Time To Try PC Gaming

[Plumbers Crack 4,033]

As I've mentioned to a couple of you in chat parties, I'm looking in the next 4 - 6 weeks, possibly sooner, to buy a gaming PC setup so I'm looking to you guys for help and advice

 

I will starting completely from scratch as I only have a laptop at the moment so no K+M or monitor. Although I have built a PC before, I don't really want to go down that road this time if I can avoid it so I need to be advised on reputable PC builders

 

What I want is a setup that will deal with most things thrown at it in High (?) Quality settings for the next 5 - 7 years. I've thought about VR but I can't see myself getting involved too deeply in that. I would prefer air cooled but want it to be reasonably quiet. I'm not overly concerned with LED light shows. I want twin displays with each having two HDMI inputs as I want to have my PS4/PC on one monitor and PS3/PC on the other (IIRC the PS3 is HDMI?). Do graphic cards have two HDMI outputs now?

 

I don't really understand monitor display resolutions, G-Sync, 144, UHD etc so I really need hand holding here. Size wise, I'll be sitting at a desk thus will be quite close to the monitors so I don't think I need anything massive

 

With regard to CPU, I've had Intel in the past but am willing to try AMD. I've read somewhere that CPU and RAM pairings have a sweet spot for speed? I think 16mb RAM would be best?

 

I'm not worried about overclocking as I sort of understand it but can't be arsed about it (sorry Phil). Speaking of Phil, it has to be capable of playing Star Citizen as this has been the PC itch that started all this and it needs scratching!

 

Headphones - I have Astro A50's ...is it easy to switch between PS4 and PC with these? Do they autodetect any changes?

 

So, in short, it wants to be reasonably mid - high spec machine, well balanced , good quality components, good quality builders with a decent warranty, twin monitors, keyboard, mouse - any other thoughts would be welcome as well

 

Budget....£2,000.00 - £2,400.00 tops. The closer it is to £2k means I can get a few games to go with it so don't feel obliged to spend all the budget!! 😂

 

Thanks in advance guys, I'm looking forward to seeing your recommendations

[phil bottle 9,585]

Let me welcome you upon your journey to the PC Master Race.

I am very happy you've made this decision Dave.

I'm extra happy you mentioned Star Citizen [emoji41]

You came to the right place for advice, do not make any decisions or purchases until everyone here has given the green light[emoji106][emoji106]

Awesome[emoji4]

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk

[Diddums 4,305]

Dave your budget is ridiculous, that's far too much!

 

Also, as I mentioned before there are quite a few bew bits of tech on the horizon so you'd be nuts to buy now. I'd highly recommend waiting a month and readdressing this otherwise you're just gonna be kicking yourself when the new stuff hits and the old stuff goes for much cheaper. 

 

I'll keep you posted

[crispymorgan 1,041]

First things first.  LEDs are awesome. The more you have, the better your life is.  FACT.

 

Good.  Nvidia all the way, although G-sync is nice to have it's not essential.  I run at 144hz, and I'm really not sure I can tell the difference.  30 to 60hz is the real eye opener, that's when you know you are PC gaming.  AMD are every bit as good as Intel these days, and to be honest better at some things worse at others, but not in a massively noticeable way.

 

I've been toying with the idea of running my PS4 through a capture card.  You could effectively play windowed.  Save the outlay for 2 screens, and you can make awesome vids too, and overlay webcam to twitch.  You could be a famous streamer!

 

2K is dream build, and honestly you won't pay anywhere near that.

[Greboth 2,705]

I’m not so sure the budget is that ridiculous.  Mine was bumped up by 32Gb ram and an expensive monitor and I picked up a few bits second hand and built it myself but didn’t need to buy ssd’s, hdd’s, kb/mouse etc. and I was close to that budget.

 

However I agree with Didds (never thought I’d say that!  ).  There’s always something new round the corner but Ryzen 3000 series (Zen 2) is rumoured to be a step up over the 2000 series (Zen+) and to be coming out in the next couple of months.  That isn’t to say definitely go AMD but with the potential launch being just outside your 4-6 week window I think it would be worth waiting to see.

 

I’ll post a more in depth response later when I’ve finished work.

[Greboth 2,705]

8 minutes ago, crispymorgan said:

 

I've been toying with the idea of running my PS4 through a capture card.  You could effectively play windowed.  Save the outlay for 2 screens, and you can make awesome vids too, and overlay webcam to twitch.  You could be a famous streamer!

 

I’m not sure how viable this would be.  Maybe it depends on capture card but my Elgato has a delay on the capture window.  I don’t know what the delay is but it is certainly too much to game on the capture window.

[Plumbers Crack 4,033]

Thanks for the initial response guys 😊

 

If I don’t need to spend the budget I won’t..still need to eat! 😂😂....Crispy, there is no way in this world that I will ever stream! And I like the idea of two screens as well.

I take on board what you say about patience...I’ll carry on decorating Bedroom 3 (aka Gaming Man Cave) in the meantime and I think Ive located a suitable desk as well. 

Remember the bit about longevity though guys...I want this rig to be good for the next 5 - 7 years minimum please 

[crispymorgan 1,041]

I still need to tidy wires up, but this is my room.  I work during the day and game at night.  Need some wall art sorting though.

 

[J4MES OX4D 9,794]

2 hours ago, Plumbers Crack said:

Budget....£2,000.00 - £2,400.00 tops.

Spend £2,350 on the PC and save the remaining £50 for an Ipswich season ticket😏

 

You should be able to get a bloody top end PC and have money left over to get some great games even with just £2k on the table. I'd consider getting an ultrawide monitor too as they add so much to the immersion. 

[The3rdWalker 1,263]

1 hour ago, J4MES OX4D said:

Budget....£2,000.00 - £2,400.00 tops.

 

That budget is insane. Mine is 1500 USD and can handle pretty much everything thrown at it. 

Bravo for being on the no LED side! Fuck that stuff. 

[Plumbers Crack 4,033]

 
That budget is insane. Mine is 1500 USD and can handle pretty much everything thrown at it. 

Bravo for being on the no LED side! Fuck that stuff. 

I think pc components are possibly cheaper in the US Rob... I priced the closest available CPU, memory, graphics card and hard drives you have in your post signature at Scan UK and it came out to £1,073 ($1,410). That's without mobo, case, PSU, monitor(s) keyboard and mouse


Via the FG App

[J4MES OX4D 9,794]

Chillblast offer a range of good pre-built PC's if you want to avoid a lot of headaches. They know their shit, good prices and a warranty to boot Dave https://www.chillblast.com/desktop-pcs/choose-by-task/gaming-pcs

[Plumbers Crack 4,033]

Thanks for that James...the spec is really where I need guidance. There are sooo many to choose from.

 

Another thing to bear in mind...it must also be able to run Minecraft at high frame rates!! 😂😂

[Greboth 2,705]

To answer as best as I can

 

7 hours ago, Plumbers Crack said:

As I've mentioned to a couple of you in chat parties, I'm looking in the next 4 - 6 weeks, possibly sooner, to buy a gaming PC setup so I'm looking to you guys for help and advice

 

I will starting completely from scratch as I only have a laptop at the moment so no K+M or monitor. Although I have built a PC before, I don't really want to go down that road this time if I can avoid it so I need to be advised on reputable PC builders

 

What I want is a setup that will deal with most things thrown at it in High (?) Quality settings for the next 5 - 7 years. I've thought about VR but I can't see myself getting involved too deeply in that. I would prefer air cooled but want it to be reasonably quiet. I'm not overly concerned with LED light shows. I want twin displays with each having two HDMI inputs as I want to have my PS4/PC on one monitor and PS3/PC on the other (IIRC the PS3 is HDMI?). Do graphic cards have two HDMI outputs now?

 

For your budget running things at high shouldn't be a problem for some time to come.  Air cooling is the simplest and you can have air cooled and reasonable quiet too.  GPU wise a non-blower card is your best bet - yes they vent the hot air in the case but with reasonable case airflow you shouldn't have any problems.  CPU cooler wise - this is a bit trickier.  I would honestly say find a case you like, fits where you want it, has enough hdd bays, optical bays etc. before picking your cooler.  Some of the best CPU coolers out there are massive and it does limit your case choices.

 

Twin displays is always good, I use a TV a second monitor and it handy to have around when I want to watch tv while doing PC things.  You'll probably find your graphics card will have an HDMI our but probably more display ports.  It will be your monitor that you'll have to check the spec of more though I think most decent ones will come with at least a display port and one HDMI.

 

7 hours ago, Plumbers Crack said:

I don't really understand monitor display resolutions, G-Sync, 144, UHD etc so I really need hand holding here. Size wise, I'll be sitting at a desk thus will be quite close to the monitors so I don't think I need anything massive

 

With monitors I'd say there's several things to consider;

 

1) Resolution: This is the same as with TV's though there's more resolutions for monitors especially if you're considering ultrawides.  Generally I'd probably say stick to 1080p (1920 x 1080) monitors or QHD / 1440p (2560 x 1440) monitors.  You can increase upto 4k monitros (3840 x 2160) but honestly I don't think this is worth at the moment as we're really only now getting GPU's powerful enough to run games at decent frames at 4k.

 

2) Refresh rate / FPS / Hz - Both the same thing.  I think even cheap monitors run at 60Hz which is what you want at minimum though if you're considering you might want to play shooters then you might want to consider 120Hz or 144Hz monitors.

 

3) Panel type: Different panel types have different strenghts and weaknesses.  As a generalisation IPS has better colours and wide viewing angles, TN have higher refresh rates but smaller viewing angles.  There's other things to consider to like VA panels, LCD, LED etc. but the best thing you can do is have a rought idea of what monitor you want and read reviews.

 

As for size, if you're going to be at a desk I'd say you're probably looking at the 24" - 30" range unless you're consider ultrawides.

 

7 hours ago, Plumbers Crack said:

With regard to CPU, I've had Intel in the past but am willing to try AMD. I've read somewhere that CPU and RAM pairings have a sweet spot for speed? I think 16mb RAM would be best?

 

I'm not worried about overclocking as I sort of understand it but can't be arsed about it (sorry Phil). Speaking of Phil, it has to be capable of playing Star Citizen as this has been the PC itch that started all this and it needs scratching!

 

Honeslty I'm not sure there's a wrong choice right now as Intel and AMD are pretty equal these days.  There's somethings Intel will be better at but things AMD will be better at too.  Are you only planning to game on the PC? WIll you be doing anything else? If you're not doing multithreaded workloads then it pushes you towards intel but with AMD's resurgance we're starting to see more games go multithreaded.  Plus AMD have said they will keep the AM4 socket until 2020 (Ryzen 400 / Zen2+) so potentially gives a small upgrade path whereas Intel change sockets more often.  Though as above, if you're not in a massive rush I'd consider waiting to see what Ryzen 3000 / Zen2 is like as it's apparently releasing Q2 this year.

 

As for overclocking - turbo boost technology is pretty damn good these days with CPU's boosting close to their maximum clock speeds automatically.  If you're chasing every last % you will get better performance manually overclocking but the difference between automatic clock boosting and manual overclocking is smaller these days.

 

Finally on RAM - again depends on if your pc will be used for other things.  If you're only/mostly gaming then I would say 16Gb is all you need for now.  As long as you're not going small form factor then most motherboard will have 4 RAM slots and 16Gb most commonly comes as 2 x 8Gb so if you ever need more you could.

 

7 hours ago, Plumbers Crack said:

Headphones - I have Astro A50's ...is it easy to switch between PS4 and PC with these? Do they autodetect any changes?

 

Yes just a case of where you plug you're usb.  I have mine plugged in to the front of my ps4 so it is quick and easy to unplug and in to the front of my PC.

[BO7H B4RRELS 2,447]

This thread makes me happy.

Via the FG App

[Greboth 2,705]

Out of interest Dave, why don’t you want to go down the route of building yourself?

 

It’s been 15+ years since I last had a prebuilt pc so I was looking at the markup of chillblast last night against the price if the parts.  I have no idea if that’s the going rate for prebuilts over diy but peaked my curiosity of why you want a prebuilt.

[Plumbers Crack 4,033]

2 hours ago, Greboth said:

Out of interest Dave, why don’t you want to go down the route of building yourself?

 

It’s been 15+ years since I last had a prebuilt pc so I was looking at the markup of chillblast last night against the price if the parts.  I have no idea if that’s the going rate for prebuilts over diy but peaked my curiosity of why you want a prebuilt.

 

Scared of screwing up some expensive kit mate for one, and also found that getting all the software updated, working properly and interacting correctly was a pain. If I get it pre-built, it should work straight out ofthe box and it’s warrantied

[phil bottle 9,585]

 
Scared of screwing up some expensive kit mate for one, and also found that getting all the software updated, working properly and interacting correctly was a pain. If I get it pre-built, it should work straight out ofthe box and it’s warrantied

That is a perfectly understandable reason, I did the same with my first PC.

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[Spacedeck 915]

58 minutes ago, Plumbers Crack said:

 

Scared of screwing up some expensive kit mate for one, and also found that getting all the software updated, working properly and interacting correctly was a pain. If I get it pre-built, it should work straight out ofthe box and it’s warrantied

 

When I built my current PC, I was the same.  I was bricking every moment and all the wires looked confusing as hell.  I was tempted to get my cousin to build it for me as he built my brothers, but after my brother had issues with his PC, I decided to not trust him and do the build myself.

 

I followed a youtube video step by step and paused at every stage, while also looking at the manuals which come with the products.  Honestly, it's pretty straight forward to do and feels very rewarding once it's up and running.  I did have a time when I started to get frustrated with it but I had a friend on whatapp that was able to guide me through it.  In your case, you just need to ask here.

[crispymorgan 1,041]

Building a PC is easy.  The parts these days are very robust, and if it shouldn't go somewhere it won't fit.  I've just replaced my CPU and cooler, no drama.

 

 Regarding the CPU, it really depends on the type of game you are running.  Games that favour more cores tend to run better on AMD.  The Ryzen CPU is a solid processor.

[The3rdWalker 1,263]

For me the only part about building a PC which has always been a niggle is the power connections to the motherboard. There will be a few single, double pin diode connectors that I need tweezers to connect. I’ve never heard anyone struggle with it other than me. 

[Plumbers Crack 4,033]

@Diddums @phil bottle @crispymorgan @The3rdWalker @Spacedeck @Greboth  @J4MES OX4D and anyone else

 

How does this look? It came up on hotukdeals yesterday and got a thumbs up

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/382373140595?ul_ref=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Fff3%3D4%26pub%3D5574894536%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5336549684%26customid%3D1732191693%26mpre%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.co.uk%252Fitm%252F382373140595%26srcrot%3D710-53481-19255-0%26rvr_id%3D1895903146891%26rvr_ts%3D7f47c24c1690a9cc22a5d8e4ffe64dd4&ul_noapp=true

 

I don’t understand the AMD heirarchy (?) so can’t tell where this cpu would fall

 

If I add the OS and tweak the hdd + ssd drive sizes it comes in at £1439. To up the graphics card to a 8Gb RTX 2080 would add £255 - is 8Gb enough or should I be aiming at 11Gb?

 

Any thoughts or recommendations guys? I’ll wait if that’s still the concensus of opinion but, as it was in their daily mail shot, I thought I’d throw it out there. Thanks

[phil bottle 9,585]

[mention=1]Diddums[/mention] [mention=141]phil bottle[/mention] [mention=243]crispymorgan[/mention] [mention=1428]The3rdWalker[/mention] [mention=1600]Spacedeck[/mention] [mention=1465]Greboth[/mention]  [mention=259]J4MES OX4D[/mention] and anyone else
 
How does this look? It came up on hotukdeals yesterday and got a thumbs up
 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/382373140595?ul_ref=http%3A%2F%2Frover.ebay.com%2Frover%2F1%2F710-53481-19255-0%2F1%3Fff3%3D4%26pub%3D5574894536%26toolid%3D10001%26campid%3D5336549684%26customid%3D1732191693%26mpre%3Dhttps%253A%252F%252Fwww.ebay.co.uk%252Fitm%252F382373140595%26srcrot%3D710-53481-19255-0%26rvr_id%3D1895903146891%26rvr_ts%3D7f47c24c1690a9cc22a5d8e4ffe64dd4&ul_noapp=true
 
I don’t understand the AMD heirarchy (?) so can’t tell where this cpu would fall
 
If I add the OS and tweak the hdd + ssd drive sizes it comes in at £1439. To up the graphics card to a 8Gb RTX 2080 would add £255 - is 8Gb enough or should I be aiming at 11Gb?
 
Any thoughts or recommendations guys? I’ll wait if that’s still the concensus of opinion but, as it was in their daily mail shot, I thought I’d throw it out there. Thanks

I don't like the case, the cooling is lacklustre, the PSU is cheap and never buy a cheap PSU.

Better off getting one built to specification.

In just over a week, there's going to be a big PC update that will be right up your street, just hang tight until then.

Can't wait to get you on Star Citizen but just a little more patience and you'll be laughing [emoji41]

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[Spacedeck 915]

I believe they are the same company my brother used, so if anything was to go wrong with any components, I'd be a little worried about who they try to fob you off to.

[Plumbers Crack 4,033]

OK boys, advice taken and thank you for that...I'll reset the alarms on "The Wedge" !!!