Build or buy?

Rebecca Whitlow said:
I was convinved to change to a ryzen 5900X. But the GPU bundle only has intel cards in stock.
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If you do multithreaded or multitasking 5900X is bang per buck choise and has enough cores to handle heaviest games for years with stuff like web browsers etc on background.
Though for gaming alone without nothing on background it's in general somewhat overkill.


For cooler £43 Alpenfohn Brocken 3 would be very good and with flat base guaranteed to fit CPU, if you can fit it into case.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/alpenfohn-brocken-3-cpu-cooler-140mm-hs-05a-al.html
Basing on picture here it's possible to lower fan to level of heatsink itself when installed:
https://basic-tutorials.com/alpenfohn-brocken-3-black-edition-massive-tower-cooler-with-two-fans/3/
https://basic-tutorials.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Alpenföhn-Brocken-3-24.jpg

Starting from same price level Scythe Mugen 5 is actually slightly heavier for its smalle dimensions with denser fin stack.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/search?ssearch=mugen+5
but intel optimized convex base kinda relies on deforming amd's convex heatspreader to get good contact at wider area.
direct contact heatpipe coolers again have automatically flat base because of manufacturing process.


for motherboard around £150 level b550 board would work well, if you don't have any special needs in there.
or even £140 if wifi isn't needed and there's no need for lots of usbs.


2x8gb 3600mhz kit costs £75
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/cruc...00c16-3600mhz-dual-channel-kit-my-20q-cr.html
(32GB prices start from £150)

That WD Blue SN550 is £90.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/wd-b...-solid-state-drive-wds100t2b0c-hd-56l-wd.html

Phanteks AMP 750W would be good 10 year warranty PSU for most graphics card for less than £90.
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/phanteks-amp-750w-80-plus-gold-modular-power-supply-ca-09r-pt.html
 
You only need to look at some of the videos on youtube from the likes of Gamers nexus to realise how much of a minefield buying a prebuilt is these days, the last prebuilt i bought was in 1998 and i just kept upgrading it including cases to the point where i had upgraded it so much the only thing that was original was the floppy drive. its a bit like trig from only fools and him having the same broom for 20 years despite it having 15 new heads and 10 new handles...
 
Craig_d1 said:
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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Yeah I priced it up too but you have to consider labor costs as well. £924 is pretty much what you'd be paying for a GPU nowadays anyway.

I've joined like 3 different alert things (2 Twitter and one on discord) and I'm not having any luck. I just really don't want to spend £1000 on a GPU
 
Definitely self build if you can source a GPU, it's very satisfying and you'll love it! Just make sure you go for a decent case and AIO, NZXT make great AIOs.
 
Rebecca Whitlow said:
Yeah I priced it up too but you have to consider labor costs as well. £924 is pretty much what you'd be paying for a GPU nowadays anyway.

I've joined like 3 different alert things (2 Twitter and one on discord) and I'm not having any luck. I just really don't want to spend £1000 on a GPU
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Probably like everyone, I've been watching some youtubers about supply/demand etc. Most of them all agree gpu supply increasing(should anyway with Nvidea switching production of older cards to more 3000 series cards). One says there will be tightness 1st 2 weeks of july then another batch coming in with more to follow after that. just a month ago 3070fe's were £1100 and now £900. Also, the way I see it, build costs shouldn't be that much. remember they are getting the parts cheaper than you buy them, so they are making money on everything. There's a company in the states that lets you choose all components, then they charge $50 for build if you want them to build it(as they make a load from selling you all the components).

Also, yes you can factor in labour costs for prebuild, but doesn't change the fact that you can still buy it all yourself including scalper cost...so prebuilders not extactly giving them away are they. And at the end of the day, if it costs the same to buy from prebuild or to buy from scalpers, it still means you're spending the same amount of money, so you're back to the question of 'Do you want to build it yourself?'.

I'm close to getting all my parts myself for my build. Yes, am a little nervous about it, esp all the rgb stuff with wires everywhere( no rgb etc when i last did it and i think i had 1 fan, maybe, plus the one in the psu), but that's what this forum is for also. There are a lot of enthusiasts that like to build, and also like to help. I know I'll be asking(thanks again to those with mobo help by the way). My son wants to watch as I build, which I'm happy about, as it might get him to appreciate things a bit better. Plus he wants to know what ever piece does etc

Also, I watched a vid how people bought prebuild and also bundles to get the gpu and then they've been selling the parts on auction houses, so I checked it out etc. More of a risk factor so NOT advising, but I did it myself and got an h150i pro xt 360mm rad for £66, so you can make some savings if you want to take a risk

I think TheSoupladel makes a good point also about prebuilds. Steve at Gamersnexus been taking apart some prebuilds.... they aren't good. Think he's rated one as adequate and changed criteria so they get a star if the thing actually turns on(love the humour). I'm sure smaller boutique places will be better, as one, you choose your parts, and two, won't be such a production line etc, but they'll be more expensive and with building it yourself, you'll be slower and more careful as it's your own piece of kit.
 
If you dont mind the extra cost for bought and arent confident then nothing wrong with buying one.
It is nice to build, and its not actually that difficult, there are some great youtube channels out there you can watch to get an idea of it. Theres a guy called Chistopher Flannigan on youtube, he does full build videos and goes through the entire build in details so great to watch to get an idea of what is involved.
 
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