Medium Gaming and Image Editing PC Spec

robertgilbert86 · 2025-10-04T12:40:58+0100

Hi everyone, I last got build advice here in 2014 and aside from the GPU that PC has stuck it out this long, but it's time to upgrade. The PC is for medium gaming and image editing (Lightroom) on a 1440p display, and I'm looking for a bang-per-buck level of upgrade.

Components I've got and want to keep: Radeon RX 7600 8GB, case, cd drive, and a million sata drives.

Components required: PSU, motherboard, CPU (+heatsink and fan?), RAM, 2TB SSD, ~4TB HDD.

Would a budget £750 be reasonable? Any help appricated, thanks!

DD_Crash · 2025-10-04T12:50:02+0100

check for m2 drives on your motherboard less wires to connect and hide.

mickyflinn · 2025-10-04T13:49:54+0100

9700x 8 core is a great all rounder at £270
32gb DDR5 6000mhz £100
750w phanteks PSU £85
2tb m2 £100
4tb hard drive £80
Gigabyte gaming b850 £140
Thermalright peerless assassin,,£30

£800. But could go cheaper on cpu

Tetras · 2025-10-04T14:26:05+0100

robertgilbert86 said:
and a million sata drives.

Can you define "a million"?

robertgilbert86 said:
case, cd drive

Which case is that?

robertgilbert86 · 2025-10-04T14:49:26+0100

mickyflinn said:
9700x 8 core is a great all rounder at £270
32gb DDR5 6000mhz £100
750w phanteks PSU £85
2tb m2 £100
4tb hard drive £80
Gigabyte gaming b850 £140
Thermalright peerless assassin,,£30

£800. But could go cheaper on cpu

Yeah I'd probably skimp a bit on CPU as I don't need anything cutting edge, and anything modern should feel like a decent upgrade. The above comes to more like £900 on OCUK at least so I wonder if going to 5600mhz RAM and a Ryzen 5 9600X Six Core is reasonable?

robertgilbert86 · 2025-10-04T14:50:43+0100

Tetras said:
Can you define "a million"?

Which case is that?

SATAs: 4 currently, plus 1 more HDD I'd buy. But most motherboards seem to just be 4x SATA so I'll have to figure that out.

Case: ATX.

mickyflinn · 2025-10-04T15:30:10+0100

robertgilbert86 said:
Yeah I'd probably skimp a bit on CPU as I don't need anything cutting edge, and anything modern should feel like a decent upgrade. The above comes to more like £900 on OCUK at least so I wonder if going to 5600mhz RAM and a Ryzen 5 9600X Six Core is reasonable?

You have to shop wisely to get the most for you hard earned money .

5600 MHz is fine although 6000mhz is ideal and the 9600x is a decent option.

Tetras · 2025-10-04T16:00:46+0100

robertgilbert86 said:
SATAs: 4 currently, plus 1 more HDD I'd buy. But most motherboards seem to just be 4x SATA so I'll have to figure that out.

Case: ATX.

Case: alright, but we could do with knowing the model, for cooling and height/length restrictions for GPU/CPU cooler.

SATA: there are boards with 6, or even 8, but mainly last gen (b650/x870) for AM5.

DD_Crash · 2025-10-04T16:26:50+0100

Why not buy a big drive and copy the contents of some drives to it?