Ive got £700 and would like to build my first PC

[Sol_Willington]

Budget (including currency): £700 Sterling

Country: UK

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: civ 6, minecraft, probably other stuff, I'd like this to be fairly futureproof

Other details

CPU - AMD Ryzen 5 2600 3.4 GHz 6-Core Processor

Storage - Team MP33 128 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive - I was planning to add a larger hard drive that my dads got for bulk storage. Ill only use this for boot drive and whatever im accessing a lot

RAM - Crucial 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-1600 CL11 Memory

Case - DIYPC Solo-T2-R Black USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Case - Looks aren't important to me so I went cheap as i could

Power  - Antec High Current Gamer Gold 650 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply - is this safe? I feel like it shouldn't be this cheap.

 

Motherboard - not sure, some help would be very appreciated

GPU - i have no idea. GPU pricing is so crazy that i kinda want to just wait but i also want to not be using a decade old pc that cant do 30 FPS in minecraft at all.

 

I want to have a go at building a PC. Ive saved up 700 quid and have used PC partpicker to come up with this. So far its saying Ill spend about £315. Anyone got any suggestions of what to keep/change? And suggestions on motherboard and what i can realistically get for a GPU

 

[TimNBG]

Alright, this is what I have come up with and would buy in your situation:
CPU: Ryzen 5 1600 AF - This is essentially the same CPU that you have. It's the same architecture (Zen+) but is 200MHz slower out of box. These can usually easily be OCed a tiny bit to get exactly the same performance as the 2600. (Saves you about £15)
RAM: 16GB DDR4 3000MHz - I would definetly go for 16GB and this is a fast enough kit that doesn't break the bank.
Motherboard: MSI B450M Mortar Max - This is a solid board for the money, it is microATX though so if you need the extra expansion slots that ATX offers then you'll have to get something else.
Storage: Kingston A400 240GB - Decent performance, good price and I'd go for 240GB as a minimum
Power Supply: Seasonic S12III 650W - It's only 80+ Bronze and isn't modular but it's reliable
Case: Fractal Design Focus G - Has good airflow and is nice to build in, while not costing a lot
These parts total to £355.55 with shipping.

Now for the hard part: GPU
The best you can do new is a GTX 1660 for £300. Not the fastest by todays standards.
The other option would be to go used. Here, you could go for a GTX 1080 for 380-400£ (Buy it Now Price on eBay with Money back guarantee). This would put you a bit over budget but it performs noticeably better than a 1660. (The Ryzen 5 1600AF would hold it back a bit in CPU intensive games though)

[OfficialTechSpace]

For £700 you could string together a pretty decent build with a solid upgrade path, I will say however that storage will be the deciding factor to push you overbudget in this pricerange. I chose a 1TB drive for better value, but you can cut it down to whatever capacity you want if it'd better suit your price, just stick to the SN550 models. Everything else is pretty much accounted for already (excluding the GPU unless it's found at MSRP as listed).

 

Here's what I'd recommend:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/mLVVvf

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 AF  (£119.49 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX  (£79.99 @ AWD-IT) 
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) 3600Mhz CL16  (£78.61 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB  (£80.99 @ Box Limited) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060  (£276.06) 
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P360A  (£68.09 @ CCL Computers) 
Power Supply: MSI A650GF 650W 80+ Gold  (£84.93 @ CCL Computers) 
Case Fans: 2x Phanteks PH-F120SK 50 CFM 120 mm Fan  (£9.23 each@ Overclockers.co.uk) 

 

Total: £806.62

 

Later on down the line, you could likely get a good deal on the Ryzen 5000 Series CPUs when the next generation or two launches. Some laughably good prices show up on eBay around then usually. People have been selling their used Ryzen 5 3600's for about £135 if you spend long enough looking. They commonly come without the original stock Wraith Spire cooler however, which could make it a poor value in this particular budget (why I recommend the 1600AF).

[OfficialTechSpace]

29 minutes ago, TimNBG said:

The best you can do new is a GTX 1660 for £300.

Or he could just be patient and get a 3060 for $276 when prices come down and it restocks. I wouldn't recommend just buying whatever's available right now, that seems like a terrible value proposition on such a tight budget.

 

Even bumping the 3060 up to a 3060 Ti could seem beneficial because the Ti variants have Founders Edition models that are price regulated by NVIDIA. He wouldn't even have to wait for prices to come down on those, he'd just have to be quick to check-out with one.

[brob]

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-10400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£131.00 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: MSI B560M PRO-VDH Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard  (£89.99 @ Box Limited) 
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 8 GB (2 x 4 GB) DDR4-3000 CL16 Memory  (£42.57 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Kingston A2000 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (£47.48 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1660 6 GB GAMING X Video Card  (£299.99 @ CCL Computers) 
Case: Thermaltake Versa H17 MicroATX Mini Tower Case  (£37.85 @ Ebuyer) 
Power Supply: Fractal Design Ion+ 560 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£60.84 @ CCL Computers) 
Total: £709.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-06-21 21:10 BST+0100

[TimNBG]

23 minutes ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

For £700 you could string together a pretty decent build with a solid upgrade path, I will say however that storage will be the deciding factor to push you overbudget in this pricerange. I chose a 1TB drive for better value, but you can cut it down to whatever capacity you want if it'd better suit your price, just stick to the SN550 models. Everything else is pretty much accounted for already (excluding the GPU unless it's found at MSRP as listed).

 

Here's what I'd recommend:

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/mLVVvf

 

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 AF  (£119.49 @ Amazon UK) 
Motherboard: MSI B450 TOMAHAWK MAX  (£79.99 @ AWD-IT) 
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) 3600Mhz CL16  (£78.61 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: Western Digital Blue SN550 1 TB  (£80.99 @ Box Limited) 
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 3060  (£276.06) 
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P360A  (£68.09 @ CCL Computers) 
Power Supply: MSI A650GF 650W 80+ Gold  (£84.93 @ CCL Computers) 
Case Fans: 2x Phanteks PH-F120SK 50 CFM 120 mm Fan  (£9.23 each@ Overclockers.co.uk) 

 

Total: £806.62

 

Later on down the line, you could likely get a good deal on the Ryzen 5000 Series CPUs when the next generation or two launches. Some laughably good prices show up on eBay around then usually. People have been selling their used Ryzen 5 3600's for about £135 if you spend long enough looking. They commonly come without the original stock Wraith Spire cooler however, which could make it a poor value in this particular budget (why I recommend the 1600AF).

I think this list includes a few things that don't make sense, especially considering OP's budget.

1. I wouldnt go for an "expensive case" that you also have to buy extra fans for. He said he doesnt care about looks and just wants something to hold the parts.

2. You then go to the extent of saving 15£ with the 1600AF over the 2600 BUT then you go for a full ATX board that isn't really needed (unless he needs expansion slots, as stated in my reply earlier) which costs him 20£ more.

 

3. The Power Supply also does not really make sense, even if you say you want to keep it at 80+ Gold and modular. If that is the case you can go for an EVGA G5 650W for 10£ less. Another option would be a semi-modular PSU. The cheapest one of those from a reliable brand would be a Corsair TXM Gold 650W.

Not gonna say anything about the SSD since you said he can just go for a lower capacity, just that he doesn't need a NVMe SSD. You can't really tell the difference and the extra in cost can't really be justified (unless you think DirectStorage will be a huuuge thing in the future or sth).

The RAM in your list does seem to be a better value than what I had in my list.
 

[OfficialTechSpace]

38 minutes ago, TimNBG said:

1. I wouldnt go for an "expensive case" that you also have to buy extra fans for. He said he doesnt care about looks and just wants something to hold the parts.

It's not expensive, it fits in his budget, and the P360A mesh chassis is the most commonly recommended case on the forum.

38 minutes ago, TimNBG said:

2. You then go to the extent of saving 15£ with the 1600AF over the 2600 BUT then you go for a full ATX board that isn't really needed (unless he needs expansion slots, as stated in my reply earlier) which costs him 20£ more.

The ATX board fits in his budget, has a better VRM than the Mortar Max that you recommended, better I/O, and is only £20 more (but for good reason).

38 minutes ago, TimNBG said:

3. The Power Supply also does not really make sense, even if you say you want to keep it at 80+ Gold and modular. If that is the case you can go for an EVGA G5 650W for 10£ less. Another option would be a semi-modular PSU. The cheapest one of those from a reliable brand would be a Corsair TXM Gold 650W.

The A650GF is a multi-rail PSU, which is great for the price. A far better value than the EVGA and has less likelihood of triggering OCP / overloading the power rails on a 3000 Series GPU. I'm not sure where your logic came from (besides price), but I know where I got mine. I recommend checking out the forums official PSU Tier List: 

 

 

38 minutes ago, TimNBG said:

he doesn't need a NVMe SSD. You can't really tell the difference and the extra in cost can't really be justified

It can be justified, because there is no extra cost. 

Even the cheap and affordable SATA SSD's cost just as much unless you're looking at DRAM'less variants.

[Sol_Willington]

Thanks to everyone for the replies. What im seeing is try and snag a GPU at retail price when theres a restock. Does anyone know wheres the best places to watch cos most of the manufactures dont do direct sale to customers. Move the power supply to a bronze rating, go for 2x8 GB ram, and swap the NVMe SSD to SATA or something else cos the added cost of M.2 isnt worth it? Have I managed to get some sensible ideas from this? Or have I misunderstood everyone?

[OfficialTechSpace]

6 minutes ago, Sol_Willington said:

TWhat im seeing is try and snag a GPU at retail price when theres a restock. Does anyone know wheres the best places to watch cos most of the manufactures dont do direct sale to customers.

BestBuy and NVIDIA directly for Founders Edition cards. Nothing else really matters unless you're willing to wait a LONG time for prices to drop, the custom cards are rarely ever at MSRP even without the chip shortage.

6 minutes ago, Sol_Willington said:

Move the power supply to a bronze rating

Not necessary, 80+ Gold works just fine for your budget.

6 minutes ago, Sol_Willington said:

go for 2x8 GB ram

??? Nobody said anything about this, but yes, anything less than 16GB running in dual-channel is not a good idea.

6 minutes ago, Sol_Willington said:

swap the NVMe SSD to SATA or something else cos the added cost of M.2 isnt worth it?

The price gap doesn't exist anymore, that's an outdated theory. The SN550 NVMe drives are just as cheap as similar capacity SATA SSD's unless you're looking at DRAM'less drives.

 

Conclusion: I already made you a list, there's nothing to change.

[Sol_Willington]

2 minutes ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

BestBuy and NVIDIA directly for Founders Edition cards. Nothing else really matters unless you're willing to wait a LONG time for prices to drop, the custom cards are rarely ever at MSRP even without the chip shortage.

Not necessary, 80+ Gold works just fine for your budget.

??? Nobody said anything about this, but yes, anything less than 16GB running in dual-channel is not a good idea.

I was gonna go for 2x4, people were boosting it to 2x8

2 minutes ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

The price gap doesn't exist anymore, that's an outdated theory. The SN550 NVMe drives are just as cheap as similar capacity SATA SSD's unless you're looking at DRAM'less drives.

 Thanks for the reply, Im gonna go make some edits to my thing on PC parts picker and see where im at

[brob]

13 minutes ago, Sol_Willington said:

Thanks to everyone for the replies. What im seeing is try and snag a GPU at retail price when theres a restock. Does anyone know wheres the best places to watch cos most of the manufactures dont do direct sale to customers. Move the power supply to a bronze rating, go for 2x8 GB ram, and swap the NVMe SSD to SATA or something else cos the added cost of M.2 isnt worth it? Have I managed to get some sensible ideas from this? Or have I misunderstood everyone?

 

Best Buy is one source. Some even keep a list.

 

I would disagree with the NVMe vs SATA characterization. There are some very competitive NVMe drives available and they will always be faster except under contrived situations.

[OfficialTechSpace]

Just now, Sol_Willington said:

I was gonna go for 2x4, people were boosting it to 2x8

Yeah 8GB of RAM is not enough in 2021, so that makes sense why we were recommending 2 x 8GB sticks.

1 minute ago, Sol_Willington said:

Thanks for the reply, Im gonna go make some edits to my thing on PC parts picker and see where im at

You do know that you can reuse the PCPartPicker lists that we shared, right? You don't need to edit your own.

[Sol_Willington]

11 minutes ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

You do know that you can reuse the PCPartPicker lists that we shared, right? You don't need to edit your own.

Yeah but Im doing it this way so i dont confuse myself too much. It might not make sense but to my dyslecix head it does. Ive already managed to confuse myself by going to the US PCpartpicker thing so im gonna do it my own weird way

[Downkey]

managed to squeeze 16gb of ram

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-10400F 2.9 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£131.00 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B560M DS3H Micro ATX LGA1200 Motherboard  (£79.68 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Patriot Viper Steel 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  (£68.47 @ Ebuyer)
Storage: Kingston A2000 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive  (£47.48 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 1660 6 GB GAMING X Video Card  (£299.99 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Fractal Design Focus G ATX Mid Tower Case  (£29.77 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Fractal Design Ion+ 560 W 80+ Platinum Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£60.84 @ CCL Computers)
Total: £717.23
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-06-21 22:06 BST+0100

[Sol_Willington]

Something ive just noticed is you have all recommended going for NVIDIA graphics cards any reason why theres no suggestions for AMD graphics cards?

 

[OfficialTechSpace]

5 minutes ago, Sol_Willington said:

Something ive just noticed is you have all recommended going for NVIDIA graphics cards any reason why theres no suggestions for AMD graphics cards?

AMD has even worse stock issues, and nothing for sale under £420 with their current-gen cards. So yes, we recommend NVIDIA (especially with this tight of a budget).

[Sol_Willington]

10 minutes ago, OfficialTechSpace said:

AMD has even worse stock issues, and nothing for sale under £420 with their current-gen cards. So yes, we recommend NVIDIA (especially with this tight of a budget).

Ok then. That explains that. Thanks for being so helpful