Question Advice on purchasing computer

[Errend]

Hello, I'm hoping to get some advice on purchasing a new computer. I've only ever purchased laptops (I like my current one, but it is in its death throes), but I've been considering a desktop since I've been lead to understand that you get more for your money (perhaps that's incorrect with peripherals?). I do a bit of gaming, but never required anything beyond "middling" levels of performance (and I'm somewhat offput by some of the flashy casing of gaming computers). Also hoping to get as much memory as possible, one of my biggest problems with a laptop. I spent around $1,000-$1,500 on my current laptop, though with computer prices rising I suspect I'd need to spend more than that (I'm not sure what a reasonable range would be). I apologize for my ignorance: I don't know much about matching hardware components to what I want or how to even go about looking for it. Appreciate any advice on what I should be looking for or how I should go about looking for it. Thank you.

 

[Ralston18]

This:

"(I like my current one, but it is in its death throes)"

What is or is not happening to make you think the laptop is dying?

Current laptop specs?

Make, model, OS, memory, disk drives, age?

How do you use your computer? What applications do you use the most, etc....

What is your budget for a new laptop?

More information/requirements needed.

 

[Why_Me]

Hello, I'm hoping to get some advice on purchasing a new computer. I've only ever purchased laptops (I like my current one, but it is in its death throes), but I've been considering a desktop since I've been lead to understand that you get more for your money (perhaps that's incorrect with peripherals?). I do a bit of gaming, but never required anything beyond "middling" levels of performance (and I'm somewhat offput by some of the flashy casing of gaming computers). Also hoping to get as much memory as possible, one of my biggest problems with a laptop. I spent around $1,000-$1,500 on my current laptop, though with computer prices rising I suspect I'd need to spend more than that (I'm not sure what a reasonable range would be). I apologize for my ignorance: I don't know much about matching hardware components to what I want or how to even go about looking for it. Appreciate any advice on what I should be looking for or how I should go about looking for it. Thank you.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *AMD Ryzen 5 7600 3.8 GHz 6-Core Processor ($196.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A620 PRO SE 58 CFM CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: *MSI PRO B840-P WIFI ATX AM5 Motherboard ($124.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: *TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory ($92.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Silicon Power UD90 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($94.97 @ B&H)
Video Card: *Asus PRIME GeForce RTX 5070 12 GB Video Card ($609.99 @ Amazon)
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case ($65.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: *ADATA XPG Core Reactor II VE 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1304.90
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-05-27 21:50 EDT-0400

https://www.tomshardware.com/software/windows/windows-11-free-or-cheap

 

[Why_Me]

RX 9060 XT
https://www.tomshardware.com/pc-com...9060-xt-launches-on-june-5-starting-at-usd299

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: *Intel Core i5-12400F 2.5 GHz 6-Core Processor ($108.99 @ Amazon)
CPU Cooler: *ID-COOLING FROZN A410 SE 55.2 CFM CPU Cooler ($22.49 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: *Gigabyte Z790 S WIFI DDR4 (rev. 1.0) ATX LGA1700 Motherboard ($119.49 @ Amazon)
Memory: *Corsair Vengeance LPX 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($51.99 @ Amazon)
Storage: *Silicon Power UD90 2 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive ($94.97 @ B&H)
Case: *Montech AIR 903 BASE ATX Mid Tower Case ($65.00 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: *ADATA XPG Core Reactor II VE 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($89.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $552.92
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2025-05-27 21:45 EDT-0400

 

[Errend]

This:

"(I like my current one, but it is in its death throes)"

What is or is not happening to make you think the laptop is dying?

Current laptop specs?

Make, model, OS, memory, disk drives, age?

How do you use your computer? What applications do you use the most, etc....

What is your budget for a new laptop?

More information/requirements needed.

My laptop monitor doesn't turn on normally anymore. When it turns on, the monitor doesn't come on even though the rest of it does - I have to manually restart it by holding the power button and turning it back on again to get the monitor to activate. I'm not sure why this has ever worked, but it's working less and less often (I'm very aware this isn't good for it). I suspect it's something to do with the... graphics card? There's also black bars at the bottom of the screen and occasionally images will hover on the screen, even after I've closed whatever is showing them. It's still covered under a separately purchased warranty, though I suspect once I send it in they'll have it for a few months and then just cash me out, refunding me the cost (which is why I wanted to purchase a new computer before that).

Current laptop is an MSI GE76 Raider 11UG, 32GB Ram, Intel Core i7, about 3 years old.

I use it for general purpose (work, movies/tv), though the most system intensive thing is gaming. I like it mostly because (until recently) it's never given me cause to feel like it's not enough to do what I want it to do (other than the usual laptop lack of memory).

My budget when buying this one was $1000-1,500. I don't know if that's still a reasonable price range anymore with rising costs, though I don't know that I really need much more than what I have. (Also don't know if a desktop would end up running even more once I factor in peripherals)

Also, I apologize if I'm posting in the wrong forum - I don't have the technical skill to put together my own computer, looking for one that's pre-built.

(Thank you for the response!)

 

[Aeacus]

I don't have the technical skill to put together my own computer, looking for one that's pre-built.

In this case, look for a prebuilt PC. One of the best ones is StarForge,
link: https://starforgesystems.com/

They sell complete builds at many price brackets. So, look over your budget and decide which one to go for.
You can even contact them for further assistance before selection/purchase.

E.g Horizon III Pro would be in the middle of your budget,
link: https://starforgesystems.com/products/horizon-iii-pro

Horizon III Elite costs a bit more, but also provides better performance (performance is listed on the webpage).

 

[Errend]

Thanks for the link. What is it that makes that such a good computer? What sorts of things would I want to be looking for in a pc to consider it a good system?

 

[Aeacus]

What is it that makes that such a good computer?

If you want the best price to performance ratio, then DIY is the only way. Meaning that you buy all components individually and assemble everything yourself + OS installation.

With prebuilts, you will always pay extra since someone else has assembled the build for you, installed OS (sometimes optional) and with prebuilts, the store from you bought it, remains as customer support for you. For DIY, you, yourself are the customer support for your build.

Now, as of what makes StarForge in general good, is that they are one of the very few prebuilt system sellers, who actually assemble the build properly, without minor or major issues.

GamersNexus is buying prebuilt PCs incognito and then making in-depth reviews of them, so that people know which prebuilt company to look for and which one to avoid like a plague.
Here is their YT playlist of prebuilt reviews: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLsuVSmND84QuM2HKzG7ipbIbE_R5EnCLM

StarForge prebuilt has been on the spotlight 2 times now. 1st time there were some loose screw issues but 2nd time around, all was in order and build was one of the very few properly built.


Another thing that i like about StarForge is that they openly state what make/model PSU comes with the prebuilt PC. This is actually very rare to see, since most prebuilt PC brands only list PSU's wattage. Sometimes even efficiency but that's it. This means that PSU is often the cheaped out component inside the prebuilt PC. Because when PSU is crap, no-one is going to openly state the make/model. But if PSU would be actually good, stating the make/model actually helps to sell the PC.

Prime example; random Asus prebuilt,
specs: https://rog.asus.com/desktops/mid-tower/rog-strix-g13ch-series/spec/

If you look at PSU specs, all it says, is wattage and efficiency. Nothing more. If same info would be said about CPU or GPU, the listing would say;
CPU - Intel Core i7 (16 cores)
GPU - Nvidia (8GB VRAM)
Yet, there's in-depth info about CPU and GPU.

But with StarForge PC and the Horizon III Pro i linked, you can see on the tin, that the PSU it comes with, is MSI MAG A650GL.
That PSU is Tier B unit.
PSU Tier list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet...aSpZRB6Xt6JWkc/htmlview?pli=1&gid=1973454078#

While i'd like to see Tier A or A+ PSU in the prebuilt, it would jack up the overall price and only very few people are willing to pay money for great quality PSU (including yours truly). While most people love to cheap out on PSU.

But with PSUs, there is a catch:
Since PSU powers everything, it is the most important component inside the PC.
Hence why NEVER cheap out on PSU! Also, never buy used PSU either.

What sorts of things would I want to be looking for in a pc to consider it a good system?

It comes down to your use case of a PC;
1. Office PC (web browsing)
2. Gaming PC
3. Workstation PC (e.g 3D rendering, number crunching)

Once you have the main goal for the PC, what helps to narrow down components (especially GPU), is the monitor you're using. Since when you are using 1080p monitor, it would be waste of money to go after a GPU that can push 60+ FPS on 1440p (2K) or on 4K in games. So, better to look for GPU that does well on 1080p.

Also, when it comes to gaming, you need to look what kind of FPS you're expecting to get.
20 FPS is slideshow.
40 FPS is somewhat playable.
60 FPS is playable and good enough for most people.
120-144 FPS is smooth and usually favored by hardcore gamers.

Of course, target FPS also depends on your monitor refresh rate (measured in Hz). Since when you have 60 Hz monitor, it can only show you 60 FPS. Anything higher is waste of GPU performance. Heck, most people can see 30-60Hz range, whereby 120 Hz/144 Hz monitor is pointless for them. And i'm not even going to talk about 240 Hz or even 500 Hz monitors (yes, there are those out there as well).


All-in-all, here is a good form with questions that you can fill out and post your results here. This way we know what kind of PC spec you're looking,
link: https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/how-to-ask-for-new-build-or-upgrade-advice.528714/