Black Friday (or Christmas) build £1.5-2k

[Carth]

My current PC has served me well but I want to build a new one to play the latest games. I want to take advantage of sales if possible so I'm hoping to put together some possible specs in advance.

I don't have a fixed budget. I'm currently thinking a ballpark of £1500-£2000, it depends on if it's worth spending more. I can stretch further but generally don't think it's worth buying a component that costs twice as much unless the performance would be twice as much.

Is GeForce 4070 the safest bet for the graphics card? I would prefer to stick with Nvidia. I will be using 1080p, no need for 4k gaming.

For CPU, Ryzen 7 or 9, or Core i7 or i9... I don't know if it's worth paying the extra. Ryzen 7 9800X3D seems like the best bang for buck from what I've read so far.

Can anyone give me some pointers or build suggestions?

 

[freddie64]

How about this for a ball park build? (some items are on pre-order)

At the low end of your budget, so if you want to make changes it should come within your top budget.

Still hoping for the 7800X3D to drop in price more, but that might happen when the 9800X3D is more readily available.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £419.99
• 1 x MSI MAG B650 Tomahawk WIFI (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-375-MS) = £159.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance EXPO/XMP 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRS-00996) = £89.99
• 1 x Crucial T500 2TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-01090) = £133.99
• 1 x Zotac GeForce RTX 4070 Super Twin Edge 12Gb Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-ZTC-01499) = £548.99
• 1 x Asus TUF Gaming 750W 80 Plus Gold Power Supply (SKU: CA-061-AS) = £79.99
• 1 x Arctic Freezer 36 120m Black CPU Cooler - 2x 120mm (SKU: COO-ARC-02420) = £23.00
• 1 x Montech AIR 903 Base Midi-Tower Tempered Glass - Black (SKU: CAS-MON-01227) = £49.99

Total: £1,505.93 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

 

[mickyflinn]

Why 1080p ?

1440p is the sweet spot for gaming and easy achievable with your budget .

 

[Tetras]

Is GeForce 4070 the safest bet for the graphics card? I would prefer to stick with Nvidia. I will be using 1080p, no need for 4k gaming.

It is plenty powerful enough for 1080p, but really needs to be under £450, since you can get a more powerful (in raster) 7800 XT for ~£400. If it is over £500, then the 4070 Super is a better bet.

For CPU, Ryzen 7 or 9, or Core i7 or i9... I don't know if it's worth paying the extra. Ryzen 7 9800X3D seems like the best bang for buck from what I've read so far.

9800X3D is the best performing CPU for gaming. I'd only get a Ryzen 9 if you do a lot of productivity stuff. If the 7800X3D falls in price significantly it will be better value, but not much sign of that so far.

Intel 12th-14th gen CPUs are available at some competitive prices, but with your budget there's not much point taking the risk with getting a dud.

The Core Ultra CPUs are currently too inconsistent at gaming to recommend, but might improve with software and BIOS updates and lower prices.

 

[Carth]

Why 1080p ?

1440p is the sweet spot for gaming and easy achievable with your budget .

I just don't care about it and have no intention of buying new monitors. I mean, if I ever did buy new monitors then I guess the PC I'm building would be able to handle a higher resolution, but it's not a priority since I know I won't be using it right now.

Thanks for the replies, I have some ideas now. I'll see what is on offer later in the month and figure out how much I want to spend.

 

[freddie64]

I just don't care about it and have no intention of buying new monitors. I mean, if I ever did buy new monitors then I guess the PC I'm building would be able to handle a higher resolution, but it's not a priority since I know I won't be using it right now.

Thanks for the replies, I have some ideas now. I'll see what is on offer later in the month and figure out how much I want to spend.

That's fair enough re the monitor, although i don't think i could go back to 1080p now.

To add to the build i specced. Seeing as it is at the lower end of your budget, you could get a second NVME for a games drive.

IE a 4TB drive.

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x Crucial T500 4TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-02889) = £260.99

Total: £264.98 (includes delivery: £3.99)​