Advice on a desktop build - gaming - c.£2.5k

[Jonnus]

Hi guys,

I've used PCS for years for my gaming laptops but the wife may have relented and said I can get a desktop.

I don't know what to get in terms of value for money....but I'd be looking at something high end (4k gaming ideally) with at least 2-4tb of non-SSD storage and at least 1tb of SSD storage (preferably more....) for OS and gaming.

The 2.5k would cover the machine itself, I will get a monitor and keyboard etc on top. Suggestions for a monitor that is commensurate with my build would be appreciated (nothing too expensive and crazy!). Keyboards I can handle myself!

Oh and last 'I want this' moment...I would need it to run fairly quiet....so liquid cooling was my thought.

I can be a bit flexible on amount spent if I love what I see but hit me with your suggestions and prepare to enter my free draw for bonus lifetime karma. hehe.

Jonathan

 

[Oussebon]

I will get a monitor and keyboard etc on top.

What is the budget for the monitor?

2.5k tbh is already a healthy budget for both the PC and the monitor, but if you indicate what budget of monitor you were thinking of, people can suggest a PC spec in line with that. And monitors.

 

[Jonnus]

Hi Oussebon - thanks for your response, I remember your advice when I locked and loaded on my gaming laptop this time last year!

Let's say a TOTAL budget of 3k for monitor and pc. I'd really not want to go beyond that. No min/max size on monitor size but, as mentioned, I'm thinking 4k as I want a tangible improvement over my already quite beastly laptop.

Thanks guys

 

[Oussebon]

Looking back at the topic, I remember. Was that really all the way back then?!

As you already have a QHD laptop, your options going upwards are 1440p ultrawide, 4k 60hz, 4k 120hz

At 4k, you are going to be heavily GPU bound. Which is fine, nature of the beast, but it means you don't get any real benefit from an i9 and ultra expensive i9 versus an R5 3600 on a B450 mobo, just a ~£400+ size hole in your wallet. And while there's the argument "well, an i9 will go further into the future without bottlenecking GPUs", that falls flat on its face here as the savings will be enough to buy a new future gen CPU, DDR5 RAM, and a mobo by the time we get there tbh.

Something like:

Case
CORSAIR iCUE 220T RGB AIRFLOW MID TOWER GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B450-PLUS (DDR4, USB 3.1, 6Gb/s) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
11GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2080 Ti - HDMI, 3x DP GeForce - RTX VR Ready!

Get Call of Duty: Modern Warfare with select NVIDIA GeForce RTX GPUs!
1st Storage Drive
4TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 5400RPM, 256MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB WD Black™ M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3400MB/s R | 2800MB/s W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 650W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11N 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KK3-00002]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
BullGuard™ Internet Security - Free 90 Day License inc. Gamer Mode
Browser
Microsoft® Edge (Windows 10 Only)
Warranty
3 Year Standard Warranty (1 Month Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 8 to 10 working days
Price: £1,929.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/hJEBkszwP5/

Would keep clear £1000 for a monitor. Which you could easily end up spending on a 4k 60hz, 4k 120hz, or 1440p ultrawide monitor.

For 4k 144hz, see Acer Nitro XV273K

Acer Nitro XV273K 27" Gaming Monitor Review

The Acer Nitro XV273K is the first monitor to bring a 4K resolution and 144 Hz refresh rate to gamers at a more affordable price point. At...

www.techspot.com

For 4k 60hz, check out the Acer Predators - 27" IPS, 28" TN, 32" IPS.

For 1440p ultrawide:

Gaming Monitors Guide

The monitor is probably the most important component in any gaming build – it defines how you experience games and the hardware the PC should have. Overlooking the monitor can be the single biggest bottleneck to your gaming experience. With recent monitor and graphics card launches, and wider...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[Jonnus]

What would you personally recommend when it comes to monitors? I'd presume either the 144 (120) Hz 4k or the ultrawide?

 

[Oussebon]

Any particular favourite kinds of game?

Do you really like your fast paced shooters and competitive multiplayer action? Strategy games? immersive open world RPGs? Turn based strategy like Civ? RTS like Total War?

2D retro pixel art? *cough*

 

[Jonnus]

I have played, and owned at release, every Total War. From Shogun to 3K. PC's have been bought just so they can be run on ultra unit settings!

That and immersive open world RPG's (all TES games...) would be where it's at for me.

I'm 36 so fast paced multiplayer games are behind me (Unreal Tournament 2000 though anyone?) but I do like FPS shooters.

So, to put it in the real world....last night I played Rome 2 and Outer Worlds. And enjoyed both equally.

 

[Oussebon]

Hmm, doesn't really narrow it down then! If you'd said mostly shooters or PVP that'd lean us away from 4k.

What if we temporarily shelve 1440p and look at 4k and 1440p ultrawide.

4k would be a big resolution upgrade from your 1440p laptop screen, and would be great for immersive RPGs, and also for total war I should think (we have very similar tastes - you apparently have more money currently available )

But will you be happy to take the refresh rate / framerate hit at 4k?

You might think it's fine, but be struck by the difference when you get the new PC. Also, while the resolution will be much higher, 3 Kingdoms is a monster and you'll be on much less than 60fps at 4k on the high preset, apparently.

1440p Ultrawide is more easy to achieve high performance with, can be very immersive for RPGs, and lets you see more of the world in total war, which I imagine must be nice for battle lines. Some videos:
Three Kingdoms
WH2
Rome 2

Some games don't support 21:9 perfectly out of the box, but where this is the case (e.g. The Outer Worlds) it usually gets community patched pretty fast. Also SSE.

Price-wise the monitors are the same (mid range for £400-£600, high end £800+).
21:9 monitors are (obviously) very wide.
GPU upgrades should be considerably less expensive and/or frequent for 1440p ultrawide than for 4k.
21:9 gaming can require tweaking/mods. Though so too can the occasional game at 4k if the UI's tiny and the devs never added a UI scale option.
21:9 monitors go to 100/120hz (and those framerates are more realistically achievable) so could be less jarring going from 1440p high refresh, if you got used to higher frame and refresh rates on your laptop.

It's tricky. Not too many people are in a position where they are upgrading from 1440p high refresh.