I'm new to building PCs and would appreciate honest advice on the best system I can put together in the UK for around £900, with £950 as the absolute limit. I'm hoping to buy around Black Friday. The PC will be used for daily remote work and gaming at 1440p and 60 FPS, including Red Dead Redemption 2 and EA Sports FC. I'd also like it to be upgradeable for future demanding games, although I understand that the PC version of GTA 6 may require a future GPU upgrade. I already own a monitor and peripherals, and I don't need RGB lighting. My current idea uses a Ryzen 5 7600, RX 9060 XT 16GB, 750W Gold-rated PSU, 16GB DDR5 memory and a 1TB NVMe SSD, but it currently costs about £1,179, mainly because memory is unusually expensive. I'm considering starting with 16GB RAM and upgrading later, so I'd prefer a motherboard with four memory slots and an extra M.2 slot. Would it be smarter to wait for memory prices to fall, choose an older AM4/DDR4 platform, use a different graphics card, or save money on another component instead? I'm also open to a 1080p-focused build that can be upgraded to 1440p later.
4 Answers
A sensible way to reduce the cost is to use a Ryzen 5 7500F instead of the 7600. It’s only slightly slower for gaming and still gives you the AM5 upgrade path. You can also start with one 16GB DDR5 module if the price difference is large, then add a matching module later. That isn’t ideal for performance today because dual-channel memory is better, but it avoids moving to an outdated platform. A good 650W PSU should be enough for this class of build and leaves room for a reasonable future GPU upgrade, so a 750W unit may be unnecessary spending.
At current prices, £900–£950 is a difficult target for a new PC aimed at high-quality 1440p gaming. An AM4 system would save some money, but it’s an older platform with fewer worthwhile upgrade options, so I’d generally prefer starting with AM5 if possible. Used parts could make the budget work, especially for the graphics card, CPU or memory. If you can save another couple of hundred pounds, your original AM5 direction becomes much more realistic.
Which parts would be safest to buy used? I’d be happy to do that if it makes a meaningful difference, but I’m also willing to keep saving if needed.
For a brand-new build at this budget, I’d target 1080p rather than promising 1440p in every demanding game. A decent midrange GPU can still handle 1440p with reduced settings or upscaling, but you’ll have to compromise. I also wouldn’t count on major price drops for graphics cards or memory during a sale. Build for what you can play now, then replace the GPU later when you actually need more performance.
I’m fine starting at 1080p if that gives me a better overall system. I’d like to know what the strongest prebuilt or custom build would be around this budget.
The RX 9060 XT 16GB is a reasonable choice if you can get it at the right price, particularly for texture-heavy games and future releases. However, it shouldn’t come at the expense of the platform, power supply quality or storage. I’d rather choose a slightly cheaper CPU such as the 7500F, a basic but reliable B650 motherboard, a quality 650W PSU and a plain airflow-focused case than buy an expensive case or oversized power supply. One terabyte of NVMe storage is a sensible starting point, and adding another drive later is easy.
I’d try to add the second memory module sooner rather than later. Running two matched sticks generally improves minimum frame rates and overall responsiveness, especially when gaming and working with several applications open.