Thinking of getting back into PC gaming. Suggestions?
- Thread starter Vyse
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DirtInUrEye
Member
RTSS, but really learn and use Special K instead.
LordBritish
Member
microcenter bundles.... start there
StereoVsn
Gold Member
There are some decent priced prebuilta you can get from CyberPowerPC and iBuyPower PC.
If you have a Microcenter their in-house PowerSpec brand can be reasonable. And Lenovo usually runs pretty decent coupons. As mentioned above, Costco is a good place to try your luck due to very solid return window and warranty.
If you could up your budget, Microcenter currently has the following:
www.microcenter.com
“AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7GHz Processor; NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB GDDR7; 32GB DDR5-6000 RAM; 2TB Solid State Drive”.
If you have a Microcenter their in-house PowerSpec brand can be reasonable. And Lenovo usually runs pretty decent coupons. As mentioned above, Costco is a good place to try your luck due to very solid return window and warranty.
If you could up your budget, Microcenter currently has the following:
PowerSpec G752 Gaming PC; AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7GHz Processor; NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB GDDR7; 32GB DDR5-6000 RAM; - Micro Center
Get it now! Elevate your gaming with the PowerSpec G752 Gaming PC featuring AMD Ryzen 7, RTX 5070 Ti, 32GB RAM, and 2TB SSD. Visit us in-store for the ultimate gaming experience!
“AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D 4.7GHz Processor; NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti 16GB GDDR7; 32GB DDR5-6000 RAM; 2TB Solid State Drive”.
bitbydeath
Gold Member
David B
An Idiot
Here we go again? Whatever. I always about the truth and always speak the truth about every single subject in my life like my ex GF, we had sex a lot. Just thought I'd bring up more truth for ya.holy shit, the nickname subtext seriously checks out. That must be the most retarded blatantly made up nonsense I´ve read today.
David B
An Idiot
Topher
Identifies as young
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Kings Field
Member
People are finding 4080 super prebuilts at costco for good prices especially if they’re the last one in the store or the display model.
poppabk
Cheeks Spread for Digital Only Future
Let me guess - you traded her in for a guy after a week then tried to get back together with her a week later. Then got a sex doll and started complaining about everyone having sex with girls.
Guwop
Member
That is definitely a nice deal for that pre - built. I almost bought one but have been reading up on the problems with the Intel 13th & 14th generation processors. I read the AMD Ryzen processors are the best for gaming.
I decided to go with a custom build from CyberpowerPC and I went with the new Intel 15th Gen CPU ( Ultra Core 9 285k ) 32 gigs of ram, Nvidia RTX 5070 Ti.
PeteBull
Member
OP, quite a few ppl gave u good advices already, so i will just point out important stuff in terms of what u will want cpu wise, at least 6cores/12threads, and gpu u want minimum 12gigs of vram, obviously optimum would be 8c/16t and 16gigs of vram but that will be really hard to find in 1500 usd prebuild bracket, probably u would need to jump to 1800-2k usd range.
Another hint is- wait few more months, gpu prices should get better coz avaiability of midrange cards will get better, atm its close to cryptoboom price wise, coz avaiability is crazy low.
Edit:
Here i think one if not best deal in the 2k usd price bracked pre-build
What u getting is 7800x3d cpu, 2nd best in gaming, previous bis
32gigs of fast ddr5 ram
850W goldrated psu (good for future incase u switch gpu in few years for something even more beefy)
2tb gen4 ssd( u dont need best of the best ssd for gaming, gen4 is plenty, 2tb is nice space to have with current size of modern games, definitely no point to go smaller).
9070xt gpu that just launched, new amd rdna4 archi with much improved ai scaling and rt performance, and 16 gigs of vram which gonna make sure u wont be vram starved next few years.
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hinch7
Member
$830 for a 9700 is wild. Don't buy at those prices.If this was in stock it would be the best:
I wouldn't recommend 4060 to anyone...
Outside of prebuilds something like this can be build:
Ridiculous prices of GPUs right now are not helping. 7500f on AM5 could have similar performance but of course some higher cost (but platform would be future proof).
Managed to preorder a 5070 Ti at MSRP for next month (I'm in the UK). No doubt they'll come back in stock soon at more reasonable prices.
Schmendrick
Member
when the cost of entry is suddenly massively overinflated (f.e. a 3080 was 699 at launch, the 4080 1199), and that "value retention" is done via artificial scarcity and lack of progress that is absolutely not something to cheer for. In fact it is utterly stupid to see that with any positivity at all...
All that shitty generation did was make scalper prices normal which now continues with the 5xxx gen.
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Kenneth Haight
Gold Member
Shadowstar39
Member
Depends.. If you are OK with 1080p (I am as it still looks beautiful) than a 24 or 27" monitor and a geforce xx60 card will get you maxed out on anything, as long as you pair it with a modern cpu and at least 16gb ram. Can be done for around $1k or less if you already have the monitor and or other parts.
If you need 1440p or 4k, the people here can guide you to emptying your savings for a few pixels. Expect to pay a premium. Apparently 1k or more for thr gpu alone, let alone a 4k monitor will cost you that much too for a good one.
If you need 1440p or 4k, the people here can guide you to emptying your savings for a few pixels. Expect to pay a premium. Apparently 1k or more for thr gpu alone, let alone a 4k monitor will cost you that much too for a good one.
Shadowstar39
Member
When has a xx80 series ever been cost of entry? I get it the prices are ridiculous, but entry level/budget is a xx50 or xx60 card. It's a 24" 1080p monitor for $100. Yeah those xx60 cards are way too much too, but they work just as well.
I'm still rocking my 3060ti and it plays everything fine. Last xx80 card I owned was a 8800gtx which was like $400 back then (less than my ti). Pc gaming doesn't have to cost so much. It's pc gaming there is options and the used market for parts.
Also the genre of games matter. I play mostly strategy, city builder, rpg, arpg roguelike, 4x, space, survival/crafting, and indie boomer shooters/metroidvanias on pc. A lower cost card is fine for that. I turn down my fps cap to 40 in turn based games and 60 fps in action games just so my room doesn't heat up as those gpus today raise the temp when maxing out. 144fps vsync is not needed and in fact I believe is a marketing gimmick to sell cards and gpus.
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Buggy Loop
Member
Pre-builts OP?
I would have recommended chasing down a 9070XT at close to MSRP to begin with and once you have a GPU the rest is easy to buy, but that means it has to be you building it. Unless in USA microcenters can build a custom system for you?
I would have recommended chasing down a 9070XT at close to MSRP to begin with and once you have a GPU the rest is easy to buy, but that means it has to be you building it. Unless in USA microcenters can build a custom system for you?
Shadowstar39
Member
Lolol... Best time for what? Best time for price and longevity? I go back decades from the start of 3d card era and it's not even close. Early 3dfx era was expensive and tech changed very rapidly so there was always something new. Old cards lost value quick compared to today.
There are a few card series that had value and performance, that lasted years
Geforce 3, geforce 8800gts/gtx, ATI Radeon 9800, ati Radeon 78xx series, Nvidia 10xx series ans 30xxx SERIES (well for thr 30xx series it's cost realitive to modern rtx gpus)
A 8800gts/gtx would of cost like $329/400 and max out all games at the time (outside crysis) for years, a 1080gtx played everything until recently, just with no ray tracing. It lasted almost a decade.
So no a gpu costing over a g is not the best price to performance era. A decade ago Nvidia released titan cards and people scoffed at the price. Now you all just bend over and take it, sad..
Hideous Snake
Gold Member
I wouldn’t recommend it right now with all the prices fuckery. Even prebuilt PCs overpriced with the new cards
I can make you a decent PC with that budget of yours if you like. But I’m not sure what resolution you plan to play on and if the 1,500 is only for the PC or you’ll use it to get a monitor too.
I can make you a decent PC with that budget of yours if you like. But I’m not sure what resolution you plan to play on and if the 1,500 is only for the PC or you’ll use it to get a monitor too.
Schmendrick
Member
how about you read what you reply to first? What exactly do you think "f.e." stands for?
And a lot of people aren`t buying PCs just to have console equivalent performance.
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Black_Stride
do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Any modern CPU. (im literally running a 12400 and it hasnt killed me yet)
GPU with 10GB or more VRAM.
24 or 32GB System RAM.
Decent m.2 SSD.
Welcome to PC gaming.
I take it you were born in 2022?
Cuz must have forgotten the launch of the RTX 3080, or the RTX 306012'G.....or the GTX1080Ti.
GPUs that were respected and super viable for much longer than practically anything from the RTX40 series......teh 4080 was launched at frikken 1200 dollar mate?
Best time?
GPU with 10GB or more VRAM.
24 or 32GB System RAM.
Decent m.2 SSD.
Welcome to PC gaming.
I take it you were born in 2022?
Cuz must have forgotten the launch of the RTX 3080, or the RTX 306012'G.....or the GTX1080Ti.
GPUs that were respected and super viable for much longer than practically anything from the RTX40 series......teh 4080 was launched at frikken 1200 dollar mate?
Best time?
iQuasarLV
Member
Minisforum UM890 Gaming PC $479
Honestly, personally, I am done with the big-box-bullshit taking up a section of my room. If I can get setup on my desktop for minimal space usage I am jumping on board.
- Add 32GB +$100
- Add 2TB SSD +$115
Honestly, personally, I am done with the big-box-bullshit taking up a section of my room. If I can get setup on my desktop for minimal space usage I am jumping on board.
Radical_3d
Member
Advice from the man himself.
Thebonehead
Gold Member
What did you do when you ran out of puncture repair kits though? Oh yeah my bad... That's why now an ex right?
Seriously though.. don't worry about the fact that your missing the definitive experience on pc. No don't let those thoughts sit in your mind.
On second thought go and buy a gaming PC and then tell us about it here and also when you decide to sell it 24 hours later.
Aenima
Member
"Any suggestions on a reasonable PC setup for gaming?"
The reasonable part is the problem about the current PC gaming. The prices went to shit, nothing is reasonable.
My personal sugestion, whatever midrange build you get, stick with a 1080p monitor if you value framerate.
icecold1983
Member
Dont.
asdasdasdbb
Member
Steam Deck
The 40 Series Cards are 100% compatible with the new DXR 1.2, they will have amazing longevity. Yes they came with the Scalper tax I admit that, but I think people who payed the 1,200 $ for a 4080 now find themselves still with a valuable card years later, which changes the perspective of the launch cards . We will be staying at the 4k resolution as gamers for a while. I don't see how gaming is going to demand more in a world of diminishing returns where the 50series is a ripoff in comparison.
What makes the 40series quality was the surprise node shrink.
What makes the 40series quality was the surprise node shrink.
Gamer_By_Proxy
Member
Do you not YouTube?!?! The influencers push Starforge!!! How dare you not be influenced!!!!
As someone that built their first pc about 27 years ago, I just got a hp omen prebuilt from microcenter. I don’t wanna build crap anymore. Ha!
As someone that built their first pc about 27 years ago, I just got a hp omen prebuilt from microcenter. I don’t wanna build crap anymore. Ha!
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ResilientBanana
Member
Most of the configurations below could last you a decade if you treat them right. I would build it yourself as pre-built PCs tend to take shortcuts. https://pcpartpicker.com is highly advisable to use as a tool.
4K Beefy - $2500 - $3K
AMD 9800X3D w/ AIO Cooler
48GB DDR5 RAM
nVidia 5080
1TB NVMe SSD OS Drive PCIe 5 - 4 Lanes
2TB NVMe SSD Storage PCIe 5 - 4 Lanes
4K Less Beef $1500 - $2500
AMD 9800X3D w/ AIO Cooler
32GB DDR5 RAM
nVidia 4080 Super
2TB NVMe SSD OS Drive / Storage PCIe 5 - 4 Lanes
2K Even Less Beef $1250 - $2000
AMD 9700X Air Cooled
32GB DDR5 RAM
AMD 9070XT
1TB NVMe SSD OS / Storage Drive
I've built 6 or 7 PC's in the past 4 months, trust me when I say, building your own is the way to go. As an example my buddy bought a PC from Digital Storm with a custom water loop which was around $7K. The pump ended up failing due to the fact that they mixed the metals on the water-blocks like retards which produced corrosion. His previous PC (built by me prior to Digital Storm) is still kicking under new ownership with the original fluid (inadvisable) but it's been nearly 8 years running. DS said it was his fault for not changing the fluid every year.
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Gameplay Gods Bless
Member
So right now the only parts that are hard to get are new high end GPUs so let's tackle that last. You're better off building a PC in a website like PCPartPicker than a prebuilt from Dell. Diy PCs give you access to the best parts for the least money.
So let's start with the platform (motherboard). I recommend AMD AM5 over Intel because Intels last gen platform is end of life and their current gen platform LGA 1851 is a dead end and has no upgrades planned. AM5 on the other hand supports Zen 4 (2022), Zen 5 (2024) and will support Zen 6 (2026). So you can buy a modern motherboard and a cheap last gen CPU like a Ryzen 7500 and years later upgrade to a top of the line 109800X3D( or w.e AMD ends up calling Zen 6).
CPU: Anything Zen 4 or 5 that isn't an APU is great so think Ryzen 7600 (6 core), 7700 (8 core), 7900 (12 core), 7950 (16 core). And the gaming specialized X3D versions like the 7800X3D (8 core) and the 7950X3D (16 core), the X3D chips are anything from 10 to 30% faster at gaming depending on the game. Zen 5 is newer, a bit better but more expensive same naming scheme; 9600 (6 core), 9700 (8 core) etc.
Ram: whatever is affordable for you. Ideally you want DDR5 6000 with the lowest cas latency but it's not a big deal. Also ideally you want 16GB minimum but 32GB is recommended for gaming.
Computer case: can be whatever is to your tastes make sure if you get a full ATX motherboard that you get a case that supports full size motherboards (mid and full towers do). Check out logicalincrements.com if you want some example pairings.
Power supply: anything seasonic is top tier (this depends on your GPU, the more power it consumes the bigger the power supply) anything 700W and higher is good.
SSD: anything PCIe 3 or higher is good, 1TB or larger is recommended.
GPU: Finally let's talk GPUs. Right now the new stuff is out of stock or higher prices than MSRP so you have 3 options. 1 you get something to tie you over and wait a couple months till supply stabilizes. 2 you buy what you want now at higher prices. 3 you buy used.
Let's talk GPU power. 1080p class, these cards are good at running games at 1080p they can play all the latest games but for some games you may need to adjust some settings: 3060 12GB, 3060ti, RX 6600, 6600XT, RX 6700, 4060, 4060ti, RX 7600, 7600XT, Intel Arc A750, A770, B570, B580.
1440p class, from this point onwards you can .consider these cards "high end" gaming GPUs. 1440p can at times have more VRAM usage beyond what 8GB, 10GB and very rarely 12GB cards can do **at max settings** so you may need to adjust VRAM heavy settings like textures depending on your card. The cards: RTX 3070, 3070ti, 3080, 3080ti, RX 6700XT, RX 6800, RX 6800XT, 4070, 4070 Super, 4070TI, 5070, RX 7700XT, 7800XT, 7900GRE, RX 9070.
4K, same deal. The cards: 3090, 3090ti, 4070ti super, 4080, 4090, 5070ti super, 5080, 5090, RX 6950, 7900 XT, 7900XTX, RX 9070XT.
Go with 1 of the 3 options and select a card that fits your needs. https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/geforce-rtx-3060-12-gb.c3682 scroll down to relative power and see how each card stacks up. Keep in mind Nvidia cards are the best at RT, Intel is second best and AMD is 3rd. 30, 40 series are most likely to be bought used because they don't make most of them anymore. Enjoy!
bender
What time is it?
Gameplay Gods Bless
Member
What no way? A bit ago there were laptops that were selling for $999 with a 4060 in it and laptops areore expensive than desktop equivalents.
.... 10 seconds in Starforges website and I found this
Horizon III Pro | Prebuilt Gaming PC | Starforge Systems
The Horizon III Pro is built around delivering competitive performance at 1080P and 1440P. This system is a gaming PC targeting Esports titles but is also more than capable of providing a fantastic AAA gaming experience.
starforgesystems.com
6 core Alder Lake and 7700XT for $1349. That's pretty good, Alder Lake is plenty strong and the 7700XT beats the pants out of the 4060.
Upgrade to the Horizon 3 and you get a 6 core Zen 4 with a 7800XT for $1549. The 7800XT is a very powerful GPU and Zen 4 like Alder Lake is great.
I'm sure there are other deals elsewhere but like I said 10 seconds is all it took me to find something better, I like the Starforges website because it feels more gamer centric what with benchmarks and fps on the shopping page, they also got a 2 year warranty in the US which is more than many others. If I were OP I'd shop around I bet there are way better options from bigger OEMs than Starforge.
Schmendrick
Member
"scalper tax" and "still valuable" only due to artificial scarcity and technological stagnation...
There is not a single positive thing about that garbage gen... The only way it doesn't look like utter shit is putting it besides the Blackwell gen that somehow managed to top that trainwreck....
Bang for buck dropped off a cliff and it marked the end of classic scaling.
A terrible terrible gen compared to anything that came before, including Turing.
And you don't see how games can get more demanding........ Seriously?!
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Gameplay Gods Bless
Member
Damn that's a monster CPU and a great price. Leave it to Costco.
Gameplay Gods Bless
Member
Yeap id snatch this up on a heartbeat. 4070 Super is excellent for 1440p.
Gameplay Gods Bless
Member
4060 is fine but not for a $1500 build.If this was in stock it would be the best:
I wouldn't recommend 4060 to anyone...
Outside of prebuilds something like this can be build:
Ridiculous prices of GPUs right now are not helping. 7500f on AM5 could have similar performance but of course some higher cost (but platform would be future proof).
I get what you are saying, but you are flat out ignoring the software/hardware advancement of the 40series.
I think to have the perspective i'm pitching one had to have skipped the 30series. I was on the 20series before, and on a 780 before that. Prices went up but I can sell my card today for 800 euros and I paid 1,000.
That changes a lot. My 780 sold for pennies, the 2060 I sold I got a good 150$ after 500 investments.
So there are people who got a 40 series, and do have a cheaper way to upgrade if they want. And I think when the 60series comes out People with 40's will as the video I posted still retain great value.
So nvidia scalped us you can see it that way. Or nvidia increased the values of all cards, and we paid a higher price for that, but therefore also retain value.
Schmendrick
Member
Nonsense argumentation from start to finish. The value retention is only due to stagnation and scarcity. The whole point of GPU gens, namely progress went out the window.
And there are also no cheaper upgrades because performance now almost linearly scales with the price..
And with TSMC's 2nm preview numbers that is going to continue.
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jshackles
Gentlemen, we can rebuild it. We have the capability to make the world's first enhanced store. Steam will be that store. Better than it was before.
Last month I got their prebuilt with an i9 and 4070 super for $1100, sometimes they have insane deals, especially in store for their floor models
MacReady13
Member
As an owner of a 4070ti super that I purchased last year, and the owner of a Switch, PS5 pro and Series X, I completely wasted my money on the PC. It’s easily the least played gaming device I have. I should have purchased a steam deck instead. The leap from PC to console is NOT worth all that money.
In my humble opinion, stick to the consoles and use the money that you would’ve spent on a PC on games/accessories for your consoles.
In my humble opinion, stick to the consoles and use the money that you would’ve spent on a PC on games/accessories for your consoles.
icecold1983
Member
All these posts ignore the fact that PC games themselves have become stuttery garbage. OP mentions RPGs and action games which is Unreal Engine central. No hardware will give him a smooth experience. He is much better served with a PS5/Series X. Spending 4-6x the money to have better visuals at the cost of smooth performance is a terrible recommendation. Spending 2-3x the money to have worse visuals AND worse performance is even more laughable.
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