Advice on the budget required for a desktop build to last 5+ years before/without upgrades

Hello again,

Sometime between now and Windows 10 EOL I am considering a new desktop system. The purpose would be for gaming, primarily FFXIV day to day as well as misc releases as they come.

I understand from browsing these forums on and off that prices for entry level systems and above have leapt at both 1080p and 1440p over the last 5-6 years since purchasing my previous system and what I'd like to ask as a starting point is roughly how much I should be prepared to set aside for a system that will hold up without any upgrades for as long as possible.

I know it's not really the done thing to try to avoid upgrading a system and not necessarily the best value but I come to PCS pretty much specifically for the convenience of not having to do the building or upgrades as I strongly dislike doing so. I know this makes the advice more difficult but would hugely appreciate any help with that in mind. I don't mind if performance wanes over the years as long as it's usable, but I'd love it if it's possible to build a system that won't require me to even consider making any changes for at least 5 years.

My aim is to stretch for a 1440 system paired with the oft-recommended AOC Q27G3XMN but in the (unlikely?) event that a 1080 system would have more staying power within its limitations then I'd be interested in a recommendation for such a monitor and budget for comparison.

Any sample builds in either case would be more than welcome also, I'm not coming at this with a lot of knowledge. Apologies for the stipulations insofar as they make things difficult but many thanks in advance for any advice with that understanding.
 

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
We'd really need to know what budget we're working with. Currently, a decent 1080p build is c£1600, and that rises to £2100 at 1440p.

Of course the choices of storage and upgradability will impact that price, but as a 'fit and forget' for 5 years we'd probably spec the other components quite high, so that there'd be nothing to upgrade but the GPU (which is very simple).
 
We'd really need to know what budget we're working with. Currently, a decent 1080p build is c£1600, and that rises to £2100 at 1440p.

Of course the choices of storage and upgradability will impact that price, but as a 'fit and forget' for 5 years we'd probably spec the other components quite high, so that there'd be nothing to upgrade but the GPU (which is very simple).
Understood, thanks. The budget is flexible because that's basically what I'm trying to figure out - what I would need - but based on those figures then the 1440p system is possibly affordable to me: as a starting point ideally I'd like to not go too far above say £2250, with about £2750 being an upper limit if that would squeeze another year or two out of it for example.
 

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
This is the 'have everything now' 1440p config...and slap bang in the middle of your low & high budget. The only items you'd need to upgrade here over the next 10 years would be the GPU (as game demands / resolutions change) and storage as you collect more games.

Case
LIAN LI O11DYNAMIC EVO RGB GAMING CASE - excellent case and has plenty of room for bigger GPUs and more drives, whilst allowing all the components space to breathe
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core CPU (Up to 5.2GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5) - the current daddy in the gaming world; at 4K you could get away with with a lower tier CPU as GPU does more of the workload, but at 1080p/1440p you won't find better
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X870E AORUS ELITE WIFI7 (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7) - very good motherboard, and at a similar price to the lower tier Asus models
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 16GB) - sweet spot for AM5 CPUs is 6000MHz, and this is the tightest timings PCS offer
Graphics Card
16GB SAPPHIRE PULSE RADEON™ RX 9070 XT GAMING - 2 x HDMI, 2 x DP - better value than the Nvidia equivalent
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6200 MB/W) - smaller, faster SSD for Windows, apps and games launchers only (to promote good housekeeping, and to prevent you losing all your games if the OS needs rebuilding)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB CORSAIR CORE XT MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 5000 MB/R, 4400 MB/W) - larger, slightly slower SSD for game installs
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W HXi SERIES™ ATX 3.1 & 5.1 PCIe MODULAR 80 PLUS® PLATINUM V2 - possibly overkill for the current build, but will allow for a decade of GPU upgrades
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR ICUE LINK TITAN 360 RX RGB HIGH PERFORMANCE CPU COOLER - premium Corsair AIO with 3 premium fans to match the aesthetic of the Lian Li fans; could go to the 280 or the Nautilus 360 version version for a little saving
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Price: £2,514.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/PzBHSdkND6/
 

TonyCarter

VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
This is the £300 cheaper option which only really limits the GPU upgrades if you suddenly wanted 4K in 3 years time.

Case
CORSAIR 3500X ARGB TEMPERED GLASS MID-TOWER (PCS) - cheaper case of a similar style (would prefer the Corsair Frame 4000D in black, but it's not available at the moment
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core CPU (Up to 5.2GHz/104MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X870 EAGLE WIFI7 (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7) - lower tier motherboard (X870 instead of X870E), but still better/cheaper than the equivalent Asus MB; key differences are the number/speed of m.2 / PCIe slots, and number of USB headers/ports
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB DDR5 6000MHz CL30 (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB SAPPHIRE PULSE RADEON™ RX 9070 XT GAMING - 2 x HDMI, 2 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB CORSAIR ELITE MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 7000 MB/R, 6200 MB/W)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB CORSAIR CORE XT MP600 NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD (up to 5000 MB/R, 4400 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ ATX 3.1, MODULAR, CYBENETICS GOLD - slightly lower power & lower efficiency PSU, but still suitable for 1440p GPUs for probably 7-10 years
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR NAUTILUS 360 RS ARGB HIGH PERFORMANCE CPU COOLER - similar to the Titan Corsair AIO, but with the cheaper fans
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 5 to 7 working days
Price: £2,237.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/uKhChy9km7/
 
Many many thanks for the help, that's perfect and everything I needed to know, appreciate all the detail on the components especially. I'll start working towards setting the budget aside with all that in mind!
 
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