What are some of the best Store bought gaming computers there under $2500?

[katrina.balanchuk]

For under $2500.

What about these two?

CLX SET Gaming Desktop AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 64GB Memory NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 1TB NVMe SSD + 6TB HDD Black TGMSETRTH0B25BM - Best Buy

CLX SET Gaming Desktop AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 64GB Memory NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 1TB NVMe SSD + 6TB HDD Black TGMSETRTH0B25BM - Best Buy

 

Where I live I am a bit starved for choices.

The local computer builder shop knows ( by his own admission) nothing about gaming computers. 

I have no skill in building computers and am not willing to experiment to learn.

That time I spent already in learning how to mod fallout 4 after a 20 year break in gaming (steep learning curve that was)

 

So I am looking at a store bought item.

My two favorite examples are up top.

 

I welcome thoughts and comments by those more usage than me in these matters.

 

PS: My current computer is I7, 16 Gigs RAM, my game files are on my main HD which is a SSD.. so all should be good right? ...but Windows 11 is bloatware and so is steam and so is my anti virus.

When my computer is sitting still doing nothing, not even internet surfing, it uses about 27-33% of my total system memory.

I think the easiest solution would be to buy a new computer and slowly methodically rebuild my mods ( like I read somewhere that FO4 should not be in default steam downlaod spot and Buffout 4, should not be in default Vortex download spot, But I worry if I try to move my installs, especially FO4, I will break everything )

I figure the inefficiencies of Win 11 and some of my other software will not bother me if I have 64G RAM.

Edited April 28, 2023 by katrina.balanchuk

[Solissix]

It ultimately depends on what you are trying to accomplish by buying another computer. Are you looking for higher resolutions? Better performance at your current resolution? Are you using windows 10 or 11 currently? Windows 10 is still supported, so unless you need the new features in 11 there is no reason to update at this time. Also, i7 alone isn't enough information, what tier of i7 is it? What is its regular core speed? What are you using for a video card in your current machine? You could just install more RAM in your current machine if you think that's where the major bottle neck is; for a couple hundred bucks. 

[katrina.balanchuk]

2 hours ago, Solissix said:

It ultimately depends on what you are trying to accomplish by buying another computer. Are you looking for higher resolutions? Better performance at your current resolution? Are you using windows 10 or 11 currently? Windows 10 is still supported, so unless you need the new features in 11 there is no reason to update at this time. Also, i7 alone isn't enough information, what tier of i7 is it? What is its regular core speed? What are you using for a video card in your current machine? You could just install more RAM in your current machine if you think that's where the major bottle neck is; for a couple hundred bucks. 

 I am not as "clued in" as many other when it comes to hardware.

I did not know there was a generation differnece between i7s.

I am on W11. Can it be rolled back to 10? I dont need  asingle one of the W11 features but my computer was bugging me all the time to update so I gave in.

My video card is Nvidia 750

 

I want to do some ENBs maybe or other graphics upgrades and also use mods that increase NPC numbers in the commonwealth.

 

Of my 4 RAM slot 2 dont work.

So I dont know if my 2 remaining slots can handle 16GB sticks.

The shop that put the car in told me its "the best card your computer can handle".

So maye I have a weak power unit.

BUt that same shop had just put in a new power unit so...

The only local computer upgrade store admittedno knowing anything about gaming computers.

 

So it might be easier to just buy a complete solution as I am not too short of money, i have been saving long time and drive humble cars that leaves a lot of money left over.

And as much time as i spend with FO4 , why not?

 

The main disincentive is how long it took me to make my highly modded game work all new installed.

And to start form beginning is a bit scary.

[KoolHndLuke]

50 minutes ago, katrina.balanchuk said:

The shop that put the car in told me its "the best card your computer can handle".

Don't always trust PC repair shops or others like them because they make their money off of your ignorance. I was able to upgrade my potato to do much more than what one particular shop owner told me could be done. Really, the most important piece of hardware in your PC is your MB (motherboard). But the size of your case does matter as well since modern gpu s(video cards) keep getting bigger and require more power.

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by KoolHndLuke

[Guest]

On 4/28/2023 at 4:39 PM, katrina.balanchuk said:

What about these two?

CLX SET Gaming Desktop AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 64GB Memory NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 1TB NVMe SSD + 6TB HDD Black TGMSETRTH0B25BM - Best Buy

CLX SET Gaming Desktop AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 64GB Memory NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 1TB NVMe SSD + 6TB HDD Black TGMSETRTH0B25BM - Best Buy

 

Where I live I am a bit starved for choices.

There is no difference in those two links, they both go to the same PC as far as I can tell.

If you have Internet, and shipping, you have all the choices in the world.

A good friend was complaining to me about not finding certain food products at the store, and how they were missed all the while playing on her I Phone! 

I had to say, Dear look at your phone and let your fingers do the walking.

 

[Solissix]

30 minutes ago, katrina.balanchuk said:

Can it be rolled back to 10?

If you have a system image from before the update, yes most likely. If not, then no, not without some difficulty.

 

31 minutes ago, katrina.balanchuk said:

My video card is Nvidia 750

It would seem your current machine is quite old; so you are right in that it might be better to just buy a new one.

 

FO4 is also old, as such, it's still from an era that favours faster single core processor speed rather than large amounts of multi cores. The new one you have picked out has a default core speed of 3.70 (Not great, but will get the job done as long as you don't get too crazy with ENBs and NPCs) with ability to boost to 4.80 (Much better, but only if you can maintain this speed without thermal throttling.) AMD units also seemed to struggle with FO4, or they did at the time that I was looking at them, performance in game may not be as good as expected. Maybe they fixed it with updates since then?

 

The 6TB HDD is sadly a waste of money; too slow to reliably use for gaming or even general computing given that SSDs are much cheaper now. Only use for backing up main drives or things that don't require good performance, like movies or pictures. 

 

RTX 3080 is good and a massive step up from what you currently have; should be no issues there unless you're want to start maxing things out at 4k resolutions; processors more likely to cause bottlenecks in FO4 then video cards.

 

It uses an AIO water cooled solution; could be an issue down the road depending on brand and quality of assembly. Make sure to regularly check for any signs of fluid leaks. 

 

It doesn't list brand of power supply and also isn't listed as EnergyStar compliant. Could be they cut costs on power supply; which can be the cause of major issues as well if it's not from a reputable brand. 

 

1 hour ago, katrina.balanchuk said:

The main disincentive is how long it took me to make my highly modded game work all new installed.

And to start form beginning is a bit scary.

 

Depending on how you have your old machine set up; there is no reason you would have to start your modded stuff from scratch, can just transfer vortex or mo2 install directly to your new machine from the old one. 

[Guest]

Now for the Serious conversation, what I the novice should have done before I bought my PC, first gaming computer.

Search for the availability of the parts listed as installed in which ever PC you are considering, I bought an Alienware Desktop that I could no longer find the matching memory cards for, unavailable prior to my purchase. Also I had to buy an SSD storage drive as C drive got overloaded with Skyrim and Fallout 4 only, no other games on it.

They also put in a Disk Drive for C instead of an SSD drive and it went out just after my warranty expired.

Alienware Aroura dark side of the moon edition

AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8core processor 3.59 GHZ

RAM 16 GB

 

I added two 2 Terabyte SSD storage drives at $200.00 each, A 2 TB disk drive at $100.00, on top of the $2499.00  that I paid for the unit. Total $3000.00 US Dollars

So my advice, Research, find a PC savvy person that can guide you towards a purchase or a Custom Build.

Just my 2 cents.  Good Luck!   

 

[Solissix]

32 minutes ago, KoolHndLuke said:

Don't always trust PC repair shops or others like them because they make their money off of your ignorance. I was able to upgrade my potato to do much more than what one particular shop owner told me could be done. Really, the most important piece of hardware in your PC is your MB (motherboard). But the size of your case does matter as well since modern gpu s(video cards) keep getting bigger and require more power.

 

This can be true for almost anything that involves some kind of service; it's good to do some research before hand to make sure you aren't being swindled.. That said, many pre made machines are not designed with major upgrades in mind and can be nearly impossible in some cases. Ultimately the reason why I decided to finally put together my own after the last pre made I had sputtered to a stop.

 

I would add that in addition to your MB, your case comes in at a close second. Having a case that has the room for future upgrades combined with a good MB can save you a good chunk of cash down the line.

[katrina.balanchuk]

Here is another one.

I like to get something with good RAM.

But some of you are saying the processor is more important than the RAM for fallout?

 

ASUS ROG Strix G10 Gaming Desktop Computer 11th Gen Intel Octa-Core i7-11700 Processor 64GB DDR4 2TB SSD NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB Intel UHD Graphics 750 HDMI Win11 Gray - Walmart.com

[Solissix]

1 hour ago, katrina.balanchuk said:

Here is another one.

I like to get something with good RAM.

But some of you are saying the processor is more important than the RAM for fallout?

 

ASUS ROG Strix G10 Gaming Desktop Computer 11th Gen Intel Octa-Core i7-11700 Processor 64GB DDR4 2TB SSD NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB Intel UHD Graphics 750 HDMI Win11 Gray - Walmart.com

All of your components work as a team, RAM is good, more and faster RAM is helpful; but there are limits on how much it can boost performance if your processor is the equivalent of a potato. Both of the examples you have listed have identical RAM more or less (the 64GB DDR4 is the RAM), where they differ is the one above has a lower performing video card and possibly processor. The i7 11700 specs are kind of weird, on paper it should out perform the Ryzen 9 5900X by 0.10, (almost negligible); however, it has a much, much slower base speed of 2.50. In an ideal scenario, it would always be hitting 4.90 where needed, (max rated boost speed before overclocking); but it largely depends on your heat and power management. The case it comes with looks about average, so heat buildup over time could become problematic and that would reduce your speed to compensate. 

 

At a glance; the Walmart unit is inferior and the price point reflects that; but ultimately it comes down to what you want vs. what you can settle for. If you need more information; write down a list of processors and video cards you are considering, then look for YouTube video reviews on how well they perform in the games/applications you want to use them on. If nothing else it will give you a rough base line on what you can expect from each one.

 

Also, Bethesda games tend to be poorly optimized and graphically light; your video card can do some of the lifting; but it can't do it all. I'm not particularly well versed on it so I couldn't say exactly why this is the case; but for some reason the Creation Engine and its derivatives tend to load the CPU more than it should. Especially when compared to their competitors. This has its ups and downs; I can't think of any other games that remember where you placed/moved an object hours and hours earlier, if you can even interact with the environment in that manner at all. 

 

 

[coldheartzero]

My only advice is to not let people clown you on the AMD vs Nvidia vs Intell Bullshit.

 

MOST OF THE TIME you'll get just as good performance from an AMD product over the rest for much cheaper.  And they're always one upping each other. So what's king today will be the court jester in 6 months. It always happens. Unless you've got a bottomless pocket book.

 

I emphasize "most of the time" because I bought an new RAdeon GPU (videocard) that had some amazing stats. Didnt' realize I was beta testing the drivers for a fresh released piece of hardware and the cooling fan is a fucking impeller setup instead of a traditional fan. Took 6 months after I put everything together before I could use the PC for anything more than browsing the web and because the cooling is SHIT it runs hot pretty much 24/7. Youtube would cause a BSOD because of the drivers. Long fixed now but that shit made me rage.

 

Stay away from impeller fans, and make sure what you buy has been out for a little while. Was trying to play something the other day and heard the fan screaming, alt tabbed and brought up the control panel thing and saw the GPU was cooking at 110C. Fuck what was it, some space game part 2. Was fun for an hour.

 

NO IMPELLERS!!!!!! If it doesn't look like a regular fan, stay away from it. Err,, Impeller probably isn't the correct term but regardless it sucks hard core.

 

[katrina.balanchuk]

11 hours ago, coldheartzero said:

My only advice is to not let people clown you on the AMD vs Nvidia vs Intell Bullshit.

 

MOST OF THE TIME you'll get just as good performance from an AMD product over the rest for much cheaper.  And they're always one upping each other. So what's king today will be the court jester in 6 months. It always happens. Unless you've got a bottomless pocket book.

 

I emphasize "most of the time" because I bought an new RAdeon GPU (videocard) that had some amazing stats. Didnt' realize I was beta testing the drivers for a fresh released piece of hardware and the cooling fan is a fucking impeller setup instead of a traditional fan. Took 6 months after I put everything together before I could use the PC for anything more than browsing the web and because the cooling is SHIT it runs hot pretty much 24/7. Youtube would cause a BSOD because of the drivers. Long fixed now but that shit made me rage.

 

Stay away from impeller fans, and make sure what you buy has been out for a little while. Was trying to play something the other day and heard the fan screaming, alt tabbed and brought up the control panel thing and saw the GPU was cooking at 110C. Fuck what was it, some space game part 2. Was fun for an hour.

 

NO IMPELLERS!!!!!! If it doesn't look like a regular fan, stay away from it. Err,, Impeller probably isn't the correct term but regardless it sucks hard core.

 

 

I will probbaly get something mainstream .

About AMD processors.

I am a bit confused there which is which.

 

What are the AMD equivalents to 

an early i7

a late i7?

a i9?

 

I just dont know /understand.

This forces me kind to stay with intel since I kinda sorta understand it  alittle bit.

My current is i7, so a i9 is "better" right?

My current RAM is 16 so more is better

My GPC is only a N 750 ti so just about anything is better but i have no idea what will actually fit into my housing to replace it

And I dont have a good computer upgrade shop that i can trust in my town.

 

So I figure spend some money one time on a high end system and not worry about it for some time.

 

Still havent bought anyhting though.

 

I dread the prospect of recreating my mods list and getting it to work on a new system.

Edited May 7, 2023 by katrina.balanchuk

[coldheartzero]

1 hour ago, katrina.balanchuk said:

 

I will probbaly get something mainstream .

About AMD processors.

I am a bit confused there which is which.

 

What are the AMD equivalents to 

an early i7

a late i7?

a i9?

 

I just dont know /understand.

This forces me kind to stay with intel since I kinda sorta understand it  alittle bit.

My current is i7, so a i9 is "better" right?

My current RAM is 16 so more is better

My GPS is only a 750 ti so just about anythhign is better but i have no idea what will actually fit into my hpusing to replace it

And I dont have a good computer upgrade shop that i can trust in my town.

 

So I figure spend some money one time on a high end system and not worry about it for some time.

 

Still havent bought anyhting though.

 

I dread the prospect of recreating my mods list and getting it to work on a new system.

By all means buy what you know, just don't drown in the hype or buy based on what the cool new thing is.

https://www.androidauthority.com/amd-cpu-guide-1222438/

That link will give you some info about AMD chips. The more you know if you decide to go that route. If not, you've lost nothing.

[katrina.balanchuk]

3 hours ago, coldheartzero said:

By all means buy what you know, just don't drown in the hype or buy based on what the cool new thing is.

https://www.androidauthority.com/amd-cpu-guide-1222438/

That link will give you some info about AMD chips. The more you know if you decide to go that route. If not, you've lost nothing.

Thank you so much.

This will take a lot of the fear out of buying an AMD out for me.

I never knew if I a given price with an AMD might be featuring an economy or old chip.

 

I got burned on my graphics card when my computer shop sold it to me and i thought it was good but it was old and I now reaize they probably had it liying around unsold for years and just wanted to take advantage of someone they knew didnt know computers to get rid of it.

 

I was reading the article you mentioned and it stated that the high end AMD processors include graphics cards already in the processor?

So no need for a graphics card? with hi end AMDs?

But I notice those computers are still devlivred with a graphics card.

 

And it also says Athlon is economy line,  so avoid those?

Edited May 7, 2023 by katrina.balanchuk

[katrina.balanchuk]

PS: Tommorrow evening I am returning from a family trip and while it was nice to see the grandchild i will then decide if i use my current system for a while maybe just find a shop to trust to put in a better graphics card (which may also mean another power unit) and then keep going or take the plunge with a new system and spend a lot of time reinstalling everything.

 

And these new systems have a wait for up to 2 weeks at my local bestBuy.

By then I may not even be so eager anymore for a new one...

 

And right now except for the occasional stutter event everything works just fine (but i have ambitions to add many more mods, so there is that).

And that stutter just may be due to the computer doing something in the background. I will try playing while disconnected to the internet on another forum someone posted it helped a lot and that one time I tried it myself it really did remove stutter and dramatically sped up load times.

Edited May 7, 2023 by katrina.balanchuk

[katrina.balanchuk]

8 minutes ago, N0BLE117 said:

Hey, is there any way you could send us a screenshot or a list of your current PC specs. Because I do not think you need 64 GB of ram for video games. You can either right click on "This PC" in the file explorer and click on "Properties" which will show you the exact processor and other components you or you can type "system information" in your windows search to pull up an app that shows every detail of your computer. We only need to know the basics like your RAM, CPU, GPU, and maybe Power Supply.

 

This computers you linked are good but they are overkill for what you are trying to do. 64 GB of RAM is unnecessary and the storage, while big, is a HDD which means the entire pc is gonna be bottlenecked by your hard drive.

 

I think if your pc is good enough we could just recommend you a new GPU and RAM which are super easy to replace as they just click in. You could then factory reset your pc and it would be like new. 

Thank you for the nice response

 I am not with my gaming computer right now. Will be very late tommorrow until I am home

I was told that 2 out of the 4 RAM spots in my motherbaord do not work.

So to upgrade RAM I would have to replace my two 8GB sticks with two 16 sticks and I am told not all MBs can take 16 GB RAM stick in their slots.

So I may need a new MB just to up my RAM.

And if I also need a new power unit to up my graphics card ( I have an NVIDOA 750 ti) then we are already half there to the cost of a new computer.

 

I will post everything up tuesday morning or even monday night if i am not too tired

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by katrina.balanchuk

[27X]

Whomever said you don't need 64 gigs is 10 years out of date. 64 is actually baseline "can do anything", same thing with anyone telling you 16 gigs is overkill for Vram.

 

The simple answer is wrong.

 

64/16, again, is baseline. Ps4 and equivalent specs are no longer a thing, and this is from someone in the industry.

 

Quote

the fuck are you talking about Skyrim runs great on my 12gig card

 

A 12 year old game runs great on your 12 gig card? Imagine that. I bet Sims does too. You know what won't? Anything published after 2022 that isn't a mobile game.

Edited May 7, 2023 by 27X

[KoolHndLuke]

35 minutes ago, 27X said:

You know what won't? Anything published after 2022 that isn't a mobile game.

Not to mention that constantly pushing the requirements is required (by law?) and keeps the tech industry very, very profitable well into the future. Super pc's that can run all the latest, super sophisticated apps are part of the new status symbol package it seems along with that shiny new performance car in the drive of the luxurious marbled mansion. 

 

Edited May 7, 2023 by KoolHndLuke

[Gameplayer]

I've spent a massive amount of downtime thinking about and researching PC builds after I lost all my PC's and stuff last year from a flood.

 

2,500 dollars is a serious amount of money for building a PC today, although if you want to spend 3500 you can build a better PC than any of the 6000+ builds you find anywhere.

 

So the two platforms you showed are basically last generations PC's, 

They are AM4 platforms that's AMD.

 

A Ryzen 9 5900X sells today on really good sale new on newegg right now for 350 bucks, its the CPU.

-Over on Ebay people are trying to sell them used at 350+ dollars!

-Its about the best CPU for AMD on an AM4 that's why as an old CPU it is selling so high used.

-Top end CPU for a series holds its value crazy good compared to its little brother CPU's.

 

64 Gigs of Memory is honestly the minimum you should seriously entertain, I dont care if the 32 gig kit is faster....Just get 64 gigs and you wont have to worry about it again.  With 64 gigs of memory, you wont have to worry about running a conference call with your kids while playing a game on the other monitor, let alone how many tabs of Chrome you are running.  Way undervalued by all gamers, as a mod author I can just run the game have all sorts of programs running even make a mod at the same time...Really helps with creative workflow and when just gaming the extra RAM helps, "pre-allocation" is a real thing and gamers should expect that developers are going to take advantage of that moving forward games will scale better with more RAM.

 

DDR4 is super cheap in 2x32 gig kit, get that right now for 140 dollars new on newegg.

 

A decent AM4 motherboard new can cost between 200-500 bucks....500 dollar amount would be the best board of that AM4 socket (you might not find them at that price because when it comes to mobo people just buy em and post them over on EBAY like a bunch of bastard scalpers).

 

A cooler for your CPU especially a 5900x is going to be best suited with a 360 AIO rad, you can find decent enough ones of these at about 80 bucks.

 

A Samsung 980 Pro 2TB costs about 170 bucks.

 

A decent 1000 watt evga titanium power supply unit will run about 220 bucks.

 

Go for a great case, like any of them around 200 bucks will be a dream to build in, I got a Hyte Y60 looks really cool.

 

Alright so whats my spec cost come out too!

 

Budget

Motherboard 350 

CPU 350

Cooler 80

RAM 140

SSD 170

PSU 220

Case 200

 

Have not added video card, YET.

 

My build costs 1,550 bucks so far.

 

Ouch mines costing a bit more than I would like BUT, I have a way better amount listed for the Case, and I am budgetting for a better motherboard more than likely better than what you get in your pre-build.

 

Now if my ceiling is 1,000 dollars left to spend than I purchase a RDNA 7900XT the one with the 20gigs of video memory ( its between 4080 and 4090 in performance beats the crap out of 3080)

Now if that is too much skin in the game for a best in class AMD this generation graphics card....Well then buy last generations best AMD card for way less than 1000 dollars, how about 500-700 bucks man.

 

Alright so basically my build beats the ever living shit out of your best buy build, some assembly required.

IF you have a camera phone and a working PC to post here on LL on, pretty sure there are people that can walk you through how to build your first PC so you dont overpay by 2X on a prebuild.

 

And no, I would in no way pay for a 3080 today at the prices they want for them way too high, you can get more value with a current AMD or just go all the way for the 4090.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Gameplayer

[Gameplayer]

The problem with going with a current generation build PC...

 

Costs way more, 

 

Mine cost me about 3600 dollars, just got it paid off.

 

The AMD version is called AM5

The Intel versions are called LGA 1700 

 

Both the premiums come packed in either a z690 or z790 motherboard. (intel)

Example,

I have a EVGA "z690" Dark Kingpin (managed to snag it on its going off the shelves clearance sale about 350 bucks) when it was released it was about 850, just last year!

 

Both AM5 and LGA 1700 socket CPU chips are expensive cause its whats new,

Although I socketed a i9 12900k mostly because getting my hands on a i9 13900K was going to cost twice as much and it was no where to be found and even today cannot find it stocked.

 

AM5 not sure about pricing but both AM5 and i9 13900k are going to run about 850 bucks.

 

Now your basically locked into DDR5, which costs twice as much as DDR4 right now and in some cases 4X.

So instead of paying 140 for premium RAM 64 gigs, your looking at 280.

IF you want the new 2x24 gig kits for this generation, that will run about 450 bucks because its high speed.

2x48 gig kit will run about 400 bucks, but its not as fast because larger modules usually dont come out with high speed stuff.

On DDR5 your basically stuck with being at 2 RAM sticks, for optimal overclocking of the RAM, what is called XMP profiles these days.

 

All the newer CPU's are way hotter and if your on an overclocking board like I am, gotta go with a 360 AIO although you can get these for about 80 bucks, but if you want lights and whistles you can have fully animated screens and displays going for around 400 bucks.

 

NVME SSD's are cost effective right now, you can get Samsung EVO 980 Pro's at a great price, heck get two, no more HDD slow drives for you.

 

Case, these days you want to spend about at least 80 bucks on a case, lower than that you are living in hell will be hard to work with during installation.

Splurge some here, get what looks great to you since you will have to look at it, so tossing upwards of 200 bucks is fine.

 

Power Supply, dont go lower than a 1,000 watt quality power supply not worth wondering if your getting power spike crashes because you skimped on wattage here.

 

-----------------

 

My PC,

 

EVGA z690 Dark Kingpin

i9 12900K

Ryjiin II 360 AIO

Trident G.Skill DDR5 32 gig 6400

2x 980 Pro 2 TB NVME

RTX MSI 4090 Liquid Surpim X

EVGA 1300 watt gold

Hyte Y60

 

My critique of my own build,

Well I should have just socketed 64 gig RAM kit off the bat, but at the time I was thinking I would get the 2x48 gig kit when it came out or when its price was ok, so I guess there is that.

1300 watts is high, why?  Well I wanted to be able to through more wattage at my board than needed because flex, and my board does OC and the GPU can OC as well....But ultimately it would have been fine using a 1,000 watt titanium at same price.

i9 12900K well honestly I probably choked some looking at a 850 dollar 13900k price tag which was twice the price of my CPU.

4090!  Yup a 4090, because its fucking amazing and honestly it plows through games, which I like to play a lot of.

The scary thing is I'm not getting the FPS potential it has with my hardware, and Im ok with that actually.

 

Plays all games in 4K at FPS well into 100-140+ range depends on settings.

Yes it plays pyscho RT cyberpunk at 140+, Pathtracing about 120.

But damn can I bring all that too its knee's with Skyrim modding, I got like 80 FPS with all that SMP stuff going on ><

 

Anyway if your going to get high end graphics card...You have to have a proper high end machine to actually leverage that GPU, see loads of people on Steam complaining on the daily that their 4090 is getting stutter and horrible frames because the other parts are not up to snuff really.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Gameplayer

[puss2puss]

hi,

wellll the pc you linked will definitely do the job for ANY games, but i wouldnt pay that price for this setup.

If you want to really have the best value for your money, build it yourself, for a set up like the one you posted you will probably build it for 1400 - 1800, depending on where you order your parts.

 

Happy gaming, happy modding!

[katrina.balanchuk]

6 hours ago, Gameplayer said:

I've spent a massive amount of downtime thinking about and researching PC builds after I lost all my PC's and stuff last year from a flood.

 

2,500 dollars is a serious amount of money for building a PC today, although if you want to spend 3500 you can build a better PC than any of the 6000+ builds you find anywhere.

 

So the two platforms you showed are basically last generations PC's, 

They are AM4 platforms that's AMD.

 

A Ryzen 9 5900X sells today on really good sale new on newegg right now for 350 bucks, its the CPU.

-Over on Ebay people are trying to sell them used at 350+ dollars!

-Its about the best CPU for AMD on an AM4 that's why as an old CPU it is selling so high used.

-Top end CPU for a series holds its value crazy good compared to its little brother CPU's.

 

64 Gigs of Memory is honestly the minimum you should seriously entertain, I dont care if the 32 gig kit is faster....Just get 64 gigs and you wont have to worry about it again.

DDR4 is super cheap in 2x32 gig kit, get that right now for 140 dollars new on newegg.

 

A decent AM4 motherboard new can cost between 200-500 bucks....500 dollar amount would be the best board of that AM4 socket (you might not find them at that price because when it comes to mobo people just buy em and post them over on EBAY like a bunch of bastard scalpers).

 

A cooler for your CPU especially a 5900x is going to be best suited with a 360 AIO rad, you can find decent enough ones of these at about 80 bucks.

 

A Samsung 980 Pro 2TB costs about 170 bucks.

 

A decent 1000 watt evga titanium power supply unit will run about 220 bucks.

 

Go for a great case, like any of them around 200 bucks will be a dream to build in, I got a Hyte Y60 looks really cool.

 

Alright so whats my spec cost come out too!

 

Budget

Motherboard 350 

CPU 350

Cooler 80

RAM 140

SSD 170

PSU 220

Case 200

 

Have not added video card, YET.

 

My build costs 1,550 bucks so far.

 

Ouch mines costing a bit more than I would like BUT, I have a way better amount listed for the Case, and I am budgetting for a better motherboard more than likely better than what you get in your pre-build.

 

Now if my ceiling is 1,000 dollars left to spend than I purchase a RDNA 7900XT the one with the 20gigs of video memory ( its between 4080 and 4090 in performance beats the crap out of 3080)

Now if that is too much skin in the game for a best in class AMD this generation graphics card....Well then buy last generations best AMD card for way less than 1000 dollars, how about 500-700 bucks man.

 

Alright so basically my build beats the ever living shit out of your best buy build, some assembly required.

IF you have a camera phone and a working PC to post here on LL on, pretty sure there are people that can walk you through how to build your first PC so you dont overpay by 2X on a prebuild.

 

And no, I would in no way pay for a 3080 today at the prices they want for them way too high, you can get more value with a current AMD or just go all the way for the 4090.

 Thank you for the complete explanation

 

But this is cost to "build".

I dont have the skills to do that and no local computer builder I trust.

So these numbers meen very little to me as i am stuck either

a) upgrading my current or 

b) buying a new store unit

 

Those are the 2 choices.

 

The one local guy said "I dont do high end computers" when I mentioned adding 32GB RAM to mine.

 

Also my goal really is fallout 4 with a lot of mods and little else for years to come.

 

My current specs:

Operating System
    Windows 11 Home 64-bit
CPU
    Intel Core i7 9700K @ 3.60GHz    45 °C
    Coffee Lake 14nm Technology
RAM
    16.0GB Dual-Channel DDR4 @ 1329MHz (19-19-19-43)
Motherboard
    ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. PRIME B365M-A (LGA1151)    30 °C
Graphics
    XB273 GX (1920x1080@59Hz)
    Intel UHD Graphics 630 (ASUStek Computer Inc)
    2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti (EVGA)    30 °C
    SLI Disabled
Storage
    3726GB Seagate ST4000DM004-2CV104 (SATA )    31 °C
    953GB SPCC Solid State Disk (SATA (SSD))    33 °C
    953GB SPCC Solid State Disk (SATA (SSD))    33 °C
Optical Drives
    hp DVD-RAM GH40L
Audio
    USB Audio Device

 

Edited May 9, 2023 by katrina.balanchuk

[Gameplayer]

 

ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. PRIME B365M-A (LGA1151)

https://www.asus.com/motherboards-components/motherboards/prime/prime-b365m-a/techspec/

"B365M-A" <---Motherboard

 

It supports DDR4 up too 64 gigs of 2666, 4 dimms.

 

So installing RAM is super easy,

Lay the case on its side after having pulled off the side cover, dont worry about warranty here its likely already been used up.

No need for gloves or tools.

Just make sure hands are clean and dry.

Dont sneeze on the interior.

Find the lever's on the side of the RAM modules, push on the lever that will release the module.

Put hand on module and pull up.

 

Now the scary sounding part,

Put the new module in the slot, press firmly and gently...There will be a load popping sound it is now securely in place.

 

There is no special skill or needing more power supply to do this.

 

You will need, DDR4 4x16 2666 kit for the best in slot for that board.

-That will be the MAX you can support

-It will also be the most ideal configuration for the Mobo DDR4 performs better with 4 Dimms rather than 2.

-Purchasing a new 4 RAM Module kit is manditory, no having to worry about having Samsung mixed with Micron or other RAM, (no I dont expect people to understand why)

 

Anyone should be able to manage this upgrade, after that you will get the bug to upgrade more stuff cause you will see your PC will work better after finished.

 

You "might" have to run XMP profile after restarting the computer, this is in the BIOS which to get there you have to mash the "delete" key during power up till your dumped in the BIOS screen.  Might want to find a video explaining this because you gotta navigate over to the RAM and each BIOS is different for each brand.  IE ASUS is not the same way as EVGA and so on.  When you get to the XMP profile you will set your RAM speed to its full 2666, otherwise the standard speed without doing this for that DDR4 is uh 2133 not bad.

 

The CPU, Intel Core i7 9700K

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/products/sku/186604/intel-core-i79700k-processor-12m-cache-up-to-4-90-ghz/specifications.html

 

I checked to see that the CPU supported 64 gigs of 4x16 2666, it does and also your motherboard does as well!

 

More stuff in next post.

 

"I am not with my gaming computer right now. Will be very late tommorrow until I am home

I was told that 2 out of the 4 RAM spots in my motherbaord do not work."

 

I imagine this was the same people that sold you a really old graphics card with your PC?

 

Hmm....

 

Well if you buy your RAM kit through Newegg, you can pretty much return it withen 30 days for store credit.

DDR4 is inexpensive right now so a 4 module kit wont cost much for 2666.

 

When you get the kit it will be a matched set, meaning its not mixed by different RAM manufacturer's.

More likely to work.

I just IDK sounds like you got sold a lemon really, I would want to know if those RAM slots worked or not.

 

if you have too can do 2x16 kit.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Gameplayer

[Gameplayer]

You have to figure out what your PSU, "Power Supply Unit" is.

-Want Wattage number

 

Gotta figure out what graphics card it could support.

 

Anyway, if all you want to do is play games before 2022....

Need a graphics card with about 11 gigs of VRAM on it, and you can get those used for cheap.

 

But before anyone starts dreaming up anything lets find out what your wattage is.

 

Anyway.....

 

Yes this is work,

 

So you asked if the computer you posted is a good pick....

Uh yes it is, you are paying for someone else to assemble though quite a bit and maybe that might be the right deal for some people...

 

Its a pretty good AM4 set up, even the graphics card is not bad....Would not be expecting to play the current games going forward quite as well as all the games from before 2023.  In 2023 going forward, expect to play games at about 1080p max settings...But at higher resolutions that will be some give and take because the VRAM on the graphics card is not up to the task for where the market of gaming is going now.

 

You could feasibly upgrade that 3080 if that became an issue, but lets be honest you just paid full price for that GPU now and replacing it means you paid out about 700 dollars for that card and now your going to spend another 700-1,000 dollars for a modern 2023 graphics card.

That is the issue I see anyway.

 

However, AM4 builds right now very affordable for near modern high end gaming with the right graphics card....I would go for a AMD graphics card with 16 or 20 gigs of VRAM....That would be enough for a while actually and well you could just say this is whats good for the whole gaming cycle of the current console generation which is about 7 years before we hit a snag again with a generational leap forward.

 

Although we are in the beginning of a major graphics push from the gaming industry....So when purchasing a new PC outright rather than maybe doing some cheap upgrades on an existing platform....Hmm you might want to consider getting a beefy amount of VRAM and your best bet right now for value is going to be AMD card with either 16 or 20 gigs of it.

 

IF

Paying out a little more on a pre-build is the route you are willing to entertain...

Well gotta think about the graphics card.

IF it was that exact same build but a better graphics card like one from the current generation of AMD, that would be a no-brainer for a not going to build it myself buyer.  Just gotta get familiar with the current AMD cards and sort of look around for that build pretty sure it exists.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Gameplayer

[Gameplayer]

So....

 

IF you do a pre-build,

 

RTX 4090 - Top monster in the world graphics card, has 24 gigs of VRAM, price ranges from 1650-2500 dollars. (note there is not a good reason to pay more than 1700 cause they are nearly the same in performance, its about what other features are on the card that makes you pay more)

 

RADEON RX 7900 XTX 24GB-1,000 dollar graphics card current top end GPU from AMD

 

RADEON RX 7900 XT 20GB - We lost a letter "x" and we lost 4 gigs of VRAM but we also only pay 800 Dollars!  Wow what a difference a letter x makes.

 

So uh...

 

A RTX 3080 costs 700 dollars, because there was so much overstock that the retailers felt shafted when left holding the bag and gamers would not buy them....Its still going on right now in fact and no one is really flinching yet.

 

So my point here is this,

 

You buy this pre-build you are buying a 700 dollar GPU that was last generation, but 100 dollars more got you a RADEON RX 7900 XT 20GB

That RADEON RX 7900 XT 20GB, is twice the VRAM of the 3080 (3080 has only 10!)...Which is AMAZING. and its also way faster than 3080 by a country mile.

 

So that is what you gotta look around for in a PC build with about the same parts you listed in your Best Buy advert.

That is why people here are likely sort of iffy about the build you listed.

Edited May 9, 2023 by Gameplayer