New PC advice

Buckleheid · 2025-03-11T10:04:11+0000

My son is looking to build a new PC in the next few months and as we got great advice on a build from here the last time a few years back, here i am again.
Whats the current market on GPUs and CPUs in relation to anything to wait for, ie a new iteration/model that would be worth waiting for over current market if you know what i mean?
He would have a budget of say 3.5k and up to 4k at the highest if it was worth that extra wee bit for something special, and will include a widescreen monitor in that cost , its a decent chunk of money so i think theres plenty options out there hopefully.
I think hes leaning towards an AMD GPU and whatever best CPU to go with that, also a WIFI Mobo is a must.
Any advice on anything above would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

Quartz · 2025-03-11T10:24:05+0000

At that price point your son can afford top whack. Well, maybe not a RTX 5090...

For gaming, go for a Ryzen 9800X3D, X870 motherboard, and 32 GB RAM (64 GB if he plays DCS). The current best AMD GPU is the 9070 XT which has just launched to good reviews but you will have to wait for restock. There are no new high-end GPUs in the offing.

By widescreen monitor do you mean 21:9 (typically 3440x1440) or 32:9 (typically 5120x1440)?

Buckleheid · 2025-03-11T12:12:01+0000

That sounds good, he's pretty flexible on the monitor, I think he would need to see some in the flesh before making a decision.
Plenty options out there for sure, once we get an idea of the basics of the build I will post a list of potential components, more than happy for anyone to spec a build going forward based on amd gpu and cpu, an aio cooler is preferred with rgb ram but that's it for the rgb, keep it minimal.
We don't have an issue with flashing mobo prior to build as per last time even though it was nerve-wracking
Thanks

RamboFB · 2025-03-11T19:14:47+0000

Buckleheid said:
My son is looking to build a new PC in the next few months and as we got great advice on a build from here the last time a few years back, here i am again.
Whats the current market on GPUs and CPUs in relation to anything to wait for, ie a new iteration/model that would be worth waiting for over current market if you know what i mean?
He would have a budget of say 3.5k and up to 4k at the highest if it was worth that extra wee bit for something special, and will include a widescreen monitor in that cost , its a decent chunk of money so i think theres plenty options out there hopefully.
I think hes leaning towards an AMD GPU and whatever best CPU to go with that, also a WIFI Mobo is a must.
Any advice on anything above would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

Sorry if already mentioned but is this a pure gaming build?

hornetstinger · 2025-03-11T19:16:48+0000

Buckleheid said:
My son is looking to build a new PC in the next few months and as we got great advice on a build from here the last time a few years back, here i am again.
Whats the current market on GPUs and CPUs in relation to anything to wait for, ie a new iteration/model that would be worth waiting for over current market if you know what i mean?
He would have a budget of say 3.5k and up to 4k at the highest if it was worth that extra wee bit for something special, and will include a widescreen monitor in that cost , its a decent chunk of money so i think theres plenty options out there hopefully.
I think hes leaning towards an AMD GPU and whatever best CPU to go with that, also a WIFI Mobo is a must.
Any advice on anything above would be greatly appreciated
Thanks

You really don't need to spend that much. Even if you factor in a £600 OLED, £3500 is just too much.

You can get a decent PC for a lot less.

RamboFB · 2025-03-11T19:26:10+0000

hornetstinger said:
You really don't need to spend that much. Even if you factor in a £600 OLED, £3500 is just too much.

You can get a decent PC for a lot less.

I bought my last build in 2014 and I would say everything has kind of risen in price as expected with inflation etc apart from graphic cards, eye watering prices.

Tetras · 2025-03-11T21:12:50+0000

Buckleheid said:
He would have a budget of say 3.5k and up to 4k at the highest if it was worth that extra wee bit for something special, and will include a widescreen monitor in that cost , its a decent chunk of money so i think theres plenty options out there hopefully.
I think hes leaning towards an AMD GPU and whatever best CPU to go with that, also a WIFI Mobo is a must.

Here's an example gaming build with an AMD GPU, but since stock is limited I can't currently include the 9070 XT.

I don't know enough about monitors in this price range to recommend anything, these things are mystery terms to me: OLED, Nano IPS.

I'd recommend a case like Antec's C5 ARGB or Lian Li 216, because they include the fans, but your budget is big enough for whatever.

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core 5.20GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-03517) = £479.99
1 x Gigabyte B850 Aorus Elite WIFI7 (Socket AM5) DDR5 ATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-GIG-03856) = £219.99
1 x Corsair Vengeance EXPO 64GB (2X32GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C30 6000MHz Dual Channel (SKU: MEM-CRS-02841) = £179.99
1 x Sapphire Nitro+ Radeon RX 9070 Gaming OC 16GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card (SKU: GRA-SPR-03984) = £629.99
1 x Crucial T500 4TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-02889) = £237.95
1 x Antec C8 Curve Wood Full Tower Case - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-03472) = £114.95
1 x Corsair NAUTILUS 360 RS All In One CPU Cooler - 360mm (SKU: COO-CRS-03514) = £109.99
2 x CORSAIR RS140 140mm PWM Black Dual Fan Pack (SKU: COO-CRS-02485) = £23.99

1 x Samsung 32" Odyssey G7 LS32BG700EUXXU 3840x2160 IPS 144Hz 1ms FreeSync HDMI 2.1 Widescreen Gaming Monitor (SKU: MO-24W-SA) = £478.99

Total: £2,515.81 (includes delivery: £15.99)

Gray2233 · 2025-03-11T21:25:42+0000

M-ATX option:

My basket at OcUK:

1 x AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D Eight Core 5.20GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: PRO-AMD-03517) = £479.99
1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 Digital ARGB Black CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-04207) = £52.99
1 x Antec HCG 1000 Pro Platinum 1000W ATX3.1 Full modular Power Supply (SKU: POW-ATC-02746) = £189.95
1 x Kingston FURY Beast EXPO RGB 32GB (2x16GB) DDR5 PC5-44800C30 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-KNG-03706) = £99.95
1 x Asrock B850M Pro RS WiFi (Socket AM5) DDR5 mATX Motherboard (SKU: MOT-ASR-04008) = £164.98
1 x Antec CX600M ARGB M-ATX Mini Tower - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-04160) = £54.95
1 x Crucial T500 4TB NVMe PCIe Gen4 M.2 Solid State Drive (SKU: STO-CRU-02889) = £237.95

Total: £1,292.75 (includes delivery: £11.98)

That leaves close to £3000 for a GPU and monitor, not that you need to go that far. That said, if your son is dead set on 4K and can actually find a 5090 in stock it's worth considering if nothing else.

Personally I'd be more inclined to get a 9070XT and a 34" OLED, easier to run and I'll take a lower resolution OLED over a 4K IPS if strictly for gaming personally. Of course, this does depend on what he plays too so factor that in. It might even be worth looking at OLED TV's instead of monitors, as they often work just as well if not better while offering more screen real estate, although it does depend on the model. Many have high refresh rates, gaming modes for lower latency, and g-sync/freesync built into them now.

Buckleheid · 2025-03-12T11:13:26+0000

RamboFB said:
Sorry if already mentioned but is this a pure gaming build?

yes, pure gaming and the usual but no work etc being done

Buckleheid · 2025-03-12T11:14:53+0000

hornetstinger said:
You really don't need to spend that much. Even if you factor in a £600 OLED, £3500 is just too much.

You can get a decent PC for a lot less.

was thinking of future proofing as much as possible as well

hornetstinger · 2025-03-12T11:16:22+0000

Buckleheid said:
was thinking of future proofing as much as possible as well

no such thing as future proofing, but there is a thing called overspending.

That doesn't mean buying a 8GB RAM quad core either

Buckleheid · 2025-03-12T11:20:50+0000

some great suggestions, will show my son and go from there, gonna look at 32" monitors in the flesh so he knows whats the difference in panel tech etc

Buckleheid · 2025-03-12T11:23:42+0000

hornetstinger said:
no such thing as future proofing, but there is a thing called overspending.

That doesn't mean buying a 8GB RAM quad core either

fair point i suppose, its hard for us to find the sweet spot of best bang for buck as it seems like it changes all the time

, ive been guilty in the past of chucking money at something ie most expensive so it must be great type of thing so hes maybe got that from me

Quartz · 2025-03-12T11:55:55+0000

Just a thought, but what other peripherals are required? You've mentioned a monitor but keyboards can run over £100. What about sound? You can spend big money on a HOTAS or steering wheel setup. And then there's VR.

hornetstinger · 2025-03-12T11:57:36+0000

Quartz said:
Just a thought, but what other peripherals are required? You've mentioned a monitor but keyboards can run over £100. What about sound? You can spend big money on a HOTAS or steering wheel setup. And then there's VR.

And a chair and desk too

Buckleheid · 2025-03-12T12:13:24+0000

we are getting a newer desk, he has all other peripherals needed for gaming, already has VR set

RamboFB · 2025-03-12T12:26:42+0000

Buckleheid said:
yes, pure gaming and the usual but no work etc being done

Defo better off with a AMD based system like everyone has suggested.