First Gaming PC

Aato

Hey guys, so I've always wanted to have a pc to game on but never really got around to it and I have been reading these forums as of lately. From what I can gather building your own is always better than pre built but me having 0 knowledge of how to do it is my problem. Is there anywhere or anyone that can build for me? Also not too sure about cpu or gpu etc which are the most popular or most suited to my budget. Thanks in advance.

1.What is your budget?
€1000 - 1200

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? [Gaming/photo editing/Desktop publishing] (If gaming include which games)
Warzone, Gta V, RDR2, Rust, Ark Survival

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? [Yes/No]
Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] (If possible state brand and model of the parts to ensure compatibility)
No

5. Do you need a monitor? [Yes/No]
No

5a. If yes, what size do you need. [19'/20'/22'/24'/etc.]
N/A

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No]
1920 x 1080, upgrade if I need to

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.]
Yes will need Keyboard and mouse but these are excluded from my budget.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No]
No

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser]
Credit Card/Debit Card

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days]
Before christmas

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.]
Kildare/Laois

Aodhan5000

Probably be best to wait a month or two. New processors will be launched alongside new GPUs then hopefully

Aato

Aodhan5000 wrote: »

Probably be best to wait a month or two. New processors will be launched alongside new GPUs then hopefully

So the price of all previous ones will drop presumably? Which ones should I be watching out for?

Aodhan5000

A combination of that and newer entries looking good if they're in stock. Big Navi is just around the corner which will likely drive down prices of 2000s Nvidia cards. At your budget you'd probably be looking at something like a 2080ti, maybe a 3080 or Big Navi equivalent

Samuel T. Cogley

The new Zen 3 processors look like they could provide a good boost to gaming. I'd be waiting as well. At your budget you would be targeting the Ryzen 5 3600 or Ryzen 7 3700X at the moment.

Aato

Thanks guys, could somebody put together a quick build and we can go from there and I can research each part. Sorry if I'm being useless I just don't understand what goes well with what and what's the best setup for my budget

Aodhan5000

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/X38FWb

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£184.50 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 GAMING X ATX AM4 Motherboard (£122.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory (£60.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£93.16 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 750 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£89.99 @ Currys PC World)
Total: £611.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-27 21:48 BST+0100

Leaves about 530 for a GPU so probably talking RTX 3070ti/super if it comes out, Big Navi equivalent or RTX 2080ti (probably wouldn't want to pay 530 for it though in a few months). All depends on stock of new products largely speaking. Might get new version of 3600 when Zen 3 comes out (4600/5600 depending on naming scheme) and may want to stick a better CPU cooler in there but I'd say you can think about that after the new parts are out.

Just use that as a base I guess, others will have more advise/perspectives

Thecageyone

Aodhan5000 wrote: »

PCPartPicker Part List: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/X38FWb

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600 3.6 GHz 6-Core Processor (£184.50 @ Amazon UK)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550 GAMING X ATX AM4 Motherboard (£122.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LPX 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL18 Memory (£60.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Crucial P1 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (£93.16 @ Amazon UK)
Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Power Supply: Corsair Enthusiast 750 W 80+ Bronze Certified Semi-modular ATX Power Supply (£89.99 @ Currys PC World)
Total: £611.62
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-09-27 21:48 BST+0100

Leaves about 530 for a GPU so probably talking RTX 3070ti/super if it comes out, Big Navi equivalent or RTX 2080ti (probably wouldn't want to pay 530 for it though in a few months). All depends on stock of new products largely speaking. Might get new version of 3600 when Zen 3 comes out (4600/5600 depending on naming scheme) and may want to stick a better CPU cooler in there but I'd say you can think about that after the new parts are out.

Just use that as a base I guess, others will have more advise/perspectives

Looks good, just make sure the case has sufficient cooling/fans, intake and exhaust - I know the case I chose didn't come with any so check on that. I had to add them in seperate

Aodhan5000

Comes with one intake one exhaust. OP you can get white version of the case too if you'd rather for a tenner extra but if you'd rather a different case entirely just do a bit of research and you'll find one you like that performs well

Aato

Aodhan5000 wrote: »

Comes with one intake one exhaust. OP you can get white version of the case too if you'd rather for a tenner extra but if you'd rather a different case entirely just do a bit of research and you'll find one you like that performs well

Looks great so I'll have to wait until the new stuff gets released until I make my decision is there any specific date that the new cpu's and gpu's will come out? Will the prices of older parts drop fairly quick or will I have to wait longer?

Build looks good to me to start me off but what do I know! Would like to see other peoples opinions on it and if there is anything to improve on. And also the most important question I forgot to ask will it have rgb's and look cool? 😂

Thecageyone

RGB is a very personal thing, for me, I have zero I bought a discreet mini all black case, no glass or lights, I want it out of my way! but I get that some like the 'bling' factor.

I can't see anything here that I'd change, unless you wanted 32GB RAM [if you do any kind of heavy 4K video editing/processing maybe] - and if so maybe a higher end cpu, though the 3600 is well capable. It's really down to what gpu you desire after that. Using the 2600x myself and I do a lot of image editing in Lightroom/Photoshop, it handles 100s of RAW photo files without any fuss and I only have 16GB RAM

You don't state what games you play or what res you plan to play them at? If you're only a casual gamer and mostly at 1080p or 1440p then anything beyond a 1080 might be overkill, though it's nice to future proof of course. And if it's within budget then something like the 3070 will be very nice.

Wheety

I bought the H510 last week. It comes with 2 exhaust fans installed. The front is solid so no intake there, although you can install fans or a radiator there. There is a strip on the rear near the front with a filter and a couple of filters on the bottom.

Nice looking case though.

Aato

Thecageyone wrote: »

RGB is a very personal thing, for me, I have zero I bought a discreet mini all black case, no glass or lights, I want it out of my way! but I get that some like the 'bling' factor.

I can't see anything here that I'd change, unless you wanted 32GB RAM [if you do any kind of heavy 4K video editing/processing maybe] - and if so maybe a higher end cpu, though the 3600 is well capable. It's really down to what gpu you desire after that. Using the 2600x myself and I do a lot of image editing in Lightroom/Photoshop, it handles 100s of RAW photo files without any fuss and I only have 16GB RAM

You don't state what games you play or what res you plan to play them at? If you're only a casual gamer and mostly at 1080p or 1440p then anything beyond a 1080 might be overkill, though it's nice to future proof of course. And if it's within budget then something like the 3070 will be very nice.

Warzone, GTA, RDR2 most triple A games but I'm coming from playing them on a ps4 which is limited to 1080p its the launch ps4. I'm excited to see what I can push on a pc so not sure if I want to limit myself to 1080p I much rather like the sound of an overkill pc that could handle it in the future. I do want a good balance between graphics and FPS in games though but I know the pc will hands down beat the ps4 easily in regards to power.

Also the pc will be used for just gaming and Web browsing, online shopping etc. No image editing or streaming or video editing as such.

Thecageyone

Aato wrote: »

Warzone, GTA, RDR2 most triple A games but I'm coming from playing them on a ps4 which is limited to 1080p its the launch ps4. I'm excited to see what I can push on a pc so not sure if I want to limit myself to 1080p I much rather like the sound of an overkill pc that could handle it in the future. I do want a good balance between graphics and FPS in games though but I know the pc will hands down beat the ps4 easily in regards to power.

Yeah i've played on friend's Ps4 and even my humble Gtx 1660 owns it, I can push most current games to ultra at 1080p with some minor tweaks. I don't think you'll be disappointed with any of the higher end cards you're looking into, anything above the standard 1080 is going to murder consoles for 1440p+ gaming. Have been pondering on a 1080Ti myself, but need a decent monitor first

Aato

Thecageyone wrote: »

Yeah i've played on friend's Ps4 and even my humble Gtx 1660 owns it, I can push most current games to ultra at 1080p with some minor tweaks. I don't think you'll be disappointed with any of the higher end cards you're looking into, anything above the standard 1080 is going to murder consoles for 1440p+ gaming. Have been pondering on a 1080Ti myself, but need a decent monitor first

I will probably end up having to upgrade my monitor too I have an Asus VG245H at the minute which I used just for ps4 but thats a 1080p monitor, I'm trying to get my pc built first! Guess I'll have to play the waiting game because its too close to the new processors and gpu's launching for me to buy parts now.

Thecageyone

Aato wrote: »

I will probably end up having to upgrade my monitor too I have an Asus VG245H at the minute which I used just for ps4 but thats a 1080p monitor, I'm trying to get my pc built first! Guess I'll have to play the waiting game because its too close to the new processors and gpu's launching for me to buy parts now.

It's a weird time for anyone looking to upgrade or just get into PC gaming with a decent set up for the first time. You could wait it out on both fronts, for the new cards to become readily available and/or the older - but still excellent - cards to drop a chunk, especially on the used market [sticking to long term reliable sellers] The likes of the 1080Ti or RTX 2060 Super haven't gotten worse overnight, still excellent cards very capable of 1440p 144hz gaming and you can save a good amount that you could put towards that new monitor

Aato

Is there any specific date when these new cpu and gpus are coming out? Like how long will I have to wait?

Samuel T. Cogley

Aato wrote: »

Is there any specific date when these new cpu and gpus are coming out? Like how long will I have to wait?

CPUs are being announced on the 8th October and GPUs on the 28th October. We won't know when they're being released until then, sadly.

Aato

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

CPUs are being announced on the 8th October and GPUs on the 28th October. We won't know when they're being released until then, sadly.

And do you think for someone like me it will really be worth the wait? How much of a price drop in the previous CPU's and GPU's can I expect?

Samuel T. Cogley

Aato wrote: »

And do you think for someone like me it will really be worth the wait? How much of a price drop in the previous CPU's and GPU's can I expect?

I wouldn't expect much of a price drop. If anything the 3000 series seems to be increasing in price. The reason I'd wait is the Zen 3 chips (the new ones) are potentially going to be better in gaming due to the way the processor is laid out.

That said if you're really chomping at the bit then it's not as if you're going to buy something obsolete with a 3000 series processor.

As for the GPUs its going to be a longer wait but the incoming new generation of GPUs seem to have some real gains over the current gen. If there is a fire sale on the 2070 Super then I would possibly buy given you're gaming in 1080p.

Aato

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

I wouldn't expect much of a price drop. If anything the 3000 series seems to be increasing in price. The reason I'd wait is the Zen 3 chips (the new ones) are potentially going to be better in gaming due to the way the processor is laid out.

That said if you're really chomping at the bit then it's not as if you're going to buy something obsolete with a 3000 series processor.

As for the GPUs its going to be a longer wait but the incoming new generation of GPUs seem to have some real gains over the current gen. If there is a fire sale on the 2070 Super then I would possibly buy given you're gaming in 1080p.

Yeah I'm really just trying to get on the ladder with this first and have no problem upgrading it in the future. How would you rate the above build?

Also I was thinking of adding in this cpu cooler instead? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Corsair-Platinum-Radiator-Advanced-Lighting/dp/B07R6YLDDS

Don't know if it will work but gives some nice rgb colour which looks cool to me lol. Also thinking about changing the case to NZXT H510 Elite which also adds more colour but not sure if its necessary.

I really want to get going on this build and if the previous cpu and gpu's have no problem running these games then I don't see why not. Maybe I could hold out until the new processors are out if they're only around the corner though.

Also will still need to source somewhere or somebody willing to build the pc for me as I don't trust myself lol. Thanks.

Aato

Just seen that build doesn't have a cpu cooler, can someone explain why I don't need a cpu cooler? Or does the cpu have one built in?

Squidgy Black

Aato wrote: »

Just seen that build doesn't have a cpu cooler, can someone explain why I don't need a cpu cooler? Or does the cpu have one built in?

Will come with a stock cooler, you shouldn't need an additional cooler unless you're overclocking it or the cpu is running hotter than expected for some reason

Samuel T. Cogley

3600 Stock cooler is a bit basic. It'll do the job for gaming but might get a bit loud.

Aato

OK so might aswell save some money if I don't need one and put it in to a GPU instead.

So basically what I'm thinking now is just holding out for the new zen 3 CPU but not for the new GPU's that might be too long away! Can always upgrade in the future.

If I was to choose a GPU now what would be the go to for this build?

Homelander

If you're gonna hold out for something it makes far more sense to hold out for new generation GPU's.

Zen 3 will just be an incremental improvement on Zen 2, but by the time Zen 2 is obsolete so will Zen 3. There won't be a major difference between them, and in 90% of normal builds the GPU will always be the limiting factor anyway.

This will be 4th gen Ryzen, people are still gaming away just grand on 1st gen Ryzen and will be for quite some time when paired with a decent GPU. The only area it would make a noticable difference would be on a 120/144hz monitor, if you have a powerful GPU.

Meanwhile though, whether you're playing at 60hz or 144hz, 1080p or 4k, or whatever, the GPU refreshes will bring about massive performance improvements.

Aato

Homelander wrote: »

If you're gonna hold out for something it makes far more sense to hold out for new generation GPU's.

Zen 3 will just be an incremental improvement on Zen 2, but by the time Zen 2 is obsolete so will Zen 3. There won't be a major difference between them, and in 90% of normal builds the GPU will always be the limiting factor anyway.

This will be 4th gen Ryzen, people are still gaming away just grand on 1st gen Ryzen and will be for quite some time when paired with a decent GPU. The only area it would make a noticable difference would be on a 120/144hz monitor, if you have a powerful GPU.

Meanwhile though, whether you're playing at 60hz or 144hz, 1080p or 4k, or whatever, the GPU refreshes will bring about massive performance improvements.

Ah right I don't know if I'll bother waiting around if I can game just fine on older GPU. I just need to get started with something. If I was to choose a GPU now what would it be?

Homelander

It depends if it's a stop-gap or a card you want for a few years.

Stop-gap - a GTX1660 Super, about €230 and runs pretty much anything at 1080p ultra fine for now.

Something to last longer - maybe try score a good deal on a 2070 Super. Some are about £399 now.

Again, new cards will likely demolish them on value, but if nothing else it'll last a fair few years at 1080p ultra 60fps.

Aato

Homelander wrote: »

It depends if it's a stop-gap or a card you want for a few years.

Stop-gap - a GTX1660 Super, about €230 and runs pretty much anything at 1080p ultra fine for now.

Something to last longer - maybe try score a good deal on a 2070 Super. Some are about £399 now.

Again, new cards will likely demolish them on value, but if nothing else it'll last a fair few years at 1080p ultra 60fps.

Would this Work? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-GeForce-2070-Super-WINDFORCE/dp/B07X51LTKK

Homelander

You could also go for a high-end normal RTX2070 like this one

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus-geforce-rtx-2070-rog-strix-advanced-8192mb-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-42e-as.html

You're giving up about 15% performance but getting a very high-end cooler that'll be fairly quiet and keep the card exceptionally cool

Aato

Homelander wrote: »

You could also go for a high-end normal RTX2070 like this one

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/asus-geforce-rtx-2070-rog-strix-advanced-8192mb-pci-express-graphics-card-gx-42e-as.html

You're giving up about 15% performance but getting a very high-end cooler that'll be fairly quiet and keep the card exceptionally cool

I don't like the sound of giving up performance lol I don't mind spending the extra few quid.

This may be a stupid question but do I need to also buy a wireless network card for this build or does the motherboard have built in Ethernet ports and I can just wire it. I have 1gbps broadband and want to take full advantage of it.

Also would anybody be willing to build it for me, with payment of course.

Samuel T. Cogley

The boards have wired networking built in. For best performance you want a wired connection. For Wifi you'd need an add in card.

I'm happy to do builds for people but I'm in Dublin 5. No payment required. Having said that AWD-IT have a prebuild that is pretty good value. Upgrade the spec as required.

bobbyy gee

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

The new Zen 3 processors look like they could provide a good boost to gaming. I'd be waiting as well. At your budget you would be targeting the Ryzen 5 3600 or Ryzen 7 3700X at the moment.

intel is better at gaming but amd might be cheaper
gaming only uses single core and intel frame rate is better buying intel make sure it has k in cpu for overclocking some old intel i7 cpus are nearly as good as newer ones buying and stick with 5 3600 as NVidia is bring out faster cheaper video card for 500 and and is also and will compete on price other slower gpus will come down in price stick with.nvidia as som and drivers don't work.amd b550 and x570 motherboards are dropping in price
cases memory and ssd drives are also dropping

check if your mother board takes certin brands of ram .it affects and ryzen more than intel

with ryzen you will find it crashes all the time if it's not a brand name

some newer NVidia gpu have cheap capacitors and fail with overclocking. Asus seems to have put in the good ones so it does not crash 3800 and 3900

the 7 3700x does not give much improvement vs 5 3600 for price

Aato

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

The boards have wired networking built in. For best performance you want a wired connection. For Wifi you'd need an add in card.

I'm happy to do builds for people but I'm in Dublin 5. No payment required.

No payment required... is this real life lol

In regards to the link I have no idea what I'm adding and upgrading in, would the build I have here be more powerful as with the upgrades in the one on link they're pretty much same price ish

Homelander

A fine blend of trolling and practical advice, just enough to keep people guessing

Aodhan5000

Anyway to mute Bobby gee? At this stage he'd have a hard time proving what seems to be trolling as verbal diarrhea

Homelander

BobbyG...our very own KenM, though he's yet to turn the tap on in style

Aodhan5000

Should he not be banned for misinformation or something or is it just like saying scalpers on adverts should be banned? Surely a mod could take a look or something

Samuel T. Cogley

Aato wrote: »

No payment required... is this real life lol

In regards to the link I have no idea what I'm adding and upgrading in, would the build I have here be more powerful as with the upgrades in the one on link they're pretty much same price ish

I enjoy building machines but if you insist a six pack of something never goes amiss.

Let me do up a spec for you tomorrow. Have a look at the difference between microATX and ATX and let me know if you're happy with microATX, I have a spec in mind around the B550M MSI Pro VDH wifi and a Gamemax Kamikaze case. MATX build will be slightly cheaper and slightly smaller.

Aato

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

I enjoy building machines but if you insist a six pack of something never goes amiss.

Let me do up a spec for you tomorrow. Have a look at the difference between microATX and ATX and let me know if you're happy with microATX, I have a spec in mind around the B550M MSI Pro VDH wifi and a Gamemax Kamikaze case. MATX build will be slightly cheaper and slightly smaller.

A spec list would be nice. I'll research those things and let you know. Thanks

Aato

Just had a quick look there at ATX vs Micro ATX so to my understanding a micro ATX is a smaller motherboard and you put this in a MATX case which is smaller in design too... my only concerns with this is if I want to expand or upgrade in the future I'll have to end up changing the case etc if I was to go for a normal size motherboard?

The gamemax case is pretty cool though with the RGB's I like that setup.

K.O.Kiki

You can put micro-ATX (and mini-ITX) into ATX cases.

mATX's advantages are more about cost than size; if you want small size, you're better off with mini-ITX which packs a sizeable premium.

JoyPad

Aodhan5000 wrote: »

Anyway to mute Bobby gee? At this stage he'd have a hard time proving what seems to be trolling as verbal diarrhea

Aodhan5000

JoyPad wrote: »

Thank you very much!

Aato

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

You can put micro-ATX (and mini-ITX) into ATX cases.

mATX's advantages are more about cost than size; if you want small size, you're better off with mini-ITX which packs a sizeable premium.

Yeah I'm not that worried about it but I'd rather spend a little bit extra for a regular size one now for my first build. More importantly a regular size case so I have room to upgrade in the future.

Samuel T. Cogley

Aato wrote: »

Yeah I'm not that worried about it but I'd rather spend a little bit extra for a regular size one now for my first build. More importantly a regular size case so I have room to upgrade in the future.

Cool won't get to it until this evening but will spec the Phanteks P400A DRGB.

Samuel T. Cogley

Also going to spec a 2070 Super. Any ones to be avoided? More up on the 5700XT models. I'd spec a 5700XT but the driver issues seem to be continuing.

Aato

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Also going to spec a 2070 Super. Any ones to be avoided? More up on the 5700XT models. I'd spec a 5700XT but the driver issues seem to be continuing.

Phantek case looks great I'd be happy with that. 2070 Super would be perfect too thats what I've been looking at. Are we sticking with the Ryzen 5 3600x processor?

K.O.Kiki

Samuel T. Cogley wrote: »

Also going to spec a 2070 Super. Any ones to be avoided? More up on the 5700XT models. I'd spec a 5700XT but the driver issues seem to be continuing.

2070 Super is a bad buy new IMHO

RTX 3070, 3060 Ti & AMD Big Navi cards are due in October/November.
While I understand that availability is the main concern for the new GPUs, I wouldn't spend full-price on a 2070S.

Used makes sense since they're only 1yr old + post-cryptomining boom

https://www.adverts.ie/graphics-cards/evga-rtx-2070-super-black-edition/21376247
https://www.adverts.ie/graphics-cards/palit-rtx2070-super-jetstream/21562884
https://www.ebay.ie/itm/MSI-GeForce-RTX-2070-Super-Gaming-X-8GB-GDDR6-Graphics-Card-RTX2070SUPERGAMING/184433738307?hash=item2af11b8243:g:JckAAOSw6atfU0jJ

Aato

K.O.Kiki wrote: »

2070 Super is a bad buy new IMHO

RTX 3070, 3060 Ti & AMD Big Navi cards are due in October/November.
While I understand that availability is the main concern for the new GPUs, I wouldn't spend full-price on a 2070S.

Used makes sense since they're only 1yr old + post-cryptomining boom

I understand where your coming from but €70 difference between one with a years use on it and a brand new one doesn't seem that much.

K.O.Kiki

370-400 for a 2070 Super is a better price when the RTX 3070 (500) and 3060 Ti (400-450?) will blow it out the water in <1 month.

Also those models on Adverts are 16-18% cheaper than new, which is pretty good for 1yr.