Help with son's DofE PC Build

Lordflake

Lordflake

Lordflake

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Joined
13 Oct 2019
Posts
7
Hi all,

My son has decided to build a PC for his Duke Of Edinburgh Bronze Award, and after doing his research, he's presented me with a parts list. So now I have to find out...

If this would make a decent computer?
If there's anything he's missed in terms of parts or gotchas?
If there are there better alternatives?​

And whilst I know a bit about computers, I've never built a PC before so I'm a little bit out of my depth here!

He wants a machine to play games on and do a bit of video editing. He already has a keyboard, mouse, and monitor. And with a combination of birthday and early Christmas money means he's been set a budget of £1,000.

Here's his list:

Processor
Intel Core i5-9600K 3.7 GHz 6-Core

Cooler
MasterLiquid ML240L RGB 66.7 CFM

Motherboard
MSI Z390-A PRO ATX LGA1151

Memory
Corsair Vengeance LPX 8 GB (1 x 8 GB) DDR4-2400

Storage
Samsung 860 Evo 500 GB 2.5" Solid State Drive

Video Card
GeForce RTX 2060 6 GB WINDFORCE

Case
NZXT H500 ATX Mid Tower Case

Power Supply
Corsair CXM (2015) 450W ATX Power Supply​

Any help would be gratefully received.

Thanks

L
 
Personally i would swap the 9600k for a 9600KF and save a few bob if you buy it from a competitor (same chip unlocked just without the graphics enabled - You're running a discrete gpu anyway so not needed).

Go for 16gb of Ram instead of 8gb for purposes of video editing and gaming being able to run in dual channel mode over 1 stick.

As for power supply, i would personally opt for a 650W if he can stretch it.


Saying that.... for what he's using it for i would opt for a Ryzen 3600 build. For editing it is more suited and for gaming it is more or less on par. All comes down to personal preference tbh.
 
Personally id go AMD and get Ryzen, Seems to be more performance for the £1000 budget... Ive added a 650w PSU over the 450w in your build, just so you have the headroom for future upgrades etc... The Ryzen 3000 series fit straight into the B450 MSI boards so that saves some cash... I also went for Gigabyte GPU as its UK based RMA so the turn around is quicker if you do ever have issues. The AMD stock cooler does a decent job but you could shave a few £££ on some areas like the GPU if he wants the CoolerMaster hes listed

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £992.13 (includes shipping: £13.20)
​
 
Thanks for the responses Jay85 & Minibiker,
I've just been reading up on Ryzen as per your suggestions and agree that it's probably a better choice.
Minibiker, the 2060 GPU card that you've suggested is a similar price to an RX5700. Is there any particular advantage to having one over the other?

Thanks

L
 
Lordflake said:
Thanks for the responses Jay85 & Minibiker,
I've just been reading up on Ryzen as per your suggestions and agree that it's probably a better choice.
Minibiker, the 2060 GPU card that you've suggested is a similar price to an RX5700. Is there any particular advantage to having one over the other?

Thanks

L
Click to expand...

The 2060 has lower power consumption which is not a massive factor, Also the £350 5700XT is a reference card so theres a chance it will run hotter... What monitor are you using? If it has G-Sync then go Nvidia
 
Thanks Minibiker,

I think I have a plan coming together!
Final question, the Ryzen processor comes with it's own CPU Cooler, so I don't need to add a separate one? Or is it better practice to use your own?

Thanks

L
 
Lordflake said:
Thanks Minibiker,

I think I have a plan coming together!
Final question, the Ryzen processor comes with it's own CPU Cooler, so I don't need to add a separate one? Or is it better practice to use your own?

Thanks

L
Click to expand...

It comes with a stock cooler which will do a decent job, Ive used plenty of them over the years and they perform well aslong as your not one to Overclock the CPU.... If you plan on that then id buy a aftermarket cooler just to be sure of the temperatures. .
 
Minibiker said:
This Sapphire card will fit in well with the build and has a choice of a free game & xbox pass with it

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £359.89 (includes shipping: £9.90)
​
Click to expand...

The reference 5700XT is straight up better for the same price

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/powe...ddr6-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-198-pc.html

Might run louder but I dont think a 15 year kid would mind.
 
Minibiker said:
I agree it is a better card, I just added the Sapphire in as another option and the fact it has 3 year warranty over the 2 year warranty of the XT
Click to expand...

Fair enough, didn't notice that the Sapphire had an extra year of warranty. :D

Lordflake said:
Thanks Infiniteey and Minibiker,
I'll ask him which card he prefers, although I imagine he'll probably choose raw power over the free game.

Cheers
Click to expand...

Thought they all came with free games, but I can see now it says "select cards" :eek:
 
 
@tamzzy Forgot about the Team Group SSD, I had the 120gb in my old build for OS, That's a good price for 1TB... The CoolerMaster Master Watt is a brilliant PSU, I have one in my current PC but someone mentioned on here a while back to avoid them when I mentioned it :confused: Ive had no issues with mine :)
 
Minibiker said:
I have one in my current PC but someone mentioned on here a while back to avoid them when I mentioned it
Click to expand...
it's good enough for the price.
the #avoid is probably due to the forums being a computer enthusiast forum where if one doesnt have an 80plus adamantium (with capacitors from asgard) PSU, one belongs to the trashbin.
it's perfectly fine for the job, and 5 year warranty is decent too
 
tamzzy said:
this is what i'd get on a £1000 budget:
can fit a 5700xt if you spec correctly :)

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £991.58 (includes shipping: £11.70)
​
Click to expand...

Is there still the problem with the B450 not working out the box with Ryzen 3000s? as they need a bios update first, which can only be done if you already have a working CPU fitted.?
 
Infiniteey said:
Is there still the problem with the B450 not working out the box with Ryzen 3000s? as they need a bios update first, which can only be done if you already have a working CPU fitted.?
Click to expand...
the msi b450 MAX boards have bios that will support ryzen 3000 out of the box
 
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