New to pc gaming advice

Chris100

Chris100

Chris100

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Joined
12 Oct 2019
Posts
10
Hi,
So, I’m looking at venturing into the world of pc gaming. I have only gamed on consoles previously and the wealth of options pc has available is confusing at best, I have done quite a bit of research as to what components are required for a gaming pc but haven’t chosen specific parts.
I plan on building it myself which is probably my first mistake.
I was hoping I could ask a few questions on here to work towards a spec.
Gaming resolution is my first query, my aim would be either 1080p or 1440p at 144Hz, i understand 1440p requires more powerful hardware but,
Is the difference between them noticeable?

What level of GPU would be required to hit both resolutions on high settings?

Is 1080p just a more reliable resolution for different games? (From what I’ve seen on YouTube some games run a lot better than others,FPS wise)

What size monitor would people recommend for each resolution?

Sorry for the wall of text, I’m also a forum noob, any help will be greatly appreciated.
 
Welcome...

First of all don't panic when it comes to building it yourself, take your time with it, there's plenty of videos around to help you along and plenty of people on here that will help you if you get stuck etc...

What sort of budget do you have in mind for the build? A nice solid CPU and GPU paired will hit the 1440p sweet spot if you have a great enough budget to work with
 
First of all welcome the forums!

2nd building your own pc isn't a mistake it's a right of passage!

1440p is in my opinion the sweet spot for gaming, linus tech tips did a good video on YouTube showcasing the different resolutions a while ago. And it is a big upgrade to 1080p.

27" monitors seem to be the standard really.

Most importantly how much do you want to spend? A grand would likely get you a good 1080p system without a monitor etc

Do you just intend to game or will it be used for productivity?
 
Thank you,
Good to hear I’m doing the right thing, just feels a little more personal if that doesn’t sound too stupid.
It would primarily be gaming.
As for budget that’s always a tricky one, The goal posts generally move a lot with me, £1500 plus or minus a few hundred I guess , not including the monitor.
I would always prefer to spend a little extra if it’s going to help towards future proofing? If there is such a thing..
 
Example spec based on your input.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,832.72 (includes shipping: £15.90)​
​

The Nitro+ is a very solid and quiet card, considered the best along with PowerColor Red Devil and now the MSI Gaming X which has surprised (me at least) with how well it's reviewing compared to their cheaper 5700XT offerings.

I have no idea about that new Asus TUF monitor, haven't seen reviews yet. But Asus do make good monitors, so worth looking into among other 27" 1440p 144HZ+ IPS Freesync (+ Gsync compatible) options.

You can find an NVME M.2 SSD 1TB called the Sabrent Rocket elsewhere for close to the same price as the placeholder in the above spec.

550W PSU would cut it or 650W but OcUK prices on those aren't great this minute so just went for a 750W.

You can go for 6 core Ryzen 3600 but you mentioned a bit of future-proofing if possible. A couple more cores and extra threads tend to make a system last longer so no need to upgrade so often.

This particular mobo is very solid for the money but you may need to flash the BIOS before fitting the CPU (it has BIOS Flashback utility which allows this).

As for Windows 10, research a bit and find a reliable grey key vendor.
 
I don't think you need 1440p at 144Hz. I just made the upgrade myself and I can say it's noticeable but definitely not worth the huge jump in price to obtain it, unless you're into competitive twitch shooters. Get a nice active sync monitor, IPS if you game in a well lit room or VA if you game in the dark. I moved to a 32" monitor and it's lovely to have the real estate but it depends on the space you have.

Another money burner is Ray Tracing, don't get enticed with a system that's capable of that tech because it's not worth the hype.
 
Thanks for the responses,
Ive been trying to figure out how to reply to each person, but ive failed :)
@Danny75 , Thanks for the parts list, is flashing the bios pretty straightforward?
@trentlad, thanks for the monitor info, do you mean staying at 1440p but not necessarily 144hz?
 
comparable spec for a lot less money, board supports ryzen 3000 out of the box, so no flashing needed

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,214.53 (includes shipping: £14.70)
​
 
Colossus20 said:
What is the difference between:
MSI Radeon RX 5700 XT MECH OC 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card
Sapphire Radeon RX 5700 XT Nitro+ 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card
??
Click to expand...

Nitro+ has dual BIOS and a much better cooler resulting in 10 degrees cooler or more for most components in it. Can be made very quiet too.

Performance-wise there's nothing in it. So just comes down to personal choice in choosing to pay the extra for the better cooling and quiet, or not. I would. Those £40 are peanuts over a few years, if you use your PC often and have to put up with noise/heat.
 
trentlad said:
I don't think you need 1440p at 144Hz. I just made the upgrade myself and I can say it's noticeable but definitely not worth the huge jump in price to obtain it, unless you're into competitive twitch shooters. Get a nice active sync monitor, IPS if you game in a well lit room or VA if you game in the dark. I moved to a 32" monitor and it's lovely to have the real estate but it depends on the space you have.

Another money burner is Ray Tracing, don't get enticed with a system that's capable of that tech because it's not worth the hype.
Click to expand...

I'm going to have to dispute that!

I went from 60hz to a 1440p/144hz monitor and its absolutely night and day. For any gamer playing FPS games, it's a must have in the arsenal. My brother borrowed my screen to pair with his 980Ti and he was totally blown away by the difference and improvement gsync has made for gaming.

100% you want to invest in a 120/144hz screen at 1440p with Gsync.
 
Op do not use 1080p it is junk in comparison, go for 1440p and you won't regret it pal. After playing on 1440p you would never go back, unless ofcourse you have sight issues or something, world of difference. I wouldn't even let my 10 year old son use 1080p when I built his rig.
 
Thanks for the input everyone, I may put a list together and post on here before pulling the trigger..
I just need to make sure I focus my budget on components that actually make a difference, keep getting distracted by all the shiny RGB..
 
I have been following this thread, and I get so confused with what hardware to focus on for gaming PCs, but the build seems solid, in my newbie eyes. I know it was not directed to me, but thanks everyone for your time and recommendations. I might copy your build Chris100 if thats is ok?
 
snips86x said:
I'm going to have to dispute that.. I went from 60hz to a 1440p/144hz monitor and its absolutely night and day... playing FPS games, it's a must have in the arsenal... My brother borrowed my screen to pair with his 980Ti and he was totally blown away by the difference and improvement gsync
Click to expand...

It's definitely a difficult choice, if you have the cash then there's no issue but if you're gaming on a budget it's absolutely not necessary.

The cost to achieve is huge, it's big money for a mobo/CPU/GPU that can achieve over 140 FPS at a 1440p resolution not to mention a quality gaming screen with g-sync. To most who enjoy playing at 60Hz a little extra cash would be better spent on a visually stunning screen rather than a fortune to get that butter smooth play on new titles and pushing your system close to it's limit.
 
trentlad said:
It's definitely a difficult choice, if you have the cash then there's no issue but if you're gaming on a budget it's absolutely not necessary.

The cost to achieve is huge, it's big money for a mobo/CPU/GPU that can achieve over 140 FPS at a 1440p resolution not to mention a quality gaming screen with g-sync. To most who enjoy playing at 60Hz a little extra cash would be better spent on a visually stunning screen rather than a fortune to get that butter smooth play on new titles and pushing your system close to it's limit.
Click to expand...

It's not about maintaining 140fps constantly though. It's about removing the ghosting, tearing and input lag that comes with traditional 60hz monitors and fast paced games. When playing D2 I'd be lucky to get anything over 90fps outside of cut-scenes but since the experience is smooth and seamless, I have no issue with getting frames under 100fps.
 
Colossus20 said:
I have been following this thread, and I get so confused with what hardware to focus on for gaming PCs, but the build seems solid, in my newbie eyes. I know it was not directed to me, but thanks everyone for your time and recommendations. I might copy your build Chris100 if thats is ok?
Click to expand...
Still not sure how to reply, I’ve pressed quote so let’s see what that does..:)
Feel free to use the whatever you like, be interested to see which build you go for.
 
snips86x said:
It's not about maintaining 140fps constantly though. It's about removing the ghosting, tearing and input lag that comes with traditional 60hz monitors and fast paced games. When playing D2 I'd be lucky to get anything over 90fps outside of cut-scenes but since the experience is smooth and seamless, I have no issue with getting frames under 100fps.
Click to expand...

I'm a quake player and have been all over the Titanfall series as well as the Unreal Tournament reboot so I play my fair share of twitch shooters but I used to play just fine at 60Hz. It's input lag that gets you, stick on g-sync and you'll loose 3 x 58.1ms each time it syncs frames never mind other items causing lag in your setup. Tearing wasn't really an issue, I had high FPS and ghosting wasn't ever an issue with my previous monitors.

OP is used to consoles and more importantly he's on a budget so, coming from a fan of twitch shooters, I'd say save the cash and put a little of it towards a decent monitor unless you're thinking of competing in twitch shooters specifically.
 
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