What can I do for £600?

manic111

manic111

manic111

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I've got a bit of a PC building itch to scratch - I last built one when the i5-750k was released (what was that, 2010 or so?!), so am a LONG way out of the loop on specs. My understanding is that AMD is now a very viable option, whereas back then it was all Intel, although I'm pretty happy either way on that front. I don't need anything too special - my current laptop runs a Ryzen 4700U and basically does what I need it to, although I'd like to play Baldur's Gate 3 (which my laptop obviously can't!).

The cheapest way to fix the Baldur's Gate 3 issue is obviously to go out and buy a PS5, but I don't know - if I can get myself a PC for not horrifying amounts more than a PS5, I'd think about that. I'd love something small form - ITX is probably too expensive for my budget, but an MATX and a smallish case would be good.

Don't need a monitor or an OS.

What do you reckon OcUK?!
 
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I'd suggest that the idea of "worth having" is all relative. Given that it runs on the Steam Deck, would something for £600 or so not get BG3 at 1080p on at least medium?
 
throwaway4372 said:
an entry level gpu and cpu uses up the whole budget leaving nothing for the rest of the components
Click to expand...

Thoughts? Couple of pieces here are pre-order, but it doesn't look awful...​

1 X AMD Ryzen 5 5600 Six Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail - £149.99
SKU: CP-3D2-AM
1 X be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 10 550W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply - £56.99
SKU: CA-14U-BQ
1 X Corsair Vengeance LPX Black 16GB (2x8GB) 3600 MHz AMD Ryzen Tuned DDR4 Memory Dual Kit (CMK16GX4M2Z3600C18) - £44.98
SKU: MY-4BW-CS
1 X Crucial BX500 1TB SSD 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive - £41.99
SKU: HD-06V-CR
1 X Gigabyte B550M DS3H (AMD AM4) B550 Micro-ATX Motherboard - £89.99
SKU: MB-5BR-GI
1 X Asrock Radeon RX 6600 Dual 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card - £199.99
SKU: GX-00T-AK
1 X AMD - Starfield Radeon Game Bundle - £0.00
SKU: DIG-AMD-00542
1 X Jonsbo C6 Micro-ATX Mesh Case - Black - £49.99
SKU: CA-031-JB
Grand Total: £645.91
 
that gpu is weaker than the recommended system requirements for the game.
a better gpu would also require a better psu.
the bundled starfield is comical as that gpu won't play starfield.
I'd call the 4060 ti entry level and this is the comparison: https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-RTX-4060-Ti-vs-AMD-RX-6600/4149vs4128

cpu seems like reasonable price to performance, but amd isn't my thing so others can comment on that.

you specced a sata ssd, which works, but these days people get m.2 ssds.
 
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throwaway4372 said:
that gpu is weaker than the recommended system requirements for the game.
a better gpu would also require a better psu.
the bundled starfield is comical as that gpu won't play starfield.
I'd call the 4060 ti entry level and this is the comparison: https://gpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Nvidia-RTX-4060-Ti-vs-AMD-RX-6600/4149vs4128

cpu seems like reasonable price to performance, but amd isn't my thing so others can comment on that.

you specced a sata ssd, which works, but these days people get m.2 ssds.
Click to expand...
The 4060ti is no way near entry level for a gaming PC, it's a £400 (Overpriced) card. The 'recommended' card for BG3 is a 2060 super / or 5700xt, each of which you can buy for about £150. (Or a 6600 sits a bit under a 5700XT) A 970 or a 480 4GB are the minimum, each of which cost about £50.

It's more than doable for that budget.

However @manic111 - OP i'd have a serious look at GeForce now, you can run it on your existing laptop and if you have a half decent connection, its a really good cloud streaming service and will set you back about £9pm.

I purchased the top tier for £18pcm, to use with a 4k monitor, results I put in here, it literally felt native. https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/xbox-game-pass-now-on-gfn.18976638/page-2#post-36633270

I did still end up building a 4k capable PC, but this was because I wanted to play some games not in the GFN Library, but if you want BG3, it's in there and will hands down be the most cost effective way of you playing it :)
 
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Defy Belief said:
The 4060ti is no way near entry level for a gaming PC, it's a £400 (Overpriced) card. The 'recommended' card for BG3 is a 2060 super / or 5700xt, each of which you can buy for about £150. (Or a 6600 sits a bit under a 5700XT) A 970 or a 480 4GB are the minimum, each of which cost about £50.

It's more than doable for that budget.

However @manic111 - OP i'd have a serious look at GeForce now, you can run it on your existing laptop and if you have a half decent connection, its a really good cloud streaming service and will set you back about £9pm.

I purchased the top tier for £18pcm, to use with a 4k monitor, results I put in here, it literally felt native. https://forums.overclockers.co.uk/threads/xbox-game-pass-now-on-gfn.18976638/page-2#post-36633270

I did still end up building a 4k capable PC, but this was because I wanted to play some games not in the GFN Library, but if you want BG3, it's in there and will hands down be the most cost effective way of you playing it :)
Click to expand...
Thanks! I've used GeForce Now previously and it's a great system, I was just toying with the idea of some new kit! But agreed, a PS5 and/or GeForce Now is probably much more sensible
 
manic111 said:
Thoughts? Couple of pieces here are pre-order, but it doesn't look awful...
Click to expand...

Intel alternative for similar money:

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £641.88 (includes delivery: £7.99)​
 
Intel Core i3-12100F 3.30GHz (Alder Lake) Socket LGA1700 Processor - Retail
CP-6AS-IN
£90 (incl. VAT)
£80 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Corsair Vengeance LPX 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4 PC4-25600C18 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit (CMK32GX4M2D3600C18)
MY-4D1-CS
£230 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Sapphire Radeon RX 6600 Pulse Gaming 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card
GX-39R-SP
£200 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
@manic111 ..you have enough posts to access Members market..someone just sold a asus strix b550 f gaming mobo, 5800x,32gb ram and wifi card for £200...that would be my first port of call. Then get a cheap case and decent psu and try and find a decent gpu someones selling as they upgrade,

Edit, just checked and was diff mobo, so have corrected above, but doesn't change anything
 
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