Old pc builder needs some advice

[E30bmlover]

Hello guys, the last time I built a pc was about 15 years ago.
My son wants one for Christmas but I grudge paying for someone to build it.
My budget is about £500- £700
I'm after either an amd or Intel system, I'm up to date on ram, hard discs m.2 ssd's ect, I'm a bit behind on processors and graphics cards+ interfaces for graphics cards (pcie still a thing?)

He wants to play the latest games and wants a case with decent air flow, obviously component compatability has to be right, I don't want hours of diagnosing crashes and or errors.

What would you guys suggest?
Any advice on a build would be appreciated!
Thanks in advance.

 

[Gray2233]

Does he need peripherals, such as keyboard/mouse and monitor?

If he has a monitor what resolution is it?

 

[mickyflinn]

Wifi needed?

 

[E30bmlover]

Does he need peripherals, such as keyboard/mouse and monitor?

If he has a monitor what resolution is it?

Nope just the tower, he has a decent monitor and peripherals

 

[E30bmlover]

Wifi needed?

I much prefer lan but I guess he would want wifi lol

 

[E30bmlover]

I'd be inclined to build it with him then stress test it for 24 hours with prime 95.

 

[mickyflinn]

Added a CPU cooler for quietness and RGB effect but 5600 comes with one so money to be saved , rx 6600 is a solid 1080p GPU.

32gb of memory but can be reduced to 16 GB to save money.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Six Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3D2-AM) = £149.99
• 1 x MSI B550M PRO-VDH WiFi (AMD AM4) B550 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-358-MS) = £109.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C18 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMK32GX4M2D3600C18) (SKU: MY-4D1-CS) = £64.99
• 1 x be quiet! System Power 9 600W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply **OEM NO BOX** (SKU: CA-13V-BQ) = £49.99
• 1 x MSI MAG Forge M100R ARGB Tempered Glass Windowed Micro ATX Mid Tower Case - Black (SKU: CA-014-MS) = £55.00
• 1 x Asrock Radeon RX 6600 Dual 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-00T-AK) = £184.99
• 1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Halo² Black Edition CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: HS-090-CM) = £24.95

Total: £651.89 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

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[E30bmlover]

Added a CPU cooler for quietness and RGB effect but 5600 comes with one so money to be saved , rx 6600 is a solid 1080p GPU.

32gb of memory but can be reduced to 16 GB to save money.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Six Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3D2-AM) = £149.99
• 1 x MSI B550M PRO-VDH WiFi (AMD AM4) B550 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-358-MS) = £109.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C18 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMK32GX4M2D3600C18) (SKU: MY-4D1-CS) = £64.99
• 1 x be quiet! System Power 9 600W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply **OEM NO BOX** (SKU: CA-13V-BQ) = £49.99
• 1 x MSI MAG Forge M100R ARGB Tempered Glass Windowed Micro ATX Mid Tower Case - Black (SKU: CA-014-MS) = £55.00
• 1 x Asrock Radeon RX 6600 Dual 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-00T-AK) = £184.99
• 1 x Cooler Master Hyper 212 Halo² Black Edition CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: HS-090-CM) = £24.95

Total: £651.89 (includes delivery: £11.98)​

I really appreciate you for putting this together ! Will it run mw3 at a decent frame rate? And an m.2 drive will be extra?​

 

[Gray2233]

I would personally look up the Thermalright Assassin King 120, it's a superior HSF at almost half the price of the 212.

I'm sure that you could get the Ryzen 5700X for about £150 too, but it looks like OCUK have put the prices up?

 

[E30bmlover]

I will need an m.2 boot drive won't I guys?

 

[Tetras]

Intel/DDR4 option:

CPU performs pretty much the same as the 5600 suggested above.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Intel Core i5-12400F 2.50GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-6AR-IN) = £154.99
• 1 x Gigabyte B660M DS3H AX - Intel B660 DDR4 Micro ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-5AH-GI) = £129.95
• 1 x Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey (SKU: MY-0AJ-TG) = £59.99
• 1 x WD Blue SN570 1TB SSD NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen3 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3B0C) (SKU: HD-589-WD) = £39.95
• 1 x PowerColor Radeon RX 6600 Fighter 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GX-1AD-PC) = £199.99
• 1 x AeroCool Trinity V2 Mini Tower PC Case - Black (SKU: CA-23J-AE) = £29.99
• 1 x Phanteks AMP 550W 80 Plus Gold Modular Power Supply (SKU: CA-09P-PT) = £79.99

Total: £694.85 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

 

[Gray2233]

I will need an m.2 boot drive won't I guys?

Correct, the one recommended by Tetras is a fine choice for the price.

 

[E30bmlover]

I appreciate you guys for putting these systems together, which is the better for gaming? Or isn't there much in it?

 

[Gray2233]

If you go for the 5700x instead of the 5600x I would say that would be superior for the same price, but I wouldn't pay more than £150ish for the 5700x.

Otherwise there's honestly not much between the two.

 

[E30bmlover]

What operating system would you run them on? I know Windows but what version?

 

[Tetras]

What operating system would you run them on? I know Windows but what version?

11, not much point buying 10 anymore, though the upgrade from 10 to 11 is free either way.

 

[E30bmlover]

Do u need a pen drive or something for the windows image?

 

[Gray2233]

Do u need a pen drive or something for the windows image?

To add, you can actually run W11 indefinitely without a licence last I checked.

I wouldn't worry about factoring that into the price of the build.

You can install from USB, here's a guide for you:

Windows 11 Clean Installation

Step by step instructions to clean install Windows 11 to switch Insider Preview Channel.

www.microsoft.com

 

[E30bmlover]

That's great, how do I go about ordering a system?

 

[mickyflinn]

I will need an m.2 boot drive won't I guys?

Lol it's been a long day , apologies.

That's great, how do I go about ordering a system?

I'm guessing you mean the parts, go create an account or checkout with PayPal . Just check if some parts are on pre order if buying from Overclockers.

Both pc builds will perform the same .