Other You've got £2500, what would you build?

My mate's son is a very lucky lad and with some inheritance from a family member's passing, his dad has asked me to build him a gaming PC to last him 3-5 years (within reason..)

The only stipulation from me is that my preferred supplier is Scan - nothing to do with this forums affiliation. It's just who I trust and have used for years now without issue.

He needs absolutely everything, including KB/M, monitor, speakers, headset and OS. I'd like to squeeze in RGB where possible too so that he can theme his build further down the line as tastes change.

I know roughly where I'm at with my version of this build but would love to hear your ideas. Until recently, I wouldn't have considered AMD; however, it's a different story this year and my default go-to is still Intel - and that's why I'm asking for your opinions.

 

https://www.scan.co.uk/3xs/configurator/3xs-horizon-gaming-pc
Change CPU option to Ryzen 7 1700 (non X version) and GPU option to GTX 1080
+
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/34-...ps-panel-3440x1440-219-5ms-320cd-m-dp-hdmi-us
+
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/cor...eyboard-dynamic-red-backlighting-fully-progra
+
https://www.scan.co.uk/products/cor...ttons-lightweight-100g-10000-dpi-optical-omro

= £2479.11

TN infestation free big size monitor above 60hz, mech keyboard and so on.
Savings from building the same yourself will just be wiped out by having to pay for the windows license anyway.

 

I would honestly build it yourself. You need faster memory, it's a given with Ryzen. Also, it is a shame you can only choose from Corsair (to my knowledge) at Scan. Corsair .... ugh.

 

Comparing the QVL lists of Ryzen boards to what is in stock at Scan doesn't make for a pretty picture.

And to afford an 8600K (to get around the RAM problem) he'd either drop down to a 1070ti, a low res screen or a TN panel.

 

I would have said this too, right up until Sunday night. My pal out in the USA was speccing up a rig for his half brother (by marriage). Any ways, he specced up this rig with a 1600 and 16gb ram etc. Time he was done it came to around $1200. Then we found a HP Omen (the new one) for $949 with a RX 560, 8gb RAM* and a 1700. This was with a 256gb SSD and 1tb spinner.

$200 cheaper than the rig he specced (he didn't even spec a nice case, just some bogger CM thing) and had a better CPU. It's MATX, has a 500w PSU and so on. They overclock too, apparently. So yeah, bit of a no brainer really. Straight onto Crucial for the other 8gb ram and he was still a few bucks up.

Nice looking rigs too they are. Love the drive caddy idea.

 

So many times no. He will possibly get better value if you build it for him, but that's because he's getting free expertise and services AND probably assuming free support for the life of the PC.
I'd go one step further and give him some suggestions from Dell or HP and the like, but a pre-built system from scan would be an acceptable compromise.

I wouldn't ask a carpenter mate to make me a sideboard and say "oh but it's okay, I'll buy all the materials, you just need to do the work", what is it about PCs that should be different?
If you're really inclined to give away from free work... because it's more than a favour, then go for it, but make sure you set expectations about ongoing support, warranty coverage and rebuilds and data recovery when his son installs some malware before hand.

Maybe I'm just not a nice guy any more, but I've regretted nearly every "favour" I've done building someone a PC out of the goodness of my heart. Whenever someone asks these days I politely explain why pre-build is actually a much better call for them (ongoing support and warranty) and provide advice, and we all live happily ever after.

 

They're a bit rare, but I reckon a GPU AIO would be a nice addition (NZXT G12 + Corsair H55, perhaps? I use an Arctic Accelero Hybrid 3)

They absolutely kill the noise from the GPU, are stunningly effective at cooling, and are 0-maintenance once installed. Scan might install it for you if you ask very nicely!

Some will consider it poor value, but it depends how much you value silence. It should be transferrable to future GPUs as well (as long as HUGE dies like Vega's don't become the norm).

 

I would keep a least a bit of that money to spend on GoG, steam, etc. games, what would he do with a sweet PC otherwise?

 

BTW if 3-5 years then he needs a 1080Ti. No ifs ands or buts. 1080 will never last that long.

 

Less than £200 difference and that includes the currently ongoing discount on an individually purchased Ryzen.

 

Pretty much any decent CPU you buy today will still be good in 5 years (barring something better than silicon showing up), but buying a high end GPU is a fools errand. Going back 5 years, we have the gtx 680 and 690 which on ebay US are going for as little as 17% and 12%, respectively of their original MSRP.
If 1080p is good enough, I'd grab a RX 580 8GB or step up to a 1070/ Vega 56 (if you can find one) for 1440p; I'd pass on 4K monitors for the moment. Take the £3-450 savings and buy something else cool (like a phantom drone) or stick it in the bank/stocks for upgrades in a few years.

 

Surely better to get a 1070 now, and update in 3 years, than get a 1080Ti.

I wouldn't want to be stuck with a 780Ti now!

 

So, the goalposts have moved somewhat after a little discussion. He'd like a G-Sync monitor, preferably 1440P so I've found a Dell for ~£530 on Scan which has reviewed nicely and I could drop to a 1070Ti to squeeze that into the budget.

And before we get into the Red vs. Green on GPUs, he did confirm G-Sync, not freesync as he wants Nvidia.

 

I thought the consensus was that the 1070Ti was a pointless card when the 1080 is better and around the same price.

 

yeah, I've managed to squeeze a 1080Ti in the build now by dropping a few unnecessary bits like M.2 and mechanical storage and dropped the PSU to a hybrid modular plus lowered spec of peripherals and headset.

 

Do not invest into a sync tech. If he is using an Nvidia card he can easily just either enable Adaptive Vsync or Fast Sync globally and be as happy as larry. With HDMI 2.1 coming I would wait on that and certainly not buy G-Sync. I had it, and it was a waste of money. Adaptive basically enables Vsync when you would have tearing (IE when the FPS exceed the HZ of the monitor) and then disable it when you don't (low FPS) which sorts out the input lag and 0 tearing. Fast Sync basically from what I have read allows you to run balls to the wall, though do note this will break some games (Fallout 4 for example, over 70 FPS and the terminals hang).

That is only true because the 1070Ti is slightly too expensive and near on all 1080s have dropped in price recently.

BTW as for buy a 1070 now etc? 1070 is venerable and too expensive. 980Ti performance for £350+ when you can get a 980Ti for £250 or less.

I would imagine when he said 3-5 years he meant a rig now, using the money now ('cause once it's gone it's gone).

 

I can’t really agree with you on GSync being a waste of money. Since I invested, I can’t stand anything else! Yes, there’s a premium but it’s worth it IMO.

 

Logically I don't understand it. Your choice of course, but if it is disabled when tearing is not possible (off, below refresh) and on when it is then technically it's the same to me. *shrugs* your money mate

 

It's not just about tearing though, it's about reducing the inherent input lag that VSync generates to deliver smoother frames at any given refresh rate within GSync's working limits, which in my case is up to 165Hz - and it does that very well. If I decide to turn all the candy on and frames drop in places to <80fps, there's no perception of stuttering that would be tangible with VSync.

Anyway, this isn't a thread about the benefits or not of the technology - it's what my mates lad wants and that's that as far as I'm concerned, even if I agreed with you I have 2.5k for the best system I can put together with a GSync monitor of 27" or more.

 

I don't see anything wrong with going for a GSync monitor, at least in theory.
The problem is that the cheaper GSync monitors all use TN panels and the cheapest (not counting Acer products as I despise the brand) IPS GSync screen with a proper resolution is over £600 (going by scan pricing).

But of course you spend hours looking at the screen each day, so the screen is the last place you should save anyway and that justifies the premium a good screen demands.