Gaming PC spec required, High End.

Associate
Joined
17 May 2009
Posts
788
Location
Kirkwall, Orkney
Hi folks, looking to buy a decent PC for gaming. I only need the tower as I have all other peripherals, monitor etc. The spec I want is a 4090 and a CPU, either Intel or AMD, that would do it justice. I am competent in PC building so good to go down the custom route but also wonder what people's thoughts are on pre-built models. Do you save that much on DIY that it is worth it or is the warranty and support associated with a pre-built something to consider? TIA
 
What sort of budget do you have?

If you don't want to build it yourself another option is to take a spec list to OCUK customer support, they'll build to order for a fee and that way you get exactly what you want.
 
Last edited:
You may not even save money
Buying a pre built
Compared to building it yourself
Ie they may work out around same price
Or if its built to order you may have a build fee too

Recently built my stepson a £1500 budget pc
Pre built he looked at was £1500
Built it for him cost £1450
But the main difference was the components I picked
Though approximately equal in performance (some were better none were worse)
They had longer warranties 10 years on psu instead of 5
Longer warranties / TBW on the m2 drives
Longer warranty on gpu
And so on

Pre built they tend to emphasise the gpu and cpu
That's in them
Whereas the other components may be lesser quality
Than building it yourself
Even ocuk have a habit of shoving kolink psus in high cost builds
Instead of a 10 year warranty seasonic,bequiet etc

If its pre built yes you have a return to base warranty
But that means no pc for however long it takes
May just be a ram issue, gpu etc
With building your own you have the option of rma a single part
And shove a replacement in for the meantime
Should mean less downtime

As gray2233 said
If you give a budget some of the guys in here
Are great at giving you a part list

Ps.
Some builds on ocuk show 3-4 weeks build time
Though other companies they may actually be totally pre built
And ready to ship
 
Here's a self-build spec for a 4090:

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £3,009.77 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

CPU cooler: this, under £50.

I couldn't find anything in the pre-build section close to this spec, but there's this:

My basket at OcUK:
  • 1 x OcUK Gaming Osprey - AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D RX 7900 Series Gaming PC (SKU: FS-1FR-OG) = £2,871.08
    • Case: 1 x Phanteks Eclipse G500A Performance Mid-tower PC case - Black
    • Graphics Card: 1 x Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX Pulse 24GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card
    • Memory: 1 x Corsair Vengeance EXPO 64GB (2X32GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK64GX5M2B5600Z40)
    • Primary Solid State Drive (M.2: 1 x WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E)
    • Secondary Solid State Drive (M: 1 x WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E)
    • Operating System: 1 x Build Stock Microsoft Windows 11 Home Advanced - Systems
  • 1 x AMD - Starfield SI Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-00543) = £0.00

Total: £2,879.08 (includes delivery: £7.99)​
 
Here's a self-build spec for a 4090:

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £3,009.77 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

CPU cooler: this, under £50.

I couldn't find anything in the pre-build section close to this spec, but there's this:

My basket at OcUK:
  • 1 x OcUK Gaming Osprey - AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D RX 7900 Series Gaming PC (SKU: FS-1FR-OG) = £2,871.08
    • Case: 1 x Phanteks Eclipse G500A Performance Mid-tower PC case - Black
    • Graphics Card: 1 x Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX Pulse 24GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card
    • Memory: 1 x Corsair Vengeance EXPO 64GB (2X32GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK64GX5M2B5600Z40)
    • Primary Solid State Drive (M.2: 1 x WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E)
    • Secondary Solid State Drive (M: 1 x WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E)
    • Operating System: 1 x Build Stock Microsoft Windows 11 Home Advanced - Systems
  • 1 x AMD - Starfield SI Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-00543) = £0.00

Total: £2,879.08 (includes delivery: £7.99)​
Excellent, exactly the kind of idea for the build I need! Works out exactly in the ballpark that I thought it might. I've been out of the PC game for a while now as I have been mainly playing console. Looking to get back into it now. Thanks very much ;)
 
What sort of budget do you have?

If you don't want to build it yourself another option is to take a spec list to OCUK customer support, they'll build to order for a free and that way you get exactly what you want.
I thought I had... Sorry! My budget isn't unlimited, but willing to spend good money (3-5k) so long as there is not diminishing returns. Don't want to scrimp on quality too much.
 
You may not even save money
Buying a pre built
Compared to building it yourself
Ie they may work out around same price
Or if its built to order you may have a build fee too

Recently built my stepson a £1500 budget pc
Pre built he looked at was £1500
Built it for him cost £1450
But the main difference was the components I picked
Though approximately equal in performance (some were better none were worse)
They had longer warranties 10 years on psu instead of 5
Longer warranties / TBW on the m2 drives
Longer warranty on gpu
And so on

Pre built they tend to emphasise the gpu and cpu
That's in them
Whereas the other components may be lesser quality
Than building it yourself
Even ocuk have a habit of shoving kolink psus in high cost builds
Instead of a 10 year warranty seasonic,bequiet etc

If its pre built yes you have a return to base warranty
But that means no pc for however long it takes
May just be a ram issue, gpu etc
With building your own you have the option of rma a single part
And shove a replacement in for the meantime
Should mean less downtime

As gray2233 said
If you give a budget some of the guys in here
Are great at giving you a part list

Ps.
Some builds on ocuk show 3-4 weeks build time
Though other companies they may actually be totally pre built
And ready to ship
Excellent advice. Thanks for that :)
 
I thought I had... Sorry! My budget isn't unlimited, but willing to spend good money (3-5k) so long as there is not diminishing returns. Don't want to scrimp on quality too much.

I actually wouldn't change my spec at all with the bigger budget, it already has the best gaming CPU/GPU and 64GB of memory. The only thing I'd consider would be a higher-end motherboard to get PCI-E 5.0 graphics and an extra M.2 slot (like TUF X670E-Plus).
 
Here's a self-build spec for a 4090:

My basket at OcUK:

Total: £3,009.77 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

CPU cooler: this, under £50.

I couldn't find anything in the pre-build section close to this spec, but there's this:

My basket at OcUK:
  • 1 x OcUK Gaming Osprey - AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D RX 7900 Series Gaming PC (SKU: FS-1FR-OG) = £2,871.08
    • Case: 1 x Phanteks Eclipse G500A Performance Mid-tower PC case - Black
    • Graphics Card: 1 x Sapphire Radeon RX 7900 XTX Pulse 24GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card
    • Memory: 1 x Corsair Vengeance EXPO 64GB (2X32GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C40 5600MHz Dual Channel Kit - Black (CMK64GX5M2B5600Z40)
    • Primary Solid State Drive (M.2: 1 x WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E)
    • Secondary Solid State Drive (M: 1 x WD Black SN770 2TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS200T3X0E)
    • Operating System: 1 x Build Stock Microsoft Windows 11 Home Advanced - Systems
  • 1 x AMD - Starfield SI Game Bundle (SKU: DIG-AMD-00543) = £0.00

Total: £2,879.08 (includes delivery: £7.99)​
So pretty much bought this bar going for the 7900xtx rather than a 4090 and I am very pleased, thanks indeed :)
 
I actually wouldn't change my spec at all with the bigger budget, it already has the best gaming CPU/GPU and 64GB of memory. The only thing I'd consider would be a higher-end motherboard to get PCI-E 5.0 graphics and an extra M.2 slot (like TUF X670E-Plus).
So, I built pretty much what you recommended. I bought a 7900XTX instead of the 4090 due to the huge price hike since you specced it. I got an ASUS Strix mobo with PCIe gen 5 compatibility. Thanks very much indeed, I am very happy with it :)
 
Back
Top Bottom