Gaming Building a gaming PC

[GhastlyHun]

Good idea! Seeing quite a few people complaining about MSI boot times, apparently you can disable the logo and stuff so I'll give those a go.

Incidentally, is there something you're supposed to do with RAM in the BIOS too? Like set it to the correct MHz, or maybe I'm making that up.

Unless the logo is displayed for a fixed amount of time, it shouldn't slow down things. That would be a really stupid thing to do, but who knows. Apart from that, you can shut down controllers for connections you don't use, which can also speed things up (disclaimer: you need to know what you're doing there ^^).
With RAM it depends on what sort of kit you bought. If it's fast, i.e., faster than the normal JEDEC specifications, it will probably not running at optimal speed out of the box, but at specified default values.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Unless the logo is displayed for a fixed amount of time, it shouldn't slow down things. That would be a really stupid thing to do, but who knows. Apart from that, you can shut down controllers for connections you don't use, which can also speed things up (disclaimer: you need to know what you're doing there ^^).
With RAM it depends on what sort of kit you bought. If it's fast, i.e., faster than the normal JEDEC specifications, it will probably not running at optimal speed out of the box, but at specified default values.

So enabling XMP apparently sorts out the RAM, which I've already done.

There is also an option in the BIOS called "Fast Boot", maybe I should enable that later

 

[Pexbo]

So enabling XMP apparently sorts out the RAM, which I've already done.

There is also an option in the BIOS called "Fast Boot", maybe I should enable that later

Yeah, that should help. As Ghastly said, switch off any controllers you're not using. Also worth checking that you have your boot disk selected as the first boot device. If you've got multiple drives in there it could be trying each of those before it finds the right drive.

 

[Igor Drefljak]

So jealous watching this

- It's actually funny looking back at my original post from Feb last year.... How my opinion on gaming has changed...

 

[Fully Fledged]

So jealous watching this

- It's actually funny looking back at my original post from Feb last year.... How my opinion on gaming has changed...

There's gonna be some good deals on Ebay.

 

[Nickosaur]

- It's actually funny looking back at my original post from Feb last year.... How my opinion on gaming has changed...

Have you finished your build?

I'm collecting parts as we speak - hoping to get some for xmas as well as some parts on black friday/cyber monday.

 

[Massive Spanner]

My new build is running well.

it's funnily whenever I'm building a PC I'm assuming everything I'm doing is wrong and that I've fecked something up and am usually shocked when it actually turns on.

 

[Igor Drefljak]

Have you finished your build?

I'm collecting parts as we speak - hoping to get some for xmas as well as some parts on black friday/cyber monday.

Yeah I finished it in around April last year

 

[Igor Drefljak]

My new build is running well.

it's funnily whenever I'm building a PC I'm assuming everything I'm doing is wrong and that I've fecked something up and am usually shocked when it actually turns on.

My first real PC was last year, I watched with some help from Youtube etc and when I turned it on and it just worked I was thinking... I dunno why people complain how hard it is

 

[Massive Spanner]

My first real PC was last year, I watched with some help from Youtube etc and when I turned it on and it just worked I was thinking... I dunno why people complain how hard it is

It can depend on the parts, to be fair. My old rig was a Corsair case and that was really easy to worth with, my new one is NZXT and while it looks nice and is fantastic for cable management, it was an absolute cnut to assemble with compared to the Corsair. Likewise my 3rd party CPU cooler gave me all sorts of issues this time round.

But yeah, if you follow the guides and take your time, it's mostly straightforward.

 

[GhastlyHun]

My new build is running well.

it's funnily whenever I'm building a PC I'm assuming everything I'm doing is wrong and that I've fecked something up and am usually shocked when it actually turns on.

It's much less fun when you're sure you did everything right and it doesn't turn on.
Had this ~2 years ago when I installed a new PSU and, no idea how, fried my old mainboard in the process. Got an antistatic mat and grounding cable after that.

 

[Massive Spanner]

It's much less fun when you're sure you did everything right and it doesn't turn on.
Had this ~2 years ago when I installed a new PSU and, no idea how, fried my old mainboard in the process. Got an antistatic mat and grounding cable after that.

Yeah grounding cables are definitely worth the fiver.

Mine didn't turn on initially when I pressed the button and I started freaking out, after about five minutes I realized I didn't have the PSU switch on

 

[Balljy]

Yeah grounding cables are definitely worth the fiver.

Mine didn't turn on initially when I pressed the button and I started freaking out, after about five minutes I realized I didn't have the PSU switch on

I got a proper cold sweat on when mine wouldn't turn on. It took me about 10 minutes to work out I had done everything right apart from attach the cable from the power switch on the case to the motherboard.

 

[VidaRed]

Yeah grounding cables are definitely worth the fiver.

Mine didn't turn on initially when I pressed the button and I started freaking out, after about five minutes I realized I didn't have the PSU switch on

This has happened to me. Stress levels spike for a bit.

 

[Ainu]

I'm planning to build a new high-end gaming pc that should last me a while. I've been running a setup from way back in 2012 with a couple of upgrades along the way, so I figured it was time to go for a complete refresh. It's not the first time I'll be assembling a pc from scratch myself, but I always get a little anxious that I'm missing something or picking a bad combination. This is what I'm planning to get:

Spoiler

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor (€335.05 @ Azerty)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard (€273.05 @ Azerty)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (€162.95 @ Bytes At Work)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (€234.74 @ Azerty)
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB GAMING X TRIO Video Card (€1303.95 @ Alternate Belgium)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify S2 ATX Mid Tower Case (€146.05 @ Azerty)
Power Supply: Gigabyte AORUS P GM 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€114.85 @ Alternate Belgium)
Total: €2570.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-13 21:35 CET+0100

Thoughts on that config? The motherboard in particular. I can never decide if I should go for something more high-end, then again I'm not planning any crazy overclocking so I don't want to spend needlessly. Any suggestions are welcome before I go ahead and splurge!

 

[ArjenIsM3]

I'm planning to build a new high-end gaming pc that should last me a while. I've been running a setup from way back in 2012 with a couple of upgrades along the way, so I figured it was time to go for a complete refresh. It's not the first time I'll be assembling a pc from scratch myself, but I always get a little anxious that I'm missing something or picking a bad combination. This is what I'm planning to get:

Spoiler

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor (€335.05 @ Azerty)
Motherboard: Gigabyte X570 AORUS PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard (€273.05 @ Azerty)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 Memory (€162.95 @ Bytes At Work)
Storage: Samsung 970 Evo Plus 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive (€234.74 @ Azerty)
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 2080 Ti 11 GB GAMING X TRIO Video Card (€1303.95 @ Alternate Belgium)
Case: Fractal Design Meshify S2 ATX Mid Tower Case (€146.05 @ Azerty)
Power Supply: Gigabyte AORUS P GM 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply (€114.85 @ Alternate Belgium)
Total: €2570.64
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-01-13 21:35 CET+0100

Thoughts on that config? The motherboard in particular. I can never decide if I should go for something more high-end, then again I'm not planning any crazy overclocking so I don't want to spend needlessly. Any suggestions are welcome before I go ahead and splurge!

Did you end up building that rig? Specs are insanely good

 

[ArjenIsM3]

I'm building a new PC. Last parts are en route, so I should be able to build it tomorrow. Specs:

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Cooler: Gelid Phantom Black
Mobo: ASUS ROG Strix X570-E Gaming
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws 3600mhz C16 32GB
GPU: Gainward RTX2080 Phantom
SSD: Samsung 970 EVO 1TB
HDD: 2 x Seagate Barracuda 2TB
PSU: Seasonic Focus GX-650
Case: Fractal Design Define 7 Black

Excited for this. It's replacing my 6-7 year old rig featuring an i7-3770k and a GTX680. Massive upgrade

 

[Nickosaur]

I built my first PC over Xmas. I had to build it over the course of a few days as I was out quite a bit with friends and family, and it was terrifying flicking the switch for the first time. But it went perfectly, no major hitches, and runs like a dream.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Cooler: stock Ryzen Wraith Prism
Mobo: ASUS X570 TUF Wi-Fi
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 2x16gb 3600mhz
GPU: Sapphire Nitro+ 5700XT
SSD: ADATA xpg sx8200 1TB
SSD: Samsung Evo 860 1TB
PSU: Corsair RM750x
Case: NZXT H510
Monitor: Not sure exactly the model but it's an LG, IPS, 27inch, 1440p, 144hz, freesync. Great monitor, got it in a black friday deal.

Glad to have it for the upcoming lockdown - mainly played FM2020 and Disco Elysium over the last few months, but i've signed up to GamePass for PC and will be playing Subnautica and Ori.

 

[2mufc0]

Don't think it's a good time to build right now, prices will be rising and new processors and graphics should be released this year.

 

[Ainu]

Did you end up building that rig? Specs are insanely good

Yeah I did, I think I ended up making a couple minor changes but it's roughly that build. It's fantastic and I'm planning to unleash Doom Eternal on it one of these days. I was really looking forward to running Cyberpunk on it as well, but just when I got the parts it was delayed. Oh well.

 

[Massive Spanner]

Yeah I did, I think I ended up making a couple minor changes but it's roughly that build. It's fantastic and I'm planning to unleash Doom Eternal on it one of these days. I was really looking forward to running Cyberpunk on it as well, but just when I got the parts it was delayed. Oh well.

Doom Eternal runs on max on 2k for me at 144fps constantly, and I'm only on a 2060 SUPER. It's not as demanding a game as I expected nor as pretty as I expected

 

[Ainu]

Doom Eternal runs on max on 2k for me at 144fps constantly, and I'm only on a 2060 SUPER. It's not as demanding a game as I expected nor as pretty as I expected

Seriously? I thought it always looked great in the clips I've seen of it. I've also had my eye on Control with ray-tracing turned on, I suppose that might be a better test.

 

[Bosws87]

Seriously? I thought it always looked great in the clips I've seen of it. I've also had my eye on Control with ray-tracing turned on, I suppose that might be a better test.

Control looks great with Ray tracing but it hogs performance so much I think I had to use DLSS at some quite low resolution to make it solid 60fps. Doom looks fantastic in motion I’m playing at 4k on my tv with hdr and it’s amazing the particle effects and lighting are great, I’m on a 2070 super

 

[Massive Spanner]

Seriously? I thought it always looked great in the clips I've seen of it. I've also had my eye on Control with ray-tracing turned on, I suppose that might be a better test.

It looks pretty good but games like BFV and MW look better, for me anyway. Doom is more about the smooth as hell gameplay experience, I think.

Control is beautiful, my card definitely struggled with it a bit at 2k with ray tracing on sometimes. Probably the only game that's really tested it, yet.

 

[Marcelinho87]

Don't think it's a good time to build right now, prices will be rising and new processors and graphics should be released this year.

I disagree.

Get in now before the price rise and don't worry about what future components will be released as there is always something new around the corner.

 

[Marcelinho87]

It looks pretty good but games like BFV and MW look better, for me anyway. Doom is more about the smooth as hell gameplay experience, I think.

Control is beautiful, my card definitely struggled with it a bit at 2k with ray tracing on sometimes. Probably the only game that's really tested it, yet.

Control had the odd stutter @ 1440p with raytracing on but I believe with DLSS 2.0 it will be much better.

 

[2mufc0]

I disagree.

Get in now before the price rise and don't worry about what future components will be released as there is always something new around the corner.

Not really, the 20 series is almost 2 years now, and Intel are expected to release some CPUs with more cores in response to Ryzen, the next set of cards and processors are likely to have bigger gains so worth the wait. These won't be mere refreshes but a new architecture for Intel CPUs.

And that's not to mention DDR5 which is likely to be released along with the new processors, it would really be a bad move to build a computer on last gen technology.

 

[Stick]

I built my first PC over Xmas. I had to build it over the course of a few days as I was out quite a bit with friends and family, and it was terrifying flicking the switch for the first time. But it went perfectly, no major hitches, and runs like a dream.

CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X
Cooler: stock Ryzen Wraith Prism
Mobo: ASUS X570 TUF Wi-Fi
Memory: Corsair Vengeance 2x16gb 3600mhz
GPU: Sapphire Nitro+ 5700XT
SSD: ADATA xpg sx8200 1TB
SSD: Samsung Evo 860 1TB
PSU: Corsair RM750x
Case: NZXT H510
Monitor: Not sure exactly the model but it's an LG, IPS, 27inch, 1440p, 144hz, freesync. Great monitor, got it in a black friday deal.

Glad to have it for the upcoming lockdown - mainly played FM2020 and Disco Elysium over the last few months, but i've signed up to GamePass for PC and will be playing Subnautica and Ori.

Would you mind telling me what your budget was? No bother if you don't want to.

 

[Nickosaur]

Would you mind telling me what your budget was? No bother if you don't want to.

To be honest mate I collected these parts over a 6 month period, looking for price drops and deals, and also got given some parts as birthday and xmas gifts from my partner and family. But when I last plugged all of that into pc part picker (fantastic site by the way, highly recommend using it), I think it was approx £1800. Mind you this was months ago, I'm not sure if the current circumstances are going to inflate certain parts and shipping rates.

 

[Stick]

To be honest mate I collected these parts over a 6 month period, looking for price drops and deals, and also got given some parts as birthday and xmas gifts from my partner and family. But when I last plugged all of that into pc part picker (fantastic site by the way, highly recommend using it), I think it was approx £1800. Mind you this was months ago, I'm not sure if the current circumstances are going to inflate certain parts and shipping rates.

Sound thanks mate. I built my first pc donkeys years ago but wouldnt mind having a go again. I had to price a lot of parts recently and was advised due to the affect of the virus in China and the reduced production of super conductors that there will be a hike in prices of harddrives, memory and CPUs over the short term and obviously industry will be prioritised on current stock so may not be worth my while in the short run but I may keep a look out for bargains.

 

[ArjenIsM3]

Don't think it's a good time to build right now, prices will be rising and new processors and graphics should be released this year.

I got a good deal on both the CPU and GPU. Bought the RTX2080 for €580. The next generation won't be available for at least another 6 months so I'm not worried. There's always going to be new stuff releasing anyway.

 

[Beachryan]

Am thinking this might be a good time to replace some core components - my rig is 7 years old now, but does have a new SSD, GPU and power supply so I don't need too much. Questions if any experts have an opinion:
- I've always used Intel since doing a budget PC about 15 years ago with AMD that ran things like Excel terribly - if I can afford the c. $100 difference is there any point considering AMD?
- Am confused as hell by the Intel produce line, I was thinking something around i7-8600 for me (don't do any video stuff, mainly casually game and have a 2080 for that, and heavy Excel user) - is that a 'latest' architecture?
- Intel are rumoured to be coming out with something new this year, anyone heard dates/ delays due to Covid?
- If I don't overclock, is there any reason to look at liquid cooling? My case is basically full of holes, so provides great airflow (and dustflow, sadly)

I may end up waiting, but given this thing is still pretty good 7 years on, figure if I can find a deal might be a nice project.

 

[Balljy]

Am thinking this might be a good time to replace some core components - my rig is 7 years old now, but does have a new SSD, GPU and power supply so I don't need too much. Questions if any experts have an opinion:
- I've always used Intel since doing a budget PC about 15 years ago with AMD that ran things like Excel terribly - if I can afford the c. $100 difference is there any point considering AMD?
- Am confused as hell by the Intel produce line, I was thinking something around i7-8600 for me (don't do any video stuff, mainly casually game and have a 2080 for that, and heavy Excel user) - is that a 'latest' architecture?
- Intel are rumoured to be coming out with something new this year, anyone heard dates/ delays due to Covid?
- If I don't overclock, is there any reason to look at liquid cooling? My case is basically full of holes, so provides great airflow (and dustflow, sadly)

I may end up waiting, but given this thing is still pretty good 7 years on, figure if I can find a deal might be a nice project.

AMD are probably the best buy at the moment overall due to Intel struggling to move onto a new node for years now. The Intel desktop chips later this year still won't be on the new process so aren't going to be groundbreaking in any way.

Overall Intel probably are still probably slightly better at pure FPS in games due to their higher clock speeds, but use more power and are more expensive / "older" technology but there won't be huge differences for you.

Where I would be careful is the number of threads on the CPU which is where AMD are way ahead. The CPU you said which I am guessing is an I5-8600 as there isn't an I7 has 6 threads, whereas the new consoles will have 8 cores / 16 threads and future games will be optimised for that. The I5-8600 will probably struggle in a couple of years with games because of that.

To get that many cores / threads to future proof against the new consoles you would be looking at a Ryzen 3700. The Intel range is so confusing I am not sure of their version of that but I think you will be looking at a 9800 or something like that.

AMD have their new chips coming out soonish as well as Intel (ryzen 4 series) which are rumoured to increase performance a fair bit.

 

[Beachryan]

AMD are probably the best buy at the moment overall due to Intel struggling to move onto a new node for years now. The Intel desktop chips later this year still won't be on the new process so aren't going to be groundbreaking in any way.

Overall Intel probably are still probably slightly better at pure FPS in games due to their higher clock speeds, but use more power and are more expensive / "older" technology but there won't be huge differences for you.

Where I would be careful is the number of threads on the CPU which is where AMD are way ahead. The CPU you said which I am guessing is an I5-8600 as there isn't an I7 has 6 threads, whereas the new consoles will have 8 cores / 16 threads and future games will be optimised for that. The I5-8600 will probably struggle in a couple of years with games because of that.

To get that many cores / threads to future proof against the new consoles you would be looking at a Ryzen 3700. The Intel range is so confusing I am not sure of their version of that but I think you will be looking at a 9800 or something like that.

AMD have their new chips coming out soonish as well as Intel (ryzen 4 series) which are rumoured to increase performance a fair bit.

Thanks for the response. So you think AMD are pretty good these days? I'll have a look and see what is out there.

 

[Balljy]

Thanks for the response. So you think AMD are pretty good these days? I'll have a look and see what is out there.

AMD have moved into "as good as Intel" territory over the past few years and are probably moving slightly ahead due to Intels current problems.

You'd be happy with either in reality though, It's about being careful to at least match the consoles released later this year at the moment more than anything else.

 

[Beachryan]

AMD have moved into "as good as Intel" territory over the past few years and are probably moving slightly ahead due to Intels current problems.

You'd be happy with either in reality though, It's about being careful to at least match the consoles released later this year at the moment more than anything else.

Awesome, something like this seems reasonable value: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YYYCRX...olid=1I3A7D04PEPMN&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Would just need to add RAM and I think I'd be done.

 

[Balljy]

Awesome, something like this seems reasonable value: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07YYYCRX...olid=1I3A7D04PEPMN&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

Would just need to add RAM and I think I'd be done.

That looks good. Now you just need to Google RAM for Ryzen processors (it likes faster RAM unlike Intel so 3000 or 3200mhz).

 

[2mufc0]

I got a good deal on both the CPU and GPU. Bought the RTX2080 for €580. The next generation won't be available for at least another 6 months so I'm not worried. There's always going to be new stuff releasing anyway.

Fair enough, if you need a pc now, you need it now . But if you can afford to wait a complete overhaul in the CPU and motherboard technology is incoming with DDR5 this year, its not merely new stuff they are big changes.if you buy DDR4 now a year later you want DDR5 you will need to change everything.

 

[ArjenIsM3]

Fair enough, if you need a pc now, you need it now . But if you can afford to wait a complete overhaul in the CPU and motherboard technology is incoming with DDR5 this year, its not merely new stuff they are big changes.if you buy DDR4 now a year later you want DDR5 you will need to change everything.

Look at how long it took for DDR4 to replace DDR3. It'll be a lot more expensive than DDR4 when it comes out. And it's not as if I'll suddenly need DDR5 the moment there's a platform that supports it. Plus I'm pretty sure it won't be this year. Ryzen 4000 will be using DDR4 anyway.

 

[Beachryan]

Thanks again for the help, have ordered parts and am looking forward to a new build when they eventually make it here!