Advice on best pre-build for £1000

Bloodrayne · 10 Jul 2022 at 09:56

Hi all,

I have an old PC, I used to keep up-to-date with things but then I had a child and free time and money went missing...

So, my current spec is:

Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor
Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
Corsair Builder Series CX 600W V2 '80 Plus' Certified Power Supply (CMPSU-600CXV2)
BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Case - Black
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX)
Corsair A50 High-Performance CPU Cooler (Socket AM2/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366)
MSI GTX 980 Ti Twin Frozr 6G 6 GB Gaming Graphics Card
HDD is a combination of HDD/SSD, system was originally built when SSDs were expensive so I used to run a smaller SSD with OS and all games on a 1TB HDD; but now have a 500GB SSD and the 1TB HDD... I don't think this is much on an issue though.

Essentially, given the age of this, I am now of a mind to change the case (BitFenix Shinobi cases get some unpleasant stickiness on the 'soft touch' part), and downgrade it to a PC for my son to use for school work (oh, and maybe Minecraft...)

My issue is that I'd like any new PC to probably come in at around £1000 , is there either a strong candidate for something that would be a decent starting point and step-up from the above that can then aim to improve smaller parts of (RAM, etc) to ensure it'll still run games on reasonable settings? It's not like I play much cutting edge stuff (this build lasted me through Witcher 3, which was probably the last 'new' game I played), but it's good to have something that can handle more strenuous things (for example, I tried to play Kingdom Come: Deliverance on the above, and it was horrendous and even struggled on low settings).

Thanks

Haz123 · 10 Jul 2022 at 12:12

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/ocuk...tel-12th-gen-core-i5-gaming-pc-fs-1dy-og.html - Check out this configurator for best performance/£

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Intel Enthusiast Gaming Bundle - Monster Hunter Rise plus Hitman III and Dolmen (SKU: XX-028-IN) = £0.00
1 x OcUK Gaming Firefly Plus - Intel 12th Gen Core i5 Gaming PC (SKU: FS-1DY-OG) = £1,049.95
- Case: 1 x Kolink Citadel Mesh RGB Micro-ATX Case - Black
- CPU: 1 x *Build* Intel Core i5 12400F up to 4.4GHz Turbo - Six Core, Twelve Thread Processor
- Memory: 1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey
- Graphics Card: 1 x MSI Radeon RX 6600 MECH 2X 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card
- Solid State Drive: 1 x WD Blue 500GB 3D NAND SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive *SI STOCK* (WDS500G2B0A)
- Operating System: 1 x Microsoft Windows 11 Home 64-Bit DVD - OEM (KW9-00632)

If you were to go for this type of build then I would ring up and get them to change the psu to a Corsair/Phanteks/Seasonic unit and not the Kolink it is likely to be and maybe look at a different cpu cooler for £30 or so.

Bloodrayne · 11 Jul 2022 at 09:25

Excellent - thank you, I think I could stretch another couple of hundred to ensure I get a decent cooler and PSU (recommendations welcome!); but really useful to know that it's a good starting point.

mickyflinn · 11 Jul 2022 at 10:30

This configaration gives you more options , change it to your requirements.

OcUK Tech Labs Intel 12th Gen Midi Gaming PC Configurator

Order OcUK Tech Labs Intel 12th Gen Midi Gaming PC Configurator now online and benefit from fast delivery.

www.overclockers.co.uk

Joxeon · 12 Jul 2022 at 14:06

This would be a solid gaming PC if you fancied building it yourself.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x MSI B550M PRO-VDH WiFi (AMD AM4) B550 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-358-MS) = £109.99
1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (SKU: MY-0AK-TG) = £49.99
1 x Seasonic Focus GX-750 750W 80+ Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-06U-SS) = £84.95
1 x WD Black SN850 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T1X0E) (SKU: HD-57H-WD) = £89.99
1 x Kolink Citadel Mesh Micro-ATX Case - Black (SKU: CA-051-KK) = £52.99
1 x AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Six Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3D2-AM) = £179.99
1 x MSI Radeon RX 6700 XT Mech 2X 12GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-37S-MS) = £449.99
1 x AMD RAISE THE GAME - Up To 3 Games with RX 6000 Series Graphics Cards (SKU: XX-038-AM) = £0.00

Total: £1,029.59 (includes delivery: £11.70)

Audioboxer · 13 Jul 2022 at 15:36

I fully recommend you build yourself, with a budget like £1000 it will definitely get you your best bang for buck. Might take a bit more time to research, put the pieces together and then a day to build it when it arrives, but you'll be soo much better in the long run.

This for example is a part bundle, which is actually a decent price https://www.overclockers.co.uk/amd-...-b550-aorus-elite-ax-v2-bundle-bu-02c-am.html On order though. Still might be worth a purchase and then sit tight as OCUK stock can appear out of thin air at times lol.

Outside of that, always worth browsing OCUK B grade stuff. Ignore the pricing on quite a lot of it, it's often not updated to reflect new prices. If you ever find something in B grade you're interested in, message OCUK and ask about the best price/make an offer.

AM4 is at a good price point just now (5600x is probably one of the best all rounders), when AM5 launches, like with graphics cards launches, the prices of AM4 will go up due to supply and demand. People who don't manage to get in at the AM5 launch will get impatient and spend money on AM4 and retailers AM4 stock will likely be low as it is.

Whenever you're going to invest in a new system the core questions are what is my absolute budget and am I strict to it, what am I going to use my system for and how long do I hope this new build is going to last me. Answer those honestly and you can quite quickly suss out what you can likely aim for.

Bloodrayne · 13 Jul 2022 at 19:53

@Joxeon - no issues with building myself, I did my current PC myself (well, actually it started as an Evesham computer, but then...), but I am older and time poor and it just seemed easier to start again with a pre-build and then tinker with that.

I'm more tied to Nvidia (have the Shield for TV streaming - which works well after the Steam Link started lagging horribly on the same connection) than Radeon though.

@Audioboxer

Whenever you're going to invest in a new system the core questions are what is my absolute budget and am I strict to it, what am I going to use my system for and how long do I hope this new build is going to last me. Answer those honestly and you can quite quickly suss out what you can likely aim for.

Good point - I'd say £1,200 tops for this, thought about upgrading what I had, realised I'd just need to build a new system and when I first had that thought graphics cards were gold dust... after another 10 months or so (I don't rush things it would seem) the market looks a bit better?

Anything would be an improvement on what I have, so it's just a case of pitching a nice PC that offers more performance, as well as the ability to upgrade without another massive over-haul in a few years time.

Haz123 · 13 Jul 2022 at 22:22

Well you can get more value and get to choose the core component more easily if you build yourself.

Here is the core of a build without a gpu or OS.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Intel Core i5-12400F 2.50GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6AR-IN) = £169.99
1 x MSI MAG B660M Mortar WIFI DDR4 - Intel B660 DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-36G-MS) = £159.95
1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (SKU: MY-0AJ-TG) = £95.99
1 x WD Black SN850 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T1X0E) (SKU: HD-57H-WD) = £89.99
1 x Seasonic Focus GX-750 750W 80+ Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-06U-SS) = £84.94
1 x Kolink Citadel Mesh Micro-ATX Case - Black (SKU: CA-051-KK) = £53.00
1 x Arctic Freezer i35 Intel CPU Cooler (SKU: HS-080-AR) = £29.98

Total: £695.54 (includes delivery: £11.70)

GPUs have come down a lot in the past couple of months and all inidications seem to be they will keep dropping until the next gen are released. You can currently get a 3070ti from Nvidia for £550, 3060ti FE is best value for £370 and they have been staying in stock for a few days when they drop so not impossible to get anymore. I know most peoples preference is for Nv but you can get 6800xt 6800 or 6700xt for excellent prices at moment as well. All of these will be much better than the 6600 in the original prebuild I linked.

OS - If you go for a 12400 then it only has performance cores so you do not need the fancy thread scheduler in Win11 and you can easily use Win10, AMD also has this benefit for choice of OS . If you were to go for a 12600 or better then they have the P and E cores so Win11 is a better option.

You should certainly stick to a sensible budget for yourself but self building opens up so many more options.

Bloodrayne · 14 Jul 2022 at 20:44

@Haz123 - excellent, thank you - I would think that if I went for a better motherboard (and took the cost hit) that would make future upgrades less of an ordeal as it would be a solid base to build on? That's the logic that used to work for me anyway... Also thanks for the GPU feedback, good to know!