Purchase advice

TrueDub

Hi, I'm looking to purchase a new gaming desktop. I'm not interested in building it myself, for several reasons, mostly involving ham-fistedness and laziness.

I'm wondering which of the online custom gaming PC shops people would recommend as good value? My strong preference would be to buy from an Irish retailer/site, but would be interested in peoples' opinions & options.

Coyler

We'd need a budget to make strong recommendations as going under €1000 for a pre-built starts to get very difficult. Also the market for boutique PC builder is not there just yet. I see MaxBurns are dipping their toes in the water but I'd wait for feedback before recommending that as a solution.

The other options are Paradigit. I looked that their site and I can see two very good options.

https://www.paradigit.ie/lenovo-legion-t5-26ara8-90uy007nmh/80065085/product/9462

https://www.paradigit.ie/paradigit-x-msi-gamer-apollo/80065853/product/9462

Those parts are around the €1200 mark so you are getting a bit a mark up but once you include labour, warranty and after purchase support it's not dreadful.

I'm very torn on which to recommend. I can make arguements for either.

AWD-IT do some very nice machines and deliver to Ireland as well.

https://www.awd-it.co.uk/awd-it-320r-airflow-ryzen-5-7600x-six-core-rtx-4070-ti-super-16gb-next-day-gaming-pc.html

Edit:

Nice model here that will be able to play current AAA games at a reasonable level. Not a bad option to get started with and didn't want to spend a lot of money.

https://www.awd-it.co.uk/awd-lian-li-lancool-215-rgb-ryzen-5-5600x-6-core-4.6ghz-amd-radeon-rx-6700-xt-12gb-desktop-pc-for-gaming.html

Edit 2:

For a little more this one isn't a bad option either

https://www.awd-it.co.uk/awd-it-3000d-rgb-ryzen-5-7500f-amd-radeon-rx-7700-xt-12gb-desktop-pc-for-gaming.html

I'll stop now. Budget. That would help :)

TrueDub

Thanks for your response, and apologies, I should have included a budget and potential specs from the start.

I'm thinking a max of 1500, and would need a core i5-12600k and an RTX 3080 or better.

I would like to build in a certain amount of future-proofing if possible.

Coyler

And do you need a keyboard, monitor, mouse and headset? Also, what are you looking at for minimum specs? Is that a particular game?

TrueDub

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122675268#Comment_122675268

Again, apologies, I'll list everything I know about what I'm looking for.

• I want a pre-built desktop
• I don't need a monitor, I have an Acer KA270H which is older but will do fine for now
• I don't need keyboard, mouse or headset - simply the machine
• I play games - several older titles which do not need huge power - my main one by far is Fallout 76, with some Fallout 4, various Far Cry games & Starfield mixed in
• My current machine is a gaming laptop with a Ryzen 5 3550H and a GTX 1650
• I'm looking to run Star Wars: Outlaws (recommended specs below) and probably Civilisation 7 (predicted recommended specs below)
• My budget is €1500 all-in but might consider going a little over for a markedly better component
• Given my gaming profile, I won't need a huge amount of future-proofing but would like a little wiggle room if possible
• My preference is to buy from an Irish site with a bricks & mortar arm somewhere, for security, but am open to other options if better value can be achieved

Star Wars: Outlaws recommended specs

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit or newer
• CPU: Intel Core i5-10400 / AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
• Memory: 16GB RAM
• GPU: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 3060 Ti 8GB / AMD Radeon RX 6700XT
• DirectX: Version 12
• Storage: 65GB available space (SSD)
• 1080p / 60FPS / High Preset with Upscaler set to Quality

Civilisation 7 predicted recommended specs

• Memory: 16 GB
• Graphics Card: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080
• CPU: Intel Core i5-12600K
• File Size: 50 GB
• OS: up to Windows 11

Hyzepher

Sometimes 2nd hand is better overall value - something like
https://www.adverts.ie/desktops/good-starter-pc/35116579

Jon Doe

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/122675484#Comment_122675484

If I was on the market for such a thing, 750€ would go a long way to convince me to take that 12th gen 6-core off your hands… Why 5600mhz RAM when the CPU is only spec'ed for 4800mhz? You overclocked the CPU? Why pawn off the machine? Still quite usable for FHD gaming… :/

Coyler

Ok, so given your budget and requirements I'd be looking at AM5, Ryzen 7600, 7600x or 7700, and a 16GB GPU, 7900GRE or 4070ti Super. While the 7900 GRE is around €600 and the 4070Ti Super is €800 if you start to look at systems, anthing with the 4070ti Super in it is over €2000.

So, with all that in mind, I'd go for something like this:

https://www.awd-it.co.uk/awd-p400a-ryzen-5-5600x-six-core-nvidia-rtx-3060ti-desktop-pc.html

It's a good base to start with. Now, change the RAM to 32GB 6000Mhz and swap the CPU for a 7700X in the configuration and you've got a seriuosly good build for €1500. You could even stretch to a 7800X3D if you wanted but given your game titles I'm not sure you'd see the benefit. Can also just do a drop in upgrade down the line anyway.

Again, pre-builts not my wheel house so open to any thoughts.

TrueDub

That's excellent, thanks. I'll play around with the options to see what I can maximise for my budget.