Upgrading from laptop gaming to a desktop PC.

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156 posts

Master Geek

#3131157 24-Sep-2023 07:40

Batman:
Twalknz72: The monitor would be for gaming and I think, at this stage, I'll be leaning towards the i5 with the 12GB 3060 GPU. So is there a monitor you'd suggest?

this comes with the internet's highest recommendation for a budget monitor - the screen is tops but the adjustment knobs and skeleton is budget

https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/MONAOC62703/AOC-27G2SP-27-FHD-165Hz-Gaming-Monitor-1920x1080

I like that price tag better. So you reckon this would be better for the i5 with the 12GB 3060 GPU? I CAN buy from PB just not a full build.

Twalknz72

156 posts

Master Geek

#3131158 24-Sep-2023 08:02

SpartanVXL: Don’t worry about not knowing every little tidbit, it’s an absolute maze to navigate. There is a reason the console market exists.

For 1080p many GPU’s even from old gen are still viable for 60fps, a 3060 will be fine. If you are intending to run 1440p you want to have at least 3060ti or 3070. To go any further with quality settings or higher framerate you want a 4070 or better. For 4k you want GPU’s that have high memory bandwidth, 3080/3080ti/4080/3090/4090.

The above also doesn’t cover more modern games that may need better CPU/RAM performance (see recent UE5 games) but the i5 12400f or 5600x matched with at least 3600MHz DDR4 or 5600MHz DDR5 for the i5 will be okay.

So the laptop I have, that was bought with the intention of my youngest having it. At that time I played no games. It was meant to run Ark survival on high resolution and other graphic intensive games. It took me a couple of months and asking the wrong person for advise. I admit I was quite budget conscious. The reason for a laptop was to travel with the youngest when visiting the other parent. Lesson learned as I had to upgrade to the desktop less than 12 months later.

My youngest desktop took so many 6+months as I did NOT want to be waisting I was less budget conscious and more focused on what he'd be running. That desktop has been great for 3 years and counting.

My oldest was again about 6+months to find. After such an expensive lesson with the laptop and not wanting to repeat that, coupled with me having to practically having to learn/re learn the computer language, it takes a bit.

I'm pretty confident that mine won't be like that after having found you lovely helpful people.

Twalknz72

156 posts

Master Geek

#3131160 24-Sep-2023 08:10

SpartanVXL: Don’t worry about not knowing every little tidbit, it’s an absolute maze to navigate. There is a reason the console market exists.

For 1080p many GPU’s even from old gen are still viable for 60fps, a 3060 will be fine. If you are intending to run 1440p you want to have at least 3060ti or 3070. To go any further with quality settings or higher framerate you want a 4070 or better. For 4k you want GPU’s that have high memory bandwidth, 3080/3080ti/4080/3090/4090.

The above also doesn’t cover more modern games that may need better CPU/RAM performance (see recent UE5 games) but the i5 12400f or 5600x matched with at least 3600MHz DDR4 or 5600MHz DDR5 for the i5 will be okay.

Oh I'll never understand it all. I THOUGHT I had a handle on Intel. I5 was older and less powerful than i7 and i7 would be older and less powerful than i9 but nooooooooo. See this is what I mean when I say I know enough to get me into trouble.

We have consoles as well, an Xbox one x, not the latest budget buster. Only problem is my favorite game, the one I love the most, I much prefer to play with a number of mods which I can't do on the Xbox otherwise I wouldn't even worry about a PC for myself.

Batman

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#3131170 24-Sep-2023 08:58

Twalknz72:

I like that price tag better. So you reckon this would be better for the i5 with the 12GB 3060 GPU? I CAN buy from PB just not a full build.

well. the short answer is yes.

the long answer - 1080p vs 1440p (the monitor you originally linked) has 78% less pixels

it means your GPU is twice as stressed to produce a frame to your originally linked monitor

the 3060 just cannot handle that type of work and it will produce less frames and your son's game is more jittery or he has to turn down the settings and the game looks bland

HOWEVER. 78% less pixels on a screen that is 25% larger means clarity is lower if you use it for doing work.

but if your son won't do any serious work on it for long periods, it's perfectly fine for gaming.

furthermore, the screen i suggested is very cheap and not suitable for professional work but it's completely optimized for gaming and it does very well in that aspect.

hope that helps.

Batman

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#3131172 24-Sep-2023 09:06

Twalknz72:

I like that price tag better. So you reckon this would be better for the i5 with the 12GB 3060 GPU? I CAN buy from PB just not a full build.

i see other monitors linked to CL which are also fine. because they are the 1080p ones. the issue i was trying to point out was 1440p vs 1080p.

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#3131173 24-Sep-2023 09:18

Qazzy03:

You are all good,

I had a quick look at Computer Lounge annd PB Tech and staying under $1600.00, this one below would be my pick.

https://www.computerlounge.co.nz/shop/systems/ready-to-ship-pc/gaming-pc/druid-rtx-3060-core-i5-12400f-gaming-pc

It has the full 12GB 3060, will be more than enough at 1080p and will be capable of 1440p and if you will have access to good tech like DLSS, ray reconstruction and frame generation (I say this owning a AMD GPU)

The 12400f is a solid CPU as well, you get bluetooth and wifi on the motherboard and enough ram.... I would think about getting another 2 x 8GB of DDR4 nowish before it goes to more limited stock and harder to find.

@twalknz72

also i don't know i don't know how much money you want to save and whether you need wifi, but this thing is cheaper and will work just as well if not better in some games (and slightly worse in some, but unlikely)

https://www.computerlounge.co.nz/shop/systems/ready-to-ship-pc/gaming-pc/titan-rtx-3060-ti-ryzen-3-4100-gaming-pc

but i agree the above linked system is a better system overall as it has more SSD space and has wifi and bluetooth

~~but there's always more isn't it. at $100 more this has a better GPU (ignore what the link words say it's not i5 it's not 3060)~~

~~https://www.computerlounge.co.nz/shop/systems/ready-to-ship-pc/gaming-pc/carnage-rtx-3060-ti-core-i5-12600k-gaming-pc~~

Qazzy03

478 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3131190 24-Sep-2023 09:40

Batman:

also i don't know i don't know how much money you want to save and whether you need wifi, but this thing is cheaper and will work just as well if not better in some games (and slightly worse in some, but unlikely)

https://www.computerlounge.co.nz/shop/systems/ready-to-ship-pc/gaming-pc/titan-rtx-3060-ti-ryzen-3-4100-gaming-pc

but i agree the above linked system is a better system overall as it has more SSD space and has wifi and bluetooth

but there's always more isn't it. at $100 more this has a better GPU (ignore what the link words say it's not i5 it's not 3060)

https://www.computerlounge.co.nz/shop/systems/ready-to-ship-pc/gaming-pc/carnage-rtx-3060-ti-core-i5-12600k-gaming-pc

Personal Preference - hard disagree going with the carnage, OP is trying to stick to a lower end budget and if you are going low end then Nvdia with the DLSS technology and frame generation is something I think bets out Low emd AMD GPU's, esp if OP wants to push for 1440p.

Also disagree about the 3060 12gb not being able to do 1440p, it just will not be the best at it, but on a budget I think it is fine, since OP is referring their son's 2060 super as the requirement benchmark.

The 3060 12GB will also be able to take more of those textures or vram demanding games that need over 8GB at 1400p compared to AMD's 7600.

However the 3060TI titan PC you linked has some merits to it, the 3060 ti is faster than the 3060 12GB by something like 20-30%. The 3060ti is about 30-35% better than the 2060 Super at 1400p.

The down side of 3060TI titan PC the CPU is lot weaker, 4 core vs 6 core and half the SSD storage with no motherboard Wifi or Bluetooth.

AMD 4100 CPU in the 3060TI, that CPU is about 40% weaker than the 12400F i5 CPU

https://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/amd-ryzen-4-4500-ryzen-3-4100-cpu-review/3

I guess it comes down to what games do you want to play U/Twalknz72? What Resolution? How Many Frames? and How Pretty?

The 3060TI titan PC will do better with games that want more GPU power, while the i5 is more similar to your Son's PC. Wouldn't go for the Carnage PC.

Since you aren't confident in building your own PC, I could not recommend the AMD 4100 CPU to you.... might be a different story if you were okay with upgrading your own CPU with a 2nd hand AM4 one, but I think that is a no go.

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Batman

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#3131197 24-Sep-2023 09:56

agree that the i5 is better overall but if he wants to save money the cheaper system is ok

re AMD, don't they have a similar thing to DLSS, it's called FSR

Batman

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#3131200 24-Sep-2023 10:01

actually, scratch the carnage.

just watched more comparisons and the 3060 is the better GPU

not sure why the first comparison i watched showed the 7600 to be superior by some margin

also intel + nvidia always works

ryzen and/or AMD sometimes need a bit of trouble shooting

Qazzy03

478 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3131201 24-Sep-2023 10:06

Batman:

agree that the i5 is better overall but if he wants to save money the cheaper system is ok

re AMD, don't they have a similar thing to DLSS, it's called FSR

...

not sure why the first comparison i watched showed the 7600 to be superior by some margin

....

Yup AMD have FSR, FSR 2.0 and will be coming out with FSR 3.0 but those are all open and useable for Nvida GPU's too.

Don't get me wrong, I like AMD I have a 7900XTX (the best AMD GPU you can currently buy).

However for OP, trying to stick to a budget and having something that works long term, NVIDA is just a better bet, and I swear the frame generation stuff is like magic, and being able to use both DLSS and FSR on the NVIDIA gpus like the 3060 12gb is awesome, plus having the 12GB of video memory means that it should be good for games that use more than 8. Sure there are better GPU's but sticking to budget of a pre-built system, I think its OP's best bang for buck.

OP the FSR, DLSS talk is all video game quality settings, don't worry too much, most games will auto detect what is good for you, and your Sons will let you know if you should turn something on or off as they get more video game savy.

In some games the 7600 does beat the 3060 12GB, in pure grunt the 7600 from AMD is better but lacks NIVDIA special settings/technology but most reviewer are not turning on DLSS for the 3060 to compare against the 7600 from AMD, as the 7600 from AMD can't run it. So it would make the benchmarks unfair, reviewers could do them both at FSR tho.

Twalknz72

156 posts

Master Geek

#3131208 24-Sep-2023 10:32

Batman:
Twalknz72:

I like that price tag better. So you reckon this would be better for the i5 with the 12GB 3060 GPU? I CAN buy from PB just not a full build.

well. the short answer is yes.

the long answer - 1080p vs 1440p (the monitor you originally linked) has 78% less pixels

it means your GPU is twice as stressed to produce a frame to your originally linked monitor

the 3060 just cannot handle that type of work and it will produce less frames and your son's game is more jittery or he has to turn down the settings and the game looks bland

HOWEVER. 78% less pixels on a screen that is 25% larger means clarity is lower if you use it for doing work.

but if your son won't do any serious work on it for long periods, it's perfectly fine for gaming.

furthermore, the screen i suggested is very cheap and not suitable for professional work but it's completely optimized for gaming and it does very well in that aspect.

hope that helps.

So there's some confusion, the monitor I originally mentioned is what my oldest has. I'm not sure of the specs as it was a computer longue prebuild with a few tweaks brought last year and not showing now.

My youngest has this monitor with the 2060 and his games seem to be ok.

https://www.samsung.com/latin_en/monitors/high-resolution/uhd-monitor-28-inch-lu28e590ds-za/

I understand, so the one you recommend is cheaper, looks better and the PC doesn't have to work as gard to look good that sounds like me.

Twalknz72

156 posts

Master Geek

#3131213 24-Sep-2023 10:39

Ok so my most played game is RimWorld, but should be able to play Ark and Minecraft. RimWorld for myself and Ark and Minecraft with my son's. I need WiFi and Bluetooth as a wired internet connection isn't possible and I already have a couple of good wireless headphones.

Batman

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#3131216 24-Sep-2023 10:43

Twalknz72:

So there's some confusion, the monitor I originally mentioned is what my oldest has. I'm not sure of the specs as it was a computer longue prebuild with a few tweaks brought last year and not showing now.

I'd probably be looking at this monitor, same as my oldest, as well.
https://www.computerlounge.co.nz/shop/peripherals/monitors/gaming-monitors/asus-tuf-gaming-vg27aq-27-wqhd-165hz-ips-gaming-monitor

this monitor is 1440p

but they make a hundred different monitors that look the same to people but are all different. so you son may or may not have the monitor that looks like the one you linked

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#3131218 24-Sep-2023 10:44

Twalknz72: Ok so my most played game is RimWorld, but should be able to play Ark and Minecraft. RimWorld for myself and Ark and Minecraft with my son's. I need WiFi and Bluetooth as a wired internet connection isn't possible and I already have a couple of good wireless headphones.

these games look like you can use a 1440p monitor without issues

Qazzy03

478 posts

Ultimate Geek

#3131220 24-Sep-2023 10:46

Twalknz72:

So there's some confusion, the monitor I originally mentioned is what my oldest has. I'm not sure of the specs as it was a computer longue prebuild with a few tweaks brought last year and not showing now.

My youngest has this monitor with the 2060 and his games seem to be ok.

https://www.samsung.com/latin_en/monitors/high-resolution/uhd-monitor-28-inch-lu28e590ds-za/

That monitor is 4K at 60FPS, That is a lot of monitor for a 2060 super to handle but if your Son is happy, your Son is happy.

Rimworld and Minecraft, I would say go for the i5 system

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