General 'bit of everything' spec

[ruddyfish]

Hi, could I have a bit of help with my spec please?

My budget is flexible, but about £1700 max.

I'll be using it for work, so general browsing, organising social media, editing and uploading some video. My kids will probably want to play Minecraft with mods, SIMS with extensions, Houseflipper etc. I prefer World of Warcraft. I have a Huion graphics tablet I would like to use. I would like to have to option of running Linux for fun, probably Ubuntu or Mint, so I would like hardware that plays nicely.
Optional extras: I would like to do some 3D printing and if I could do some VR it would be an amazing extra.

I will need a reasonable monitor because I haven't built a PC for so long. I'm afraid my knowledge is a bit out of date! I don't mind tinkering with innards, but I'd rather not do major surgery for the next 2 or 3 years.

Thank you so much.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i7 12-Core Processor i7-12700KF (3.6GHz) 25MB 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
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
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
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
Firefox™
Monitor
ASUS VP229HE 21.5"
Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE HDMI (M) to DVI (M)
Speakers
LOGITECH S150 2.0 BLACK SPEAKER SYSTEM
Surge Protection
6 Socket 2m Surge Protector
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 4 to 7 working days
Price: £1,646.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/cna0u5GAhx/

 

[Scott]

For the most part the budget is OK but it falls down a little when you mention VR. The 2060 is the bear minimum GPU for VR and even at that, that's mega-low-balling. For any of the modern headsets you're looking at a 3070 as a default choice, the 3060ti would be for the lower resolution offerings.

Trying to include all that and a monitor is going to be difficult. I would recommend reigning in the CPU level so that you can prop up the cooling and other areas. The CPU can always be upgraded down the line if you wanted more oomph

 

[Scott]

This would be a more rounded base spec, with the 12600k fronting the budget. Note that this still isn't a VR specced PC.

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 10-Core Processor i5-12600K (3.7GHz) 20MB 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
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
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)
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
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
Firefox™
Monitor
ASUS VP229HE 21.5"
Monitor Cables
1 x 2 METRE HDMI (M) to DVI (M)
Speakers
LOGITECH S150 2.0 BLACK SPEAKER SYSTEM
Surge Protection
6 Socket 2m Surge Protector
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 4 to 7 working days
Price: £1,726.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/vt2NmbZCp4/

 

[ruddyfish]

That's super, thanks Scott.

I notice there are 2 SSDs - are you thinking dual boot?

VR will just have to wait. I'm happy to have something with the potential to upgrade.

 

[Nymor]

I believe the idea is:-

1st SDD - Operating system - fast.
2nd SDD - Games - fast and on separate disk from Windows.
Sata Disk - General file storage - doesn't need to be fast.

Also means you can reinstall Windows, if/when needed, without having to completely reinstall your game library.

 

[ruddyfish]

Thanks Nymor, that makes sense.

 

[Scott]

Yip, as @Nymor says

 

[Scott]

If you want to put another £50 into the budget the AMD 6600 GPU would be a good upgrade for the money. Nothing else offers better value but it is more expensive than the 1660 Super.