Advice for new pc

[Kal-El dA]

Hello. New guy here.

So yeah, I’m another guy who wanted a new pc but doesn’t have much knowledge about it. My budget is maximum £1500. So I wanted a pc which:
- Allows me to play most high-end games (expecially steam games)
- VR ready
- Suitable for animation/illustration software (this one might now be much of a problem)

So I initially plan to buy a complete HP Omen desktop because its simple and I don’t have to think much about the specs, but I found out that I might be able to find better custom pc. So these are my 3 choices:

1. HP Omen 870-280na Desktop
o Intel i5-7400 3GHz processor
o 8GB RAM DDR4
o 1 TB HDD
o NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080, 8GB GDDR5X

2. Custom PC 1
- 32GB (2x16GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 3000MHz DDR4 Memory
- Intel Core i5 8600K 3.60GHz Coffee Lake Processor – OEM
- ASUS GeForce GTX 1070 DUAL OC - 8GB Graphics Card
- GIGABYTE Z370 AORUS Ultra Gaming - Intel Coffee Lake Motherboard
- Be Quiet! Pure Rock Slim CPU Air Cooler - BK008
- 2TB Western Digital WD Blue Hard Disk Drive
- GameMax Amethyst RGB Tempered Glass Case
- Standard Integrated HD Audio
- Standard Sufficient Thermal Paste for Cooling
- 700W Aerocool Integrator 80+ Power Supply
- 250GB Samsung 850 EVO SSD - MZ-75E250B/EU
- Windows 10 Home 64 bit Operating System
- TP Link TL-WN881ND 300Mbps Wireless N PCI Express Adapter

3. Custom PC 2

- Intel Core i7 7700K 4.2GHz Kaby Lake Processor – Unlocked
- 16GB (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance LPX 3200MHz DDR4 Memory – Black
- ASUS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB TURBO Graphics Car
- 2TB Western Digital WD Blue Hard Disk Drive
- Corsair White 400C Carbide Clear Windowed PC Gaming Case
- Cooler Master Hyper 212X Tower CPU Air Cooler
- ASUS Prime Z270 K Kaby Lake CrossFire Motherboard
- GAME MAX Windforce RGB KIT - 2x 120mm Fans & LED Strips
- TP Link TL-WN881ND 300Mbps Wireless N PCI Express Adapter
- Standard Sufficient Thermal Paste for Cooling
- 700W Aerocool Integrator 80+ Power Supply
- 250GB Samsung 960 Evo PCIe NVMe Solid State Drive/SSD
- Windows 10 Home 64 bit Operating System
- Standard Integrated HD Audio

Well I think the main issue is that I don’t know which one is the most important for a good gaming PC. Is it the CPU? graphic card? or RAM? I did some reading and I personally think that the custom PC 1 is the best one since it have 8th gen i5, plus 32 GB RAM but it have only GTX 1070 compared to the other two. I heard someone saying that having the 8th gen i5 plus the Z370 motherboard allow me to upgrade more in the future.

I don’t mind if you suggest other configurations. Thank you in advance. -

 

[Oussebon]

Since the forums belong to PC Specialist, who build and sell custom PCs and laptops, users aren't encouraged to give advice on specs from competitors, such as the HP Omen.

As it happens, however, PCS have a special offer on for a £1479 PC, the Ultima X01:

Case
NZXT S340 MID TOWER GAMING CASE (BLACK/BLUE)
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™i7 Six Core Processor i7-8700k (3.7GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME Z370-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.0, SATA 6GBs
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3000MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080 - DVI, HDMI, 3x DP - GeForce GTX VR Ready!
--Get Destiny 2 with select GTX 10 Series GPUs! ** Limited Codes Available **
1[SUP]st[/SUP] Hard Disk
1TB WD BLACK 3.5" WD1003FZEX, SATA 6 Gb/s, 64MB CACHE (7200rpm)
M.2 SSD Drive
256GB WD Black™ M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 2050MB/s R | 700MB/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 H100i V2 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
LED Lighting
50cm White LED Strip
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT (Wi-Fi NOT INCLUDED)
USB Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Genuine Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc DVD & Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365
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 6 to 8 working days
Quantity
1

Price £1,479.00 including VAT and delivery

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/configure-review/238/

It's about £1700's worth of hardware for a discounted and fixed price. Unlike a custom spec, it can't be reconfigured - you can upgrade the warranty and buy peripherals with it, but can't change the core spec.

However, for a gaming and VR system you wouldn't really want to anyway.

Although commenting on competitors isn't allowed, it's not really a secret that an i7 8700k + GTX 1080 will offer more gaming performance than an i7 7700k + GTX 1070 ti.

Is it the CPU? graphic card? or RAM? I did some reading and I personally think that the custom PC 1 is the best one since it have 8th gen i5, plus 32 GB RAM but it have only GTX 1070 compared to the other two.

The GPU, mostly - but you want a good CPU as well to 'feed' the graphics card, and to avoid bottlenecking future GPU upgrades. Some games will also rely very strongly on the CPU for performance as well as the GPU (e.g. Fallout 4, Watch Dogs 2, World of Warcraft, the Total War series, and others).

There is no point to more than 16gb RAM for gaming.

16gb should also be a good starting point for the other uses you've outlined, and the motherboard of the Ultima X01 has 2 free slots such that you could add more RAM in the future.

The CPU is also important, often moreso than the GPU, for illustration/animation, etc. So the Ultima's i7 8700k is a good fit there.

I heard someone saying that having the 8th gen i5 plus the Z370 motherboard allow me to upgrade more in the future.

Maybe. Intel are releasing more Coffee Lake / 8th Gen CPUs next year, and there were rumours these would include 8-core CPUs. However, the most recent slides for Intel suggest that's now not the case, and there will only be 6 core Coffee Lake CPUs. It's also speculated that future, more powerful Coffee Lake CPUs would have needed the as-yet-unreleased Z390 motherboards.

Furthermore, spending about £250 on an i5 8600k only top upgrade it to a £380 i7 8700k (or whatever slightly faster version comes out next year) is really bad value when you could have just got an i7 to begin with.

I don't think anyone expects Cannonlake (the next gen after Coffee Lake) to be compatible with existing motherboards.

Since you may be sticking to the CPU you buy now for quite some time, it seems to make sense to get the best one you can.

o Intel i5-7400 3GHz processoro NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 1080, 8GB GDDR5X

- Intel Core i7 7700K 4.2GHz Kaby Lake Processor – Unlocked- ASUS NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 Ti 8GB TURBO Graphics Car

There really is no point to buying 7th Gen now, outside of a very few specific scenarios, given all the alternatives currently available.

 

[Kal-El dA]

First of all, thank you for the detailed and clear explanation.

About the hp omen, im just using it as reference but maybe i shouldn't ask about it.

Thr Ultima X01 that you suggested without doubt have everything i need. Not sure how i missed it but thank you.

One more thing, does the monitor i use will affect the game performance? Its a new 24-inch curve led monitor. I dont think there will be any problem but in case.

 

[SpyderTracks]

First of all, thank you for the detailed and clear explanation.

About the hp omen, im just using it as reference but maybe i shouldn't ask about it.

Thr Ultima X01 that you suggested without doubt have everything i need. Not sure how i missed it but thank you.

One more thing, does the monitor i use will affect the game performance? Its a new 24-inch curve led monitor. I dont think there will be any problem but in case.

The monitor will have an effect on gaming, what make and model is it?

 

[Kal-El dA]

Its Samsung C24F390 24-Inch Curved

 

[Kal-El dA]

As it happens, however, PCS have a special offer on for a £1479 PC, the Ultima X01:

Also you mentioned 'special offer', so does that mean it'll end soon? Im probably buying early january so i really hope it wont

 

[SpyderTracks]

Also you mentioned 'special offer', so does that mean it'll end soon? Im probably buying early january so i really hope it wont

Yes, it's a review PC, they're limited time offers. Some can last for quite a while, some are a lot shorter. The Ultima has been around certainly for a month or so already.

With the review PC's you have to order them as they are, you can't modify them very much. If you do modify them you lose the discount.

 

[SpyderTracks]

That's a 1080p 60Hz monitor.

This means it will output a maximum of 1920 x 1080 pixels at a maximum refresh rate (fps) of 60.

Really anything over a GTX1070 is going to be overpowered for that monitor. It's not that you'll have a bad time with it, it's just that you're limiting what you perhaps should be getting with a suitable monitor.

Really for a GTX1080, I'd recommend a 1440p 144hz monitor preferably with GSync support, but they run at around the £500 mark

 

[Oussebon]

That said, if you don't have the cash to buy a new monitor at the current time after spending £1500 on a PC, that doesn't make the Ultima any less good value, it just means you have a GPU with more headroom. Still, if you can get a better monitor to go with a GTX 1080, it would certainly enhance your experience.

Im probably buying early january so i really hope it wont

Nobody can say. It seems quite popular. Check back when you're ready to purchase I guess

 

[Kal-El dA]

Alright. Thank you for all the responses. For now I'll just use my current monitor but might upgrade it in the future