Build or buy?

Rebecca Whitlow

Rebecca Whitlow

Rebecca Whitlow

Associate
Joined
11 Jun 2021
Posts
72
Location
Glasgow
If you could buy a 3070 PC already built or buy the parts (and save £100-200). The already build has only ASUS TUF pieces and it takes up to 30 days to arrive. The separate pieces are a mix of brand and is an EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 but I would get it at the end of the week. I build my current PC with my ex's help but aren't very experienced at it. My current partner can do it but he's worried about messing up and breaking everything since I'm spending a lot of money.

Built £1899: COMPONENT DESCRIPTION
Chassis ASUS TUF GT501
Motherboard ASUS TUF GAMING B560-PLUS WIFI
Processor Intel Core i7 11700K, 8C/16T, 3.6GHz – 5.0GHz
CPU Cooler ASUS TUF Gaming LC 240 RGB
Memory 16GB (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 3000MHz DDR4
Graphics Card 8GB ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 TUF GAMING OC
Power Supply 750W ASUS TUF GAMING - 80PLUS
System Drive 1TB WD Blue SN550 M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD

Self build bundle £1589:
Intel Core i7-11700K 11th Gen Rocket Lake 8 Core Processor
Gigabyte Z590 AORUS ELITE AX Socket LGA1200 ATX Motherboard
Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600MHz C18 DDR4 AMD Ryzen Tuned Memory Kit - Black
EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G5 - 750W 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular PSU
EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 XC3 ULTRA GAMING Graphics Card
Windows 10 Home Edition 64Bit - OEM

Plan to get:
MSI MAG CORELIQUID 240R CPU AIO Cooler '240mm Radiator £89.99

I already have a Corsair SPEC-DELTA Carbide Series, Case but I might get a new one with
CiT Flash ARGB PC Gaming Case £39.40


 
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Honestly I'd say built over bought every single time (this is my preference, I get it's not for everyone!) Reason for building my own is just for the satisfaction after cutting knuckles and after picking countless zip tie ends off the floor, turning it on and feeling good lol. It's the same with cars too, could pay a garage to change something simple like discs/pads or spend an hour or 2 doing it yourself. Therapeutic in ways.

Building PC's are a lot easier than most people would think, there's really not much that can go wrong, if you're not confident and can afford the labour then you may as well get a prebuilt!

For the prebuilt, it's only running 3000Mhz ram, and also using a B560. Your self build doesn't include a cooler or NVME in the price so it's probably more similar than you'd think. That Corsair case you already have would be perfect.

Up to you, I think you should try and build it yourself, there's loads of us here who would be happy to help if you're ever stuck!
 
CvrPaddyCvr said:
Honestly I'd say built over bought every single time (this is my preference, I get it's not for everyone!) Reason for building my own is just for the satisfaction after cutting knuckles and after picking countless zip tie ends off the floor, turning it on and feeling good lol. It's the same with cars too, could pay a garage to change something simple like discs/pads or spend an hour or 2 doing it yourself. Therapeutic in ways.

Building PC's are a lot easier than most people would think, there's really not much that can go wrong, if you're not confident and can afford the labour then you may as well get a prebuilt!

For the prebuilt, it's only running 3000Mhz ram, and also using a B560. Your self build doesn't include a cooler or NVME in the price so it's probably more similar than you'd think. That Corsair case you already have would be perfect.

Up to you, I think you should try and build it yourself, there's loads of us here who would be happy to help if you're ever stuck!
Click to expand...


I feel that too! I like the idea of building one myself, going through that effort to achieve something. My partner is just worried about doing something wrong and it not turning on!

The pre built has a an aio water cooler.

I want to try but nervous!
 
In the current market, I'd be surprised if you can beat the price of a 3070 pre-build with a self-build by a few hundred quid.

If you're careful, take your time and follow the instructions, there's not a lot to fear, but would I want to do my first solo build with an 11700k and a 3070? No, I would not.
 
Rebecca Whitlow said:
I feel that too! I like the idea of building one myself, going through that effort to achieve something. My partner is just worried about doing something wrong and it not turning on!

The pre built has a an aio water cooler.

I want to try but nervous!
Click to expand...

I think you should go ahead and try it, match the gold triangle on the CPU to the markings on the motherboard and that's the most daunting task over and done with. If you buy an AIO it'll more than likely have pre applied thermal compound so you don't have to worry about that either. RAM only goes in one way etc. Very easy, have a bit of confidence in yourself and get it built! If it makes it any easier, you could literally find a guide online and literally buy the same parts. Means there's little to no variables. Happy building!
 
Tetras said:
In the current market, I'd be surprised if you can beat the price of a 3070 pre-build with a self-build by a few hundred quid.

If you're careful, take your time and follow the instructions, there's not a lot to fear, but would I want to do my first solo build with an 11700k and a 3070? No, I would not.
Click to expand...

I do have someone to help me who built his own pc but yeah it's terrifying and I know he's worried about it
 
Rebecca Whitlow said:
I do have someone to help me who built his own pc but yeah it's terrifying and I know he's worried about it
Click to expand...
Do you not have an old system somewhere you could try it out with first? The way Intel systems are built hasn't really changed in over 15 years (apart from M.2 drives and AIOs).
 
For pre built OCUK has the Rapier for £1695 with a 3070 ti in it...it's a amd rig though, but I agree with above, built yourself if you can. I've only ever done it once before(20years ago) and doing it again. Yes, am a little nervous too but there's plenty of vids on youtube.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8LMML_EiMg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hK51upU5bkU&ab_channel=JayzTwoCentsJayzTwoCentsVerified

JayzTwoCents(above) has a few vids and makes it easy to understand..do a search and something will come up.

Good luck
 
Tetras said:
The way Intel systems are built hasn't really changed in over 15 years (apart from M.2 drives and AIOs).
Click to expand...
Indeed...
Until Intel brought out Core 2 and got rid of dumpster fire hot NetBurst architecture, there was zero reason to buy Intel at that time.
And right now only thing Intel has "high end" is landfill fire level power draw/heat output under full load...
With AMD giving up to twice the cores at lot lower max power draw.
 
I would normally agree with those saying build but right now with the way GPU prices are I'd say buy rather than build. Also if you are worried about building then you are buying peace of mind and easier warranty returns too.
 
Rebecca Whitlow said:
Built £1899: COMPONENT DESCRIPTION
Chassis ASUS TUF GT501
Motherboard ASUS TUF GAMING B560-PLUS WIFI
Processor Intel Core i7 11700K, 8C/16T, 3.6GHz – 5.0GHz
CPU Cooler ASUS TUF Gaming LC 240 RGB
Memory 16GB (2x8GB) Corsair Vengeance RGB PRO 3000MHz DDR4
Graphics Card 8GB ASUS GeForce RTX 3070 TUF GAMING OC
Power Supply 750W ASUS TUF GAMING - 80PLUS
System Drive 1TB WD Blue SN550 M.2 PCIe NVMe SSD

Self build bundle £1589:
Intel Core i7-11700K 11th Gen Rocket Lake 8 Core Processor
Gigabyte Z590 AORUS ELITE AX Socket LGA1200 ATX Motherboard
Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO 16GB (2 x 8GB) 3600MHz C18 DDR4 AMD Ryzen Tuned Memory Kit - Black
EVGA SuperNOVA 750 G5 - 750W 80 PLUS Gold Fully Modular PSU
EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 XC3 ULTRA GAMING Graphics Card
Windows 10 Home Edition 64Bit - OEM

Plan to get:
MSI MAG CORELIQUID 240R CPU AIO Cooler '240mm Radiator £89.99

I already have a Corsair SPEC-DELTA Carbide Series, Case but I might get a new one with
CiT Flash ARGB PC Gaming Case £39.40
Click to expand...
Neither.
Ryzen 5800X is better performing CPU at lower power consumption.
Though just average surface area of those slim below average size waterpipe coolers would limit continuous load power draw of Intel's landfill fires.
(at least without awfull ruckus from fans)

Also that PSU of Asus is substandard for the price.
As usual for such supermarket PCs, which always skimp in that longest usage life potential after the case part.
Built to last quality PSU lasts decade and is usable over complete overhaul of other parts needed to stay in high end for that time.
Though supermarket PCs are intended to not be upgraded, even if they didn't use no upgrade path Intel.


As for building PC from parts you would have to first get graphics card...
Which are either very badly priced, or not in stock at better prices.
Getting OcUK to build PC from parts you choose would help in that, because they reserve part of graphics cards they receive for those PCs.
 
MSI NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 SUPRIM X 8GB GDDR6
Certain website advertising the above @ 999.98. Got 4 left. 3070ti version at 1299.98(7 left)
They had gigabyte 3080ti also for 1799.99 but they're all gone now.

is that going price for shops now??? just checked..cheaper on ebay from scalper
 
I would recommend you build your own PC and not go for a prebuilt. Like others have said it is not to hard with sensible choices of parts.

For a first build I would go for Mid tower with 240 or 360 AIO. In my opinion AIO are easier to fit than a lot of air coolers and look nicer too. Some brands like NZXT have made it very easy to put their AIO into their case.

PSU. You can pick and use the brand you trust. For me that is Seasonic and for your build I would use Seasonic 650w Prime, yes it is not a budget option and is expensive but worth it imho. PSUs are often used in future upgrades, most frequently reused component I would think.

Intel? Build your own with B550 and Ryzen R5 5600 and the value is almost unbeatable with less heat and power used than equivalent Intel system. Yes Intel systems are an option but for me AMD currently is better.

The hardest part of building your own PC at the moment is sourcing a GPU. As you can get a GPU then go for it ,you will learn a lot and realize you can do it again for any future builds.
 
I found a GPU on another website
EsaT said:
Neither.
Ryzen 5800X is better performing CPU at lower power consumption.
Though just average surface area of those slim below average size waterpipe coolers would limit continuous load power draw of Intel's landfill fires.
(at least without awfull ruckus from fans)

Also that PSU of Asus is substandard for the price.
As usual for such supermarket PCs, which always skimp in that longest usage life potential after the case part.
Built to last quality PSU lasts decade and is usable over complete overhaul of other parts needed to stay in high end for that time.
Though supermarket PCs are intended to not be upgraded, even if they didn't use no upgrade path Intel.


As for building PC from parts you would have to first get graphics card...
Which are either very badly priced, or not in stock at better prices.
Getting OcUK to build PC from parts you choose would help in that, because they reserve part of graphics cards they receive for those PCs.
Click to expand...


I was convinved to change to a ryzen 5900X. But the GPU bundle only has intel cards in stock.
 
Rebecca Whitlow said:
If you could buy a 3070 PC already built or buy the parts (and save £100-200). The already build has only ASUS TUF pieces and it takes up to 30 days to arrive. The separate pieces are a mix of brand and is an EVGA GeForce RTX 3070 but I would get it at the end of the week. I build my current PC with my ex's help but aren't very experienced at it. My current partner can do it but he's worried about messing up and breaking everything since I'm spending a lot of money.
Click to expand...

The short answer is that Prebuilt is more expensive, but it's also possible to spend more money custom building.

With custom building you might, say, select a 850W high efficiency PSU whereas a prebuild might have a 550W low efficiency PSU. Same goes for storage, coolers, cases ect.
Many people on here probably do spend more on their custom builds than comparable pre-builts, but also (arguably) get higher quality items for that money.
 
Self build. The only reason I would get a pre built pc right now is if you were desperate to have that 3070 card & it's currently available in a pre built pc..otherwise as everyone knows...you're gonna find it hard to buy it separate without extortionate cost.
 
Rebecca Whitlow said:
I feel that too! I like the idea of building one myself, going through that effort to achieve something. My partner is just worried about doing something wrong and it not turning on!

The pre built has a an aio water cooler.

I want to try but nervous!
Click to expand...

If it doesn't turn on - explain to us what you did, post pictures, and we'll help you get it working.

Once you build your first computer, you'll have a better idea how to fix it in the future. Then you can build your next.
 
If you are willing to risk not having a gpu due to the mad demand and spending a lot for a mid/high end one then build its good to understand all the components. Current climate though and if you need a complete PC asap then id consider a pre-built.
 
Jamie Medford said:
If you are willing to risk not having a gpu due to the mad demand and spending a lot for a mid/high end one then build its good to understand all the components. Current climate though and if you need a complete PC asap then id consider a pre-built.
Click to expand...

Fair enough but what I've found with prebuild( i looked at a few myself) is that the cost of it is so high in some cases you can do it cheaper yourself, including getting a gpu from a scalper. For example, the prebuild above is £1899. Unless there's items missing I priced all the components except the gpu to £975 meaning the gpu price is £924. Looking at certain auction website, I see 3070ti Fe's up there for buy it now at 900/920 odd, so you can actually get a better gpu in the same system right now(cards are there to be bought)for the same price as the prebuild. Personally, I'd get the better gpu and build it myself.
 
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