Gaming rig for £800 - feedback on spec

emtoucan

emtoucan

emtoucan

Associate
Joined
16 Feb 2006
Posts
54
Hi all,

After some time out from building rigs, I've offered to help a friend build a gaming PC. Their budget is £800 and they don't need any peripherals.

They are planning to get a 1080p 144 Hz monitor and will play Fortnite and other shooters.

Here’s the spec I’m looking at;

MSI B450M Mortar MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 mATX Motherboard £88
AMD Ryzen 5 2600 £110
Zotac GeForce RTX 2060 £280
Corsair TX650M 650W 80 Plus Gold Semi Modular £80
Samsung 860 QVO SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps 1TB £110
Patriot Viper Steel 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C17 3600MHz £90

Will get a case for around £50 which takes the total to around £800. No operating system included but I do need to check on that.

Feedback and thoughts would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Ben
 
if just going for the 2600 then save a bit on the mobo

My basket at Overclockers UK:
 
Thanks for the quick responce tamzzy. I'll switch the spec over to your 2600 spec but also highlight the £50 extra for the jump to the 3600.

The other thing I was think about was switching the graphics card out for a Radeon to either get a little for bang for bucks or keep under £800 and increase CPU to 3600?
 
emtoucan said:
The other thing I was think about was switching the graphics card out for a Radeon to either get a little for bang for bucks or keep under £800 and increase CPU to 3600?
Click to expand...
the radeon 5600xt is the equivalent of the 2060...it is also the same price
though you'll have to deal with the fubar of possibly updating the gpu bios
i cannot in good conscience recommend that route. stick to the 2060.
 
It's worth pointing out, that if you do opt for the 3600 the Asrock Pro 4 may not work out of the box and as far as I'm aware it has no USB flashback feature to update the bios. I'd say your best bet is to get a 2600 now, then consider popping in an 8c16t Ryzen 3000 or 4000 down the line if you need more CPU power.
 
Thanks all, I definitely have enough now to discuss with my friend. I'll suggest sticking to the Nvidia but we'll discuss the CPU a little once I understand all the other factor
s.
 
Gray2233 said:
It's worth pointing out, that if you do opt for the 3600 the Asrock Pro 4 may not work out of the box and as far as I'm aware it has no USB flashback feature to update the bios. I'd say your best bet is to get a 2600 now, then consider popping in an 8c16t Ryzen 3000 or 4000 down the line if you need more CPU power.
Click to expand...

Tamzzy changed the motherboard to the MSI B450M Mortar MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 mATX Motherboard when upgrading to the 3600. Does this have the same issue? If not then what's the best suggestion for a 3600 motherboard?
 
emtoucan said:
Tamzzy changed the motherboard to the MSI B450M Mortar MAX (Socket AM4) DDR4 mATX Motherboard when upgrading to the 3600. Does this have the same issue? If not then what's the best suggestion for a 3600 motherboard?
Click to expand...
the asorck b450 is fine for a 2600, just that not all boards in retail are guaranteed to have bios that is compatible with ryzen 3000
the msi MAX boards are guaranteed to have compatibility out of the box with ryzen 3000; and also have better VRMs to run higher core count chips, though this may be of a more limited advantage in the presumed use scenario

honestly, if what i presume is right (ie, bought once, and not going to upgrade for years) then ponying up for the extra £40 or so to get the ryzen 3600 would be the better choice
 
tamzzy said:
honestly, if what i presume is right (ie, bought once, and not going to upgrade for years) then ponying up for the extra £40 or so to get the ryzen 3600 would be the better choice
Click to expand...
Considering what will probably prove valid above - if £800 was his budget i would spend the extra and get:
  • semi-modular 650W PSU with eye on possible GPU upgrade considerations in the future; as this will be the one component that will get upgraded (also, looks neater in a windows case)
  • the 3600
  • and crucial 3200 e-die memory.
The 2600 build is great bang for buck - but for £40 over the total budget you could get a very solid and latest tech build - making it marginally faster and easier to upgrade, if needed, in the future.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £843.59 (includes shipping: £11.70)
​
 
Plec said:
semi-modular 650W PSU with eye on possible GPU upgrade considerations in the future; as this will be the one component that will get upgraded (also, looks neater in a windows case)
Click to expand...
Case has a shroud ;)
Also I doubt anything more than a mid-range card will be used in the system. 650w will be wasted money
 
tamzzy said:
Case has a shroud
Click to expand...
Yeah, i know, but main reason was for possible unknown GPU upgrades - and additional bonus of less cable bundling - a none issue but still a luxury to avoid and worth the mention as added bonus for nominal amount.

tamzzy said:
Also I doubt anything more than a mid-range card will be used in the system. 650w will be wasted money
Click to expand...
And possibly, but for £13 (~3 beers) - and only £40 over total budget with other amendments. If he moves on from Fortnight and upgrades monitor etc - a 5700XT/equivalent in the future isn't beyond the realms of possibility with a build that could keep solid core components for 5+ years plus. Look what users did with 2500k/2600K builds a couple of years ago...
 
Plec said:
Look what users did with 2500k/2600K builds a couple of years ago...
Click to expand...
my point is that the 5060 or whatever in 5-6 years time would likely draw the same power as a current 2060
so unless this friend is going to go get a 5070 super etc, the extra 100w isn't really needed
 
tamzzy said:
my point is that the 5060 or whatever in 5-6 years time would likely draw the same power as a current 2060
so unless this friend is going to go get a 5070 super etc, the extra 100w isn't really needed
Click to expand...
Hehe - i know (it's me Plec :D) - but it's only £13 for what could be possibly less inconvenience in future.

Just an option choice.

/imagines @tamzzy frustration at seeing 1300 pennies, potentially, being wasted in the future :p
 
tamzzy said:
not my money, idgaf :p
Click to expand...
LOL - your signature says otherwise - you care and are considerate until the occasional postee p*ss*s you off - and then all the bets are off. i haven't been tagged to one of those posts recently - i miss stirring. :D

Although, your sig could be interpreted as passive aggressive (to those that know you well) - almost a warning to potential OPs :D
 
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