A few years ago, I invested some of my savings in guaranteed government bonds. These have been chugging away, at compound interest, and are due to mature at the end of June.
I won’t get a fortune, but there will be enough to spare that I can feel a new gaming PC coming on…
I have yet to decide on the design or specification.
I’m looking at a budget of roughly 2,000 GBP (2,300 USD), although this is pretty flexible.
I don’t need really high-end, cutting edge stuff. I don’t have room for a huge monitor. I don’t have the reactions to justify ultra-fast input devices. I’m not bothered about 5:1 sound - stereo is good enough.
I’m not a fan of overclocking, or stressing components beyond their design limits. As far as I’m concerned, if a computer needs water cooling, the designer should be fired. And fire is what’s about to happen to the computer.
What I do want is a degree of future proofing. I want whatever I build to still be a viable gaming PC in 5 or 6 years time. I don’t want to find I have to do this again in 18 months, because I can’t play the latest games.
There’s no rush. The computer I have works fine for the moment, but some parts are starting to show their age. I’m happy to take my time over the project.
So I thought I’d throw the project out to the forum, for thoughts and suggestions. And then I can give feedback as the build progresses.
I don’t have bad feelings about AMD. I’ve had great results with their stuff in the past. It’s true I thought the Vega was a terrible let-down, but that’s one out of many. I’m prepared to consider all options.
From what I understand (and I may be wrong) the bitcoin craze has elevated the price and the availability of the really good video cards. My work/gaming rig is over 7 years old–I built it to last, and runs just about everything, though it’s video card (Nvidia GeForce GTX 770) is starting to chug a little so I’m looking to find a better one soon. Maybe Christmas.
Best of luck finding your new computer, Polyphemus. I agree that your plan to not rush it is, in the long run, the best way to go.
If you’re a frequent tinkerer, you can’t beat a big, spacious, case. Some years ago, I picked up a full tower case - it was about three feet high. Perhaps a bit impractical - it wouldn’t fit under some desks - but loads of space inside. I think it got dumped the last time I moved house. Shame - you don’t seem to see them any more.
(edit) You can still get things that claim to be “full tower” cases. They’re about half the height of the ones you could get 20 years ago. No comparison.
It has indeed. It’s one of the reasons I have been unhappy with AMD lately. For some years now, they have been deliberately targetting the cryptocurrency market, which has pushed up the price of their cards to the point where they’re no longer competitive as gaming kit.
On the one hand, I suppose it’s a business decision - if you can make more profit, then you do so. On the other hand, if they’re not players in the gaming field for a long enough time, customers will move away to other suppliers.
I was a fan and supporter of AMD graphics for many years. Not now - I feel they’ve deserted their core market for short-term gain.
I’m not planning on VR within that budget, no. I’m concentrating on the core system, anyway. I think of VR as a peripheral. I might add it later, as the money allows.
I do, however, intend that the system should be VR capable - very much so.
I was looking at 2080 ti graphics cards earlier today. They’re £1,000. There wouldn’t be much money for VR kit.
I have not been away, just took some time off the web though.
Edit: I have been away for a week for my birthday though, but that was like a month ago.
With a VR capable system, your graphics card is going to take a big chunk of the total to spend. Getting yourself a 2080Ti is going to have quite an impact on what is left for the rest of the system. Add an i9-9900K (£400) and you will have spent like 3/4 of the budget already. If you then still have to include monitor(s), drives, MoBo, RAM, PSU, cooling, it is going to be tough to stick to the £2000 and being able to last for 5+yrs.
I totally understand and prices for building a PC have changed quite a lot over the years.
I would advise to start looking at a motherboard that has your current needs for RAM (upgrade possible). Of course this goes together with a CPU that will last. You will likely not upgrade your CPU anyway, as sockets usually change over time. Do however make sure you have enough PCI lanes for your needs (GPU and possibly M2 or other storage requirements). Then basically go from there.
As long as you have the basics right (MoBo, CPU, GPU), you can always add to it over time and upgrade where really needed. Then you might be able to stick to budget, spending extra as needed in the years to come.
I would likely not focus too much on getting a 2080Ti, as there will likely be changes in the graphics card market, considering the RTXs are still reasonably new. Older alternatives, are likely no option. AMD might be a ‘cheaper’ alternative, although I do feel similar about it.
It’s tough getting it right … I know my own system will have to be replaced in the (near) future, as I can no longer upgrade. I am glad I built it to last as well, with a similar budget to start with 5 years ago. I did however spent quite a lot more on it by now, but it has been well worth it. Some of my latest purchases however, will become part of my future system.
Would love to know what you will decide on and why. Take your time though, no hurry to spend it all
Just figured I’d give it a shot, based on a ASRock - Z390 Phantom Gaming 9 and Intel i9-9900K. I think 32GB of memory is more than enough, so I chose for 4x8GB, although using 16GB modules would likely be wise for future upgrade. Just a quick base setup as an example of course: https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/8NB8pG
Edit: Not too well informed on current parts as I have not really looked into lots of reviews, which I would certainly recommend.
