New build advice, £800

AndyJGreen · 27 Oct 2022 at 08:19

Hi all,

Would be grateful for advice on my new build. PC will be used mostly for gaming but I'm not looking to go extreme.

1 X **B Grade** AMD Ryzen 7 5700X Eight Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail - £269.99

1 X Asus Prime X570-P (AMD AM4) DDR4 X570 Chipset ATX Motherboard - £159.95

1 X Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 16GB (2x8GB) 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Dual Kit (CMW16GX4M2Z3600C18) - £82.99

1 X Fractal Design Pop XL Silent Black Solid Full Tower Case - Black - £129.95

1 X Corsair RM Series RM650 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020194-UK) - £87.94

1 X Noctua NH-U12A High Performance CPU Cooler - 120mm - £95.00

Grand Total: £839.02

I have the following from my current PC that I'm looking to reuse: crucial CT480M500 SSD 500GB; Seagate 2TB HDD; MSI GTX 1060 6GB, although I may well upgrade these later (esp the GPU) when budget allows.

TIA

tamzzy · 27 Oct 2022 at 15:43

what are the specs of your current computer?
do you have to waste money on a new case/psu/cooler?

dfour · 27 Oct 2022 at 16:21

These will bring you more into your £800 budget,

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Alpenfohn Brocken 3 CPU Cooler - 140mm (SKU: HS-05A-AL) = £32.99
1 x Phanteks AMP 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-09Q-PT) = £74.99

Total: £107.98 (includes delivery: £0.00)

Just becareful the cooler is 165mm tall so make sure it will fit in your case.

If you dont need a full tower case these are good

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Lian Li Lancool II Mesh C RGB Midi-Tower Case - Black (SKU: CA-79S-LL) = £109.99
1 x Phanteks Eclipse G360A Mid Tower Airflow PC case - Satin Black (SKU: CA-0B4-PT) = £89.99
1 x **Promo** Phanteks SK 120mm PWM DRGB Fan (SKU: FG-02T-PT) = £0.00
1 x Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower DRGB Case - Black (SKU: CA-09G-PT) = £92.99

Total: £292.97 (includes delivery: £0.00)

pastymuncher · 27 Oct 2022 at 19:10

That B-grade 5700x is £21 more expensive than a brand new one with the free game collection. The B-grade section is well worth checking for sometimes huge discounts on heatsinks such as this Cryorig R1 Universal for just £49.99.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 7 5700X Eight Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3D1-AM) = £248.99
1 x AMD Performance To Enhance Your Adventure - Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (SKU: XX-039-AM) = £0.00
1 x **B Grade** Cryorig R1 Universal Dual Tower CPU Heatsink with 140mm Fan - White (SKU: BG-004-CY) = £49.99

If you shop around you can get a Thermalright Peerless Assassin SE120 for £40 or the ARGB version for just over £43. It's a extremely good but budget friendly cooler and you can read a review here.

AndyJGreen · 28 Oct 2022 at 08:35

tamzzy said:
what are the specs of your current computer?
do you have to waste money on a new case/psu/cooler?

These are good questions. My current case is a mATX and it's a bit cramped and one of the side panels is cracked. The PSU is a Corsair VS550 which probably has enough power for my build, but it's been running for 7 years now. The cooler is stock on a i5-4690K.

It did get me thinking about me reusing the SSD. It works fine but I dont know whether 7 years of use means I should not reuse it?

AndyJGreen · 28 Oct 2022 at 08:38

dfour said:
These will bring you more into your £800 budget,

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Alpenfohn Brocken 3 CPU Cooler - 140mm (SKU: HS-05A-AL) = £32.99

1 x Phanteks AMP 650W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-09Q-PT) = £74.99

Total: £107.98 (includes delivery: £0.00)

Just becareful the cooler is 165mm tall so make sure it will fit in your case.

If you dont need a full tower case these are good

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Lian Li Lancool II Mesh C RGB Midi-Tower Case - Black (SKU: CA-79S-LL) = £109.99

1 x Phanteks Eclipse G360A Mid Tower Airflow PC case - Satin Black (SKU: CA-0B4-PT) = £89.99

1 x **Promo** Phanteks SK 120mm PWM DRGB Fan (SKU: FG-02T-PT) = £0.00

1 x Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower DRGB Case - Black (SKU: CA-09G-PT) = £92.99

Total: £292.97 (includes delivery: £0.00)

Thanks for the suggestions. There are definitely options for lower cost cases than the one I've chosen. I'd like to go full tower. I'm keen to have one without transparent panels, with good component build and quiet (so noiseless case fans and good soundproofing.)

AndyJGreen · 28 Oct 2022 at 08:40

pastymuncher said:
That B-grade 5700x is £21 more expensive than a brand new one with the free game collection. The B-grade section is well worth checking for sometimes huge discounts on heatsinks such as this Cryorig R1 Universal for just £49.99.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 7 5700X Eight Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3D1-AM) = £248.99

1 x AMD Performance To Enhance Your Adventure - Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (SKU: XX-039-AM) = £0.00

1 x **B Grade** Cryorig R1 Universal Dual Tower CPU Heatsink with 140mm Fan - White (SKU: BG-004-CY) = £49.99

If you shop around you can get a Thermalright Peerless Assassin SE120 for £40 or the ARGB version for just over £43. It's a extremely good but budget friendly cooler and you can read a review here.

That is a great shout on the SE120. I'm a fan of Noctua CPU fans but there's nothing that gets near the SE120 at that price

tamzzy · 28 Oct 2022 at 08:48

AndyJGreen said:
It did get me thinking about me reusing the SSD. It works fine but I dont know whether 7 years of use means I should not reuse it?

Run crystaldiskinfo and see the stats

tamzzy · 28 Oct 2022 at 08:50

AndyJGreen said:
These are good questions. My current case is a mATX and it's a bit cramped and one of the side panels is cracked. The PSU is a Corsair VS550 which probably has enough power for my build, but it's been running for 7 years now. The cooler is stock on a i5-4690K.

Yup. Sounds like all needs an upgrade then. The PSU is a low quality component even back in the day. And whilst you might get away reusing it, I probably wouldn't (unless it's for a low end build, which yours isn't)

throwaway4372 · 28 Oct 2022 at 08:53

Don't re-use ssd. Get a swanky new nvme drive. I'd bin the hdd too.

tamzzy · 28 Oct 2022 at 09:13

black-on-white build
went with a 6-core 5600 instead as it's at an awesome price currently and best value for gaming
£200 cheaper which is essentially a step up in gpu tier when you upgrade
went with a 750w psu so you can put in a beefy gpu
also managed to chuck in a pcie 4 ssd

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Six Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3D2-AM) = £139.99
1 x AMD Performance To Enhance Your Adventure - Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (SKU: XX-039-AM) = £0.00
1 x Gigabyte X570S UD (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-59X-GI) = £159.95
1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (SKU: MY-0AK-TG) = £55.99
1 x CORSAIR RM Series RM750 Fully Modular Ultra-Low Noise ATX Power Supply - White (SKU: CA-26K-CS) = £99.95
1 x Phanteks Eclipse G360A Mid Tower Airflow PC case - Matte White (SKU: CA-0B8-PT) = £89.99
1 x **Promo** Phanteks SK 120mm PWM DRGB Fan White (SKU: FG-02U-PT) = £0.00
1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £82.99
1 x Alpenfohn Brocken 3 CPU Cooler - 140mm (SKU: HS-05A-AL) = £32.99

Total: £661.85 (includes delivery: £0.00)

5600 vs 5700x - not much in it for £100 more

Joxeon · 28 Oct 2022 at 09:22

You could get a new 13600k system for what your spending on an old AM4.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Intel Core i5-13600K (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6AV-IN) = £349.99
1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte Z690 UD DDR4 - Intel Z690 DDR4 ATX Motherboard (SKU: BG-5DV-GI) = £150.00
1 x Scythe SCMG-5100 Mugen 5 Rev.C CPU Cooler (SKU: HS-04N-SY) = £49.99
1 x Seasonic Focus GX-750 750W 80+ Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-06U-SS) = £95.00
1 x BitFenix Nova Mesh TG SE A-RGB Midi-Tower, Tempered Glass - Black (SKU: CA-23N-BX) = £52.99
1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (SKU: MY-0AK-TG) = £55.99
1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £82.99

Total: £849.25 (includes delivery: £12.30)

tamzzy · 28 Oct 2022 at 09:26

Joxeon said:
You could get a new 13600k system for what spending on an old AM4.

very valid choice if op wants to spend the full £850
(very power hungry though lol :cry:

)

Joxeon · 28 Oct 2022 at 10:02

tamzzy said:
very valid choice if op wants to spend the full £850
(very power hungry though lol )

Only for production workloads where it also would be 2x as fast as a 5600, for gaming it'll use a similar amount while also using less while idle.

AndyJGreen · 28 Oct 2022 at 10:13

tamzzy said:
black-on-white build
went with a 6-core 5600 instead as it's at an awesome price currently and best value for gaming
£200 cheaper which is essentially a step up in gpu tier when you upgrade
went with a 750w psu so you can put in a beefy gpu
also managed to chuck in a pcie 4 ssd

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Six Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3D2-AM) = £139.99

1 x AMD Performance To Enhance Your Adventure - Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection (SKU: XX-039-AM) = £0.00

1 x Gigabyte X570S UD (Socket AM4) DDR4 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-59X-GI) = £159.95

1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (SKU: MY-0AK-TG) = £55.99

1 x CORSAIR RM Series RM750 Fully Modular Ultra-Low Noise ATX Power Supply - White (SKU: CA-26K-CS) = £99.95

1 x Phanteks Eclipse G360A Mid Tower Airflow PC case - Matte White (SKU: CA-0B8-PT) = £89.99

1 x **Promo** Phanteks SK 120mm PWM DRGB Fan White (SKU: FG-02U-PT) = £0.00

1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £82.99

1 x Alpenfohn Brocken 3 CPU Cooler - 140mm (SKU: HS-05A-AL) = £32.99

Total: £661.85 (includes delivery: £0.00)

5600 vs 5700x - not much in it for £100 more

The 5600 is very tempting with that price drop. The reason I chose an 'X' processor is for the frequency boost. The 5600X is £169.99

AndyJGreen · 28 Oct 2022 at 10:15

tamzzy said:
very valid choice if op wants to spend the full £850
(very power hungry though lol )

I'm not too worried about power consumption. As long as I can keep the CPU cool without too much fan noise, I'm happy

AndyJGreen · 28 Oct 2022 at 10:20

Joxeon said:
You could get a new 13600k system for what your spending on an old AM4.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x Intel Core i5-13600K (Raptor Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6AV-IN) = £349.99

1 x **B Grade** Gigabyte Z690 UD DDR4 - Intel Z690 DDR4 ATX Motherboard (SKU: BG-5DV-GI) = £150.00

1 x Scythe SCMG-5100 Mugen 5 Rev.C CPU Cooler (SKU: HS-04N-SY) = £49.99

1 x Seasonic Focus GX-750 750W 80+ Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-06U-SS) = £95.00

1 x BitFenix Nova Mesh TG SE A-RGB Midi-Tower, Tempered Glass - Black (SKU: CA-23N-BX) = £52.99

1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (SKU: MY-0AK-TG) = £55.99

1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £82.99

Total: £849.25 (includes delivery: £12.30)

CPU prices seem to be all over the place. 5800X now down to £248.99 which is exactly the same as the 5700X

tamzzy · 28 Oct 2022 at 10:28

AndyJGreen said:
The 5600 is very tempting with that price drop. The reason I chose an 'X' processor is for the frequency boost. The 5600X is £169.99

not worth the £30 extra

Joxeon said:
Only for production workloads where it also would be 2x as fast as a 5600, for gaming it'll use a similar amount while also using less while idle.

haha, yes indeed. just had a look

AndyJGreen said:
I'm not too worried about power consumption. As long as I can keep the CPU cool without too much fan noise, I'm happy

whilst the 13600k may use about the same power as a 5600 during gaming, it can also double it in certain workloads, so you will have to get a beefier cooler if you want to go down the 13600k route

AndyJGreen said:
CPU prices seem to be all over the place. 5800X now down to £248.99 which is exactly the same as the 5700X

for pure gaming the 5600 is the best value, no need to consider any of the 8 core parts

AndyJGreen · 28 Oct 2022 at 11:19

AndyJGreen said:
Hi all,

Would be grateful for advice on my new build. PC will be used mostly for gaming but I'm not looking to go extreme.

1 X **B Grade** AMD Ryzen 7 5700X Eight Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail - £269.99

1 X Asus Prime X570-P (AMD AM4) DDR4 X570 Chipset ATX Motherboard - £159.95

1 X Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO Black 16GB (2x8GB) 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Dual Kit (CMW16GX4M2Z3600C18) - £82.99

1 X Fractal Design Pop XL Silent Black Solid Full Tower Case - Black - £129.95

1 X Corsair RM Series RM650 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020194-UK) - £87.94

1 X Noctua NH-U12A High Performance CPU Cooler - 120mm - £95.00

Grand Total: £839.02

I have the following from my current PC that I'm looking to reuse: crucial CT480M500 SSD 500GB; Seagate 2TB HDD; MSI GTX 1060 6GB, although I may well upgrade these later (esp the GPU) when budget allows.

TIA

One other question. I've searched through the Windows thread to no avail. I read somewhere (tomshardware?) that win11 has features that bring out the best in the ryzen CPUs we've been discussing. I'd rather load win10 for now since most of the bugs have been ironed out and it will be cheaper. But I will load win11 if it gives my gaming a performance boost. Dont want to open the whole 10 v 11 debate. Sorry if this is the wrong thread.

tamzzy · 28 Oct 2022 at 11:39

AndyJGreen said:
One other question. I've searched through the Windows thread to no avail. I read somewhere (tomshardware?) that win11 has features that bring out the best in the ryzen CPUs we've been discussing. I'd rather load win10 for now since most of the bugs have been ironed out and it will be cheaper. But I will load win11 if it gives my gaming a performance boost. Dont want to open the whole 10 v 11 debate. Sorry if this is the wrong thread.

win 10 is fine, i wouldn't worry
(i used win 10 and win 11 with a 5800x and saw no difference)

however, if you do buy the 13th gen intel (or 12th gen intel) parts then you will have to use windows 11 for it's updated scheduler to differentiate the performance and efficiency cores