PC to return into Gaming

[Mr Bobi]

Hi all,
I'm 35, 20 years ago I was a big time gamer. I want to go back into gaming but my laptop is not holding well even old games like Star Craft 2.
My good friend says I need to buy a computer worth £1500-£2000, but I'm not sold yet that this is really what I need. I dont have a defined budget, I'm happy to spend £500-£800 on a computer that would last me 2-3 years. But I'm also willing to find the courage to spend £1000-£2000 on a computer that would help me return to my love of playing.

I'm not up to date with new and cool games so I will just mention what I loved in the past - Star Craft, Warcraft, Diablo (basically anything Blizzard). I've also loved Theme Hospital, Tropico, Medieval Total War, Black and White, Tiberian Sun, Age of Empires and such (P.S if you have recommendations for games that are like those but new...let me know).

I also dont know what to decide about:
1. DDR4 vs DDR5 (worth the money to have the upgrade?)How much GB?
2. Ryzen 5/7/9 or Intel?
3. Nvidia - but what series and how much GB?
4. I have a Dell Curved screen, OK I will use that?

Thanks!

 

[SpyderTracks]

Hi all,
I'm 35, 20 years ago I was a big time gamer. I want to go back into gaming but my laptop is not holding well even old games like Star Craft 2.
My good friend says I need to buy a computer worth £1500-£2000, but I'm not sold yet that this is really what I need. I dont have a defined budget, I'm happy to spend £500-£800 on a computer that would last me 2-3 years. But I'm also willing to find the courage to spend £1000-£2000 on a computer that would help me return to my love of playing.

I'm not up to date with new and cool games so I will just mention what I loved in the past - Star Craft, Warcraft, Diablo (basically anything Blizzard). I've also loved Theme Hospital, Tropico, Medieval Total War, Black and White, Tiberian Sun, Age of Empires and such (P.S if you have recommendations for games that are like those but new...let me know).

I also dont know what to decide about:
1. DDR4 vs DDR5 (worth the money to have the upgrade?)How much GB?
2. Ryzen 5/7/9 or Intel?
3. Nvidia - but what series and how much GB?
4. I have a Dell Curved screen, OK I will use that?

Thanks!

Any properly configured computer will last 7 - 10 years with a couple of GPU upgrades during that time, we wouldn't recommend anything below this kind of level as they actually cost far more (as they last a fraction of the proper lifetime due to not being upgradeable) and offer poor performance anyway

It's roughly starting prices of:

1080p: £1500
1440p: £1800
4k: £2300

Obviously you need a monitor to match, they start around:

1080p: £200
1440p: £300
4k: £500

If you can let us know the model number of the Dell screen? It will be on a label on the rear most likely or you can look it up in the OSD

Then let us know your maximum budget for the PC and the monitor if you require one and we can put something together.

 

[TonyCarter]

What monitor model is the Dell (exact model number, or the resolution & refresh rate please) as that will determine your entry-point price.

Just so that you're aware, the only way you'll get back into gaming with a sub-£1000 budget is with a PS5 Pro.

1080p build are coming in over £1500; 1440p builds are coming in over £2k...and is where the clever money is going at the moment.

 

[Mr Bobi]

Thank you! This is my screen Model - Dell U3419W. I dont mind to change it someday in the future if needed. It's

resolution

QHD Wide 1440p

Brand	‎Dell
Product Dimensions	‎22.63 x 81.36 x 53.19 cm; 8.2 kg
Item model number	‎U3419w
Manufacturer	‎Dell
Series	‎U3419W
Colour	‎black
Standing screen display size	‎34 Inches
Screen Resolution	‎3440x1440
Resolution	‎3440 x 1440 Pixels
Number of USB 3.0 Ports	‎6
Number of HDMI Ports	‎2
Wattage	‎41 watts
Are Batteries Included	‎No
Lithium Battery Energy Content	‎60 Watt Hours

 

[Mr Bobi]

Any properly configured computer will last 7 - 10 years with a couple of GPU upgrades during that time, we wouldn't recommend anything below this kind of level as they actually cost far more (as they last a fraction of the proper lifetime due to not being upgradeable) and offer poor performance anyway

It's roughly starting prices of:

1080p: £1500
1440p: £1800
4k: £2300

Obviously you need a monitor to match, they start around:

1080p: £200
1440p: £300
4k: £500

If you can let us know the model number of the Dell screen? It will be on a label on the rear most likely or you can look it up in the OSD

Then let us know your maximum budget for the PC and the monitor if you require one and we can put something together.

Thank you, it's 1440P.
I dont know my budget, I think it would be sensible to say I should have something that I can upgrade the GPU in 5 years instead of changing the whole computer if that makes sense. If you can give me a Mid-Range and High-Range that would be great.

 

[Mr Bobi]

What monitor model is the Dell (exact model number, or the resolution & refresh rate please) as that will determine your entry-point price.

Just so that you're aware, the only way you'll get back into gaming with a sub-£1000 budget is with a PS5 Pro.

1080p build are coming in over £1500; 1440p builds are coming in over £2k...and is where the clever money is going at the moment.

I never liked PS5 or Xbox, tried it, returned both...I would have loved to love it.But I dont.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thank you! This is my screen Model - Dell U3419W. I dont mind to change it someday in the future if needed. It's

resolution

QHD Wide 1440p

Brand	‎Dell
Product Dimensions	‎22.63 x 81.36 x 53.19 cm; 8.2 kg
Item model number	‎U3419w
Manufacturer	‎Dell
Series	‎U3419W
Colour	‎black
Standing screen display size	‎34 Inches
Screen Resolution	‎3440x1440
Resolution	‎3440 x 1440 Pixels
Number of USB 3.0 Ports	‎6
Number of HDMI Ports	‎2
Wattage	‎41 watts
Are Batteries Included	‎No
Lithium Battery Energy Content	‎60 Watt Hours

That’s a business monitor, 60hz and no Variable refresh rate, it wouldn’t be suitable for gaming.

What would your budget be for a monitor?

 

[SpyderTracks]

Thank you, it's 1440P.
I dont know my budget, I think it would be sensible to say I should have something that I can upgrade the GPU in 5 years instead of changing the whole computer if that makes sense. If you can give me a Mid-Range and High-Range that would be great.

Everyone has a budget, we just your max to be able to work to, otherwise we would build a 4k top of the range at about £10k plus a £3k monitor because why would anyone get a mid range when they can have the best?

 

[AccidentalDenz]

I'm not up to date with new and cool games so I will just mention what I loved in the past - Star Craft, Warcraft, Diablo (basically anything Blizzard). I've also loved Theme Hospital, Tropico, Medieval Total War, Black and White, Tiberian Sun, Age of Empires and such (P.S if you have recommendations for games that are like those but new...let me know).

Thanks!

I can point you in the direction of a few games that you might like. I can even give you free Steam keys for some of those games.

I'll let the spec peeps do their thing first and sort out the games later on.

 

[Mr Bobi]

Everyone has a budget, we just your max to be able to work to, otherwise we would build a 4k top of the range at about £10k plus a £3k monitor because why would anyone get a mid range when they can have the best?

Top of budget would be £2K, would be more comfortable closer to £1K with something that is strong enough and upgradable enough for the future - Future proof.

 

[SpyderTracks]

Top of budget would be £2K, would be more comfortable closer to £1K with something that is strong enough and upgradable enough for the future - Future proof.

As already said £1500 is bare minimum entry level

Is that just for the PC, or including the monitor, or is the monitor separate and if so, how much?

 

[Mr Bobi]

As already said £1500 is bare minimum entry level

Is that just for the PC, or including the monitor, or is the monitor separate and if so, how much?

I will need to be convinced to replace my monitor after I buy the PC and understand the issue. I’m not sold that such an expensive monitor like the one I have is “only” for business…I did play games in the past with a CRT screen, so I don’t know how much will I notice the difference between my current Dell and a new screen.

P.S I did spend much on a Sony OLED TV (£2000) - and honestly I don’t see the difference between it and the cheaper models.

 

[SpyderTracks]

I will need to be convinced to replace my monitor after I buy the PC and understand the issue. I’m not sold that such an expensive monitor like the one I have is “only” for business…I did play games in the past with a CRT screen, so I don’t know how much will I notice the difference between my current Dell and a new screen.

P.S I did spend much on a Sony OLED TV (£2000) - and honestly I don’t see the difference between it and the cheaper models.

basic education, in gaming you have whats called FPS (frames per second) that the GPU can push at that resolution.

FPS is the same as HZ on the monitor which how many times the monitor refreshes per second.

If you have a 60hz screen you can only display a maximum of 60fps.

On top of that, you have refresh rate synching on gaming monitors since about 2010, it’s called variable refresh rate. This keeps the hz of the monitor at the same as the current fps the GPU is outputting. This basically eliminates what’s called screen tearing which is half the screen is on one picture while other side has the next frame loaded and you get a tear in between.

It would also suffer from bad ghosting as it's designed for static images.

60fps is not considered gaming in any way these days. 120hz would be bare minimum for gaming even on a console

That screen has one market as it’s colour accurate but only 60hz, it’s designed for image processing and that's really it, the expense of it is purely about the colour accuracy, the rest of it is fairly basic. An equivalent screen without colour accuracy would likely cost around £200 - £250

It would suck for gaming

CRTs had an average refresh rate of around 200hz, it took years before LCD caught up with them

 

[Mr Bobi]

basic education, in gaming you have whats called FPS (frames per second) that the GPU can push at that resolution.

FPS is the same as HZ on the monitor which how many times the monitor refreshes per second.

If you have a 60hz screen you can only display a maximum of 60fps.

On top of that, you have refresh rate synching on gaming monitors since about 2010, it’s called variable refresh rate. This keeps the hz of the monitor at the same as the current fps the GPU is outputting. This basically eliminates what’s called screen tearing which is half the screen is on one picture while other side has the next frame loaded and you get a tear in between.

It would also suffer from bad ghosting as it's designed for static images.

60fps is not considered gaming in any way these days. 120hz would be bare minimum for gaming even on a console

That screen has one market as it’s colour accurate but only 60hz, it’s designed for image processing and that's really it, the expense of it is purely about the colour accuracy, the rest of it is fairly basic. An equivalent screen without colour accuracy would likely cost around £200 - £250

It would suck for gaming

CRTs had an average refresh rate of around 200hz, it took years before LCD caught up with them

After I buy the PC and if I see the need as you say - I will be fine to spend up to £300 for a new screen

 

[Ekans2011]

After I buy the PC and if I see the need as you say - I will be fine to spend up to £300 for a new screen

Unfortunately, that's not how it works; the monitor must match with the system or it will cause bottlenecks and prevent you from using your GPU at full capacity.

As @SpyderTracks mentioned, your Dell is a good business monitor but lacks all of the essential features for gaming purpose, such as refresh rate, HDR, VRR, and response time.

 

[Mr Bobi]

Unfortunately, that's not how it works; the monitor must match with the system or it will cause bottlenecks and prevent you from using your GPU at full capacity.

As @SpyderTracks mentioned, your Dell is a good business monitor but lacks all of the essential features for gaming purpose, such as refresh rate, HDR, VRR, and response time.

So what bundle of PC and Monitor would you recommend for a budget of £1000-£2000?

 

[Ekans2011]

So what bundle of PC and Monitor would you recommend for a budget of £1000-£2000?

Assuming a £2000 budget, here's what I'd go for a decent gaming PC.

N.B. The 9700X is a placeholder for a 9800X3D or 7800X3D CPU when they become available.

Monitor:

1) AOC Q27G4X

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CTXW2VB7

2) ASUS VG27AQL3A

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BRYKPCP5

3) MSI 274QRFW

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CPQ5GHBG

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 205 MESH C GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9700X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.5GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X870 EAGLE WIFI7 (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB XFX RADEON™ RX 7800 XT SWFT 210 - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 3325MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W RMx SHIFT SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR iCUE H115i ELITE CAPELLIX XT RGB High Performance CPU Cooler
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
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
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 4 to 6 working days
Price: £1,847.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/7XP6VxVh3J/

 

[Mr Bobi]

Assuming a £2000 budget, here's what I'd go for a decent gaming PC.

N.B. The 9700X is a placeholder for a 9800X3D or 7800X3D CPU when they become available.

Monitor:

1) AOC Q27G4X

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CTXW2VB7

2) ASUS VG27AQL3A

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BRYKPCP5

3) MSI 274QRFW

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0CPQ5GHBG

Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 205 MESH C GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9700X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.5GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
GIGABYTE X870 EAGLE WIFI7 (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB XFX RADEON™ RX 7800 XT SWFT 210 - HDMI, 3 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 3325MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W RMx SHIFT SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR iCUE H115i ELITE CAPELLIX XT RGB High Performance CPU Cooler
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
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
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 4 to 6 working days
Price: £1,847.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/7XP6VxVh3J/

Thank you!
Would you say that the price of the these processors will go down when the new ones will start to sell?

Also - why did you decide RADEON and not Nvidia?

And for the 2nd drive the fact it’s slower in read/write doesn’t impact anything?

 

[Ekans2011]

Would you say that the price of the these processors will go down when the new ones will start to sell?

Who knows? Maybe or maybe not, I'm not a fortune teller.

Also - why did you decide RADEON and not Nvidia?

Because it's cheaper and you're on tiny budget for a 1440p gaming pc.

And for the 2nd drive the fact it’s slower in read/write doesn’t impact anything?

No, there is no discernible difference in-game.

 

[SimonPeters116]

The small 512Gb is your OS drive. There should be next to nothing else on it.
It's small and fast, to load your OS on bootup and have your opening screen up in under a minute.
The 2TB drive is for other programmes, particularly games and anything else that need fast loading. I have also installed a SATA SSD in mine for other programmes that don't require fast loading, my office programme for example, and the files from them. That can wait, put one on your Christmas list. And an old style HDD for files, photos, music, etc. Things which I don't want to lose.
These are all periodically backed up on an external HDD in a caddy. I already had all of these from previous builds.
HDDs are slow these days, in comparison. But they are reliable. If they start to go, there are warning signs, so you can take any necessary action before it's too late.
Also these M.2 drives get slower (relatively) the fuller they are.

One reason for a purely OS drive is, although these drives are extremely fast and reliable. When they go, they GO, no warning signs.
If your OS drive does go, it's simple and fairly cheap to replace the drive and reinstall your OS.
All your programmes are on the other drives, so nothing needs to be replaced.