Question Whats the best pc components today for a mid range gaming rig??

rianh123

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Oct 26, 2015
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Hi all,

I've had my pc for 5 years now but it's finally time to upgrade! Ive been out of the loop for a year or two and not sure what's considered best in the market, I was wondering if anyone could help?

I have a 2k monitor @ 165hz, I do video editing, stream and play the latest games such as Cod/warzone etc.

These are two builds I put together, if anyone could review them and give some feedback that would be brilliant, the hardest part is deciding whether to get the next-gen parts or will last gens be fine considering the price difference, as I heard DDR5 ram isn't a difference maker yet. I would like to keep the rig under £2k but I do want to future-proof it so going over it won't be too much bother and I think I will purchase the GPU over 12 months to help spread the cost.

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/VghGxs

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/QBM9Bj

Thanks again for taking a look!
 
Your not going to have a problem with either, the 12700K is more than good enough for what your asking it to do. I would opt for a little bit better board like the MSI Z690 Tomahawk personally but it's up to you. The one you've selected will certainly do what you want.

I see you have a 3080 listed, the 4080 is expected to be launched at the end of next month I believe. It sounds like it will be a little more expensive though at probably around £900. You would see more benefit out of the 4080 vs the 3080 than the 13700K vs the 12700K. 12th and 13th gen are essentially the same architecture with the performance increase in gaming largely coming from increased boost clocks. The extra efficiency cores on 13th gen will not be of any use in gaming right now, they have more benefit in terms of multi-tasking.

It really comes down to how much you can afford, it's nice to have the latest and greatest of everything but I don't think you would be disappointed by the performance of 12th gen if you wanted to save £100 on the CPU to spend that on the GPU.
 

punkncat

Champion
Ambassador
Just being curious (nosy) what are the specs of your current system?

If you were currently on a 1st or + gen Ryzen and have a compatible motherboard for BIOS update, moving into the 5xxx CPU is a very meaningful update to breath more life into those aging AM4 systems.
 
If you go with the 13700K then I'd look for a board with better VRM's than that Asrock board in your DDR5 build. You can save a few quid by going with the 13700KF. TBH I'd wait for the cheaper locked 13 gen cpu's and B760 boards due for release this January.


If you go with the Intel 12 gen + DDR4 then here's a build that might interest you. This cpu uses less power and creates less heat than the 12700K / 12700KF.

https://www.cclonline.com/ph-ec360a...se-g360a-mid-tower-case-black-usb-3-0-386751/
Phanteks Eclipse G360A Mid Tower Case £81.62

https://www.phanteks.com/Eclipse-G360A.html

Rear exhaust fan for that case.

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/120...50rpm-53cfm-fluid-dynamic-bearing-black-4-pin
Arctic F12 PWM 4-Pin 120mm Case Fan £3.98


https://www.technextday.co.uk/product/gigabyte-b660-gaming-x-ddr4-intel-atx-motherboard
Gigabyte B660 GAMING X £142.99

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B660-GAMING-X-DDR4-rev-10#kf

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08WRJ5MQW
ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240 A-RGB CPU AIO £83.99

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09MDHZ2YQ
Intel Core i7-12700F £341.49

https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-25m-cache-up-to-4-90-ghz/specifications.html


i7 12700 / 12700F gaming benchmarks.

i712700.jpg
 

Karadjgne

Titan
Ambassador
Decent B660 mobo and 13600k with 32Gb DDR5-6000.

No point in 'future proof' if using DDR4 base system as upgrades won't be there. And the thing about DDR5 being equitable to DDR4 only really counted at the beginning, with DDR5-4800, once DDR5 starts getting 6000+ and timings are settled down to more respectable levels, like is already happening, DDR5 and Win11 are gaining fps by the say.
 

rianh123

Distinguished
Oct 26, 2015
37
2
18,535
Your not going to have a problem with either, the 12700K is more than good enough for what your asking it to do. I would opt for a little bit better board like the MSI Z690 Tomahawk personally but it's up to you. The one you've selected will certainly do what you want.

I see you have a 3080 listed, the 4080 is expected to be launched at the end of next month I believe. It sounds like it will be a little more expensive though at probably around £900. You would see more benefit out of the 4080 vs the 3080 than the 13700K vs the 12700K. 12th and 13th gen are essentially the same architecture with the performance increase in gaming largely coming from increased boost clocks. The extra efficiency cores on 13th gen will not be of any use in gaming right now, they have more benefit in terms of multi-tasking.

It really comes down to how much you can afford, it's nice to have the latest and greatest of everything but I don't think you would be disappointed by the performance of 12th gen if you wanted to save £100 on the CPU to spend that on the GPU.
I'll definitely check the mobo out! I think the biggest problem is trying to get a 4080 for MSRP, if they are easily got I wouldn't mind getting one. I'll do a bit more research into the 12700k and 4080, I appreciate the feedback!
 

rianh123

Distinguished
Oct 26, 2015
37
2
18,535
Just being curious (nosy) what are the specs of your current system?

If you were currently on a 1st or + gen Ryzen and have a compatible motherboard for BIOS update, moving into the 5xxx CPU is a very meaningful update to breath more life into those aging AM4 systems.
Hi, my current specs are a gtx 1060, i7-7700k, 16gb ram, 650w psu, not too sure on the motherboard, think I'm long overdue an upgrade!
 

rianh123

Distinguished
Oct 26, 2015
37
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18,535
Decent B660 mobo and 13600k with 32Gb DDR5-6000.

No point in 'future proof' if using DDR4 base system as upgrades won't be there. And the thing about DDR5 being equitable to DDR4 only really counted at the beginning, with DDR5-4800, once DDR5 starts getting 6000+ and timings are settled down to more respectable levels, like is already happening, DDR5 and Win11 are gaining fps by the say.
Thats true, probably the reason I'm leaning towards ddr5 for my new build as I'd like to future proof it. I'll get a look at some motherboards tomorrow amd see what I can put together, thank you for the information on the ram!
 

rianh123

Distinguished
Oct 26, 2015
37
2
18,535
If you go with the 13700K then I'd look for a board with better VRM's than that Asrock board in your DDR5 build. You can save a few quid by going with the 13700KF. TBH I'd wait for the cheaper locked 13 gen cpu's and B760 boards due for release this January.


If you go with the Intel 12 gen + DDR4 then here's a build that might interest you. This cpu uses less power and creates less heat than the 12700K / 12700KF.

https://www.cclonline.com/ph-ec360a...se-g360a-mid-tower-case-black-usb-3-0-386751/
Phanteks Eclipse G360A Mid Tower Case £81.62

https://www.phanteks.com/Eclipse-G360A.html

Rear exhaust fan for that case.

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/120...50rpm-53cfm-fluid-dynamic-bearing-black-4-pin
Arctic F12 PWM 4-Pin 120mm Case Fan £3.98


https://www.technextday.co.uk/product/gigabyte-b660-gaming-x-ddr4-intel-atx-motherboard
Gigabyte B660 GAMING X £142.99

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/B660-GAMING-X-DDR4-rev-10#kf

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08WRJ5MQW
ARCTIC Liquid Freezer II 240 A-RGB CPU AIO £83.99

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B09MDHZ2YQ
Intel Core i7-12700F £341.49

https://www.intel.com/content/www/u...-25m-cache-up-to-4-90-ghz/specifications.html


i7 12700 / 12700F gaming benchmarks.

i712700.jpg
I'll definitely check out the KF version, for some reason it didn't occur to me to have a look at them. I was hoping to start buying parts around black Friday if I could get some good deals, do you think going with ddr5 would be the best option for building a new rig?

Thats a pretty cool 12th gen build and it's insane to see there's not much between the 12700kf and i9 12900k!

Thank you for providing so much information, it really helps when deciding what to build!
 
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I'll definitely check out the KF version, for some reason it didn't occur to me to have a look at them. I was hoping to start buying parts around black Friday if I could get some good deals, do you think going with ddr5 would be the best option for building a new rig?

Thats a pretty cool 12th gen build and it's insane to see there's not much between the 12700kf and i9 12900k!

Thank you for providing so much information, it really helps when deciding what to build!
The 12700F is what I'd be looking at if you opt for an Intel 12 gen cpu. You can pair it up with a DDR5 board. Also keep in mind the less expensive B760 boards along with the locked 13 gen cpu's are due for release in January.
 
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I'll definitely check the mobo out! I think the biggest problem is trying to get a 4080 for MSRP, if they are easily got I wouldn't mind getting one. I'll do a bit more research into the 12700k and 4080, I appreciate the feedback!
I just think buying a 3080 at this point, within months you will end up with buyers remorse. I don't think you would feel the same about the 12700K.