Bought my first gaming PC

[PureEvilPie]

Hey,

Will be doing 1080P gaming, I like strategy games so I went with the Ryzen (as I'm hoping total war/others will start to use more cores in the future)

It's still in processing but I probably won't be changing anything as my laptop has recently died and I need another computer (using my GF's right now).

I did want to ask if there was a way to prevent any booting problems in the future? The laptop that broke was a PC Specialist defiance laptop that is a bit over 2 years old and it had a LOT of problems with booting. It would take 2-3 tries to get it to boot (it would turn on and lights would flash, but it wouldn't get to the PCSpecialist splash screen. However, now it sometimes gets to the PCspecialist splash screen but no further. When I called about it before they said it might be priority issues). I've been wanting to get a desktop anyway so I would have an easier time upgrading in the future so I'm not too disappointed, just don't want the same problems again.

ANYWHO, my specs are below:

Case SHARKOON VG4-W GAMING CASE (Green LED)
Processor (CPU) AMD Ryzen 5 1600X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.0GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard ASUS® STRIX B350-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM) 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card 6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk 480GB KINGSTON UV400 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (550MB/R, 500MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste EK-TIM ECTOTHERM THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB Options MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence
Operating System Language United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media Windows 10 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser Google Chrome™
Monitor BENQ GL2250HM 21.5" LED MONITOR
Warranty 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Insurance Simplesurance Purchase Protection inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days

 

[Oussebon]

I'd suggest switching to the 3000MHz DDR4 as the cost difference is modest and Ryzen CPUs are said to benefit a lot from it.

I'd also swap the SSD for the 850 Evo as it's a lot faster for a fairly modest cost increase.

Unless your desk space is ridiculously limited, I'd recommend a 24" monitor, as this seems to be considered a sweet spot for 1080p, from a gaming and a productivity point of view.

Edit: I'd also recommend the Game Max Falcon case instead, as it's not much more expensive but seems to have better cooling, features, and upgraded options.

It's possible to amend an order, and since it's still pre-production it really shouldn't be an issue as they've not started building yet

 

[PureEvilPie]

Thanks! I'll take a look, but I don't think I want to be increasing the budget much further but if it's not too much of an increase I'll think about it. The case was the thing I was the most unsure about, do you think my current case will have cooling issues?

Ah I just looked at the case you mentioned, I did almost get that but I was concerned that there was no rear fan and I read that rear fans are important

I would like to get the 3000mhz ram as the price increase isn't much, however, I read that there might be RAM compatibility issues?

About the monitor - my girlfriend is already concerned about the 21" monitor haha, so I don't think I can get a larger one

In regards to the SSD, which is more important when loading games, reading or writing? Cause my kingston has a faster read speed.

 

[PureEvilPie]

Accidentally deleted my first post

Case SHARKOON VG4-W GAMING CASE (Green LED)
Processor (CPU) AMD Ryzen 5 1600X Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.0GHz/19MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard ASUS® STRIX B350-F GAMING (DDR4, USB 3.0, 6Gb/s)
Memory (RAM) 16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2666MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card 6GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1060 - DVI, HDMI, 3 x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
1st Hard Disk 480GB KINGSTON UV400 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (550MB/R, 500MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply CORSAIR 450W VS SERIES™ VS-450 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling CoolerMaster Hyper 212X (120mm) Fan CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste EK-TIM ECTOTHERM THERMAL COMPOUND
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB Options MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence
Operating System Language United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media Windows 10 (64-bit) DVD with paper sleeve
Office Software FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
Anti-Virus BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser Google Chrome™
Monitor BENQ GL2250HM 21.5" LED MONITOR
Warranty 3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Insurance Simplesurance Purchase Protection inc. Accidental Damage & Theft
Delivery STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days

I took a look at the parts, would I see much of an increase in performance from 2666mhz to 3000mhz?

 

[Oussebon]

Ah I just looked at the case you mentioned, I did almost get that but I was concerned that there was no rear fan and I read that rear fans are important

It depends. There are pretty high end cases like the Corsair 460x and 570x that don't have rear fans as standard. A rear fan is ideal, but 1) you can always add one yourself in the future if you want and b) the case kept a GTX 1080 nice and cool without one: https://www.kitguru.net/components/cases/dominic-moass/game-max-falcon-rgb-case-review/5/

The Sharkoon's front fan is apparently relatively obstructed by the HDD cages, which means the GPU doesn't get as much fresh air as it could, and there are no additional fan mounting points.

I would like to get the 3000mhz ram as the price increase isn't much, however, I read that there might be RAM compatibility issues?

These have largely been resolved, besides which PCS are building the system for you and will make sure it's all compatible and working properly before they send it to you.

As for the gains, it depends on the game and setting but a quick google shows ~5% FPS gains going from 2666MHz to 3000MHz. Not bad for £8.

Accidentally deleted my first post

Don't think you did, it just gets automoderated if you edit it as a new user sometimes. One of my posts got auto-moderated this evening too ... :/

The UV SSDs really are slow. A 500gb 850 Evo would be quite a lot faster for £10 more.

If budget is an issue, get a 256gb PM961 SSD from the M.2 SSD Drive menu, which is many times faster than a UV400 and faster than an 850 Evo too, and a 1TB HDD.

You can always add more SSDs later if you want, and you can relocate steam games from an SSD to an HDD via steam with a few mouse clicks.

Thermal Paste EK-TIM ECTOTHERM THERMAL COMPOUND

Drop that and save £9. You're not overclocking, so uit's not like you need it vs the regular stuff.

Tbh you could even drop the CM212x cooler and stick with the stock AMD cooler, as they're actually quite good as stock coolers go.

 

[PureEvilPie]

It depends. There are pretty high end cases like the Corsair 460x and 570x that don't have rear fans as standard. A rear fan is ideal, but 1) you can always add one yourself in the future if you want and b) the case kept a GTX 1080 nice and cool without one: https://www.kitguru.net/components/cases/dominic-moass/game-max-falcon-rgb-case-review/5/

The Sharkoon's front fan is apparently relatively obstructed by the HDD cages, which means the GPU doesn't get as much fresh air as it could, and there are no additional fan mounting points.

These have largely been resolved, besides which PCS are building the system for you and will make sure it's all compatible and working properly before they send it to you.

As for the gains, it depends on the game and setting but a quick google shows ~5% FPS gains going from 2666MHz to 3000MHz. Not bad for £8.

Don't think you did, it just gets automoderated if you edit it as a new user sometimes. One of my posts got auto-moderated this evening too ... :/

The UV SSDs really are slow. A 500gb 850 Evo would be quite a lot faster for £10 more.

If budget is an issue, get a 256gb PM961 SSD from the M.2 SSD Drive menu, which is many times faster than a UV400 and faster than an 850 Evo too, and a 1TB HDD.

You can always add more SSDs later if you want, and you can relocate steam games from an SSD to an HDD via steam with a few mouse clicks.

Drop that and save £9. You're not overclocking, so uit's not like you need it vs the regular stuff.

Tbh you could even drop the CM212x cooler and stick with the stock AMD cooler, as they're actually quite good as stock coolers go.

Thank you so much! I think I'm going to make those changes after looking through it all actually. All in all, only about £23 for the improvements. If I did want to OC in the future, would the thermal paste make a big difference? I'd like to keep the cooler in case I want to OC in the future

 

[Oussebon]

You won't be overclocking a 1600x very far anyway, and you may more or less hit your limit on the stock cooler actually. Get the paste if you can afford it by all means, but not at the expense of other components I would say

 

[PureEvilPie]

Ok thanks man, you've been a great help! I'll probably get rid of the paste and do the rest of the changes that you suggested! (Apart from the monitor, that's not my decision to make!)