New gaming build for housemate

Sampsy

Sampsy

Sampsy

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31 Mar 2010
Posts
790
Hi there, I haven't been following parts very closely for a while so was looking for some advice for my housemate's new build. It's primarily to be a gaming machine & she enjoys fromsoft games (Dark Souls, Elden Ring etc). She already has a case, some RAM & a 4k monitor but needs the other components.

Her budget altogether including the items she already has is ~£1200.

She's put together a part list on pc part picker but here is an approximate match on ocuk (not sure if it breaks the rules linking to it).

She already has this case & ram:

She already has

Total: £171.24​


She's looking to buy

Total: £1,135.34​
 
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OK can you let us know what region you are in and if there are any particular supply issues that means you cannot get more upto date components. There is no real reason to buy an i7 11700k for £330 and your friend should be looking to build a 13th gen system around a 13600k/13700k or even an AM5 7600x/7700x system. If funds are really tight and she absolutely wants to reuse the DDR4 then you can build 12th/13th gen intel system with it in or even AM4 and all of those options are better than 11th gen Intel.

Here is an alternative build. Would need be Win11 to make the most of the P and E cores in the 13th gen cpu.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £1,225.03 (includes delivery: £11.10)​



​

The 3060 is really not good value and Rx 6600 offers far better bang for buck but I put it in as a placeholder. In UK look for the 3060ti FE from Nv being in stock and if you can get one of those it is the best value Nv gpu.
 
Haz123 said:
OK can you let us know what region you are in and if there are any particular supply issues that means you cannot get more upto date components. There is no real reason to buy an i7 11700k for £330 and your friend should be looking to build a 13th gen system around a 13600k/13700k or even an AM5 7600x/7700x system. If funds are really tight and she absolutely wants to reuse the DDR4 then you can build 12th/13th gen intel system with it in or even AM4 and all of those options are better than 11th gen Intel.

Here is an alternative build. Would need be Win11 to make the most of the P and E cores in the 13th gen cpu.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £1,225.03 (includes delivery: £11.10)​

​
​
​

The 3060 is really not good value and Rx 6600 offers far better bang for buck but I put it in as a placeholder. In UK look for the 3060ti FE from Nv being in stock and if you can get one of those it is the best value Nv gpu.
Click to expand...

She actually clarified the budget is 1200 including the cost of the parts she already has, so this will be a bit over.

I did think the CPU could have been a bit better though and it does look like the 13600kf is better bang for buck today. The problem is z790 motherboards with wifi are substantially more expensive and that eats up quite a lot of the budget.
 
11th gen were to hot and power hungry for the performance they delivered. If the cost needs to come down no problem, there are 12th gen and AM4 builds to consider and you can get very good performance at great value at moment.
 
Heres an AM4 build. 8 cores and also wifi mobo if thats what you need. It does have leeway to get a better gpu and a step upto a 6700xt 3060ti or 3070 is substantial and is best use of the budget , 3060 is not worth the price.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £1,058.99 (includes delivery: £11.10)​



​
 
I've actually managed to source a very cheap x570 board so will probably go that route which frees the budget up a bit.

Out of the following which do you think makes most sense?
  • 3080 for ~£700 with a 5600x for ~£165
  • RTX 3070 for ~510 with a 5700x/5800x for ~£230
Obviously the 3080 bundle costs a bit more, but would the 3080 get bottlenecked hard by the 3600x?
 
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If you already have an X570 then the 5600 for £140 is a great deal. I should have recommended it above tbh. If you can get a 3080 for £700 then it is a great gpu and is a very good choice for 4k. When gaming at 4k a 3600x will be absolutely fine , cpu makes very little difference at that high a resolution but a 5600 is a significantly better cpu for gaming than 3600x.
 
Haz123 said:
If you already have an X570 then the 5600 for £140 is a great deal. I should have recommended it above tbh. If you can get a 3080 for £700 then it is a great gpu and is a very good choice for 4k. When gaming at 4k a 3600x will be absolutely fine , cpu makes very little difference at that high a resolution but a 5600 is a significantly better cpu for gaming than 3600x.
Click to expand...

Hah I'm making typos all over the place in this thread. I meant a 5600x not a 3600x. Sounds like that's a good plan though, thanks!
 
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