Soldato
Hi all, any comments or suggestions on the below welcome.
I want to build a PC for occasional gaming, amateur video editing, plus normal home browsing etc. Only had a laptop for the past 10 years so looking forward to being able to do a bit more with a PC! I realise now is a bad time to be building a new PC, but tbh I don’t have much else to do and want the extra oomph now, so will try to do my best with what’s available. Will be using my current monitor and peripherals for now. No hard budget, but don’t want to spend much more than the below ballpark unless there’s a good reason to. My initial thoughts are:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
CPU: 5600X as Placeholder. For CPU I am actually tempted to go back a generation and get something like a Ryzen 3900X, which I’ve seen new elsewhere for under £400 (seems like a used one would still be £330 to £370, that discount isn’t worth going used for me I don’t think). I know the 5000 series is faster per core, but equivalent money won’t even get 8 cores there, and my thoughts are that having more cores will be significantly more useful for non-gaming tasks.
Motherboard: Seems like the MSI X570 Tomahawk is most people’s suggestion for a good quality board, and has wifi which I’ll probably be using. Looking at the feature set I think a B550 board would also be fine for me, but then I guess if pcie4 SSDs become affordable in a couple of years then I suppose an x570 might be useful so I could fit two of them.
Did wonder if this might be a waste of money when I could just get, for example, an MSI Tomahawk Max B450 board for half the price? But then I would have to get a £30 network card and make do with a single pcie gen 3 M.2 slot.
Graphics: 2060 as Placeholder. If availability wasn’t an issue I would be considering something modern to let me up the resolution on a new monitor and keep up with new games without having to upgrade. However, not being a heavy gamer it’s not the end of the world seeing how things go with an older card and then upgrading when (hopefully) availability is better if I still want to, and I don’t think it will be an issue for most video editing etc. I’m hoping to get hold of something like the Nvidia 1080Ti, 2070 or 2080 depending on what comes up either on the MM or elsewhere.
Memory: Patriot Viper mainly chosen as it’s the cheapest 32GB 3600MHz kit, which is apparently ideal for Ryzen. Heat spreader is a reasonable size so shouldn’t interfere with the CPU cooler. Couldn’t find it in the list of compatible RAM for the motherboard on the MSI website, but then neither are many of the other 32GB kits so I’m not sure whether that’s a big deal or not...
PSU: as far as I know Super Flower is a reliable brand and 750W should be enough juice for now and potential future upgrades according to a calculator I used.
Storage: WD Blue M.2 Seems to be a go to option. May look at Adata SX8200 pro which isn’t much more money, but would be faster... May add some SATA drives for general storage too as required.
Part of me was tempted just to get a gen 4 ssd now, but I’m not sure the performance gains will make enough real world difference to me for that to be worthwhile at the moment.
CPU cooler: To be honest there’s far too much choice here, but think I’ve settled on air cooling for cost & reliability reasons and also looks like a decent air cooler can do just as good a job as a mid range AIO from what I’ve read. Looks like the Alpenfohn Brocken 3 does a pretty decent job and isn’t too expensive as some other models (e.g. Noctua coolers), plus it’s actually in stock. However I was also tempted by the shiny RGB lights of the Mugen 5 ARGB. Scythe Ninja 5 looks fine too, slightly shorter at 155mm which might be useful if I went for a smaller case. Decision TBC…
Case: Feel like this is the hardest decision of all since it’s hard to visualise what it will actually look like without seeing it in the flesh first, to RGB or not to RGB, plus trying to work out how easy it’ll be to fit stuff in and whether the air flow will be any good. But with that in mind, I liked the look of theBe Quiet! 500DX ARGB, and the Lian-Li Lancool II Mesh RGB. Unfortunately they seem to be out of stock everywhere so have put the MSI Gungnir 110R in my basket, which seems like it should do the job. Other options I’d thought about:
I want to build a PC for occasional gaming, amateur video editing, plus normal home browsing etc. Only had a laptop for the past 10 years so looking forward to being able to do a bit more with a PC! I realise now is a bad time to be building a new PC, but tbh I don’t have much else to do and want the extra oomph now, so will try to do my best with what’s available. Will be using my current monitor and peripherals for now. No hard budget, but don’t want to spend much more than the below ballpark unless there’s a good reason to. My initial thoughts are:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
- 1 x PLACEHOLDER AMD Ryzen 5 5600X Six Core 4.6GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £319.99
- 1 x MSI MAG X570 Tomahawk WiFi (AMD AM4) DDR4 X570 ATX Motherboard= £209.99
- 1 x PLACEHOLDER ZOTAC GeForce RTX 2060 Twin Fan 6144MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £329.99
- 1 x Patriot Viper Steel 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C18 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVS432G360C8K)= £149.99
- 1 x Super Flower Leadex III ARGB 750W 80 PLUS Gold Modular Power Supply - Black= £104.99
- 1 x WD Blue SN550 2TB NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS200T2B0C)= £193.99
- 1 x Alpenfohn Brocken 3 Black Edition CPU Cooler Dual Fan Edition - 140mm= £53.99
- 1 x MSI MPG Gungnir 110R Mid-Tower ARGB Gaming Case - Black Tempered Glass= £89.99
Total: £1,465.22 (includes shipping: £12.30)
CPU: 5600X as Placeholder. For CPU I am actually tempted to go back a generation and get something like a Ryzen 3900X, which I’ve seen new elsewhere for under £400 (seems like a used one would still be £330 to £370, that discount isn’t worth going used for me I don’t think). I know the 5000 series is faster per core, but equivalent money won’t even get 8 cores there, and my thoughts are that having more cores will be significantly more useful for non-gaming tasks.
Motherboard: Seems like the MSI X570 Tomahawk is most people’s suggestion for a good quality board, and has wifi which I’ll probably be using. Looking at the feature set I think a B550 board would also be fine for me, but then I guess if pcie4 SSDs become affordable in a couple of years then I suppose an x570 might be useful so I could fit two of them.
Did wonder if this might be a waste of money when I could just get, for example, an MSI Tomahawk Max B450 board for half the price? But then I would have to get a £30 network card and make do with a single pcie gen 3 M.2 slot.
Graphics: 2060 as Placeholder. If availability wasn’t an issue I would be considering something modern to let me up the resolution on a new monitor and keep up with new games without having to upgrade. However, not being a heavy gamer it’s not the end of the world seeing how things go with an older card and then upgrading when (hopefully) availability is better if I still want to, and I don’t think it will be an issue for most video editing etc. I’m hoping to get hold of something like the Nvidia 1080Ti, 2070 or 2080 depending on what comes up either on the MM or elsewhere.
Memory: Patriot Viper mainly chosen as it’s the cheapest 32GB 3600MHz kit, which is apparently ideal for Ryzen. Heat spreader is a reasonable size so shouldn’t interfere with the CPU cooler. Couldn’t find it in the list of compatible RAM for the motherboard on the MSI website, but then neither are many of the other 32GB kits so I’m not sure whether that’s a big deal or not...
PSU: as far as I know Super Flower is a reliable brand and 750W should be enough juice for now and potential future upgrades according to a calculator I used.
Storage: WD Blue M.2 Seems to be a go to option. May look at Adata SX8200 pro which isn’t much more money, but would be faster... May add some SATA drives for general storage too as required.
Part of me was tempted just to get a gen 4 ssd now, but I’m not sure the performance gains will make enough real world difference to me for that to be worthwhile at the moment.
CPU cooler: To be honest there’s far too much choice here, but think I’ve settled on air cooling for cost & reliability reasons and also looks like a decent air cooler can do just as good a job as a mid range AIO from what I’ve read. Looks like the Alpenfohn Brocken 3 does a pretty decent job and isn’t too expensive as some other models (e.g. Noctua coolers), plus it’s actually in stock. However I was also tempted by the shiny RGB lights of the Mugen 5 ARGB. Scythe Ninja 5 looks fine too, slightly shorter at 155mm which might be useful if I went for a smaller case. Decision TBC…
Case: Feel like this is the hardest decision of all since it’s hard to visualise what it will actually look like without seeing it in the flesh first, to RGB or not to RGB, plus trying to work out how easy it’ll be to fit stuff in and whether the air flow will be any good. But with that in mind, I liked the look of theBe Quiet! 500DX ARGB, and the Lian-Li Lancool II Mesh RGB. Unfortunately they seem to be out of stock everywhere so have put the MSI Gungnir 110R in my basket, which seems like it should do the job. Other options I’d thought about:
be quiet! Pure Base 500DX ARGB Midi Tower Case - Black Tempered Glass
ETA: 29.01.21
£94.99
Looks good, 2x2.5 and 2x3.5 is fine, not too expensive, good CPU cooler clearance, good airflow, looks like there’s enough space to route cables etc. Out of stock everywhere. 9/10.
Lian-Li Lancool II Mesh RGB Midi-Tower Case - BlackStock Code: CA-78D-LL Added on: Out of stock
£87.95
Looks good, decent size, good airflow, out of stock everywhere though. 9/10
Lian-Li Lancool II Mesh performance Midi-Tower Case - Black
Out of stock
£81.95
Looks good, decent size, miss the RGB lights of the RGB version though! Also out of stock. 8/10
MSI MPG Gungnir 110R Mid-Tower ARGB Gaming Case - Black Tempered Glass
20+ In stock
£89.99
Reasonable price, looks good, good CPU cooler clearance, enough drive space. Only downside is the PSU cable area is a bit cramped apparently. 8/10
Lian Li Lancool 215 Midi Tower ARGB, Tempered Glass Black
ETA: 08.01.21
£66.95
Great price, like the big fans, enough space all round, only 160mm cpu clearance though. 8/10
Corsair 4000D Airflow Mid-Tower Case - Black Tempered Glass (CC-9011200-WW) ETA: 28.01.21
£84.95
Looks good, good airflow, enough space, good cpu clearance. 8/10
Corsair Obsidian 500D Midi Tower Gaming Case - Black Tempered Glass 10+ In stock
£144.95
Looks good, plenty of space, price is a bit higher though. 7/10
Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower DRGB Case - Black
20+ In stock
£83.99
Looks good, enough space, reasonable price. Downside is only 160mm CPU cooler clearance. 7/10
Phanteks Eclipse P500 Air ATX Case Tempered Glass DRGB Satin Black
ETA: 15.01.21
£127.99
Higher price point than some others, lots of space, lots of space for drives, good airflow, lots of CPU cooler clearance etc, looks OK. 7/10
Phanteks Eclipse P600S Glass Silent Midi Tower Case - BlackStock Code ETA: 26.01.21
£145.99
Looks good, acres of space, higher price point though. Out of stock most places. 7/10
CoolerMaster MasterBox TD500 Mesh Mid-Tower E-ATX Case - Black Tempered
ETA: 28.01.21
£84.95
Looks good, good airflow, decent amount of space, cpu clearance at 165mm is just ok. 7/10
Fractal Design Meshify C Blackout Midi Tower Case - Black Light Tempered Glass 5 In stock
£109.99
Looks good, good airflow, enough CPU cooler clearance, good airflow, enough drive mounts, doesn’t look like there’s that much space for cables etc though. 6/10
Corsair 4000X iCUE RGB Mid-Tower Gaming Case - Black Tempered Glass Out of stock
£109.99
I like the look, enough space, poor airflow though. 6/10
Lian-Li Lancool II ARGB Midi-Tower Case - Black
18 In stock
£89.99
Not sure I like the front of this case, otherwise got a good amount of space etc, no ‘practical’ downsides just aesthetic. 6/10.
Corsair iCUE 220T RGB Mid-Tower Smart Case - Black Tempered Glass 1 In stock
£99.95
Looks nice, space might be a bit limited, and poor airflow goes with the style. 5/10
MSI MPG Sekira 100R Mid-Tower ARGB Gaming Case - Black Tempered Glass
10+ In stock
£119.99
Looks great, ok drive space and cpu clearance, but higher price, PSU area even more cramped than Gungnir, airflow not that great. 4/10
ETA: 29.01.21
£94.99
Looks good, 2x2.5 and 2x3.5 is fine, not too expensive, good CPU cooler clearance, good airflow, looks like there’s enough space to route cables etc. Out of stock everywhere. 9/10.
Lian-Li Lancool II Mesh RGB Midi-Tower Case - BlackStock Code: CA-78D-LL Added on: Out of stock
£87.95
Looks good, decent size, good airflow, out of stock everywhere though. 9/10
Lian-Li Lancool II Mesh performance Midi-Tower Case - Black
Out of stock
£81.95
Looks good, decent size, miss the RGB lights of the RGB version though! Also out of stock. 8/10
MSI MPG Gungnir 110R Mid-Tower ARGB Gaming Case - Black Tempered Glass
20+ In stock
£89.99
Reasonable price, looks good, good CPU cooler clearance, enough drive space. Only downside is the PSU cable area is a bit cramped apparently. 8/10
Lian Li Lancool 215 Midi Tower ARGB, Tempered Glass Black
ETA: 08.01.21
£66.95
Great price, like the big fans, enough space all round, only 160mm cpu clearance though. 8/10
Corsair 4000D Airflow Mid-Tower Case - Black Tempered Glass (CC-9011200-WW) ETA: 28.01.21
£84.95
Looks good, good airflow, enough space, good cpu clearance. 8/10
Corsair Obsidian 500D Midi Tower Gaming Case - Black Tempered Glass 10+ In stock
£144.95
Looks good, plenty of space, price is a bit higher though. 7/10
Phanteks Eclipse P400 Air Midi Tower DRGB Case - Black
20+ In stock
£83.99
Looks good, enough space, reasonable price. Downside is only 160mm CPU cooler clearance. 7/10
Phanteks Eclipse P500 Air ATX Case Tempered Glass DRGB Satin Black
ETA: 15.01.21
£127.99
Higher price point than some others, lots of space, lots of space for drives, good airflow, lots of CPU cooler clearance etc, looks OK. 7/10
Phanteks Eclipse P600S Glass Silent Midi Tower Case - BlackStock Code ETA: 26.01.21
£145.99
Looks good, acres of space, higher price point though. Out of stock most places. 7/10
CoolerMaster MasterBox TD500 Mesh Mid-Tower E-ATX Case - Black Tempered
ETA: 28.01.21
£84.95
Looks good, good airflow, decent amount of space, cpu clearance at 165mm is just ok. 7/10
Fractal Design Meshify C Blackout Midi Tower Case - Black Light Tempered Glass 5 In stock
£109.99
Looks good, good airflow, enough CPU cooler clearance, good airflow, enough drive mounts, doesn’t look like there’s that much space for cables etc though. 6/10
Corsair 4000X iCUE RGB Mid-Tower Gaming Case - Black Tempered Glass Out of stock
£109.99
I like the look, enough space, poor airflow though. 6/10
Lian-Li Lancool II ARGB Midi-Tower Case - Black
18 In stock
£89.99
Not sure I like the front of this case, otherwise got a good amount of space etc, no ‘practical’ downsides just aesthetic. 6/10.
Corsair iCUE 220T RGB Mid-Tower Smart Case - Black Tempered Glass 1 In stock
£99.95
Looks nice, space might be a bit limited, and poor airflow goes with the style. 5/10
MSI MPG Sekira 100R Mid-Tower ARGB Gaming Case - Black Tempered Glass
10+ In stock
£119.99
Looks great, ok drive space and cpu clearance, but higher price, PSU area even more cramped than Gungnir, airflow not that great. 4/10