Replacing 2011 rig, clueless - help!

[potato58]

I built my first gaming PC about 6 years ago and I’ve decided it’s time for a replacement, but I haven’t kept up with the scene at all (besides upgrading the GPU twice) and I’m completely out of date. I’d like some advice around what products to consider, what’s changed recently, what’s on the horizon etc. I’m keen to buy in January. When I built my old system I received some fantastic advice on this forum that made the whole process very painless.


Here’s what I’ll be carrying over from the previous build:

• Two HDDs
• One SSD (for windows)
• MSI nvidia 1070 gpu
• Windows key

So here’s what I think I’ll need:

• Mobo
• RAM
• CPU (not going to overclock - too much fiddling)
• CPU cooler (maybe I could buy a bundle and not have to fool around with thermal paste myself - I made a right mess last time)
• PSU (I want one that has removable cables as I hate having a load of unused ones sitting around the bottom of the case)
• Case (one with really decent dust protection, maybe not a black one, maybe not a mega gigantic one)

Also I use a set of headphones that require a headphone amp. I’m currently using a £25 Xonar DG sound card for that and I’d like to replace it with a more up-to-date one that’s built for Windows 10. Also I don’t see any need for an optical drive. And I have my old monitor and peripherals still (though a 1440 monitor will be a future upgrade for sure). I’m wondering if I should invest in a new HDD too as my old ones must be getting worn out.

One final note - fan noise really annoys me so I’m happy to replace case fans for quieter ones. Maybe I should factor noise level into choosing the CPU cooler too.


What do you suggest I look at?


Many thanks.

 

[BongoHunter]

I had a similar length break from hardware before getting back into stuff last year when all my kit started feeling very old all of a sudden!

Is this build only for gaming, or do you use other apps / work a lot?

Best mid range value is probably with Ryzen at the moment, top end is still seems to be Intel for gamers. High end desktop is Threadripper unless you've got enough money for a high clock high core count Intel part (big bucks!)

What's your budget?

 

[potato58]

Thanks.

Gaming will be the main use besides a little bit of general computing - browsing, photos etc. I’d like to game on ultra settings as much as possible and when my 1070 starts feeling old I’ll replace it too, so I want a CPU that will keep up even with processor-heavy games.

I’m not working to a strict budget - it’s more important that I get the right stuff that’ll last me a while and tick my boxes. That said I don’t see the point spending extra just for the sake of having an unnecessarily beefy rig.