Help needed. Gaming PC for my son

[DaveBR3]

Hi there

My son (12 YO) is looking to move from Xbox up to a gaming PC, but tbh I am lost on the level of options that are out there. Have been using your super useful forums, but now not sure if I am getting more confused.

To start with he has nothing, so its a full set up that is needed. But I am confused as to whether take an easy option and by a pre-built (e.g. Alienware or Corsair One) or look into a custom build that you could provide. I;ve also historically always looked to Intel Chips, but some of the reading here is suggesting that an AMD might be better.

Any help will be gratefully received. Am looking to spend in the region of £1,500 for the PC (max £2k). At the moment, he's likely to only be playing fortnight, but I imagine that could change.

Thanks
DaveBR3

 

[TonyCarter]

Is that budget just for the PC, or does it need to include all the peripherals (mouse, keyboard, monitor, etc.)?

£1500 is about the entry point for a 1080p PC, £2k for a 1440p PC.

 

[DaveBR3]

That's just for the PC, but again if I need to go to £2k i will do. Not sure I want to buy an entire new set up in <12 months when its not up to scratch, but a build that I can upgrade over time would be helpful

 

[TonyCarter]

Just need to know the monitor specs and then I'm sure we can come up with something suitable.

The reason we say £1500+ is if we go any lower it becomes a 'throwaway' build which has very little room for upgrades. We try to build these so that the only item needing upgrading in 3-5 years time will be the GPU (and we'll try to spec a PSU with enough headroom to allow that).

 

[DaveBR3]

Hey tony. Again I havent even thought about monitors... I'm baffled by the PCs to start with. What would you advise? I don't want this to be a complete entry level PC, but I also dont want to have a huge spec. Happy to be guided.
Am not sure at the moment whether I should be looking at a 1080, 1440, or even 4k

 

[TonyCarter]

If the budget's there, then I'd recommend starting with a 1440p build, as that will offer a better experience than a 1080p build (and the current crop of 1080p GPUs are poor).

This is quite a good value 1440p monitor, as is often recommended on the forum for other users...

https://www.currys.co.uk/products/aoc-q27g3xmnbk-quad-hd-27-ips-mini-led-gaming-monitor-black-10265220.html

 

[TonyCarter]

Case
CORSAIR 3500X ARGB TEMPERED GLASS MID-TOWER (BLACK) - or swap to the 4000D if you want RGB fans on the side; or the 5000X if you'd prefer a stealthier look with no RGB fans on the front
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 7 9700X Eight Core CPU (3.8GHz-5.5GHz/40MB CACHE/AM5) - the CPU you want is the 7800X3D (the best gaming CPU currently available), but it's out of stock until the 12th October - used this as a PLACEHOLDER of around the same price
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING X870-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7) - new generation of motherboard with the latest specs for (PCIe, wifi 7, USB4), with plenty of scope for future upgrades
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB) - sweet spot of price vs performance for the 7800X3D CPU
Graphics Card
16GB AMD RADEON™ RX 7800 XT GAMING - HDMI, DP - DX® 12 - couldn't quite squeeze the 4070 Super or 7900GRE into the budget (someone else may be able to offer an alternative config that does)
Graphics Card Support Bracket
NONE (BRACKET INCLUDED AS STANDARD ON 4070 Ti / RX 7700 XT AND ABOVE)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW) - small, very fast drive for Windows, apps and games launchers
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 3325MB/sW) - fast secondary drive for game installs (so you don't lose everything if the system gets corrupted); if there's not a lot to install then you could save a few £££ going to a 1TB version, but once your son has a gaming PC I can see the space being gobbled up quite quickly; if he has an XBOX GamePass then he can swap/upgrade to the PC version of it to get access to most of his old games too (and maybe access to save files if the game supports it)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 1200W RMx SHIFT SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS GOLD, ULTRA QUIET - latest gen ATX3.1 / PCIe 5.0 PSU with plenty of room for future upgrades
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR ICUE LINK H115i RGB HIGH PERFORMANCE CPU COOLER - very good quality liquid cooler to keep the 7800X3D operating at it's most efficient temps, whilst running very quietly (once the fan profiles are configured to your liking) - it's also the newer iCUE LINK system so that the cabling is kept to a minimum
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Card
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
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
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 3 to 5 working days
Price: £1,995.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am5-pc/vFTRyrt9Ah/

 

[DaveBR3]

Hey Tony. This is great thanks. How much more would the 4070 Super graphics card be and what do you think the difference between the two would be?

 

[TonyCarter]

There's not a lot of performance between the 7800XT, 4070 Super and 7900GRE, and they trade blows depending on which games are being played (see below, specifically the 1440p items).

It's another £80 for the 7900GRE or £117 more for the 4070 Super...but the 4070 Super has less VRAM than either of the AMD GPUs, which is starting to become an issue with some modern games. But the Nvidia GPU performs better if you want to play with all the 'fancy stuff' on max. I'm not saying the Nvidia will be a buttery smooth experience if you max everything out and use full RT, but the Nvidia will 'only' lose 30-50% of the FPS vs the 60-75% that the AMD GPUs do.

The best compromise of price vs performance is probably the 7900GRE...and after that there's another jump in cost (another £300 for the 4070 Ti Super or £200 for the 7900XT).

 

[DaveBR3]

Is the 4070Ti a significant upgrade. as if so I might price with that in too. I know I'm a nightmare as I keep talking myself up

 

[DaveBR3]

I also looked at t similar build using an intel CPU - https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/computers/intel-z790-ddr5-pc/ - Whats the difference between this and the 7800X3D that you reference above. Am OK waiting for this btw, its not needed in the next few weeks.

Have also put the GRE in, which I would probably change on the spec you sent through too

Dave

 

[TonyCarter]

The high-end Intel CPUs are more or less worthless at the moment...

Intel 13th and 14th Gen confirmed defective

So there's been a lot of upset gathering steam on the inter webs with intermittent games crashes on Intel 13th and 14th gen. Workarounds range from underclocking to disabling ecores. BUT, there are a lot of people finding that simply disabling hyperthreading is a proper solution. The findings...

www.pcspecialist.co.uk

 

[TonyCarter]

Is the 4070Ti a significant upgrade. as if so I might price with that in too. I know I'm a nightmare as I keep talking myself up

All you have to do is click the link at the bottom of the config I supplied, and it will take you to the config page where you can change the GPU (and play with other options) and select the 7800X3D CPU when it's back in stock.

 

[DaveBR3]

thanks for view on intel. Think I will stick with what you have and wait till the X3D is back in stock. will it be back in on on the 12th.

 

[TonyCarter]

thanks for view on intel. Think I will stick with what you have and wait till the X3D is back in stock. will it be back in on on the 12th.

None of us work for PCS, so we only have access to the same info that you can see on the configurator.

 

[DaveBR3]

Wowzers... Even more thankful for you taking the time to respond to my random question. Presume you are still an advocate for PCS though. Looks like there's all the options that I need.
Cheers

 

[TonyCarter]

Wowzers... Even more thankful for you taking the time to respond to my random question. Presume you are still an advocate for PCS though. Looks like there's all the options that I need.
Cheers

We're mostly just happy customers who are happy to volunteer (unofficially) to help those looking to optimise their build/budget.

 

[DaveBR3]

Hey @TonyCarter
This obviously came back into stock (7800X3D) and I missed it. Now not there till around the 20th November and my sons birthday is on the 28th. What would you think is a next best option?

What does the X3D offer?

Would you suggest either:
- AMD Ryzen 7 9700X Eight Core CPU
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D - more money though

 

[DaveBR3]

As built... Comes in at £2,133
Case
CORSAIR 4000D RGB AIRFLOW TEMPERED GLASS GAMING CASE
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D 16 Core CPU (4.2GHz-5.7GHz/144MB w/3D V-CACHE/AM5)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF GAMING X870-PLUS WIFI (AM5, DDR5, M.2 PCIe 5.0, Wi-Fi 7)
Memory (RAM)
32GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR5 6000MHz (2 x 16GB)
Graphics Card
16GB GIGABYTE RADEON™ RX 7800 XT GAMING OC - 2 x HDMI, 2 x DP
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB SOLIDIGM P44 PRO GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 7000MB/sR, 4700MB/sW)
1st M.2 SSD Drive
2TB SOLIDIGM P41+ GEN 4 M.2 NVMe PCIe SSD (up to 4125MB/sR, 3325MB/sW)
Power Supply
CORSAIR 850W RMx SERIES™ MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1.5 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead, 1.0mm Core)
Processor Cooling
CORSAIR ICUE LINK H115i RGB 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
ONBOARD 2.5Gbe LAN PORT
Wireless Network Card
NONE OR ONBOARD Wi-Fi (MOTHERBOARD DEPENDENT)
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
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 5 to 7 working days

 

[Ekans2011]

Hey @TonyCarter
This obviously came back into stock (7800X3D) and I missed it. Now not there till around the 20th November and my sons birthday is on the 28th. What would you think is a next best option?

What does the X3D offer?

Would you suggest either:
- AMD Ryzen 7 9700X Eight Core CPU
- AMD Ryzen 9 7950X3D - more money though

I'd absolutely wait until November 7th to get the new 9800X3D, which is predicted to outperform the 7800X3D by up to 30% in some games.

EDIT: The 7950X3D is just a 7800X3D + a 7700X (that doesn't help in-game); I wouldn't bother with it if you want a pure gaming system.

AMD Announces Ryzen 7 9800X3D, and Price-cuts Across Ryzen 9000 Series

AMD today lifted the covers off its Ryzen 7 9800X3D Socket AM5 processor powered by the "Zen 5" microarchitecture and 3D V-cache technology. The company did not put out any product specs or other details, except announcing November 7, 2024, as the product availability date for this chip. This...

www.techpowerup.com