Gaming Desktop

[CAH706]

My son is now looking for a gaming desktop having previously been set on a laptop - budget around £2k for the desktop (no monitor needed)

Not sure we have the ability to build one so looking for recommendations for suppliers and if possible an actual desktop.

We’ve seen the following but not sure how good this is or if CCL are recommended.

https://www.cclonline.com/hzn-gam-core-10a-horizon...

Thanks

[mmm-five]

What monitor (resolution & refresh rate) is it being paired with, as this will inform the CPU/GPU choices.

That specs looks fine for a 1440p build as you don't need the fastest CPU unless you're running ultra-high-FPS 1080p. But that's a last gen CPU (and the older, less efficient version of the 7700 at that) and motherboard...the current generation would be 9700X and X870 motherboard (just means you get wifi7 and USB4).

Also, take care that any pre-built offers show you exactly what components are being used, as some will put in the bare minimum of supporting components which limit upgrade options down the line (such as limited m.2 slots on motherboard, ATX2 spec PSU instead of ATX3 which doesn't have the higher GPU spike protections).

Edited by mmm-five on Saturday 12th July 12:06

[CAH706]

Thanks - very helpful as it highlights how little I know

He’s looking at a 4k monitor - ideally looking at a PC that will last him a few years

[Greedydog]

I typed a long reply then somehow lost it. The following is all IMHO as there are a million different views on gaming PCs.

I personally wouldn’t buy that prebuilt. Or prebuilts in general as they are often poorly balanced value for money, badly built, badly balanced, badly set up and can use proprietary parts which limits future upgrade options. If building yourself is not an option you need to be sure you know the details of the prebuilt and what a balanced VFM system will look like.

CPU wise your chip of choice should be an AMD AM5 X3D variant, not X. The 9800X3D is the current best for gaming but I personally wouldn’t have an issue with a last gen 7800X3D as being on the AM5 platform means they can be upgraded to at least the next generation of AMD chips. Intel are uncompetitive at the moment in gaming and have reliability problems, so I would steer clear.

I’d also say that whatever GPU you go with, 16GB should be the minimum memory. Any less is a false economy and will handicap gaming above 1080P ( and might even impact that). I’d also say try to go with 9070XT or 5070Ti level as a minimum at your price point.

I’d recommend going to the forums at overclockers.co.uk where there is in depth discussion on this sort of thing.

[mmm-five]

Here's a similar, but custom-configured build from PCSpecialist...

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configuration...

It's £2123, but the upgrades are:

• higher power Corsair 1000W ATX3 PSU (for future GPU upgrades and GPU-spike protections)
• switched to AMD 9070XT as it's better value than the 5070Ti
• latest CPU (about 20% more power per watt than the older 7700X) - 9800X3D is the best gaming CPU, but the performance benefit drops off the higher the resolution (the 9800X3D is certainly faster, but the £200 extra might not be worth it, and the older 7800X3D is available for about £70 more than the 9700X but may not be faster at 4K in a lot of games vs the 9700X)
• split and higher total SSD storage (1TB+2TB) to keep the OS/apps/games launchers completely separate from the game installs
• overkill on the AIO cooler, but for £10 extra it will allow for CPU upgrades and keep the 9700X easily under control
• all known-brand components

Edited by mmm-five on Saturday 12th July 13:33

[CAH706]

Thanks - really helpful

I will check out those forums and look at the difficulty of building and configuring a PC as well

[CAH706]

mmm-five said:

Here's a similar, but custom-configured build from PCSpecialist...

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configuration...

It's £2123, but the upgrades are:

• higher power Corsair 1000W ATX3 PSU (for future GPU upgrades and GPU-spike protections)
• switched to AMD 9070XT as it's better value than the 5070Ti
• latest CPU (about 20% more power per watt than the older 7700X) - 9800X3D is the best gaming CPU, but the performance benefit drops off the higher the resolution (still faster, but the £200 extra might not be worth it)
• split and higher total SSD storage (1TB+2TB) to keep the OS/apps/games launchers completely separate from the game installs
• overkill on the AIO cooler, but for £10 extra it will allow for CPU upgrades and keep the 9700X easily under control
• all known-brand components

Edited by mmm-five on Saturday 12th July 13:25

Brilliant thanks

[Matty_]

I'd disagree on pre-built - it's cheaper to do it this way (most of the time, unless you hunt for bits on sale) and as long as you buy from a reputable builder (not a box shifter, like Currys) you'll still get good components.

Historically pre-builts would come with headline parts (CPU, GFX) then fit the cheapest, nastiest motherboards, RAM and PSU's they could find. These are ones to avoid. But otherwise I'll tell everyone just to buy pre-built. Chillblast, PC Specialist and CCL are all decent. Overclockers have dropped off recently (IMO) so I personally wouldn't use them.

In terms of spec, agree with what's been said. £2k will get you a very, very good build.

[CAH706]

Matty_ said:

I'd disagree on pre-built - it's cheaper to do it this way (most of the time, unless you hunt for bits on sale) and as long as you buy from a reputable builder (not a box shifter, like Currys) you'll still get good components.

Historically pre-builts would come with headline parts (CPU, GFX) then fit the cheapest, nastiest motherboards, RAM and PSU's they could find. These are ones to avoid. But otherwise I'll tell everyone just to buy pre-built. Chillblast, PC Specialist and CCL are all decent. Overclockers have dropped off recently (IMO) so I personally wouldn't use them.

In terms of spec, agree with what's been said. £2k will get you a very, very good build.

Thank you

I think we are going to go with the PC recommendation above at PC specialist. That will be more than good enough I suspect

Appreciate all the help

[lizardbrain]

Unsure if I was just unlucky but I had a bad experience buying a custom built gaming pc from overclockers.

Badly built and the components didn't work so well together , quite a bit of time to fix the build aspect, and more time faffing with bios

if buying again, I would sacrifice customisability for something high volume with good quality control.

This is why I buy apple for everything but gaming

[CAH706]

mmm-five said:

Here's a similar, but custom-configured build from PCSpecialist...

https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configuration...

It's £2123, but the upgrades are:

• higher power Corsair 1000W ATX3 PSU (for future GPU upgrades and GPU-spike protections)
• switched to AMD 9070XT as it's better value than the 5070Ti
• latest CPU (about 20% more power per watt than the older 7700X) - 9800X3D is the best gaming CPU, but the performance benefit drops off the higher the resolution (the 9800X3D is certainly faster, but the £200 extra might not be worth it, and the older 7800X3D is available for about £70 more than the 9700X but may not be faster at 4K in a lot of games vs the 9700X)
• split and higher total SSD storage (1TB+2TB) to keep the OS/apps/games launchers completely separate from the game installs
• overkill on the AIO cooler, but for £10 extra it will allow for CPU upgrades and keep the 9700X easily under control
• all known-brand components

Edited by mmm-five on Saturday 12th July 13:33

Sorry for another question

If the budget was upped to £2500 would there be a noticeable improvement?
If so any suggestions on what to spend the additional on?

[the-photographer]

CAH706 said:

My son is now looking for a gaming desktop having previously been set on a laptop - budget around £2k for the desktop (no monitor needed)

Not sure we have the ability to build one so looking for recommendations for suppliers and if possible an actual desktop.

We ve seen the following but not sure how good this is or if CCL are recommended.

https://www.cclonline.com/hzn-gam-core-10a-horizon...

Thanks

Try this, https://www.quietpc.com/sys-kyanite-i18

Play with the configuration to achieve the spec or price point you want