Father/son Gaming PC build

Qwerty?

My son wanted us to buy a Gaming PC for his 16th birthday. I suggested we could build one together and get better value, and I thought he would enjoy the experience of building it.


1.What is your budget?
600 - 700 euro Maybe more if absolutely necessary and makes it longer lasting

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/Video editing/3D Modelling/HTPC/Internet] (If gaming include which games)
Skyrim, Hitman, COD, Civ VI, Flight Simulator etc. Video Editing, Solidworks for school

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes/No]
No. I have home and Pro

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)
I've 2x2TB Seagate NAS drives and 2 1tb Barracuda 7200 drives. I also have a LG Lightscribe DVD burner.

5. Do you need a monitor? [Yes/No]
No, not for the moment. I have a 21.5" BENQ GW2270 with 5ms which might do for the moment?

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [19'/20'/22'/24'/etc.]


5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No]
1920x1080 5ms. Yes, possible upgrade in the future for a better response time if necessary

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.]
Maybe gaming keyboard and mouse. Open to suggestions.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No]
No, not for the moment, as I wouldn't be comfortable doing it.

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

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days]
Would like to purchase soon next 7-14 days, as he's been waiting since June for it, but I didn't want to buy during the summer holidays.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.]
Mayo. I'm hoping we can build this ourselves, I've no problem installing hardrives, ram and installing OS, so should be able to do a build with some research I would imagine, correct me if I am wrong.

Thanks for any and all advice.

Samuel T. Cogley

Can you wait a couple more weeks and would you be willing to go secondhand on the GPU? New cards are just about to launch and are shaking up the second hand market quite a bit.

A lot of cases have done away with the 5 1/4" drive bays for Optical drives, do you want one that will be able to accommodate the optical drive?

BloodBath

The new cards are high end, they have no effect on this build at all. It will be a few months before we see newer 1080p cards.

This should do nicely. It's a little over budget but good for the monies.

If you want to spend a little bit more I'd go for the Ryzen 3600 instead. It's not needed though and you can always upgrade the 2600 later to an 8 core 3700. The 3600 would run a bit cooler/quieter though with the stock cooler as it uses less power and it's reasonably better/faster.

I'd order all of the parts from amazon if they are available.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (£141.40 @ Alza)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M Pro4-F Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£67.97 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£58.38 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Crucial P2 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£54.83 @ BT Shop)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB OC Video Card (£204.97 @ CCL Computers)
Case: GameMax Kamikaze PRO MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£59.99 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£49.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £637.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-05 18:42 BST+0100

Samuel T. Cogley

BloodBath wrote: »

The new cards are high end, they have no effect on this build at all. It will be a few months before we see newer 1080p cards.

They will if the OP is willing to go secondhand. Should be able to pick something up much better than a 1660S.

BloodBath

Maybe if you can get something like a 1070, 2060 or 5700 for €200.

Atm though it's a 1080p/60hz system so more power is kinda wasted until they get a higher refresh monitor.

Samuel T. Cogley

BloodBath wrote: »

Maybe if you can get something like a 1070, 2060 or 5700 for €200.

Atm though it's a 1080p/60hz system so more power is kinda wasted until they get a higher refresh monitor.

Flight Sim is pretty intensive on the GPU. It saves an upgrade down the line. Anyway until the OP says he willing to go secondhand or not your build is solid, I'd personally spend the extra on a B550 and 3600 though.

Qwerty?

Thanks everyone for all the replies. Don't mind 2nd hand at all. I do want the build to last thought, as in I don't want to find in 6 months that is not suitable for a newer game. We might get a better monitor at Christmas, if the upgrade is worth it.

I take it that we could swap out a better GPU on the above spec if we wanted at a later date anyway?

BloodBath

Oh it's pretty future proof. There's cpu and gpu upgrade options there.

If you really want long term upgrade options go for a b550 board as mentioned.

They are quite a bit more expensive though.

I think the money is better spend getting your keyboard/mouse, headphones if needed and a better monitor.

Not every build needs 5+ years of upgrade options.

Qwerty?

BloodBath wrote: »

The new cards are high end, they have no effect on this build at all. It will be a few months before we see newer 1080p cards.

This should do nicely. It's a little over budget but good for the monies.

If you want to spend a little bit more I'd go for the Ryzen 3600 instead. It's not needed though and you can always upgrade the 2600 later to an 8 core 3700. The 3600 would run a bit cooler/quieter though with the stock cooler as it uses less power and it's reasonably better/faster.

I'd order all of the parts from amazon if they are available.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor (£141.40 @ Alza)
Motherboard: ASRock B450M Pro4-F Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£67.97 @ CCL Computers)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory (£58.38 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Crucial P2 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£54.83 @ BT Shop)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB OC Video Card (£204.97 @ CCL Computers)
Case: GameMax Kamikaze PRO MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£59.99 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: SeaSonic S12III 500 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£49.99 @ Scan.co.uk)
Total: £637.53
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-05 18:42 BST+0100

Looking at Amazon at the moment. No luck with the case with delivery, I can get it from CCL, do any other cases suit?

Is this the 550 motherboard you refer to? https://www.amazon.co.uk/GIGABYTE-B550-GAMING-Motherboard-CPUs/dp/B08BJB8B2H/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1KUO2G0DWG40V&dchild=1&keywords=b550+motherboard+atx&qid=1599596481&sprefix=b550%2Caps%2C148&sr=8-4

I can get that, with the 3600 for about 100 sterling more!

Samuel T. Cogley

A good B550 board is the MSI B550M Pro-VDH Wifi Save you having to add in a Wifi card, not that they are that expensive.

That Gigabyte board is ATX and a Micro ATX (smaller) case has been suggested. A larger case would be slightly more expensive once you add in the fans.

Qwerty?

Thanks, that MSI won't accept the Ryzen 2600 correct, but will accept the 3600 and above?

I'm open to suggestions on a case.

Samuel T. Cogley

Qwerty? wrote: »

Thanks, that won't accept the Ryzen 2600 correct, but will accept the 3600 and above?

I'm open to suggestions on a case.

That's right. It's a toss up really. It's not going to be a massive jump going for the B550 and 3600 so if the budget is needed elsewhere on the system...

As for a case P400A if you're going ATX. Note there are a couple of version of the P400 you want the P400A. Furthermore the DRGB version comes with the fans. Someone might have a better option for a case as that one, with delivery is expensive enough.

Out of interest what put you off the Kamikaze?

Qwerty?

Sorry, nothing put me off the kamikaze except the delivery price.

I'm picking up from the replies here to stick with the 2600 and 450 motherboard as suggested by Bloodbath and save the few quid!

If I order the parts mentioned above, will that be all I need or will I need cables etc

Samuel T. Cogley

Qwerty? wrote: »

Sorry, nothing put me off the kamikaze except the delivery price.

I'm picking up from the replies here to stick with the 2600 and 450 motherboard as suggested by Bloodbath and save the few quid!

If I order the parts mentioned above, will that be all I need or will I need cables etc

No you should be grand on cables, screws and even thermal paste as its preapplied to the cpu cooler.

Pros and Cons to both really. B550 supports a newer version of the GPU connection but the benefits won't come into play at 1080p60.

Sadly Amazon are crap for cases delivered to Ireland. I'd get everything else from them though, they are great on returns. Dont use the currency converter.

Coyler

Fractal Design make quality cases and Amazon deliver for free. It's a no brainer in my books. If you want, you can always buy another fan down the road if you find the airflow is not sufficient in the Define C linked there. At the very least, it'll get you up and running.

I'm not going to lie, I'm not crazy about RGB

Aodhan5000

Arctic p12s are great non RGB fans. White and black version. Can usually be for for about 5 quid a piece

Qwerty?

Thanks for all the advice. My son is saying his friends are telling him to get a 750w power supply! Any merit in this?

Samuel T. Cogley

Qwerty? wrote: »

Thanks for all the advice. My son is saying his friends are telling him to get a 750w power supply! Any merit in this?

The new top end cards are pretty power hungry - bucking a trend down in power consumption over the last few years. The thing with PSUs is to get a decent one first and foremost.

Due to COVID and other factors PSUs are overpriced at the moment.

At the end of the day it's like the processor - pros and cons but probably not worth investing another €40-50 on.

Decent PSU if you do though.

BloodBath

It's not worth. The PC as listed would use maybe 200-250w max.

750w is for a super high end build which this is not going to become.

Don't waste your money on things that will have 0 impact. Same as the b550 and 3600 at this stage.

Until you get a better monitor and gpu these things don't matter.

beauf

Qwerty? wrote: »

...
1.What is your budget?
600 - 700 euro Maybe more if absolutely necessary and makes it longer lasting
....

If you were going to upgrade this system in 2yrs what is likely to be kept and what discarded.

Qwerty?

beauf wrote: »

If you were going to upgrade this system in 2yrs what is likely to be kept and what discarded.

Was hoping not to have to upgrade in 2 years, but will probably get a better monitor at Christmas.

Looking at the 2600, I can get the 2600x for the same price on CCL, I assume i can get it and all the other suggested parts will still suit the build?

Also final option, if I get the 3600 and the B550 motherboard, does all the other parts still suit this build?

I've various options in the basket at the moment.

Samuel T. Cogley

Qwerty? wrote: »

Was hoping not to have to upgrade in 2 years, but will probably get a better monitor at Christmas.

Looking at the 2600, I can get the 2600x for the same price on CCL, I assume i can get it and all the other suggested parts will still suit the build?

Also final option, if I get the 3600 and the B550 motherboard, does all the other parts still suit this build?

I've various options in the basket at the moment.

Yep all the other bits are still fine. 2600X comes with a better cooler IIRC.

B550 needs a 3600.

Just an FYI that 4000 series is due to at least be announced on the 8th October.

Qwerty?

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Yep all the other bits are still fine. 2600X comes with a better cooler IIRC.

B550 needs a 3600.

Just an FYI that 4000 series is due to at least be announced on the 8th October.

And I'm guessing that would bring the prices of the 3000 series down?

Samuel T. Cogley

Qwerty? wrote: »

And I'm guessing that would bring the prices of the 3000 series down?

Personally I dont think it will, not by much anyway. AMD have kept the older series going as a cheaper option. I think the 4000 series will be more expensive than the 3000 leaving the 3000 roughly where it is. There could actually be a price increase on B550 / X570 motherboards if stock runs low.

Samuel T. Cogley

Sorry I dont mean to muddy the waters. I just enjoy talking about this stuff and going through the options.

Qwerty?

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Sorry I dont mean to muddy the waters. I just enjoy talking about this stuff and going through the options.

It's fine, appreciate all the advice from you all. Totally new jargon for me.

Right, I think I'm decided:

• GameMax Kamikaze Pro Gaming Case - Black £59.99 CCL (he wants the lights)
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6GHz 6 Core (Socket AM4) CPU £189.97 CCL
• MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI Motherboard mATX, AM4, DDR4, M.2, LAN, Wi-FI, USB 3.2 Gen1, Front Type-C, HDMI, DisplayPort, AMD RYZEN 3000 3rd Generation £108.99 Amazon
• Seasonic S12III 500 - Non-Modular PC Power Supply - 80 PLUS Bronze - 500 Watts £49.99 Amazon
• Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER OC 6G £209.99 Amazon
• Crucial P2 CT500P2SSD8 500GB Internal SSD, Up to 2300 MB/s (3D NAND, NVMe, PCIe, M.2) £57.30 Amazon
• Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3200 MHz C16 XMP 2.0 High Performance Desktop Memory Kit, Black £54.98 Amazon

Total inc Delivery from CCL £741 = €816

More than I intended :eek:

BloodBath

Yeah you're gone a bit over but it will be worth it in the long run. You got upgrade options for many years there.

Qwerty?

Thanks guys, order placed.

No doubt I'll be back to you when it all arrives for more advice. Any recommendations on youtube channels etc on building the machine?

BloodBath

This should be good for you. You're using the stock cooler so you don't need to remove the preinstalled brackets or apply thermal paste as it's already pre applied to the cooler that comes with the cpu. Just be careful not to smear it. Only remove the protective sticker when you are ready to install the cooler.

Samuel T. Cogley

Nice machine - I think you'll enjoy building that and certainly enjoy playing games on it. Let us know when you're going for a new monitor so I can inundate you with Hardware Unboxed review videos!

TitianGerm

Qwerty? wrote: »

It's fine, appreciate all the advice from you all. Totally new jargon for me.

Right, I think I'm decided:

• GameMax Kamikaze Pro Gaming Case - Black £59.99 CCL (he wants the lights)
• AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6GHz 6 Core (Socket AM4) CPU £189.97 CCL
• MSI B550M PRO-VDH WIFI Motherboard mATX, AM4, DDR4, M.2, LAN, Wi-FI, USB 3.2 Gen1, Front Type-C, HDMI, DisplayPort, AMD RYZEN 3000 3rd Generation £108.99 Amazon
• Seasonic S12III 500 - Non-Modular PC Power Supply - 80 PLUS Bronze - 500 Watts £49.99 Amazon
• Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER OC 6G £209.99 Amazon
• Crucial P2 CT500P2SSD8 500GB Internal SSD, Up to 2300 MB/s (3D NAND, NVMe, PCIe, M.2) £57.30 Amazon
• Corsair CMK16GX4M2B3200C16 Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4 3200 MHz C16 XMP 2.0 High Performance Desktop Memory Kit, Black £54.98 Amazon

Total inc Delivery from CCL £741 = €816

More than I intended :eek:

Have a look at buying the motherboard and CPU from the same vendor as MSI are doing cashback at the moment.

https://uk.msi.com/Promotion/back-to-school-2020#AMD-Motherboard

AWD had a few bundle deals but I'm waiting on a reply from MSI if they're an approved vendor for the cashback. The 3600 and B550 Bazooka was £250 or £275 for the B550 Tomahawk.

Edit: nevermind I see you've already ordered.

Qwerty?

Had spotted that, but it didn't seem to apply to my motherboard.

Thanks.

Case and motherboard due on Monday, everything else on Wednesday.

Qwerty?

Came home from work and found all the parts had arrived. We decided we would install the power supply just to experiment. But we then got a little carried away and finished the build. Just need to install windows tomorrow and tidy up the cables a bit more.

Thanks again for all the help and advice, it made me a lot more comfortable knowing all the bits and pieces would fit together.

Redfox25

Looks great, enjoy

MidlanderMan

BloodBath wrote: »

This should be good for you. You're using the stock cooler so you don't need to remove the preinstalled brackets or apply thermal paste as it's already pre applied to the cooler that comes with the cpu. Just be careful not to smear it. Only remove the protective sticker when you are ready to install the cooler.

Just on this, you probably will need to replace the mounting bracket.

Most AM4 motherboards come with the weird AMD clap on brackets installed but the 3600 stock cooler screws directly into the backplate. It's not a big job though.

MidlanderMan

Qwerty? wrote: »

Came home from work and found all the parts had arrived. We decided we would install the power supply just to experiment. But we then got a little carried away and finished the build. Just need to install windows tomorrow and tidy up the cables a bit more.

Thanks again for all the help and advice, it made me a lot more comfortable knowing all the bits and pieces would fit together.

It's a great case to build in and looks great when finished.

Enjoy your PC guys.

BloodBath

MidlanderMan wrote: »

Just on this, you probably will need to replace the mounting bracket.

Most AM4 motherboards come with the weird AMD clap on brackets installed but the 3600 stock cooler screws directly into the backplate. It's not a big job though.

My bad. Forgot if it was used or not since I've never used the stock cooler.

Looks good op. Great starting build that should last you at least 6+ years with some upgrades down the line.

Qwerty?

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Nice machine - I think you'll enjoy building that and certainly enjoy playing games on it. Let us know when you're going for a new monitor so I can inundate you with Hardware Unboxed review videos!

Top of his Christmas list is a gaming monitor. Any recommendations would be appreciated.

Samuel T. Cogley

24" 144Hz 1080p - no need to go higher IMHO.

Andrew76

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

24" 144Hz 1080p - no need to go higher IMHO.

That AOC 24G2 and it's 27" version reviewed very well - they seem like great bang for buck if 1080p is enough. Ordered the 27" myself so looking forward to seeing what it's like (will be used for work and gaming).

Qwerty?

This seems decent enough value
https://www.lenovo.com/ie/en/accessories-and-monitors/monitors/gaming/G24-10C19236FY023-6inch-Monitor-HDMI/p/65FDGAC2UK

Samuel T. Cogley

Can't really find any reviews on it from people I'd trust but it's a 144Hz panel and the price seems good. Only thing is it's a TN panel so the viewing angles won't be great if you were planning on playing two player split screen games.

Samuel T. Cogley

Hmmm... my only concern is it's reported as a 144Hz panel on some websites but no on Lenovo's or Amazon's where it's not listed.

Edit: Jesus their support is pretty rude. Anyway:

https://psref.lenovo.com/Detail/Lenovo_Monitors/Lenovo_G2410?M=65FDGAC2UK

144Hz

Qwerty?

Similar spec for €166
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07SS5QLWQ/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1

1ms and 144hz are both definite requirements yes?

BloodBath

1ms is largely a marketing gimmick anyway. None of them actually do that. The good ones are in the 3-5ms range.

I would say 120hz+ IPS panels are what you should be looking at. Good VA's aren't bad either. I'd avoid TN.

They are cheaper but IPS is just a superior technology at this stage.

Samuel T. Cogley

Qwerty? wrote: »

Similar spec for €166
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B07SS5QLWQ/ref=ox_sc_act_image_1?smid=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&psc=1

1ms and 144hz are both definite requirements yes?

I wouldn't say you have to go the 144Hz route. If he's coming from a console then a 75Hz display will be fine, it's just not a 'gaming' monitor. VA or IPS would be preferable but it all depends on budget.

AOC 24G2U/BK 23.8 Inch Widescreen IPS LED Black and Red Gaming Monitor (1920 x 1080/1ms/HDMI/DP/VGA/USB 3.0 x 4) £184.99 at the moment, select other sellers and chose Amazon. Annnd it's gone out of stock. 2020 can really kiss my a...

Having re read you OP, IPS would be better for video editing as colour reproduction is better (generally).

Qwerty?

Thanks. I had that exact model in the basket at £220, but didn't spot it at that price. Thanks. It's not in stock but they will let me know when it does.

Qwerty?

I can get it the 27" at 223, is that too big ?

https://www.maxburns.ie/aoc-27-ips-monitor-spk-27g2u-bk-118228.html

Samuel T. Cogley

27" isn't ideal at 1080p neither is it a deal breaker but as regards a monitor size for gaming it's the ideal size.

Qwerty?

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

27" isn't ideal at 1080p neither is it a deal breaker but as regards a monitor size for gaming it's the ideal size.

Sounds good value for 27", 1ms, 144hz and the year warranty. I'm guessing he won't even notice that it's only 1080p. I might cancel the Amazon one, it may not come into stock on time anyway.
Thanks for your help as always.

Samuel T. Cogley

Qwerty? wrote: »

Sounds good value for 27", 1ms, 144hz and the year warranty. I'm guessing he won't even notice that it's only 1080p. I might cancel the Amazon one, it may not come into stock on time anyway.
Thanks for your help as always.

27 is a very nice panel size. I doubt he'll notice either. I think someone else here recently bought one.