Building/Buy $2500 Gaming Computer, Any Recommendations?

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  jugsy on 27/04/2020 - 09:37

  The only reason to target a value like that would be if you're budget constrained. You should speak to her more about what she wants out of it and what types of games she's going to play.
  Her requirements are a bit strange, normally for a build like this you would prioritize getting a nice fast SSD and worry about expanding out to huge storage down the track. Good explanations for wanting 6TB on day 1 would be if she is editing video or high quality audio, otherwise unnecessary.
  Search techfast here on ozbargain, you should be able to get her a really nice machine closer to $1000 that won't flinch at most games. Frees up a lot of money for a nice monitor
  Editing to mention the bluray drive as well, unusual requirement for a gaming PC - do not hinge your decision on availability of this, they can be added easily for <$100

  • 

    sheamas88 on 27/04/2020 - 10:29

    +2

    prioritize getting a nice fast SSD and worry about expanding out to huge storage down the track

    You can get a SSD and HDD at the same time, they are not exclusive of each other. They are perfectly capable of getting both on that budget.

    bluray drive as well, unusual requirement for a gaming PC

    Not unusual at all, maybe they want to watch blu-ray movies?

    • 

      jugsy on 27/04/2020 - 11:11

      Never said you couldn't, just saying prioritise an SSD because I cant think of many circumstances where someone would need 6tb of spinning disk on day one.
      Standing by what I said re Bluray, not a standard requirement and not a decisive factor as it's simple to add to any system.

      • 

        sheamas88 on 27/04/2020 - 11:35

        My reply to you was more for OP's benefit rather than criticizing you. Just want to make it clear to OP that your comment about storage is not relevant at all. There is no need for them to get the HDD later, since they more than have the budget to do both. I don't understand what holding-off on getting the HDD achieves unless they were on a really tight budget.

  • 

    FlipCrank on 27/04/2020 - 10:31

    +1

    Disagree with this, always a good idea to have a budget. Insulting to assume someone who wants 6TB in this day and age is too stupid to understand why. $1000 computer that wont "flinch" at most game is just complete malarky.

    • 

      jugsy on 27/04/2020 - 11:17

      A budget is fine, a target is not - maybe I'm just interpreting OP wrong but you are much better off aiming for your specific requirements.

      I'm pretty insulted that you think this is insulting, OP/niece has asked for recommendations and my recommendation to someone who defines a build by specific but unpurposed spinning storage requirements and a Bluray drive might benefit from a little more discussion before they just grab the first RGB box they see at $2.5k?

      Thanks for your efforts helping them out.

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  vinni9284 on 27/04/2020 - 09:40

  This is something that you can do easily to get an idea
  Go to many PC shop/retailers (Dedicated PC shops and not HN and the like) websites and they have a list of gaming PC bundles.
  Call them directly to get an idea of what best bang for buck systems are.
  Then compare the cost of building it yourself to a shop bundle. You'll be suprised as some PC shop prices are very competitive and you don't need to spend time building the PC. The pros of this is that the shop will cover warranty rather then you troubleshoot if you build it yourself.
  Good luck.
  Cheers

• 

  Master Bates on 27/04/2020 - 09:54

  +2

  Check out the Whirlpool builds which are based on budgets.

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  sheamas88 on 27/04/2020 - 10:17

  +3

  Here is a quick build I did up, https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/JPBbZf

  You can tweak the CPU/MoBo/GPU depending on prices since it's unlikely you will buy all the components from the different stores like the site suggests (to get the best value)

  Things to note if adjusting the picks
  - Going for a 8 core CPU is probably not a bad idea, as the new Xbox and PS5 will have 8-core processors, and so it's likely games will start to make more use of the extra cores
  - Get high-frequency RAM for Ryzen processors. They will make full use of it.
  - MoBo can get gotten for much cheaper if you go down a few chipsets. Be careful as unless it says it Ryzen 3000 ready it will likely need the BIOS flashed to work with the CPU. This can usually done by a computer store for free/very cheap.
  - AMD GPU are slightly better for the price, but getting a Nvidia might be workwhile if you play games with ray-tracing.

  • 

    The mikky on 27/04/2020 - 10:37

    Haha you beat me to it.

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  The mikky on 27/04/2020 - 10:36

  Another good place for guides is here along with pricing https://au.pcpartpicker.com/guide/

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  [Deactivated] on 27/04/2020 - 11:31

  Show her you care with a Stewart platform.

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  Caped Baldy on 27/04/2020 - 12:00

  +2

  The guides others have posted are a good start and you can modify accordingly - eg extra ram, different gpu,

  A 2tb and 4tb are odd. I'd go for a single 10tb from a shucked drive. You should consider a drive purely for games eg an ssd or firecuda

  I'd give the bluray player a miss. Can add later if really needed. I haven't used an optical drive for almost 10 years on my pc.