Friend's first PC

[filpo]

Budget (including currency): Currently can work with two budgets, £700 and £1200, he wants to see if the jump is worth it depending on what he can get

Country: UK

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Fortnite, Rocket League, Fall guys, Light web browsing, FIFA (recent ones mostly), Minecraft

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc):  Resolution he plays at is 1080p, optimally 200fps or so since he has a 180hz monitor. No peripherals are needed, buying in the next month, upgrading from xbox one x, would prefer not too large of a case but not Small form factor either since that would compromise thermals and possibly budget, so under 50L of case space would be good

I have two ideas for lists, first has some used parts but is a good build and he said he doesn't mind used parts, other one has one or two but with a new GPU. Resolution he plays at is 1080p, optimally 200fps or so since he has a 180hz monitor. No peripherals are needed

£700 build:

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K 3.7 GHz 10-Core Processor  (£155.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (£29.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Motherboard: MSI B760 GAMING PLUS WIFI DDR4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  (£99.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: MSI SPATIUM M470 PRO 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£58.88 @ Amazon UK) 
Case: Montech AIR 903 MAX ATX Mid Tower Case  (£59.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Power Supply: Cooler Master MWE Gold V2 ATX3.0 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£73.86 @ NeoComputers - OOS) 
Custom: 6700 XT used (£200.00)
Custom: Used 2x16gb 3200 Vengeance LPX (£39.00)
Total: £715.72
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-10-27 10:27 GMT+0000

£1300 build: 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (£29.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk) 
Motherboard: Asus ROG STRIX Z790-A GAMING WIFI D4 ATX LGA1700 Motherboard  (£149.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: MSI SPATIUM M461 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£95.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Video Card: Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 9070 XT 16 GB Video Card  (£559.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Case: Phanteks Eclipse G360A ATX Mid Tower Case  (£75.00 @ Computer Orbit - OOS) 
Power Supply: Cooler Master MWE Gold V2 ATX3.0 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply  (£73.86 @ NeoComputers - OOS) 
Custom: 2x16gb 3200 Vengeance LPX (£39.00)
Custom: Used 13600k  (£180.00)
Total: £1203.82
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-10-27 10:31 GMT+0000

1TB of storage is fine but I thought since we have the budget and 2tb is pretty cheap that for the £1200 he could get 2tb. For the 700 would the 13600k be a better fit since it isn't even that much more. DDR5 is just too expensive to go for IMO and 13600k performs better than 7600 or 7500f (important for him since he plays on 1080p). we could try and get him a 7800X3D but then have to compromise on GPU

Looks aren't important, he just wants good value

do you guys think we should wait for the 7500X3D launch and get that? https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-set-to-launch-ryzen-5-7500x3d. Also black friday sales are close, we will probs wait for that or festive sales since he wants to get this pc for christmas (probs build about a week or two before that). I also saw a 7800X3D for £270 the other day 

1st: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/357305935413?_skw=7800x3d&itmmeta=01K8JKREFWV5PD2PSZ302JA8XD&hash=item533117e635%3Ag%3AIKcAAOSwU9hoQPOE&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAA4FkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1fr3GqghszikxvSWBvUSLhnFpO3a5UdOqrm4C%2Bse%2BKrOUtLMYdH1iW6WV2UhMD6Gyv0a98Yp5twRrAQzQ3kA%2BHfYsIG8QrXtwKEIgIelH7re8FE4EQbkODQ3nDDmk91glS2oSaqxB1BlYdHVKfC5ja3lWJdbyBrbvEJzVezwTXWifHgXs2l87hTXpPkRc7qfQXK8%2FJpu5JXSyQQUAJndMBrGxpCx%2BdCeff2gvGLEnRNYTzO3RO4zeIt2V7%2FosUvqGAJXpUIUxy9PggKFujm2Lio|tkp%3ABk9SR4zo4dPEZg&LH_BIN=1

2nd: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/317458039030?_skw=7800x3d&epid=15059031128&itmmeta=01K8JKREFWYTQVSMT4PZHD38XQ&hash=item49e9f940f6%3Ag%3AFc4AAeSwuT9o-2FO&itmprp=enc%3AAQAKAAAAwFkggFvd1GGDu0w3yXCmi1cKzyGng7L8kpaLpla83QErZbeGGoK%2BvFRYcWxy6WkgCbGZwLI7FVI8HW7mjpKf2x4B8r0eRzmxqvOD96qiZNkcA7OvkMRVdr94kRCxqvpuQKT%2FmfdNvcYfkmtjMmynY9PtkJi7M1CwD3FLUoIe9vvX6g%2BzigMVf9uiY0I9u5CmIkfibkPQbGvHV0znkrLpkvjyHxESWYd8bKtDczBNXvaSNo3dDde3Gwim7mm1ANqlXw%3D%3D|tkp%3ABk9SR4zo4dPEZg&LH_BIN=1

Edited October 27, 2025 by filpo
Added fifa and minecraft as games that he plays

[venomtail]

For such games, I'd go first build. Both will get good performance in those light titles, why spend nearly twice more than you need? 

[filpo]

31 minutes ago, venomtail said:

For such games, I'd go first build. Both will get good performance in those light titles, why spend nearly twice more than you need? 

Since it's 1080p do you think I should go with a slightly better CPU? like a 13600k (new it's only £30 more and I've seen it give increases of up to 10fps at 1080p on certain yt vids, Ik, not the best benchmark but gives an idea)
Or, AM5? DDR5 is so expensive now though. it does at least have some of a future. 

Anything I could improve on in either build?

EDIT: he also plays minecraft and fifa (more fifa and fortnite than anything)

Edited October 27, 2025 by filpo

[venomtail]

26 minutes ago, filpo said:

new it's only £30 more and I've seen it give increases of up to 10fps at 1080p on certain yt vids

10fps at what? 60 to 70fps or 260 to 270fps? Personally I would say past 180fps it starts getting difficult noticing a difference. The only game where 180fps to 240fps (I have 240hz monitor) was a noticeable difference was Mordhau. Motion in that one was night and day. CS maybe too. Things like Apex Legends, Battlefield, Fortnite and other fast paced games it's tough to tell the difference past 180. Rocket league I don't even see the point in high refresh rate. In my mind a sklilful but slow game.

 

My knowledge of Intel is low but doesn't the K CPU's need a Z board? Sure a 13600K is only £30 more but then add in a Z board and prices jump even more. Used 12600K's are like £110 give take, solid £60 cheaper than used 13600K's.

 

If this is their first PC, like all things that are tried new, dive first into the lower, budget end, know what you like, don't, need and then go from there. Your friend has a great opportunity to get their feet wet on the cheap end, slowly explore what having a PC is like and better in half a decade if they no longer have a PC that can keep up, build new again.

 

Anecdotal sure but when I first got into Elite Dangerous, I wanted a Hotas with all the gimbles, was like £300 for one or a cheap entry level one for £40. Got that one instead, 400h later in Elite Dangerous and never having an issue with it, never needing more I've moved on to different games. Being poor saved me £260 I didn't know I didn't need.

[filpo]

1 hour ago, venomtail said:

60 to 70fps or 260 to 270fps?

90 to 100 in i think god of war. 

 

1 hour ago, venomtail said:

My knowledge of Intel is low but doesn't the K CPU's need a Z board?

To overclock yes but they will still at least to 99% of their potential with a b760

 

2 hours ago, venomtail said:

Sure a 13600K is only £30 more but then add in a Z board and prices jump even more.

cheapest z 7 series board is £50 more 

2 hours ago, venomtail said:

If this is their first PC, like all things that are tried new, dive first into the lower, budget end, know what you like, don't, need and then go from there. Your friend has a great opportunity to get their feet wet on the cheap end, slowly explore what having a PC is like and better in half a decade if they no longer have a PC that can keep up, build new again.

 

yeah I think we'll go for the budget thanks! We will probably wait until black friday prices hit then maybe change up the parts list. Thanks for the help