Budget Gaming PC Build

[Matthew Sheridan]

Hi, I want to build my first gaming PC and i've picked some parts but haven't yet ordered anything, What do you think of this list and is there anything I should change?

Processor – AMD Ryzen 5 1500x
Motherboard – Asus STRIX B350-F ATX (don't really care about the RGB but lots of people say its good)
RAM – Ballistix sport LT 8gb stick 1x (Is 2x 4GB sticks better?)
SSD – Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
Hard Drive – WD 30EFRX 3TB (already own this)
GPU – MSI GTX 1050 ti gaming x 4GB
Power Supply – Corsair VS450W ATX
Monitor – AOC G2460PF OR Asus VG245H
Case – Corsair 270R windowed Mid-tower ATX

My cousin also has a used i5 6600k which he would sell me for £100, is this better than the Ryzen 5 or does the ryzen 5 perform better, I have a budget of around £850 but already have peripherals except monitor. I don't need it to be VR ready but want to play things like fortnite or forza horizen 3 at 1080 medium settings at 60 FPS. If you have any better suggestions please let me know.

Thanks

 

[orbitalwalsh]

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 Six Core 1600 3.60GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £164.99
• 1 x Gigabyte GA-AB350-Gaming 3 AMD B350 (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard= £86.99
• 1 x Crucial MX300 525GB SSD SATA 6Gbps 3D Nand 7mm Solid State Drive (CT525MX300SSD1)= £149.99
• 1 x Team Group Vulcan T-Force 8GB (2x4GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black/Grey (TLGD4= £99.95
• 1 x Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1050Ti D5 Mini 4096MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £169.99
• 1 x AOC M2470SWH 23.6" 1920x1080 VA Widescreen LED Multimedia Monitor - Black= £89.99
• 1 x EVGA 450BT 450W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply= £37.99
• 1 x AeroCool Aero-300 FAW Midi-Tower - Black Window= £32.99

Total: £845.48 (includes shipping: £12.60)​

​

For better GPU and pre-built

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x AOC M2470SWH 23.6" 1920x1080 VA Widescreen LED Multimedia Monitor - Black= £89.99
• 1 x OcUK Gaming Vision VR Gaming PC - Intel 8th Generation 3.6GHz Quad Core = £788.99
  • Processor:*Build Promo* Intel Core i3-8100 3.6GHz (Coffee Lake) Quad Core Processor
  • Memory:*Build Stock* Team Group Vulcan T-Force 8GB (1x8GB) DDR4 PC4-19200C14 2400MHz - Grey
  • Graphics Card:Zotac GeForce GTX 1060 Mini 6144MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card
  • Solid State Drive:Samsung 250GB 850 EVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 32 Layer 3D V-NAND Solid State Drive (MZ-75E250B/EU)
  • CPU Cooler:Unwanted
  • Casehanteks Eclipse P400 Midi Tower Case - Black Window
  • WIFI:Unwanted

Total: £894.88 (includes shipping: £15.90)​

​

 

[Quartz]

You really want a GPU better than a GTX 1050 Ti. Try to stretch to a 6 GB GTX1060.

 

[Aphex8T3]

I use a GTX 970 4gb and it's half decent.

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

You really want a GPU better than a GTX 1050 Ti. Try to stretch to a 6 GB GTX1060.

Ok thanks for the feedback Quartz, is the rest of the build ok? should i go with the ryzen 5 1500x or intel i5 6600k?

 

[tamzzy]

forza horizen 3

MSI GTX 1050 ti gaming x 4GB

recommended gpu is a 970/1060 fyi.
your budget is a bit too low currently to get the recommended gpu new, unless you source a used 970

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

recommended gpu is a 970/1060 fyi.
your budget is a bit too low currently to get the recommended gpu new, unless you source a used 970

I can get a used MSI gtx 1060 6gb gaming x used on ebay for around £300, my cousin is selling a gtx 1070 8gb for £350, how much better would that be than the 1060 and would it fit into this build? Also which would be better to use, i5 6600K or the Ryzen 5 1500x or is there something else i should use. For the monitor i know someone who can get me a very cheap monitor which will do untill i get enough money to buy a better one. And i know a 100% Legal way to get windows 10 home for free with just a few missing features which will save me about £100 to start with. Thanks

 

[tamzzy]

MSI gtx 1060 6gb gaming x used on ebay for around £300

that's not much cheaper than a new one, and you don't get the benefit of warranty

my cousin is selling a gtx 1070 8gb for £350

an okay-ish price currently

how much better would that be than the 1060 and would it fit into this build

the 1070 is about 30% faster than a 1060 6gb - if you can get it for £350, you should - i'm assuming that your cousin will help you out should you need to use the warranty
*ALTHOUGH*, that being said, that will only leave you £500 for the other parts.

i5 6600K or the Ryzen 5 1500x or is there something else i should use

something else. the 1600 in @orbitalwalsh 's spec is the one i'd recommend.
*AGAIN ALTHOUGH* unless your cousin is selling the 6600k with a heatsink and motherboard - and it has to be less than £250 for it to be worth considering. the reason is that the ryzen 1600 + mobo costs £250. and this is better value than a 6600k + new mobo + cooler.
so unless you can get a good deal on the 6600k spec, the obvious choice is the ryzen 1600 (4c4t on the 6600k vs 6c12t of the 1600)

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

something else. the 1600 in @orbitalwalsh 's spec is the one i'd recommend.
*AGAIN ALTHOUGH* unless your cousin is selling the 6600k with a heatsink and motherboard - and it has to be less than £250 for it to be worth considering. the reason is that the ryzen 1600 + mobo costs £250. and this is better value than a 6600k + new mobo + cooler.
so unless you can get a good deal on the 6600k spec, the obvious choice is the ryzen 1600 (4c4t on the 6600k vs 6c12t of the 1600)

What do you mean by heatsink? He says it comes with a cooler and he does have a motherboard (Asus H11OM-R) which he could sell me for £25 but i read that thats not much good. So should i get the 1070 8gb from him and then get the ryzen 5 1600 and Gigabyte GA-AB350? (How many USB ports does that have?) Or is there a better motherboard than that which i should go with? And then get 8gb ram and an SSD and then i'll be set

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

something else. the 1600 in @orbitalwalsh 's spec is the one i'd recommend.
*AGAIN ALTHOUGH* unless your cousin is selling the 6600k with a heatsink and motherboard - and it has to be less than £250 for it to be worth considering. the reason is that the ryzen 1600 + mobo costs £250. and this is better value than a 6600k + new mobo + cooler.
so unless you can get a good deal on the 6600k spec, the obvious choice is the ryzen 1600 (4c4t on the 6600k vs 6c12t of the 1600)

Also how upgradable would this be in the future? And should this be able to play Forza horizon 3 at mediam-high settings at 30-60 FPS?

I'm playing fortnite at the moment quite a lot but i want to replay subnautica as well now that its fully released and i'm looking at getting overwatch and forza horizon, would this system be able to run these games well?

 

[tamzzy]

What do you mean by heatsink?

heatsink = cooler. same thing, different names

He says it comes with a cooler and he does have a motherboard (Asus H11OM-R) which he could sell me for £25 but i read that thats not much good.

Or is there a better motherboard than that which i should go with?

correct, it isn't and it won't allow the 6600k to be overclocked. you'd be looking at a new mobo ~£120 to pair with that cpu. also, the stock cooler that comes with the 6600k is terrible, so you'll need to spend another £35ish to truely unlock the cpu's potential.

So should i get the 1070 8gb from him and then get the ryzen 5 1600 and Gigabyte GA-AB350?

And then get 8gb ram and an SSD and then i'll be set

again, your budget isn't enough you'd be looking at >£1000 total spend

(How many USB ports does that have?) Or is there a better motherboard than that which i should go with?

(1) 6 on the back, (2) no this mobo is fine.

Also how upgradable would this be in the future?

amd is committed to supporting the socket until 2020, so it's a case of dropping in the new cpu after a bios flash in the future

And should this be able to play Forza horizon 3 at mediam-high settings at 30-60 FPS?

depends on the graphics card. paired with the ryzen 1600 - 1050ti, probably not/just about. 1060, yes. 1070, yes.

I'm playing fortnite at the moment quite a lot but i want to replay subnautica as well now that its fully released and i'm looking at getting overwatch and forza horizon, would this system be able to run these games well?

forza is the most demanding game that you've listed. so the other games will run better.


#walloftext lol

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

correct, it isn't and it won't allow the 6600k to be overclocked. you'd be looking at a new mobo ~£120 to pair with that cpu.
#walloftext lol

So should i get ryzen 5 1600 with Gigabyte Mobo or intel i5 6600k and find a different mother board?

again, your budget isn't enough you'd be looking at >£1000 total spend
#walloftext lol

I think that if i just get a crappy monitor and windows 10 for free i should be fine

£350 – gtx 1070
£250 – ryzen and Gigabyte Ga-AB350 5 OR i5 6600k and Mobo
£80 – £100 8gb DDR4 ram
£80 – samsung Evo 250gb 2.5 inch SSD
£60/70 – Case
£25 – Corsair 450W power supply used from cousin
Hard drive i already own.
I can probably ask someone i know who works with computers to lend my a monitor for a while for free

Total: £850

How does that setup sound?

 

[tamzzy]

So should i get ryzen 5 1600 with Gigabyte Mobo or intel i5 6600k and find a different mother board?

1600

£25 – Corsair 450W power supply used from cousin

that's cutting it close with a 1070 in the build. honestly. recommend 550w.

£80 – £100 8gb DDR4 ram

sufficient for now, at least it'll be an easy upgrade to drop in another 2x4gb sticks in the future for 16gb ram

How does that setup sound?

very decent except for the psu wattage.

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

1600
sufficient for now, at least it'll be an easy upgrade to drop in another 2x4gb sticks in the future for 16gb ram

should i get x2 4GB sticks or x1 8gb stick, i've heard that x2 4Gb sticks is better but it gives me less upgradability cause it uses up 2 spaces instead of 1.

1600
that's cutting it close with a 1070 in the build. honestly. recommend 550w.
very decent except for the psu wattage.

How much would a 550w cost? and will that give me enough power to upgrade in the futute?

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

1600
that's cutting it close with a 1070 in the build. honestly. recommend 550w.

I looked up EVGA 550w power supply, do i need a Supernova 550 g2 for like £82 or can i cheap out and just get the 600W1 White for £45? It is 600W instead of 550 and it is so much cheaper, it only has 3 year warranty instead of 7 but how much better is the g2?

 

[tamzzy]

i've heard that x2 4Gb sticks is better but it gives me less upgradability

correct, but the board has 4 ram slots, so it'll be an easy upgrade to drop in another 2x4gb sticks in the future for 16gb ram
so not an issue. get 2x4gb sticks

How much would a 550w cost? and will that give me enough power to upgrade in the futute?

the cheapest one i'd recommend is

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Super Flower Platinum King 550W 80 Plus Platinum Power Supply - Black= £64.99

Total: £75.49 (includes shipping: £10.50)​

​

but as you can see, it's quite a bit dearer

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

correct, but the board has 4 ram slots, so it'll be an easy upgrade to drop in another 2x4gb sticks in the future for 16gb ram
so not an issue. get 2x4gb sticks


the cheapest one i'd recommend is

My basket at Overclockers UK:

• 1 x Super Flower Platinum King 550W 80 Plus Platinum Power Supply - Black= £64.99

Total: £75.49 (includes shipping: £10.50)
​

but as you can see, it's quite a bit dearer

What about those EVGA ones?

 

[tamzzy]

the evga 450bt, is okay, but underpowered for your build with the 1070 - and the same wattage as your cousin's psu
i'd avoid the evga 600w you mentioned

 

[Matthew Sheridan]

the evga 450bt, is okay, but underpowered for your build with the 1070 - and the same wattage as your cousin's psu
i'd avoid the evga 600w you mentioned

Ok is there anything good i could get from amazon? we have prime which means i get free shipping and can return if it comes damaged

 

[tamzzy]

corsair cx550m, if i had to pick a budget one