Newbie Desktop Spec advice

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PoptimusGrime

Member
Hi All

New to these forums and a very long time since I thought about custom PCs. I'm looking for advice on putting together a PC. My requirements below

Use: Gaming and general use. I am not such a massive gamer these days but can feel newer games really chugging on my (10 year old) PC and want to get something that will be able to play latest games at good specs.

Monitor: my current monitor: https://dl.dell.com/manuals/all-pro...s_monitors/dell-u2412m_user's-guide_en-us.pdf
I am open to buying a new monitor to match a new desktop. Super fast response times aren't essential to me - I'm not playing online fps games

Max budget: ~£2k

Would be amazing to get some recommendations on specs and things I should think more on. I have read through the threads linked to in the "please read before posting" thread but still not really sure where to start!

Thanks!
 
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TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
For anyone else looking, that monitor is a 24" 1080p/1200p 60Hz IPS professional/productivity monitor from 2011-ish, so not a gaming monitor in any sense.

If you're happy using that, then a 1080p build is easily doable for £2k.

If you want a better experience, then 1440p is the current entry-level really, and you're looking at £250+ for a decent screen on top of a £2000+ PC build price.
 
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TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Well, our favourite 1440p monitor (the AOC Q27G3XMN) has unfortunately seen a £50 price increase due to Trump Tariffs, so has gone up from £250 to £300 over the last week or so...but if you're still interested then it's here...

We like it because it's a fast gaming monitor, and has proper HDR implementation - a lot of so-called HDR monitors don't offer the higher brightness/deeper blacks of this, and barely scrape through the HDR certification at HDR10 or HDR400 - this monitor is HDR1000.

I'll configure a £2k 1440p build below.
 
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TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Case
CORSAIR FRAME 4000D RS ARGB MODULAR - about the best value case available at the moment, highly configurable and customisable
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9700X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.5GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5) - not much slower than last year's gaming king 7800X3D, but a little cheaper and more efficient
Motherboard
GIGABYTE B850 AORUS ELITE WIFI 7 (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7) - very good level motherboard, nothing on this that is overkill for your needs
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 16GB) - sweet spot for AM5 CPUs
Graphics Card
16GB SAPPHIRE PULSE RADEON™ RX 9070 XT GAMING - 2 x HDMI, 2 x DP - the best value of the current generation of 1440p GPUs
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6200 MB/W) - very fast primary drive for Windows, apps, and games launchers ONLY
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB CORSAIR CORE XT MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 5000 MB/R, 4400 MB/W) - fast secondary drive for game installs or document storage (although a HDD backup is always recommended, but you might have something suitable already)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ ATX 3.1, MODULAR, CYBENETICS GOLD - excellent, current gen specification PSU, with plenty of room for future upgrades (i.e. 5-10 years)
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR NAUTILUS 360 RS ARGB HIGH PERFORMANCE CPU COOLER - more than capable for this CPU, but allows the option of putting in a hotter, more powerful CPU down the line without needing a new cooler
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
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
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 6 to 8 working days
Price: £2,068.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/hkptbwqE2b/
 
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TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
In case you're wondering...

Why more than one storage drive?

I've been meaning to put something like this together for a while. In recent weeks I've found myself writing this more and more so thought I would just post my thoughts in a thread that I could link to. So the reason for this thread is to try and give insight as to the reasoning behind having...
www.pcspecialist.co.uk www.pcspecialist.co.uk
 
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TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
PoptimusGrime said:
Thanks @TonyCarter - that's brilliant. I'll dig into it and come back if I have any questions.

Would it be a pain to also ask for your view of what you would build if I stick with a 1080p monitor?
Click to expand...
The only real change would be the GPU, but there's no 1080p AMD option at the moment, so you'd be stuck with the 16GB 5060Ti if you want latest generation, or the 12GB 7700XT if you don't mind last gen. Personally I wouldn't go for an 8GB GPU today...especially for the £40 saving in the case of the two 5060Ti models.

7700XT would drop the price to around £1770; 5060Ti would be £1799.

Any further savings required would drop you into the 7600XT or Intel B580 GPU choices.
 
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PoptimusGrime

Member
Thanks so much for this.

Have I made the right changes? https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/6S5Pe3xmeg/

A couple of follow on questions if that's OK:
1. When I click proceed I get the following message "You have selected a 1000W power supply, but based on our calculations you actually only need a 650W power supply. We have calculated your specification to require around 383W of power including a 20% allowance. Although it is not a mandatory requirement to select a lower wattage power supply, doing so will save you money and the last thing we'd like to do is over charge you!". Is that anything I need to change?
2. It gives me three options to refine the graphic card. Are their big implications between them?
 
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TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Yes, that's the correct config.

1) That's the config tool just telling you that your CURRENT build only need x amount of power (and is only really relevant on budget builds where every £10 counts). It doesn't take into account future upgrades, quality of PSU or ATX spec of PSU. An older spec ATX2 PSU would need to have almost double the power to be equivalent to the newer ATX3 PSUs. We tend to overspec the PSU to allow for GPU upgrades over a 7-10 year cycle, and the higher power/better quality PSUs tend to run more efficiently/quieter/cooler when they're running at below 60% capacity.

2) The GPU chip on every 5060Ti is identical...the only difference between the cards is how much power/overclocking/aesthetics each board partner decided to put into their card (and how much profit they think they can make out of it).
 
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PoptimusGrime

Member
Thanks again Tony.

One last question - I've put the spec below of my current PC - which is 10 years old (and I confess not bought from PCS). Am I right in thinking that it's too old to instead focus on upgrading?


ProductQuantity
​
Chillblast Kube MicroATX Gaming Case - Black
1​
Intel Core i7 6700K Skylake Processor 4.00 GHz (Overclocked to up to 4.6GHz)
1​
Akasa Venom Voodoo Ultra Quiet CPU Cooler
1​
Arctic Silver 5 Thermal Paste
1​
Asus Z170M PLUS Motherboard (Skylake CPU Only)
1​
32GB Corsair/Crucial DDR4 2133MHz Memory (4 x 8GB sticks)
1​
Chillblast NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970 4GB Graphics Card
1​
256GB Samsung SM951 M.2 PCIe Solid State Drive
1​
Seagate 2000GB 7200RPM Hard Disk - 6Gbps
1​
Thermaltake E-Sports Commander Gaming Keyboard & Mouse
1​
Bullguard Internet Security OEM
1​
Microsoft Office 2016 Home and Student OEM (Product Key Card)
1​
Install and Optimise Steam
1​
Install and Optimise Google Chrome Web Browser
1​
Blu-Ray ROM / DVD-RW Combi Drive
1​
Aerocool Premium Grade 600W PSU
1​
Onboard High Definition Audio
1​
 
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TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Well...
  • PSU is probably an ATX2.4 spec and only 600W, so that's another cost you'd have to factor in (for a ATX3.1 1000W model) - £200
  • RAM is slow (3600MHz is the current DDR4 sweet spot) - £200
  • GPU would need upgrading - £600
  • Most modern games prefer running from SSD to keep asset loading smooth, so that HDD would need to be replaced; the motherboard only supports a single PCIe 3.0 x 4 m.2 SSD - £200 for a 2TB SSD
Once you upgrade all that (probably at a cost of £1200), you've still got an old CPU on a dead-end platform that doesn't support W11 (officially, at least).
 
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PoptimusGrime

Member
Thanks - that what I assumed. Last questions I promise!

On the monitor:
1. Am I right that 1440p isn't worth it at a 24" monitor? I'm not sure I have desk space to increase up from my current 24"
2. Assuming I therefore go with 1080p spec - would it be worth me still considering upgrading to a newer 1080p monitor?
 
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TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
27" will only add about 1" to each side of the monitor, so if that's a hard restriction then just a better 1080p monitor would help for gaming.

Unfortunately, I've not followed the 1080p monitor market for years, so don't know what's considered good (or even good value).

This is from a youtube channel that is highly regarded (link should start at the 1080p monitor section) but it's about 6 months old, so I don't know how much prices/models have moved on...

Here's the budget 1080p model they recommend:

But other budget (sub £150) models are available...
 
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