Help for my First PC build. Rough budget of £1.2k

[Artiffly]

Purchase Timeframe:
This will be a christmas gift for myself so im looking to buy everything within the next few weeks.

Budget:
My and my parents are splitting the bill on this 50/50 and im putting forwards roughly 600 from my savings so the estimated budget is around £1.2k but theres probably a little wiggle room.

Usage:
I'll primarily use this for gaming but also possibly for college work as im attending a graphic design course aswell as a lot of ripping and writing Cds and Dvds. If its any help a some game series i play include: Persona, Sonic The Hedgehog, Yakuza/Like A Dragon, God Of War, Kingdom Hearts, Devil May Cry, Final Fantasy, Metal Gear, Danganronpa and others in these genres.

Preferences:
I dont want to go all out on RGB Lighting as this will be sitting under my desk so it will hardly be seen. This bits somewhat less important but the more storage the better im a bit of a data hoarder and i have a bunch of flac files ive ripped and downloaded and i dont have anything like a home media server or that much external storage to put it onto (hoping to get a 5th gen ipod and mod its storage one day). Also i woukd like a good handful of usb/c slots and an sd card slot but im assuming thats not very commonplace these days so its at the bottom of the priority list. I can just get a multi usb and sd adapter anyways.

Current Hardware:
All i have right now is a dell laptop i got for christmas of 2019. It has an AMD Ryzen 5 2500u with Radeon Vega Mobile Gfx, 8gb of ram (6.9 usable), AMD Radeon Vega 8 Graphics (1010MB), and a 238 GB SSD. My friend got a pc back in may and he uses it for basically the same stuff id be using mine for and its served him well so far ill put his specs below for reference:

CORSAIR 3000D AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE

AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Six Core CPU (4.7GHz-5.3GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5)

ASUS® PRIME B650-PLUS (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0)

32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 5200MHZ CL40 (2 x 16GB)

16GB GIGABYTE RADEON RX 7600 XT GAMING OC - 2 x HDMI, 2 x DP

2TB SAMSUNG 990 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe 4.0 & 5.0 NVMe (up to 7250MB/R, 6300MB/W)

Peripherals:
These will be factored into the overall budget. Im looking for a 1440p monitor with atleast 144 hertz and 27 inches. Id prefer a full sized/100% keyboard, no preferences on how they they sound or if theyre completely silent and no preference on if its wired or not. Im not well educated on headsets or if i should get a mic and headphones/iems seperatly so ill leave that up to the ppl seeing this. I would prefer wired for this but im willing to go wireless.

Special Needs/Requirements (inc Wi-Fi):
I will be needing wifi and blutooth for this build and id also like any other reccomendations you think this build needs.

Thanks in advance to anyone who replys

 

[Gray2233]

I'd be looking at this:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DW-AM) = £160.99
• 1 x Gigabyte Aorus 7300 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-GIG-05732) = £119.99
• 1 x Sapphire Nitro+ B850M WiFi (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-SPR-05690) = £139.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 850W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02519) = £104.99
• 1 x Crucial Pro OC 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRU-02219) = £128.99
• 1 x PHANTEKS XT M3 Micro-ATX Case, includes 3x 120mm Fans - Black (SKU: CAS-PHK-05735) = £59.90
• 1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Black CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02724) = £29.99
• 1 x Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9060 XT Gaming 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-SPR-05179) = £329.99
• 1 x AOC 27" Q27G4XF 2560x1440 Fast IPS 180Hz 1ms A-Sync Widescreen Gaming Monitor (SKU: MON-AOC-03326) = £118.99
• 1 x Glorious Model D- USB RGB Optical Gaming Mouse - Glossy White (GLO-MS-DM-GW) (SKU: KB-01H-GR) = £14.99

Total: £1,208.81 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

- M-ATX is a preference of mine, and the available decent motherboards are cheaper to boot.
- There's a lot of RGB but not due to aesthetics, they're simply the cheapest good options.
- Don't buy retail W11, it'll murder your budget, keys can be found for £10-20.
- Get an external disc drive, not many cases now support them built in and those that do often add a premium.
- Not listed a keyboard or headset, I find them too personal to blindly recommend.
- If the budget is super strict you could drop down to a MSI MAG A650BN power supply which would cost £47, saving you £57 to spend elsewhere.

 

[Artiffly]

Thanks for the suggestions ill definetly be looking into this. Do you have any suggestions for headsets and keyboards that would pair well with this build? Also I do have a cheap £10 external dvd drive but i could use an upgrade on that too lol any reccomendations on that front would be appreciated to :]

 

[Gray2233]

Thanks for the suggestions ill definetly be looking into this. Do you have any suggestions for headsets and keyboards that would pair well with this build? Also I do have a cheap £10 external dvd drive but i could use an upgrade on that too lol any reccomendations on that front would be appreciated to :]

You're very welcome.

Honestly, I'm very particular about headsets/keyboards, I am about mice frankly but at £15 even if it's not perfect for you it's stupidly hard to beat the Glorious Model D at £15.

If you've a local PC store that displays keyboards, pop along to play with the keys even if you don't buy from them directly.

I won't enter into the headset/headphone discussion here as I've been running pretty high end kit for a long time and my views may be painfully skewed vs your budget/expectations.

I do have a 4K Blu-Ray external I use for ripping prior to transferring to a NAS but I don't think it's even in production anymore and I can't remember the exacts, so I'm not the best to ask.

 

[Artiffly]

Thanks again for the recommendation :]

 

[Tetras]

Just an alternative build to try and squeeze into the budget.

Note that there were some big discounts on the Core Ultra CPUs awhile ago, so they might resurface for BF. If you go that route, I'd recommend the K version for a backup IGP.

Memory and SSD may or may not return to stock at that price.

I'd get the Sapphire Pure instead of the Pulse if possible, because the Pulse has sleeve bearings on the fans.

I can't recommend a monitor, keyboard/mouse or headset.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (Arrow Lake) Socket LGA 1851 Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-INT-03114) = £179.99
• 1 x Intel Holiday Bundle - Choose One Of Four Premium Games (SKU: DIG-INT-06664) = £0.00
• 1 x Gigabyte B860M GAMING X WIFI6E (LGA 1851) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-GIG-04110) = £149.99
• 1 x TeamGroup Vulcan 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-51200C40 6400MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (SKU: MEM-TMG-03145) = £89.99
• 1 x Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9060 XT Gaming 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-SPR-05179) = £329.99
• 1 x Team Group MP44L 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-TMG-03129) = £99.95
• 1 x Antec CX600M ARGB M-ATX Mini Tower - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-04160) = £54.94
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95
• 1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 Black Dual Tower CPU Air Cooler (SKU: COO-TLR-03280) = £29.99

• 1 x ASUS VA27AQ 27” 2560x1440 IPS 75Hz 1ms Adaptive Sync Eye Care Widescreen Monitor (SKU: MON-ASU-06470) = £108.94
• 1 x ASUS U2000 Copilot Wired Keyboard and Mouse Desktop Kit USB 1000 DPI - UK Layout (SKU: PER-ASU-05953) = £24.95
• 1 x CREATIVE HS-720 V2 USB Headset with Noise Cancelling (51EF0960AA000) (SKU: GAM-CRV-05482) = £29.99

Total: £1,199.66 (includes delivery: £15.99)​

 

[Gray2233]

For gaming purposes I'd absolutely spend the extra £10 on the AOC, it's a massive difference for not a lot more in gaming terms and monitors aren't something you'll often replace.

Also note that going for the Core Ultra puts you on a dead socket with an already slower gaming CPU.

 

[tamzzy]

similar to gray's build, but with a full complement of peripherals
right on budget, and all in stock ready to go

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Sapphire Pulse B850M WiFi (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-SPR-05692) = £129.95
• 1 x Crucial Pro OC 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRU-02219) = £128.99
• 1 x Sapphire Pulse Radeon RX 9060 XT Gaming 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-SPR-05179) = £329.98
• 1 x MSI MAG A650BN UK PSU 650W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (SKU: POW-MSI-03345) = £47.99
• 1 x Crucial P310 2TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 4.0 NVMe Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-03050) = £105.95
• 1 x Thermalright Assassin X 120 R Digital ARGB Black CPU Air Cooler (SKU: COO-TLR-03757) = £14.99
• 1 x Aerocool Dryft Mini v2 Micro-ATX Case (SKU: CAS-AER-00607) = £54.99
• 1 x AOC 27" Q27G4XF 2560x1440 Fast IPS 180Hz 1ms A-Sync Widescreen Gaming Monitor (SKU: MON-AOC-03326) = £119.00
• 1 x Glorious Model D- USB RGB Optical Gaming Mouse - Glossy White (GLO-MS-DM-GW) (SKU: KB-01H-GR) = £14.98
• 1 x CREATIVE HS-720 V2 USB Headset with Noise Cancelling (51EF0960AA000) (SKU: GAM-CRV-05482) = £29.99
• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 9600 Six Core 5.20GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-05398) = £179.99
• 1 x Ducky Origin USB Mechanical Gaming Keyboard Cherry MX Black - Black UK Layout (SKU: PER-DCK-00952) = £40.99

Total: £1,197.79 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

 

[turbot1984]

no chance you can squeeze a 9070XT into the budget, prices have come down

 

[sastusbulbas]

Phanteks Enthoo Pro and BeQuiet Pure Base are two ATX cases that come with a 5.25 bay and solid side panel option and are available at Overclockers.
The reality is that these cases are more than adequate for a 7600/9060xt media and gaming pc.

I would personally avoid glass under a desk.

The Phanteks Enthoo Pro case is old but very well built, and the HDD bays are nice to work with, and you can get 5.25 card reader bays and adapters.
It's large though, so check space.
It just can't take really long GPU's.

With the bays being near the top it's easy to access from a desk chair.

This means you can save money on a more reliable internal disc drive.

With the interests you have ATX offers more room for expansion and space to work with.

I spent decades with MicroATX builds and always felt some compromise, I have recently tried the Fractal Pop Mini and NZXT H3, and even considered the Phanteks XT M3, it's a good case but only one HDD slot.

For bulk storage of media you will want a couple of mechanical drives, these can be added later, but the case needs to be able to accommodate growth if you don't want external storage

With the GPU I would also not get too hooked up on the fan bearings, but do think the Sapphire range is great and do like the matching motherboards. Bear in mind the Sapphire Pulse motherboard has a Gen 4 GPU slot but I doubt you would notice a difference.

I would be tempted with the Sapphire Pulse ATX motherboard, but a lot of options around that price point.

Sapphire Pulse 9060xt 16gb.

Whatever 6 core is the cheapest currently.

Phanteks AMP 650W PSU
Phanteks Enthoo Pro case
2tb NVMe
4tb or 8tb HDD

Single tower cooler is fine, but I would be tempted with the £30 Thermalright massive twin tower cooler.

Though if going BeQuiet I would get one of their PSU's and the £28 single tower cooler.

Simply to keep the theme and as the fans are nice and quiet.

Just remember to check case dimensions if under a desk, the M3 for instance is dual chamber so wider than you might think.

 

[jigger]

You’d need get ETA’s on the pre orders or shop around and I’m not sure on the case and monitor but,

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Eight Core 4.7GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3CB-AM) = £139.99
• 1 x MSI B550M PRO-VDH (Socket AM4) DDR4 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-MSI-03376) = £85.00
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Quad Channel Kit (SKU: MY-49E-CS) = £139.99
• 1 x PowerColor Radeon RX 7800 XT 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-PWC-04339) = £479.99
• 1 x be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 11 750W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (SKU: POW-BEQ-05641) = £64.99
• 1 x Team Group MP33 PRO 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen3 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-TMG-02681) = £59.99
• 1 x Montech AIR 903 Base Midi-Tower Tempered Glass - Black (SKU: CAS-MON-01227) = £49.99
• 1 x KOORUI 34" G3441VC 3440x1440 VA 180Hz 1ms Curved Widescreen Gaming Monitor (SKU: MON-KRI-06364) = £178.99

Total: £1,214.93 (includes delivery: £15.99)​

 

[Gray2233]

I wouldn't go AM4 at this point in time, and I certainly wouldn't risk running 4 sticks of RAM given how finicky the memory controller can be on those chips.

A last gen GPU like the 7800XT is a very poor purchase for £480 also, you're running into 5070/9070 money at that point and are a stones throw from the 9070XT.