Best bang for buck pre-built / refurb - €500

thesto

Hi there, I'm a very casual gamer looking to buy a desktop for the home office.

I'm primarily looking for something that can be a daily PC. I work as a front end dev so VSCode, bit of Photoshop, lots of Chrome tabs, Microsoft Office suite, spotify - that's my bread and butter.

But I do enjoy a bit of PES or GTA V in the evening.

I know that doing my own build is absolute best value/spec for money, but I really do not have the time required to research, order and assemble.

Would love any advice on buying a pre-built or a refurb (maybe adding a graphics card to a refurb?) for circa 500e?

DO NOT NEED - monitor, mouse, keyboard, Windows licence.

Any advice much appreciated!

SweetCaliber

I'd highly recommend going down the build it yourself route, its very easy to do.

500 euro is a very tight budget, heres a build I'd recommend, will play PES and GTA V as well as a host of other games happily. Nippy CPU and plenty of RAM for regular Photoshop and plently of Chrome tabs.

Comes in just over 600 euro though, you can go for the lower 4gb card but I wouldnt recommend. Your not saving much to justify it. For the ram you could go back to 8GB but again prices are quite nice now so I'd stick with 16GB if you can.

If your going prebuilt it's going to cost more. If your in the south east I'd happily build it for you no extra cost, just shoot me a PM.

thesto

You are very kind - I couldn't in good faith get a stranger to do something for free that I'm sure I could do myself if I put the effort in!!

I'm convincing myself I do have the time, even spending a half hour properly looking at things it becomes a bit clearer what's involved...

On the build you put together - you say the budget is very tight, where are the major pitfalls and are they upgradable??

Really appreciate the advice cheers

SweetCaliber

thesto wrote: »

You are very kind - I couldn't in good faith get a stranger to do something for free that I'm sure I could do myself if I put the effort in!!

I'm convincing myself I do have the time, even spending a half hour properly looking at things it becomes a bit clearer what's involved...

On the build you put together - you say the budget is very tight, where are the major pitfalls and are they upgradable??

Really appreciate the advice cheers

I mean you could scale back the ram to 8gb and the gpu to a 570 and that would bring your build to around 540 euro.




Would you be gaming much ? If you are gaming would you want good quality and higher frames? Or is it just something you'd do very occasionally.

I'm just trying to get a build that will allow you game in comfort but if its more of just a rig to edit and code on then you could scale down the price further and take a hit on the graphics for more RAM.

thesto

It will primarily be editing, coding etc... at most a handful of hours gaming in a week!

Cheers man I will go off and do some research myself so I understand the bits I'm buying. I may be back with questions!

SweetCaliber

thesto wrote: »

It will primarily be editing, coding etc... at most a handful of hours gaming in a week!

Cheers man I will go off and do some research myself so I understand the bits I'm buying. I may be back with questions!

No problem, the 570 will be grand for gaming also and you could add in an extra 8gb ram down the line if you wanted to, I'd still recommend the 16gb if you can afford it instead of the 8gb but if you cant then just upgrade down the line.

Theres 4 ram slots in the motherboard so you could easily stick another 2 4gb sticks in later on.

thesto

Am I missing something or has the Ryzen 5 2600 you suggested increased in price by £80 overnight?!

https://www.cclonline.com/product/250246/YD2600BBAFBOX/CPU-Processors/AMD-2nd-Gen-Ryzen-5-2600-3-4GHz-Processor-16MB-L3-Cache-with-Wraith-Stealth/CPU0537/?siteID=8BacdVP0GFs-9pLtGdzdTSR3DzIbOherIA

I liked the idea of getting everything from the one place but suppose I'll be shopping around!!

K.O.Kiki

Just supply & demand at work.

The Ryzen 3 3300X is a good alternative.

SweetCaliber

thesto wrote: »

Am I missing something or has the Ryzen 5 2600 you suggested increased in price by £80 overnight?!

https://www.cclonline.com/product/250246/YD2600BBAFBOX/CPU-Processors/AMD-2nd-Gen-Ryzen-5-2600-3-4GHz-Processor-16MB-L3-Cache-with-Wraith-Stealth/CPU0537/?siteID=8BacdVP0GFs-9pLtGdzdTSR3DzIbOherIA

I liked the idea of getting everything from the one place but suppose I'll be shopping around!!

Still showing as 117 pounds for me?

thesto

@SweetCaliber I swear it was up at £200 this morning!

I've gone down the rabbit hole and now the build I'm looking at is this https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/KHv3Xv (although the Tomohawk seems to be out of stock)

Do you think I'm going overboard for my requirements? Any changes you would make?

** EDIT - I realised I have a 500GB Samsung Evo SSD that I can reuse, so have a lil more to spread around the build

https://imgur.com/tKXIJZN

That's it on CCL. Only issue is the motherboard currently out of stock. Would you recommend an alternative?

K.O.Kiki

Put less into CPU/mobo, more into GPU/case.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/WBMCcq

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (14nm) 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor (£103.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI B450M MORTAR MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£93.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£69.98 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB OC Video Card (£220.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: GameMax Kamikaze PRO MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£54.98 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: Corsair CV 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£44.87)
Total: £588.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-05-15 18:31 BST+0100

PSU found on CCL.

thesto

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Put less into CPU/mobo, more into GPU/case.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/WBMCcq

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (14nm) 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor (£103.98 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: MSI B450M MORTAR MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£93.98 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3000 Memory (£69.98 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER 6 GB OC Video Card (£220.99 @ Amazon UK)
Case: GameMax Kamikaze PRO MicroATX Mini Tower Case (£54.98 @ CCL Computers)
Power Supply: Corsair CV 450 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply (£44.87)
Total: £588.78
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-05-15 18:31 BST+0100

PSU found on CCL.

What's the thought process behind spending less on CPU/mobo if you don't mind me asking?

K.O.Kiki

thesto wrote: »

What's the thought process behind spending less on CPU/mobo if you don't mind me asking?

You generally see bigger gains in performance going up a GPU tier than going up a CPU tier, as long as you're not bottlenecked.

Suckit

GTA V currently free on epic games https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/free-games

Some good options here from CSL-Computer. You may want to use Google chrome to translate it automatically.
https://www.csl-computer.com/aufruest-pc-908-amd-ryzen-3-3200g.html/
You can browse through the site and swap out components altogether and/or add in the parts mentioned above or different builds etc.
Without extra graphics card you can run the game on low or medium graphics and games like Battlefield V, Minecraft, Rocket League, Fortnite etc...
Shipping from Germany is cheaper if you use mailboxde.com but you may prefer to use direct shipping given the time we're in.. (an extra €10 - €15)
Also you can currently use the code SVX99XV6 to get a discount at checkout, although I am unsure of the percent or what it works out at per build.
2 years warranty, they will ship replacements of defective items (when you return them) is my understanding, so should be quick enough sorting most issues.

https://www.csl-computer.com/aufruest-pc-909-amd-ryzen-5-3400g.html/
Optional changes
Processor: R5 3400G (+ €65) if you want to use it for heavier multimedia (light photo editing) or 1080p high end gaming
Power: The BoostBoxx 500W PowerBoost 80+ Bronze (+ €30) if you plan to upgrade later with a graphics card - RX 570 or (better) a GTX 1650 Super (play at 1080 high / ultra)
Case: CSL Orion (+ €5) maybe, for slightly better materials.
RAM : 16GB 3000mhz dual channel (2x8GB) (+ €45) for better performance in gaming and e.g. photoshop
SSD / HDD : The 1TB (+ €50) or 500GB SSD WD Blue (+ €20)
Wireless (WLAN): WiFi WLAN card PCIe Karte 867mbits CSL PAC867 (+ €25). You could also get a cheaper wifi adaptor on amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Archer-T3U-adaptateur-compatible/dp/B07M69276N

Obviously you can switch out storage altogether if that is not needed...

thesto

Suckit wrote: »

GTA V currently free on epic games https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/free-games

Some good options here from CSL-Computer. You may want to use Google chrome to translate it automatically.
https://www.csl-computer.com/aufruest-pc-908-amd-ryzen-3-3200g.html/
You can browse through the site and swap out components altogether and/or add in the parts mentioned above or different builds etc.
Without extra graphics card you can run the game on low or medium graphics and games like Battlefield V, Minecraft, Rocket League, Fortnite etc...
Shipping from Germany is cheaper if you use mailboxde.com but you may prefer to use direct shipping given the time we're in.. (an extra €10 - €15)
Also you can currently use the code SVX99XV6 to get a discount at checkout, although I am unsure of the percent or what it works out at per build.
2 years warranty, they will ship replacements of defective items (when you return them) is my understanding, so should be quick enough sorting most issues.

https://www.csl-computer.com/aufruest-pc-909-amd-ryzen-5-3400g.html/
Optional changes
Processor: R5 3400G (+ €65) if you want to use it for heavier multimedia (light photo editing) or 1080p high end gaming
Power: The BoostBoxx 500W PowerBoost 80+ Bronze (+ €30) if you plan to upgrade later with a graphics card - RX 570 or (better) a GTX 1650 Super (play at 1080 high / ultra)
Case: CSL Orion (+ €5) maybe, for slightly better materials.
RAM : 16GB 3000mhz dual channel (2x8GB) (+ €45) for better performance in gaming and e.g. photoshop
SSD / HDD : The 1TB (+ €50) or 500GB SSD WD Blue (+ €20)
Wireless (WLAN): WiFi WLAN card PCIe Karte 867mbits CSL PAC867 (+ €25). You could also get a cheaper wifi adaptor on amazon - https://www.amazon.co.uk/TP-Link-Archer-T3U-adaptateur-compatible/dp/B07M69276N

Obviously you can switch out storage altogether if that is not needed...

Nice one on the free GTA!! That's an interesting alternative... I will for sure give a look through CSL and the options you've given. Thanks!

Suckit

thesto wrote: »

Nice one on the free GTA!! That's an interesting alternative... I will for sure give a look through CSL and the options you've given. Thanks!

No problem, I was half a bottle of whiskey deep and a few beers, so I left out the most important part... The price. The prices that they are including delivery (after code) are hard to beat.

The ryzen 3 build for example is €254 delivered.

The Ryzen 5 3400G build is around €40 more delivered IIRC. So a lot of upgradeable possibilities for your budget too.

Skerries

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

Put less into CPU/mobo, more into GPU/case.

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/WBMCcq

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (14nm) 3.2 GHz 6-Core Processor (£103.98 @ Amazon UK)

would he not be better going for the 1600 AF or a 2600 over the older model?

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Processeur-AMD-RYZEN5-Socket-YD1600BBAFBOX/dp/B07XTQZJ28/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=1600+af&qid=1589651007&s=computers&sr=1-1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s?k=ryzen+2600&i=computers&ref=nb_sb_noss_1

jonerkinsella

Here. €500 delivered from CCL. It all works together. No HDD is included in price.
https://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=113388313&postcount=7