Gaming hardware recommendations

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SirHumphreyAppleby

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#250606 18-May-2019 12:26

I'm not a gamer, but my neighbour's son is. Their PC is getting a little old and is no longer capable of running modern games, so I've been asked to build a replacement. The limitation with the current setup is mainly OS support for his aging Radeon card, but the motherboard is showing signs of failure, so it's time for a complete refresh.

What would 'gamers' recommend given any subsequent hardware replacement would likely be five years away?

I don't have a specific budget, but they're happy to spend more on something that will serve them for longer.

Are the more expensive cards worth it? Is single core performance still the most important consideration? Who is Eric Cartman's father? I'm a developer, so I'm open to suggestions and I'll try to put my Intel fanboy attitude aside and listen to constructive feedback.

Thanks.

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#2240473 18-May-2019 12:33

CPU is most important link to Mobo.

CPU i7-8700 or K model $500 to $630
DDR4 Ram 16GB minimum
Motherboard Asus or Gigabyte that support CPU /Ram above
Drive use SSD or NVMe even better

Graphics card GTX1060 min

PSU 600-650W

Future Upgrades could be better graphics and more ram

sqishy

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#2240478 18-May-2019 12:45

Also this cooler would be perfect for a box of beer :)

https://www.geekzone.co.nz/forums.asp?forumid=77&topicid=250604

Zepanda66

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#2240489 18-May-2019 12:50

Considered using Ryzen for the build? It was announced that Intel CPU's are dealing with yet another security exploit. Which will probably result in another performance drop.

You can read about it here.

https://www.reddit.com/r/intel/comments/bolupp/intel_cpus_affected_by_new_sidechannel_attack/

http://www.speedtest.net/result/7315955530.png

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2240508 18-May-2019 13:48

sqishy:

CPU is most important link to Mobo.

CPU i7-8700 or K model $500 to $630
DDR4 Ram 16GB minimum
Motherboard Asus or Gigabyte that support CPU /Ram above
Graphics card GTX1060 min

Graphics aside, that's pretty much what I'd select for my own use, although I'm considering dropping down to an i5 next time as I don't use Hyperthreading and that seems to be the main i5/i7 distinction in the current range. Do games really need 12 virtual cores?

Zepanda66:

Considered using Ryzen for the build? It was announced that Intel CPU's are dealing with yet another security exploit. Which will probably result in another performance drop.

I will consider any hardware which is suitable for the task. AMD CPUs aren't free from security exploits and I'm sure more will become apparent with the increased focus on hardware vulnerabilities.

sidefx

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#2240568 18-May-2019 15:34

For gaming, GPU is generally the most important piece of the puzzle IMO. Then go with decent mid-range CPU (you can even get away with budget CPU on some builds) and SSD for load times.

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sqishy

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#2240630 18-May-2019 19:15

i5 fine, plus recommend you get a M.2 slot, most new mobos have them. A 250G or 500G M.2 as boot is not too pricey plus SSD for games.

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lNomNoml

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#2240638 18-May-2019 20:06

If you gave us a ball park on budget and what games he plays then it will make it easier to determine what computer to spec, otherwise it's a shot in the dark where it might be over spec'd or under.

cddt

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#2240642 18-May-2019 20:18

Do you know 1) what games he wants to play, 2) what his budget is, and 3) what he's currently upgrading from?

Ragnor

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#2240692 19-May-2019 01:02

This site gives you solid recommendations by budget tier

https://www.logicalincrements.com

I think around 2k NZD is the sweet spot for great performance for someone aiming to play modern/new games at decent FPS on a 1920x1080 screen.

Bigger resolution screen more $$

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2240698 19-May-2019 07:54

Ragnor:

This site gives you solid recommendations by budget tier

https://www.logicalincrements.com

That looks very helpful, thanks.

cddt: Do you know 1) what games he wants to play, 2) what his budget is, and 3) what he's currently upgrading from?

1) He buys lots of new games, plays them for a bit then moves on to the next one. They tend to be first person adventure type games from what I've seen. I only get called over when something doesn't work.

2) Budget is flexible. They need something which will serve them well for a few years, obviously with diminishing quality expectations in newer titles as time goes on.

3) The current system is 4th generation i7, with 8GB RAM, SSD boot drive and a mechanical disk on which games are currently installed. Video is a Radeon 200-series card which seems to be minimum for recent game purchases. He (now) knows not to buy things which his current hardware can't play.

Lias

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#2240857 19-May-2019 17:09

If he's looking for 5 years of "latest release" gaming, then this isn't a budget build or even close.

CPU performance in gaming is still overwhelming tied to single core speeds rather than multi core. My advice for gaming is always get the fastest single thread performance you can afford, and as you can see you have to scroll down many many pages to see anything starting with AMD.

16GB is sufficient for most gaming currently, but we're starting to see some games take very big chunks out of that and if they want 5 years out of it 32gb should be given serious consideration.

Motherboard my advice is use Asus/Asrock. Maybe MSI at a pinch. I personally avoid Gigabyte like the plague because I've just had too many issues with them over the years.

GPU, again, AMD exists only in budget land, at the top end they simply can't complete with NVIDIA currently, resulting in NVIDIA basically being able to charge whatever they feel like for their top cards. Sadly if they want something that can still play latest release games in 5 years, they are gonna have to bendover and take it.

Storage should be NVME SSD's, I'm pretty partial to the Samsung Evo 970's as a good balance between performance and price.

Reliable, quality PSU. Just buy Seasonic and save yourself headaches.

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Batman

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#2240872 19-May-2019 17:35

Based on the information I gather (trust me, I am in with the times) I'll solve all your problems and recommend either

this https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/WKSGGPC70016/GGPC-Delta-RTX-2070-Mini-Gaming-PC-AMD-Ryzen-7-270

or this https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/WKSGGPC50122/GGPC-Overlord-RTX-2070-Gaming-PC-Intel-i7-8700-6-C

SirHumphreyAppleby

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#2240898 19-May-2019 18:21

Batman:

or this https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/WKSGGPC50122/GGPC-Overlord-RTX-2070-Gaming-PC-Intel-i7-8700-6-C

Still taking feedback, but this looks like a good option to me. In the past it's been cheaper to do a custom build (discounts on pre-built systems usually aren't great - zero in this case), but this provides a good starting point.

sqishy

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#2240920 19-May-2019 19:22

SirHumphreyAppleby:

Batman:

or this https://www.pbtech.co.nz/product/WKSGGPC50122/GGPC-Overlord-RTX-2070-Gaming-PC-Intel-i7-8700-6-C

Still taking feedback, but this looks like a good option to me. In the past it's been cheaper to do a custom build (discounts on pre-built systems usually aren't great - zero in this case), but this provides a good starting point.

Not bad with M.2, note Ram support for DDR4 2666 is max for this board, no biggy but can add later as you have 4 slots. You might need more Disk later but just buy a mechanical or SSD later, the price is dropping every day. Liquid cooler is good. 2070 a good card.

Torque

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#2240927 19-May-2019 19:38

Hmmm I have mixed opinions of PBTech - mainly based off other peoples horror warranty/return stories, not my own dealings.

ComputerLounge are a good bunch; check out the Core Intel Stage 4, just change the graphics to a 2070 and warranty to 3 years and you'd be set.https://www.computerlounge.co.nz/gaming/core-series#486

If the budget extends further, the Benchmark series would be good also. If you are building the PC yourself, just grab all the parts from CL or Playtech (Ascent are also brilliant but more expensive generally I've found)

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