Question How do you even build a PC anymore ?

[axlrose]

I don't mean to start any sort of rant. Just an honest to goodness question. I love building pc's. I've only been able to build myself two in my life. My first was when the gtx 280 came out. The second was when the 1080ti came out. I'm still running the build with the 1080ti. I haven't had the money for a long time to make a new build, but it used to be that about 3k made a top of the line gaming pc. I thought I'd torture myself a little and look online at my local microcenter. I was curious what it would be like to build a gaming pc that was old, but not as old as what I have. I couldn't find a single viable gpu for sale. Nothing with even as much ram as my old 1080ti. How do you even build a pc anymore? Is it just as hard to get a new motherboard and psu and ram? On both of my previous builds I would wait for the right gpu to come out and then build it with a new motherboard and psu and ram and cpu. How do you do that today?

Thanks for your time.

 

[axlrose]

Related question, and really not trying to antagonize anyone here, but my build doesn't meet the standards for the windows transition this fall. Even if I could afford the parts for a new build, I can't find them. What happens to places like Steam, etc. when people can't run their pc's anymore and can't set up a new one? I'm excited for a new Borderlands, but I imagine I will have a pc I can't run by the time it comes out.

 

[Gururu]

What GPU is bottlenecking your new build?

 

[ohio_buckeye]

Graphics cards are a bit high right now but especially with Microcenter, the key there is their combo deals. For example you can get a ryzen 7 7700x, b650 board and 32gb of ddr5 for about 400 bucks. For a gpu, on a tight budget I’d probably look at the Intel b580.

 

[axlrose]

I guess what I'm asking is where/how do you get a gpu? Microcenter has nothing over about $300 and nothing with more than 8gb of ram when I look. Is buying a combo the only way to get a gpu now?

Same thing at Best Buy. Nothing over about $300 on the site and nothing over 8gb of ram.

 

[sonofjesse]

Our MC has 7600XT in stock quite a few. (they also had 3060/4060) I walked in to MC this day and got a 5070TI no line!! Now it was not cheap and a bit of luck, but that was my experience.

Now I will say with that being said GPU's last 5 years been painful to get. I can't buy online, and have purchased 4 from MC in store. 6700XT, 3070, 4070TI, 5070TI. Several months ago when you could still easily get 4,000 series might been a good time. Running up to launch they quit making the old cards, and make the new cards and they always are in "shortage" and fairly overpriced.

your best bet is to buy a 4070/4080 used from somebody you trust.

If you are still on a 6700 CPU I would build a whole new box. Move your 1080TI over or us onboard graphics and be on the look at for the card. That CPU is not windows 11 officially supported and kind of slow for modern games. You don't have to have the GPU to build a new box.

 

[axlrose]

Glad you had some luck getting one. I'll think about what that might look like. I am a custom loop, so I'd have to think about what it would look like to take that apart and install a new motherboard and cpu and ram, but not a new gpu.

 

[rene641]

I haven't bought any new PC components in a very long time because the prices are simply insane. When I build a PC, I go through the offers of used components ideally under warranty and choose from them. Or, for example, I buy damaged graphics cards and repair them, if I don't know how, I take them to a technician who repairs HW.
My current build is intel 5-13600KF on Gigabyte Z690 UD DDR4 with Inno3D RTX 4080 Super, all bought used and at a significantly lower price.

 

[LordVile]

I don't mean to start any sort of rant. Just an honest to goodness question. I love building pc's. I've only been able to build myself two in my life. My first was when the gtx 280 came out. The second was when the 1080ti came out. I'm still running the build with the 1080ti. I haven't had the money for a long time to make a new build, but it used to be that about 3k made a top of the line gaming pc. I thought I'd torture myself a little and look online at my local microcenter. I was curious what it would be like to build a gaming pc that was old, but not as old as what I have. I couldn't find a single viable gpu for sale. Nothing with even as much ram as my old 1080ti. How do you even build a pc anymore? Is it just as hard to get a new motherboard and psu and ram? On both of my previous builds I would wait for the right gpu to come out and then build it with a new motherboard and psu and ram and cpu. How do you do that today?

Thanks for your time.

Here’s a tip. If you’re not gaming at 4K then you don’t need that much VRAM. 8GB for 1440p and 1080p is just fine.

The 1080Ti is around the level of entry level cards from a couple of gens away such as the 3060 and 6600XT. Literally anything from a 3060Ti and up will be better than a 1080Ti and at this point if you built your platform then pretty much any CPU will be an upgrade. In fact I’d recommend it as PCIE 3 isn’t good enough anymore.

 

[sonofjesse]

Glad you had some luck getting one. I'll think about what that might look like. I am a custom loop, so I'd have to think about what it would look like to take that apart and install a new motherboard and cpu and ram, but not a new gpu.

I would backup your data, wipe the drives, reinstall windows and sell this whole rig.

Air-cooling is fine. Air-cooling is cheap. Just build a whole new box (minus GPU) until you find one. I bet you can score a GPU if you are close enough to keep checking back in with MC. Custom loop is expensive and way over kill (I know they look cool), but AIR coolers are just so much easier and if a fan dies in 10 years you replace it.

8GB is NOT enough for 1440P if you want high/ultra settings. I would suggest 16GB for 1440P gaming you can get by with 12GB, but not for sure how long. If you don't want to upgrade soonish I would suggest going 16GB out of the gate in 2025 and nothing less.

8GB is fine if your staying 1080P.

 

[ohio_buckeye]

I guess what I'm asking is where/how do you get a gpu? Microcenter has nothing over about $300 and nothing with more than 8gb of ram when I look. Is buying a combo the only way to get a gpu now?

Same thing at Best Buy. Nothing over about $300 on the site and nothing over 8gb of ram.

Right now things are a little tight with gpus since we’re in between generations. But in December for example they were plentiful and on sale.

For 300 my local Microcenter has the 3060. So I’d get something similar to that or a b570 or b580 from Intel.

https://www.microcenter.com/product...d-triple-fan-12gb-gddr6-pcie-40-graphics-card

 

[geofelt]

Lots of FUD around.
End of support for windows 10 does not mean that your pc will suddenly stop working.
It means that new features will not be introduced to 10.
Most security infections come from social engineering via email.

Vram is somewhat like real ram. Enough is enough.
Discrete card vendors include what they think is sufficient vram for the performance level of their products.
And vram is used differently in nvidia, amd and intel drivers. No use using that as a performance indicator or a means to pick among offerings.