[SOLVED] Gaming PC Build advice

[ijb1989]

Hi guys,

First time posting - thanks in advance for any help and advice you can give me. This post might well be a bit long but I want to cover everything in it!

Im looking to build a PC to game on.. play on Xbox currently, mainly FPS (COD Warzone atm).

I have an LG Ultragear 27-GL850-B monitor already so unless there’s grounds for upgrading that, I’d rather focus on the processing etc.

Budget is £1.5-2k (I know it's normal to want to reduce this where possible, and I'm grateful to have a good value for money list but i'm equally happy to spend a bit more for a rig that is futureproofed & built to last)

I had my eye on the Ryzen 7 3800X originally, and really wanted an RTX 3070 or 3080 then perhaps the Corsair 32GB 3600 CL18 but when I posted my original list on Reddit, one of the guys that came back to me advised that I was dramatically overspending and helped calm the parts list down.

The build i've got to is this:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/QmhRkX

I know I want a really strong GPU and processor, and the RAM & either 500GB or 1TB SSD are preferred also

Could someone have a look over this and let me know where i'm going wrong, whether it looks stable and whether it looks good value for what it is (and also wish me luck trying to find an RTX 3070 or 3080!)

 

[tennis2]

Looks good!

Here, I'll double your RAM and lower the cost:
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£180.00 @ Currys PC World)
CPU Cooler: Scythe Mugen 5 Rev. B 51.17 CFM CPU Cooler (£49.98 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Motherboard: MSI MAG B550M MORTAR WIFI Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£139.97 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: ADATA XPG GAMMIX D10 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory (£119.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: ADATA XPG SX8200 Pro 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£110.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda Compute 2 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£51.68 @ Currys PC World Business)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify C Mini MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£106.49 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: Corsair RM (2019) 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£99.99 @ AWD-IT)
Total: £859.08
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-11-02 20:10 GMT+0000

 

[ijb1989]

Thanks for your quick reply - really appreciate it!

Some other feedback i've had is to consider the new Ryzen 5 5600X - what's your stance on that?

I also notice you have changed to Mobo to a Micro ATX - what does that mean?

Sorry for the questions - just want to make an informed choice!

 

[tennis2]

They Ryzen 5600X would be better. It will also be more expensive. Also not sure when exactly it launches.

Do you need full ATX when you're only ever going to have one GPU and onboard WiFi? You still get 4 expansion slots (although the top x1 slot will be covered by a dual slot GPU obviously). So assuming you'll have a "typical" dual slot GPU, that still leaves room for 2 expansion cards.

 

[ijb1989]

Thanks for your response Tennis,

Had to google the ATX implications - I suppose I'm just a bit concerned about space when actually building it too.. I have gone for a mid-tower case in the revision below though.

I'm slowly starting to settle on the following build, and will be holding off until the release of the Radeon on 18th November before buying the GPU. I will also buy a non-SSD HDD at a later stage.

If you could perhaps provide feedback on this slightly tweaked build, that would be appreciated. Please also note that i've picked an Asus ROG Strix B550 Mobo which is £40 more expensive than the one you have listed, but if you think the MSI B550 is just as good, let me know - I've only kept the ASUS because I know that brand and have never heard of MSI before (and obviously its ATX rather than micro but I'm not firm on that one way or the other):

AMD Ryzen 5 5600X (£289.98)
Scythe Mugen 5 Black RGB 51.17 Cooler (£52)
Asus ROG Strix B550-F Gaming (Wifi) ATX AM4 Mobo (£183)
Corsair Vengeance 32GB (2x16GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 (£134)
Sabrent Rocket Q 1TB M.2-2280 NVME SSD (£109)
Phanteks Eclipse P400A Digital ATX Mid-Tower Case (£79)
Corsair RM (2019) 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (£99.99)

The site i'm using to compile my list has listed the following as a potential problem too.. do you know whether this is right?

Some AMD B550 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Vermeer CPUs. Upgrading the BIOS may require a different CPU that is supported by older BIOS

 

[ijb1989]

Just been told that the compatibility error just means i'll need to update the bios when I've got everything in order, hence the flashback button on the back of the Mobo (hopefully not too complicated!)

Looking to buy tomorrow if I'm lucky with the release of the 5600x , so any feedback I get through overnight would be appreciated. Otherwise, thanks sincerely once again for all your help guys!

 

[tennis2]

I think it looks fine.

The "big four" mobo manufacturers are Asus, MSI, Gigabyte, AsRock. The first 3 have been around forever. AsRock is the newest of the bunch, but my 2012-era Ivy Bridge PC has an AsRock board, so they're not that new.

The Sabrent Rocket Q has QLC NAND. I don't recall if it has a DRAM cache (neither of the 2 reviews I just looked up mentioned a DRAM cache). QLC isn't as fast as TLC in some situations.

IMO, the argument of "I need more space to build in" doesn't apply for ATX vs mATX. That's really only valid when talking about mITX.