Little venture into gaming spec PC!

[Rob D 88]

Afternoon all,

I have already ordered a new desktop from PC specialist. I am kind of up to date with technology but not into detail of the gaming pc genius.

I spend a lot of time on the PC doing the general youTube watching bit of forums, PhotoShop and Video Editing at a basic level.

Just recently I thought about giving the PC a go for gaming as I have always been a PlayStation man. I thought I would spec a PC for entry level gaming and capable of doing what I do day to day also.

See the spec below. I still have time for changes!

Case	COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX MB530P RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)	AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT Six Core CPU (4.5GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard	ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)	16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB) Change to: 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card	8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 5500 XT - HDMI, DP, DX® 12
1st Storage Drive	NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive	500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive	NOT REQUIRED
External Hard Drive	2TB Seagate Backup Plus Slim External HDD, USB 3.0, Black
Memory Card Reader	USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply	CORSAIR 450W CV SERIES™ CV-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable	1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling	PCS FrostFlow 100 V2 Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
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)
Wireless/Wired Networking	WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD Change to: WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options	MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System	Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence

Thanks
Rob

 

[AgentCooper]

Hi Rob, few questions for you. What monitor will you be matching up with your build, what’s your max budget, and please could you edit your post to include the configurable link? Makes it a bit easier for others to advise and amend accordingly. Ta!

 

[Rob D 88]

I'd adjust things slightly just to create a better balance, particularly in regards to the motherboard and PSU:

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX MB530P RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT Six Core CPU (4.5GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
External Hard Drive
2TB Seagate Backup Plus Slim External HDD, USB 3.0, Black
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
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
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 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)
Home Installation
NONE
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: £1,187.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/jnV6G798MX/

Thank you for the advice, the items you have added make the upgrade about £140. I know this don't sound too much but I do not want to get carried away too early. If I really enjoy gaming on the PC and need something a little more powerful I will upgrade.

Is my motherboard not good enough then?

I am currently running a Dell 24 inch gaming monitor approx two years old. I will look to upgrade around Christmas time to a 27inch curved MSI or Samsung G7...

I will also be buying the Steelseries Apex 5 Keyboard and Steelseries Rival 600 mouse.

Thanks
Rob

 

[AgentCooper]

Thank you for the advice, the items you have added make the upgrade about £140. I know this don't sound too much but I do not want to get carried away too early. If I really enjoy gaming on the PC and need something a little more powerful I will upgrade.

Is my motherboard not good enough then?

I am currently running a Dell 24 inch gaming monitor approx two years old. I will look to upgrade around Christmas time to a 27inch curved MSI or Samsung G7...

I will also be buying the Steelseries Apex 5 Keyboard and Steelseries Rival 600 mouse.

Thanks
Rob

Hi Rob, @Nursemorph has done you a build that will keep you in the running for upgrades. If you get into PC gaming (which you totally should), you’ve got an excellent base build that you can chuck a new GPU in when you want to go 1440p or 4K. No need to buy a brand new system! 😁👍

 

[Rob D 88]

The b450 isn't a bad board, just an older one. I put the 570 in as it would allow more upgrade options in the future when it comes to the CPU...such as if you wanted to get into more serious editing etc. If you are absolutely certain you will never upgrade the CPU while you own the machine, then the 450 will be fine.

The PSU I upgraded as it allows for much higher end graphics cards

Hard Drive: I lowered that as the PCS variant is fine for your needs...I game on the same speed M2 drive as the PCS one and it works very well.

I have taken all that in account!

I will have this a few years and if I need to upgrade I will do it.

You have got me worried now! haha

 

[Rob D 88]

Can someone please advise what would I notice the speed difference from the m.2 Samsung Evo SSD to a normal PCS m.2 SSD?

Will it be that much better? Only asking as NurseMorph changed it in he's spec for me.

 

[AgentCooper]

It'd be a difference of a few seconds on loading up, not much at all. If you've got the budget to keep the Samsung in there that's all good, the PCS one is just insanely good value.

 

[Rob D 88]

Thanks Cooper. I noticed most people spec the Nvidia 1660 Super but I have AMD Radeon 5500XT is this something I should change?

I thought maybe it would be better pairing the AMD with the AMD processor.

 

[AgentCooper]

I see your logic, but you're better off sticking with the Nvidia GPUs. Some of the current AMD cards are known to have driver issues that cause problems and occasionally brick them altogether. I wouldn't want to risk it...

 

[Rob D 88]

So do you recommend i swap it to the 1660 Super or 1660 TI?

 

[AgentCooper]

The super should see you right 👍

 

[Rob D 88]

I have made some changes based on the recommendations here. Not finalized just yet, awaiting replies.

I swapped the

Ryzen 5 3600XT to the 3600X
B450 plus to the B550
AMD Radeon 5500 to the GeForce 1660 Super
450 to 550 PSU
PCS RGB Cooler

Do I need the additional 2 fans? the case already has 3 at the front and 1 at the rear. The CPU cooler and I gues the 1660has fans also.

Thanks Rob

 

[Rob D 88]

Any info for me guys before I edit my order?

 

[Rob D 88]

Any help guys? Running out of time before production day.

 

[AgentCooper]

You don’t need the extra fans. They’re cheap and a bit noisy. I’d recommend keeping the 3600XT in there though.

 

[Rob D 88]

But it seem like it's £45 for basically nothing extra. Performance wise it is minimal.

I will get rid of the extra fans!

Thanks

 

[Rob D 88]

Thanks for the advice guys I finally have it ready for build Monday 5th October.

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX MB530P RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT Six Core CPU (4.5GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3200MB/W)
External Hard Drive
2TB Seagate Backup Plus Slim External HDD, USB 3.0, Black
Memory Card Reader
USB 3.0 EXTERNAL SD/MICRO SD CARD READER
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W CV SERIES™ CV-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 RGB Series High Performance CPU Cooler (AMD)
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 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 (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Home Installation
NONE
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: £1,180.00 including VAT and Delivery

How does it look now?

Thanks Rob

 

[SpyderTracks]

Just out of interest, why the external drive?

The cooler isn't required, will actually perform worse than the stock cooler.

I would remove bullguard as it's known to cause issues with networking and high CPU.

You want at least silver warranty

But otherwise it's good.

 

[Rob D 88]

Just out of interest, why the external drive?

The cooler isn't required, will actually perform worse than the stock cooler.

I would remove bullguard as it's known to cause issues with networking and high CPU.

You want at least silver warranty

But otherwise it's good.

The hard drive because I have a laptop and it'll be nice to be able to move images and videos between the two. Are external hard drives slower?

I'll remove the Bullguard then.

With the cooler I thought I'd need one. Surely it will be ok? Do I have to remove it?

It has normal warranty. Why do I need silver? Are these machines unreliable?

 

[SpyderTracks]

With the cooler I thought I'd need one. Surely it will be ok? Do I have to remove it?

I would just leave it as the stock cooler, it's much better than that one.

It has normal warranty. Why do I need silver? Are these machines unreliable?

Any tech purchase is an unknown as to weather it will fail or not early on, that's the issue with any tech, there's no guarantee that it won't fail. Warranty covers you for that. Silver warranty extends your shipping costs from 1 month to 1 year and only costs £5

The hard drive because I have a laptop and it'll be nice to be able to move images and videos between the two. Are external hard drives slower?

Substantially slower. It's fine if you need to transfer stuff, but you'd need a secondary internal storage drive on the build I'd imagine? Normally we'd configure a 1Tb storage HDD by default.