[SOLVED] Advice on a £500 pc build

AlfieBJ

Prominent
May 12, 2020
21
1
515
I've been planning a PC build for my girlfriend, who currently doesn't have one and has just come across £500 to buy one.

It'll be used for mainly for office work and browsing etc, but also some light gaming. Things like overwatch, sims, fall guys & minecraft primarily, and maybe overwatch 2 when it comes out, which might be a little harder. Although she wouldn't have an issue with playing on 720p in games if needed.

I've seen the Ryzen 7 5700G, and it seems like a build including that might be able to perform well for these purposes.

I'm still unsure if buying a used pre build system would be the better strategy to get better value, but I'm hesitant because she wants it to last her a long time.

There is also a strong possibility of upgrading the system with a GPU and new case and PSU to support it in a year or two.

I've put this build together which I think will perform beyond what is strictly needed, and is within the budget, but I'd love some advice:

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/9TYHzf

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor (£257.49 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£69.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory (£64.48 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN570 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£44.99 @ Amazon UK)
Custom: EXDISPLAY CiT S012B Black Slim Micro ATX or ITX Case 300w PSU Built-in Card-reader (£34.97 @ Ebuyer)

Total: £471.91

Any advice on this would be brilliant, thanks. (Especially whether the inbuilt case PSU looks dodgy, I'm unsure.)
 
Solution
I'd personally spend a little more and wrap up the build with a reliably built PSU to round off the already nicely chosen build components. Get an matx and pick a reliably built 450W unit. If you can, see if you can get an SF case like the one by NZXT(H1 v2) or by Coolermaster(NR200P).

Buying used often times would mean you're buying someone else's mistakes and then having to rectify them, which often times means you spend about double. Buying prebuilt or used can also result in you having to modify the innards to your liking hence why building your own is a better path given how you will know what you put into the build and how to upgrade in the future.

Lutfij

Titan
Moderator
I'd personally spend a little more and wrap up the build with a reliably built PSU to round off the already nicely chosen build components. Get an matx and pick a reliably built 450W unit. If you can, see if you can get an SF case like the one by NZXT(H1 v2) or by Coolermaster(NR200P).

Buying used often times would mean you're buying someone else's mistakes and then having to rectify them, which often times means you spend about double. Buying prebuilt or used can also result in you having to modify the innards to your liking hence why building your own is a better path given how you will know what you put into the build and how to upgrade in the future.
 
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Solution
You are asking for trouble using a no name 300w psu that comes with a cheap case.
Antec included power supplies may be the only exception.

A simple i3-10100 processor is really all you need.
As a starter, it has enough graphics capability for desktop work, movie playback, and games that are not fast action like strategy games.
Here is a review:

A ssd of some sort is a must have. 500gb is good, you can always add storage later.

To plan for a graphics upgrade later, buy a quality psu of sufficient strength to handle a prospective discrete graphics card. A good psu is a long term investment.
Here is a handy sizing chart:
http://www.realhardtechx.com/index_archivos/Page362.htm
A quality 550w unit might be ok, it could handle a card as good as a GTX3060.
How to assess quality?? Look at the warranty. A 7 to 10 year warranty is usually a good indicator of quality. think Seasonic focus or corsair rm units for example.
It would not be wrong to overprovision by 20%.
A psu will only use the power demanded of it, regardless of the max capability.

A case is a personal thing. Your cooling needs are not great and you could get by with a very cheap case.
But, a case will be with you for a long time.
Looks count.
Show GF some prospective cases and let her pick.
 
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AlfieBJ

Prominent
May 12, 2020
21
1
515
I'd personally spend a little more and wrap up the build with a reliably built PSU to round off the already nicely chosen build components. Get an matx and pick a reliably built 450W unit. If you can, see if you can get an SF case like the one by NZXT(H1 v2) or by Coolermaster(NR200P).

Buying used often times would mean you're buying someone else's mistakes and then having to rectify them, which often times means you spend about double. Buying prebuilt or used can also result in you having to modify the innards to your liking hence why building your own is a better path given how you will know what you put into the build and how to upgrade in the future.

Thanks for taking the time to reply, after looking at your advice and geofelt's below I've flipped on the PSU matter.

I'm thinking now of getting a far more reliable 650W PSU and spending the extra money now, making a much easier upgrade to a RTX 3060/3070 down the line.

Does this seem sensible to you? I think the extra money will be doable.

I'll put the new part list below:

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/wyRkXy

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor (£257.49 @ Amazon UK)

Motherboard: MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Amazon UK)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory (£64.48 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Western Digital Blue SN570 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£44.99 @ Amazon UK)

Case: Cougar MG120 G MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£34.98 @ Box Limited)

Power Supply: Corsair RM (2021) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£82.90 @ Amazon UK)

Total: £574.83
 
Thanks for taking the time to reply, after looking at your advice and geofelt's below I've flipped on the PSU matter.

I'm thinking now of getting a far more reliable 650W PSU and spending the extra money now, making a much easier upgrade to a RTX 3060/3070 down the line.

Does this seem sensible to you? I think the extra money will be doable.

I'll put the new part list below:

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/wyRkXy

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 5700G 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor (£257.49 @ Amazon UK)

Motherboard: MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£89.99 @ Amazon UK)

Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory (£64.48 @ Amazon UK)

Storage: Western Digital Blue SN570 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£44.99 @ Amazon UK)

Case: Cougar MG120 G MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£34.98 @ Box Limited)

Power Supply: Corsair RM (2021) 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£82.90 @ Amazon UK)

Total: £574.83
I would get this PSU no need to spend any more:
PCPartPicker Part List

Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2018) 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £59.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2022-04-03 17:58 BST+0100