I’ve been on and off the forum probably for over a year and I follow tech quite closely I would say.
So with the new RTX line up of cards now could be a great time for a GPU upgrade and or a system build featuring a new card.
This then got me to thinking about what I would be buying if I were doing a build for someone, which I regularly do. So what would I be after?
Gaming builds are generally a versatile PC so lets look into that line.
First thing id look to find out is what monitor were working with. Is it just a 60hz TV or a normal 1080p monitor? Or could it be 144hz 1080p monitor? 1440p 60hz, 1440p 120hz, 4k?
If were talking about 4k then straight away you are looking at a new build with DDR4 and a 6 core from either brand to go with a 1080ti or a 2080/ti for solid performance over the next generation, right? $1500-$2500?
But what about for anything else. Say 1440p or 1080p with high refresh? For me any ddr4 intel i7 based platform would be perfect so skylake or newer and id be looking for a deal possibly on used hardware to save as much as possible on the build. $1000-$1500?
And finally what about someone using say a TV and trying to get into a PC with a small amount of money like console budget? I would steer those guys into I5 or i7 ivy bridge or haswell based systems and go full used on hardware. $300-$500 machine is very possible and a great back to school build or console killer or whatever you want to say.
GPU choice. This can be surprisingly easy as long as you know the screen you are trying to push.
1080p medium 60hz. Super budget. GTX 960, GTX1050Ti, R9 380x, R9 280x
1080p high/ultra 60hz. Budget. GTX 970, GTX 1060(3) RX 470, rx 570, R9 290, R9 390, Rx 480, Rx 580
1440p medium 60hz. GTX 980, GTX 1060(6), R9 Fury, R9 390x, R9 290x
1440p high/ultra 60hz. GTX 980Ti, R9 Fury, GTX 1070,
For high refresh you are looking at a GTX 1080, GTX 1080Ti or something from the new RTX range?
So again. What would I be after? well I don’t believe in buying new when at the lower end because I feel you can get more for less when you buy used last gen gear so lest see how cheap we can go for a solid 1080p machine that will basically run 60hz high/ultra on anything. We can work in English since I recently did this for a friend and I don’t think RTX will make much change to used pricing at the lower end used market.
CPU. I7 3770. used. £75
H61 motherboard. asrock MATX. used. £40
RAM. 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600. used. £30
GPU GTX 970. used. £90
Case. New. Xigmatek Scorpio £25
Fans. 4x noiseblocker and PWM splitter. new £30
PSU. New. 550w with 2x pcie headers. 80+ bronze. £30
Bling. Cable extentions, LED strip. new. £35
SSD. New. 120GB Kingston. £25
HDD. Used. 2TB. £25
Cooler. New. CM TX3. £17
Cost £422 for the box.
Monitor. Used. Samsung 1080p 60hz. £60
Keyboard and mouse. New. cheap and ok. £30
Speakers. New. USB powered with sub. £15
Headset. Polk. new. £20
Total all inc £547
And that’s not just saying oh this and that. This is the actual cost of the last machine I did.
So my point is this. We see all these builds going on with tech youtubers because if they were honest and told you that you don’t really need a brand new cpu or gpu to be running your fav games how you most likely play them but with high detail levels then they wouldn’t have a channel or any sponsors.
You do not need to go and spend used car money on getting a fast pc when you can build something 80% as good for under £425/£550. I hope this is useful to a lot of first time buyers looking for the challenge of a first time build.
