Mid range gaming pc to run Elden Ring,

[Scotty101]

Hello

I'm am looking to get a new PC, I bought my current one back in 2012 so I'm a bit out of touch with the current hardware.

I'm looking to buy a decent mid range PC with a budget around £1200-£1400, my main goal of it is to run Elden Ring comfortably.

Monitor: LG 29UM68 Ultra wide, 21:9 aspect ratio, 2560 x 1080 resolution, 60 Hertz refresh.

After playing around and looking a few things up I have created this build, my main quandaries are with the CPU & GPU:
CPU: Ryzen 5 3600, or Ryzen 5 5600X
GPU: 1660 super, or 1660 TI, or 3060

Any advice on cases would also be helpful I have left the base case in the build for now.

Feedback on it would be appreciated.
Thanks

Case
PCS 3601 CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (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 Ti - 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
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/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
PCS FrostFlow 120 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
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
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 13 to 15 working days
Price: £1,343.00 including VAT and Delivery

 

[JUNI0R]

Hello

I'm am looking to get a new PC, I bought my current one back in 2012 so I'm a bit out of touch with the current hardware.

I'm looking to buy a decent mid range PC with a budget around £1200-£1400, my main goal of it is to run Elden Ring comfortably.

Monitor: LG 29UM68 Ultra wide, 21:9 aspect ratio, 2560 x 1080 resolution, 60 Hertz refresh.

After playing around and looking a few things up I have created this build, my main quandaries are with the CPU & GPU:
CPU: Ryzen 5 3600, or Ryzen 5 5600X
GPU: 1660 super, or 1660 TI, or 3060

Any advice on cases would also be helpful I have left the base case in the build for now.

Feedback on it would be appreciated.
Thanks

Case
PCS 3601 CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (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 Ti - 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
1TB SAMSUNG 970 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 3500MB/R, 3300MB/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
PCS FrostFlow 120 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
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
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 13 to 15 working days
Price: £1,343.00 including VAT and Delivery

Heya! Would you be able to post the configurable link for this build? It looks like a solid start but there's a couple things we could change and having that link would make it a lot easier to recommend changes!

For CPU, the 5600X would be the one to have out of those two, it's the newer generation chip and really came on a long way from the 3600.

For GPU, that monitor won't be too intensive to run and having a look at the recommended specs for Elden Ring, it doesn't seem too demanding to run so I imagine the 1660 Super will do the job, although for a better experience, if you have the budget the 3060 wouldn't be a bad shout!

Case wise, look for something with lots of airflow and RGB. The Lian Li Lancool II, Corsair 220T, Corsair 4000X and Cooler Master TD500 would probably be my go to picks for what's currently available.

 

[AgentCooper]

As a SoulsBorne veteran, I’ve spent a fair amount of time in the company of their titles and Elden Ring looks to be their most ambitious outing yet. Due to the more open world setting it also appears as though they’ll be offering more post launch updates than with their previous titles… including the (alleged) addition of ray-tracing at a later date.

It’s going to be one of those games that’s an absolute time sink on the first playthrough. And of course, you’ll have NG+, NG++, NG+++ et al to look forward to, so if you’re going to spend a lot of time in that world you may as well make it beautiful. They tend to lock the frame rate on their games to a max of 60FPS so refresh rate isn’t an issue, but having the 3060 in your locker would be a very sound move.

 

[Scotty101]

Heya! Would you be able to post the configurable link for this build? It looks like a solid start but there's a couple things we could change and having that link would make it a lot easier to recommend changes!

For CPU, the 5600X would be the one to have out of those two, it's the newer generation chip and really came on a long way from the 3600.

For GPU, that monitor won't be too intensive to run and having a look at the recommended specs for Elden Ring, it doesn't seem too demanding to run so I imagine the 1660 Super will do the job, although for a better experience, if you have the budget the 3060 wouldn't be a bad shout!

Case wise, look for something with lots of airflow and RGB. The Lian Li Lancool II, Corsair 220T, Corsair 4000X and Cooler Master TD500 would probably be my go to picks for what's currently available.

Here's the configurable link:
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/YdQDEZsdfn/

Thanks for the info, would you say its worth it to push the price up for the 3060 over the 1660s? is the price worth the difference?

I'll have a look at those suggested cases too, thank you.

 

[DarTon]

It's launch date is Feb 22. Looks amazing but it's been delayed a few times plus it could be pretty ropey on launch. It might not be a mature product for a number of months (years!).

Might it be better to wait until you know ER has actually been delivered before buying? Early next year we get the non-K Alder Lake CPUs, cheaper B660 motherboards for those, a possible AMD refresh of Zen 3 and even some new GPUs such as the 3050 and 6400/6500XT etc. If nothing else it might put some downward pressure on prices on current CPUs/GPUs.

Obviously with tech, you can always delay and delay and get nowwhere but unless you really need to buy to play something right now, it's generally better to wait.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I would definitely wait until February personally after the AMD 6000 series CPU announcement in late January.

 

[AgentCooper]

Waiting is all well and good… but that game is a day one purchase and devour for me. FromSoftware inspire that kind of rabidity in their fans.

What say you, @Scotty101? Are you prepared to wait or will you be jonesing to play Elden Ring on release day?

 

[Scotty101]

Thanks for all the advice, with all of that I think I'll wait for a bit and see what happens/comes early next year.
Although my current pc is getting pretty slow so I might buy earlier.

Do you guys know if PC Specialist do any January sales?

 

[AgentCooper]

Do you guys know if PC Specialist do any January sales?

If they do, it’ll likely only be on prebuilt systems and won’t apply to custom builds.

 

[Scotty101]

How would you rate the prebuilt systems?
Are they pretty good or is custom just a better way to go?

Also I see graphics cards within themselves have different brands, Asus, MSI, Gigabyte etc. Does PC specialist favour a certain brand or is it pot luck with what you will receive. Is there a way to find out what card you're getting?

 

[SpyderTracks]

How would you rate the prebuilt systems?
Are they pretty good or is custom just a better way to go?

Also I see graphics cards within themselves have different brands, Asus, MSI, Gigabyte etc. Does PC specialist favour a certain brand or is it pot luck with what you will receive. Is there a way to find out what card you're getting?

Pre builts tend to skimp a little on core components such as mobo, RAM, PSU and case. We generally advise custom as you just get a far better rounded machine for around the same cash.

Any offers are usually only £10 or 20 off, except the black Friday ones, sometimes they do some amazing deals, especially on laptops.

 

[JUNI0R]

How would you rate the prebuilt systems?
Are they pretty good or is custom just a better way to go?

Also I see graphics cards within themselves have different brands, Asus, MSI, Gigabyte etc. Does PC specialist favour a certain brand or is it pot luck with what you will receive. Is there a way to find out what card you're getting?

Very much agree with the above.

GPU wise, PCS tend to stock Zotac and Palit but with the card shortage we have seen some Gigabyte and even EVGA cards (this is all assuming you don’t go for an ASUS branded one of course). Performance wise all cards with perform within a margin of eachother, the main bits that change are the power delivery and cooling (and RGB ). Both Palit and Zotac are perfectly respectable options- I had a Zotac 2070 from PCS which I was very happy with.

Sadly there’s no real way to tell. It all just be a case of what’s there when you take out the expanding foam packaging!

 

[SpyderTracks]

Just additionally, PCS prices really are pretty rock bottom most of the year round, they do truly keep very competitive, so there is very little margin to do reductions.

I know that sounds like sales garbage but genuinely it's true. I don';t work for PCS in any way, I am just a long time fan who is a bit hooked on this forum and has little life

 

[Esa Kajander]

I would wait until January until AMD releases their 6000 series in January just in case.

 

[AgentCooper]

I would wait until January just in case until AMD releases their 6000 series in January just in case.

It’s extremely unlikely we’ll get those in the first half of the year, the Jan/Feb planned releases are refreshed models from some of the existing 5000 series with enhanced performance 👍

 

[Scotty101]

Thanks for the replies.

Had a look at a few things and decided to up my budget to allow room for a 3060.
How does this build look? Are they're any big changes to do or any mistakes?

How does it fare in terms of upgradability?


Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
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 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 120 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
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 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
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 (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
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed - Assembly From 29/12/2021
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo
Price: £0.00 including VAT and Delivery

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

 

[Bigfoot]

Thanks for the replies.

Had a look at a few things and decided to up my budget to allow room for a 3060.
How does this build look? Are they're any big changes to do or any mistakes?

How does it fare in terms of upgradability?


Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st Storage Drive
1TB Samsung 870 QVO 2.5" SSD, SATA 6Gb/s (up to 560MB/sR | 530MB/sW)
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 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 120 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD)
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 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
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 (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
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed - Assembly From 29/12/2021
Welcome Book
PCSpecialist Welcome Book - United Kingdom & Republic of Ireland
Logo Branding
PCSpecialist Logo
Price: £0.00 including VAT and Delivery

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

The power supply is only really suitable for office PCs and will definitely restrict your ability to upgrade. Storage and cooling aren’t ideal. Bullguard is not worth the problems it causes

 

[Scotty101]

What would you recommend for storage & cooling?
Without upgrades is the 650 good enough for the system above? Would improved wattage be for potential upgrades rather than what is in the build currently?

 

[Bigfoot]

I would go with something like this. The storage will be faster. The 750 TXM is usually the minimum we would select, ideally an RMX. I have removed the WiFi card, as you already have WiFi on the motherboard.


Case
COOLERMASTER MASTERBOX TD500 MESH ARGB GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core CPU (3.7GHz-4.6GHz/35MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B550-PLUS WiFi (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
12GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
500GB SAMSUNG 980 PRO M.2, PCIe NVMe (up to 6900MB/R, 5000MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (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)
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 (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
Christmas Delivery No Longer Guaranteed - Assembly From 29/12/2021
Price: £1,603.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/R99be63CKU/

 

[Scotty101]

Between the CoolerMaster Hyper 212 (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler Black Edition & PCS FrostFlow 120 Series RGB High Performance Liquid Cooler (AMD).

Why do you rate the coolermaster above the frostflow? Does the liquid not provide better cooling?