[SOLVED] Need help building a gaming PC

[Awe32]

Hi

I'm planning on having a gaming PC built for me and I would prefer (for warranty and other reasons) it to be built by https://www.jimms.fi/en/ in case you want to check their selection of components. There could be some other place in Finland too that offers similiar services, but I'm not really aware of any.

I'm probably aiming for the Black Friday. 2500 € for the PC and Win 11. The lower the better, obviously. The price for the display much depends on the PC cost, but let's say roughly 250-350 €.

Due to my previous experiences, and those of my friends, I'd really appreciate a PC which runs cool, due to good airflow and maybe lowish power consumption components.

I have thought about the components a little bit and I'll drop a list below. But I'm a rookie in this field. I don't want to overspend on something that I don't really need.

Do I care about the looks of the computer? Well, yes. But I doubt that I'd be able to find a nice clean looking white GPU, motherboard, case, memories etc. The selection available is just so poor. So it's not high on my list. And RGB isn't important either.


Oh right, and I'm not planning to OC. I don't know anything about that stuff so I'll stay away from it.

So, let's start:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5600X or alternatively Intel 12600KF. 5700X and 5800X are an option as well, but everyone always told me that CPU is not where you want to overspend.
Motherboard: Honestly not sure yet. The selection available is bad and overpriced. Wifi, BT and decent audio (AC1220 or something) would be preferable.
GPU: RTX 3070 minimum, but I think Radeon 6800XT or even 6900XT are perhaps better value for the money right now? 6800XT is about the same price as 3070 ti right now and 6900XT the same as 3080. So, maybe even PowerColor Red Devil 6900XT?
RAM: 2x 8 GB Vengeance LPX DDR4 3200Mhz CL 16
SSD: Maybe Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1TB and 0,5TB.
PSU: What happened to their prices? Goodness.. Maybe Seasonic Focus GM-850.
Case: Good airflow. Thinking of NZXT H7 Flow or Fractal Design Meshify 2... I'm honestly not sure if I need a big case or if a slightly smaller one has a sufficient airflow. Like Fractal Design Meshify 2 compact. I have a big desk but many big cases are still too big for it.
Cooling: Well, I was considering an AIO for my GPU. That's usually the heat monster afterall.. And it sure would look cool to have an AIO for the CPU aswell then, but honestly, whatever gets the job done without blowing up my ears. Maybe DeepCool AK620 for CPU and otherwise just ArcticFreezer BioniX F140 casefans.
OS: Windows 11.

The funny thing is that I could get a rather decent DDR5, Z690, 12600KF combo for roughly the same money as 5600X combo. Is it worth it though? I don't know the answer to that question. It's just that even AM4 motherboards seem to be real expensive right now and DDR5 isn't that stupendously expensive so it's possible.

In general, I'd like to have a good solid gaming PC that would allow me to play mostly single player games probably on 1080p or 1440p resolution with good (but not necessarely hyper) graphics. Games like Mount & Blade, Baldur's Gate 3 etc. I don't even know what games are out there right now. It's been a long time since I played anything. And it's going to be a long time untill I get a new computer so some "future-proofing" is what I'm looking for. Hence the 6900XT for example. I'm sure that even 3060 would suffice for now, but maybe not after a year or two. Or three or four.

Thanks already for the help people!

 

[DavidM012]

Not going to spend nigh on 700 euro just because someone says it's an awesome card:

6800xt vs 3080ti - and the question, to overclock, or to not overclock? DLSS, nvidia's upscaling technology has some clout when user can't tell the difference between native & upscaled resolution.

Dunno what happened to a 3080 Super - was it scrapped for the 4000 series launch? A rumor from a year ago that hasn't materialized yet.

Also on the productivity front, a 3070 beats it out by 10% or so in benchmarks, even if the 6800xt has a higher gaming frame rate than a 3070. Guru 3d 3080 review.

So barring any technical problems the 3080 or ti which the 6800xt is supposed to be the direct competitor of, only really beats it on the price rather than the performance category. UK prices you could have a better all round gpu in a 3080 for only £150 more. Now Seeing 6800xt's at about the £5-600, which is admittedly attractive nonetheless.

So yes you save money with a 6800xt (at least in the UK) for similar gaming performance as a 3080 but you then sacrifice the edge that it has in 3d apps. Is it a big deal, well probably not but if you're buying a card because it has 4fps edge in a gaming benchmark then why not buy a card that has an edge in 3d apps? Only if you're never going to use adobe. The point is you could dabble if you fancied it.

So then all that's left to do is compare different models of 6800xt on gpu monkey for one that has an edge.

The asus tuf is practically identical on gpu monkey while £629, where powercolor is £700 - while a 6900xt is £750. You could compare all of them just by searching eg. xfx 6800xt vs asus tuf 6800xt gpu monkey. The xfx is £508-517 on amazon uk.

So just by looking at that you may get a card 'without' an edge for £200 less. xfx vs tuf .

 

[Eximo]

LGA 1851 looks to be the socket for Meteorlake. Which is in keeping with what Intel promised. They are sticking with this size socket for a while for cooler compatibility.

Original specs for the LGA 1700/18xx socket, had intended for the growth in pins.

Still, Intel hasn't done more than two CPU generations in a socket since Broadwell, and even then it was only two processors with one chipset that supported it.

 

[Awe32]

That seems like a decent build, be sure to check the RAM included is listed on the QVL for the MSI motherboard.

I'll certainly have to do that. And I'll keep the other options alive too untill I buy anything. There was a faster Ripjaws on the site too, for same money, but it was unavailable at the moment. Who knows about the future though.

That cooler is massive, but I think it should fit over the RAM, far as I remember the Corsair Vengance are not that tall.

I just did actually, just to make sure. They're 35mm tall and the RAM clearance is around 40-43mm so no worries there

AM5 will be supported to 2025 and beyond - clearly the most upgradable however a 14th gen Intel cpu with 2551 pins is probably going to exceed it, so it is a tough time to buy a PC at the moment if you hope for it to last 5 years waiting 1 more year for a full metal jacket upgrade doesn't seem too unreasonable if you can hold on for the moment. Well I'm shocked that my PC has lasted 7 years and it's a heap but I only paid £200 for the cpu, mem and mobo so I can't complain about meh money's worth.

The 3d vcache will be interesting on zen 4 but it also depends what software will release in tandem and well the question is do you want to be paying again for a 3d Zen 4 cpu - or faster ddr5 memory when it releases - because at the moment the 5800x3d can exceed Zen 4 for gaming fps, if not for applications/productivity performance.

Yes, there's that. Since 5800X3D, AM4 mobo and DDR4 RAM doesn't save me any money however (as I'm buying from Jimms.fi), I guess choosing 5800X3D instead of 7600X is more of a risk compared to what there is to be gain. As tempting as it may be. But it's just a hunch.

I'll also keep the NZXT H7 Flow, Fractal Design Meshify 2 Compact and Torrent Compact options open for now. They're all very tempting.

To be honest, if I can't come up with any more questions in a few days, I think this question has been fully answered. I got help balancing up my build and I think I now have much clearer picture of what is sensible. I even got some pretty good tips from Gamers' Nexus on how to nail the cooling, so that shouldn't be a problem either.

 

[DavidM012]

I think the picture will be even clearer by 2023.

 

[Awe32]

There's the monitor issue that we've not really discussed so far. There was one recommendation and I'll check that up . Any idea for a decent ~300-400 euro roughly 27" monitor for 1440p? Or maybe I should go with a 1080p 24"? I know it's mostly VA vs IPS. Both have their fans. I don't want blurry image because of bad response time, but I'm not a pro gamer so I don't need the best of the best.

Slight curve is okay I guess, but nothing too dramatic. And when it comes to colors, I must say that I've never had a VA or IPS monitor and I have never thought: "I wish the colours were better". So while an improvement is welcome, I don't think it has to be the decisive factor.

The big thing for me though, is that my current monitor - which is 10+ years old and very cheap - is straining my eyes very badly. That's something that I'd want to stop. An eye-friendly monitor. People say it's subjective but perhaps there's some features that should be kept in mind when choosing a monitor that is eye-friendly?

 

[RodroX]

There's the monitor issue that we've not really discussed so far. There was one recommendation and I'll check that up . Any idea for a decent ~300-400 euro roughly 27" monitor for 1440p? Or maybe I should go with a 1080p 24"? I know it's mostly VA vs IPS. Both have their fans. I don't want blurry image because of bad response time, but I'm not a pro gamer so I don't need the best of the best.

Slight curve is okay I guess, but nothing too dramatic. And when it comes to colors, I must say that I've never had a VA or IPS monitor and I have never thought: "I wish the colours were better". So while an improvement is welcome, I don't think it has to be the decisive factor.

The big thing for me though, is that my current monitor - which is 10+ years old and very cheap - is straining my eyes very badly. That's something that I'd want to stop. An eye-friendly monitor. People say it's subjective but perhaps there's some features that should be kept in mind when choosing a monitor that is eye-friendly?

See if you can get help about monitors here:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=15YOh8SqiRc


and here:

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nl8x4Mc0svU

 

[DavidM012]

Same applies to monitors as all things consumer, S, M or L, maybe an XL or perhaps better described as Lo, Med and Hi end - whatever suits your budget. Can't really recommend anything other than to read reviews before you purchase anything after all according to the sales blurb everything is excellent until it breaks, or simply isn't.

You'll want a freesync monitor for AMD rather than G-Sync while nvidia can use either free or g sync. Some are compatible with both and some only one or the other. You can do 1440p on a 5600x with a 6800xt.

tom's Hardware review was updated 7 days ago though obviously you could check out a variety of reviews.

From where you are now probably anything is an upgrade. I heard it said curved screens were easier on the eye - that's all choice. It's probably the same for everyone though while the higher end is nice to have it's not so nice to pay for.

Personally my only plan is a cheap monitor since I don't like expensive things breaking. Again also surprised that my cheapo monitor has survived longer than expected too.

 

[Awe32]

Thanks again for the replies. The reviews are a bit tricky but the video below had at least two rather widely available monitors worth checking. I may move the monitor question to a specific monitor-section of the forums since my question concerning the eye-friendliness is a bit special.

It looks like the components prices are in quite the change here and GPUs are again running low, but I'm still aiming for at least 6700 XT / 3070 / 3070ti or 6800 XT / 3080. CPU combo is a bit trickier. 7600X is still an option, yes. But the price difference to 5600X now is 370 euros. And 13600K is just as expensive as 7600X. 5800X3D on the other hand is 200 euros more.

The Best Value Gaming CPU: 13600K vs 12600K vs 7600X vs 5800X3D vs 5600X

The Core i5-13600K is possibly the best value CPU all-rounder right now, but when looking purely at gaming the Ryzen 5 7600X is a strong contender as...

www.techspot.com

According to the review above, it's a close competition between 7600X, 13600K and 5800X3D. And in order to really benefit from 7600X and 13600K, it'd require me to go with super expensive and locally nonavailable RAM. So 5600X and 5800X3D are looking rather interesting afterall. 13600K is less interesting than 7600X because of the motherboard that doesn't support Meteor Lake. 12th gen and 11th gen on the other hand aren't significantly cheaper here so again not very interesting.

But I was actually going to ask about the smaller cases. Something like Meshify 2 Compact is perfect size for my desk, but I noticed that in cases of that size, the GPU is sitting very close to the bottom of the case and big cards barely even fit inside the case, being very close to the front intake. Isn't that a problem?

 

[RodroX]

Thanks again for the replies. The reviews are a bit tricky but the video below had at least two rather widely available monitors worth checking. I may move the monitor question to a specific monitor-section of the forums since my question concerning the eye-friendliness is a bit special.

It looks like the components prices are in quite the change here and GPUs are again running low, but I'm still aiming for at least 6700 XT / 3070 / 3070ti or 6800 XT / 3080. CPU combo is a bit trickier. 7600X is still an option, yes. But the price difference to 5600X now is 370 euros. And 13600K is just as expensive as 7600X. 5800X3D on the other hand is 200 euros more.

The Best Value Gaming CPU: 13600K vs 12600K vs 7600X vs 5800X3D vs 5600X

The Core i5-13600K is possibly the best value CPU all-rounder right now, but when looking purely at gaming the Ryzen 5 7600X is a strong contender as...

www.techspot.com

According to the review above, it's a close competition between 7600X, 13600K and 5800X3D. And in order to really benefit from 7600X and 13600K, it'd require me to go with super expensive and locally nonavailable RAM. So 5600X and 5800X3D are looking rather interesting afterall. 13600K is less interesting than 7600X because of the motherboard that doesn't support Meteor Lake. 12th gen and 11th gen on the other hand aren't significantly cheaper here so again not very interesting.

But I was actually going to ask about the smaller cases. Something like Meshify 2 Compact is perfect size for my desk, but I noticed that in cases of that size, the GPU is sitting very close to the bottom of the case and big cards barely even fit inside the case, being very close to the front intake. Isn't that a problem?

Both Ryzen 5 5600X and Core i5 12600K (or the budget ones i5 5600 and i5 12400) are all very good options to run any of the GPUs you listed at 1440p, specially if you go with high details settings (or very high/ultra).

But yeah is a strange time to buy a whole new system right now, there are many options yes, but newer ones are expensive and/or going into a dead platform.