New pc or laptop advice

Marc Berry

Marc Berry

Marc Berry

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Joined
2 Jun 2018
Posts
35
Hi all

Firstly it's been a number of years since i built a pc myself so I'm not sure if i trust myself to do it, especially with what I'd likely pay for the parts and risk me messing it up so I've wondered if it's possible to get a prebuilt pc without too much mark up from the builders.

Budget between £1500-£2000 possibly buying about mid-May.

Main uses are my younger son (17 yo) gaming, various games, on a 32 inch 1080p curved monitor. Also i just edited and exported a gopro video from our recent holiday using the existing pc mentioned below. Admittedly it's 4k and 3hrs long but took 10 hours to export!

The current pc is really old, Ryzen 5 cpu, geforce 1060 gpu, 32gb ram. Main OS drive is an ssd and also has newer m.2 drive.

From a little research i think we're definitely looking for a 5070 ti and due to buying in about May hopefully the prices come down and stock gets better. Possibly with a newer AMD cpu.

Any thoughts and especially recommendations welcome, cheers, Marc.
 
If you've built one before you can do it again. In fact I think it is easier now because cases and parts are better designed.

For that budget I would go with a 9800x3d and AM5 platform with a 9070xt. You can get the 5070ti of course but it's a bit more expensive.

Edit: since you're only after 1080p as well, this will be overkill even but if you wanted to get a better screen later you could do.
 
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ezekial said:
If you've built one before you can do it again. In fact I think it is easier now because cases and parts are better designed.

For that budget I would go with a 9800x3d and AM5 platform with a 9070xt. You can get the 5070ti of course but it's a bit more expensive.
Click to expand...
Thanks mate.

I think we definitely want to stretch to the 5070 ti so the 9800x3d cpu?

Nice to get some confidence with my skills but you believe in them more than me
 
Personally, I think if you want to game then a desktop is going to give you far better value than a laptop. A fairly big case is easier than a small one, with less chance you find your gpu or cooler won't fit. If you build yourself, invest time in watching videos. I found it quite stressful building a machine a couple of years ago. I think it is easier than it used to be but plan carefully and think everything through twice. Check twice, put your cpu in the right way.
I think people who build regularly underestimate the number of things a newbie can not know.

I would think twice about top end GPU ( or CPU). If you only take a single 3 hour vid a year then does it really matter how long it takes to export? Do you really need your game settings maxed out?
 
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andy o said:
Personally, I think if you want to game then a desktop is going to give you far better value than a laptop. A fairly big case is easier than a small one, with less chance you find your gpu or cooler won't fit. If you build yourself, invest time in watching videos. I found it quite stressful building a machine a couple of years ago. I think it is easier than it used to be but plan carefully and think everything through twice. Check twice, put your cpu in the right way.
I think people who build regularly underestimate the number of things a newbie can not know.

I would think twice about top end GPU ( or CPU). If you only take a single 3 hour vid a year then does it really matter how long it takes to export? Do you really need your game settings maxed out?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the info mate.

Yeah i agree we'll get more for our money going for a desktop.

My son's been a champ while all his friends have faster pcs he's just kept it to himself about being left behind and not moaned, only commenting sometimes it would be nice to be able to game a bit better so i want to do it for him.

My older son has a laptop that isn't powerful but is about 2 years old so slightly out performs the pc.
 
Marc Berry said:
Firstly it's been a number of years since i built a pc myself so I'm not sure if i trust myself to do it, especially with what I'd likely pay for the parts and risk me messing it up so I've wondered if it's possible to get a prebuilt pc without too much mark up from the builders.

Budget between £1500-£2000 possibly buying about mid-May.
Click to expand...
I can't see anything on OCUK within your budget that would include the desired 5070 Ti.

This is the closest I could get (note the spec changes):

My basket at OcUK:
  • 1 x AMD Ryzen - Monster Hunter Wilds Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-04648) = £0.00
  • 1 x OcUK Gaming Khopesh - AMD Ryzen 7 7700X RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC (SKU: FS-124-OG) = £2,066.94
    • Case: 1 x Kolink Observatory Y Mesh ARGB Midi Tower Gaming Case - Black Window
    • Processor: 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Six Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail
    • Memory: 1 x Kingston FURY Beast EXPO 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C36 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KF556C36BBEK2-32)
    • Cooler: 1 x Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360 Core II ARGB All In One Liquid CPU Cooler - 360mm
    • Graphics Card: 1 x *Build* Palit GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Pro OC 16GB GDDR7 Graphics Card
    • M.2 Solid State Drive: 1 x WD Blue SN580 1TB SSD NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 Solid State Drive
    • Operating System: 1 x Build Stock Microsoft Windows 11 Home Advanced - Systems

Total: £2,066.94 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

Marc Berry said:
The current pc is really old, Ryzen 5 cpu, geforce 1060 gpu, 32gb ram. Main OS drive is an ssd and also has newer m.2 drive.
Click to expand...
Marc Berry said:
Main uses are my younger son (17 yo) gaming, various games, on a 32 inch 1080p curved monitor. Also i just edited and exported a gopro video from our recent holiday using the existing pc mentioned below. Admittedly it's 4k and 3hrs long but took 10 hours to export!
Click to expand...
The great thing about AM4 is that you can do huge CPU upgrades for the same platform. So, you could potentially upgrade that instead.
 
Tetras said:
I can't see anything on OCUK within your budget that would include the desired 5070 Ti.

This is the closest I could get (note the spec changes):

My basket at OcUK:
  • 1 x AMD Ryzen - Monster Hunter Wilds Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-04648) = £0.00
  • 1 x OcUK Gaming Khopesh - AMD Ryzen 7 7700X RTX 5070 Ti Gaming PC (SKU: FS-124-OG) = £2,066.94
    • Case: 1 x Kolink Observatory Y Mesh ARGB Midi Tower Gaming Case - Black Window
    • Processor: 1 x AMD Ryzen 5 7600X Six Core 5.30GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail
    • Memory: 1 x Kingston FURY Beast EXPO 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C36 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KF556C36BBEK2-32)
    • Cooler: 1 x Cooler Master MasterLiquid 360 Core II ARGB All In One Liquid CPU Cooler - 360mm
    • Graphics Card: 1 x *Build* Palit GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Pro OC 16GB GDDR7 Graphics Card
    • M.2 Solid State Drive: 1 x WD Blue SN580 1TB SSD NVME M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 Solid State Drive
    • Operating System: 1 x Build Stock Microsoft Windows 11 Home Advanced - Systems

Total: £2,066.94 (includes delivery: £0.00)​



The great thing about AM4 is that you can do huge CPU upgrades for the same platform. So, you could potentially upgrade that instead.
Click to expand...
 
Marc Berry said:
Thanks mate, I'm hoping some prices reduce by may and get closer to my budget
Click to expand...
If you build it yourself, then it is enough already.

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £1,974.84 (includes delivery: £0.00)​
 
AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core 5.20GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail
PRO-AMD-03517
£540 (incl. VAT)
£425 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
MSI B850 GAMING PLUS WIFI (AMD AM5) B850 ATX Motherboard
MOT-MSI-03994
£190 (incl. VAT)
£170 (incl. VAT)
FREE DELIVERY
Find out more
TeamGroup Vulcan EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C38 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (FLABD532G6000HC38ADC01)
MY-0B2-TG
£120 (incl. VAT)
£80 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Palit GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Gaming Pro 16GB GDDR7 PCI-Express Graphics Card
GRA-PAL-04300
£740 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Crucial T500 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive
STO-CRU-01090
£155 (incl. VAT)
£132 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Lian Li Lancool 216 Mid-tower PC case - Black
CA-7BG-LL
£86 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Asus TUF Gaming 1000W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply
CA-05Z-AS
£160 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Corsair NAUTILUS 360 RS All In One CPU Cooler - 360mm
COO-CRS-03514
£110 (incl. VAT)
Find out more
Thanks mate.

Is there anything new i should keep in mind when building if i go that route? Anything new with windows, anything to do with the bios?

I've built maybe 3 pcs in the past and upgraded the first one many times years back but it's been that long a don't have much clue apart from the physical aspects like thermal paste, cable routing etc.

I'm also wondering. I realise the benefit of higher spec cpus and gpus if you want to pay more. But on a configurator i was just checking there's so many options that it's tempting to constantly go for a higher option, even down to the AIO. One was 120w tdp and was the 'suggested' one yet the further options went well over 250w tdp in which case it made me wonder if the 120w tdp was enough.

I've also not been on the scene sufficiently lately to know what's happening with cases now that optical drives and HDD cages most likely won't be needed, is there any specific case that is getting a lot of hype for practicality against price.

I think I'd also want a single 32gb stick so i could add a second 32gb later as it's unlikely that I'd need more than 64gb and 32gb world be enough to start with I'm sure.

My mind boggles
 
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Marc Berry said:
Is there anything new i should keep in mind when building if i go that route? Anything new with windows, anything to do with the bios?
Click to expand...
Not that I can think of.

Marc Berry said:
I'm also wondering. I realise the benefit of higher spec cpus and gpus if you want to pay more. But on a configurator i was just checking there's so many options that it's tempting to constantly go for a higher option, even down to the AIO. One was 120w tdp and was the 'suggested' one yet the further options went well over 250w tdp in which case it made me wonder if the 120w tdp was enough.
Click to expand...
You don't even need an AIO for the 9800X3D, a peerless assassin/phantom spirit can handle it fine, but the case (Lian Li 216) can support either option. TPU's review of the 9800X3D had it @ 65 watt average in games and 88 average in applications.

Marc Berry said:
I've also not been on the scene sufficiently lately to know what's happening with cases now that optical drives and HDD cages most likely won't be needed, is there any specific case that is getting a lot of hype for practicality against price.
Click to expand...
The Lian Li reviewed well, nothing wrong with it and £85 for the non-RGB version is reasonable (comes with enough stock cooling fans for almost all builds too).


Fish bowl cases are popular now, you could look at Antec's C5 ARGB which includes 7x120mm fans (makes it good value). Antec's Flux has been reviewing well too:


Marc Berry said:
I think I'd also want a single 32gb stick so i could add a second 32gb later as it's unlikely that I'd need more than 64gb and 32gb world be enough to start with I'm sure.
Click to expand...
Not recommended. You'd lose performance by running in single channel and there's no guarantee the extra stick would run happily, even if it was the exact same model (because they may change the memory chips, among other things).

If you want 64GB, I'd just buy it now, or alternatively get a 48GB kit if you're not happy with 32GB.
 
andy o said:
Personally, I think if you want to game then a desktop is going to give you far better value than a laptop. A fairly big case is easier than a small one, with less chance you find your gpu or cooler won't fit. If you build yourself, invest time in watching videos. I found it quite stressful building a machine a couple of years ago. I think it is easier than it used to be but plan carefully and think everything through twice. Check twice, put your cpu in the right way.
I think people who build regularly underestimate the number of things a newbie can not know.

I would think twice about top end GPU ( or CPU). If you only take a single 3 hour vid a year then does it really matter how long it takes to export? Do you really need your game settings maxed out?
Click to expand...
having 2 teenage kids, 1 18 and 1 turned 16 a week ago....it doesn't take long for them to gravitate from simple games happy at 1080p to wanting a nuclear powered monster crushing 4k...I'd stick with a 9070xt...a better monitor can be next years present then..one thing less to think about
 
Marc Berry said:
Just been looking at the 9070 xt gpu too. Seems to compare with the 5070 ti
Click to expand...
They're pretty good against the 5070 Ti in raster, but they do lose in ray tracing and power efficiency. If you can get a 9070 XT at the price it is supposed to be, I'd take one, but the cards that are pushing 650-700 and higher are a harder sell if the 5070 Ti is reasonably priced. That said, I wouldn't pay £900+ or £1000 (ha) for a 5070 Ti either.
 
Still gathering my thoughts and options with this ready for a couple of months from now.

So i like the sound of an AIO over an air cooler mainly due to the bulky nature of the air coolers. Do they ever break and allow liquid into your components?

Also, i have a windows 10 licence on the existing PC, can this be transferred over to the new PC if i downloaded windows 11 on the new one? If not, What's the cheapest legal way to get windows 11 with a full license?
 
Marc Berry said:
Do they ever break and allow liquid into your components?
Click to expand...
very rare, but it happens. if you want 100% reliability then stick with an air cooler (ie only the fan can fail)
with an aio, the pump can fail, the coolant can leak and the fan can fail, so more points of failure than an air cooler

Marc Berry said:
What's the cheapest legal way to get windows 11 with a full license?
Click to expand...
we can sort this out when you get here :)
 
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