First build in years - any help greatly appreciated

[mrt88]

Hi all,

hope everyone is doing ok. Im working to put together a build for my sister. I did post a few months back but life got in the way so thought its better we start fresh. I havent build a rig in 5 or 6 years now so very out the game.
We are trying to keep the spend to under £1200. Ideally £1000. So we dont need a screen or peripherals.
It will mostly be used for games like Sims 4 and old city builders. Possibly the odd new game but nothing too mental.

We have 1 none negotiable and that's the case and form factor. She loves the - Lian Li A3-mATX Tempered Glass Micro-ATX Case (Black)
And 1 we would like - Some sort of AIO with a screen as its going to be a desk based build.

This is what i have so far but motherboards confuse the hell out of me. Still need cooling and powersupply etc so will need to cutback somwhere, any help would be great. Ideal we want to order this week and build next weekend so might try avoid pre order products if i can.

any help would be really appreciated
My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Lian Li A3-mATX Tempered Glass Micro-ATX Case (Black) (SKU: CAS-LIA-04811) = £69.95
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DV-AM) = £278.99
• 1 x Kingston FURY Beast EXPO RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C36 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KF556C36BBEAK2-32) (SKU: MY-29S-KS) = £89.98
• 1 x Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9060 XT Gaming 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-SPR-05179) = £359.99
• 1 x WD Blue SN5000 1TB SSD NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-WDC-02652) = £64.99
• 1 x Asus TUF Gaming A620-Pro WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASU-01162) = £140.00

Total: £1,015.88 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

 

[freddie64]

That motherboard will not fit, you need MATX.

Not sure which board is best so will let others advise on that, but you should be able to get B650/B850 for around the the same price as the one you listed.

Example PSU and cooler.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95
• 1 x Thermalright Aqua Elite 240 Black ARGB V3 All In One CPU Cooler (SKU: COO-TLR-03254) = £39.95

Total: £132.89 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

 

[Gray2233]

That motherboard will not fit, you need MATX.

Not sure which board is best so will let others advise on that, but you should be able to get B650/B850 for around the the same price as the one you listed.

Example PSU and cooler.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95
• 1 x Thermalright Aqua Elite 240 Black ARGB V3 All In One CPU Cooler (SKU: COO-TLR-03254) = £39.95

Total: £132.89 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

The X3D will be better for gaming, especially with city builders etc. everything should fit, @tamzzy has an A3 so should be able to confirm.

Stuck on phone at work ATM so apologies for any guffs.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D Six Core 4.70GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-04829) = £280.00
• 1 x MSI B850M Gaming Plus WIFI6E (AMD AM5) B850 DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-MSI-05943) = £139.99
• 1 x PNY XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-PNY-04561) = £79.99
• 1 x Lian Li A3-mATX Tempered Glass Micro-ATX Case (Black) (SKU: CAS-LIA-04811) = £69.95
• 1 x Thermalright Frozen Warframe SE 360 ARGB Black All In One CPU Cooler - 360mm (SKU: COO-TLR-04551) = £59.99
• 1 x Lian Li Edge Gold 750W Black Power Supply (SKU: POW-LIA-03766) = £85.99
• 1 x XFX Swift 9060 XT Gaming OC Dual Fan 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-XFX-05433) = £329.99
• 1 x Team Group MP44L 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-TMG-03128) = £49.99

Total: £1,107.88 (includes delivery: £11.9
8)​

 

[mrt88]

Just been going over a few bits trying to decide whats best. As i say been out the loop for some time. Pushing the budget here so sure there are a few bits i can cut back on.
if anyone else has any thoughts or ideas that would be great.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Lian Li A3-mATX Tempered Glass Micro-ATX Case (Black) (SKU: CAS-LIA-04811) = £69.95
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DV-AM) = £278.99
• 1 x Kingston FURY Beast EXPO RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C36 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KF556C36BBEAK2-32) (SKU: MY-29S-KS) = £89.98
• 1 x Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9060 XT Gaming 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-SPR-05179) = £359.99
• 1 x WD Blue SN5000 1TB SSD NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-WDC-02652) = £64.99
• 1 x Asus TUF Gaming A620-Pro WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASU-01162) = £140.00
• 1 x NZXT Kraken 280 Black All In One CPU Cooler - 280mm (SKU: HS-02C-NX) = £139.99
• 1 x Lian Li Edge Gold 750W Black Power Supply (SKU: POW-LIA-03766) = £85.99

Total: £1,241.87 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

 

[Tetras]

Pushing the budget here so sure there are a few bits i can cut back on.

You don't need an AIO for that CPU, it actually comes with a half decent cooler (at least, it used to), so you can get away with nothing.

Alternatively a £15-£20 thermalright single tower would be more than adequate (they do a digital version with a temperature readout). I think the freezer 36 fit quite well in the A3, but I can't recall why I thought that.

I'd swap the PSU for the Phanteks AMP GH, just because I'm not sure if there are compatibility issues with the extended part out of the back? The A3 has several different mounting positions, so maybe it wouldn't matter, but I've always tried to pick a PSU that is compact for this case (which the AMP GH is).

Given the type of games being played, I'd switch to Crucial's 48GB kit that is £100, an extra tenner is worth it for the headroom.

The XFX dual fan 9060 XT 16GB saves £30.

You could get a motherboard like Gigabyte's B850M D3HP, which would save a few pennies.

Please note about your choice:

That motherboard will not fit, you need MATX.

 

[DotA]

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £160.99
• 1 x Crucial P310 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 NVMe Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-03049) = £61.99
• 1 x MSI MPG B650I Edge WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 Mini ITX Motherboard (SKU: MB-374-MS) = £190.00
• 1 x Crucial Pro 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - White (SKU: MEM-CRU-03115) = £79.99
• 1 x Lian Li A3-mATX Tempered Glass Micro-ATX Case (White) (SKU: CAS-LIA-04812) = £69.95
• 1 x XFX Swift Radeon RX 9070 OC Triple 90mm Fan Gaming Edition White 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-XFX-05499) = £529.99
• 1 x Lian Li SP850W SFX Modular 80 Plus Gold Power Supply - White (SKU: CA-7B5-LL) = £119.99
• 1 x Arctic P12 Pro PST White PWM Fan - 120mm (SKU: COO-ARC-05877) = £6.95

Total: £1,231.84 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

ITX PSU and MB, means that you can fit full fat GPUs in and then also 360mm AIO in top at a future date.

Squizzed a 9070 in but if you want a 360 aio there is the Lian li hydroshift 360 and downgrade the GPU to a 9060xt for around the same price, however you will have more gaming performance now with the 9070 compared to the 9060xt 16gb.

7600 can be upgraded at a latter date as well, left with stock cooler to save on costs and not needing more then that as its a 65w CPU. the 9600x sometimes goes for same price and its about 10% more performance.

the only thing this might need in some extra fans.

 

[DotA]

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £160.99
• 1 x Crucial P310 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 NVMe Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-03049) = £61.99
• 1 x Lian Li Edge Gold 750W Black Power Supply (SKU: POW-LIA-03766) = £86.00
• 1 x PNY XLR8 Gaming EPIC-X 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-51200C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-PNY-04564) = £77.98
• 1 x Lian Li A3-mATX Tempered Glass Micro-ATX Case (Black) (SKU: CAS-LIA-04811) = £69.95
• 1 x XFX Quicksilver Radeon RX 9070 XT Gaming Edition 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-XFX-05452) = £619.99
• 1 x Asrock B850M Pro RS (Socket AM5) DDR5 mATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASR-04007) = £149.99

Total: £1,238.88 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

This one has MATX parts but can fit a 9070xt into the build. Same idea of using a stock cooler initally but would only from what i can see have a 240mm AIO inplace to upgrade to rather then the 360 AIO.

 

[DotA]

Il also add, dont go for a Motheboard with the x16 slot in the 2nd slot down like this MSI board https://www.overclockers.co.uk/msi-...b850-micro-atx-motherboard-mot-msi-05943.html

It will make it hard to fit GPUs and also fans at the bottom.

 

[mrt88]

Hi all, Thank you so much for all the help so far. Taken suggestions from everyone so far and have come up with this.
Couple of bits im not sure on.

• M.2 compatibility, is it ok for that motherboard ?
• shame the motherboard is mostly white, is there anything similar in black, had a good look and didnt find much (i'm no expert so probably missed it)
• i appreciate everyone's suggestions on the cooler, as an aio is probably overkill for this cpu. It's more for looks as thats what she wanted but if anyone can suggest a nice looking air cooler im all ears.
• Would you change anything else ? im really pushing the budget here and would be nice to stick to under £1200.

Thanks again everyone, would be lost without everyone's suggestions.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Lian Li A3-mATX Tempered Glass Micro-ATX Case (Black) (SKU: CAS-LIA-04811) = £69.95
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7700 Eight Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DV-AM) = £278.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.94
• 1 x XFX Swift 9060 XT Gaming OC Dual Fan 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-XFX-05433) = £329.99
• 1 x Asrock B850M Pro RS (Socket AM5) DDR5 mATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASR-04007) = £149.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance RGB EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C40 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRS-05112) = £98.99
• 1 x WD Black SN7100 1TB SSD NVME M.2 2280 PCIe 4.0 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-WDC-04134) = £69.95
• 1 x Thermalright Grand Vision 240 ARGB Black All In One CPU Cooler - 240mm (SKU: COO-TLR-03751) = £99.94

Total: £1,182.74 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

 

[iamgigglz]

You have plenty clearance in that case for an air cooler - can't go wrong with a Peerless Assassin (there's also a plain black one if you prefer). That would save you £70, which will get you an Asus TUF motherboard with £20 change.
You're also going to want at least one intake fan at the front, preferably two. Go with something from Phanteks or Noctua.

You can get slightly faster ram for £1 more.

Also, I hate to be that guy, but budget for Windows? Just checking you haven't forgotten even though it's not entirely necessary.

 

[Freddie1980]

Ideally get an SSD with a DRAM cache, day to day loading games, Windows etc it doesn't make any difference but if you expect to be opening large zip files (game mods for example) or doing any sort of data transfer it will make a big difference.

 

[adrichardson81]

Might be worth going for a Phantom Spirit over the Peerless Assassin. It's slightly better.

 

[Gray2233]

Would you change anything else ? im really pushing the budget here and would be nice to stick to under £1200.

As I mentioned earlier, the 7600X3D will be superior for games, especially city builder/4x type titles and is the same price as the 7700 you've selected. The extra cores of the 7700 will rarely be of any use outside of niche scenarios, the extra L3 cache of the X3D absolutely can and will help and is well known for being beneficial to the genres in question even at higher resolutions.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D Six Core 4.70GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-04829) = £280.00

Total: £283.99 (includes delivery: £3.99)​

 

[Tetras]

If you're mainly playing city builder type games I'd get 48GB instead of the 32GB.

I believe the freezer 36 fits quite well in that case, for sure I'd not be paying £100 to cool a 7700.

 

[Gray2233]

If you're mainly playing city builder type games I'd get 48GB instead of the 32GB.

I believe the freezer 36 fits quite well in that case, for sure I'd not be paying £100 to cool a 7700.

The main reason to go with an AiO with the A3 is due to when it's topped mounted those three fans are really good for exhausting heat followed by space over an air cooler.

That said, there's Thermalright 360mm AiO's for £40-50 that would do the job just as well as the one selected.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Thermalright Aqua Elite 360 Black ARGB V3 All In One CPU Cooler (SKU: COO-TLR-03256) = £49.99

Total: £53.99 (includes delivery: £3.99)​