Making the switch

iSamKing

iSamKing

iSamKing

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Joined
10 Jun 2018
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19
hi guys, I’m currently looking at switching to pc gaming and looking to buy/build a pc. There are a few options that are available to me and I’m just after a bit of advice regarding what’s best really.

Option 1: use my laptop - I have an Asus X5550D, 8GB RAM, AMD A8 2.1GHz HD8670M 2GB, 1TB HDD.

Option 2: buy my friends old PC it’s around 3 years old, Coolermaster Case, gigabite GA-B75M-HD3 motherboard, Intel i5 3300 processor, 16GB DDR3 RAM, unsure on graphics card but it says HD 7750 on it and a 2TB HDD. We haven’t agreed on a price for this because we’re both unsure what it would be worth. I think he paid ~£600 for it new.

Option 3: Build my own, I have basic knowledge but believe I could build my own.

My main game I’ll be playing will be Fortnite and occasionally WoW and some OSRS so not mega specs needed but would like the opertunity to upgrade in the future.

Thanks in advance

Sam
 
@orbitalwalsh

I think overall budget would be around £3-400 in total excluding peripherals. I think that should be ok? But ideally if I can get something decent for less then to get my started I’m a happy man.

Yes, 1080p 60hz screen

Also where can I find these refurb dell units?
 
orbitalwalsh said:
In theory it's a little better the. The dell units, so use that as a pricing guide ;) hammer them hard haha as you won't be getting any warranty etc .
Slap in a £112 gtx 1050 in there and you'll be golden
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Haha, ok I’ll speak to him see what he says, might offer him £300 for it? It’s a bit awkward, we’re good friends, I don’t want to insult him and at the same time he doesn’t want to rip me off :p
 
aoaaron said:
I'd leave his rig and not go for it.

On the second hand market, you'll be able to pick up something way better. I've been looking on a few forums and seen some decent deals for mobo/cpu combos.
GTX 670-680s go for a pittance these days which will be a decent graphics card pickup if you want to go second hand.
I've seen some decent rigs going for around the £400 which include intel CPUs.
I'd personally be aiming for something around an i5 intel with either a 3xxx or 4xxx because it gives you access to dolphin/emulators which are a big advantage of PC gaming.



Also you'll likely and an SSD etc. I feel like buying his specific rig just leaves you wanting to upgrade everything at some point and it won't last very long from a longevity standpoint, i.e. its specs will be outdated for newer games later on, which IMO defeats the whole purpose of PC gaming.

I'd rather skimp on the case, pick up a good PSU/CPU/Mobo, 1 stick of RAM and [for now] a cheaper 6 series NVIDIA GPU and upgrade that later on.





The truth is PC gaming tech depreciates quickly. Unless you buy the higher end stuff at the right time, they're going to depreciate very quickly. In his case, he bought a budget system and I'd easily argue over the past 3 years, now without warranty, its definitely depreciated more than 50%.

If he'd bought say a 4670k intel CPU... you could justify the price given that processors have not moved forwards that much in 3-4 years. Likewise if he'd maybe bought a nicer case, you could say fair enough or a better motherboard.. or an SSD... but he hasn't. I feel like getting that rig from your mate leaves you very short changed to enjoying the perks of PC gaming. Its basically a budget system and we've moved on 3 years.

I've realised with PC gaming, its small things like keyboard/mouse/monitor which far outlast other components of a build, which are often neglected.
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The £300 wasn’t what he asked for it it’s just what I thought up, he’s also got a monitor inlcuded I should have said that I guess too.

Out of curiosity what’s the AMD equivalent to the i5? I’m still learning myself he didn’t build his own rig he just went to a local pc builder and asked them to build him a gaming rig and that’s what they sold him. I appreciate your advice and I’ll take that on board. Maybe I’m leaning more towards building my own. I’ve priced up can build something from what I think is fairly decent for around £350-400 I could source secondhand parts I suppose but probably go for a new Mobo/CPU.
 
I appreciate all your replies and advice, I’m looking into building my own rig now but I’m struggling with what motherboard will be enough for my needs. I’m thinking something like asus prime z270-p with socket 1151 for an Intel i5? Would this accompanied by a good graphics card etc be able to run Fortnite?

Thanks in advance
 
I’m not sure really, there’s no budget as such I just want a half decent rig that’ll play most games on high settings, I don’t play graphic intense games so I don’t need top spec gear. I would say like ~£400 for a rig, would push up slightly if the extra would be worth it if that makes sense. Also this is going to be my first proper gaming pc.
 
orbitalwalsh said:
as mentioned in previous post, getting refurb dell unit and adding gtx 1050ti would be best

if you want new..

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £442.64 (includes shipping: £11.70)
​
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With the Refurb dell unit, do they leave much room for upgrades in the future?

With that new build would I also need to purchase a separate graphics card? Or would that be something I could just add in the future?

And is there advantages/disadvantages in using m-ATX motherboards over ATX?
 
orbitalwalsh said:
Few videos on upgrading them depending on the unit you get , slim or normal desktop .

It's a means to an end, cheap gaming system . Want something to build up on then brand new built with that in mind
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Yeah, I’m wanting to something to use, that I can then upgrade as I go along my gaming life. I will probably go along the line of your build that you posted. Seems perfect for me, thank you
 
orbitalwalsh said:
2400g can handle gtx 1050ti/ 1060 3GB before it starts to bottleneck the system if you decide to add on it in the future. As always gaming at higher resolution or more graphical depanding games start to cause the GPU more workload the CPU :)

Got the extra bit of cash then splash on the Formula 450w PSU - money well spent for the future !
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I’ll have a look into that, yeah once I get into pc gaming I’ll be able to just upgrade a few things and I go along, just a bit pricey to start up isn’t it lol
 
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