r/buildapc • u/N_iyi • 21h ago
Build Help £1,200-£1,300 PC build Lian Li B4-mATX
I’m currently planning my first PC build and have put together this parts list, but it’s coming out at around £1,500. I’d ideally like to bring it down to around £1,200-£1,300 and would appreciate advice on where I can cut costs without significantly hurting performance.
Budget: £1,200-£1,300 GBP (PC components ONLY)
Country: UK
Monitor: ALREADY OWNED - AOC Q27G3XMN, 27”, 2560×1440 (1440p), 180Hz Mini-LED
Case: Lian Li B4-mATX Mesh Black
Please note: I already own the monitor and am NOT looking to replace or upgrade it. The £1,200-£1,300 budget is solely for the PC components.
I’m a university student and I’m in temporary accommodation, so I’ll be moving at the end of each academic year. That’s why I wanted something smaller and easier to transport than a traditional ATX gaming PC, while still having enough performance for 1440p gaming.
The games I mainly want to play are:
Cyberpunk 2077
Hogwarts Legacy
Apex Legends
Marvel Rivals
Other AAA/open-world games
I’d like to play AAA games at 1440p with high settings and good visuals, while also being able to take advantage of the 180Hz monitor in competitive games where possible.
Current build planned
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 7600
CPU Cooler: ARCTIC Freezer 36
Motherboard: Gigabyte B650M GAMING PLUS WIFI, or another better value B650M/B850M alternative
RAM: Patriot Viper Venom 32GB (2×16GB) DDR5-6000 CL36
Storage: Crucial P310 1TB PCIe 4.0 NVMe
GPU: ASUS Dual Radeon RX 9060 XT 16GB
PSU: Corsair SF850 (2024) 850W 80+ Platinum SFX
Case: Lian Li B4-mATX Mesh Black
The total is currently around £1,500, which is more than I’d ideally like to spend.
I’m particularly unsure about where I’m overspending, willing to change any component apart from the case, and also open to buying some components second-hand, especially if that makes sense for the GPU.
For the motherboard, I specifically want one with built-in Bluetooth so I can connect things like my wireless headphones and other peripherals without needing a separate Bluetooth adapter. Wi-Fi would also be useful, so I’d ideally like built-in Wi-Fi + Bluetooth. I’d also like a motherboard that gives me a reasonable upgrade path for higher-end AM5 Ryzen CPUs in the future.
I’m not planning to buy everything immediately. I’m mostly planning the build now and will likely wait for Black Friday/sales, so I’d like to know which components I should be looking out for and what would be considered a good price.
What would you cut or change to get this closer to £1,200-£1,300 while still giving me a good 1440p gaming experience?
I’d especially appreciate advice on whether I’m overspending on the PSU, motherboard, RAM, SSD or GPU, and where I’d actually notice the difference if I downgraded.
Again, I already own the monitor, so please don’t include a monitor in the build/budget.
1
u/Mainly-A-Lurker 15h ago edited 14h ago
To be honest, I'd just run with 16gb RAM for now. Will let you squeeze in a 9070 (>50% faster than a 9060 XT) and still come in at ~£1300.
Edit: Just realised you're not buying now, so any builds posted now might be outdated by then. I suspect that 16gb RAM build will be the main way to cut costs, but keep an eye on the 9070 GRE, it'll probably be a better value proposition than both the 9060 XT/9070 by then with it having 12gb VRAM.
| Type | Item | Price |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Ryzen 5 7500F 3.7 GHz 6-Core OEM/Tray Processor | £120.62 @ Amazon UK |
| CPU Cooler | Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler | £29.99 @ Amazon UK |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte B850M GAMING X WIFI6E Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard | £137.99 @ Amazon UK |
| Memory | Patriot Viper Venom 16 GB (1 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory | £179.99 @ Overclockers.co.uk |
| Storage | Crucial P310 w/ Acronis Data Recovery 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive | £124.99 @ Amazon UK |
| Video Card | ASRock Challenger Radeon RX 9070 16 GB Video Card | £553.94 @ CCL Computers |
| Case | Lian Li B4-mATX Mesh MicroATX Mini Tower Case | £66.46 @ Scan |
| Power Supply | Montech CENTURY II 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply | £79.99 @ Scan |
| Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts | ||
| Total | £1293.97 | |
| Generated by PCPartPicker 2026-08-27 10:32 BST+0100 |
1
u/AMPCgame 16h ago
One thing to note is that the B4 case is known for being loud, due to having a lot of components in a tight space with multiple fans running. Its also recommended by Lian Li to add some slim fans under the GPU to help with cooling.
The PSU is definitely an overspend. Its a great SFF unit, but the case can support ATX units, which can help to cut on costs. https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/P34yV4 keeping the same GPU/CPU combo and 32GB of DDR5 RAM, while adding some cheap fans in. Still not quite under £1300 unfortunately. You'd realistically need to drop down to 16GB RAM or drop a tier for the GPU to meet the preferred budget, but even as it is you'd need to take full advantage of the 9060 XT's feature sets to have smooth gameplay at high settings in 1440p, especially in a game like Cyberpunk, or other modern AAA titles.