Need help buying first gaming PC

Hi Nick,
This is the build I compiled for your price:
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£193.05 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: ASRock - AB350M Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard (£63.92 @ Ebuyer)
Memory: Crucial - 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£50.99 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Plextor - M7V 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£63.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Seagate - BarraCuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive (£37.99 @ Aria PC)
Video Card: Palit - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB Dual Video Card (£238.35 @ CCL Computers)
Case: Corsair - 100R ATX Mid Tower Case (£42.49 @ Aria PC)
Power Supply: Silverstone - Strider Plus 500W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£62.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk)
Total: £753.77
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-17 12:33 BST+0100

Justification:
CPU: 6 fast cores at a great price! Whats not to like!
Motherboard: overclocking potential and everything you need!
RAM: 1 stick, so you can get another and easily upgrade to 16gb in the future. You can get better looking RAM if you can spend a little more.
Storage:
SSD: a cheap and fast 256gb SSD for your most used games and Operating System.
HDD: Good for less played games and media, its big and a decent speed.
GPU: a fast 1060 with 6gb of VRAM and a good price.
Case: the 100R is a good reliable case.
PSU: the Strider Plus lineup of power supplies are very reliable, and you don't need more than 500W.

Hopefully that helps, if you have any questions feel free to ask!

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£193.05 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard (£86.80 @ Alza)
Memory: Kingston - HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£63.84 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Crucial - BX200 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£120.86 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SC GAMING Video Card (£234.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Thermaltake - Versa H25 ATX Mid Tower Case (£37.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£68.80 @ Alza)
Total: £806.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-17 12:53 BST+0100

Yes, I went over budget. Not too far imo but still over budget. Why? Do you want to know why? Can you handle the cold, hard truth? Okay.

I can see the PSU in this reply box so I will start there. It's a trusted and often purchased PSU. I and many many others recommend this for builds that even include the 1080, which asks for a 500W PSU. The 520W peak power PSU offers the headroom necessary for pretty much any upgrade or OC you could want.

That brings me to the GFX card. EVGA is a company that can be trusted. They are a company with an average phone hold time of pretty much immediately. I have had to wait for up to a minute. They KNOW gamers. They know GFX cards. They know PCs. Want to call them at 1:00 in the morning? They're there. Want to call them prior to the purchase for advice? They do that too. Need some help after the sale? Yep, that too they offer. Toss in the 3 year warranty and you are covered until your next upgrade, which seems to be at or around 3 years on average.

The CPU is a 6 core fairly fast CPU that has taken the top spot for the mid-range PC builder. It used to be a mid-level i5 from Intel such as the 2500K or the i5 6500 that a lot of the mainstream gaming rig builders would choose. AMD has brought competition back to the CPU market via Ryzen.

RAM? It's dual channel. While it isn't required dual channel RAM likes to be installed in pairs. Dual? 2. I am using the RAM I recommend. BTW I am also using an EVGA GFX card.

Crucial is just a reliable company that specializes in RAM and storage. When gaming you can wait for load times that sometimes allow you a trip to your local burger joint or you can get back to gaming asap. It will of course also expedite your boot times. At 480GB you will have room for any games you're playing right now. Additional platter based storage can of course be added later on. As an owner of a tiny 120GB SSD I know how restricting that can be. 256GB would be better. IMO 480 or 500GB is the sweet spot for an SSD. At 1TB it just gets too pricey.

The tower offers the width necessary for any aftermarket air cooler. Want to use a 240mm AIO closed loop water cooler? That case can handle it. Want to install a couple 120mm fans on top, instead? You can. It also has the depth to handle most any gfx card so your upgrade path doesn't include road blocks.

This is a mid-high end build that will result in similar settings at 1080p. Ultra on some games.

If your answer was yes, my answer is yes, everything's compatible.


http://www.thermaltake.com.au/products-model_Specification.aspx?id=C_00002383 says

Front (intake) optional)
120 x 120 x 25 mm x 2
Rear (exhaust) :
120 x 120 x 25 mm Turbo fan
(1000rpm, 16dBA)
Top (exhaust) optional)
120 x 120 x 25 mm x 2

Which suggests that it only includes one rear fan. I would add two front fans. On my Vivo Titan I have two front fans, one rear fan and one top fan directly over my 212 evo, which also has two fans, to help exhaust any residual heat that naturally rises. It's set to low.

Yes you can use that disc. I've used mine on a few occasions but now I just go here https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10.

Yep. ^^^

In order to answer that question you need to visit the MB's website. Click on service and then on compatibility which will lead you to this page https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/support/B350-PC-MATE.html#support-cpu . From that list you can see the answer to your question is yes.

It's now 2 years later and you are about to install your Ryzen 7 1700. You go to https://www.msi.com/Motherboard/B350-PC-MATE.html#productFeature-section first. Once again you click on service and you check to see if they have a BIOS version that was made after 2017-05-09. If there is one you download it to a thumb drive aka a USB drive. You restart your PC and enter its BIOS. Once you are there you see M-Flash. in the bottom right of the screen. Click that and direct it to your USB drive with the most recent BIOS and follow the prompts.

Honestly, I was speaking English. It may have sounded like Greek but it totally was English.

https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Bearing-Computer-Radiators/dp/B000O8I474

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£193.05 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard (£86.80 @ Alza)
Memory: Kingston - HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£63.84 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Crucial - BX200 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£120.86 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SC GAMING Video Card (£234.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Thermaltake - Versa H25 ATX Mid Tower Case (£37.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£68.80 @ Alza)
Case Fan: Cooler Master - R4-S2S-124K-GP 44.7 CFM 120mm Fans
Total: £806.32
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-17 16:48 BST+0100

Good call. Sorry about that.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD - Ryzen 5 1600 3.2GHz 6-Core Processor (£193.05 @ Ebuyer)
Motherboard: MSI - B350 PC MATE ATX AM4 Motherboard (£86.80 @ Alza)
Memory: Kingston - HyperX Fury Black 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2133 Memory (£63.84 @ Aria PC)
Storage: Crucial - BX200 480GB 2.5" Solid State Drive (£120.86 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: EVGA - GeForce GTX 1060 6GB 6GB SC GAMING Video Card (£234.98 @ Amazon UK)
Case: Thermaltake - Versa H25 ATX Mid Tower Case (£37.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: SeaSonic - 520W 80+ Bronze Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply (£68.80 @ Alza)
Optical Drive: Lite-On - iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer (£12.84 @ Ebuyer)
Case Fan: Cooler Master - R4-S2S-124K-GP 44.7 CFM 120mm Fans
Total: £819.16
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2017-06-17 18:15 BST+0100

Would that work? I like the SSD/HDD combo. Very smart.

The PSU? I don't like that. It's perfectly fine for the 1060. I did however notice that your eyes are set to the future. That means new hardware such as the 1070 or 1080 buth of which call for a 500W PSU. That is most certainly not a corner I recommend cutting. It's the lifeblood of your PC.

Sure, it's daunting to the uninitiated. All those wires that go from the front of the case to the motherboard. Installing a motherboard. Okay, I have 6 screws but I see 13 holes. Which way does the RAM go? I remember this game But which way does the CPU go in? All these cables!!!! I am supposed to put an 8 pin CPU plug into the motherboard. I am supposed to insert an 8 pin plug into my GFX card. One says 4+4 but the other says 6+2. Both are 8 PIN!!!!!!! is an artist's drawing of me during my 1st PC build.

The wires are labeled and the motherboard has a labeled diagram which shows what is what as far as the motherboard leads are concerned. It also tells you which holes are used to secure the motherboard to the case.

The RAM has an offset notch in it. If you try and install it backwards the notch won't line up.

The CPU has an orientation mark on it which you line up to the orientation mark on the motherboard.

The cables are all labeled.

There are many Youtube videos showing exactly how to build a PC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IhX0fOUYd8Q&t=557s

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VIF43-0mDk4

are but two drops of water in that ocean of videos.

Simply take it slow and follow the directions. Need help? You know what to do. Come back here and ask. Find a video. It's not so hard. Anybody with a screwdriver and two disposable digits can build a PC when armed with the right knowledge.

Opposable* digits. No need to donate any fingers to the cause.

You won't catch me doing any major electrical work. Install a ceiling fan? Sure. A new vanity light? Yep. Light switch or GFCI plug? Yep. Get inside the breaker box or in the walls? No thank you.

Yes. You're all set with the addition of that DVD drive. I would make sure you have a USB thumb drive. That way you can download https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/software-download/windows10 the latest version of 10 as a backup. It can also be used to manually update 10. The DVD will be fine. Won't ever break or get scratched. The best laid plans of....... Having a backup of 10 will safeguard against possible issues.

You're welcome

USB 3.0(blue) x 1,USB 2.0 x 1, HD Audio x 1 Front Ports are located on the front at the top of the case.

Good luck on this journey to your first gaming PC. Please let us know how this works out for you when the rig's complete.

Those are Enhance units. They are of decent quality but for the price you can get much much better. The EVGA B3 PSUs are much better quality (they're the same Super Flower unit as the G3) but are around the same price. Also the Seasonic G is a much better PSU. 500W is all you need, sure, but it's got to be a quality unit. Some 500W units I wouldn't trust to power a light bulb, let alone a full PC.

Think I'd hire you as our on-call electrician. Your attention to detail is exquisite. https://www.amazon.com/iHAS124-Internal-Burning-Software-Accessories/dp/B00I4DC5S0 does include the cable. The other one is the bare drive.

Yes, you will need to purchase a Sata data cable for the SSD and HDD. https://www.amazon.com/RELPER-10-inch-26AWG-Female-Locking/dp/B00RQJ8UMI/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1497745152&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=2+pack+sata+data+cable&psc=1is an option.

Many micro-atx boards will only have two RAM slots. When you can buy 2x8GB RAM modules it's not a big thing. Sometimes the smaller boards may not be so overclock friendly and may not have a design that can deal with heat as effectively as some bigger boards that have heatsinks where they are necessary. See the CPU's socket pn that MSI board? See those black pin striped things to the left and above the CPU socket? Those are passive heatsinks designed to wick away heat quicker that will then be pushed out with the case's front to back airflow. There is also the SATA ports. The one I recommended has 4. Some others may have 6 which is sometimes more expensive. You will only need 3. But what about 3 years from now? I am currently using all 6 on my Z97 PC Mate.