Gaming PC - Seeking Recommendations for Specs Budget $2000

• 

  SolidworksError on 11/08/2020 - 14:16

  +4

  I'd consider waiting for the GTX30xx release. It's not far awaay and it'll either outperform 20xx, or at least make 20xx cheaper.

  CPU wise I've been on an i7 6700K at 4.4 ghz for years now and have no good reason to chaange, as much as I'd like to. Some of the AMD zen cpu's seem to offer better value at the moment.

  Ram I'd go for 32 gb. Choice may be impacted by cpu selection (i.e. AMD). If you're ambitious you could leave an upgrade path open for 64 gb, though not needed

  • 

    Fergy1987 on 11/08/2020 - 14:22

    +3

    I'd say 32gb isn't required for gaming and you should put any savings you make into the GPU. Basically take an awesome GPU and build around it until you hit your budget.

    And get a decent monitor if you dont have one already.

    • 

      SolidworksError on 11/08/2020 - 14:30

      +6

      At the current cost of ram I don't think it's a bad idea. Certainly at least get 16gb, and leave space for minimum 32.

    • 

      Jolakot on 11/08/2020 - 14:42

      No real reason not to get 32gb other than being on a budget, given how cheap RAM is atm.

      • 

        SolidworksError on 11/08/2020 - 17:08

        +1

        plus it lets you keep 3 chrome tabs open in the background while you play a game haha

  • 

    usmani4all on 11/08/2020 - 14:32

    thanks mate, seems like waiting is the only option :P

• 

  Twix on 11/08/2020 - 14:20

  $2000 with or without peripherals?

  • 

    usmani4all on 11/08/2020 - 14:22

    i ll leave keyboard mouse and headphones out of this budget.

    • 

      Twix on 11/08/2020 - 14:26

      Okay. Are you into overclocking?

      • 

        usmani4all on 11/08/2020 - 14:28

        never tried that before.

        • 

          SolidworksError on 11/08/2020 - 14:32

          +1

          @usmani4all: Most motherboards will allow you an easy 10% or so OC, even with just an air cooler.

          My PC I first built with a full watercooling loop and 360mm rad. I ended up getting tired of the weight and maintaining it and I just threw a noctua on it and rehome it to a sleeker case. No regrets.

          • 

            usmani4all on 11/08/2020 - 14:36

            @SolidworksError: last PC i built was in 2008 , with 9800Gtx+ :). since then i am out of it so honestly i am not aware of gaming PCs, i am really a child learning to crawl in this gaming world :)

        • 

          Twix on 11/08/2020 - 14:48

          +1

          @usmani4all: You're looking at something similar to this Intel PC or this AMD PC

          If it was me I'd change the SSD to at least a Crucial P2 M.2 NVMe SSD 500GB. You could save some cash by purchasing a cheaper case and running Windows 10 unactivated.

• 

  VYCanisMajoris on 11/08/2020 - 14:57

  +2

  Zen3 (next gen AMD CPU) and RDNA 2 (next gen AMD gpu) are getting released at the end of the year. Ampere (rtx 3000) is going to get announced on the 31st (US time). I'd wait personally as Nvidia won't get the oppurtunity to completely overprice their gpus with both RDNA2 and the consoles coming out.

  That being said, i'd say that some tips

  • AMD offers the best bang per buck for the cpu's these days
  • For gaming, you won't need anything more than a 8 core cpu. Even a 6 core chip should be fine.
  • Don't bother with an x570 board with AMD. Just get a b450/b550
  • 16gb of ram at most unless you need it for professional use cases
  • 500-1000gb ssd could be nvme though there's nothing wrong with a normal sata ssd (yet)
  • Case depends on what you want/like. IMO - If you want a no frills case get a thermaltake versa h18 with some extra case fans. If you want a mini itx system get a nr200p
  • Some mobos come with wireless intergrated or you can get a cheap wireless card under $50
  • You won't need anything more than a 600w psu on a non oc cpu and single gpu build.
  • Get a modular psu thats at least 80+ bronze.
  • 

    usmani4all on 11/08/2020 - 15:04

    +1

    thats very specific , thank mate. will definitely consider these things.

  • 

    Hailmemes on 19/08/2020 - 16:41

    Can i get an overall price on this build? please in AUD thankyou very much

• 

  TChalla on 11/08/2020 - 15:28

  +1

  I think there have been a few of these posts recently, might be worthwhile reading through those and picking items that people have recommended and asking about those specs ?

• 

  Cave Fire on 11/08/2020 - 16:08

  +2

  I got a pc in 2015 after not having one for a long time. My advice would be to try before you buy if possible. If you don't play 3D fps then $2000 might be overkill. Main sites for choosing are logicalincrements.com and pcpartpicker(https://au.pcpartpicker.com/) Make sure you are in Australia in the country selections. They have completed builds and up to date pricing. If you want higher displayed framerate eg. 100hz or something similar to "motionflow" then you need to budget for a monitor as well.

• 

  [Deactivated] on 11/08/2020 - 16:56

  -1

  GTX 1660 more than enough gfx wise 👍

• 

  Pelicannn on 19/08/2020 - 23:42

  +2

  Hey mate, I just built a rig for a mate with a 2080 Super / i5 10600k whcih came in at $2500 but we bought a lot of parts on OZB sales piece by piece. If you can stretch, great. Need to know if 1080p gaming and you want fps for competitive such as CSGO, PUBG etc or or wanting to go up to 1440p / 4K casual gaming with good graphics like The Witcher 3?

  Also does the $2000 include the Monitor?

  If not here is my recommendation and rough pricing and a bit of reasoning why:

  CPU
  i5-10600KF ($399.00)
  Why: 10600K is only an i5, but its multithreaded meaning, 6 core but 12 threads, also 6 cores is HEAPS for gaming, now, and for the next few years easily. the benefits of going i7 10700k is not worth the price as gaming is mostly based on single core performance and between the two its negligible. For multitasking the i7 will win but not worth the price increase for a ~$2000 budget. Why not Ryzen - Ryzen are effing amazing for multicore stuff hands down, but gaming only, intel is still king. Look at eFPS of a Ryzen ThreadRipper vs a 10600K and you'll see that intel wins. https://cpu.userbenchmark.com/Compare/Intel-Core-i5-10600K-v…

  Motherboard
  Gigabyte Aorus Elite AC Z490 Motherboard ($399)
  Why: if you buy a K chip, you may as well learn to overclock to squeeze even more performance out of it. People are easily getting 5.0ghz stable on the 10600K which is great. Lower end boards will OC but the Z series generally have a more unlocked bios, better VRM etc to help out. The benefit of the Elite AC is that it comes with wifi already on the motherboard, so no need to buy an additional card. If you want to save $100, you can buy the cheaper Gigabyte Z490 UD AC board.

  GPU
  Gigabyte Gaming OC 2070 Super ($899)
  Why: 2070 Super is the sweet spot. A lot of people will say wait for 30XX series but in my experience: A) they ain't going to be cheap and B) the 20XX series won't get reduced much if at all. It didn't happen to the 10XX series either, suppliers generally keep a couple of cards at a time and burn most of the stock down when they know a new card is going to drop. If you want to wait for the 30XX series, just buy a 1660Ti or a 2060 Super for around $500-600 and sell it when the 30XX series drops to pay for a bit of the new card. You will lose less money that way but still enjoy the PC now. If you want the budget 2070 Super option, the Galax Card can be had for $779 - saving $120.

  PSU
  Corsair CX650M 650W 80 Plus Bronze ($139)
  Why: Anything over 650W is OVERKILL - seriously, even a 2080Ti will be fine on a 650W PSU.You can search for PSU calculator to get exact results but i've got a 9900K overclocked, 32gb RAM, Z390 board, 2080TI, Full custom loop watercooling and enough LED to make even the keenest RGB fans hate my rig and I'm still not even close to maxing out the PSU. Corsair is a good brand. Semi Modular will help with a clean setup.

  RAM
  Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 3200Mhz ($115)
  Why: It's a good price and it's going to make the least amount of difference in the rig anyways. Gains from 3200mhz to 3600mhz is barely measureable in frames. As for how much you need, 16gb is recommended for most games and 32gb is something you can upgrade to down the track for that small boost with another two sticks.

  CPU Cooler
  Noctua NH-U12S Multi Socket Chromax Black CPU Cooler ($155)
  Why: Noctua are quiet as hell, but i'd go their black tier coolers as the other ones are ugly AF. Honestly, I have custom loop watercooling but Noctua will beat most if not all AIO water CPU coolers for same price. If you want water cooling cause it looks cool go NZXT Kraken. They are the best for the price.

  SSD
  Crucial P1 1TB 3D NAND NVMe PCIe M.2 SSD ($165)
  Why: You need NVMe in this day and age as well as for the future. My windows boots in 12-15 seconds if that. It's amazing for load times and file transfers, don't get sucked into the hype of more frames in games but, it might help load times but it won't make any difference in game, a normal SSD is already fast enough to load textures etc. 1TB should be enough for OS + Game files. If you need more storage any other 1-5TB SATA SSD will be fine.

  Case
  Take your pick ($100-$150)
  Why: it's all personal preference on looks reeally, but remember some cases are MUCH better than others from an airflow perspective. Also some include fans like most thermaltake or deepcool models so you can save some coin there.

  All prices were souced from one website - I won't link as I am not affiliated and don't want people to think I'm spruiking them. That means you can probably find some of these parts above cheaper, especially things like RAM, PSU etc which regularly pop up in sales.

  If you go as spec'd - Maximum $2,371
  Drop the MOBO to the base model, and the GPU to the Galax card - $2,151

  • 

    Pelicannn on 19/08/2020 - 23:48

    +1

    https://au.pcpartpicker.com/list/mZPKWb

    That will find you the cheapest website but be aware of shipping. Sometimes better to combine from one store to save shipping rather than buy from multiple places.

    $2225 vs $2371 which I had above all from one shop. Certainly easier warranty wise if its one shop and one invoice too :)

  • 

    usmani4all on 20/08/2020 - 14:58

    nope, monitor is not included , i ll use my TV,