New gaming PC

Wayne0001

Wayne0001

Wayne0001

Associate
Joined
15 Feb 2019
Posts
33
Hello all,

I would like to order a gaming PC and for it to be built by Overclockers, not confident putting it together myself.

I have £1000 to spend, could possible go slightly over but not by to much.

I currently have a Acer XG270HU 27 inch 144Hz WQHD ZeroFrame 2K Gaming Monitor, keyboard and mouse.

Any help and advise would be appreciated.

Thanks.
 
Hi, welcome to the forum.

There's a few Acers with similar names/numbers. Can you confirm it's this one because if so then either AMD or Nvidia graphics could make use of Freesync/Gsync. https://www.overclockers.co.uk/acer...hz-gaming-led-monitor-black-re-mo-078-ac.html

Do you have a copy of Windows 10? If not, finding a key instead of purchasing a USB or DVD can save a hefty amount that can go to better hardware.
 
Since early January, thanks to an Nvidia driver update, Series 10 and 20 Nvidia cards can also do adaptive sync on certain Freesync monitors. Looks like yours can. https://www.pcgamer.com/g-sync-compatible-freesync-monitors/

Did a custom spec and it ended up with an AMD card anyway:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,014.63 (includes shipping: £11.70)
​

Or with 500GB SSD and 2TB drive:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £997.58 (includes shipping: £11.70)
​

Benefits of a custom spec is that you can choose all parts to be of a certain quality. Whereas with a pre-built system, you're often stuck with a motherboard you can't change and a low quality PSU. And the things you can change don't have all that many options available to change to. Like 3000MHz RAM instead of 3200MHz, only a few graphics card and SSD/HDD choices unless you ring them and ask for some bits to be changed. The pros of pre-built is they can be cheaper, be on special offer etc. With either, you're still covered by OcUK's three year warranty.

For a custom spec you have to ring OcUK or better yet post in Customer Services and give them the spec so they can quote you a build fee.

Threw in a pre-built spec too:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
  • 1 x OcUK Gaming Citizen Gaming PC - AMD Ryzen 5 2600, RX 590 8GB Graphics ***THREE FREE GAMES*** = £857.90
    • Memory:Team Group Vulcan T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-24000C16 3000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (TLGD416G30
    • Graphics Card:Sapphire Radeon RX VEGA 56 Pulse 8GB HBM2 PCI-Express Graphics Card (11276-02-40G)
    • Solid State Drive (optional):Seagate 500GB 2.5" BarraCuda Solid State Drive *System Stock*
    • WIFI:Unwanted
    • Operating System:Unwanted
    • Security Software:Unwanted
Total: £872.00 (includes shipping: £14.10)
​

Only one case option and it's not as good for airflow as the case in the other specs (which a hot Vega card would benefit from). The 2600 CPU is slightly slower (no biggie) and comes with the Stealth cooler which is not as good as the Spire cooler that comes with the 2600X. The RAM is 3000, not a huge deal. And the motherboard certainly isn't bad but doesn't have as good VRM cooling as the Tomahawk.

Thing is the low price. As it stands, once you include a build fee to the other specs (it can vary from zero to £50 or higher), the Gaming Citizen could be £175 cheaper. And since it leaves plenty in the £1000 budget you could ask for changes like better PSU and a Sapphire Vega64 Nitro+ for example. Maybe a better case for airflow too. Could end up at £1050 total like the others this way, but you'd also end up with Vega64 instead of Vega56.

Nvidia 2060 is another option though a few games at 1440p may punish the 6GB VRAM. Or Nvidia 2070, which although expensive, would fit a £1000-1050 budget if you made no other changes to the Gaming Citizen pre-built. And would give you the best gaming performance of all the cards mentioned.
 
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This is great, thank you for your time.

Would changing the graphics card to a Radeon RX VEGA 64 Nitro+ 8GB HBM2 PCI-Express Graphics Card make a huge difference?
 
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Wayne0001 said:
This is great, thank you for your time.

Would changing the graphics card to a Radeon RX VEGA 64 Nitro+ 8GB HBM2 PCI-Express Graphics Card make a huge difference?
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No worries. Glad to help out.

That's pretty subjective. And best way is to figure out for yourself by comparing reviews, benchmarks and youtube videos.

What's objective is that you get ever more diminishing returns for the £££ you spend. But of course you have to pay to achieve a certain level of performance. A Vega64 or RTX 2070 would not go to waste on a 1440p 144Hz monitor that's for sure (if you play modern games). But you could also play no problem with Vega56 or RTX 2060 and turn a couple of settings down that usually make no difference to your perception.

Wait for more input from others as better pre-builts or component alternatives can be suggested. Meantime keep asking all you need so you're confident by the time you pull the trigger.
 
I guess the question I have is what's the best graphics card for the spec's that you have given me. If there is not much improvement with the Radeon RX VEGA 64 Nitro+ then I'll just order the VEGA 56 pulse. I'm assuming nvidia cards don't support FreeSync?
 
Wayne0001 said:
I guess the question I have is what's the best graphics card for the spec's that you have given me. If there is not much improvement with the Radeon RX VEGA 64 Nitro+ then I'll just order the VEGA 56 pulse. I'm assuming nvidia cards don't support FreeSync?
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I tried to tell you earlier that your monitor actually does support Freesync with new Nvidia cards. I used the term adaptive sync which may have thrown you off.
 
As for GPU choice, Vega56 or RTX 2060 are already reasonable choices, so if you're not chasing the highest fps possible then either of those. One way to toss the coin is think of the two games you are looking forward most to play. Name them if you want, or do a bit of research yourself into whether Nvidia or AMD gets slightly better performance in those games.

There'll be something along the lines of a "GTX 1160 6GB" very shortly, week or two unless something has changed. It would be interesting to see the reviews for those if you can wait a bit. They are expected to be cheaper than Vega56, at least some models should be.
 
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £991.59 (includes shipping: £11.70)​
​



Would pick Vega 64 over 56 for £90 extra and better PCB/warranty

1660ti is 100% out Friday and all vendors rapped up their marketing yesterday for it. Nvidia isn't doing a hard push, so hence leaks are low and slow
 
I pretty much went with yours and Orbitals suggestions.

Team Group Dark T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit
MSI B450 TOMAHAWK (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard
AMD Ryzen 5 Six Core 2600X 4.20GHz (Socket AM4) Processor
CoolerMaster MasterBox MB500 Midi Tower Case - Black
Gigabyte Radeon RX VEGA 64 WindForce OC 8GB HBM2 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Bitfenix Formula Series 750W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply
Seagate 2TB BarraCuda 7200RPM 256MB Cache Internal Hard Drive (ST2000DM008)
Gigabyte UD Pro 512GB SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Toshiba 3D NAND Solid State Drive

Very excited! :)

Decided to build it myself...
 
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Good on you for building it yourself. I find the process of building a pc from scratch very exciting and very rewarding. You'll also know your way around it incase of any issues or upgrades in the future.
 
P.S. For MSI boards, don't use the "Live Update 6" app to update the BIOS. Best not to install the app at all. Just visit the website and download the BIOS/drivers you need*. Use M-Flash method for BIOS flashing.

https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B450-TOMAHAWK

* BIOS
Latest AMI BIOS (currently 7C02v15)

DRIVERS
+System and Chipset Drivers
AMD Chipset Driver

+ On-Board Audio Drivers
First install Realtek High Definition Audio Driver, then install Realtek HD Universal Driver

+LAN Drivers
Realtek PCI-E Ethernet Drivers

UTILITY
Realtek Audio Control (get from Windows Store)
Mystic Light 3 (if you want mobo RGB control and to sync the CoolerMaster RGB fans' lighting).
Click to expand...

That's all you need. The rest is fluff.
 
keylion said:
Good on you for building it yourself. I find the process of building a pc from scratch very exciting and very rewarding. You'll also know your way around it incase of any issues or upgrades in the future.
Click to expand...

The satisfaction of booting first time after building it yourself is hard to beat.

Also as keylion says, you will know your way around your case which makes maintenance and diagnosing problems in the future easier.

I'm excited for you! :D
 
Good idea with the Velcro and tape, picked some up from my local store.

Order has confirmed as shipped, yay.

Do I really need to flash the BIOS, I'm anxious enough about building it myself, let alone flashing the BIOS. :D
 
Wayne0001 said:
Good idea with the Velcro and tape, picked some up from my local store.

Order has confirmed as shipped, yay.

Do I really need to flash the BIOS, I'm anxious enough about building it myself, let alone flashing the BIOS. :D
Click to expand...

Good question, with a yes/no answer. Sometimes your system will be fine on default BIOS. I ended up including it on that to-do list because with Ryzen the memory compatibility improvements that come with new BIOSes are usually beneficial, sometimes even vital. Don't do it if you don't want.

I've flashed MSI BIOSes dozens of times through M-Flash no problem. But people have bricked their boards with that Live Update method in the past. No idea if they have improved it since but I certainly wouldn't risk that method.
 
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