£2200 Budget advice needed

[Marshstyles]

Hi,

A buddy of mine has asked me to spec a PC for him. I said I know just the place

The budget is £2500 total, and he will need everything. I think its best to keep £300 back so he can buy the peripherals he wants and some games.

Purely a gaming pc, overclocking is doubtful and he would like to build it himself. An OEM version of windows will be sourced from elsewhere.

I was thinking a 5600x with a 3060ti or 3070 but OCUK do have any in stock to add to my basket

Here is what I have put together

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £329.99
• 1 x Asus ROG Strix B550-E Gaming (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard= £199.99
• 1 x WD Black 1TB SN750 M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0C)= £119.99
• 1 x WD Black 500GB SN750 M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS500G3X0C)= £64.99
• 1 x Thermal Grizzly Kryonaut High Performance Thermal Paste - 1 Gramm= £5.99
• 1 x Acer Predator XB273UGS 27" 2560x1440 IPS 165Hz 0.5ms FreeSync/G-Sync Widescreen LED Gaming Monitor= £499.99
• 1 x MSI MPG Gungnir 110R Mid-Tower ARGB Gaming Case - Black Tempered Glass= £99.95
• 1 x MSI MAG CORELIQUID 240R ARGB Performance Liquid CPU Cooler - 240mm= £119.99
• 1 x Corsair RMx Series RMx750 750W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020179-UK)= £121.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit= £98.99
• 2 x Team Group 32GB C175 Portable USB3.2 Flash Drive - Black (TC175332GB01)= £4.99

Total: £1,671.84 (includes shipping: £0.00)​

​

please feel free to change or adjust anything.

I've added a couple of usb drive as I think the bios might need flashing to worth with the 5600x

I've left £500 for the graphics card

 

[VonScar]

The only graphics card to fit that budget at moment is the RTX 3060 Ti, and that is out of stock.

The MSI version, which I am guessing you may prefer is £578.99. Of course the prices may differ for other models.

▷ MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Gaming X Trio 8GB GDD… | OcUK (overclockers.co.uk)

The cheapest one is the Palit and that was £449.99.

For gaming CPU's in Zen 3 don't truly differ much, it does not really boost your potential. Perhaps the 3600, to save a £112.00? Video below supports the point. On Zen 3, Zen 2 may need another example!

Ryzen 5 5600X vs. Ryzen 7 5800X vs. Ryzen 9 5900X & 5950X: GPU Scaling Benchmark - YouTube

 

[mickyflinn]

Alteenatve 27 inch monitor

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/giga...e-curved-widescreen-led-gaming-mo-008-gi.html

32 inch.

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

 

[Joxeon]

For that sort of price I'd atleast want an RTX 3080.

 

[dfour]

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Arctic Liquid Freezer II High Performance CPU Water Cooler - 240mm= £79.99

Total: £88.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)​

​

Better rated AIO if you can find one.

 

[lee32uk]

I agree that a 3060 ti is a bit weak for a £2500 pc.

If you tweak things around it is possible to fit a 3080 in there. Note that the AMD W5700 GPU is just there to show the price, as you can't add any gpu's that are pre-order to your basket. So obviously change it to an RTX 3080 or RX 6800 XT etc. Getting a gpu is hard though, and even 2nd hand or lower end is nuts for pricing.

The case is personal pref, but the Lian-Li should have much better airflow than that MSI one.

Slightly cheaper Motherboard and it still has wifi 6. The Asus is fine though if you prefer that one.

I would just go with a single SSD for Windows/Games. Depending on how much money is left you could change it to the 2TB version.

The Alpenfohn Brocken 3 is cheaper, and more than enough for a 5600X. Spending £120 on a cooler is a bit of a waste.

Slightly cheaper 750W psu. Same length warranty.

A 32GB 3600MHz kit of Ram.

Cheaper 1440p monitor as mentioned above.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £329.99
• 1 x MSI MPG B550 Gaming Edge WiFi (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard= £179.99
• 1 x WD Blue SN550 1TB NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0C)= £94.99
• 1 x Lian-Li Lancool II Mesh RGB Midi-Tower Case - Black= £96.40
• 1 x Alpenfohn Brocken 3 CPU Cooler - 140mm= £42.95
• 1 x Seasonic Focus GX-750 750W 80+ Gold Modular Power Supply= £112.99
• 1 x Kingston HyperX Fury RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C18 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit= £154.99
• 1 x AMD Radeon Pro W5700 Professional Graphics Card - 8GB GDDR5 - 2304 Stream Processors= £849.95
• 1 x Gigabyte G27QC-EK 27" 2560x1440 VA 165Hz 1ms FreeSync/G-Sync Compatible Curved Widescreen LED Gaming= £349.99
• 2 x Team Group 32GB C175 Portable USB3.2 Flash Drive - Black (TC175332GB01)= £4.99

Total: £2,250.24 (includes shipping: £28.02)​

​

 

[Marshstyles]

Thanks for the inputs.

There was not preference for case and cpu cooler, I just thought they looked pretty good together

I hear the argument against the 3060ti and i think the monitor I selected it just stealing the funds for a better GPU.

I selected it as I have the earlier version, the Acer Predator XB271HU and it is still, almost 5 years on, the best looking monitor I've used.

I have a 5800x and 3080 and it is just overkill. This is why I was leaning to a lower GPU and superior monitor.

As for the SSD I like to have a dedicated drive for games, just again thinking what I would do.

Obviously this build isn't going to happen until GPUs become available and I'll be listening to advice until then.

 

[jimbobule]

I think the main point that is being missed with this build is the gaming aspect.
What does your friend want to do with his new PC?

- Does he want to play older AAA games, esports or newer AAA?
- Is it for competitive gaming?
- Does he personally prefer image quality over performance? Personally, I think 4K is great, even 60hz

.. the danger is that he could easily end up with a £2,500 misfire if we don't know how he's going to use it?...

Older games = upgrade path, lower spend
Older AAA games = mid range PC, something like 1660 super GPU, lower spend
Esports - mid range PC
newer AAA - better gpu, up to higher budge
High Image quality - 4k stable@60hz = 3070 or 3080 and lower CPU spec e.g. intel i510-400f or Ryzen 5 3600
Mid Image quality - 1440p = Mid range or high end GPU
Or high refresh 1080p - Mid range GPU or high end GPU, OC capable CPU e.g. intel i5-10600kf...is only £180+?

 

[Joxeon]

I have a 5800x and 3080 and it is just overkill. This is why I was leaning to a lower GPU and superior monitor.
.

I have the same setup but I wouldn't really call it overkill, in the latest games like cyberpunk, AC Valhalla, watchdogs legion etc I struggle to get over 100fps at 1440p and its only going to get worse as newer more demanding games are released.

If anything I'd cut down on the CPU before the GPU. At 1440p a 10600k would give the same fps for half the price.

 

[jimbobule]

I have the same setup but I wouldn't really call it overkill, in the latest games like cyberpunk, AC Valhalla, watchdogs legion etc I struggle to get over 100fps at 1440p and its only going to get worse as newer more demanding games are released.

If anything I'd cut down on the CPU before the GPU. At 1440p a 10600k would give the same fps for half the price.

Or i5-10600kf (under £200 without GPU) but even a i5-10400f if the real want is to game at 4k, where CPU doesn't matter so much. That's what I'm doing on my son's PC.