Gaming Rig ~£1200

Tearz

Tearz

Tearz

Associate
Joined
20 Jan 2005
Posts
140
Hi Folks,

After not following the PC gaming scene closely for around the last 7-8 years I've decided it's time to catch up with a new build. I'm likely not to change this setup for another 4-5 years after which I'd look at an interim upgrade. I plan to play recent and future AAA titles at 1440p, I've a Dell S2716DG screen + Alyx & VR are of interest to me (no headset yet).

Having trawled various spec threads I've come up with a basket for a budget of around £1200 but have a few outstanding questions

Is it still worth picking up a B450 motherboard or should I be looking at X570? I'm going to struggle to find help if the board needs a firmware upgrade to support Ryzen 3. This is the item I'm least sure about! Hoping for micro ATX form factor

Conventional SSD vs M2 - I'm sure a plain SSD would be fast enough but M2 makes for a tidier install. The Gigabyte drive recommended in a few threads seems to have had a bump in price so value for money questionable

Is it worth going for an aftermarket cooler? I imagine I'd be interested in spending the first couple of weeks looking for a modest overclock after which I'd never look at that side of things again until upgrade time.

Any suggestions, alternatives, advice more than welcome!

No need for mouse/keyboard/OS.

Thanks!

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,221.01 (includes shipping: £13.20)​
​
 
Hi

That spec looks pretty good to me. The WD Blue NVMe SSD is currently a bit cheaper.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £133.69 (includes shipping: £8.70)
​

There is also the Intel 660p 1TB for under £100. The Sabrent Rocket is also a good NVMe SSD, but not sold on here.

That MSI board will work out of the box with the 3600X.


You can claim a free game with that cpu as well.

https://www.amd.com/en/gaming/equipped-to-win
 
If you're keeping the computer for 4-5 years I'd suggest getting the 3700x at minimum.
There's areas that can be tweaked to fit a 3700x + 2070s within budget
 
If you want to take tamzzy's suggestion on board. You could go cheaper still on the psu with the Bitfenix Formula if you don't mind non modular.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,202.02 (includes shipping: £13.20)
​
 
the set-and-forget 4-5 year build ;)
3700x + 32gb ram + 2070 super

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,286.58 (includes shipping: £11.70)​
​
 
Thank you all for the super useful input so far. Point taken on trying to stretch to a 3700X given the probable lifespan of the build! Looks like I'll be going through another round of case + psu reviews.

If selecting any RGB components (undecided on this) would I need a controller of any kind?

Thanks again!
 
your list looks good to me. that cpu is more than capable. theres no issues with that mobo. you want to spend the most on the gpu and the RTX 2070 is spot on although you could swap it for a 5700XT and save a little
 
I have two 3600 and on my more powerful gaming rig I bought an after market dual fan cooler for £35 of https://www.overclockers.co.uk/arct...duo-white-cpu-cooler-2-x-120mm-hs-074-ar.html

the cooler allows me to reduce fan noise, note that I have adjusted the fan profile to 50% 20 to 60ºC and then to ramp the fans up to 100% by 65ºC - this allows the cpu to auto boost to max (4.2 ghz) all the time whilst not being loud. However even the 3600 is overkill as most of my games software is using only 4 threads simultaneously at the moment. for longevity you may want to consider a ryzen 3700x instead and the stock cooler on that is decent so I wouldn't get another cooler for that.
 
Tearz said:
Hi Folks,

After not following the PC gaming scene closely for around the last 7-8 years I've decided it's time to catch up with a new build. I'm likely not to change this setup for another 4-5 years after which I'd look at an interim upgrade. I plan to play recent and future AAA titles at 1440p, I've a Dell S2716DG screen + Alyx & VR are of interest to me (no headset yet).

Having trawled various spec threads I've come up with a basket for a budget of around £1200 but have a few outstanding questions

Is it still worth picking up a B450 motherboard or should I be looking at X570? I'm going to struggle to find help if the board needs a firmware upgrade to support Ryzen 3. This is the item I'm least sure about! Hoping for micro ATX form factor

Conventional SSD vs M2 - I'm sure a plain SSD would be fast enough but M2 makes for a tidier install. The Gigabyte drive recommended in a few threads seems to have had a bump in price so value for money questionable

Is it worth going for an aftermarket cooler? I imagine I'd be interested in spending the first couple of weeks looking for a modest overclock after which I'd never look at that side of things again until upgrade time.

Any suggestions, alternatives, advice more than welcome!

No need for mouse/keyboard/OS.

Thanks!

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,221.01 (includes shipping: £13.20)
​
Click to expand...

I like the EVGA psu's as they tend to have long warranty's like 7 yrs (and are made by superflower but surprisingly have longer warrantys than superflower!). my previous long term pc started to die not because of the cpu (quad core phenom) or mobo but because of the PSU and so I recommend that you get a good one a a platinum from EVGA is just the ticket.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom