THE £993 PC
SHOPPING LIST
CPU
AMD Ryzen 5 3600
155 inc VAT
ebuyer.com
To keep costs as
low as possible,
and to focus on
gaming, you have
two options when it
comes to CPUs. Intel’s Core
i5-9400F is worth considering, as
it offers decent gaming performance
for the cash, and actually costs less than
the Ryzen 5 3600 too. In fact, no AMD 3rd-gen
Ryzen CPUs are available for a cheaper price.
However, even at 1080p with a powerful
GPU, the Intel CPU is rarely much faster in
games, if at all, than the Ryzen 5 3600. Plus,
with the latter CPU’s dominance in content
creation and multi-threaded workloads, it’s
the more sensible option if you need a PC that
packs a punch outside of games too. It’s also
much better in games than 2nd-gen Ryzen
CPUs, so while the Ryzen 7 2700X costs around
the same price, it’s only worth considering
if multi-threaded performance is a bigger
priority for you than gaming performance.
Alternatives
The CPU market is crowded, with numerous
options above and below the Ryzen 5 3600
in terms of price – it’s great to have so much
choice, of course, but it can make the situation
confusing. The Ryzen 5 3600X is a little
faster, with higher single and all-core boost
frequencies, and our sample overclocked
slightly further too. However, that’s not
enough to justify the price difference – you’d
be better off ploughing the extra cash into
more SSD storage or a beefier cooler.
As we’ve already said, if multi-threaded
performance is a bigger priority for you than
gaming, AMD’s older Ryzen 7 2700X costs the
same price as the Ryzen 5 3600 and offers
an additional two cores and four threads. If
gaming is your main concern, then Intel’s Core
i5-9400F is also worth considering, as it
costs less money and is just as fast or
faster in games. However, the
AMD CPU is significantly
quicker than the Intel
one when it comes
to multi-threaded
performance. Intel
maybe looking to change
this situation with its 10th-gen
desktop CPUs later this year,
but for now, the Core i5-9400F is
Intel’s best option in this price bracket.MOTHERBOARD
MSI B450 Tomahawk Max
£99 inc VAT
ebuyer.comDespite their comparatively low prices,
MSI’s B450 Tomahawk AMD Socket
AM4 motherboards have performed
consistently well in our tests. They can
handle overclocked 8-core CPUs with ease,
so this one won’t have any trouble handling
our overclocked 6-core chip. The latest
model is the B450 Tomahawk Max, which
boasts a full-speed Type-C USB port and
large heatsinks, along with a PCI-E M.2 port.
While it might sound odd to pair a 3rd-gen
Ryzen CPU with a board based on AMD’s
older B450 chipset, particularly as you lose
PCI-E 4 support, you very rarely see the
performance benefits of PCI-E 4 storage
performance in everyday use. X570
motherboards are also much more
expensive than their B450
counterparts, and they’re
otherwise every bit as
fast and overclockable
elsewhere, so it
makes sense to
save cash here.
There’s another very
good reason to choose the B450Tomahawk Max, though, which is that,
unlike many of its peers, it includes MSI’s
version of USB BIOS Flashback feature.
This allows you to update the board’s BIOS
without a compatible CPU installed, so
you’ll be able to get it up and running with
a Ryzen 5 3600 with minimal faffing.
Unfortunately, many B450 boards are still
being shipped without BIOS versions that
are compatible with 3rd-gen Ryzen CPUs
such as the Ryzen 5 3600 we’ve chosen
for this build. Unless you have an older CPU
for flashing available, you’d otherwise be
left with a system that wouldn’t boot if you
installed a Ryzen 5 3600 into one of these
boards. With USB BIOS Flashback, however,
if you receive a board with an old BIOS,
you can update it, drop in your shiny new
3rd-gen Ryzen CPU and be on your way.Alternatives
IIf you fancy a smaller form factor PC,
then MSI also offers the B450M Mortar,
which features USB BIOS Flashback as
well. Going smaller still means there are
both B450 and X470 mini-ITX boards
on offer too, including the excellent Asus
ROG Strix B450-I Gaming. If you want
more features, such as better audio,
additional M.2 ports and PCI-E 4 support,
then MSI’s X570-A Pro only costs £50
more than the B450 Tomahawk Max.