First PC Specs

[Ghost_SMK]

Hi Folks, as the title says this is my first ever PC build and I’m a little nervous about what I’ve chosen. I’ve done plenty of research but wouldn’t mind some extra opinions on what I’ve chosen. The PC is to be used for gaming, at 1080/1440p averaging around 60-90fps for most games if possible.
Specs are as follows:
Case
FRACTAL DEFINE S NANO GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-11400F (2.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX Z590-I GAMING WIFI (Mini-ITX, LGA1200, USB 3.2, PCIe 4.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
Graphics Card Support Bracket
PCS ARGB GRAPHICS CARD SUPPORT BRACKET
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CV SERIES™ CV-650 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
GIGABIT LAN PORT + Wi-Fi
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00027]
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
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
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: £1,419.00 including VAT and Delivery

Is this a good set up for the price? Is there anything I should consider adding or swapping out? I’d be very appreciative of any help given at all. Thanks.

 

[Scott]

I wouldn't recommend a nano build at all. Small form factor PCs are fine for the odd desktop application but for running performance parts they are not really suitable IMO.

On the rest of the build:

11 series CPUs should be avoided
Faster RAM would be recommended
Single storage drive isn't ideal, newer/better/faster drives available.
CV Series PSU is lower end, you want a better PSU for the build TXm Minimum, RMx recommended.
Cooling isn't the best but would be fine for the level of CPU. Better with an AIO overall, especially with a Nano as you need all the airflow you can get.
Bullguard isn't required and can cause conflicts, I wouldn't recommend.
Silver warranty is £5 and well worth it.

Have a look here:

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

What's the budget? Are there space constraints for needing a smaller PC? Any other requirements of the system? Functionally or aesthetically?

 

[Ghost_SMK]

I wouldn't recommend a nano build at all. Small form factor PCs are fine for the odd desktop application but for running performance parts they are not really suitable IMO.

On the rest of the build:

11 series CPUs should be avoided
Faster RAM would be recommended
Single storage drive isn't ideal, newer/better/faster drives available.
CV Series PSU is lower end, you want a better PSU for the build TXm Minimum, RMx recommended.
Cooling isn't the best but would be fine for the level of CPU. Better with an AIO overall, especially with a Nano as you need all the airflow you can get.
Bullguard isn't required and can cause conflicts, I wouldn't recommend.
Silver warranty is £5 and well worth it.

Have a look here:

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

What's the budget? Are there space constraints for needing a smaller PC? Any other requirements of the system? Functionally or aesthetically?

Thank you for the reply, ideally I didn’t want to go over £1600 but don’t mind if I have to go over by a tad. I’ve took your advice and come up with a build that I think might be better value for money. This is all pretty new to me so if there’s anything you advised that I’ve disregarded it’s not on purpose.

Case
THERMALTAKE TOWER 100 VERTICAL GAMING CASE (Special Offer)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE B550I AORUS PRO AX: DDR4, USB 3.2 - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 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 Network Card
GIGABIT LAN PORT + Wi-Fi (Wi-Fi excluded on A320I-K)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 4 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 8 to 10 working days
QTY
1
£1,335.83
ex VAT
£1,603.00
inc VAT and Delivery

 

[Salmon Fisher]

That's an interesting case. Perhaps a more powerful PSU to allow for forward compatibility (The GPU of the very near future looks like being a power hungry monster). Did you look at the 12th gen CPU? The 12400f is very good.

 

[Ghost_SMK]

Hi folks, just wanted to get some extra opinions on this PC build, I’m pretty new to all this so I’m feeling a bit unsure with myself. The PC will be used mainly for gaming at 1440p at FPS targeting around at least 70-90 for most games. I’d also like to know how loud this might be, should I get more fans? Is the cooling okay for the system? Max budget is £1600. Thanks in advance.

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-12400 (2.5GHz) 18MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z690-P D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
256GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
1st Storage Drive
2TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 256MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H60 2018 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 8 to 10 working days
Price: £1,580.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Ghost_SMK]

That's an interesting case. Perhaps a more powerful PSU to allow for forward compatibility (The GPU of the very near future looks like being a power hungry monster). Did you look at the 12th gen CPU? The 12400f is very good.

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I’ve posted an updated list of my specs (hopefully improved)

 

[Scott]

This is where I would land for 1440p. You would need to be specific about your monitor though as there is a big difference, GPU wise, when considering 1080p or 1440p.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-12400F (2.5GHz) 18MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/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)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT 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
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 8 to 10 working days
Price: £1,692.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/c!g7sdtHAz/

 

[Ghost_SMK]

This is where I would land for 1440p. You would need to be specific about your monitor though as there is a big difference, GPU wise, when considering 1080p or 1440p.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-12400F (2.5GHz) 18MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING Z690-PLUS WIFI D4 (LGA1700, USB 3.2, PCIe 5.0) - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/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)
Processor Cooling
Corsair iCUE H100i RGB PRO XT 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
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 8 to 10 working days
Price: £1,692.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/c!g7sdtHAz/

I’ve actually posted a new thread with specs that are extremely similar to yours. If you wouldn’t mind checking it out and letting me know what you think I’d be very grateful

 

[Scott]

All your posts are in here and the post above was in response to your build

 

[Ghost_SMK]

All your posts are in here and the post above was in response to your build

Oh haha your right. Apologies😆 I like the build you’ve suggested, but unfortunately it goes too far over my budget, do you think the build I posted would suffice? Would the Z690 motherboard be able to handle all those components without frying? Thanks for your help so far.

 

[Scott]

I wouldn't recommend any of the changes but it'll all work well enough together

 

[Salmon Fisher]

Hi, thanks for the reply.

I’ve posted an updated list of my specs (hopefully improved)

I've got that Corsair case and I'm very taken with it.