Most cost effective approach. Build my own, or pre built?

[[GSV]Lemming]

Been a long time since I bothered to build my own PC but getting ready to upgrade my PC.

Im not entirely committed to whether it will be 4090 or a lower spec, but having read the odd article recently am wondering if its better cost wise to buy pre built, or build myself. I was wondering what your take on all this was?

I am expecting to use all new components and carry nothing across, although I do have an old Asus case on wheels I am tempted to liberate from the garage and use again just because of the epic space it has., I used to use it as a side table with a third widescreen monitor on in the past!

 

[[GSV]Lemming]

Thx Micky, I didn't realise I could custom choose the parts and have OCUK build it for me.

 

[[GSV]Lemming]

Thanks for your input Tetras, some of those points do rattle around in my head already! My last PC was a Dell G5 with graphics card removed during lockdown, I added my 3060Ti into it. Cooling is far from perfect but with an upgrade it has been fine the past few years. It was a budget upgrade to tide me over as component prices and availability went a bit mental a few years ago.

I am ready to order it now really in answer to your question re timescales.

I have some basic assumptions I will be working to, always happy to take flak if I am wrong tho

i9 runs cooler than i7, similar performance and i9 mobo will enable me to upgrade cpu later perhaps. Should I consider a Ryzen? Not biased towards either, just assuming intel/nvidia or all AMD is the way to go.
RTX 4090 likely, but may go budget RTX instead if I cant make the price/justification make sense in my head and wait for the next generation and see where prices go. AMD cards out, primarily because I am looking at a top PCVR solution rather than general gaming and I see negative reports still on AMD XTX cards.
Age brings less budget issues, so £3200 but at top end i have to feel like its worth it, still going round in circles mentally on that.
32GB memory likely enough, 64gb if its actually going to get any use.

I like quiet PCs so was thinking of a custom water cooled solution if i build it myself, I will post up details of the case I have that I am tempted to use
later if I can find it, had it a loooong time through multiple builds in the past, including my dual AMD setup back in the early days. I always wanted to build a water cooled solution, this is likely my last chance as another 5 plus years and I can see myself in a 'cant be ar*ed' mental state.

Usage. This is purely for gaming, desktop or VR. Games are Elite Dangerous, BG3 and later MSFS when pull I the trigger on the VR headset upgrade. Retirement beckons in a few years so will likely get around to all those I games I want to play and don't have time for. I use a 50" 4k tv currently, or my Quest 2 soon to be upgraded to a 3, or pimax crystal. Likely the Quest 3 for less compatibility issues. I know I will need a better monitor to make use of the new PC, but will circle back to that later as not really bothered immediately.

 

[[GSV]Lemming]

Eh? i9 runs cooler than i7? i9 mobo? I'm really confused what you mean here? What's an i9 mobo?

A motherboard supporting an Intel i9 cpu, so as to leave some headroom for an easy cpu upgrade later on. Having a quick search I may already be wrong about an i9 being cooler than i7, must have read it once and it stuck for some reason...

For gaming only: I'd get the 7800X3D. A 14700K is a great CPU for mixed loads/productivity, or if you really want to go Intel then it isn't far behind.

Totally open to AMD rtaher than intel

An AIO for the CPU is a good halfway option, but I wouldn't buy an AIO graphics card, they're usually way overpriced.

An AIO is overkill for a gaming PC though, the 7800X3D and 14700K can both be cooled adequately with a peerless assassin or phantom spirit and they're only £30-£35 or so.

Getting a PC that runs near silent at idle is pretty easy nowadays, since everything has zero-rpm or low-rpm modes for your desktop and most high-end coolers are overbuilt. I'd actually say the real difficulty is avoiding the bloody coil whine! A bit of fan noise is nothing compared to WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEWNNAAAWWWWWWW for hours on end.


From a value perspective, with the huge price increases to the 4090, I'd say it hardly ever makes sense anymore. The 4080 Super is available for £1000 or less and it is a decently capable of 4K gaming, even with ray tracing enabled, except for games that are closer to tech demos than actual games, or were barely optimised.


Personally, for a PC in the 3K range, I'd just get 48GB or 64GB now. DDR5 systems don't seem to like running 4 sticks, so it is just easier/simpler to do this and you'll need the extra memory sooner rather than later.

Rather than AIO, I was thinking of the whole pump, rad etc setup