First gaming PC with future proofing to allow for rolling upgrades

[Bloodrayne]

Hi all,

I had hoped to pass on my aging PC on-to my son when I performed a wholesale upgrade on my system, but that sadly didn't come about.

Therefore, I wondered if there was a bare minimum specification for an entry level PC that would offer the most future proofing and way of adding upgrades twice a year or so, or as sales allow (not including the graphics card, which would obviously be a larger investment) - so an initial starting point that provides quick system that he can use for school work, in addition to the odd game he plays (mainly Minecraft these days) but without the need to play the latest cutting edge titles at maximum specification. I'd rather have a desktop over a laptop as it allows for easier upgrades (or certainly that used to be the case...).

Budget always comes up in these questions, and I don't have much of a figure in mind other than sub-£1000, although obviously if it's cheaper and would still deliver that would be great too.

Thanks!

 

[Tetras]

The best option for future upgrades is going to be AM5 because of the assurance from AMD that they will support it for at least 1, probably 2 more generations. That leads to a 7500F or 7600, together with 32GB.

Does your budget include the monitor and peripherals and a Windows license?

 

[Bloodrayne]

Thanks - already have a spare monitor and peripherals, will need to factor in Windows license though (complete forgot about that!)

 

[Tetras]

Thanks - already have a spare monitor and peripherals, will need to factor in Windows license though (complete forgot about that!)

What resolution is the monitor? A 6600 is fine for 1080p.

You might want to get a better PSU (e.g. 750 or 850) for future graphics upgrades.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £188.99
• 1 x Asus TUF Gaming A620M-PLUS WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASU-01397) = £135.99
• 1 x TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G6000HC38ADC01) (SKU: MY-0B2-TG) = £99.95
  
• 1 x PowerColor Radeon RX 6600 Fighter 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-1AD-PC) = £199.99
• 1 x Seagate FireCuda 520 2TB SSD PCIe Gen4 NVMe M.2 Solid State Drive (ZP2000GV3A012) (SKU: HD-3EX-SE) = £114.95
• 1 x Lian Li Lancool 205M Mesh Micro-ATX PC Case Black (SKU: CA-7B2-LL) = £69.95
• 1 x Super Flower Leadex III ARGB 550W 80 PLUS Gold Modular Power Supply - Black (SKU: CA-063-SF) = £71.99

• 1 x Microsoft Windows 11 Home 64-Bit DVD - OEM (KW9-00632) (SKU: SW-18J-MS) = £104.99

Total: £998.78 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

 

[Bloodrayne]

Monitor is a Dell S2716DG - which has been fine for me (both gaming and work) but is the one thing I have actually upgraded recently (needed a bigger screen to fit more spreadsheet on...)

Looks like a good selection though, and good to know that AM5 is good for a couple of generations too.

 

[Tetras]

Monitor is a Dell S2716DG - which has been fine for me (both gaming and work) but is the one thing I have actually upgraded recently (needed a bigger screen to fit more spreadsheet on...)

Oh, 1440p? Hmm, you really need a better graphics card than a 6600. It can do 1440p, but it isn't meant for it and will struggle with newer games, especially AAA. You can get a 6800 for £370 or a 7700 XT for £400, that's what I'd choose.

That said, if you know the PC will only be used for older games then the 6600 should be fine at 1440p for the time being.

 

[Gray2233]

You can run Windows without a licence last I checked, you just have to put up with an annoying watermark.

I've never spent more than a tenner on a Windows key either way.

Use the money saved toward a better GPU.

 

[Gray2233]

Here's an idea, trying to make things fit while excluding the O/S cost due to my aforementioned statements:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Asus Prime B650M-A WIFI II (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6K6-AS) = £139.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £188.99
• 1 x WD Blue SN580 1TB SSD NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-WDC-00540) = £65.99
• 1 x Kolink Inspire Series K6 ARGB Micro-ATX Case - Black (SKU: CA-047-KK) = £29.99
• 1 x SAPPHIRE PULSE AMD Radeon™ RX 7700 XT Gaming Graphics Card with 12GB GDDR6, AMD RDNA™ 3 architecture (SKU: GRA-SPR-00767) = £399.94
• 1 x CORSAIR RM Series RM650 Fully Modular 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply (SKU: POW-CRS-01425) = £80.00
• 1 x TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G6000HC38ADC01) (SKU: MY-0B2-TG) = £99.94

Total: £1,004.84 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

If you can spring another £100 or so to bump up to a 4070(S) or 7900GRE that would be a big boost and much better value, although in the case of the latter you may need to bump up to a higher wattage PSU. If there's 6800's knocking around for £380 as mentioned by @Tetras that would be a fantastic option too, definitely worth it over the 7700XT.

 

[Craig_d1]

Alternative mobo I'd get at mo for budget build is the Gigabyte B650 Eagle AX. Not sold here but available away for £139.99 0n offer. Has 3 nvme slots for storage, 1st being a gen5 slot...2nd and 3rd don't have heatsink by look so would need to get further nvme with the heatsinks attached, 12+2+2 vrm setup, integrated i/o shield, wifi 6, ddr5 ram tested up to 7600 speed, has a little latch to make it easy to remove gpu's once fittle also, and a q flash button on the mobo itself for upgrading the bios....so pretty much covers all the basics well.
Alternative is the gigabyte gaming X AX which is on OC for £189...they have that on offer too at £149.99, but the eagle is a newer board and has stronger vrm's by the look...quick scan on other forums seem to show zero issues with it
Same place will get you 32gb corsair veangeance 6000c36 for £99.99 non rgb, rgb version £109.99...or 6000c30 rgb for £124
They have the msi A850G atx3.0 psu for £109 also...that's a decent psu with a 10year warranty, has the atx3.0 certificate and a native connection for the 4000 nvidia cards...will power probably anything you throw at it so will do for futurte upgrades also down the line...if you don't plan on upgrading gpu down the line, just get a psu thatworks with current system though
I prefer the ssd choice here, gpu's comparable so here also, cases look around but here has good selection also

 

[Bloodrayne]

Thanks all - to confirm that I wouldn’t expect this to be running cutting edge stuff at all, initially things like vanilla Minecraft at the top end (although I suppose with enough mods Minecraft can be demanding too), and it’s not a requirement for the initial purchase to be able to run things at top spec.

The initial purchase just needs to have a solid base and a motherboard that will last a decent level of time - so I think the suggestions in this thread more than meet this need, I’ll review later today and see about pricing things up.

Wasn’t aware about not needing a Windows license, which clearly shows how long it’s been since I’ve done this!

 

[andy o]

Personally, I would advise spending the 10 or 20 quid on a windows licence, if only to get all updates. There may well be some "personalisation" changes you find useful or even necessary.

 

[Quartz]

Oh, 1440p? Hmm, you really need a better graphics card than a 6600. It can do 1440p, but it isn't meant for it and will struggle with newer games, especially AAA. You can get a 6800 for £370 or a 7700 XT for £400, that's what I'd choose.

Nah, it just means that the OP won’t be able to run max settings on a 6600. Medium settings should give a solid 60 fps. Not counting UE5 games, though.

 

[tamzzy]

Unless you're planning to upgrade the monitor I would suggest that you stick with a Nvidia GPU (purely for VRR).

 

[Bloodrayne]

Unless you're planning to upgrade the monitor I would suggest that you stick with a Nvidia GPU (purely for VRR).

As the monitor is basically something that I have moved on from, I don't see upgrading it as a priority - I think mid-level gaming is perhaps the aim for this system, along with the ability to be upgraded in the coming years (so with a motherboard and socket that doesn't rapidly fall out out use).

But I'll keep the preference for Nvidia in mind!

 

[tamzzy]

As the monitor is basically something that I have moved on from, I don't see upgrading it as a priority - I think mid-level gaming is perhaps the aim for this system, along with the ability to be upgraded in the coming years (so with a motherboard and socket that doesn't rapidly fall out out use).

But I'll keep the preference for Nvidia in mind!

Yeah if you're keeping that dell monitor then stick with Nvidia as that monitor has a gsync chip for VRR. It won't have free sync so you're limited in which GPU you can use

 

[Spudgun]

I'd go for some 6000 cl30 memory in that build