Building a mid range gaming desktop

phyrexians

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Hi,

I'm not sure if I should post here or if there's any megathread that I should post to instead. If i'm posting incorrectly, do let me know and I will delete and repost at the correct place.

My MSI laptop of 5 years finally died on me (actually the Charger died but the price to get a new one is surprisingly high).

Since the MSI laptop is no longer able to run the new games at high settings anyway, I'm considering buying a new PC instead of a laptop since I no longer need to travel with a laptop. The alternative will be to buy a MSI gaming laptop with a relatively lower spec compared to a new PC at about $3000.

I was surfing around the forum but I only found a 2017 guide , a $1200 build and another $3000+ build.

Hope to get some help here to help build a PC with a budget of around $2000-2500 excluding (mouse, keyboard, monitor).

I'm mainly using it to play most of the latest game at preferably high to highest settings.

However, after reading around, I realize that the need for Overclocking and even the monitor itself will affect whether some of the parts that I'm thinking of buying will be under-utilized. I'll need to buy a Monitor as well outside of the current $2000-2500 budget.

I'm not going to do any overclocking. Although I would probably upgrade the parts over the years.

I'm currently thinking of

1) CPU+Mobo - R5-2600X + ASUS X470-F Gaming ($666)

2) GPU - GTX 1070 Ti ($749)

3) RAM - G.SKILL TRIDENT Z RGB LED 3200MHZ CL16 ( 8GBx2pcs ) ($318)

4) SSD - SAMSUNG EVO 860 500GB 2.5" SSD ($189)

5) Casing - Recommendations?

6) PSU - Recommendations?

6) Windows 10 ($160)

All prices based on PC Themes @ Sim Lim.

Do let me know if there's anything that I should switch out/in.
 

singupingu

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If you going strictly gaming, go Intel ba. I know AMD is more future proof with its socket AM4 can last for quite a while and you can buy new processor and socket it in. For the price you're paying now, I rather you take an i7-8700 with a B360 motherboard. Also at 600 bucks range, but perform much better at gaming compared to 2600X. You can also add a better looking aftermarket cooler on it, like an AIO or Cryorig H7 Quad Lumi.

Going B360 motherboard, you can opt for cheaper 2666mhz RAM. Sure, you can go for RGB still. Can put Corsair Vengeance Pro RGB into your consideration as well. Otherwise, you can get cheaper 2400MHz ram and manually clock it to 2666MHz.

PSU go for Seasonic Focus FM or FX-650W. FM is semi modular and cheaper with 7 years warranty. FX is full modular, with 10 years warranty. Alternatively, can opt for EVGA G+ or G3 series as well.

Chassis is up to your flavor honestly. Since you're going RGB, I can suggest you Phanteks P350X. Another nice looking one is NZXT H500 series, get the H500i if you feeling richer as it comes with NZXT CAM support for NZXT RGB products like fans and LED strip. It also have a pre mounted RGB strip on top of the chassis too.

Lastly, GTX 1070 TI is getting outdated. New GeForce GPU is coming out end of this month (hopefully, finger crossed). Opting for Intel rig, you can use your rig for normal usage first while waiting a bit for the GPU.

Sent from OnePlus ONEPLUS A3003 using GAGT
 

kamipify

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casing just pick any one u like psu u c arh i buy rm650x with 10 yr warranty also spoil within 1 week so psu i dun care liao just pick one with decent warranty and protection , i will suggest taking a cheaper mother board unless u really passion about oc or 470 just look better
 

limjialok

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Hi,

I'm not sure if I should post here or if there's any megathread that I should post to instead. If i'm posting incorrectly, do let me know and I will delete and repost at the correct place.

My MSI laptop of 5 years finally died on me (actually the Charger died but the price to get a new one is surprisingly high).

Since the MSI laptop is no longer able to run the new games at high settings anyway, I'm considering buying a new PC instead of a laptop since I no longer need to travel with a laptop. The alternative will be to buy a MSI gaming laptop with a relatively lower spec compared to a new PC at about $3000.

I was surfing around the forum but I only found a 2017 guide , a $1200 build and another $3000+ build.

Hope to get some help here to help build a PC with a budget of around $2000-2500 excluding (mouse, keyboard, monitor).

I'm mainly using it to play most of the latest game at preferably high to highest settings.

However, after reading around, I realize that the need for Overclocking and even the monitor itself will affect whether some of the parts that I'm thinking of buying will be under-utilized. I'll need to buy a Monitor as well outside of the current $2000-2500 budget.

I'm not going to do any overclocking. Although I would probably upgrade the parts over the years.

I'm currently thinking of

1) CPU+Mobo - R5-2600X + ASUS X470-F Gaming ($666)

2) GPU - GTX 1070 Ti ($749)

3) RAM - G.SKILL TRIDENT Z RGB LED 3200MHZ CL16 ( 8GBx2pcs ) ($318)

4) SSD - SAMSUNG EVO 860 500GB 2.5" SSD ($189)

5) Casing - Recommendations?

6) PSU - Recommendations?

6) Windows 10 ($160)

All prices based on PC Themes @ Sim Lim.

Do let me know if there's anything that I should switch out/in.

Windows 10 can get $10-$20 from carousel, instead of paying so much at local shops. :)
 

Zafferfall

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Imho, i3-8350k could be the best value gaming cpu. Its a quad core and games hardly need anything more than quad core (unless you need to stream games). Overclock it to 4.5-5ghz and its fast!!
 

phyrexians

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Firstly, thank you for everyone who responded. I really learnt a lot from all those suggestions.

I really forgot about checking out the next Intel. I'll very likely go for the Intel due to past experience with AMD being not that great.

Actually I'm not really interested in the RGB or making my rig bling. I sometimes use my rig to watch movies so the light will actually be more distracting than useful to me. I just cut and paste from the $3000+ build without realizing they are just LEDs on the RAMs.

For the GPU, I do have a GTX760 from my old computer that I could use before Series 11 arrives. However, I doubt I will be getting the Series 11 if it exceeds $1k. However, I do hoping its release will cause a drop in price for the 1070Ti though.

As for the aftermarket cooling (Cryorig H7 Quad Lumi), does the new processor require additional air cooling? I read before a few years back that every degree of temperature increase is going to decrease the life span of the hardware. But my last computer without additional fans lasted me 10 years or so before the Motherboard spoil. Anyway, PC Themes doesn't seem to carry Cryorig H7 Quad Lumi and I think I might probably have issue installing it. I'll probably walk around Sim Lim and hope PC Themes can help me install it.

For the Windows 10 on Carousell, anyone have experience with it successfully activating? Back in my student days, there were copies of Windows XP/Vista/7/8 given for free in their free MSDN subscription. So there were students selling copies of those keys back then and I wouldn't be surprised if students today are still selling them.

Anyway, here's a summary of the parts so far:

1) Motherboard+CPU Intel 8700 + ASUS ROG STRIX H370-F GAMING ($665)
2) GPU 1070Ti Pending
3) RAM CORSAIR VENGEANCE LPX 2666MHZ CL16 ( 8GBx2pcs ) ($249)
4) PSU SEASONIC FP FX-650W FULL GOLD 10YR ($159)
5) SSD SAMSUNG EVO 860 500GB 2.5" SSD ($189)
6) Casing FRACTAL DESIGN MESHIFY C TG ($145)
7) Monitor PRISM+ X315 PRO ($589) or Acer XG270HU 27inch [498$] <-- Something I just started to look around for.
8) Windows ($10 to $160)

Total $2011 without Graphic Card
 
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phyrexians

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Imho, i3-8350k could be the best value gaming cpu. Its a quad core and games hardly need anything more than quad core (unless you need to stream games). Overclock it to 4.5-5ghz and its fast!!

I would prefer to not do any overclocking though. But really thank you for the suggestion nonetheless
 

ceestudent

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Bro, why you choose H370 instead B360 board? Unless you want to use raid function. You can save about 100$ if use B360 normal variant.
 

-Synchronicity-

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Imho, i3-8350k could be the best value gaming cpu. Its a quad core and games hardly need anything more than quad core (unless you need to stream games). Overclock it to 4.5-5ghz and its fast!!

Not really. The non OC i3 is the best value while the k varient is horrible value. Simply because you still have to purchase a separate CPU cooler as well as a z series motherboard aka more money for about 10% performance. Upgrading to an i5 8400 costs around the same and you get more performance. Now THAT's value.
 

phyrexians

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Bro, why you choose H370 instead B360 board? Unless you want to use raid function. You can save about 100$ if use B360 normal variant.

Actually I have no idea about that. I was looking at the ASUS ROG STRIX B360-F GAMING which costs $651 so I thought might as well add a bit more to get the H370. Now that you mention it, even if I don't move to B360, I can still choose the Wifi one and still get to save a few $. Thanks for suggestion :)
 

ceestudent

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Actually I have no idea about that. I was looking at the ASUS ROG STRIX B360-F GAMING which costs $651 so I thought might as well add a bit more to get the H370. Now that you mention it, even if I don't move to B360, I can still choose the Wifi one and still get to save a few $. Thanks for suggestion :)
You can upgrade the 2.5" ssd to m2 nvme ssd with the extra saving from motherboard.

I have built similar spec as yours last month.
- Msi b360m bazooka + i7-8700
- Corsair vengeance 2x8gb 2666mhz
- cryorig H7
- fractal define mini c
You can also compare with dynacore pricelist, sometime it is cheaper by a bit. I need to add 15$ for installation cost on top of the total price from the pricelist.

I have own ssd and psu bought from lazada a month before.
 

phyrexians

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Thank you everyone for your suggestions.

I guess I will be dropping by PC Themes and Dynacore to get their final quotation tomorrow.

As a final question, anyone knows if the Acer XG270HU is actually a decent monitor to get? Since I've been playing on a 15.7" inch laptop for so long, I'm not yet hooked on having the 32" display yet so going onto a 27" is still a major upgrade for me. Then it is cheaper than Prism X315 Pro and have the 144Hz, QHD requirements. The only difference I believe is that it is on TN. TN is supposed to be having a better response time and thus a more affordable gaming monitor, isn't it?
 
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