getting a new gaming rig!

[novene]

hello, i've been playing on an i5 6th gen laptop with integrated graphics for many years now, and i've decided to invest in a gaming rig so i can keep my school and personal content separate! (this laptop can barely open ms word without lag >.<)

i originally asked some tech crazy and regular friends for their opinions, and one of them advised me to post this on a local tech forum as i'll get more well-informed and experienced comments, so here i am!

i have 2 custom builds i've made on Dreamcore and Aftershock, and they're similarly priced so i'm not sure what to pick! my aim with this rig is for a one-time investment that doesn't require constant repairs in the long-run.

i've tried to remove the identifying components so that i don't get comments that are biased towards a particular company since i've seen some people who are crazy about that.

i've basically just copied and pasted the options given on the site for the comparison below so i save time on typing.

1) rig 1
2) rig 2

**CPU**
1) Intel i7-10700KF | 5.0 GHZ | 8 Cores 16 Threads
2) Intel i7-10700KF | 3.8/5.1 GHz | 8 Cores 16 Threads

**MOBO**
1) GIGABYTE B460M POWER
2) MSI MPG Z490M GAMING EDGE WIFI

**GRAPHICS CARD**
1) ZOTAC RTX 3070 OC TWIN EDGE 8GB
2) MSI RTX 3070 VENTUS 3X OC 8G

**RAM**
1) 16GB Klevv Performance 3200 Mhz (8x2)
2) Patriot VIPER STEEL 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3600MHz

**STORAGE**
1) 1TB SAMSUNG NVME SSD (R: 3500 | W: 3000)
2) 1TB Patriot VPN100 NVME M.2 SSD (R: 3450MB/s W: 3000MB/s)

**WIFI + BT WIRELESS LAN**
1) INTEL AX200 Wifi 6 + Bluetooth 5.0
2) Intel AX201 Wi-Fi 6 & Bluetooth 5.1

**POWER SUPPLY UNIT**
1) 650W FSP/EVGA 80+ Certified PSU
2) Corsair CV650 650W 80Plus Bronze Rated PSU

**KB + MOUSE** (both costs included in their final price)
1) Tactile KB + basic gaming mouse (108 SGD)
2) "Basic" keyboard + gaming mouse (25 SGD, no option to choose KB switch)

**MONITOR**
- both are homebrand, thus a lot cheaper but not reviewed as much on YT
- both are 24" FHD, IPS panel, 165hz refresh rate, 1ms response time
1) (265 SGD)
2) (269 SGD)

**FINAL PRICE (CPU + PERIPHERALS)**
Build 1: 2911 SGD
Build 2: 2899 SGD

**PRICES W/OUT PERIPHERALS (__NO__ MONITOR, KB, MOUSE)**
Build 1: 2538 SGD
Build 2: 2605 SGD

**NOTES**
- both have homebrand 240mm cpu water cooling
- both chassis have high airflow (according to their sites)
- both have 3y onsite warranty + Windows 10 Home included in price
- both have their homebrand's rgb fans for chassis cooling
- Aftershock's site states B460 motherboards will only operate at a maximum of 2666 or 2933mhz, thus hard-capping the RAM's speed (might affect build 1?) take into consideration i guess
- feel free to ask me how much is it to upgrade any particular component if u think they're not evenly matched (shittier parts = cheaper price after all)

one of my main concerns is that according to aftershock, build 1's B460 mobo has a cap of 2933mhz, meaning no matter how good the RAM is (which is 3200mhz on build 1) it puts a hard cap on the speed, also called bottlenecking? not super sure on this one. should i be concerned about this?

regardless of the mobo concern, i'm still leaning towards build 2. i've researched and pitted each part against one another individually (looked up yt and site reviews, compared pricing or used those comparison charts) but i may miss some things out involving incompatibility. comments are appreciated!

no company wars please (dreamcore is better than aftershock!!, etc) but some stories about your personal experience with aftersales customer support and care involving any of the two companies would be appreciated since it's also important to me.

i've included the peripherals and their pricing only so that people know how much of the final price the peripherals take up, but i've also included the price without peripherals so you have an idea.

i'm tech dumb, so please be kind if i made any wrong remarks above! just an amateur who loves playing games thorough, layman-worded explanations for any opinions or concerns you may have is also appreciated

 

[skrekro]

I'll give you a 3rd option that you can get a way better computer for the price

5600x + b550 steel legend 664
3200mhz 8gbx2 Corsair lpx 119
1tb nvme ssd adata xpg sx8200 209
Rtx 3080 msi ventus/galax/zotac/palit/gigabyte 1199
Coolermaster mwe gold 750w 149
Casing of your choice

2340 + casing ~100-150

This pricelist is taken from PCthemes, walk around with it and ask shops for quotation and discounts so you can get from them. Shops like tradepac, pcthemes,mediamart,viipc. Play hard with them so they will get a sale. Pay like 10-15$ for them to build and test for you. When you go home just install windows 10.

Aftersales depends from shop to shop but usually they will accommodate you and help you troubleshoot and recommend accordingly.

You can get a 1440p monitor for 400+. 1080p 144hz even cheaper.

 

[Lil_d3viLz]

Homebrand usually alot of issue.
We don't say this case has high airflow without numbers.
On site warranty seems good but key is how fast will it take, what is the computer down time if any?
So called "rgb" fans. Waste of money. Go for non-rgb performance type of fans. If you really into RGB, Corsair QL or Thermaltake Riing Quad. $50 per fan.
Rams 3200 or 3600 is good. Fair price.
No company wars needed coz DIY is the best.
Based on the build the guy below me alr offer u 3080 + 5600x compare to the company offering you 3070. Issue is stock of 3080.

 

[congster2]

I'll give you a 3rd option that you can get a way better computer for the price

5600x + b550 steel legend 664
3200mhz 8gbx2 Corsair lpx 119
1tb nvme ssd adata xpg sx8200 209
Rtx 3080 msi ventus/galax/zotac/palit/gigabyte 1199
Coolermaster mwe gold 750w 149
Casing of your choice

2340 + casing ~100-150

This pricelist is taken from PCthemes, walk around with it and ask shops for quotation and discounts so you can get from them. Shops like tradepac, pcthemes,mediamart,viipc. Play hard with them so they will get a sale. Pay like 10-15$ for them to build and test for you. When you go home just install windows 10.

Aftersales depends from shop to shop but usually they will accommodate you and help you troubleshoot and recommend accordingly.

You can get a 1440p monitor for 400+. 1080p 144hz even cheaper.

Yeah this will thrash the earlier options in games.

 

[novene]

I'll give you a 3rd option that you can get a way better computer for the price

5600x + b550 steel legend 664
3200mhz 8gbx2 Corsair lpx 119
1tb nvme ssd adata xpg sx8200 209
Rtx 3080 msi ventus/galax/zotac/palit/gigabyte 1199
Coolermaster mwe gold 750w 149
Casing of your choice

2340 + casing ~100-150

This pricelist is taken from PCthemes, walk around with it and ask shops for quotation and discounts so you can get from them. Shops like tradepac, pcthemes,mediamart,viipc. Play hard with them so they will get a sale. Pay like 10-15$ for them to build and test for you. When you go home just install windows 10.

Aftersales depends from shop to shop but usually they will accommodate you and help you troubleshoot and recommend accordingly.

You can get a 1440p monitor for 400+. 1080p 144hz even cheaper.

thank you for this third option and the shop locations! i'll definitely check them out. just to clarify, how do i "play hard" to get a sale? like what should i say? also, a 1440p monitor for 400+? could you give me some examples? because i think i'm not searching thoroughly enough to find a 1440p 144hz monitor at that price :c

 

[skrekro]

Bring this parts list and pass them, omit the prices. Then tell them other shop giving me this price xxx, if you can give me lower I go with you. If they don't budge, just note the price down and walk away. Tradepac will always try to win you over. Pcthemes usually very strict with their pricing but will sometimes give you a bit discount. Btw with the current situation, you may find it hard to get a 3080 hence why I ask you to walk around and compare prices. It should not be far off from each other.

For 400+ you can get, MSI 27-inch Optix G27CQ4, Xiaomi 34inch ultrawide, prism.
For 500+ get quite a number of options.

 

[shadow84]

FYI, the typical assembly charges by sls shops have risen alrdy, do expect $30-$50 at least for now. Better to cater more into budget than to under-cater and get bill shock.

 

[Aero_GT]

Ytd went down to sls, pcthemes tradepac dynacore all tell me don't have 5600x, settled for a 3600 + b450 mobo instead as I need a pc urgently for work. Unless they reserved 5600x for whole pc purchase.

If you urgently need the pc, prebuilt like aftershock (ready to ship section have 5600X), is the only way to go if die die need/want 5600x.

If slightly less urgent, 5600x get from taobao, the rest of the parts go sim lim buy.

If have time to wait, then wait until 5600x stocks to arrive in sls shops.

 

[Proximus]

It is really a bad time to build PC now in SLS. Have CPU no GPU or vice versa.....

I guess those boutique PC builders such as Aftershock, Dreamcore...etc is the way to go if you need all at one go assuming for those RFS models.

 

[NightRaven49]

one of my main concerns is that according to aftershock, build 1's B460 mobo has a cap of 2933mhz, meaning no matter how good the RAM is (which is 3200mhz on build 1) it puts a hard cap on the speed, also called bottlenecking? not super sure on this one. should i be concerned about this?

u are correct that b460 does not support memory speeds faster than what is officially stated by intel, which in the case of the i7-10700kf is 2933mhz. so yes, installing 3200mhz memory on it will be no better than saving some money and getting regular 2933mhz ram. it just means u are paying more for performance u cant use, which i feel is rather wasted especially since u are already paying the premium for a k processor. the z490 on build 2 has no such limitation.

i do recommend getting the ryzen prebuilds from both companies though. the b550 boards offered have no such ram limitations either, and all ryzen cpus can be overclocked. from what i can tell, the ryzen systems tend to be cheaper too; builds from both companies also offer faster pcie4 ssds while still selling them at a lower total system price.

 

[novene]

FYI, the typical assembly charges by sls shops have risen alrdy, do expect $30-$50 at least for now. Better to cater more into budget than to under-cater and get bill shock.

thank you, i'll note that!

 

[novene]

u are correct that b460 does not support memory speeds faster than what is officially stated by intel, which in the case of the i7-10700kf is 2933mhz. so yes, installing 3200mhz memory on it will be no better than saving some money and getting regular 2933mhz ram. it just means u are paying more for performance u cant use, which i feel is rather wasted especially since u are already paying the premium for a k processor. the z490 on build 2 has no such limitation.

i do recommend getting the ryzen prebuilds from both companies though. the b550 boards offered have no such ram limitations either, and all ryzen cpus can be overclocked. from what i can tell, the ryzen systems tend to be cheaper too; builds from both companies also offer faster pcie4 ssds while still selling them at a lower total system price.

thank you! i'll go check the ryzen prebuilds out. do you know of a simple way to check the amd equivalent of an intel processor? i get confused using cpu user benchmark sometimes because i can't interpret the results (better octa but not dual/single core speed, etc) x.x it's a bit confusing sometimes since i'm tech dumb

 

[skrekro]

Since you are gaming, just go to YouTube and search cpu vs cpu benchmarks

 

[NightRaven49]

thank you! i'll go check the ryzen prebuilds out. do you know of a simple way to check the amd equivalent of an intel processor? i get confused using cpu user benchmark sometimes because i can't interpret the results (better octa but not dual/single core speed, etc) x.x it's a bit confusing sometimes since i'm tech dumb

please do not use userbenchmark. that site is heavily biased towards intel and have skewed their benchmarks to favour intel cpus. their bias is so strong that even though the ryzen 5000 series demolish their intel counterparts in pretty much every use case, they still have the cheek to rank intel cpus higher for no real reason.

i would recommend that u look at other tech journalist websites and youtube channels instead. personally i trust techspot/hardware unboxed, but there are also a few others that u can check out to get a more balanced picture. for a quick glance at gaming performance here is a chart for cpu performance:

it seems like u are looking to play 1440p though, so the performance should be similar between amd and intel systems. then again, i dont think anyone would pay more for a part that performs worse overall.

 

[novene]

thank you, these are really useful!

 

[Lil_d3viLz]

If you are free, staying in west, I don't mind visiting SLS together. Assembly is kinda fun when you do it on your own. Simple. Next time you know how to change parts, check for errors. Come HWC if you can't solve it or find the issue.

Given your budget at 2500+, it can last you quite long.

 

[novene]

If you are free, staying in west, I don't mind visiting SLS together. Assembly is kinda fun when you do it on your own. Simple. Next time you know how to change parts, check for errors. Come HWC if you can't solve it or find the issue.

Given your budget at 2500+, it can last you quite long.

hi! i live in the east. however rochor mrt is quite easy to get to, i don't mind meeting there. it's also a lot less intimidating to have someone go to the shops with me, and i'm really keen on learning to assemble too actually. unfortunately HWZ doesn't let me send pms until i hit 10 posts, would you like to add on wa/tg and discuss from there?

 

[Lil_d3viLz]

hi! i live in the east. however rochor mrt is quite easy to get to, i don't mind meeting there. it's also a lot less intimidating to have someone go to the shops with me, and i'm really keen on learning to assemble too actually. unfortunately HWZ doesn't let me send pms until i hit 10 posts, would you like to add on wa/tg and discuss from there?

Chit chat here. Very fast to reach ten posts.

I had entire list of parts to buy. In fact full system but due to no stock, I cannot purchase any. Target is buy at Jan 1st but it seemed I must push back to March.

Rtx 3080 Ti rumour in Jan is nice. But at 999 usd. I would still want 699 Rtx 3080. The ti isn't like 40% more fps in gaming.

 

[imnuts-]

posting here as i wanna get a new rig soon too

is the price for aftershock's 5600x + rtx3070/3080 ready to ship builds decent? assuming that im too lazy to look for individual parts and build it myself

rtx3070 one $2075, while the rtx3080 one is $2699

 

[skrekro]

posting here as i wanna get a new rig soon too

is the price for aftershock's 5600x + rtx3070/3080 ready to ship builds decent? assuming that im too lazy to look for individual parts and build it myself

rtx3070 one $2075, while the rtx3080 one is $2699

As always, take the same spec as what aftershock offer then compare the same price with PCthemes. See if you agree with the mark-ups.