Gaming PC for my son for xmas

[SilentGameTestR]

i know this will pretty much be resolved by now, But i just saw the post and was intrigued to see what you probably could get for a £500 budget. obviously minus windows,
but a decent option maybe?

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 5500 Six Core 4.2GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3D3-AM) = £74.99
• 1 x MSI B550-A Pro (AMD AM4) Pro Series B550 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-357-MS) = £84.99
• 1 x Kingston Fury Beast 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C17 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MY-29A-KS) = £35.99
• 1 x Team Group MP44L 500GB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-TMG-03127) = £32.99
• 1 x Kolink Observatory MX Glass ARGB Midi Tower Case - Black (SKU: CA-083-KK) = £34.99
• 1 x be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 10 550W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (SKU: CA-14U-BQ) = £49.99
• 1 x PowerColor Radeon RX 6600 Fighter 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-1AD-PC) = £179.99

Total: £501.92 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

 

[Craig_d1]

i know this will pretty much be resolved by now, But i just saw the post and was intrigued to see what you probably could get for a £500 budget. obviously minus windows,
but a decent option maybe?

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 5500 Six Core 4.2GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3D3-AM) = £74.99
• 1 x MSI B550-A Pro (AMD AM4) Pro Series B550 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-357-MS) = £84.99
• 1 x Kingston Fury Beast 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C17 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MY-29A-KS) = £35.99
• 1 x Team Group MP44L 500GB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-TMG-03127) = £32.99
• 1 x Kolink Observatory MX Glass ARGB Midi Tower Case - Black (SKU: CA-083-KK) = £34.99
• 1 x be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 10 550W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (SKU: CA-14U-BQ) = £49.99
• 1 x PowerColor Radeon RX 6600 Fighter 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-1AD-PC) = £179.99

Total: £501.92 (includes delivery: £7.99)​

problem with 5500 is that it's had it's L3 cache cut in half to 16mb from 32 on the 5600. that really gimps the cpu for gaming. and 16gb vram is not enough anymore in my view. def need 32 nowadays as a fair few games use more than 16gb now..32 not that much more expensive

 

[Tetras]

problem with 5500 is that it's had it's L3 cache cut in half to 16mb from 32 on the 5600.

The 5600 is currently available for just a few more coins too.

 

[SilentGameTestR]

problem with 5500 is that it's had it's L3 cache cut in half to 16mb from 32 on the 5600. that really gimps the cpu for gaming. and 16gb vram is not enough anymore in my view. def need 32 nowadays as a fair few games use more than 16gb now..32 not that much more expensive

I thought it was the 4000 series that was gimped as while i did own a 4500, it was decent, but not as good as the 3000 plus reviews i had found online say to skip them and move to the 5000 series because of that L3 cache pretty much.

I was trying to find the cheapest decent stuff OC have and its the shipping that put it a quid over the 500 budget. These dont seem to sell A520 boards either which wouldve saved a few quid to improve elsewhere. I personally find 16gb ram perfectly fine, though 32gb does make sense in the long run, however if someone has a 500 budget then 32gb will be difficult unless you buy used.

The 5600 is currently available for just a few more coins too.

Unfortunately there are no amd boards that are cheaper unless you wanted B grade to allow money to be allocated to a better cpu, but yes i would agree if you can afford the extra then 5600 onwards would be better. Although the 5700x/5800x are at a good price to push for instead.

 

[Craig_d1]

I thought it was the 4000 series that was gimped as while i did own a 4500, it was decent, but not as good as the 3000 plus reviews i had found online say to skip them and move to the 5000 series because of that L3 cache pretty much.

I was trying to find the cheapest decent stuff OC have and its the shipping that put it a quid over the 500 budget. These dont seem to sell A520 boards either which wouldve saved a few quid to improve elsewhere. I personally find 16gb ram perfectly fine, though 32gb does make sense in the long run, however if someone has a 500 budget then 32gb will be difficult unless you buy used.



Unfortunately there are no amd boards that are cheaper unless you wanted B grade to allow money to be allocated to a better cpu, but yes i would agree if you can afford the extra then 5600 onwards would be better. Although the 5700x/5800x are at a good price to push for instead.

rather than me explaining, below is much more detailed... if you scroll down you'l see the 5500 performs worse than the 3600

AMD Ryzen 5 5500 Review: Yea or Nay?

The Ryzen 5 5500 certainly works well, but realistically if you're on a budget yet remain a performance-minded enthusiast, this CPU should be avoided even at $140.

www.techspot.com

I konw it's tough if you've got a hard £500 limit, but tremember the am4 platform is old, and was replaced with am5 2 years ago..there's plenty of people upgrading to am5 now.. getting hold of a 5600 cpu isn't that difficult, and you should be able to puck it up cheaper than a 5500 new.. just a quick scan isee a new 5600x is £98 with free delivery
also seen 32gb vengeance lpx 3200C16 for £41.99 on black fri deal..it's xmp but generally the work..if want ryzen 3600c18 is 44.99(and that is for ryzen)
they also have a b550M DS3h mobo for £69.98, but that mobo can get toasty...just seen the msi b550m-vdh matx board for the same price...get that one instead

so a 5600x/msi b550m vdh/32 gb 3600c18 is £212.97
your 5500/msipro-a/16gb ram is £196

seen auction site new 5600 for 79.99..that'll take bundle down for £213 to £195...same price as your bundle...the pro-a is a metter mobo though, but the vdh will run a 5600 no problem..it survived running a 1hr blender with a 3950x

 

[Tetras]

but yes i would agree if you can afford the extra then 5600 onwards would be better

It was like £4 I think, but I can't see the deal anymore so maybe they ran out.

 

[Dean037]

I want this to last him 2 years or so , so think I will buy the 57003dx currently 195 then motherboard.

I will be over budget , currently spent £390 on case, ssd, ram, graphics card. So I imagine will end up around 700ish.

I am aware I could have got am5 for this price but that involves buying 2nd hand and didn't want to do this currently.

Once got Ecu I need to get best motherboard and cpu cooler as don't think get one with the cpu and then lastly thermal paste and then look into buying windows. What is best at moment just windows 11 home version ?

Thanks dean

 

[Craig_d1]

I want this to last him 2 years or so , so think I will buy the 57003dx currently 195 then motherboard.

I will be over budget , currently spent £390 on case, ssd, ram, graphics card. So I imagine will end up around 700ish.

I am aware I could have got am5 for this price but that involves buying 2nd hand and didn't want to do this currently.

Once got Ecu I need to get best motherboard and cpu cooler as don't think get one with the cpu and then lastly thermal paste and then look into buying windows. What is best at moment just windows 11 home version ?

Thanks dean

not sure what u paid, but am5 not too expensive
need to check again but yesterday,
am5 7600 was £170..sold out, £180 now
b650 eagle board £111...sold out £124 now
32 gb 6000c36 crucial pro £66

 

[Dean037]

not sure what u paid, but am5 not too expensive
need to check again but yesterday,
am5 7600 was £170..sold out, £180 now
b650 eagle board £111...sold out £124 now
32 gb 6000c36 crucial pro £66

I purchased from here all om offer, don't even know if can return but surely the am5 option would be more or you think could get am5 for same price ? With specs as good and gpu as good.

By looks of it I would have to pay returns but like I say if can get am5 for 700 that would be a better system I am happy for recomendations and opinions.

Sorry for messing yoi all around think I was optimistic at that budget and ended up spending 700 anyway so of will be better abd better system for that price crazy to not.

If i can i would love to keep the case i purchased. The antec cx500m M-AaTX
I also purchased the team group g50 ssd hopefully can keep that, so think may only have to return the gpu and the ram hopefully.

Thanks dean

 

[Craig_d1]

I purchased from here all om offer, don't even know if can return but surely the am5 option would be more or you think could get am5 for same price ? With specs as good and gpu as good.

By looks of it I would have to pay returns but like I say if can get am5 for 700 that would be a better system I am happy for recomendations and opinions.

Sorry for messing yoi all around think I was optimistic at that budget and ended up spending 700 anyway so of will be better abd better system for that price crazy to not.

If i can i would love to keep the case i purchased. The antec cx500m M-AaTX
I also purchased the team group g50 ssd hopefully can keep that, so think may only have to return the gpu and the ram hopefully.
Thanks dean

what size G50 ssd did u go for in end 1tb for £47 or the 2tb for £87..and you looking at a rx6600 for gpu?

 

[Dean037]

what size G50 ssd did u go for in end 1tb for £47 or the 2tb for £87..and you looking at a rx6600 for gpu?

No idea and I went for the 2tb, will cae and ssd be OK of o change to am5 ?

I don't want to go over 700, will the am5 be a faster system and better for gaming and I know ot will be nore future proof. Looking forward to you help .

I can return ram and gpu , if I can get a better gpu for price.

Already spent £88 on ssd and £55 on case.

If that gpu is still a great option don't mind keeping

Just making sure defently better going am5 for that budget haha.

Thanks again
Dean

 

[Craig_d1]

No idea and I went for the 2tb, will cae and ssd be OK of o change to am5 ?

I don't want to go over 700, will the am5 be a faster system and better for gaming and I know ot will be nore future proof. Looking forward to you help .

I can return ram and gpu , if I can get a better gpu for price.

Already spent £88 on ssd and £55 on case.

If that gpu is still a great option don't mind keeping

Just making sure defently better going am5 for that budget haha.

Thanks again
Dean

just having a look at mo, with you keeping case etc..sending that back would cost money..defeats purpose..also why i asked what size ssd you went for...s you've spend £143 so far so 557 left..got it

nope..I was looking at the b650 eagle yest and the 7600 was £170..so below £25 more, and the 2tb drive is £40 more than the 1tb(that's now gone up in price)
below only leaves £122 and the rx 6600 is £180..so we £58 out, so only way would be swapping ssd for 1tb etc...that's a bit of a pain in the backside now you've got it..anyway, put below

Did see the below though...that worth sending a message over to OCuk and maybe putting in a bid..lets say £170 but even at 199 not bad
..the 7600 is 26% faster than the 6600

AMD Radeon RX 6600 Specs

AMD Navi 23, 2491 MHz, 1792 Cores, 112 TMUs, 64 ROPs, 8192 MB GDDR6, 1750 MHz, 128 bit

www.techpowerup.com

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x B Grade Sapphire Radeon RX 7600 Pulse Gaming 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: BG-GX-02Y-AM) = £199.99

Total: £199.99 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

so MSI B650M gaming plus wifi £125 (make sure NOT the msi gaming wifi)...you want the 'plus' one..there are cheaper ones but they failed HU stress test so becomes pointless as half the point is upradeability..ocuk have it preorder same price
ryzen 7600 179.99 sorry, was £10 cheaper yesterday so same price ocuk
32GB 92x16) crucial pro 6000C36 amd expo black CP2K16G60C36U5B £66.99...very good price..google it but free delivery on black fri deal (not ocuk)
Mag A650GL full modular psu 7yrs warranty £63.49 (not ocuk..same as the crucial ram)

 

[Dean037]

just having a look at mo, with you keeping case etc..sending that back would cost money..defeats purpose..also why i asked what size ssd you went for...s you've spend £143 so far so 557 left..got it

nope..I was looking at the b650 eagle yest and the 7600 was £170..so below £25 more, and the 2tb drive is £40 more than the 1tb(that's now gone up in price)
below only leaves £122 and the rx 6600 is £180..so we £58 out, so only way would be swapping ssd for 1tb etc...that's a bit of a pain in the backside now you've got it..anyway, put below

Did see the below though...that worth sending a message over to OCuk and maybe putting in a bid..lets say £170 but even at 199 not bad
..the 7600 is 26% faster than the 6600

AMD Radeon RX 6600 Specs

AMD Navi 23, 2491 MHz, 1792 Cores, 112 TMUs, 64 ROPs, 8192 MB GDDR6, 1750 MHz, 128 bit

www.techpowerup.com

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x B Grade Sapphire Radeon RX 7600 Pulse Gaming 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: BG-GX-02Y-AM) = £199.99

Total: £199.99 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

so MSI B650M gaming plus wifi £125 (make sure NOT the msi gaming wifi)...you want the 'plus' one..there are cheaper ones but they failed HU stress test so becomes pointless as half the point is upradeability..ocuk have it preorder same price
ryzen 7600 179.99 sorry, was £10 cheaper yesterday so same price ocuk
32GB 92x16) crucial pro 6000C36 amd expo black CP2K16G60C36U5B £66.99...very good price..google it but free delivery on black fri deal (not ocuk)
Mag A650GL full modular psu 7yrs warranty £63.49 (not ocuk..same as the crucial ram)

Will have a good look at all these products, sometimes handy when has the pictures aswel but will search them, like I say budget is up now so the odd 20 pound or so I don't mind.

Is this system much better than the am4 build ? And overall a better system ?

Could I keep the ssd and case and are these components all am5 and will fit my atx-m

Thanks again so helpful as always
Dean

 

[Tetras]

Will have a good look at all these products, sometimes handy when has the pictures aswel but will search them, like I say budget is up now so the odd 20 pound or so I don't mind.

Is this system much better than the am4 build ? And overall a better system ?

Could I keep the ssd and case and are these components all am5 and will fit my atx-m

Thanks again so helpful as always
Dean

This thread is 5 pages long now so if you'd like us to contribute to a re-spec, you might want to restate your budget and use case(s) and the required components. I couldn't contribute at this point because the thread it too long for my noggin'.

 

[Craig_d1]

Will have a good look at all these products, sometimes handy when has the pictures aswel but will search them, like I say budget is up now so the odd 20 pound or so I don't mind.

Is this system much better than the am4 build ? And overall a better system ?

Could I keep the ssd and case and are these components all am5 and will fit my atx-m

Thanks again so helpful as always
Dean

yup, parts are all standard so
case is matx case,
mobo is matx, vrm's run at decent temp and can take a 7950x stress test no problem..will last the length of AM%, so you'll be able to drop future cpu's in there(such as a 9800x3d in a few years and really bump up performance..or something new etc)
m.2 G50 ssd is a pcie4, excellent price performance you have there...that'll last you ages..endurance is 1300TBW... so for example...spiderman game is 45GB...the average life expectancy of that drive before it may fail is the equivalent of downlading the spiderman game 288,889 times...think it'll outlast the pc, it's upgrade and probably next pc etc

below is the review of the 5700x3d...if you go to 9min 53, you'll see the 10 game average and you can see the 5700x3d gets 132fps, 1%lows of 104
the 7600x gets 137fps and lows of 111, so is faster. The 7600 sit just below the 7600x (i've actually seen that for £170 new but you need to buy a cooler for it, whereas the 7600 comes with a basic cooler in the box..you can add one later(recommed the arctic 36 freezer at a loater date or peerless assasin , so no more than £30)..so in real terms as if you enable PBO in bios, the 7600 really does sit a % below the 7600x, it's on a par or slightly ahead of the 5700x3d....
so you get the same performance(x3d wins in games that love x3d, 7600 wins in others, but on the whole, 7600 wins), but you'll already have 32gb of ddr5 ram and a mobo, so you're next upgrade, that wont be needed...if you go am4, you'll have to buy a new mobo and ram if you want to upgrade
psu is a gold rated one with 7 year warranty..and fully modular so only using the cables you need...650W is ok , it'll do for running mid range cards 9a 4070super for example pulls 220W and a 7800x3d in future lets say draws 50w while gaming, so you'd have no problem running that in the future etc)

to me it's worth going am5. i think it's a no brainer wants you factor in upgrading the pc in a few years

 

[Dean037]

You think I should start new thread aswel ? I will look up all the listed components and get ordering and return the am4 components.

Honestly can't thank you enough and sorry to everyone for taking so long to jump to am5 and wasting time. But it is all really appreciated.

Thanks everyone
Dean

 

[Craig_d1]

You think I should start new thread aswel ? I will look up all the listed components and get ordering and return the am4 components.

Honestly can't thank you enough and sorry to everyone for taking so long to jump to am5 and wasting time. But it is all really appreciated.

Thanks everyone
Dean

up to you whether you want tstart a new thread or not. if you do I go along the lines of
B550 mobo 16gb
3200c16 ram
5700x3d
antec cx550m case
price is £700

B650M gaming plus wifi
32gb ddr 6000c36 crucial ram
7600 vcpu
price £750

which is preference (i haven't put extact prices in etc, just as demo)

otherwise, if you have it in your head and know what you want to order, I'd just order...took me awhile to reread thread but up to date now..it's whether you want other input or not

by the way, below is the mobo..the cheaper ones on ocuk all failed the stress test..it's available elsewhere with free next day delivery..same place as the crucial pro ram for £66

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x MSI B650M GAMING PLUS WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-MSI-03372) = £124.99

Total: £124.99 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

​

if you go to 24min 13 you can see the 1hr cinebench results...the MSI b650m gaming plus is at 87 degrees...that's why got to be careful as also a MSI b650m gaming wifi which hit a 112 degrees and cinebench was 2122(so slightly lower...bar still blue so technically a pass, but for a slight reduction and extra heat), the 'plus variant is better...and all the ones with red bars mean the cpu's throttled...some of them quite badly..so basically I chose a board that passed as cheap as i could find for you..so shouldn't have to worry about upgrade as it can handle a 7950x​

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[Gray2233]

Okay, so lets clarify here so everyone knows where we're at.

You currently own the following:

2TB NvME
Case

- You were aiming for a B450 build, but are returning everything you've bought other than the two above items?
- Your leftover budget is in the range of a £600-700 for a gaming orientated PC?

Also, you do not need to factor the cost of a Windows licence into your budget. You can run without one and all you lose is very minor functionality, official licences cost £100 + and are frankly ridiculous, especially given your situation. If you really want to activate Windows there are keys to be found online for £5-15, I've used many of them over the years without incident.

Assuming the new plan is AM5, you can find the 7500F for around £100 on the same website you found the cheap 5700X3D, the 7500F is only a little slower than the 7600. It's totally understandable if you don't want to go that route, I know some are hesitant with ordering from the Chinese website and it's a valid concern. The next step up would be the 7600 for around £150-170, and it comes with an HSF (although tbh, I'd still spend the extra £15 on an RGB Thermalright Assassin King 120 if you're wanting to wow your son).

 

[Dean037]

Ordered the psu and ram you recommend, any idea if I pre order the mobo will it be here before Xmas?

Also sent message about the graphic card to see of can do slightly cheaper, I will also get the 7600x for extra £10 and just order the rgb cooler recommend the RGB Thermalright Assassin King 120 hopefully lots the matx case.

Will make a full list tomorro for you.
Thanks dean

 

[Gray2233]

Ordered the psu and ram you recommend, any idea if I pre order the mobo will it be here before Xmas?

Also sent message about the graphic card to see of can do slightly cheaper, I will also get the 7600x for extra £10 and just order the rgb cooler recommend the RGB Thermalright Assassin King 120 hopefully lots the matx case.

Will make a full list tomorro for you.
Thanks dean

Please confirm your exact leftover budget?

You currently own the following:

2TB NvME
Case
650W beQuiet PSU

Please confirm your leftover budget.

After that I'll take a look and maybe tag some members that I know can help out.