than other, better models but not sufficiently cheaper to make the savings worth it. A PM961 is orders of magnitude faster than a UV400.
A 550W PSU will support many more upgrade options, as will the better case.

A GTX 1060 would be ideal, but for this budget a 1050 ti seems to be the best you can fit in. If you didn't need a Windows licence, I'd suggest the GTX 1060 3gb.

 

[Kaiser]

Thanks guys for the help

 

[Kaiser]

This is perfect, I'll purchase this latest custom pc instead of the £500 one. Can I upgrade these over the next few years? As it change parts if I need to make it better etc?

 

[Oussebon]

Yes. PCS say the following in their terms and conditions:

Unlike with most computer companies, we allow you to open your case and install your own components without voiding your warranty on the following conditions:
• if the actions of the person installing the components cause damage to the computer, your warranty will be void;
• if you install components that are not purchased from us and they cause problems with your computer, your warranty will be void;
• if you install components that are not purchased from us we will in no way support you in installing them or with any problems you have relating to the components you have installed.
• we will support you in installing components purchased from us providing you have purchased them through the upgrade service available on your online account.
7.8 The company reserves the right to suspend the warranty or refuse service if your Case, Motherboard, CPU or BIOS have been replaced without authorisation.
Any tampering, repair or modification by unauthorised personnel voids the warranty.

So basically you can upgrade most things without it affecting the warranty, and as long as you don't break anything while doing it

In terms of whether the PC itself would support upgrades, the case and PSU can both support much more powerful GPUs. The motherboard has extra Sata ports for some HDDs or Sata SSDs. It also has 1 more slot for when you want to add 8gb more RAM.