First time build sanity check / advice- productivity + gaming
Posted by Carso107@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 3 comments
Hey Everyone! after using a laptop for the last 8 years and saving up some money, I am now ready to build my first PC. I've done a bit of research and come up with a build which I think is pretty good but would like a sanity check and advice from the people here who know far more than I do! I'm looking for a mid-priced, mATX build with a good balance between productivity and gaming.
Location: UK
Budget: around £1500, +/- £200
Use cases: 40% gaming (e.g. overwatch, battlefield, Jedi Survivor), 40% photo editing (photoshop, lightroom, Pixinsight), 10% video editing (Da Vinci), 10% coding (possibly with some machine learning)
Form factor: Micro ATX as I have limited office space
[PCPartPicker Part List](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/BzJYH3)
Type|Item|Price
:----|:----|:----
**CPU** | [Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus 3.7 GHz 24-Core Processor](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/WMNscf/intel-core-ultra-7-270k-plus-37-ghz-24-core-processor-bx80768270k) | £289.99 @ Amazon UK
**CPU Cooler** | [Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE ARGB 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/MzMMnQ/thermalright-phantom-spirit-120-se-argb-6617-cfm-cpu-cooler-ps120se-argb) | £36.95 @ Overclockers.co.uk
**Motherboard** | [Asus TUF GAMING B860M-PLUS WIFI Micro ATX LGA1851 Motherboard](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/p3bypg/asus-tuf-gaming-b860m-plus-wifi-micro-atx-lga1851-motherboard-tuf-gaming-b860m-plus-wifi) | £159.56 @ Amazon UK
**Memory** | [TEAMGROUP T-Create Classic 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL48 Memory](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/KZwmP6/teamgroup-t-create-classic-32-gb-2-x-16-gb-ddr5-6000-cl48-memory-ctccd532g6000hc48dc01) | £315.25 @ Amazon UK
**Storage** | [Acer Predator GM7000 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/GyZ9TW/acer-predator-gm7000-1-tb-m2-2280-nvme-solid-state-drive-bl9bwwr105) | £146.99 @ Amazon UK
**Video Card** | [Asus DUAL OC GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB Video Card](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/DWBFf7/asus-dual-oc-geforce-rtx-5070-12-gb-video-card-dual-rtx5070-o12g) | £538.94 @ Amazon UK
**Case** | [Okinos Cypress 3 Wood MicroATX Mini Tower Case](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/kKqNnQ/okinos-cypress-3-wood-microatx-mini-tower-case-cao-cp3wood) | £80.56 @ Amazon UK
**Power Supply** | [MSI MAG A750GL PCIE5 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply](https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/product/dbCZxr/msi-mag-a750gl-pcie5-750-w-80-gold-certified-fully-modular-atx-power-supply-mag-a750gl-pcie5) | £74.98 @ Amazon UK
| *Prices include shipping, taxes, rebates, and discounts* |
| **Total** | **£1643.22**
| Generated by [PCPartPicker](https://pcpartpicker.com) 2026-04-28 11:36 BST+0100 |
This is what I've come up with. I know the intel CPU is controversial; from my understanding it is the best value for productivity + gaming at the moment but please correct me if I'm wrong- I know the socket is outdated but don't plan on upgrading for at least 5 years so this doesn't bother me. I also have a 2TB 2.5" 7mm SATA SSD in my current laptop which I plan on cannibalising to increase storage. I plan to look for second hand RAM and GPU to try and reduce costs.
Let me know your thoughts and thank you in advance!
AMPCgame@reddit
It looks OK. One main thing to note is that with the 270K Plus being a new CPU, most motherboards are going to need a BIOS update. If you don't want to bother with that, then the 265K will also be good choice and work natively with B860 motherboards. Its still great value for a mixed gaming/productivity build, with a high core/thread count.
You could go with a different motherboard, Asus boards can tend to be a bit bloated with their integrated Armoury Crate software. The MSI Pro range is non-flashy, but has all the same features really, including Wifi 7 and 5G LAN, compared to the ASUS board's 2.5G LAN, so you wouldn't be giving up anything.
If you are concerned about desk space then you could consider the Deepcool CH270 Digital. It has a 15% smaller footprint than the Okinos and would suit air cooling with its chimney style cooling design. You'd just need to add a few simple PWM fans to assist, with one in the base and one or two at the side as intakes and another up top as exhaust.
If you're able to get second hand RAM then I'd probably go for something with lower latency, maybe 30-36CL if you can find it. The problem is everyone who has RAM to sell knows what they can get for it, and the 50 series GPUs aren't that old, so they might not be reduced in price that much on the used market. If its within budget, a triple fan GPU would help more for cooling.
https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/4Tw9Gk
Carso107@reddit (OP)
Thank you for your advice, that's super helpful! Ill have a look at the alternative motherboards, especially if they are cheaper than thr ASUS one. You mention the Deepcool case is suited well for air cooling- is the Okinos case not well suited for air cooling or is it fine?
On the GPU front Ill have a look at the 3 fan versions as well- I chose two fans since I thought it would be easier to fit in the case, but if a 3 fan GPU is better for cooling then it sounds like that would be a smarter purchase. The 5070 and 4070Ti seem very similar specs, if I can find a good deal on a used 4070 Ti is there any reasons why I shouldn't go for that over the 5070?
AMPCgame@reddit
The Okinos case looks fine for air cooling the CPU, I just mentioned that the Deepcool case is suited for it because you chose to go with air cooling. The Deepcool case would probably be better for GPU cooling, as the GPU can draw in cool air directly from the side of the case, whereas with the Okinos case if your GPU is around 3 slots deep it's a little restricted for air.
For the GPU itself, a 4070Ti is a very good card, but if the prices are very similar than a new 5070 might be the better deal, to still have a warranty with it.
With the motherboard, I probably wouldn't go really cheap on it. A board with a decent VRM design provides good power stability-the VRM takes the power delivered to the board and converts it to the amps that the CPU needs and monitors smooth delivery of that to it. VRM design is typically expressed in power phases, and generally speaking, the more power phases the board has the stronger the VRM is. Both the Asus and MSI board above have a 12 phase power design, which is good for an mATX board, and they have good sized heatsinks, which will help to dissipate the heat generated from the VRM components doing their job.
Cheaper motherboards often have weaker VRM designs and smaller/no heatsinks over them. Cheaper boards may also have less features, like the lack of an internal header for a case's front USB C port, and stuff like that. So just check that product pages online for any motherboard that you're considering to see if it has a good set of features.