Buying my first gaming computer

[tepid furnace]

So I've been using laptops for like 15+ years now, never been able to get an actual gaming pc. Something would always come up where the money was needed elsewhere. Well I finally have a good chunk of cash I can safely spend on a new computer and I'm stoked, but I don't know what to be on the lookout for. I'm buying pre-built for now with the option of upgrading later possibly. What specs do I need to look for? What do I need to avoid? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[dry veldt]

Do you know if you want a prebuilt or do you want to build your own, prebuilt are typically a bit more expensive cause of the convenience

But they’re definitely worth the extra money if you dont feel confident or comfortable enough to build it yourself

[tepid furnace]

I have never built one before so I would have no idea what to do so I wanna start with pre-built.

And learn as I go

[dry veldt]

A decent mid range pc will probably run you anywhere from 1-2k usd, and unless you really want it try to avoid all the RGB stuff, that’s what really hikes up the price

As for specs themselves, everyone’s needs are different, you’ll probably want at least 16Gb of RAM, and make sure your motherboard has a WiFi chip in it, unless you plan on using a wired connection 24/7

[tepid furnace]

I've heard Intel has had issues lately so should I avoid them or?

[clever ingot]

Well I been using a gaming laptop with Intel and haven't had any issues with it

[dry veldt]

I think the only intel thing in my pc is the motherboard, aside from customization and upgrades I don’t have many issues with it, but each company has their strengths and weaknesses

[tepid furnace]

Cool. I just heard something about 13th and 14th gens having issues so I wasn't sure

Would 3k be enough for a high range or would I need more?

[dry veldt]

I wouldn’t know, I know there are websites that help you build a pc based on your needs, I can’t think think of them atm tho

[tepid furnace]

Fair enough

I'm planning on going to my local game store and asking them too but I figured there's no such thing as too much advice.

[oak quiver]

i think powergpu is the company kruz has been recommending

[red finch]

Don't forget they're very unupgradable

If they're from like Dell or the super big ones

[red finch]

ooo yeah I think so

they're like super expensive though

[tepid furnace]

I have some spare cash that I can spend so I can afford it thankfully.

I'm actually looking at them right now.

[wraith flame]

Don't know where to fully start honestly. I just need something basic that can handle a few things at once time to time.

[oak quiver]

you got a budget?

[red finch]

Along with your budget what are you going to do on it? If you’re gaming let us know what games and if you know your screen resolution

[tepid furnace]

It's done!

4060 for the graphics card!

32GB RAM and 2TB hard drive!

With options for upgrading should I choose to

With the 34" monitor it ran me about $2.6k

[red finch]

Yooo

Congrats!

Your computer looks so cool!

[tepid furnace]

I'm VERY happy with it

Taking it home as we speak

I'll do a proper battlestation post when it's set up.

[red finch]

Oh did you build it at microcenter? I know they have a little thing there

I need to post a picture of my new computer

[tepid furnace]

Yeah found this awesome place nearby and they built the whole thing for me

[red finch]

Yooo

[solid osprey]

I do like powergpu. They build it for you and everything, just might take a couple of months depending on availabilty of parts. Also, dont forget to add the antennas to your motherboard if you use wifi and not an Ethernet cable.

[lean folio]

Currently looking into getting a PC soon but don't know much about them so I'm shooting for a prebuilt one for my first. Any recommendations in terms of PCs to get, places to look or things to avoid/look for when getting a PC? any help/opinions would be appreciated 👍 (my budget I'm thinking is between 900-$1100 maybe $1200, not sure if that's a good budget for a solid PC)

[tepid furnace]

I mean it won't be as good as a custom build but you should get an ok one for that price. I'd recommend talking to your local tech store and seeing what they can do for you. Heck you could even ask what they could make for you custom for that price and compare the two.

[lean folio]

The only tech store i have near me is bestbuy tbh but idk if they're any good at actually helping with that stuff

[tepid furnace]

Nah I'm not talking chains.

I'm talking like local geek store.

Like small business

Personally owned type.

I did that for mine, got a great one for like 2k.

[lean folio]

I for sure don't have any of those kind of shops near me unfortunately

[tepid furnace]

Oof, my condolences.

[lean folio]

Nevermind actually I think I found 1

And it's the only place with good reviews

Looks like I'll have you checked it out since I've never been there before

[lean folio]

Anyone know if Newegg is reliable or has any good pre built PCs?

[oak quiver]

newegg is good for pc parts

idk if they make any prebuilts themselves

kruz used to recommend nzxt but not anymore

[solid osprey]

i did powergpu

[oak quiver]

she now recommends powergpu (what squish said)

[red finch]

I’m weary about newegg personally

[lean folio]

Yeah i went on there but the pre built ones they have are out of my range rn tbh

[lean folio]

Why's that?

[oak quiver]

(wary. kruz says weary when she means wary lol)

[oak quiver]

yeahhhh that’s the one problem with them

[red finch]

Theres been issues I’ve read in the past about people receiving a new motherboard, there being bent CPU pins, and newegg wouldn’t replace it

[red finch]

LMAO

me too

[solid osprey]

Powergpu will work with a budget you give them which is super nice

[lean folio]

Oh wow good to know then

[lean folio]

Ohh ok I should've tried that on there

[lean folio]

Found this on newegg , and wanted to know if this would be a solid PC for me to get?

[oak quiver]

who is skytech never heard of them i’m sus

also is there more info about the psu

[red finch]

I'm sure the powersupply is good

but for 1500 that looks solid!

heck. the rtx 5070 right now is nearly $800 on its own

[oak quiver]

it’s usually the no-name power supply that kills prebuilts

[red finch]

hmmm

[red finch]

can you send me the link to that page?

oh i found it nevermind

so thats a good deal!

[lean folio]

I took screenshots of everything in case

[lean folio]

It says it's 850W

[lean folio]

I see a lot of them on Amazon and newegg, good amount of them have good reviews but not sure if there's other brands I should look for?

[red finch]

yeah i'd say buy it

i have the 9600x and its like slightly better but you'll have no problems with it!

[lean folio]

Yeah I was a bit iffy about buying from newegg but I was going thru reddit and ppl recommended me that one a couple times from newegg

[red finch]

oh don't worry, newegg as a site it safe. it's like amazon where newegg doesn't actually sell you anything, but its going to the company in this case skytech

[lean folio]

Ah I get ya

Yeah then it looks like I've finally found my first gaming PC 😅

[tepid furnace]

Yeah Newegg is mostly reliable. Very rarely do I hear about issues from them.

[lean folio]

Ok was just worried since I've been looking for solid prebuilt PCs for the past couple days and am kinda overwhelmed with all the options and research I have to do

I don't wanna get a prebuilt that will give out sooner than I want and stuff

[red finch]

i'm only weary about buying just a motherboard from newegg, but other than that seems safe

[red finch]

oh i feel ya

[tepid furnace]

Yeah motherboards are the only thing I've heard issues about

[red finch]

i heard if was like, they'd come with bent pins, and newegg would deny it and not do shit

[tepid furnace]

I was just about to say, something about bent pins.

[red finch]

but that was a while ago and hopefully not an issue anymore

[lean folio]

So that skytech one seems like a solid one to get then?

[red finch]

yeah!

a system with a 5070 for that price is insane

they're so expensive right now

[lean folio]

Ok cool

I get paid next week so I'm glad I'm getting good feedback both on reddit and thru reviews and here too 👍

Makes my nerves dial down a bit for sure 😅

[red finch]

oh god

asking reddit is a terrible move

[dawn berry]

Reddit can be a good resource

[red finch]

i mean

just from what i've seen

and my guess

they'd be just like "dont get a prebuilt make it yourself"

sorta thing

[oak quiver]

like a brand name?

[red finch]

read this @oak quiver

[oak quiver]

oop okay just catching up on pings at red lights as i drive home lol

[lean folio]

No worries lol

[lean folio]

Luckily I was going into only the prebuilt pages and received some solid feedback and stuff i felt

[red finch]

Lol

Great idea actually

[oak quiver]

oh word okay. small little text in that screenshot lol i skimmed by it

[lean folio]

Yeah thats exactly why I did that lol

I'll most likely end up getting that PC it looks like

[oak quiver]

“AI ready” 🙄
i get it it’s a marketing thing but it’s stupid lol

[lean folio]

Yeah when I saw that I was just like oh ok sure lol

[lean folio]

Ok real quick before I end up buying that skytech one I sent , are there any other brands that are known for good pre-built PCs? Preferably around $1400-$1600. I've seen other brands but haven't really had the time to look into each lately

[solid osprey]

I'll always stand by powergpu

[lean folio]

I got an invoice for a prebuilt since I was curious but I think I'll do another one and bump up the price to $1500. I'll send it in here and see what you all think about the parts provided so I dont know pretty much anything about PCs and stuff

[solid osprey]

I would also put those same parts into PC Part Picker as well to double check the parts work well together

[lean folio]

Oh ok cool

This was the first one they sent me a couple days ago

Might do another and maybe bump up the budget , i think I put 1300 for this but I'll probably do another with the budget of $1500 instead

[tepid furnace]

Intel core huh? I would've gone AMD personally but overall looks decent. Not sure about that graphics card tho.

[lean folio]

I'll probably do another with a budget of $1500 and see what they put for that one

[solid osprey]

i doubled checked the parts with the pc part picker and it seems like it will all be compatible

[lean folio]

Oh ok

I'll see about the $1500 budget build they give and send it to compare with the skytech one I sent yesterday

[oak quiver]

and request an AMD cpu!

[red finch]

I’d say go that skytech one

A RTX 5070 for that price over a B580 will be an insane difference

Like from what I’ve seen the B580 is about the same performance as my RTX 2070

[lean folio]

Will do 🫡

[lean folio]

Anything else specific I should ask for?

[tepid furnace]

I would see if they can get you a better graphics card, as mentioned before, at least a 30 series, preferably a 40 series. 50 would normally be too expensive which is why that one prebuilt is crazy, but it makes me question the other parts.

Or you could go AMD once again for the graphics card too.

[lean folio]

I can put AMD for the cpu and graphics card and see what it comes up with

[oak quiver]

excellent

[tepid furnace]

I have also heard good things about some new Battlemage graphics card.

[lean folio]

Should I bump the budget up to $1500-$2000? Or keep it at the $1000-$1500?

[tepid furnace]

I mean, that's up to you, what are you TRULY willing to pay?

Including the monitor and keyboard I paid about 2.5k for mine.

And I've been VERY happy with it.

[lean folio]

For the pc itself i was thinking between $1500-$1600

I guess i could specify in the requirements section too for that

[wraith flame]

Been busy welp. The budget would be 5k minimum and 8k max currently. I haven't had time to look until recently.

Still saving up eventually want a 2 pc's

[tepid furnace]

Bruh for 5k you should be able to get a monster pc

[wraith flame]

True but never had one so Idk where to start. I'll be lost looking at specs and whatnot

[tepid furnace]

Should check with your local tech shop. I found a really good one and they helped me out immensely. Built the whole thing for me within a day.

Not like Best Buy or anything like that, I'm talking small business.

[wraith flame]

Noted

[red finch]

What currency?

[tepid furnace]

Oh that's a good point, what currency?

If it's USD that'll get you a great PC.

[wraith flame]

Usd

[red finch]

Hell yeah

Lemme find you something

Are you using this for just gaming or anything else?

And are looking at a prebuilt pc or down to build it yourself?

[tepid furnace]

Having someone build it for you is also an option

[wraith flame]

Prebuilt/built for me. Gaming, rendering, and eventually programming

[red finch]

rendering what?

[wraith flame]

Animation, vfx and such of that realm

[red finch]

its really hard to find something for this price lol

brb tho

[wraith flame]

Mk thanks in advance for the help

[lean folio]

Although it went over my budget with taxes included this is the one I requested yesterday

[wraith flame]

Neat? Idk what it all in tells

[wraith flame]

https://tenor.com/view/what-do-they-mean-random-numbers-gif-10654449

[red finch]

That looks good except for the RTX 5060 Ti

8GB is not enough for nowadays for spending as much on a graphics card as you would be

@lean folio if i send a video for how to build a pc, easy peezy, and sent a part list to buy do you think you'd be able to build a system yourself?

it's somewhat easy but need to be careful and read instructions

altho if you don't want to i get it!

@wraith flame this one looks good to me https://www.amazon.com/Skytech-Legacy-Gaming-Desktop-9950X3D/dp/B0DTYCPM5Y

was hard to find anything with anything past the 9800X3D

but overall this one looks like the best bet for your budget

[wraith flame]

Thanks cause wouldn't know how to search to find it

[red finch]

is the power draw a concern at all? because the 5090 can draw a max of 600w under full load and the 5080 can draw up to 360w

[lean folio]

Not sure if I'd trust myself to build it but sure. Also I found another skytech pc on their website with a Ryzen 7 9700x instead of the ryzen 5 7600x and 32gb of ram instead of 16gb like the previous one I sent before

[red finch]

oh send me the link to that one

[lean folio]

https://skytechgaming.com/product/azure3-amd-r7-9700x-nvidia-5060-ti-16gb-2-tb-nvme-gen4-32gb-ram-2/

[red finch]

actually i'd say go for that

[wraith flame]

I'm upgrading everything for the power so that shouldn't be the issue in the long run

[lean folio]

Has 5060 graphics card instead of the 5070

[red finch]

Do you know what resolution you'll be playing at?

[lean folio]

I'd say 1440p i think

[red finch]

Yeah the 5060 Ti will be good for that I'd say

And worse case, DLSS is way better on the new cards! but yeah I think the 9700x system is a better buy

[lean folio]

And it had 32gb compared to the 16 on the other one but I'm curious what made the other one more expensive tho? Like without the sale on it

[red finch]

yeah 32gb will be a lot more friendly over time if you multitask

right now i'm using 16gb and its fine but playing fortnite i see like 15gb of usage

[lean folio]

Oh ok I gotcha

Cause idk if I could get better parts to build one and still be around my budget. Also since idk if I'd be any good at building one lol

[wraith flame]

Practice. Definitely I'll also be hesitant to try building one lol

[lean folio]

Thats why for my first PC I'd rather just get a solid prebuilt one lol

[wraith flame]

Same safe option then learn everything about it and slowly gain knowledge to make your own and upgrade

[lean folio]

Yeah

So the one I sent seems like a good first PC then?

[red finch]

If you want I could try to make a list, but honestly I think the 5060 Ti 16GB over the 5070 12GB is a better option

[lean folio]

You mean the 5060 32gb over the 5070 16 gb?

Oh nvm I see what you mean , you mean the graphics card

[lean folio]

Yeah if you don't mind, I just wanna know my options before I actually make a purchase and preferably around the same price range

[red finch]

Yeah sure!

[lean folio]

Ok cool

[red finch]

Do you care about aesthetics? If you do what do you want? Any lights?

So here’s what I put together

https://pcpartpicker.com/list/2LnQxg

[lean folio]

Nice nice, are there any towers with a bit of lighting?

[red finch]

You’d have to buy fans with lights on them

I can’t think of any where tower itself has lights

[lean folio]

Ohh ok I always thought it was the tower that had the lighting my bad lol

Do you have any fan recommendations with lights on them? If they're not that much more expensive

[red finch]

I like how Asus TUF rgb fans look

[lean folio]

Are they on the pcpartpicker website by chance?

[red finch]

Probably

Pcpartpicker isn’t a retailer but a site that takes the best listings from other retailers and puts it in an easy to read list

[lean folio]

Oh ok

I'll see how much it'd be with those ASUS rgb fans you mentioned and might get those parts to build one

Not too sure tho I'm still back and forth on what to do

[red finch]

Oh lord a 3 pack is $70

Lemme see if i can find any good cheaper ones

[lean folio]

Ok cool

I don't mind if it goes over $1500-$1600 but also not over $1700

[red finch]

https://a.co/d/0MOUPmD heres a 3 pack for $55 from corsair

You’d need to do 2 orders of 3 packs

For it to full the 6 spots ya know

[lean folio]

Yeah I get ya

I'll see how much it'll be with those and decide what I'm gonna do in terms of either building one with that list you sent or getting that prebuilt I sent today

I'm very stuck rn lol

[red finch]

Either way hope you get something nice!

Honestly, I think the prebuilt with the Ryzen 7 9700X and the RTX 5060 Ti 16GB is the better option

It’d be a couple hundred cheaper

And would already have the fans with it

[lean folio]

This one you mean right? @red finch

And it has 32gb of RAM

[red finch]

Yeah

Also double the storeage vs what i put on the list

[lean folio]

Yeah

Is it worth getting the 2 or 3 year warranty on it? Apparently there's some discount codes for it so even if I get the higher warranty the price won't be too bad

[red finch]

Lol no, i’d say stick with the included 1 year

[lean folio]

Ok cool

[red finch]

Most of the parts outside of 2 are cheaper than $100 haha

[lean folio]

Good to know haha

I'll probably get that one then

I get paid next week so I'll most likely order it then

[red finch]

Yoo

Cant wait to see it when it comes in!

[lean folio]

Same here 🙌

[lean folio]

I've officially ordered my first PC 🫡🤝

[lean folio]

I ended up finding some coupons for the skytech one I sent in here so I saved some money 🤝

[plain meteor]

Does any monitor do the job good? Or is there a good preference? Like curved or something?

[red finch]

I personally recommend again curved

Its nice but you have to be in a very specific spot or turn your monitor alot

[oak quiver]

easiest thing to forget is checking what input ports the monitor has. make sure it has the ones you need

[lean folio]

Yeah this reminded me I should probably look into monitors, keyboard/mouse, mics, headset, etc. For whenever my pc gets here in the coming weeks

[oak quiver]

steelseries mice and jbl headsets are my go-tos

[lean folio]

Nice by chance which headset do you have? Also any recs for monitors or keyboards?

[red finch]

If you have $200 I recommend this one a lot https://www.amazon.com/Dell-S2725DS-Monitor-2560x1440-Integrated/dp/B0D3FGFPPB?

I got it a month ago and I love it

[lean folio]

I'll look into it , not to sure how much I'm looking to spend on a monitor rn I'd probably say $200 at the most maybe

[oak quiver]

my jbl quantum 200/300 headsets have been solid

[lean folio]

Sounds good I'll check them out

[lean folio]

Just need to look into a keyboard too

[oak quiver]

ah, that’s where i’m weird cuz i use a layout with caps and ctrl switched

i wouldn’t recommend the keyboard i have rn, but soonish i’ll probably be replacing it with a keychron c3 pro

(which has the normal layout by default but can be programmed to be … anything really)

[lean folio]

Ah I get you

I've heard good things about that keyboard , thinking of getting one and maybe later on get one with a design on it or custom

[red finch]

What’s your keyboard budget?

[lean folio]

Not sure but I saw the keychron c3 pro is a good price

[red finch]

This one looks good! https://a.co/d/19qprkb

I always trust myself a logitech keyboard

[lean folio]

Nice I'll still look around and see what I like and stuff

Will just need a headset and a mouse at that point other than monitor/monitors

[red finch]

Whats your budget for a headset?

I have one that’s like $70 but its like REALLY good

[lean folio]

What's the headset?

[red finch]

HyperX Cloud something

[lean folio]

Ohh ok

I'm seeing there's a bunch of different ones

[red finch]

I have red ones

[lean folio]

Oh yeah I saw those when I was browsing

[lean folio]

The PC is finally here 🫡🙌

[oak quiver]

[lean folio]

I'm just checking to make sure everything is good and connected inside