New To Gaming PC

[draper2020]

Afternoon everyone,
This is my first post so it will not be the best. I am looking at purchasing my first ever gaming pc but do not really understand the ins and outs. I am after some advice on what sort of spec I would require and around my budget or less. I play a lot of Fortnite (please don’t slate me ha) but also looking to get into games such as Valorant and Sea of Thieves etc. I have spent many weeks putting together pc’s then thinking to myself have I put enough ram or is that a good enough motherboard. My budget is around the 1200 mark for a tower. Any advice would be much appreciated.

TIA

 

[Grinty]

Could you let us know what monitor you have (resolution and refresh rate), as that will make a big difference to what GPU you need?

Also, is there anything other than gaming you'd expect to use this for? Any video/photo/music editing?

 

[draper2020]

I do not have a monitor yet but was looking at getting the Benq zowie with a 144hz refresh rate. I will literally just be using it for gaming only.
Thanks

 

[Grinty]

Those all look to be 1080p monitors, in which case the build below is probably a good starting point. It's mostly cribbed from the advice in this thread: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forums/threads/desktop-building-guide-may-2020.67892/

Price: £1,187.00 including VAT and Delivery

Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/xJJKN!5ttY/

If you don't need another Windows licence then you can remove it to save just over £100.

 

[draper2020]

In your opinion which would you say is better Intel or AMD?

 

[draper2020]

@Grinty has specced a very good 1080p system there...however, depending on your monitor budget, you can get a £1440p system for just about your budget (£25 over):


Case
FRACTAL FOCUS G BLACK GAMING CASE (Window)
Processor (CPU)
AMD Ryzen 5 3600 Six Core CPU (3.6GHz-4.2GHz/36MB CACHE/AM4)
Motherboard
ASUS® TUF X570-PLUS GAMING (USB 3.2 Gen 2, PCIe 4.0, CrossFireX) - RGB Ready!
Memory (RAM)
16GB Corsair VENGEANCE DDR4 3200MHz (2 x 8GB)
Graphics Card
8GB NVIDIA GEFORCE RTX 2060 SUPER - HDMI, DP - VR Ready!
1st Storage Drive
1TB SEAGATE BARRACUDA SATA-III 3.5" HDD, 6GB/s, 7200RPM, 64MB CACHE
1st M.2 SSD Drive
512GB PCS PCIe M.2 SSD (2000 MB/R, 1100 MB/W)
DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
NOT REQUIRED
Power Supply
CORSAIR 550W TXm SERIES™ SEMI-MODULAR 80 PLUS® GOLD, ULTRA QUIET
Power Cable
1 x 1 Metre UK Power Cable (Kettle Lead)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Thermal Paste
STANDARD THERMAL PASTE FOR SUFFICIENT COOLING
Sound Card
ONBOARD 6 CHANNEL (5.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Wireless/Wired Networking
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
Windows 10 Home 64 Bit - inc. Single Licence
Operating System Language
United Kingdom - English Language
Windows Recovery Media
Windows 10 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
Firefox™
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour)
Delivery
TIMED DELIVERY TO UK MAINLAND - MON-FRI (BEFORE 2PM)
Build Time
Standard Build - Approximately 15 to 18 working days
Price: £1,225.00 including VAT and Delivery
Unique URL to re-configure: https://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/saved-configurations/amd-am4-gen3-pc/4E29wp4SfK/

1440p gaming is miles better than 1080p gaming and is what you really want to be aiming for if you can

if you was to recommend a monitor which would it be ? I want a computer system where in 6 months down the line I am not having to upgrade again.

thanks for the advice

 

[draper2020]

is there any monitors on the pc specialist website you would recommend? Basically I need a full set up because I haven’t got a pc, so I need a keyboard, mouse, speakers and monitor I should have really asked for a full set up really.
Thanks

 

[draper2020]

That's fine...you can just add all the extras to whicever spec you choose to go with...just click the green URL at the bottom of the spec list and it will take you to the spec page so you can add or remove whatever you want then order from there. As to the monitor, as I said, it depends on your budget....there are 1440p monitors from £200 up...a very good one usually costs £300 or more. Let us know your budget for the monitor as well and we can recommend something

I really just want the best gaming experience I can get obviously for a monitor anything between £200 and £300.
Thank you so much for the advice and my stupid questions.

 

[draper2020]

Sorry if this is a very silly question but what is a GPU and is it worth spending a bit more to play at 144hz ? Like I say I wouldn’t mind stretching my budget slightly to ensure I get the best performance I would like to expect.

 

[Grinty]

Sorry if this is a very silly question but what is a GPU and is it worth spending a bit more to play at 144hz ? Like I say I wouldn’t mind stretching my budget slightly to ensure I get the best performance I would like to expect.

Not a silly question at all. A GPU is a graphics processing unit, and in this case we mean the graphics card. Sometimes the main processor or motherboard also contains a GPU - this often referred to as "integrated graphics" and isn't suitable for gaming but means you could use a computer for office work without needing a separate graphics card. The GPU is what does the heavy lifting to turn the information it gets from the CPU (central processing unit) about what's going on in the game (such as where everything is in relation to you) into the picture on your monitor. Higher resolutions require more processing so you need a more powerful card to give you the same refresh rate on 1440p than you do at 1080p, or alternatively the more powerful card will give you better refresh rates at the same resolution.

It's important to choose a GPU and monitor that suit each other, since otherwise your performance will be limited by the worse of the two and you won't see the benefit of the money you spent on the better part. It's not worth buying a top-spec GPU on the basis that you'll upgrade the monitor in a few years - you're better off saving the money to buy both parts at the same time since the technology is constantly advancing.

With that in mind, it's really up to you what you want and you're only limited by how much you're willing to pay. There's also a trade-off depending on what sort of games you play. In my case I like big space exploration games so I'm after great picture quality (high dynamic range, wide colour gamut, high resolution) over responsiveness. The games you've listed are more reflex-driven, so you might want a monitor with a fast response time and you might choose a lower resolution to make sure you get consistently high frame rates.

 

[draper2020]

Thank you so much for this advice, I have learnt a lot already from you guys. So I have changed my graphics card to a rtx 2070 which I am going to assume is the GPU. Then I have just searched the internet for a monitor, could you tell me what you think to the below.
EL2870U, 27.9 Inch, 4K UHD, HDR, 1ms Response, FreeSync™, Speakers, Gaming Monitor

 

[draper2020]

It is a BenQ monitor

 

[Grinty]

Thank you so much for this advice, I have learnt a lot already from you guys. So I have changed my graphics card to a rtx 2070 which I am going to assume is the GPU. Then I have just searched the internet for a monitor, could you tell me what you think to the below.

That's a 4K monitor, so the RTX2070S may struggle to keep up, depending on what game you're playing and what graphics settings you're using. It might work fine for you, but I can't say it will for certain.

 

[draper2020]

What GPU would I need to run this monitor ? Sorry for all the questions.

 

[draper2020]

I am going with that spec you have just put and I am going to stick with that and get that monitor you have suggested. Thanks guy for the huge amount of advice and knowledge you have been very helpful.

 

[Scott]

2070S paired with a 1440p 144hz monitor is where the standard level of gaming is at right now IMO.

Above spec and monitor pairing are bang on IMO and I think you'll get a very meaningful jump in experience thanks to that extra outlay you have put forward.

When it all arrives and you get a go on it in anger, could you post back your thoughts on it all? Always helpful for other people thinking of buying certain specs. The only shame is the fact that you won't actually get to see the difference in just how good the spec is in comparison.

 

[SpyderTracks]

What GPU would I need to run this monitor ? Sorry for all the questions.

It’s a 4k 60hz which wouldn’t be considered very good for gaming, you’d need a minimum of a 2080 Super to run it, but 1440p 144hz would be a better experience.