Entry level build

Maeglor

Maeglor

Maeglor

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Hello

My current PC has become very dated having built it back in 2012, I am now looking to build a new PC with a budget of between £500-600 not including OS. But can't seem to make up my mind about AMD, Intel, NVidia, Radeon... basically I'm lost and need help!

I'll only be playing games casually, but want something that is fun to play and superior experience to consoles.

Of the current AAA games I intend to play are Gears of War 5, Resident Evil 3 and Gears Tactics.

I would also like the system to be slightly future proof, with potential upgrade paths rather than building a completely new machine in 2/3 years time.

Any help would be appreciated :)
 

Danny75

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Hi and welcome.

Wifi needed (only if actually needed - it will add some expense)?

What monitor resolution/refresh rate you using?

Do you have any hard drives that are still hopping along fine?
 

Maeglor

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WiFi not needed.

Monitor is separate, looking to update this in due course as well and I've already got a usable mouse and keyboard which I'm happy with

In terms of storage, I'm not looking to transfer the old one across, a standard SSD of a small size will suffice as I've got an external harddrive for all photos etc
 

sideways14a

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500 to 600 notes will not make your machine future proof, then again no amount of money would. However it should still be a decent build for 3 or 4 years.
Obviously this is a job for AMD, the 1600af will have to do for the cpu side (and its a great one anyway) and a 5600 perhaps? over clocked to near 5700 performance.

Anyway i cant be bothered working out each items cost, someones prob beaten me to it anyway and found a better whotsit for less :p
 

Danny75

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Ryzen 5 2600 - £114
WD Blue SN550 500GB M2 NVME - £66
Seasonic Core GC 650W 80+Gold - £70
Sapphire RX 580 Nitro+ Graphics Card, 8GB GDDR5, DVI-D, HDMI, DisplayPort, AMD Refurbished by Sapphire with 12 months warranty ! - £120

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £220.67 (includes shipping: £11.70)​
​

£590 total. Slap a couple of 120mm fans in if you want.

System is good for Ryzen 4000 upgrade (8/12 core), PSU good for top-end GPUs. Case will take coolers up to 160mm so plenty of good choices.

The 1600AF mentioned above is ok if you can find it (from a reputable seller) for about £90. Sometimes that's a chore or price is too close to the 2600. If you look for it, it has to be the 12NM not 14NM version, and YD1600BBAFBOX.
 

Maeglor

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Would the 3200g meet my needs? I'd prefer to order from the same place and OC doesn't stock the 1600af, I can source it from elsewhere if this is going to make a massive difference in performance at a similar price so can be used as a placeholder

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £582.53 (includes shipping: £12.60)​
​
 

sideways14a

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The 1600af is much faster, its a 6 core 12 thread Zen + chip so basically a 2600
The 3200 is not, its an APU with its own built in graphics processor - which is not fast but also not being used if you put in a 1650 in the machine...
...which by the way would be silly as the 1650 is not particularly good.
 

Danny75

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Maeglor said:
Would the 3200g meet my needs?
Click to expand...

Nah. Nobody should buy a four thread CPU for gaming these days. Most times it means instant bottleneck if you play modern-ish games.


Maeglor said:
I'd prefer to order from the same place and OC doesn't stock the 1600af, I can source it from elsewhere if this is going to make a massive difference in performance at a similar price so can be used as a placeholder

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £582.53 (includes shipping: £12.60)
​
Click to expand...

Mobo is poor choice for upgrade compared to Tomahawk MAX with sturdier VRMs/VRM cooling. Ryzen likes fast RAM so 3200 C16 better than 3000 C16. Games are huge these days so would recommend 500GB SSD minimum. Bitfenix 450W has only one PCIe power connector and will limit GPU upgrade options*.

* It has two, got it mixed up with a different 450W. Better than just the one though you'll have to consider what kind of GPU you may upgrade to in future.
 

Maeglor

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Thanks for the input, just out of interest I've been doing a bit of research and most places placed the 1650 Super higher than the 580 but just below the 590 in performance but cheaper what I've seen. I know that some places are fan boys and will always favour one system over the other. Are your recommendations based on experience?

I agree the tomohawk is a better motherboard choice, just saw that the TUF comes with Resident Evil 3 but don't think the board is gen 3 ready let alone capable of gen 4 when that comes out. Am I right in saying that?
 

Danny75

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Maeglor said:
Thanks for the input, just out of interest I've been doing a bit of research and most places placed the 1650 Super higher than the 580 but just below the 590 in performance but cheaper what I've seen. I know that some places are fan boys and will always favour one system over the other. Are your recommendations based on experience?

I agree the tomohawk is a better motherboard choice, just saw that the TUF comes with Resident Evil 3 but don't think the board is gen 3 ready let alone capable of gen 4 when that comes out. Am I right in saying that?
Click to expand...

The TUF will take a 1600AF or 2600, and can be BIOS flashed to be 3000 (if it isn't already) and 4000 ready. It would be fine for 6 core, just not ideal for an 8 or 12 core chip upgrade. Even the more expensive B450 Strix-F is a bit lacking for an 8 core.

1650 Super and RX 580 trade blows. Some games one is faster than the other. The RX has more VRAM (if you get 8GB version) to allow better graphics settings in some games. And £120 for a card with a year's warranty to get you up and running allows for more upgradability elsewhere/SSD storage etc.

When you upgrade monitor to higher res/refresh you'll want a faster card than either anyway, so might as well have spent the extra £50 (price difference) elsewhere in the system. That's my thinking. The 1650 Super and RX 580 8GB are both fine for 1080p 60Hz.
 

Maeglor

Maeglor

Maeglor

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Thanks, really appreciate the advice

I've been shopping around and with ordering from multiple places I've come up with the following:-

MSI B450 Tomahawk Max - £103.99
AMD Ryzen 5 2600x - £119.99
Team Group Dark Force (8GB X 2 - DDR4 3200mhz) - 74.99
Sapphire RX 580 Nitro - £119.00
XPG SX8200 Pro M.2 NVMe SSD 512GB - £79.99
Game Max RGB-550 550W Modular RGB Gold 80 Plus 14cm - £49.00
Kolink Void RGB Case - £46.99

Total = £593.95
Plus delivery costs - £18.20

GTG?
 

Danny75

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If you are brave enough to take a punt on that PSU (I wouldn't). I'd probably take Seasonic 550 Bronze over that.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £68.45 (includes shipping: £10.50)
​

One thing about the case DRGB is it won't plug into the motherboard which only has RGB header. The case does have a controller. You just won't be able to use any additional DRGB stuff, or sync additional RGB stuff with the existing bits. If that's fine (the no-sync), then great. Otherwise would recommend a case with RGB not DRGB, and/or no RGB and adding some RGB in future.
 
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