I was going to get a Macbook but, with M1 and lack of (initial) compatibility over AAA games, I'm back to Windows and also back to desktop as, well... COVID. The Eleven year old has been really pushing to play network games and we've been having fun with Raft plus TF2. His PC is an absolute dog that was given over to us from an aunt - it's Windows 7 all-in-one Acer and just blows hard. The boy will be getting my PC. It's served me well and plays pretty much everything I've thrown at it at 1080p. I'm not into FPS shooters although do enjoy playing Ark Survival and ESO. I've held off buying some games due to wanting to hit the 4k spot and will look at Red Dead (NOT online) and Death Stranding - games I wanted on the PS4 but didn't have a Pro to get the most out of them. I have a few questions that I would like some advice on please. 1. Where to source - I've bought from Scan and Amazon in the past. Would one of the 3XS systems from Scan be good value or should I spec something up myself (which leads to potentially more advice asking(!))? Would you recommend another sites pre-builds? Perhaps Dell Alienware? 2. AMD over Intel? I have approximately £3500 to spend and will need a complete new system (due to the passing of the existing one to the boy). My only essential at the moment is the 3080RTX. Some change would be nice if possible... I'll need a monitor, keyboard (currently CM Quickfire TK going to the boy) and mouse (currently some off-brand PCW gaming mouse again to the boy). Your thoughts, as always, will be mighty appreciated ya'll... Thanks so much in advance, Ian
Only got a quick second but i'll just say that 3080's are like rare expensive hens teeth at the moment. I think all the Scan systems with them in are even all preorder at the moment.
Even if you would be willing to compromise and get something other than the RTX 3080 it wouldn't really help. Stock of the 3060TI and 3070 is just as imaginary as for the 3080 and on the AMD supplies are even worse than that (not a single reputable shop is even taking preorders for the new AMD cards). So unless you can up the budget to fit a 3090 (or are prepared to pay absurd prices for scalped stuff / used cards) building a gaming PC yourself is currently simply not an option. Long story short, going prebuilt (or going 3090) is the way to go if it has to be now. I'd stay away from the big brands like Dell, HP and Acer. If you buy from them you may face huge hurdles down the road (as their systems frequently contain proprietary form factors, connectors etc). So best to stick to the small ones who use off the shelf components like Scan, Overclockers, Ebuyer housebrands or Chillblast etc..
Dropped some cash on a Scan 3XS Vengeance build so thanks for the help - and you guys were right re 3080! Now I'm looking at gaming monitors! This looks good for £250, right? ASUS VP28UQG, 28 Inch 4K (3840 x 2160) Gaming Monitor, 1 ms, DP, HDMI, FreeSync, Low Blue Light, Flicker Free, TUV Certified: Amazon.co.uk: Computers & Accessories or this... Xiaomi Mi 34" UltraWide Quad HD 144Hz SVA AMD FreeSync Curved Gaming Monitor Height Adjustable LN110868 - BHR4269GL | SCAN UK I might budget £500 for this step!
Seconded. And just to add to the anti 4K train, the affordable 4K monitors are all only 60hz. With a £500 budget I'd grab something like a Asus VG27AQ, Gigabyte FI27Q-EK, LG 27GL850-B instead or if you want to go ultrawide have a look at the LG 34GL750-B or iiyama GB3461WQSU-B1.
I can highly recommend this monitor. Had it a few weeks now and it's excellent. https://www.amazon.co.uk/ASUS-Gaming-VG27AQ-Monitor-Adaptive-Sync/dp/B07VTPKCLS
I can second and third that advice on pre builds (the OEMs seem to be getting a decent supply on 30 series) and the advice on 4k. I personally don't feel that when the true next gen titles (from the gound up) will be happy with just 10gb VRAM. 8gb has already been surpassed for 4k, and by quite a chunk.
I have heard good things about this: https://www.dell.com/en-uk/shop/del...dgf/apd/210-atvc/monitors-monitor-accessories and if you apply the dicounts at the check out (I use Honey) it is about £300
