Advice please for budget gaming machine

Chrismk · 20 Jun 2024 at 11:00

I appreciate 'budget' and 'gaming' aren't much of a match but I've been tasked with helping a 15 year old who wants his first desktop.
He has been busy saving and has a budget of £900 which he appreciates isn't going to set the world alight!
I've been out of the loop for a few years so not very familiar with current components.
I'm happy to build something for him if that turns out to be the best option.
He plays Red Dead Redemption, Fallout 4 and GTA. He is a realist in terms of performance!
Thanks.

mickyflinn · 20 Jun 2024 at 11:21

Monitor, peripherals, WiFi needed ?

Chrismk · 20 Jun 2024 at 14:33

Monitor and wi-fi please! Peripherals OK

Gray2233 · 20 Jun 2024 at 14:37

Chrismk said:
Monitor and wi-fi please! Peripherals OK

Does he have a HDTV he could use, and buy a monitor down the line?

That's really going to eat into his budget otherwise, if so you could build the following:

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £172.99
1 x TeamGroup Delta RGB 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Ki (SKU: MY-0AT-TG) = £99.95
1 x Asus Prime B650M-A WIFI II (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6K6-AS) = £129.95
1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £64.99
1 x Aerocool Dryft Mini v2 Micro-ATX Case (SKU: CAS-AER-00607) = £55.00
1 x Corsair RMx Series RM750x 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (CP-9020199-UK) (SKU: CA-266-CS) = £95.65

Total: £618.53 (includes delivery: £0.00)

Look up the XFX 6750XT, it can be had for £299 currently which would bring you to just over £900. Obviously you'd need to build it yourself, Windows isn't included either but you can do so via USB and keys can be had for £5-10, you can even run it without a key and it'll work fine outside of a watermark and some minor functionality loss.

Putting aside £150-200 on top for a monitor could end up punting him into a last gen/dead end platform, AM5 will be upgradeable for years to come.

pepp77 · 20 Jun 2024 at 14:44

I have a 6700XT and have no issues playing any of those games at decent settings and FPS. If a monitor is a must then you can get some decent 100hz 27" 1080p monitors in the £100-£120 area.

I actually use my 6700XT with a 1440p 27" 75hz monitor and as I only play single player games I use VSync and generally play on highish overall settings. Alan Wake II I play on Medium/High and have no issues hitting the 75FPS average according to AMD.

Tetras · 20 Jun 2024 at 14:50

Intel/nvidia option:

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Intel Core i5-12400F 2.50GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6AR-IN) = £98.99
1 x MSI Pro B760-P WIFI DDR4 (LGA 1700) DDR4 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-37J-MS) = £129.98
1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (SKU: MY-0AJ-TG) = £59.99
1 x MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ventus 2X OC 12GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-374-MS) = £265.39
1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £65.00
1 x B Grade Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower Case - Black (SKU: BG-06C-PT) = £39.91
1 x Phanteks AMP 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-09Q-PT) = £89.99

1 x MSI 27" PRO MP275Q 2560x1440 IPS 100Hz sRGB 100% Business Productivity Monitor (SKU: MON-MSI-02163) = £148.99

Total: £898.24 (includes delivery: £0.00)

If you don't like b-grade cases, I'd consider these:

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Phanteks Eclipse P400S Glass Midi Tower Case - Noise Dampened Gun Metal (SKU: CA-06A-PT) = £69.95
1 x Phanteks XT Pro ATX Case Tempered Glass Window, Black (SKU: CAS-PHK-01442) = £50.99

Total: £132.92 (includes delivery: £11.98)

The first comes with 4 fans, the second only 1, but it should be sufficient for that PC if you don't have any spares.

Chrismk · 20 Jun 2024 at 16:38

Wow, thanks everyone. Plenty to think about and I'll ask about the HDTV.

jigger · 20 Jun 2024 at 23:42

Graphics card and monitor choice might be a little limited.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3CC-AM) = £112.99
1 x Gigabyte B550 Gaming X V2 (AMD AM4) B550 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-594-GI) = £104.99
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 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (SKU: MY-0AJ-TG) = £59.99
1 x KIOXIA EXCERIA G2 1TB SSD NVME M.2 2280 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-TSH-00981) = £58.99
1 x Aerocool CS-107 v2 FRGB Mini Tower Case - Black (SKU: CA-23F-AE) = £28.99
1 x Seasonic G12-GC-650 650W 80+ Gold Power Supply (SKU: CA-07M-SS) = £74.99

Total: £558.92 (includes delivery: £7.99)