Is £1000 a realistic budget for 1440p 144hz gaming
- Thread starter NathanPC
- Start date
Tron1982
VALUED CONTRIBUTOR
Hello, i'm not an expert in term of desktop computer, but if i'm not wrong, you may want to up your budget to 1500/1750£ to have a good spec for a 1440p/144hz gaming experience.
(Well, at least, i can tell you for sure that 1000£ i not enough du to component worldwide shortage, and so, high prices ^^")
But, i may be wrong, so i let the real "pro" of the forum give you their best advices
(Well, at least, i can tell you for sure that 1000£ i not enough du to component worldwide shortage, and so, high prices ^^")
But, i may be wrong, so i let the real "pro" of the forum give you their best advices
Yes prices are definitely very high at the moment, most likely making the price higher than normal.
I seem to be able to put together a 5600x with a 3060 for around £1200.
Hopefully I don’t have to stretch the budget to much & then in the future maybe when the 40 series GPUs release, getting the 3080ti or the equivalent 4080ti
I seem to be able to put together a 5600x with a 3060 for around £1200.
Hopefully I don’t have to stretch the budget to much & then in the future maybe when the 40 series GPUs release, getting the 3080ti or the equivalent 4080ti
My guess is that you are pricing the 5600x and the 3060 with very poor supporting hardware, sacrificing the case, PSU, storage & motherboard along the way. There's just no way to get a good 1440p build for anything less than £1500 right now.
I wouldn't actually opt for the 3060 for gaming, it's more for professional workloads (check the vRAM). The 3060ti is the more ideal candidate.
It's interesting that you are trying to build a PC on a relatively low budget but would be willing to pay the same again for a GPU down the line (the 4080Ti is likely to be £1200+ on its own).
If this genuinely is the way you want to plan, then keep in mind you will need a 1000+w PSU in the build as the 4080Ti is going to need it. Unless you want to be swapping out the PSU down the line of course.
Not a pro but the 3060 Ti is the "1440p" GPU. On the CPU, you want to go the Intel 12th gen route with a 12400F (it's cheaper than the 5600X right now). You are looking at around £1,500 for a balanced build with two storage drives, decent motherboard etc.
You can get this down to perhaps £1,400 by chiselling in a number of areas but the price of the GPU is a major constraint. Even moving down to more high end 1080p type cards such as the 3060 or new 2060 (which has performance between the old 2060 and a 2060 Super) you aren't really getting the price down below £1,300.
Frankly, £1,000 doesn't even buy a 1080p build right now. That is closer to £1,200.
You can get this down to perhaps £1,400 by chiselling in a number of areas but the price of the GPU is a major constraint. Even moving down to more high end 1080p type cards such as the 3060 or new 2060 (which has performance between the old 2060 and a 2060 Super) you aren't really getting the price down below £1,300.
Frankly, £1,000 doesn't even buy a 1080p build right now. That is closer to £1,200.
This is what you would be looking at with the future in mind.... and this is saving where possible.
Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 10-Core Processor i5-12600KF (3.7GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B660-PLUS WIFI D4: ATX, LGA1700, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 RGB V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 12 working days
Price: £1,642.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/sg9zS6bRme/
Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 10-Core Processor i5-12600KF (3.7GHz) 20MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B660-PLUS WIFI D4: ATX, LGA1700, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE RGB PRO DDR4 3600MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2200 MB/R, 1500 MB/W)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1000W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 RGB V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 12 working days
Price: £1,642.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/sg9zS6bRme/
This is eeking out what I can for as low as I can. There are no bells & whistles and the PSU won't cover you for high end. Your games would be slow loading on a conventional drive to save a few £
Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-12400F (2.5GHz) 18MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B660-PLUS WIFI D4: ATX, LGA1700, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 RGB V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 12 working days
Price: £1,475.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/fVVV7gn5ah/
Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-12400F (2.5GHz) 18MB Cache
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING B660-PLUS WIFI D4: ATX, LGA1700, USB 3.2, SATA 6GBs - ARGB Ready
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3000MB/sR | 1600MB/sW)
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 RGB V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
Windows 11 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence [KUK-00003]
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10/11 Multi-Language Recovery Image - Unlimited Downloads from Online Account
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Microsoft® Edge
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 12 working days
Price: £1,475.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/fVVV7gn5ah/
I think you will find the 3060 come up a bit short for 1440p 144hz gaming unless you are happy with quite low settings. You probably need to go for the 3060 ti.
For ~1300 you could have something that is capable. I am using the 1200f with a 3060 ti and I can get 144fps on most games with reasonable settings (unfortunately I cant see it as my current monitor is only 1440p 75hz).
A 3080ti would be a waste of money unless you upgrade your monitor.
Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-12400F (2.5GHz) 18MB Cache (Better value than 5600x and 12600k is probably overkill for your budget)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B660-PLUS D4 (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready! (upgrade to TUF if you have the money)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW) (You could try 500GB if you are very disciplined)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 RGB V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 12 working days
Price: £1,331.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/FZDzasV!ch/
For ~1300 you could have something that is capable. I am using the 1200f with a 3060 ti and I can get 144fps on most games with reasonable settings (unfortunately I cant see it as my current monitor is only 1440p 75hz).
A 3080ti would be a waste of money unless you upgrade your monitor.
Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
Intel® Core™ i5 Six Core Processor i5-12400F (2.5GHz) 18MB Cache (Better value than 5600x and 12600k is probably overkill for your budget)
Motherboard
ASUS® PRIME B660-PLUS D4 (DDR4, USB 3.2, 6Gb/s) - ARGB Ready! (upgrade to TUF if you have the money)
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 3060 Ti - HDMI, DP, LHR
1st M.2 SSD Drive
1TB INTEL® 670p M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 3500MB/sR | 2500MB/sW) (You could try 500GB if you are very disciplined)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
PCS FrostFlow 100 RGB V3 Series High Performance CPU Cooler
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
WIRELESS INTEL® Wi-Fi 6 AX200 2,400Mbps/5GHz, 300Mbps/2.4GHz PCI-E CARD + BT 5.0
USB/Thunderbolt Options
MIN. 2 x USB 3.0 & 2 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL + MIN. 2 FRONT PORTS
Operating System
NO OPERATING SYSTEM REQUIRED
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
NO RECOVERY MEDIA REQUIRED
Office Software
FREE 30 Day Trial of Microsoft 365® (Operating System Required)
Anti-Virus
NO ANTI-VIRUS SOFTWARE
Browser
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
STANDARD INSURED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND (MON-FRI)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 9 to 12 working days
Price: £1,331.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/intel-z690-pc/FZDzasV!ch/
Why the need for 1000w psu, isn’t gpu’s becoming more powerful but also requiring the same if not less watts to power? Basically I want something to play asap, but I don’t want to be spending loads right now, in that hope gpu prices drop in the future & stock becomes more available.
@NathanPC. You clearly don't need a 1000W PSU right now. Just remember that when you upgrade that GPU two to three years down the line, you might then need to upgrade the PSU, so to some degree you'll be paying twice for something you could have paid only once for.
On the other side, you can't get away with a CV 550W PSU. CV PSU are really more for office PCs not gaming PCs. It's not just about the power rating, it's also about the quality. You want to aim not to be drawing more than say 60-65% from the PSU. So for a 1440p card like the 3060 Ti something like a 650-750W TXm class PSU is the absolute minimum for right now.
Unfortunately, you're not going to get a 1440p PC for £1k right now. The spec by @ThoRob is pretty close to a low as you can get, perhaps you can get that down to £1275-1300 by choosing the Gigabyte board and a 650W TXm. Even with a 3060 (out of stock), you are still above £1,200.
On the other side, you can't get away with a CV 550W PSU. CV PSU are really more for office PCs not gaming PCs. It's not just about the power rating, it's also about the quality. You want to aim not to be drawing more than say 60-65% from the PSU. So for a 1440p card like the 3060 Ti something like a 650-750W TXm class PSU is the absolute minimum for right now.
Unfortunately, you're not going to get a 1440p PC for £1k right now. The spec by @ThoRob is pretty close to a low as you can get, perhaps you can get that down to £1275-1300 by choosing the Gigabyte board and a 650W TXm. Even with a 3060 (out of stock), you are still above £1,200.
As above really. You mentioned the 3080Ti and the 4080ti, the 3080ti warrants a 850w PSU at the moment. The 4k series from Nvidia is expected to require more power again.
The PSU pricing with PCS is fantastic value for money so you are as well covering the entire system life with the PSU. Planning for the high end GPUs down the line mean you should plan for the high end PSU right now to cover it.
You buy cheap... you buy twice.
I understand thanks for the feedback. So a more realistic budget would be £1500 to cover a good build all round for 1440p gaming then? I should have been more specific to say, when playing single players etc I would be wanting to play at 1440p not concerned about the higher refresh rate. Then 144hz + for 1080p FPS games
Yes, as per the above builds £1500 has you covered nicely for a very good 1440p build. As also stated, the 3060Ti would cover you for fast paced 1440p FPS as well, those games tend to be pretty well optimised and run at high FPS for their chosen resolutions
