New PC Build

joncollin81 · 23 Nov 2020 at 10:14

Hi folks!

I am ready to purchase a new gaming PC. I am looking for something around the £1,200 price point that is capable of driving my 1400 x 3440 monitor at 30+ fps for the latest AAA titles (not too worried about hitting 60+ although that would be a bonus!)

My only criteria is having a small enough system to replace my current Mini-ITX one which sits under my desk, hence I am thinking Micro-ATX (to give a little more build room than my current PC!)

I have the following shopping basket as a starter:

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x Gigabyte X570 I AORUS PRO WIFI (AMD AM4) DDR4 X570 Chipset Mini-ITX Motherboard= £226.99
1 x AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT Six Core 4.5GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail (100-100000281BOX)= £239.99
1 x Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2060 Mini ITX 6144MB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £329.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK16GX4M2B32= £68.99
1 x Samsung 970 EVO Plus 500GB M.2 2280 PCI-e 3.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive= £98.99
1 x Corsair Hydro Series H60 High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler - 120mm (CW-9060036-WW)= £79.99
1 x CoolerMaster MasterBox Q300L Micro-ATX Case - Black Window= £37.99
1 x Corsair RM Series RM650 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020194-UK)= £87.95
1 x Corsair AF High Airflow Low Noise White LED Cooling Fan - 140mm - Dual Pack= £24.95
1 x Corsair ML120 120mm Premium Magnetic Levitation Fan= £11.99

Total: £1,221.02 (includes shipping: £13.20)

In terms of CPU, I like the Zen 3 platform in terms of bang-for-buck, I was tempted to go for 5600X but the 5000 series seem to be in short supply at the moment. I could wait if it's going to be worth it. In terms of GPU, the RTX 2060 seems like a good balance between future proofing and value for money, I did also consider the GTX 1660 Ti but the 2060 seems a bit more powerful.

Please let me know your thoughts - all feedback, advice, suggestions appreciated, as always!

Many thanks,

JC

jigger · 23 Nov 2020 at 11:06

I’d go with a X570 micro ATX motherboard and a higher end graphics card. 5700XT or 2070 super. Whatever costs less.

mickyflinn · 23 Nov 2020 at 11:23

You can get a 1tb m2 drive for simmlar price and fit a full size gpu in that case.

joncollin81 · 23 Nov 2020 at 12:11

Thanks for the suggestions! Like the idea of the 5700XT, it doesn't work out much more than the 2060 but should be much better performance especially at 1440 x 3440. Full size GPU is a sensible idea too, more cooling!

I had a look at X570 mATX boards but only seem to be a couple of options, I checked out one (Asrock X570M Pro4) and reviews seem pretty underwhelming. Perhaps there are better options for X470 mATX, or else I can just stick with Mini ITX. Is it worth going for X570 instead of X470?

I will also look into getting a 1TB m2 drive, any models or brands recommended?

lee32uk · 23 Nov 2020 at 12:32

You are overspending in a few areas.

With a £1200 budget you are in RTX 3070 territory. Only issue is avalibility.

This has better value components. If you shop around you can probably save a bit more.

My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x MSI MAG B550M Mortar WiFi (AMD AM4) B550 Micro-ATX Motherboard= £119.99
1 x AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core 4.2GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail= £229.99
1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey= £109.99
1 x Arctic Freezer 34 CO CPU Cooler - 120mm= £24.95
1 x Kolink Citadel Mesh Micro-ATX Case - Black= £32.99
1 x Corsair RM Series RM650 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020194-UK)= £87.95
1 x Arctic Cooling P12 Silent Black Fan - 120mm= £4.99
1 x WD Blue SN550 1TB NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T2B0C)= £85.99

Total: £708.54 (includes shipping: £11.70)

zephyrv · 23 Nov 2020 at 12:40

Are you planning to use ray tracing?

joncollin81 · 23 Nov 2020 at 13:25

I hadn't even considered ray tracing tbh, my main goal is to be able to run the latest titles in 1440 x 3440 UW res at 30+ fps. I have just been looking at reviews of the 3070 Founders Edition card and it looks incredible value for money, but who knows when I will be able to get my hands on one!

zephyrv · 23 Nov 2020 at 13:37

Yeah 3070 would be ideal but 5700XT could be a shout in the meantime, as the others have also suggested. But more power consumption but better performance than 2070S for non ray traced, and about the same price

joncollin81 · 25 Nov 2020 at 12:33

Okay folks, thanks for all of the advice so far!

Here is my latest basket:
My basket at Overclockers UK:

1 x CoolerMaster MasterBox Q300L Micro-ATX Case - Black Window= £37.99
1 x Corsair RM Series RM650 650W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply (CP-9020194-UK)= £87.95
1 x WD Black 1TB SN750 M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0C)= £104.99
1 x MSI GeForce RTX 3070 Ventus 2X OC 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card= £559.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 16GB (2x8GB) 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Dual Kit= £79.99
1 x Gigabyte B550I AORUS PRO AX (AMD AM4) B550 Mini-ITX Motherboard= £174.95
1 x Corsair Hydro Series iCUE H100i PRO XT RGB Performance Liquid Cooler - 240mm (CW-9060043-WW)= £119.99
2 x Noctua NF-P14s REDUX PWM 1500RPM 140mm Quiet Case Fan= £13.99
1 x Noctua NF-S12B REDUX PWM 1200RPM 120mm Quiet Case Fan= £12.95

Total: £1,219.08 (includes shipping: £12.30)

The only missing component is a Ryzen 5 5600X CPU which I am happy to wait for, or source separately.

Are there any potential performance or compatibility issues with this build?

Thanks all

mickyflinn · 25 Nov 2020 at 12:50

Not sure why your getting an itx motherboard when you can fit a Matx. If your set on that board it makes more sense to get 32gb of memory 32gb 3200mhz can be had for £110

joncollin81 · 25 Nov 2020 at 12:57

Fair comment re: ITX, I've had a look at the available B550 Micro ATX boards and I don't like the look of any them in terms of performance, reviews, etc. They all seem to compromise on something. The Gigabyte Aurus ITX board seems highly rated and fully featured for what I need. Agreed on the RAM, definitely seems worth upgrading to 32GB for a little bit more money. Does it make a difference if I go for 3200MHz vs. 3600MHz? Are Team Group sticks preferable to Corsair? I only picked Corsair because I have some other Corsair components and I've used their RAM previously.

mickyflinn · 25 Nov 2020 at 13:11

If you happy with your motherboard choice then all good.

3200mhz to 3600mhz is a few fps in gaming but look at some benchmarks to help you decide. Teamgroup make good memory and are good value just another option to consider.

lee32uk · 25 Nov 2020 at 13:22

joncollin81 said:
Fair comment re: ITX, I've had a look at the available B550 Micro ATX boards and I don't like the look of any them in terms of performance, reviews, etc. They all seem to compromise on something. The Gigabyte Aurus ITX board seems highly rated and fully featured for what I need. Agreed on the RAM, definitely seems worth upgrading to 32GB for a little bit more money. Does it make a difference if I go for 3200MHz vs. 3600MHz? Are Team Group sticks preferable to Corsair? I only picked Corsair because I have some other Corsair components and I've used their RAM previously.

What compromises are you referring to ? If you are dead set on going with the X570 ITX board then I would advise you to go with a 2 x 16GB set of Ram as you only have two Ram slots.

A 3200MHZ CL16 or 3600MHz CL16 would be fine. Just don't pay too much more if going with the 3600MHz.

zephyrv · 25 Nov 2020 at 13:25

lee32uk said:
What compromises are you referring to ? If you are dead set on going with the X570 ITX board then I would advise you to go with a 2 x 16GB set of Ram as you only have two Ram slots.

A 3200MHZ CL16 or 3600MHz CL16 would be fine. Just don't pay too much more if going with the 3600MHz.

Yeah the b550 mortar is pretty no compromises aside from vrm but still plenty for a 5600x

lee32uk · 25 Nov 2020 at 13:41

zephyrv said:
Yeah the b550 mortar is pretty no compromises aside from vrm but still plenty for a 5600x

The VRM on the Mortar can handle an overclocked 3950X so not really an issue.

joncollin81 · 25 Nov 2020 at 14:12

As far as the Mortar board goes, I read a couple of mediocre reviews, one from PC Gamer mentioning RAM compatibility and difficulties getting the board to boot with RAM at frequencies of 3000MHz+. And an OverlockersClub review mentioning the Clear CMOS location beneath the GPU, meaning almost impossible to get to without removing GPU when testing different settings during overclocking, plus some unusual socket placements. I'm not initially planning on overclocking (I know, probably the wrong forum to be in lol!) but it would be nice to have the option if I wanted to at some point. I also read a couple of very negative user reviews on Amazon UK, but they are in the minority to be fair. The latest Gigabyte one I picked is the B550 and it's £50 cheaper than the X570 equivalent.

Team Group RAM seems very good value, £110 for 32GB is a bargain! Doubt I'd use that much but definitely worth it for an extra £40!

lee32uk · 25 Nov 2020 at 16:46

joncollin81 said:
As far as the Mortar board goes, I read a couple of mediocre reviews, one from PC Gamer mentioning RAM compatibility and difficulties getting the board to boot with RAM at frequencies of 3000MHz+. And an OverlockersClub review mentioning the Clear CMOS location beneath the GPU, meaning almost impossible to get to without removing GPU when testing different settings during overclocking, plus some unusual socket placements. I'm not initially planning on overclocking (I know, probably the wrong forum to be in lol!) but it would be nice to have the option if I wanted to at some point. I also read a couple of very negative user reviews on Amazon UK, but they are in the minority to be fair. The latest Gigabyte one I picked is the B550 and it's £50 cheaper than the X570 equivalent.

Team Group RAM seems very good value, £110 for 32GB is a bargain! Doubt I'd use that much but definitely worth it for an extra £40!

That review is using a 3000 series cpu though. If you are going with the 5600X then Ram support should be better. The CMOS battery is in an awkward place, but you don't have a lot of room on mATX or ITX. The Gigabyte board is perfectly fine though if you have your sights on that, and it has a solid VRM. I have always used Gigabyte boards myself plus you get UK RMA should you have any issues. There is also a Gigabyte rep who posts on the forum.

As for the other parts, I would say that the Corsair H100i is major overkill for a 5600X. If you are happy spending that much on a cooler I would look at the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240mm. It doesn't have RGB but it is £40 cheaper and they perform really well.

I would also look at Arctic for case fans as well. The P12/P14 are great value for money.

Yes that 32GB Team Group kit is good value. You can pay that much for 16GB. As you only have 2 x Ram slots on the Gigabyte board then 32GB is definitely the way to go.

zephyrv · 25 Nov 2020 at 18:25

lee32uk said:
The VRM on the Mortar can handle an overclocked 3950X so not really an issue.

Yeah just warmer than say a x570 Tom.

lee32uk said:
That review is using a 3000 series cpu though. If you are going with the 5600X then Ram support should be better. The CMOS battery is in an awkward place, but you don't have a lot of room on mATX or ITX. The Gigabyte board is perfectly fine though if you have your sights on that, and it has a solid VRM. I have always used Gigabyte boards myself plus you get UK RMA should you have any issues. There is also a Gigabyte rep who posts on the forum.

As for the other parts, I would say that the Corsair H100i is major overkill for a 5600X. If you are happy spending that much on a cooler I would look at the Arctic Liquid Freezer II 240mm. It doesn't have RGB but it is £40 cheaper and they perform really well.

I would also look at Arctic for case fans as well. The P12/P14 are great value for money.

Yes that 32GB Team Group kit is good value. You can pay that much for 16GB. As you only have 2 x Ram slots on the Gigabyte board then 32GB is definitely the way to go.

The team group ram is decent value but may not OC that well. You can regularly pick up 32gb of crucial ram at about £100 which can OC pretty well

Flight · 26 Nov 2020 at 15:29

I'm doing a similar build. I'm looking at a Ryzen 7 3700 in a Define C Mini case. I'm also finding it hard to settle on a motherboard. Lots to like about the 550 Mortar but it doesn't have many USB ports. If I do go with it I'll have to get a USB extender.

zephyrv · 29 Nov 2020 at 15:59

It has about 4 ports plus if you have a usb hub on your monitor then that's another couple.