Gaming PC under £3k

r00s73r

r00s73r

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Hello good people

I'm looking to replace my old machine. I am a casual gamer but I want to enjoy them games to the fullest. I was thinking 4k at first but going through some of the posts I saw people talking about 1440p to be the "optimal" route. I'm fine with that. I've also heard about some new stuff coming out later this year but I'm not bothered.

The budget is under £3000 (monitor included) but I can go over, if necessary.
I plan to ask OC staff to build it for me (as they did my previous one and did a fantastic job) or maybe even try to build it myself.

Preferably something upgradeable - to be able to switch and swap some parts in the future.

I don't need anything ostentatious like LED lights but I don't mind. Focus on practicality and performance.

I don't need the OS (probably will get one of those hardware-bound ones).

If I forgot anything else, just ask.
 

Joxeon

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I don't think you need to spend more than this as diminishing returns kicks in and your looking at £400 for a mere 15% if you went with the 2080TI

CPU will be upgradable to Zen 3 and you will have the option of up to 16 cores not that you need that many for gaming just yet.

Ram is good quality samsung B-die which is the best for gaming.

I specced a 1TB NVME but you could always add more when you need too, PCIe gen 4 drives cost double but wont make a difference for gaming so not really worth it just yet.

Monitor has very good image quality, response time and input lag but being IPS the blacks are not great but all current monitors have issues with VA you get ghosting and worse response/input lag and TN the colours are washed out so it really depends on a personal preference.

The Freezer II is a very good cooler which focuses on performance over fancy RGB lighting.

My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £2,138.37 (includes shipping: £19.62)
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r00s73r

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Joxeon said:
My basket at Overclockers UK:
Total: £2,138.37 (includes shipping: £19.62)
​
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Nice one, thank you. Just forgot one more thing. I'll need a wifi adapter as well. I've noticed "wifi" in that MB - is that like a port for it or it actually has the built-in adapter?

Sparx said:
Good spec ^^ only thing I’d change is get a 280mm AIO instead of the 240mm one.

Maybe larger NVMe (2TB?) if you’d make use of the capacity.

Great monitor too that LG

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/arct...ormance-cpu-water-cooler-280mm-hs-07c-ar.html
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That's a good point. Is the new "meta" having only one SSD instead of having an SSD and a HDD or is it the difference between 1080p and 1440p gaming setup?
 

Sparx

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The MB has an integrated WiFi 6 chip, has antennas on the back of the I/O plate where USBs are etc. So don’t need any extra adapter :)

SSD wise, no not at all. But it’s sorta thing for some of us to go NVMe SSD only where possible. As they slot straight onto the MB, compared to the standard 2.5” SSDs where you need SATA cable and power. Keeps the build tidy on NVMe with less cables, but MB only has 2 M.2 slots for these drives.

So I’ve filled mine with a 1TB initially and added a 2TB one later on. But if you’ve got a lot of large games or storage needs I’d maybe get a 2TB drive to begin with if got budget. Then you got 1 slot left to add another 1/2TB whatever you need later down the line.

Something like this drive if you’re getting OCUK to build it. If you was building yourself or happy to put it in yourself, I’d of suggested the Sabrent Rocket or Adata XPG SX8200 Pro for £240-250 to save cost as OCUK don’t stock these drives for some reason.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/wd-b...-solid-state-drive-wds200t3x0c-hd-55z-wd.html

Defo don’t bother with HDDs anymore if you can get away with it. :D I just build my own server/NAS sorta thing with an old work PC and use that for my media storage lol.
 

Joxeon

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I was going to spec a 2TB but the cheapest one I could find currently on OCUK is £300 so maybe have a shop around.
 

r00s73r

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Sparx said:
The MB has an integrated WiFi 6 chip, has antennas on the back of the I/O plate where USBs are etc. So don’t need any extra adapter :)

SSD wise, no not at all. But it’s sorta thing for some of us to go NVMe SSD only where possible. As they slot straight onto the MB, compared to the standard 2.5” SSDs where you need SATA cable and power. Keeps the build tidy on NVMe with less cables, but MB only has 2 M.2 slots for these drives.

So I’ve filled mine with a 1TB initially and added a 2TB one later on. But if you’ve got a lot of large games or storage needs I’d maybe get a 2TB drive to begin with if got budget. Then you got 1 slot left to add another 1/2TB whatever you need later down the line.

Something like this drive if you’re getting OCUK to build it. If you was building yourself or happy to put it in yourself, I’d of suggested the Sabrent Rocket or Adata XPG SX8200 Pro for £240-250 to save cost as OCUK don’t stock these drives for some reason.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/wd-b...-solid-state-drive-wds200t3x0c-hd-55z-wd.html

Defo don’t bother with HDDs anymore if you can get away with it. :D I just build my own server/NAS sorta thing with an old work PC and use that for my media storage lol.
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Sweet.

I see. I do play large games from time to time and although I tend to uninstall them sometimes, I would definitely go for a 2TB one just to have more breathing room.

Although I don't mind spending extra, it does seem like a significant difference. Is it only a difference in price or performance too?
 

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Just price, the Sabrent and Adata models I mentioned are just as good as the WD SN750 if not slightly better in some cases. But in the real world for gaming they’ll all perform the same anyway.
 

r00s73r

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Joxeon said:
I was going to spec a 2TB but the cheapest one I could find currently on OCUK is £300 so maybe have a shop around.
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Don't worry about it mate. I appreciate it.
Sparx said:
Just price, the Sabrent and Adata models I mentioned are just as good as the WD SN750 if not slightly better in some cases. But in the real world for gaming they’ll all perform the same anyway.
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I found ADATA 2TB XPG SX8200 Pro PCIe Gen3x4 M.2 2280 for £231 and Sabrent 2TB Rocket NVMe PCIe M.2 2280 for £250. So it doesn't really matter which one I take? Damn, I'm really tempted to build it on my own, just for the fun of it. Would I need some special tools or accessories apart from a screwdriver? You know, for cable management, etc.?
 

Sparx

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Get the Adata then, that's one of the drives I have it's great :) Paid £256 + £5 delivery for mine in March, prices come down a bit lol

No special tools needed to build a PC, just a philips screwdriver. And you only need your hands and some common sense to cable manage well :p

Building your own is much more fun!

Edit: Tbh if you're shopping around, you can get the 3700X for £262 (saves nearly £40) if you look around quick whilst stock there lol. The rest of the basket is decent priced though here

Edit2: I'd actually get the 3700X from the seller for £267, because the £262 guy seems hit and miss if he sends you the right model on the feedback.
 
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r00s73r

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Sparx said:
Get the Adata then, that's one of the drives I have it's great :) Paid £256 + £5 delivery for mine in March, prices come down a bit lol

No special tools needed to build a PC, just a philips screwdriver. And you only need your hands and some common sense to cable manage well :p

Building your own is much more fun!

Edit: Tbh if you're shopping around, you can get the 3700X for £262 (saves nearly £40) if you look around quick whilst stock there lol. The rest of the basket is decent priced though here

Edit2: I'd actually get the 3700X from the seller for £267, because the £262 guy seems hit and miss if he sends you the right model on the feedback.
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Goddamit. All right let's temp the fate and have some fun. :D I found that 267 one, thanks. What I meant with cable management was, if I'm gonna need something for tying the cables or if I can do it without that?
 

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Well the case Joxeon spec'd is a good one for the money and has rubber grommets to make cables look tidy.

But you can spend more and get cases with extra cable management features amongst other things, like this Phanteks P500 Air (they do a white RGB and non-RGB model too) but again it's out of bloody stock here lol. It is in stock at 2 other retailers though at same price if you look.

So if you look on photos at back of case, can see it has bunch of velcros and cable rat runs to route things neatly etc. And the interior case the Phanteks covers all slide back/forth to allow cables to route as you like. But this only affects the back you don't see anyway.

Depends what interior you like through the window etc that will keep things looking neat. :)
 

r00s73r

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Oh, that's neat then. I guess I could use that one. I like both of them. I thought I would have to use one of them plastic ties but it's nice if the case has it's own. Personally, I'm not that bothered by the looks since the way my PC is situated, I can't really see into it. I just thought that good cable management is a proper way to do it. :D What about that cooler? You suggested the bigger one. Is there a significant difference in the performance?
 

Sparx

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280mm rad will have slightly quieter fans, and bigger rad helps with heat transfer - although the Arctic models are all pretty good anyway.

Yeah either will do. I am a fan of Phanteks build quality and lil extra features. :)
 

r00s73r

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Sparx said:
280mm rad will have slightly quieter fans, and bigger rad helps with heat transfer - although the Arctic models are all pretty good anyway.

Yeah either will do. I am a fan of Phanteks build quality and lil extra features. :)
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I'm sold. Thank you both and I'm looking forward to the assembly. I might need to ask for directions, though. Till then.
 

Sparx

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No worries, I'm sure you will be back :p

Just watch a few how to build PC vids on YouTube to get more comfortable with it... and take your time building, especially to route your cables neatly to have good cable management.

Also if you've not handled certain components before, be very careful with your CPU ;) Hold it by the sides, don't touch/damage the pins underneath or on the MB CPU socket - otherwise it's incredibly easy to install it only goes in one way.

This lad did a decent video not long ago, the actual build starts around 6:10

 

r00s73r

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Sparx said:
No worries, I'm sure you will be back :p

Just watch a few how to build PC vids on YouTube to get more comfortable with it... and take your time building, especially to route your cables neatly to have good cable management.

Also if you've not handled certain components before, be very careful with your CPU ;) Hold it by the sides, don't touch/damage the pins underneath or on the MB CPU socket - otherwise it's incredibly easy to install it only goes in one way.

This lad did a decent video not long ago, the actual build starts around 6:10

Click to expand...
Nice one, thanks. I did change a CPU on my old rig and installed a new cooler before so I have a bit of experience with that but I'm sure to check out the video.
 
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