[SOLVED] Help me build $1500 Gaming PC

[dn002]

I'm looking to build a new gaming PC. I already have peripherals (gaming keyboard, mouse, headset, speakers, monitor). I am looking to spend about $1500, but can go up to about $1800. I love gaming and tend to try everything that comes out. I'm looking to dabble with VR in the near future also. I understand that video cards are really hard to get a hold of but lets just assume I can get one at MSRP (will be camping out at nearest best buy and micro center to try to get one). Can you guys recommend some builds for me? Thanks.

 

[Dj0gany]

Monitor resolution?

 

[dn002]

Monitor resolution?

1080p

 

[Why_Me]

https://www.newegg.com/super-flower-legion-gx-gold-pro-sf-650p14xe-650w/p/1HU-024C-00030
Super Flower Legion GX Gold PRO 650W 80+ Gold Semi-Modular Power Supply $79.99

https://www.newegg.com/p/N82E16813119384?Item=N82E16813119384
ASUS PRIME B560-PLUS $119.99

https://www.microcenter.com/product...ake-29ghz-eight-core-lga-1200-boxed-processor
Intel Core i7-10700F $219.99

https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-RR-212S-20PK-R1-Contact-Silencio/dp/B07H25DYM3
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Black Edition CPU Air Cooler $39.99

https://www.newegg.com/g-skill-16gb-288-pin-ddr4-sdram/p/N82E16820232884
G.SKILL Aegis 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 CL16 Intel XMP 2.0 Memory Kit $75.99

https://www.newegg.com/mushkin-enhanced-pilot-e-2tb/p/N82E16820226902
Mushkin Enhanced Pilot-E M.2 2280 2TB PCIe Gen3 x4 NVMe 1.3 3D TLC Internal SSD $214.99

http://www.nextwarehouse.com/item/?4094728_g10e
EVGA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti XC 8GB GDDR6 $899.01

TOTAL: $1,651 (case & OS not included)

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/get-windows-10-free-or-cheap,5717.html

 

[Karadjgne]

$1500 can get you anything decent. The question is, does that include a gpu or do you have other avenues to aquire one since finding anything decent enough to power VR sufficiently is damn near impossible unless you are willing to spend $1500 or more from a scalper, just for the gpu.

Right now is the absolute worst time in the history of pc's to build your own. The only place you have a shot at anything decent is from a boutique custom pre-built, since they get at least limited supply direct from the factory, bypassing public sales avenues. This results in somewhat decent gpu pricing, far closer to MSRP than anything you can get retail.

I'd suggest you start shopping/building a pc at places like Origin, CRX, MainGear and any other you can find, not so much CyberPowerPC or ibuypower unless you must.

 

[dn002]

$1500 can get you anything decent. The question is, does that include a gpu or do you have other avenues to aquire one since finding anything decent enough to power VR sufficiently is damn near impossible unless you are willing to spend $1500 or more from a scalper, just for the gpu.

Right now is the absolute worst time in the history of pc's to build your own. The only place you have a shot at anything decent is from a boutique custom pre-built, since they get at least limited supply direct from the factory, bypassing public sales avenues. This results in somewhat decent gpu pricing, far closer to MSRP than anything you can get retail.

I'd suggest you start shopping/building a pc at places like Origin, CRX, MainGear and any other you can find, not so much CyberPowerPC or ibuypower unless you must.

i’ve only ever heard bad things about pre-builts from those big companies. But that was several years ago when I built my first PC. Have they gotten better?

 

[InvalidError]

i’ve only ever heard bad things about pre-builts from those big companies.

With the more "boutique" OEMs, you usually have more control to pick your own components from what is available if you really wish to do so instead of letting the OEM toss in whatever it has that meets paper specs. You can get almost exactly what you would have picked yourself for $100-200 extra, which is a decent deal when you would otherwise have a hard time getting the GPU itself for less than 2-3X MSRP.

The GPU situation has gotten so bad that some people are buying HP and other prebuilt to rip the GPUs out and re-sell them separately. Basically, it is worth buying a pre-built just to rip the GPU if you can be bothered to re-sell the other parts you don't need.

 

[Karadjgne]

Depends on the company. There's a big difference between a boutique pre-built and 3rd party pre-built. The boutiques like Origin or MainGear or Falcon Northwest all use aftermarket parts you specify on the build page. So you'll get an authentic asus rog board, Evga gpu, Seasonic psu etc. They do all the labor and you can get extras like braided colored wiring, mild OC, liquid cooling, rgb setups etc. Even a fully customized automotive painted and etched design case. You send a puc of what you want etched in the tempered glass.

The bad part is that all costs. Almost always far more than building it yourself. Wasn't long ago when nobody really ever recommended the boutiques since it was the same parts at @ 1.5x the cost to do it yourself. And everybody had a minimal budget and maximum wants.

3rd party is Dell. Lenovo. Those are rarely upgradable, minimalistic, basically B Movie pc's. They work great for an office, but aren't really designed for gaming, and those that are are subject to proprietary limitations. Oddball size psus that aren't atx standard. Mains power is 14 pin, not 24, so no 10900k. The windows is tied to the mobo, so no easy or cheap swaps. Bloat-ware. No Z490 chipsets. Bios is limited to select few cpus, so no real cpu upgrade etc etc.

The best part about boutiques right now is that they actually can get gpus. You might pay $2k for a $1200 pc, but you'll get a 3070 and not be buying a gpu for $1800 from a scalper after spending $1k to build a decent platform. End result is cheaper, guaranteed, warranted. And usually better looking than some pc's I've seen ppl put together.