Recommend a first build PC with my son

copsey99

copsey99

copsey99

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Hi all
My son is saving for his first gaming PC and we want to start it now, please could you give me some advice?
He has about £700 saved now and we're hoping to build now and add stuff later, but would take your advice on the subject.

My thoughts are
  • get an intel (?) CPU with stock cooler and add a better cooler later.
  • Probably doesn't make sense to split buying the RAM.
  • Need to go straight in with the end state GPU as it is gaming he wants it for. Or would you get a cpu with built in graphics now and add a card later?
  • I have lots of spare fans and HDDs, so we could use an old spinning disk for now and add SSD later
  • Theres no ethernet in his room so he'd need a wifi mb or just add a dongle
I was recommended this case for my build on here last year and was very happy with it, is this still the advice?
www.overclockers.co.uk

Phanteks Eclipse G300A Mid-Tower High Airflow PC Case - Black

Order Phanteks Eclipse G300A Mid-Tower High Airflow PC Case - Black now online and benefit from fast delivery.
www.overclockers.co.uk www.overclockers.co.uk

he's got a monitor keyboard and mouse already. It's a decent, modern monitor he got 2 xmases ago for his xbox with 120hz hdr etc.

what do you think? Any ideas on components to buy?

thanks

Ben
 
This would be a solid 1080p gaming machine .

Micro atx motherboard with WiFi , a 2tb nvme, 32gb memory, Rx 6600 GPU.

Could drop to 16gb and 1tb m2 to free up funds to make changes.

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Total: £685.92 (includes delivery: £7.99)​
 
Team Group Vulcan Z T-Force 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C16 3200MHz Dual Channel Kit - Grey
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AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Six Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail
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MSI B550M PRO-VDH WiFi (AMD AM4) B550 Micro-ATX Motherboard
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Aerocool Dryft Mini v2 Micro-ATX Case
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Last edited:
For £700 it's a funny position to be in, for a new build you'd probably want to go AM5 or a newer Intel platform rather than AM4 BUT they're going to put you over budget. For example even choosing the cheapest AM5 components (MB with Wifi, 6000MT/s RAM) you get this, which doesnt include case, PSU, storage or any little extras. I'm not up to date with Intel systems so wouldn't want to talk about that side of things and will leave it to others. If the budget is fairly fixed then I'd probably also lean into AM4 with the knowledge that you'll need to do a full platform upgrade when you next upgrade.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £641.90 (includes delivery: £7.99)​
 
Asus TUF Gaming A620-Pro WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard
MOT-ASU-01162
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TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G6000HC38ADC01)
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AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail
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Last edited:
copsey99 said:
Theres no ethernet in his room so he'd need a wifi mb or just add a dongle
Click to expand...

How easy is it to run an ethernet cable to the router? Showing him how to lay the cable going around the walls and doors so it is discreet, doesn't pose a trip hazard, and doesn't get pinched by doors etc could also be an educational project. You could even show him how to install an ethernet socket in his room.

Does he have a decent headset?
 
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tough as building new going to be hard to get decent for £700 unless you go with older gen parts, but that will impact future upgradeability. As a gaming build and starting new I'd try and get onto the am5 platform myself, as will be supported for next couple years at least...everything else will require a new motherboard

Below would be my basis for a system that you can grow with. the 7600 comes with a stock air cooler, which will do the job..for gaming permomance, it's on a par with the 5800x3d from am4 platform, which was best gaming cpu that had..b650 board solid and can handle a 7950x, so shouldn't hamper future cpu upgrades. 6000c30 sweet spot for am5, and 32gb should be more than enough for now...buy time you'll need 64 for games, you'll be wanting to upgrade everything anyway i think... lexar ssd very fast and reasonably priced, so good for your os and couple games..when funds allow I'd get a 2nd ssd (2tb pref) to allow for future games to stay there..in meantime you can keep them on your rust bucket spinners and just transfer to ssd when you actually want to play the game.
prob now id run out of funds for power supply and gpu

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £542.95 (includes delivery: £7.99)​
​
other option is try and buy 2nd hand mobo/cpu/ram combo...unfortunately you don't have enough posts for MM, but as an example seem b550 mobo/32gb ddr ram and 5600x to 5800x for £250 odd, leaving a lot more for gpu/power etc....so really becomes a choice whether you go for gaming now with limited upgradeability, or all new, but go for a solid foundation which you can build around and will last​
 
AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail
CP-3DW-AM
£219 (incl. VAT)
£200 (incl. VAT)
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Asus TUF Gaming B650-Plus WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard
MB-6K0-AS
£160 (incl. VAT)
£150 (incl. VAT)
FREE DELIVERY
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TeamGroup Delta RGB 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FF3D532G6000HC30DC01)
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Quartz said:
How easy is it to run an ethernet cable to the router? Showing him how to lay the cable going around the walls and doors so it is discreet, doesn't pose a trip hazard, and doesn't get pinched by doors etc could also be an educational project. You could even show him how to install an ethernet socket in his room.

Does he have a decent headset?
Click to expand...
we can't do that no, it'd be up the stairs etc :) there is mesh wifi in the house. He's got a headset for his xbox I believe it can connect via bluetooth
 
thanks all, yes I think a solid platform is important because he'll be upgrading it for many years. Does AMD Ryzen 5 7600 Six Core 5.10GHz (Socket AM5) have built in graphics? Would that get him going and we can defer the GPU ?
Then we could get GPU and storage later and get good foundations for the mb, ram and cpu.
 
I don't know how inbuilt graphics on a cpu works, does it have its own video memory? Or is it just using the RAM? Is that going to play stuff ok?

Graphics Capabilities
Graphics Model
AMD Radeon™ Graphics
Graphics Core Count
2
Graphics Frequency
2200 MHz
 
Igpu It uses some of the ram .

Using an old mechanical hard drive on an AM5 is laughable especially when he wants to play games and sits there waiting for the thing to load.

How old is he and what games will he be playing?
 
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The 7600 has an iGPU but he won't be playing anything at high res or high settings, not really a 'proper' GPU substitute for gaming.

This is the 7600X so a little faster than the 7600 CPU-wise
www.youtube.com

Ryzen 5 7600X IGPU TEST | AMD Radeon Graphics RDNA 2.0 in 30 Games | 2022

Benchmark test of AMD Radeon Graphics RDNA 2 Integrated GPU of the Ryzen 5 7600x new mainstream CPU from AMD in 13 GAMES in 2022 - 2023Got the Ryzen 5 76...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com
 
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ok thanks all for the input I like the thinking so far I will discuss with him. The only question I had is whether we need 12gb card, because that came up as a key consideration when I was building my machine, but then my budget was more flexible.
 
If you go AM4 you'll save some cash, but assuming you don't buy the top end gaming CPU (5800X3D) from the beginning your upgrade options would be limited.

HOWEVER

If you go into this with eyes wide open, knowing that you have a certain amount of performance NOW (arguably enough to keep up with the GPUs in your price range) and that your upgrade options at that time would be a small incremental upgrade on AM4 or a new mobo/CPU/RAM then AM4 is still totally viable as a platform even (IMO) for a new build.
 
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So if we say a 4-5 year upgrade horizon and would need a new mb to progress at that point
OR wondering if we could get a stop gap 2nd hand gpu now on ebay and save for a better card and go am5 now.
 
You can build a NEW AM4 system with a 5700X3D and an RX6600, 1TB NVME, 16GB 3600MT/s RAM and a decent PSU/Case for about £750. Drop the CPU a little (5600) to get £100 extra for the GPU and technically you then have more upgrade options down the line :D
Upgrade in a couple of years means new CPU/mobo/RAM, the rest would still work fine (mid term GPU upgrades depending on budget)

But you pretty much summarised your options, with a fixed budget, decent mid range now with little CPU upgrade path or new platform with better upgrade potential but worse GPU.
 
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Rob_B said:
You can build a NEW AM4 system with a 5700X3D and an RX6600, 1TB NVME, 16GB 3600MT/s RAM and a decent PSU/Case for about £750. Drop the CPU a little (5600) to get £100 extra for the GPU and technically you then have more upgrade options down the line :D
Upgrade in a couple of years means new CPU/mobo/RAM, the rest would still work fine (mid term GPU upgrades depending on budget)

But you pretty much summarised your options, with a fixed budget, decent mid range now with little CPU upgrade path or new platform with better upgrade potential but worse GPU.
Click to expand...
5700x3d is more expensive than a 7600 and is slower(not by much, but still slower, while 20% more expensive)...I just don't see the point going am4 if building new now with price of am5 platform and ddr5 much more reasonable..I'd only go am4 if buying 2nd hand now personally
 
Very true, RAM and mobo costs are lower though. Again it's swings and roundabouts really, if top tier performance isn't need right away then an older platform still has value, allow 2nd hand hardware too and now you're really talking reduced costs :)
 
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