First gaming PC advice

[AmeliaGN]

Hi, looking for my first gaming PC, I don’t plan on building this myself but want an idea on how this is. Very new to all the jargon and I’m worried about getting it wrong. I’d like to play games smoothly with good graphics without blowing up my laptop (like I currently am).

Max budget - For the PC, £1,200 and below is my ideal budget. This one comes at 1,300, if I can knock a 100 off without sacrificing much performance that’s great (understand if not possible, am willing to rethink budget if essential).

Monitor - I don’t have a monitor, any suggestions are welcome. £100-200 is my ideal budget. I hear 1440 for resolution might do the job?

Uses - I’ll be using this for gaming but I don’t play intensive, long hours. I'm interested in games like The Last of Us, Sims 4 (with mods), Detroit: Become human etc. with higher graphics and smooth gameplay.

Case
CORSAIR 4000D RGB AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE (PCS)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 9600X Six Core CPU (3.9GHz-5.4GHz/38MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B650-PLUS (AM5, DDR5, PCIe 4.0)
Memory (RAM)
32GB PCS PRO DDR5 5600MHz CL40 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
8GB MSI GEFORCE RTX 5060 Ti VENTUS 2X OC PLUS - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB SAMSUNG 990 EVO PLUS M.2, PCIe 4.0 & 5.0 NVMe (up to 7150MB/R, 6300MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W CX SERIES™ CX-650 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Extra Case Fans
1 x 120mm PCS Black Case Fan
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6E AX210 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
Norton 360 inc. Game Optimizer - Free 90 Day License
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (6 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Price: £1,304.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/NbrdPvcm9u/


Thank you for your help!

 

[Ekans2011]

To be honest, it's very hard to have a modern, decent gaming PC on such a tight budget; at current prices, a 1080p gaming system worth its salt costs not less than £1500-1600; a 1440p costs around £2000-2100; and a 2160p costs more than £2400-2500.

It's undoubtedly possible to create cheaper machines, but some components will be dropped down, and the ability to upgrade in the future, which is the paramount of the custom PC, will be severely limited.

 

[AmeliaGN]

To be honest, it's very hard to have a modern, decent gaming PC on such a tight budget; at current prices, a 1080p gaming system worth its salt costs not less than £1500-1600; a 1440p costs around £2000-2100; and a 2160p costs more than £2400-2500.

It's undoubtedly possible to create cheaper machines, but some components will be dropped down, and the ability to upgrade in the future, which is the paramount of the custom PC, will be severely limited.

This is helpful, thanks! So the above PC would not perform too well for most games?

If playing at lower/medium graphics, could games still run smoothly-ish? And the same with the monitor, if going cheaper means less resolution but still runs decently. For reference, I currently use a laptop that’s very laggy, has limited storage and can’t handle most games - anything above that will seem pretty good to me.

And when you say limited upgrading, does this mean with the above pc, I’d be replacing everything/buying a whole new PC when needed? I don’t know much about upgrading, so not sure what I’d be replacing.

 

[Ekans2011]

This is helpful, thanks! So the above PC would not perform too well for most games?

The above build has various issues that prevent it from being considered a good gaming PC (which is subjective anyhow).

Here's an example of the lowest 1080p system I'd purchase IF I were buying a PC today.

Case
CORSAIR 3500X ARGB TEMPERED GLASS MID-TOWER (PCS) - Slightly cheaper than the 4000D, but still adequate.
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.0GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5) - Second best gaming CPU on the market.
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B850-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7) - The cheapest, solid motherboard offered on PCS; higher tier than the Prime with better components, USB4, WiFi, latest chipset etc.
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 16GB) - Sweetspot frequency RAM for AM5.
Graphics Card
16GB GIGABYTE RADEON™ RX 9060 XT GAMING OC - HDMI, 2 x DP - Lowest-tier 1080p GPU I would suggest.
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6200 MB/W) - OS Drive
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB CORSAIR CORE XT MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 5000 MB/R, 4400 MB/W) - Game/Main Drive
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ ATX 3.1, MODULAR, CYBENETICS GOLD - Lowest tier PSU to enable future upgradeability (e.g. to 1440p).
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR NAUTILUS 240 RS ARGB HIGH PERFORMANCE CPU COOLER - Decent 240mm AIO for the 7800X3D; modern CPUs require good cooling to boost their clock frequencies.
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED - You would want to transfer your current license to the new system and save £110.
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) - Just £5 for a whole year of C&R.
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Price: £1,611.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/ebNPsufec8/

And when you say limited upgrading, does this mean with the above pc, I’d be replacing everything/buying a whole new PC when needed? I don’t know much about upgrading, so not sure what I’d be replacing.

When designing a new system, you should consider your needs 7-10 years in advance; it may appear to be cheaper to save money at first, but it is actually the opposite: if your platform is well designed, you will be able to upgrade only the GPU (when necessary) without touching anything else throughout the system's lifespan.