Desktop with upgradable potential….

[Argy]

Hi,
My sons birthday coming up and he wants a pc for playing Minecraft and homework predominately. However as he gets older he will want to play better games so I want to be able to upgrade parts as he gets older. My gut tells me motherboard is the key here so am looking for advice on a low cost starting pc.
I was thinking below maybe a good starting point?
Case
PCS SPECTRUM RGB MID TOWER CASE
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 2400MHz (1 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
1GB NVIDIA GEFORCE 710 - DVI, HDMI, VGA
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 350W VS SERIES™ VS-350 POWER SUPPLY

 

[Argy]

Another question if I may? Would just using on board graphics work for a while whilst he saves up for a better graphics card. Thanks.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Another question if I may? Would just using on board graphics work for a while whilst he saves up for a better graphics card. Thanks.

There are some factors that are worth taking into consideration for future upgradeability. But you're absolutely right to do it this way, his requirements will change, and quite likely quite rapidly, kids are just like that once they experience PC gaming.

This is the lowest I would go, with reasons for it:

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window) Case is really important to overall cooling potential, important when factoring in a dedicated GPU in the future. This case is a superb budget option
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4) Good performing with 12 threads, also option of upgrading to 5000 series in the future
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready! B550 is worth it over B450 for upgradeability
Memory (RAM)
8GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 4GB) Speed is very important with modern CPU's, 3200 is the sweetspot, but they don't do 8Gb options in it.
Graphics Card
2GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GT 1030 More modern option to the 710, bit more grunt for not a lot of extra cash
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W) Basic M2 SSD, SSD is pretty much essential these days as the primary drive. Motherboard and case have plenty of expandability options to include further drives in the future if required
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET Better quality PSU for future expansion, will allow almost any GPU upgrade in the future, also better build quality which would be required if a dedicated GPU is fitted
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
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0 Modern compatibility, the N300 doesn't support modern standards
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 On the assumption you may have a license to carry over
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 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) Only £5, well worth it.
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 10 to 12 working days
Price: £687.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/P329mkA2DE/

 

[Argy]

Cheers Spyder.