Finally ready to buy a PC

J

Juned Hussain

Active member
After a few years of console gaming I think I’m ready to buy a gaming PC and I need some help and guidance. I’m completely new to it so I’d like some help to build one. I have a budget around £1800 and the sole purpose of this PC is to play games such as Warzone 2 mainly. My monitor currently is a Samsung 240Hz 1080p curve. I would like for the PC to be easily upgradable in the future but I want something that is ready to go and wouldn’t need upgrades for a few years if possible. Thank you.
 
S

Steveyg

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I'd recommend changing from a 1080p monitor to a 1440p 144hz personally. I think higher resolution is much more beneficial than a higher refresh rate especially when 144Hz tends to be where most people feel the most benefit but anyways this is where I'd go in your shoes

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 14-Core Processor i5-13600K (3.5GHz) 24MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B660-PLUS WIFI D4: ATX, LGA1700, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
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
Corsair H100i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro 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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT 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 [KUK-00003]
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
Microsoft® Edge
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 9 to 11 working days
Price: £1,852.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/tVJphnmsWT/
 
sck451

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I think that display must be the 27" Samsung CRG5? Not the monitor I'd choose (I'd much prefer 1440p 144Hz to 1080p 240Hz), but for what it is it's a very good one.

As an alternative to @Steveyg's excellent Intel build, here's an AMD build that will perform pretty much identically in gaming, but be a little behind in productivity if you do anything like video editing, but will be very significantly more upgradable in terms of CPU performance in coming years if you choose to go that route.

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core CPU (4.0GHz-5.2GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMe 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 150 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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT 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 [KUK-00003]
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 9 to 11 working days
Price: £1,845.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/4yGSwcJcdn/
 
J

Juned Hussain

Active member
Steveyg said:
I'd recommend changing from a 1080p monitor to a 1440p 144hz personally. I think higher resolution is much more beneficial than a higher refresh rate especially when 144Hz tends to be where most people feel the most benefit but anyways this is where I'd go in your shoes

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 14-Core Processor i5-13600K (3.5GHz) 24MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B660-PLUS WIFI D4: ATX, LGA1700, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
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
Corsair H100i ELITE CAPELLIX RGB Hydro 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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT 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 [KUK-00003]
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
Microsoft® Edge
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 9 to 11 working days
Price: £1,852.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/tVJphnmsWT/
Click to expand...
I will eventually get a HDMI 2.1 monitor if thats worth anything. I really appreciate your help and will look into this. Thanks!
 
J

Juned Hussain

Active member
sck451 said:
I think that display must be the 27" Samsung CRG5? Not the monitor I'd choose (I'd much prefer 1440p 144Hz to 1080p 240Hz), but for what it is it's a very good one.

As an alternative to @Steveyg's excellent Intel build, here's an AMD build that will perform pretty much identically in gaming, but be a little behind in productivity if you do anything like video editing, but will be very significantly more upgradable in terms of CPU performance in coming years if you choose to go that route.

Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core CPU (4.0GHz-5.2GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 2950MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMe 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 150 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
10/100/1000 GIGABIT 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 [KUK-00003]
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 9 to 11 working days
Price: £1,845.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/4yGSwcJcdn/
Click to expand...
As said to Stevey, I will get a HDMI 2.1 monitor soon. I will not do anything else on the PC besides gaming. Appreciate your help, thank you!
 
sck451

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Juned Hussain said:
As said to Stevey, I will get a HDMI 2.1 monitor soon. I will not do anything else on the PC besides gaming. Appreciate your help, thank you!
Click to expand...
HDMI 2.1 is pretty meaningless as a monitor spec. What it means is a maximum data rate that the monitor can receive. For 1080p that means going beyond 240Hz; for 1440p it means going beyond 144Hz. And for a PC you should be using DisplayPort anyway; it's better in various ways including being able to carry more data.

The important specs are the refresh rate, the resolution, and the display technology (TN/VA/IPS/OLED).

For pure gaming, I'd strongly recommend the system I posted above.
 
J

Juned Hussain

Active member
sck451 said:
HDMI 2.1 is pretty meaningless as a monitor spec. What it means is a maximum data rate that the monitor can receive. For 1080p that means going beyond 240Hz; for 1440p it means going beyond 144Hz. And for a PC you should be using DisplayPort anyway; it's better in various ways including being able to carry more data.

The important specs are the refresh rate, the resolution, and the display technology (TN/VA/IPS/OLED).

For pure gaming, I'd strongly recommend the system I posted above.
Click to expand...
Interesting, thats good information to know as it’s something I never thought about or been informed about before. The more you learn eh
 
AccidentalDenz

AccidentalDenz

Lord of Steam
Juned Hussain said:
Interesting, thats good information to know as it’s something I never thought about or been informed about before. The more you learn eh
Click to expand...
A while back, consoles went down the HDMI route as most TVs have them, but PCs have gone down the DP route for their display connectors. It is quite interesting and one thing that can trip up people when they move over from consoles - I know I had no idea about it!
 
J

Juned Hussain

Active member
ActuallyDenz said:
A while back, consoles went down the HDMI route as most TVs have them, but PCs have gone down the DP route for their display connectors. It is quite interesting and one thing that can trip up people when they move over from consoles - I know I had no idea about it!
Click to expand...
Now that you mention it, this makes a lot of sense, as the people who kept banging on about 2.1 monitors were console users.
 
J

Juned Hussain

Active member
Just an update

After having a chat with my friend who I'd deem to be pretty good with PC's, we've come up with this build which we adjusted from @sck451.

I would like to note I do not need an OS. We reduced the M.2 SSD as its large enough for my purpose and I can upgrade in the future if needed. We upgraded the processor, processor cooling and thermal paste. Would just like some final suggestions/advice before I decide to bite the bullet. Thanks again!

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/X2GaYt0qtt/
 
Martinr36

Martinr36

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
can you post the full spec properly as explained here

How to Post Your Specification to the Forum - Check this Spec

When creating a forum post looking to discuss a PC spec there's a really simple way to post the spec in question here. IF YOU HAVEN'T ORDERED ONE YET AND ARE LOOKING FOR ADVICE ON A BUILD follow this step. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ORDERED AND ARE ASKED FOR SPECS follow the next post. Click the...
www.pcspecialist.co.uk www.pcspecialist.co.uk
 
J

Juned Hussain

Active member
Martinr36 said:
can you post the full spec properly as explained here

How to Post Your Specification to the Forum - Check this Spec

When creating a forum post looking to discuss a PC spec there's a really simple way to post the spec in question here. IF YOU HAVEN'T ORDERED ONE YET AND ARE LOOKING FOR ADVICE ON A BUILD follow this step. IF YOU HAVE ALREADY ORDERED AND ARE ASKED FOR SPECS follow the next post. Click the...
www.pcspecialist.co.uk www.pcspecialist.co.uk
Click to expand...
Case
CORSAIR 4000D AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7700X Eight Core CPU (4.5GHz-5.4GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B650-PLUS (DDR5, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3070 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMe 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 360 Series ARGB High Performance Liquid Cooler
Thermal Paste
ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT 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
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 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 9 to 11 working days
Price: £1,850.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/fprMgxFV3!/
 
sck451

sck451

MOST VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
I disagree with, I think, all of your changes!

First, the CPU. The 7700X is great, but is a very hot chip. The 7600 and 7700 are both significantly cooler, while being very efficient. The performance difference is minimal. I can see the argument for upgrading to the 8-core, but personally I'd choose the 7700, even though it's a touch more expensive. You could also then stick with the original cooler: personally, I wouldn't put a non-brand name AIO in my PC. I'm sure it's ok to a certain degree, but I would not recommend it. The thermal paste is probably a waste of money: it makes only a very marginal thermal difference.

Finally, the SSD. I think your approach is kind of backwards. You end up paying the same price for a 500GB 980 Pro as for a 1TB Solidigm P41+. The extra speed will be of minimal benefit for the secondary SSD, so I would take the larger one every day and twice on Sundays. Furthermore, an SSD gets slower the fuller it is: a 90% full SSD is much slower than a 40% full one. It would also have less endurance. I have two 500GB SSDs in my PC and strongly regret it (I will at some point fix it...)

The PC you've posted isn't a bad one by any stretch of the imagination, but I do think you can do better for your money.
 
J

Juned Hussain

Active member
sck451 said:
I disagree with, I think, all of your changes!

First, the CPU. The 7700X is great, but is a very hot chip. The 7600 and 7700 are both significantly cooler, while being very efficient. The performance difference is minimal. I can see the argument for upgrading to the 8-core, but personally I'd choose the 7700, even though it's a touch more expensive. You could also then stick with the original cooler: personally, I wouldn't put a non-brand name AIO in my PC. I'm sure it's ok to a certain degree, but I would not recommend it. The thermal paste is probably a waste of money: it makes only a very marginal thermal difference.

Finally, the SSD. I think your approach is kind of backwards. You end up paying the same price for a 500GB 980 Pro as for a 1TB Solidigm P41+. The extra speed will be of minimal benefit for the secondary SSD, so I would take the larger one every day and twice on Sundays. Furthermore, an SSD gets slower the fuller it is: a 90% full SSD is much slower than a 40% full one. It would also have less endurance. I have two 500GB SSDs in my PC and strongly regret it (I will at some point fix it...)

The PC you've posted isn't a bad one by any stretch of the imagination, but I do think you can do better for your money.
Click to expand...
I appreciate your feedback. It seems you both are at a dispute with one another 🤣. Will look more into it and get back to you again.
Thanks.
 
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