|OT| The PC Hardware Thread -- Buy/Upgrade/Ask/Answer

AHA-Lambda said:
Hi folks, looking for some thoughts/verification on a proposed build.
I have been out the gaming PC hardware scene for ages so don't really know what's what aside from some of the recent GPU names.


I've made a PCPartsPicker link that's as close as I can get to the build that I've pulled together on PC Specialist UK's configuration tool.
I know it's more expensive than building myself, but I don't want to and it's not that much more than the PC Part Picker estimate anyway.
Click to expand...

If you are interested in shaving some cost, I'd ask you the same question that was asked from curiousbystander before, do you need 32gb of ram? If it's just a gaming machine, 32 should be more than enough.
Also to continue shaving some cost, I posted some thoughts about motherboard selection earlier in the page if you are interested. No specific models or anything, but depending on what you are intending to do you could go for something less expensive if it satisfies your needs. Eg how many nvme slots you want and/or need, how fast you want them. Do you need pcie5.0 speeds? Is one slot being faster than the other a deal breaker, that kind of thing.
 
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Valdien said:
I would recommend either MSI or Asrock x870 boards, other brands like Gigabyte & Asus have awful lane-sharing options. Also, a side note, x870E are dual-chipset mobos, so they normally have a higher prower draw than the x870.

Maybe look into the x870 Tomahawk?
  • No lane sharing with the GPU
  • There is lane sharing with the M2 Slot & USB 40 gbps port - (you have the option to disable the 40 gbps port so M2 slot gets full bandwith)
  • Better I/O Connectivity - (Also has a 5GB Lan port)
  • CMOS Reset Button - (Very useful if you are playing around with RAM timings or screwed up something in the BIOS)
  • Wifi 7 with 320 mhz support - (don't believe the Gigabyte has this)
  • No Mobo RGB

If you still plan on getting a 280 AIO, how about the Arctic 3 280 as alternative? You might want to check clearance though, as the rads on the arctic are massive & with a x870 mobo, it might be a very tough fit in the 4000D if you top mount it.
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Thanks for the advice, unfortunately my mobo choices are limited to only Asus and Gigabyte through PC Specialist :confused-face:
 
Parsnip said:
If you are interested in shaving some cost, I'd ask you the same question that was asked from curiousbystander before, do you need 32gb of ram? If it's just a gaming machine, 32 should be more than enough.
Also to continue shaving some cost, I posted some thoughts about motherboard selection earlier in the page if you are interested. No specific models or anything, but depending on what you are intending to do you could go for something less expensive if it satisfies your needs. Eg how many nvme slots you want and/or need, how fast you want them. Do you need pcie5.0 speeds? Is one slot being faster than the other a deal breaker, that kind of thing.
Click to expand...
Thanks
I’m ok with going to 32gb ram tbh I just figured more is better

On the mobo I don’t know, I really don’t know that much about pc hardware, I’m just trying to closely emulate other build config guides from pcpartpicker :face-with-cold-sweat:
 
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I can't stop thinking about building a PC. So thought I could at least start planning the build.

I want a small one but powerful, since it will be used for gaming, game development and media creation.

I already know the case

just need to find the rest, that both fits and works. I do know I want an AMD build, both in terms of CPU and the upcoming GPU. Do want two nvme, probably 32gb RAM.
 
I got some advice from PC Specialist forum for the following build

PCSPECIALIST - Configure the AMD Am5 PC to your ideal requirements.

PCSpecialist is an award-winning manufacturer of high quality custom PCs & Laptops. Configure the AMD Am5 PC to your ideal requirements.
www.pcspecialist.co.uk www.pcspecialist.co.uk

Does it pass a sanity check in terms of what’s there? Nothing obviously missed or surplus to requirements?
(I’m aware of the price but I’m happier having someone else build it)
 
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Passes a sanity check in my opinion, but I don't know why you'd do the NVME stuff like this (1 TB + 2 TB). Might be a bit more inconvenient than just having a single 4TB SSD.
 
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Durante said:
Passes a sanity check in my opinion, but I don't know why you'd do the NVME stuff like this (1 TB + 2 TB). Might be a bit more inconvenient than just having a single 4TB SSD.
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Thank you :blobeyes:

I’m happy to just drop the second drive I think and leave the 1TB that’s selected, unless there are other brands/models/standards that are particularly better?
 
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Durante said:
Passes a sanity check in my opinion, but I don't know why you'd do the NVME stuff like this (1 TB + 2 TB). Might be a bit more inconvenient than just having a single 4TB SSD.
Click to expand...
Maybe it's just old fashioned thinking, at least I remember it very much was recommended to have one drive for OS and second drive for games for example. But yeah that was true back in the HDD times, maybe it doesnt matter much these days?

Because in my future build I had the same idea, having one smaller drive for OS and one bigger one for everything else.
 
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Le Pertti said:
Maybe it's just old fashioned thinking, at least I remember it very much was recommended to have one drive for OS and second drive for games for example. But yeah that was true back in the HDD times, maybe it doesnt matter much these days?

Because in my future build I had the same idea, having one smaller drive for OS and one bigger one for everything else.
Click to expand...
Basically that’s the exact thinking that came from PC Specialist forum when tweaking my first config proposal
 
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I have an opinion that might be somewhat divisive:
It is not actually a particularly bad or expensive time to get into reasonably high-end PC gaming right now.

Background: I haven't looked into building an affordable but reasonably-high-end gaming PC since over a decade ago (back then I did it routinely, but these days since work pays for it it's no longer as much of a focus). However, someone asked me about it, and so I set out to spec out a reasonable system.

What surprised me -- given the overall types of discussion and sentiment online -- is that it's actually not horrendously expensive at all.

Here's what I came up with: Fast value-oriented gaming PC 05-2025 | Wunschlisten Geizhals Österreich
That's ~1050 € in raw prices, probably ~1150 at most if you get it from reputable vendors with shipping charges etc.

What do you get for that?
  • CPU - Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF - very fast for both games and productive workloads, currently a great deal
  • GPU - MSI GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 16G Ventus 2X - not the fastest, but future-proof, and matches or outperforms a PS5 Pro depending on the type of load. Plus full DLSS 4 support.
  • RAM - 32GB, DDR5-5600 - decently fast, good capacity, no need to overspend
  • Decent but cheap mainboard, case, PSU and CPU cooler
I'd say none of that is bad, and all of it is sufficiently future-proof. In gaming terms, the CPU easily and decisively outperforms all consoles, and the GPU easily outperforms everything but PS5 Pro, and trades blows with that depending on things like the relative raytracing load and how much you value DLSS.

So basically, when you listen to the overall "tech influencer" sphere you strongly get the idea that everything sucks, is unaffordable, and horrible. And it's apparently just... not true.

Disclaimer: this is just for Europe, or specifically the part served by the vendors on Geizhals. But I don't think the situation is fundamentally different elsewhere -- except for the US and its current brand of utter insanity.
 
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Oh yeah I’m jumping on getting a new rig now before any price increases hit.
Was originally holding off until next year as I wasn’t in a rush
 
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