Medium tier gaming rig

[Coming Second]

Hello folks,

My venerable PC is in need of retirement, so I'm putting together a new one. It will primarily be for gaming, although video editing in the future isn't out of the question. My budget is <£1000, and my main concern is resilience - I don't care if it can't run games at max settings in 4-5 years time, I do care if I have to think about replacing it in a similar space of time. I got my last rig from PCSpecialist 8 or so years ago and that's exactly what enamoured me to it.

How does this look:

Case
PCS 6003B BLACK CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-9400F (2.9GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF Z390-PLUS GAMING: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 80 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)
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
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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Firefox™
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: £821.00 including VAT and Delivery

PCSPECIALIST - Top Spec Custom PCs & Laptops Built to Order

Manufacturer of performance custom computers and laptops. Customise your ideal gaming PC or laptop using our advanced configurator.

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Thanks in advance.

 

[kelstu]

IS the hard drive big enough for gaming.. i know most games atm are around 100GB! So 500GB wont last very long.. or are you planning to transplant a HDD from your old PC?

 

[Coming Second]

IS the hard drive big enough for gaming.. i know most games atm are around 100GB! So 500GB wont last very long.. or are you planning to transplant a HDD from your old PC?

I was weighing up getting a storage drive as well, it's just I could knock off a substantial amount by abstaining. Which would you recommend?

 

[VenatoS]

Power Supply: RMx 750W <--- Big Advice.
Processor Cooling: Hyper 212 MINIMUM. Preferably a Noctua.

 

[Scott]

£1000 worth of awesome right here...

Case
CORSAIR CARBIDE SERIES™ 275R TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB 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
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
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
CoolerMaster MasterLiquid Lite 240 High Performance Liquid 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® Office® 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 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: £970.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/QRZqsguzKR/

 

[kelstu]

Well the first one you come to is the 2TB 660p but its going to put the price up but its the cheapest .. its best to ask one of the other people if you could save money on other components.. sorry i am not as knowledgable as them i am just trying to helping from the gaming point of view..

 

[Oussebon]

As nice as the RMx series of PSU is - and it is, I have the RMi sister model - it's not really worth the money in a £1000 system if there are other things to spend the cash on instead. It's not like the TXm isn't a great PSU either, and still has a 7 year warranty.

This squeaks over £1k but shows you can get a much better GPU with some tweaks, should you wish.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB AMD RADEON™ RX 5700 - HDMI, DP - DX® 12

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Radeon Graphics

Ghost Recon: Breakpoint -OR- Borderlands 3 w/ select AMD Radeon GPUs
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
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® Office® 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 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: £1,013.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/DUsun!AQYm/

If going with @The_Scotster's build I'd suggest a case with better airflow than the 275R in an ideal world. The best path to resilience is probably keeping the temps down. The Focus G is good, the Meshify C is £20 more (still in budget) and great for airflow.

 

[kelstu]

no ones mentioned extra hard drive space for him/her

 

[Oussebon]

You can add storage to a system later on, and doing that is much more cost effective than, for example, buying a weaker CPU and needing to replace that, or buying less RAM and needing to replace that, or buying a smaller wattage PSU and needing to replace that.

So for me the priority is usually the core hardware, and storage being an easy DIY upgrade as required.

It depends on the individual's needs too - not every has bought RDR2 yet for instance!

 

[Coming Second]

Thank you all for the advice. Having chewed it over I think this is what I'm going to go with:

Case
CORSAIR SPEC-DELTA RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-9400F (2.9GHz) 9MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF Z390-PLUS GAMING: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1660 - HDMI, DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
480GB ADATA SU630 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 450MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition
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
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® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Firefox™
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: £932.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[Oussebon]

The i5 9400 F and a Z390 motherboard are an extremely poor pairing.

The point of the i5 9400F is that it's cheap. You can buy it on a cheap piece of trash Intel H310 motherboard and maybe save a few quid, just, versus an AMD R5 2000 series system. The point of the Z390 motherboards are that they support a range of features like overclocking (irrelevant to the locked 9400F) and have - or are meant to have - more robust VRMs for monsters like the 9900k. Also irrelevant to a locked i5.

The 9400F is tbh a worse option for gaming than the AMD R5 3600, and certainly will be less futureproof.

The SSD configuration is not good. Rather than 2 500gb drives you will then have to juggle things between, including potentially large games, get a single 1TB drive.

The Spec Delta case has poor airflow and should be avoided.

The 1660 Super is much better than the 1660 and is only £16 more.

The AX200 wifi card has loads more features like access to the 5GHz band which just about every router has had for most of the last decade.

Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX K500 RGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB 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 Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 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
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® Office® 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 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: £936.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/QHxqPQeft3/

 

[kelstu]

that looks much better

 

[Oussebon]

For R5 3600 vs 9400F:

AMD Ryzen 5 3600 vs. Intel Core i5-9400F: Mainstream Titans Clash

When we reviewed the new Ryzen 5 3600 we had plenty of positive things to say about it, and that was comparing it to the more expensive...

www.techspot.com

The 3600 posts significantly better performance in CPU-demanding titles e.g. Assassin's Creed. Upto 30% higher performance.

In less CPU demanding titles, the R5 3600 still won pretty comprehensively and in the 3 titles tested where Intel posted a lead of 1, 1, and 3 FPS average respectively, the AMD CPU still posted 1% lows that were over 10% higher than the 9400F in two of those - making the gaming experience smoother (because framerate is more consistent - the framerates drop less far when they do drop).

Next gen consoles will have more cores. On PC, 6-8 cores are now becoming mainstream. Intel's upcoming i5 10th gen will have "hyperthreading" - which the R5 3600 (called SMT in its case) has, but the i5 9400F does not.

A 6 core / 6 thread CPU is a poor buy for gaming today, especially if keeping the system for a while.

 

[Coming Second]

Ok, well, let's say you convinced me. This is finally what I ordered up:

Case
CORSAIR SPEC-DELTA RGB MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB 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 Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W VS SERIES™ VS-550 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
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® Office® 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 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: £943.00 including VAT and Delivery

I'll admit to being nervous about the Ryzen because I've only ever used Intel before and the reviews are a bit all over the place on it. However I do see the reasoning of it being more likely to last. Thanks once again.

 

[Oussebon]

The stock AMD coolers are decent and quiet, so if you wanted to save a few quid feel at liberty to stick with the stock AMD cooler. The R5 3600 comes with the so-called Wraith Stealth, of which Techspot says:

With the Wraith Stealth installed the R5 3600 maintained a 4 GHz clock speed out of the box during our 1 hour long Blender stress test. This is an extreme stress test, so having it peaking at just 80 degrees is pretty good, especially given it was virtually silent.
https://www.techspot.com/review/1871-amd-ryzen-3600/

I've not seen a review of the R5 3600 that was short of glowing tbh. Though granted I haven't deeply explored the internet on that point

I'd still advocate a case with better airflow. The Spec Delta is sealed up like a bit of a plastic tomb.