Gaming Pc Tight Budget

Demosthenese

Hey guys.
Been trolling this section for weeks now going to crack up! My kid (15) looking for gaming Pc. He's saving cash. His friends play CS Go, Cod. Type games. But I guess with a view to play newer games when they arrive out. He is on Ps4 for now. They are on older budget Pcs graphics and refresh rates not an issue really but this is where my head is wrecked.... I don't want to buy a paperweight that'll not be used in a few months.

1. What is your budget? 600 but I'll go to 800 if quality and upgrades worth it in long run.

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/Video editing/3D Modelling/HTPC/Internet] (If gaming include which games). Gaming only.

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? No

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] (If possible state brand and model of the parts to ensure compatibility) nope.

5. Do you need a monitor? [Yes/No] no

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] wireless card maybe

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No] sure why not.

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser] any

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days] 30

BloodBath

This is great for the price. You might struggle to find a cheap in stock power supply though.

If you were to spend another €100 you could get an 8gb version of the graphics card and either increase the SSD to 1tb or add a 1TB HDD as well as the 500gb ssd. If you were to go to 800 same as above except you could increase the graphics card to the higher tier 5600xt.

What monitor will this be used with?

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (£109.98 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock A320M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£39.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£64.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial P1 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£59.12 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 5500 XT 4 GB PULSE Video Card (£169.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: GameMax Kamikaze PRO MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£54.98 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: be quiet! System Power 9 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£50.36 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £549.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-05-26 19:34 BST+0100

Demosthenese

BloodBath wrote: »

This is great for the price. You might struggle to find a cheap in stock power supply though.

If you were to spend another €100 you could get an 8gb version of the graphics card and either increase the SSD to 1tb or add a 1TB HDD as well as the 500gb ssd. If you were to go to 800 same as above except you could increase the graphics card to the higher tier 5600xt.

What monitor will this be used with?

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (£109.98 @ Aria PC)
Motherboard: ASRock A320M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£39.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£64.98 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial P1 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£59.12 @ CCL Computers)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 5500 XT 4 GB PULSE Video Card (£169.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: GameMax Kamikaze PRO MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£54.98 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: be quiet! System Power 9 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£50.36 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £549.40
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-05-26 19:34 BST+0100

Not bad at all mate, price is good too.
- Gaming wise, how future proof is this?
- How easy is something like this to upgrade in a year or two if need be? total overhaul or few parts?
Buying a 2nd hand Monitor this week - or looking anyway cos need 1 for the Ps4 ... whats necessity on the Monitor? Minumum requirements?

Cheers.

Serephucus

Another option would be to spend another €100 on a B450 motherboard.

It could absolutely be put to better use for more immediate gains, but it goes make the system more future-proof. It will support much more powerful CPUs. Now, that said, the CPU that's there is no slouch by any means, so I'd take it like this:

If you/he think he's going to really be into it, getting really into high-end games, etc. maybe go with a B450 board, as it'll mean the only thing that really needs to be upgraded down the line to keep it current is the graphics card.
If you're not sure, go with Bloodbath's build as-is for a very well-rounded build now, which will still last a good while, though he may have to turn down settings and the like.

BloodBath

Ya if you want better upgrade options without changing board then maybe spend a bit more. I think another £50-100 on the above build would get you a better b450 board that could do at least a next gen (Ryzen 4000) 8 core and up the graphics memory to 8gb to round the build out nicely.

Build should last a good few years then, you can always upgrade the gpu later when it needs more power then eventually the cpu if that is needed too. You could get 5+ years out of a build like this with fairly cheap upgrades selling on the old parts.

This PC would be good for 75Hz+ 1080p (Full HD) gaming on high/max settings. Ideally for FPS games you want higher refresh than an average TV.

You can get a 75hz one fairly cheap from Amazon. It could probably do 144Hz in the likes of cs go but there's a fairly big price jump to those. An IPS panel would have better colors as well but again costs more.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07W9LRB2J?tag=pcp0f-21&linkCode=ogi&th=1&psc=1

Demosthenese

Amazon not able to deliver that Monitor until June/July - or pay 40 quid more.

Any of these decent?
https://www.cclonline.com/product/iiyama-g-master-black-hawk-gaming-monitor-24-5-inch-1920-x-1080-full-hd-tn-panel-amd-freesync-75hz-black-g2530hsu-b1-234705/

https://www.cclonline.com/product/aoc-24g2u5-bk-gaming-monitor-23-8-inch-1920-x-1080-full-hd-ips-panel-amd-freesync-75hz-black-24g2u5-bk-298325/

https://www.cclonline.com/product/asus-vp248h-gaming-monitor-24-inch-1920-x-1080-full-hd-tn-panel-75hz-black-vp248h/


BTW - the parts above : Compatibility: Warning! These parts have potential issues or incompatibilities. See details below. - anything to worry about?

Extra SSHD and MOBO :
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/VL7PWb

BloodBath

See I don't really think you should be spending that much on a motherboard.

TBH instead of spending so much more on the board I'd put the extra funds into just getting a 3600 with a cheap board. For a gaming system I don't see anything better than a 3600 being needed anytime soon. Especially for 1080p/75Hz.

Priced something up with your new budget. Upped the CPU to the faster ryzen 3600. Upped the Graphics memory to 8GB as 4GB just isn't going to cut it for some of the newer games without turning some settings down. Stuck in a 1TB HDD along with the 500GB NVME SSD as well. Some games are over 100GB's in size these days. Also increased the memory speed a bit which improves performance.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£151.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock A320M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£39.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£68.02 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial P1 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£59.12 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate BarraCuda 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£34.60 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon RX 5500 XT 8 GB Red Dragon Video Card (£204.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: GameMax Kamikaze PRO MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£54.98 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: be quiet! System Power 9 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£50.36 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £663.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-05-27 17:18 BST+0100

As for monitors it depends how much you want to spend. Either of the first 2 you linked are good. The second 1 will have better colors. There is a cheaper IPS panel here though.

https://www.cclonline.com/product/lg-24mk600m-monitor-23-8-inch-1920-x-1080-full-hd-ips-panel-amd-freesync-75hz-black-24mk600m-b/?siteID=8BacdVP0GFs-FFu_WBxjsqlUF3PNV7VweA

There's actually a fairly cheap 144Hz monitor there too. Not a big price jump to almost double the refresh rate although it's TN and not IPS. In case you don't know the refresh rate is the max possible frame rate the games can display. So 75Hz the max is 75. 144 the max will be 144. The likes of CS-GO will easily do 144 frames per second with the above PC on max settings as it's an old game. Newer games will be in the 60-75 frames per second range on high-max settings. Settings can be turned down to get higher frame rates though. For first person shooters high frame rates are preferable as they will outright improve your performance because of the more fluid motion.

https://www.cclonline.com/product/viewsonic-vx2458-mhd-gaming-monitor-23-6-inch-1920-x-1080-full-hd-tn-panel-amd-freesync-144hz-black-vx2458-mhd-275327/?siteID=8BacdVP0GFs-FCJmnHYgRxGbOoY7ZUKa8w

You will also get 2 free games (Resident Evil 3 remake, Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Breakpoint.) and 3 months xbox game pass sub for free with that graphics card/cpu as well. Just make sure to check messages from Amazon as they should send you on the codes. If they don't message them and ask for them.

Demosthenese

BloodBath wrote: »

See I don't really think you should be spending that much on a motherboard.

TBH instead of spending so much more on the board I'd put the extra funds into just getting a 3600 with a cheap board. For a gaming system I don't see anything better than a 3600 being needed anytime soon. Especially for 1080p/75Hz.

Priced something up with your new budget. Upped the CPU to the faster ryzen 3600. Upped the Graphics memory to 8GB as 4GB just isn't going to cut it for some of the newer games without turning some settings down. Stuck in a 1TB HDD along with the 500GB NVME SSD as well. Some games are over 100GB's in size these days. Also increased the memory speed a bit which improves performance.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£151.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: ASRock A320M-HDV R4.0 Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£39.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (£68.02 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial P1 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£59.12 @ CCL Computers)
Storage: Seagate BarraCuda 1 TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£34.60 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon RX 5500 XT 8 GB Red Dragon Video Card (£204.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: GameMax Kamikaze PRO MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£54.98 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: be quiet! System Power 9 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£50.36 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £663.05
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-05-27 17:18 BST+0100

As for monitors it depends how much you want to spend. Either of the first 2 you linked are good. The second 1 will have better colors. There is a cheaper IPS panel here though.

https://www.cclonline.com/product/lg-24mk600m-monitor-23-8-inch-1920-x-1080-full-hd-ips-panel-amd-freesync-75hz-black-24mk600m-b/?siteID=8BacdVP0GFs-FFu_WBxjsqlUF3PNV7VweA

There's actually a fairly cheap 144Hz monitor there too. Not a big price jump to almost double the refresh rate although it's TN and not IPS. In case you don't know the refresh rate is the max possible frame rate the games can display. So 75Hz the max is 75. 144 the max will be 144. The likes of CS-GO will easily do 144 frames per second with the above PC on max settings as it's an old game. Newer games will be in the 60-75 frames per second range on high-max settings. Settings can be turned down to get higher frame rates though. For first person shooters high frame rates are preferable as they will outright improve your performance because of the more fluid motion.

https://www.cclonline.com/product/viewsonic-vx2458-mhd-gaming-monitor-23-6-inch-1920-x-1080-full-hd-tn-panel-amd-freesync-144hz-black-vx2458-mhd-275327/?siteID=8BacdVP0GFs-FCJmnHYgRxGbOoY7ZUKa8w

You will also get 2 free games (Resident Evil 3 remake, Tom Clancy Ghost Recon Breakpoint.) and 3 months xbox game pass sub for free with that graphics card/cpu as well. Just make sure to check messages from Amazon as they should send you on the codes. If they don't message them and ask for them.

Nice 1 Bloodbath. Going to take ur advice. Much appreciated ðŸ‘. Getting nearer to a good decision.

Demosthenese

BloodBath wrote: »

Priced something up with your new budget. Upped the CPU to the faster ryzen 3600. Upped the Graphics memory to 8GB as 4GB just isn't going to cut it for some of the newer games without turning some settings down. Stuck in a 1TB HDD along with the 500GB NVME SSD as well. Some games are over 100GB's in size these days. Also increased the memory speed a bit which improves performance.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: [url=.

Potential Issues / Incompatibilities
Warning!Some AMD A320 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.

That OK?

BloodBath

From what I've read it should support Ryzen 3000 series.

It's the 4th revision of the board and some in the comments said it worked out of the box with ryzen 3000.

djan

If you can stretch budget a little or get a cheaper case, I'd recommend a B450 based motherboard, starting at 55 GBP. Keep an eye out for clearance, or refurbs on CCL or Amazon.

With a B450 mobo, it will be compatible with ryzen 3xxx out of the box (bar very old stock) and most importantly, eventually support the last series of processors for the AM4 socket in the 4xxx which will come out this September. Now, you may not need to upgrade to it, but even for resale value it will be much better. Regardless, for a low extra spend, you will basically eliminate any substantial future CPU bottleneck for the next 5+ years.

BloodBath

He won't need a cpu upgrade in the next 5 years imo but w/e. It's not like it's a high end build trying to push 1080p/240hz or 1440p/144hz. I'd see the upgrade path being a new GPU in 2-3 years to last another 2-3 years then sell the lot. At best with a cheap b450 you're going to be able to move to an 8 core ryzen 4000. Is that really a big jump?

You could cut the HDD for now and go for a cheap b450 if you want. Additional storage can always be added easily whenever you want.

Demosthenese

BloodBath wrote: »

He won't need a cpu upgrade in the next 5 years imo but w/e. It's not like it's a high end build trying to push 1080p/240hz or 1440p/144hz. I'd see the upgrade path being a new GPU in 2-3 years to last another 2-3 years then sell the lot. At best with a cheap b450 you're going to be able to move to an 8 core ryzen 4000. Is that really a big jump?

You could cut the HDD for now and go for a cheap b450 if you want. Additional storage can always be added easily whenever you want.

Kept it more or less the same as above - a few parts were unavailable or taking over a month to arrive so sorted that.

Appreciate the help Bloodbath ... looking forward to the build

BloodBath

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Demosthenese

BloodBath wrote: »

Good luck, let us know how you get on.

Whoa, 6 months goes fast :D:D

This turned out to be a very good build - little bit of a pain in the ass the case arrived out broken - middle of covid - i had to send it back took over 2 weeks comms were a nightmare.

Got the D360 board on a lightning deal same price - putting it together was fun - learned alot. Kid delighted and 6 months on he's happy out - a great purchase as he lives on it!

I only checked up on the thread cos i never purchased the extra HD space and wanted to refer back to it!

Cheers for all the help! ... 6 months later