New to PC's budget £2000-£2500

Lyndonovich

Lyndonovich

Lyndonovich

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17 Jul 2020
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I'm just starting my journey into the depths of PC gaming, just wanted some advice as to what I should buy, my budget is about £2000-£2500.
My friend suggested this but wanted more advive:

** No Competitors **
Case THERMALTAKE V200 TEMPERED GLASS RGB EDITION GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU) Intel® CoreTM i7 Eight Core Processor i7-9700K (3.6GHz) 12MB Cache
Motherboard ASUS® PRIME Z390-P: ATX, LGA1151, USB 3.1, SATA 6GBs - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM) 32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 2400MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card 8GB ASUS ROG STRIX GEFORCE RTX 2080 SUPER - HDMI, DP
1st Storage Drive 2TB PCS 2.5" SSD, SATA 6 Gb (520MB/R, 470MB/W)
Power Supply CORSAIR 650W CV SERIESTM CV-650 POWER SUPPLY
Power Cable 1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling Corsair H60 2018 Hydro Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste ARCTIC MX-4 EXTREME THERMAL CONDUCTIVITY COMPOUND
Extra Case Fans 2x 120mm Black Case Fan (configured to extract from rear/roof)
Sound Card ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking ASUS PCE-N15 WIRELESS 802.11 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD
USB/Thunderbolt Options MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00001]
Operating System Language United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media Windows 10 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online
 
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Welcome aboard.

One thing I know about your friend is that he/she isn't of PC Master Race, but plain Cash Cow Race.

1: That's brand overpriced 8 core/8 thread CPU on dead end no slightest updates platform when new consoles are bringing 8c/16t CPU as baseline for next-gen games.
And as example of future heavy games Star Citizen can give good workout for 12c/24t CPU.​

2: That memory is just slow even for Intel.
3000MHz should be absolute minimum.​

3: Now is even historically super bad time to buy such brand overpriced bad performance per price graphics card.
Next-gen is few months out and for scale even next Xbox coming in late fall/before Christmas has fully same level GPU.
£400 level Radeon 5700 XT is about the most expensive some sense making current card.
(and if you have only medieval 1920x1080 "FullHD" monitor also that's too expensive for it)​

4: That PSU is outdated already decade ago brand scam cheapo and out of place even in PC of halved budget.
In that budget PC you should be going for at least 80+ Gold efficiency model and with 10 year warranty.​
 
Yeah your friends an idiot. Don’t buy that over priced piece of crap.

Do you not fancy building your own PC? You can get so much better components, the satisfaction of building it yourself and much better bang for buck.
 
Just an example system (don't buy it) for what your budget could get you.

You can get Windows 10 way cheaper, you can even use a retired Windows 7/8.1 key.

**B Grade** MSI Radeon RX 5700 Gaming X 8GB GDDR6 PCI-Express Graphics Card - £330
AMD Ryzen 7 3700X Eight Core 4.4GHz (Socket AM4) Processor - Retail - £300
2x Patriot Viper Steel 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 PC4-28800C17 3600MHz Dual Channel Kit (PVS416G360C7K) - £150
Gigabyte B550M AORUS ELITE (AMD AM4) B550 Micro-ATX Motherboard - £110
Crucial P1 1TB M.2 2280 PCI-e 3.0 x4 NVMe Solid State Drive - £105
WD Blue 3D NAND 500GB 2.5" SATA 6Gbps Solid State Drive (WDS500G2B0A) - £60
Super Flower Leadex III 750W 80 PLUS Gold Modular Power Supply - Black - £110
Lian-Li Lancool II Mesh RGB Midi-Tower Case - White + FOC USB3.1 Type-c Cable (CA-77Y-LL) - £80
Microsoft Windows 10 Pro 64-Bit DVD - OEM (MS-FQC-08929) - £140
TP-Link Archer AC1200 Dual Band Wireless USB Adapter (Archer T4U V3) - £35

Total: £1450

This would be great gaming at 1080p, decent at 1440p, won't go much higher.
 
If you can build yourself, something like this would be great. I assumed you wanted some RGB and for it to look sleek based on what you was already looking at, so did put few extra quid on the AIO cooler and things. Grab yourself a Windows 10 key for £5 on a popular auction site. ;)

As above, do you need a monitor too? I’d recommend a 1440p high refresh rate one if you do, like the Gigabyte G271C or if you have the money the LG 27GL850-B.

You could easily trim costs further if you wanted for little to no performance loss e.g. 16gb ram, cheaper cooler, cheaper mobo (but I picked a future proofed chipset with WiFi 6, as saw you added a wifi card) etc... But depends what you’re happy spending and the performance you’re after.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £1,640.84 (includes shipping: £0.00)
​
 
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Fair enough, shame really as it was £100 cheaper at pre-order launch time! I've heard a few good things about it, but no proper reviews yet comparing the quality of it to something like the LG 27GL850-B, which is a fantastic IPS panel.

It's quite pricey for a VA panel, but it does have 240Hz refresh rate which you'll get nowhere near in the latest triple AAA games, so almost seems pointless IMO! I mean maybe CS:GO, Overwatch, Valorant, Fortnite etc are the sorta games you'd get sorta that level of FPS to match the refresh rate :p

So what's your plan PC wise? You looking at building your own with any of the specs suggested or? I'd definitely build your own than pre-built if you're happy to do so.
 
@Sparx I'd be happy to build it myself, I wasn't considering it initially because I was thinking of going with the original specs.
Honestly I'll probably just go with whatever I get recommended since I don't know enough to say otherwise. Just need to know exactly what I'm buying and I'd like to future proof it enough to not have to be able to play whatever I want for a few years until it needs upgrading.
 
Take your pick then, something like what I’ve suggested if you like the aesthetics will run very well. And I imagine a lot cheaper than what you was looking at. :)
 
Lyndonovich said:
@Sparx I'd be happy to build it myself, I wasn't considering it initially because I was thinking of going with the original specs.
Honestly I'll probably just go with whatever I get recommended since I don't know enough to say otherwise. Just need to know exactly what I'm buying and I'd like to future proof it enough to not have to be able to play whatever I want for a few years until it needs upgrading.
Click to expand...
If you go with an 8 core CPU like 3700X or i7 10700 with 32GB memory, then you should be fine for the base system. The graphics card depends on your expectations, if you're happy pumping out 60 fps at 1440p then that's achievable, but if you're looking for 100+ @ high details that's a big ask. Like Sparx said, you'll get nowhere near 240 I'm afraid, even if you spend mega-money on a 2080. That's why I'd be inclined to get something lower-end, like a 5700 and then upgrade in a few years, since spending £700 on a 2080 Super won't be spectacular for the outlay. It's certainly not going to guarantee you 100+ FPS in the latest games for 2-3 years.
 
@Sparx @Tetras So with:
A) Will I be missing anything?
B) Will these together be able to run pretty much anything I want without any issues?
C) Is it a bitch to put together?

Thanks :)
 
Lyndonovich said:
A) Will I be missing anything?
B) Will these together be able to run pretty much anything I want without any issues?
C) Is it a bitch to put together?

Thanks :)
Click to expand...

A) Don't think so.
B) What are your expectations? :D What I said above about performance applies the same (more or less) to a 2070 Super.
C) Installing the CPU and CPU cooler are the most delicate bits, the rest is easy. Plan ahead, read the instructions (or better: watch a few YouTube videos) and don't put it together around pets (or kids!!).
 
Yes it’ll run any games well for you, don’t worry. :)

The only extra things you need, is to go on the popular auction site and buy a Windows 10 key for £5. Follow the instructions they’ll email you to download it, copy it to a clean memory stick and you’ll boot from it when your new PC is built so you can install Windows

Also, you’ll want a Philips screwdriver! :p And a nice clear table or desk to work on, just take your time, try cable manage best you can & enjoy it.

I sometimes watch this lad on YouTube’s reviews, he did quite a good beginners guide to building a PC earlier this week, I’d recommend watching it fully.

My own quick advice is: build what you can on the motherboard out of the box first (before you put it in the case). So put the processor, RAM and NVMe drive in the motherboard first. Then get your PSU in the case ready and motherboard in after. Connect all your cables within the case to your motherboard, connect your PSU cables, install your AIO cooler to the CPU, then connect your graphics card and the PCIe power to it.

 
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