PC build from Santa

JabbaTheHut

I'm going to build a PC for the young lad. All it needs doing is some Fortnite, Minecraft and Youtube. So far anyway. Now I'm scrimping and trying to keep the build as close to €350 as possible. I've selected some items below, but have not picked a CPU yet. I've priced everything from CCL, and everything I've listed comes in at about £230, including delivery, that about €255.

The reason I haven't listed a CPU is that I was going with a Ryzen 3200g, but they seem to have gone scarce and risen in price. If I'm forced to go with the 3400g it'll blow the budget, so I'm keeping my powder dry for now.

Now, I know I'm not going to get some serious build for that money, but I'm working to a budget.

Anyway, can someone have a look and see how this stands up, and if there can be some improvements made.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/YsPbK3

Thanks.

LineConsole

JabbaTheHut wrote: »

I'm going to build a PC for the young lad. All it needs doing is some Fortnite, Minecraft and Youtube. So far anyway. Now I'm scrimping and trying to keep the build as close to €350 as possible. I've selected some items below, but have not picked a CPU yet. I've priced everything from CCL, and everything I've listed comes in at about £230, including delivery, that about €255.

The reason I haven't listed a CPU is that I was going with a Ryzen 3200g, but they seem to have gone scarce and risen in price. If I'm forced to go with the 3400g it'll blow the budget, so I'm keeping my powder dry for now.

Now, I know I'm not going to get some serious build for that money, but I'm working to a budget.

Anyway, can someone have a look and see how this stands up, and if there can be some improvements made.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/YsPbK3

Thanks.

I think a decent used gaming pc could be bought for that budget. It would be much better than one built from new budget components. If you want it to look new you could always just swap the case for a new one.

JabbaTheHut

Thanks. That thought crossed my mind. I did that before a couple of times. Use the box the case comes in to give it that new look. But it's been a few years since I pulled that stunt and reckoned that components must be cheaper now on a new build, than a second hand one a few years old. Plus, it'd be more future proof. After all, for that money, a second hand gaming PC would be coming near the end of it's upgrades, and I don't want to get caught in a year or two.

Homelander

Keep in mind the 3200G is very limited from a graphics point of view, and it's also a very low-end CPU for combination with a dedicated card.

What you are best off doing is buying the PC as planned, and getting a £95 Ryzen 3100 as the processor.

Then spend €50 on a 2nd hand graphics card like a GTX750Ti, which is about the same as the 3200G integrated graphics anyway.

That way you have a solid base with a good CPU that won't need upgrading for a while if he moves onto bigger games.

K.O.Kiki

For GPU you could also consider going old-school with something like HD 7870 XT 2Gb or HD 7970 DD XT2 3Gb.
The latter is still good enough for 1080p 60fps @ High in Fortnite (with mild spikes to the 40s).

Either of them blow the GTX 750 Ti away.

Alternatively, try to find a GTX 1050 / 1050 Ti on Adverts (don't spend more than €70/90 respectively).

RenewalDiary

I used the site to build one and it was pretty straightforward. The thing goes a rocket!

LineConsole

JabbaTheHut wrote: »

Thanks. That thought crossed my mind. I did that before a couple of times. Use the box the case comes in to give it that new look. But it's been a few years since I pulled that stunt and reckoned that components must be cheaper now on a new build, than a second hand one a few years old. Plus, it'd be more future proof. After all, for that money, a second hand gaming PC would be coming near the end of it's upgrades, and I don't want to get caught in a year or two.

Unfortunately Components are still expensive. A budget PC that will run undemanding modern games without being a fustrating experience will still cost 500-600 euro realistically. You'll find older gen processors don't really get much lower in price when bought new, they just become unavailable after a time and the price actually goes up as they become harder to get.


The current budget card that can do what you want from Nvidea is the GTX 1660 , which is around 200 euro. Or the GTX 1660 Super if you can strech to around 220. It's a great little card to be fair. If you could find a used machine with a Ryzen 3600 and a GTX 1660 or similar it would be a better option for a gaming PC.

bubbagumss

overclockers uk has it for 119 pounds
or you can get much better cpu which is not on sale to the public on aliexpress for 225 dollars and build mini PC

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EqUpD1aWRvE

RebelButtMunch

I've a ryzen 3 2300x spare if you want?

Used.

JabbaTheHut

Homelander wrote: »

Keep in mind the 3200G is very limited from a graphics point of view, and it's also a very low-end CPU for combination with a dedicated card.

What you are best off doing is buying the PC as planned, and getting a £95 Ryzen 3100 as the processor.

Then spend €50 on a 2nd hand graphics card like a GTX750Ti, which is about the same as the 3200G integrated graphics anyway.

That way you have a solid base with a good CPU that won't need upgrading for a while if he moves onto bigger games.

That thought did cross my mind; a "smaller" cpu, but a dedicated GFX card. And I think I know someone who has a spare GTX card, but think it's a 680. I'll have to get in contact with them and see.

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

For GPU you could also consider going old-school with something like HD 7870 XT 2Gb or HD 7970 DD XT2 3Gb.
The latter is still good enough for 1080p 60fps @ High in Fortnite (with mild spikes to the 40s).

Either of them blow the GTX 750 Ti away.

Alternatively, try to find a GTX 1050 / 1050 Ti on Adverts (don't spend more than €70/90 respectively).

Yep. That's something like Homelander suggested. I suppose I'm trying to juggle a machine that's future proof for very little money, which is a tall ask.

LineConsole wrote: »

Unfortunately Components are still expensive. A budget PC that will run undemanding modern games without being a fustrating experience will still cost 500-600 euro realistically. You'll find older gen processors don't really get much lower in price when bought new, they just become unavailable after a time and the price actually goes up as they become harder to get.


The current budget card that can do what you want from Nvidea is the GTX 1660 , which is around 200 euro. Or the GTX 1660 Super if you can strech to around 220. It's a great little card to be fair. If you could find a used machine with a Ryzen 3600 and a GTX 1660 or similar it would be a better option for a gaming PC.

The €200 just for the GFX card would blow the budget, but I think it would be worth a look around for a 2nd hand machine, or at least parts as I'm asking a lot for €350. I knew if I posted here I'd get advice on what I could get away with for the money.

bubbagumss wrote: »

overclockers uk has it for 119 pounds
or you can get much better cpu which is not on sale to the public on aliexpress for 225 dollars and build mini PC

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=EqUpD1aWRvE

Thanks. I saw that for the £119 but they could be got cheaper a few weeks ago. That's what I mean that they have gone scarce and then as a result expensive. Aliexpress is a bit too much of a chance. It might not get here on time, and it could get hit for customs and VAT charges,and then it could blow the budget. But it's the time that'd worry me.

RebelButtMunch wrote: »

I've a ryzen 3 2300x spare if you want?

Used.

Thanks. I'll keep that in mind.

sugarman wrote: »

You can buy one prebuit from AWD, heres one for €330ish with almost same specs you listed. (Just add the 1TB drive in the drop down)

Hmmm. I must take a good look at that. Thanks