Advise on new gaming desktop

[Brunomatost]

Hello all,

About 2 years ago I needed a laptop but also a gaming machine or so I thought so for about £800 I got this set

Now I’m keen to move into VR and also I noticed the laptop is starting struggle with most recent games so I’m looking into going back to a desktop so I can upgrade as I see fit in the future.

My background is IT and I used to be an IT guru but haven’t not been in the area or updated with the recent changes hardware etc so I need advise from someone who’s in the game and knows what they’re talking about

My budget is max £1500
I’m looking into a machine that will be mainly used for photoshop / gaming & VR

Something that hopefully will last for at least 5 years and I’ll be fine playing whatever comes.

I considered having 2 GPUs and water cooling however I have no experience with water cooling so if that is part of the set up needs to be something easy to manage.

Let me know which set ups you recommend.

It will be connected by wireless btw.
Will be using 2 22’ monitors that I already have.
I’m a fan of Intel and not keen on AMD

 

[SpyderTracks]

What resolution and refresh are the monitors? If you’re unsure what are the make and model? I take it you only use one to game on?

Intel are not worth it anymore, they’ve lost the crown to AMD.

 

[Brunomatost]

What resolution and refresh are the monitors? If you’re unsure what are the make and model? I take it you only use one to game on?

Intel are not worth it anymore, they’ve lost the crown to AMD.

The 2 monitors I use are:

2 of Dell SE2417HG 24 Inch TN Gaming Monitor (Black) (2 ms Response Time, Full HD 1920 x 1080 at 60 Hz, VGA/2 x HDMI)

and Yes, I only game on 1.


If you think AMD is more beneficial in terms of quality vs price please feel free to go with AMD.

hope that helps & thank you

 

[SpyderTracks]

Your monitors are going to hold back any gaming experience. Really you need very little to max out 1080p 60hz.

I’d highly suggest looking to upgrade your primary gaming monitor to 1440p 144hz adaptive sync.

 

[Brunomatost]

Your monitors are going to hold back any gaming experience. Really you need very little to max out 1080p 60hz.

I’d highly suggest looking to upgrade your primary gaming monitor to 1440p 144hz adaptive sync.

ok, noted, but lets do 1 thing at the time

I just bought a new house, a new car, a will get a new desktop, I guess the monitor will come after

Thank You

 

[SpyderTracks]

ok, noted, but lets do 1 thing at the time

I just bought a new house, a new car, a will get a new desktop, I guess the monitor will come after

Thank You

My point is, if you’re going to be sticking to 1080p 60hz for the foreseeable future, there’s no point pimping out a 1500 quid PC that won’t be used, would make more sense to build something catered to 1080p 60hz and then, once you’ve got a decent monitor you can just upgrade the GPU to something more powerful as there will no doubt be newer cards out then for the same or likely less cash.

 

[Brunomatost]

My point is, if you’re going to be sticking to 1080p 60hz for the foreseeable future, there’s no point pimping out a 1500 quid PC that won’t be used, would make more sense to build something catered to 1080p 60hz and then, once you’ve got a decent monitor you can just upgrade the GPU to something more powerful as there will no doubt be newer cards out then for the same or likely less cash.

ah ok, that makes much more sense now

Lets go with the set up I have now, the monitors were bought less than a year ago so its very unlikely that I upgrade them within the next 2 years or so.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Lastly, is it purely for gaming and image work? No streaming to twitch or video editing?

 

[Brunomatost]

Lastly, is it purely for gaming and image work? No streaming to twitch or video editing?

no, none of that, other than gaming and photo editing just normal browsing and movies

 

[SpyderTracks]

no, none of that, other than gaming and photo editing just normal browsing and movies

So this is fully and utterly pimped out... I've put comments next to the important components:

Case
CORSAIR CRYSTAL SERIES 680X RGB GAMING CASE Excellent case, improves airflow and general stability of system, also makes updates easy.
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.4GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4) Beast of a CPU for both gaming and image work

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
Motherboard
ASUS® ROG STRIX X570-F GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0) - RGB Ready! Latest X570 board with PCIe4, should last future CPU generations
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB) Fast RAM which AMD benefits from generally
Graphics Card
4GB AMD RADEON™ RX 570 - HDMI, DP - DX® 12 Great midrange card whilst you're on 1080p 60hz

Get 3 Months of XBOX Game Pass for PC w/ select AMD Ryzen CPUs
1st Storage Drive
3TB SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE Masses of fast storage for your photos
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W) Fast M2 drive for OS and games
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET Gives plenty of headroom to upgrade GPU to something beefier when you update your monitor
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
Corsair H100x Hydro Cooler w/ PCS Ultra Quiet Fans Closed loop watercooler, no maintenance required. I have one and they're excellent
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING No need for higher paste as cooler comes with better spec paste included
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
WIRELESS 802.11 Gigabyte GC-WB1733D-I AC 1734Mbps + BT5 PCI-E CARD Very fast wifi card for future proofing
USB/Thunderbolt 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. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
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
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Google Chrome™
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 10 to 14 working days
Price: £1,505.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/d9a3n799VG/

 

[SpyderTracks]

Then, when you're more settled after the new house et al, you can pimp for a 1440p 144Hz screen or even 4K 144Hz which will be more mainstream by then and update the graphics card at the same time.

The platform is cutting edge and will outlast anything Intel can offer at the same price as the motherboard will support future CPU generations whereas Intel's won't, plus this chip beats any i7 going.

 

[Brunomatost]

Then, when you're more settled after the new house et al, you can pimp for a 1440p 144Hz screen or even 4K 144Hz which will be more mainstream by then and update the graphics card at the same time.

The platform is cutting edge and will outlast anything Intel can offer at the same price as the motherboard will support future CPU generations whereas Intel's won't, plus this chip beats any i7 going.

THAT SOUNDS AWESOME.

So ive changed a couple of things such as, the HDD make it smaller since I have a NAS home or dont really use that much HDD space, and also removed the Windows licence since I have my own, with that I could add a 2nd graphics drive (the same) or either upgrade that one.

Thoughts ?

So far, its at £1345 or £1475 with 2 of the same Graphics card.
Or would I be better of with just 1 slightly better ?

 

[Brunomatost]

also the AMD 8G RX 580 is a £15 difference (special offer)

 

[SpyderTracks]

also the AMD 8G RX 580 is a £15 difference (special offer)

For 1080p 60hz, the rx570 is completely adequate, you’ll be able to max everything out. Mind you, for £15 it does seem very good value, why not!

1080p is a dead resolution really, modern cards are designed for 1440p 144hz or 4K 60hz.

And 2 cards is pretty much a no no these days, it’s not really supported by any games and isn’t good value over a single better card.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Furthermore, to make it clear, you're limited by your monitor here.

Even if you were to add a second card, or even pimp it out with 2 RTX2080 ti's at £2400, yes, you'd get phenominal FPS, but the screen will only ever show a maximum of 60.... it's completely pointless.

The screen is the limiting factor.

The RX 570 (or 580 if you want to up it), will be more than adequate for your screen until you upgrade.

 

[Oussebon]

As above, whatever you buy, don't buy a PC with 2 graphics cards.

You could go with the X570-PLUS over the X570-F. Prices start inflating massively as soon as the word "Strix" is involved. While Asus roll around making period 'ker-ching' noises.

You could just buy a PC and a 1440p 144hz monitor for £1500. The higher resolution monitor would also be an asset for image editing and general office work.

Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
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® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
NOT REQUIRED
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB ADATA SX6000 Pro PCIe M.2 2280 (2100 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD 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 802.11 AC1200 867Mbps/5GHz, 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
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft® Office® 365 (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
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 10 to 14 working days
Price: £1,157.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/Vcxb7fnRA!/



It would also give much higher performance at 1440p than a 570 or 580 would give at 1080p

 

[Brunomatost]

G

Thank you both,

PC is now ordered as per the 1st thread but with the RTX580 instead.

Thank You both for your help, Ill make sure I post a pic when I get it

 

[Oussebon]

RX 580's not really worth it over a 570. It's £60 more. Change it either to the RX 570 to save money, or the RX 590 / GTX 1660 to get more performance - and more performance per £. The RX 580 has no place in the market at that price.

Edit: I really do wish PCS didn't label things as Special Offer as they're hardly ever a special offer.

 

[Brunomatost]

RX 580's not really worth it over a 570. It's £60 more. Change it either to the RX 570 to save money, or the RX 590 / GTX 1660 to get more performance - and more performance per £. The RX 580 has no place in the market at that price.

Edit: I really do wish PCS didn't label things as Special Offer as they're hardly ever a special offer.

I'll keep the £570 as in terms of price vs what I get will make more sense.

Can you also recommend a monitor that is good so I can compare with others and see what should I be looking at when choosing the monitor.

Thank You

 

[Oussebon]

I've not read the whole thread, so apols if missing something, but taking a quick scan:

I’m looking into a machine that will be mainly used for photoshop / gaming & VR

Something that hopefully will last for at least 5 years and I’ll be fine playing whatever comes.

Just to be clear:
1) You shouldn't buy a GPU today on the basis that you'll keep it for 5 years. You might, depends what future games you play, but it's not good as a specific strategy
2) The RX570 is great value, but quite mid-range these days. It will play demanding modern titles medium-high. Some titles can be surprisingly demanding like the new Borderlands:
https://www.pcgamer.com/uk/borderla...settings-benchmarks-and-performance-analysis/
Where despite the art style, you're still looking at medium-high at best.
3) It's not well placed for VR gaming. It can do it, but it's not ideal. For that, ideally 1660 ti +. If your VR isn't VR gaming, then you might be fine.

For that setup, you may as well keep your current monitors. It wouldn't be worth the ~£100-£130 to just buy a slightly different/better variation of the same.