£1500 build for my lad to play games.

Feek

Feek

Feek

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Evening all,

I know nothing about PC builds these days, absolutely nothing. I have no idea what's hot and what's not. The last time I bought components to build a PC from scratch was when Vista was released.

My lad is using a five year old PC that was built second hand then although it was half decent.

He wants a new 'gaming PC' and he said he wants to be able to play the newest games at top resolution.

His budget is no more than £1500.

His current monitor is a Dell 2408WFP 24" @ 1920x1200. I don't know if that's any good or will need replacing. He has a mouse and keyboard.

He's happy to build it himself (although I expect I'll get called to help).

What's recommended here please?

Thanks.
 
Something like this would be good:

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,537.88 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​

Fantastic price on that monitor at the moment tbh, it's a very solid upgrade from that old Dell.

It's a bit of an iffy time to buy a GPU, we should be seeing the 3000 series out by end of year.

The Mortar B550 is actually in stock as of my writing this, bit of a surprise!

M-ATX build, not sure if an ATX would be preferred or not.

PSU choice is severely limited but the AMP is a Seasonic design and a good performer.

You could opt for a 5700XT instead of the 2070S and save some cash.
 
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My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,346.09 (includes shipping: £13.20)



No monitor, fans, peripherals etc. but depends on what he plays. Could start on the monitor he has and upgrade later, or get a cheap but fast TN monitor. Depends whether he's after speed and/or colour/contrast etc.

As mentioned, slapped together, not check mobo HCL's etc.

Gray2233's shout of the WD blue is fair - more storage at the tradeoff of speed. Depends how many games etc he is likely to install at the same time.​
 
Gray2233 said:
https://www.techspot.com/review/2044-amd-b550-motherboard-vrm/

Good read relating to B550's vs X570's.

The B550 Mortar is actually on par with (or better) than the Asus TUF Gaming X570-Plus in VRM performance for £50 less.

For gaming there's going to be zero difference between a gen 3 and gen 4 NvME drive.
Click to expand...

b550 aorus better then the MSI :D

same price, cheaper or more expensive depending on taste

gets you wifii for x570 prices and beats in it terms of VRM

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...c-amd-am4-b550-atx-motherboard-mb-58y-gi.html

Beating B450 boards with phases whilst keeping the same budget before MSI B450 shot up in pricing - though not fancy

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B550M-AORUS-ELITE-rev-10#kf

@Feek

hunt and pay the extra for aorus 5700XT- 4 yr warranty and coolest GPU temps . Most shops match OCUK pricing. there was 5 in stock the other day but they sell OUT FAST1!

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/aoru...ddr6-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-1bh-gi.html

Super 2070 is a lovely card -

spend the extra £10 for 4 yr UK warranty !

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...ddr6-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-1b5-gi.html

as for monitor. dont mind spending little more but making £40-50 back in steam vouchers and getting 32" vs 27" and 165hz vs 144hz .

https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/gigabyte-g32qc-gaming-monitor-steam-credit-offer.18890376/

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...ed-backlit-curved-gaming-monit-mo-006-gi.html

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,576.46 (includes shipping: £19.62)​
​
 
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Feek said:
Thanks, that seems perfectly reasonable. Is that absolutely everything he'd need? Do CPUs come with thermal gunk these days?
Click to expand...

Yup.

The stock HSF for the 3600 is decent for gaming, if he wants to do some video editing or something that will push the chip more it could be an idea to get a decent £20-30 HSF.

I'd normally recommend the 3700X for longevity as Gaijin did, but with a good B550 like the Mortar there's nothing stopping you putting in a 4950X or something silly down the line if it's ever required so the 3600 is a good saving to allow for the monitor.

orbitalwalsh said:
b550 aorus better then the MSI :D

same price, cheaper or more expensive depending on taste

gets you wifii for x570 prices and beats in it terms of VRM

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...c-amd-am4-b550-atx-motherboard-mb-58y-gi.html

Beating B450 boards with phases whilst keeping the same budget before MSI B450 shot up in pricing - though not fancy
l
Click to expand...

It's £50-60 more expensive on OCUK and not in stock though, and ATX vs M-ATX so the OP would need to find a decent budget case. :p

The M-ATX Elite isn't in stock either.

Tbh I'm surprised the B550 Mortar is in stock.
 
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Feek said:
He’s happy with that, that’ll do. Thanks.
Click to expand...

No worries he'll have himself a great little gaming rig there! :)

You may want to think about grabbing an extra fan or two as the case only comes with the two fitted as intakes.

I'd grab at least one more to fit as an exhaust on the back.

Obviously it doesn't have to be RGB. :D

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £14.99 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​
 
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