AJ's dad contacted Steve and Marcel to arrange a new gaming PC for his son. AJ's brief focused on competitive games at 1080p, with a £1,000–£1,500 starting budget and a wish to move quickly. The case choice changed during planning: AJ liked a white exterior but preferred black components inside. The finished machine was built in a Powercool Arctic White case with glass panels and two temperature displays.
Show original build photo
Choosing performance for the games AJ plays
AJ named CS2, Valorant and Rust as the main games, played at 1080p. He was interested in high frame rates for competitive play, so Marcel discussed the balance between processor and graphics card rather than promising one frame-rate figure for every title. AJ and his dad chose the Ryzen 7 7800X3D after comparing it with a lower-cost X3D option.
The revised specification recorded an RTX 5060 Ti, 32 GB of DDR5 memory and a 1 TB NVMe drive. Built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth were added to the motherboard choice after the team checked how the PC would connect. The white case and black internals gave the build the look AJ wanted without requiring every visible component to be changed to white.
| Processor | AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D |
|---|---|
| Graphics | GeForce RTX 5060 Ti |
| Memory | 32 GB DDR5 |
| Storage | 1 TB NVMe SSD |
| Case | Powercool Arctic White, with black internals |
| Cooling | Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 Digital ARGB |
| Connectivity | Motherboard with built-in Wi-Fi and Bluetooth |
The table reflects the revised project specification, not a fixed-price offer or a current parts list. Today's availability and prices would be checked for any new build.
Build, checks and handover
Marcel assembled and booted the PC on 17 February, then configured Windows and ran stability testing before collection. The photos taken that afternoon show the completed machine on the workbench: white lower chassis, glass upper section, dark graphics card, illuminated fans and the digital cooler display.
There are two separate readouts: one on the cooler and one built into the front of the case. At handover, Marcel explained the lighting controls and supplied the Wi-Fi antenna, power cable and ARGB remote with the parts boxes. These practical details matter just as much as the appearance: a new PC should be ready to use and understandable when it leaves the bench.
A brief, not a benchmark promise
A 360 Hz display was part of AJ's aim, but the team did not treat “360 fps” as a blanket promise for every game. CS2, Valorant and Rust place different demands on a PC, and settings and game updates affect the result. The useful outcome was a machine planned for the games AJ actually named, with a platform that could be revisited when his needs change.
If you are planning a gaming PC around a particular monitor and set of games, see our custom air-cooled PC builds and build guide. We serve Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole, with collection by arrangement and no shipping of completed PCs.