[SOLVED] Gaming pc for around £600

Feb 15, 2020
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Hello all,

I need to build a gaming pc and my budget is around £600. I don't need any peripherals and monitors, I only need the tower. I have no preference for branding, color scheme or things like this, I would only like the best PC possible with that amount of money.

In case it is needed, I have an AOC CQ27G2 monitor and I would really like to run 144hz on games at decent FPS if it's possible.

Right now, I am playing relatively light games (league of legends and vindictus) but I would like to have a chance to play heavier games if I want, in the future.

Thank you!
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Solution
Get this then

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£145.98 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£61.90 @ AWD-IT)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£70.97 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB GAMING Video Card (£248.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox E300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£34.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£43.47 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £606.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by...
Hello all,

I need to build a gaming pc and my budget is around £600. I don't need any peripherals and monitors, I only need the tower. I have no preference for branding, color scheme or things like this, I would only like the best PC possible with that amount of money.

In case it is needed, I have an AOC CQ27G2 monitor and I would really like to run 144hz on games at decent FPS if it's possible.

Right now, I am playing relatively light games (league of legends and vindictus) but I would like to have a chance to play heavier games if I want, in the future.

Thank you!

That is a tight budget but feasible.... here is my suggestion:
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/8PqWJb

Note that I have specified good base components- the motherboard is more expensive than some other options but has a really good VRM meaning you can upgrade your cpu in the future to a higher core count chip with no problem.

I have also specified a decent quality PSU and case with a reasonable amount of cooling.

The downside of the above is that does limit your budget on graphics card- to keep it under £600 your best option is going to be the 1650 Super, you could also look at an RX 580 from AMD which is similar performance (but the AMD card will use more power- the PSU can handle it no problem though). The newer AMD RX 5500XT isn't really worth it (it's the same performance as a 580 but costs more). If you could stretch your budget a bit further the next card up worth looking at is the 1660 Super and next about that is the AMD RX 5600 XT which is very fast. That said even the 1650 super should be able to run lighter games at 144hz, and can handle heavier titles at over 60fps most of the time. You would need to move up to at least the 1660 super or 5600XT to run heavy titles at 100+ fps consistently if you want max details.

CPU wise, the R5 2600 is a good value option and should handle everything out there for now, the R5 3600 would be a worthwhile upgrade if you could stretch your budget a bit more (it's another £35) as it's quite a bit stronger but that is more of a future proofing type deal as the 2600 is good enough for now (especially with this level of graphics card).
 
I would recommend this:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£114.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£52.58 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£70.97 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£33.75 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB GAMING Video Card (£248.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox E300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£34.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£43.49 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £598.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-20 11:54 GMT+0000


It really is a tight fit for that budget, but the only performance-related area this system lack is that there is no SSD. You could fit one in by getting a cheaper, single fan 1660 Ti, along with slightly slower memory, should make some room for a 120 GB SSD that'll hold Windows and some basic applications if you want it. Other than that, this still won't do 144 Hz in demanding games, but in a lot of older and somewhat-demanding games, you'll get pretty close to it. Still, it's a hell of a gaming system.
 
Feb 15, 2020
10
0
10
I would recommend this:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600X 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£114.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£52.58 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£70.97 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£33.75 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB GAMING Video Card (£248.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox E300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£34.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£43.49 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £598.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-20 11:54 GMT+0000


It really is a tight fit for that budget, but the only performance-related area this system lack is that there is no SSD. You could fit one in by getting a cheaper, single fan 1660 Ti, along with slightly slower memory, should make some room for a 120 GB SSD that'll hold Windows and some basic applications if you want it. Other than that, this still won't do 144 Hz in demanding games, but in a lot of older and somewhat-demanding games, you'll get pretty close to it. Still, it's a hell of a gaming system.

I can use my current SSD and HDD. I think they are both fine, so something can get upgraded. If something for like £50-£100 can make the system much better, I could do that.
 
Get this then

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£145.98 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£61.90 @ AWD-IT)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£70.97 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB GAMING Video Card (£248.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox E300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£34.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£43.47 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £606.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-21 03:22 GMT+0000


Third gen Ryzen has significant improvements in per core speed, which will help reduce CPU bottlenecking at higher FPS, something you'll need for that 144 Hz monitor. It's a more powerful chip, so a slight improvement on the motherboard as well, just to be safe. Everything else is the same, removed the HDD.
 
Solution
Feb 15, 2020
10
0
10
Get this then

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£145.98 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B450M DS3H Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£61.90 @ AWD-IT)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£70.97 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Zotac GeForce GTX 1660 Ti 6 GB GAMING Video Card (£248.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox E300L MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£34.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£43.47 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £606.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-21 03:22 GMT+0000


Third gen Ryzen has significant improvements in per core speed, which will help reduce CPU bottlenecking at higher FPS, something you'll need for that 144 Hz monitor. It's a more powerful chip, so a slight improvement on the motherboard as well, just to be safe. Everything else is the same, removed the HDD.
Some AMD B450 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Matisse CPUs. Upgrading the BIOS may require a different CPU that is supported by older BIOS revisions.

This message is shown in PCPartPicker, is it something I should worry about?
 
Some AMD B450 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Matisse CPUs. Upgrading the BIOS may require a different CPU that is supported by older BIOS revisions.

This message is shown in PCPartPicker, is it something I should worry about?
Yes, it is something you'll need to consider. Most manufacturers now give out motherboards that already have the necessary BIOS installed, but there's still a chance you might get an older board that does not have this update. In such a case, you can either take the board to a nearby computer shop and ask them to update the BIOS, or you can get a boot kit from AMD, where they'll send you a free low-end CPU that you install into the motherboard, install the necessary BIOS update, then return the CPU to them. Just search for AMD Boot Kit and you'll find out the steps on their site. B550 motherboards are around the corner I think, so if you can wait you might get a motherboard that ensure Ryzen 3000 series compatibility out of the box. Don't know how far away their launch is yet, though.
 
Some AMD B450 chipset motherboards may need a BIOS update prior to using Matisse CPUs. Upgrading the BIOS may require a different CPU that is supported by older BIOS revisions.

This message is shown in PCPartPicker, is it something I should worry about?

Any B450 motherboards with 'Max' at the end of the name have support for Ryzen 3000 out of the box. They usually only cost ~ £10 more than the non max versions.
 
PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£154.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX ATX AM4 Motherboard (£98.99 @ Box Limited)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£73.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial P1 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£67.92 @ BT Shop)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 Super 6 GB OC Video Card (£204.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Cooler Master MasterBox E500L ATX Mid Tower Case (£46.00 @ AWD-IT)
Power Supply: Corsair TXM Gold 550 W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£60.97 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £706.85
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-02-21 22:20 GMT+0000
 
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