Looking for feedback

[John554]

I'm trying to set up a good gaming (and work) PC for the lowest cost I can manage, but fully capable of playing any big title. I've managed to stay under £1,000, but I'd like feedback on whether I've got a good build. I went with an AMD over Intel because it seemed to be cheaper with mostly the same components. Any issues with this setup or anything I should know about before going ahead? Let me know if you have questions too.

Case
PCS 6003B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 3 2300X Quad Core CPU (3.5GHz-4GHz/10MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 120 2.5" SSD, (up to 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W CV SERIES™ CV-450 POWER SUPPLY
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 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
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 [KK3-00002]
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
Google Chrome™
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 21 to 23 working days
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Price: £924.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[John554]

There's definitely areas there that can be improved upon...we can do much better than that spec for the price but it would be helpful to know some more information:

- Maximum budget? Helps to know if there is any room to upgrade things

- Monitor to be used with this system? Resolution and refresh rate or make and model if unsure. Gaming systems are always specced according to the monitor

Depending on the monitor, for your budget range, you will likely be looking at something like this:


Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 SUPER - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-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
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 21 to 23 working days
Price: £1,030.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/ym8XJ28NTu/

For price, under £1,000.

My monitor is an HP Pavillion 23CW. Don't know the refresh rate, but resolution should be 1920x1080. https://www.amazon.co.uk/HP-FBA_J7Y74AA-Pavilion-23CW-Monitor/dp/B00U67WPDM

Does that change anything?

Regards, and thanks for the answer so far.

 

[John554]

Thanks for th

Okay, so that monitor is a very basic 60Hz monitor.

If you are planning to stick with that monitor, then you can downgrade the GPU to the 1650 Super as that is all that is needed for a monitor at that level. That would lower the price to £961

If you plan to upgrade the monitor, then stick with the spec I listed above and look for a 1080p 144Hz monitor

Thanks for the response. I'll be sticking with my current monitor. Does that mean I should keep the specs as I gave them and only change the graphics card? Because the price is £860.00 now. But I may have changed another component by accident. Here are the updated specs...

Case
PCS 6003B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 3 2300X Quad Core CPU (3.5GHz-4GHz/10MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 SUPER - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA 120 2.5" SSD, (up to 560MB/sR | 540MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
16x BLU-RAY WRITER DRIVE, 16x DVD ±R/±RW & SOFTWARE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W CV SERIES™ CV-450 POWER SUPPLY
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 [KK3-00002]
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
Google Chrome™
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 21 to 23 working days

 

[AgentCooper]

I think you should stick with the build suggested to you by NurseMorph, it's much better optimised

 

[John554]

You really don't want to go with your spec list as it is a non-gaming optimised CPu, low frequency RAM and other things.

Here is the spec you want, including the lowered GPU:


Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
4GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1650 SUPER - HDMI
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-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
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 21 to 23 working days
Price: £961.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/0SJWnQQB3m/

Just click on the green URL at the bottom of this spec list which will take you to the this spec on the configurator (just double check the price is showing as £961 as sometimes the configurator messes about), then click proceed and go on to order

Got it. A few points though. The Ryzen 5 3600 doesn't appear in the list of available components. The only Ryzen 5s are the 3400G and 2600X. Secondly, I really need that blu-ray disc drive in the original list. Can we accommodate that?

 

[AgentCooper]

There's fewer cases these days that accommodate CD/BluRay drives, you could go for the PCS Genesis G1B as a fairly low cost option. And the Corsair Carbide 200R is a little more elegant.

 

[John554]

The 3600 won't appear in the configurator you used as it is a different platform, hence why I said to use the link from the spec I posted.

For the Blu-Ray drive (sorry, I seemed to have completely missed that), personally I wouldn't use either case mentioned above as neither are that good for cooling. The only options are more expensive cases (the lowest price case I'd recommend is £115..the Corsair Obsidian 500D). An alternative would be to buy a case yourself and send it to PCS to use (in the configurator, you just select the "I have my own case" option in the case list)...the Fractal Focus G is a good case with drive options (PCS usually offer it but they aren't currently):

Fractal Focus G Case

The configurator will allow you to select the BR drive even with the send your own case option (I just checked)..alternatively you could source your own Blu-Ray drive and fit it when the system arrives (doesn't take long..just a matter of fitting it and then attaching the wiring)

Sorry, a bit new to this site. Saved the specs though, thanks!

I'd much rather go with a case on the site. I selected the £115 CORSAIR OBSIDIAN SERIES™ 750D FULL TOWER CASE, and that seems to be compatible. Sadly, the cost is £1,081 now, over my limit.

Regarding other suggestions the site is making, I've selected a 550W power supply, but apparently I only need a 350W. What do you recommend?

Lastly: " We note that you have selected an M.2/PCI-E SSD drive and a mechanical hard drive under the primary hard disk drive option. Please confirm whether you would like your operating system (OS) to be installed on the SSD drive or on the mechanical hard drive: " What do you suggest?

 

[John554]

Drive space is definitely necessary. I had a 1TB HDD and 1TB SSD originally because I need lots of room for both gaming and work.

I've tried selecting a cheap PCS 6003B BLACK CASE, and it seems to work for a disc drive. Could I simply get a better CPU fan to handle temps? The whole reason I'm getting a new PC is because of overheating issues.

Current price with the PCS 6003B, standard fan, is £986.

 

[keithbeaks]

A bad case will ruin the whole system

 

[John554]

I understand

I'm not saying you can't get the cheap case, I just wouldn't recommend it...bear in mind that the CPU isn't the only thing that generates heat...so does the GPU, the disc drive, even the hard drive. Cheap cases are not designed with airflow in mind nor longevity.

Ultimately it's your choice as it's your money.....I wouldn't go down the route of buying a cheap case to save money as it may cost more in the long run as components will not last as long due to the higher temperatures. As far as I am concerned, the case is the single most important part of a system

I understand. In that case, I'll bite the bullet and go with the last case you suggested, coming in at 1,022. Maybe I'll install extra fans in the future. Thank you so much for all the help!

 

[John554]

Thanks for letting me know! Yes, I used the CoreTemp tool with my last PC. I'll use it again for this one, and maybe other tools for different parts. I work hard to keep my room cool though, so I hope that helps.

 

[John554]

Yep, every little helps when it comes to cooling. As long as there is decent airflow through the case, you should be okay as the stock fan on the 3600 is excellent (I have the 3600 with stock fan and never have temp issues but I have the Focus G case which has better airflow)

That's really good to know, and a relief! I've just put in the order for this PC after much deliberation. Maybe I'll get lucky and I won't have to wait the 21-23 days, but thanks again!