The PC Build Thread

[Barbarian Conan]

So not a build per se, but need some help.
My dad just retired and needs to buy himself a laptop.

He was going to buy the cheapest Celeron which I've convinced him is a bad idea.
I've been out of the buying market for some time now, don't know what's good.

Don't have a budget, but I would imagine cheaper the better, is there anything better than this:

Takealot

www.takealot.com

I figure 8gb ram and SSD will future proof vs the other models with 5400rpm and 4gb ram.

This will be for light office work, excel/web browsing etc but I wouldn't wish the 5400rpm bottleneck on anyone.

I think 8gb is the bare minimum for a laptop today. 16GB can be seen as future proofing if he doesn't multitask.
SSD is a must as you say. How heavy is he on storage?

Then, what does he want? What did he like and what didn't he like about what he had before? Did he use it a lot, or did it gather dust?
For example, after I had my wife chat a bit about why she doesn't use her laptop, the responses were too slow, and too big. So a 13" was ideal.

How long will he keep it, or how long does he generally keep stuff? I like getting an i5 or i7, 16gb RAM, and paying a bit more, but then know that it will be happy computing for 3 x the amount of time than a 8gb i3 would for example.

 

[Fulcrum29]

 

[ponder]

Dying Light 2 has me toying with the idea of a pc upgrade.

Currently running an i7-4790 with 16GB DDR3 RAM and GTX 1080, the game is installed on an SSD and though I have a 27" 1080p gaming monitor I am currently using my 1440p gaming monitor but running the game in 1080p (I know this is silly but my living arrangements are temporary, sort of).

It won't make sense for me to change my gfx card now as its on loan to me for as long as I want it (i.e. its not mine to sell.

So I if I did a CPU and related components upgrade I'd go for an i5—12400 with 32GB DDR4 3600MHz RAM and maybe a B660 motherboard, need a new case and PSU (600W? not sure what size is needed offhand) everything else I have from my old setup or I have spares. I did a rough costing exercise, it will set me back 12 or 13k.

From a gaming perspective does this upgrade coupled with a GTX 1080 sound like a waste? I'd prefer to keep gaming in 1080p res, don't have delusions of grandeur of 1440p unless I'm getting a decent frame rate.

What is your current GPU utilisation while playing DL2?

DL2 is more GPU dependent, and I doubt your CPU gets utilised way above 40%?

 

[Barbarian Conan]

Dying Light 2 has me toying with the idea of a pc upgrade.

Currently running an i7-4790 with 16GB DDR3 RAM and GTX 1080, the game is installed on an SSD and though I have a 27" 1080p gaming monitor I am currently using my 1440p gaming monitor but running the game in 1080p (I know this is silly but my living arrangements are temporary, sort of).

It won't make sense for me to change my gfx card now as its on loan to me for as long as I want it (i.e. its not mine to sell.

So I if I did a CPU and related components upgrade I'd go for an i5—12400 with 32GB DDR4 3600MHz RAM and maybe a B660 motherboard, need a new case and PSU (600W? not sure what size is needed offhand) everything else I have from my old setup or I have spares. I did a rough costing exercise, it will set me back 12 or 13k.

From a gaming perspective does this upgrade coupled with a GTX 1080 sound like a waste? I'd prefer to keep gaming in 1080p res, don't have delusions of grandeur of 1440p unless I'm getting a decent frame rate.

Is your monitor 60hz, and do you get 60fps at all times with your current setup?

Unless you play a select few games, I wouldn't bother with more than 60fps on a 60hz monitor.

That said, if you can afford it, upgrade. Buying new stuff feels good.

 

[StrontiumDog]

What is your current GPU utilisation while playing DL2?

DL2 is more GPU dependent, and I doubt your CPU gets utilised way above 40%?

This is what MSI Afterburner shows (more or less) when keeping busy in-game.



I changed my in-game res to 1440p today (native res) and set the scaling to favour performance, I'm getting between mid fifties to mid sixties for FPS.

Perhaps I need a clean installation of windows 10. It was an upgrade of windows 7 so it's been years since I did a clean OS install I'm embarrassed to say
I also tend not to restart my PC, usually just put it into sleep mode. I did restart it a few days ago and since playing DL2 I try to close all my browser windows. Regarding other apps I just have a couple instances of media player classic open.

edit: The other game I would not mind a performance boost in is Red Dead Redemption 2. I must just double check what MSI Afterburner reports there but I have to put the details down quite a bit if I want to maintain over 70 FPS.

 

[StrontiumDog]

Is your monitor 60hz, and do you get 60fps at all times with your current setup?

Unless you play a select few games, I wouldn't bother with more than 60fps on a 60hz monitor.

That said, if you can afford it, upgrade. Buying new stuff feels good.

Only dying light 2 is dropping below 60 FPS.

I have 3 monitors I can use with my gaming PC but only #2 and #3 are with me right now:
#1 is an LG 1080p IPS 27" 144hz monitor
#2 is a Samsung 1440p VA 27" 144hz monitor
#3 is an older Samsung 24" 1080p 60hz display

I could go and get #1 but I am running out of space to put all the computer equipment I have here (am doing WFH at my old man's place to keep an eye on him due to health issues he is facing).

 

[StrontiumDog]

Not a waste at all.

1080p gaming is more CPU than GPU intensive, so you would see some decent gains. DDR4 is also a lot faster than DDR3, and the 12th gen Intels are the fastest for gaming. Would be a solid upgrade. I would go for a 750W PSu though. Newer GPUs are hungry, rather get something better now, if you are getting something new. That gives you headroom to play with when it comes to the GPU purchase. Also, make sure you get a case with decent airflow and a couple fans if it doesn't come with them.

Thanks, looking at Wootware pricing, it seems one might as well go for an 850W PSU if going for 750W, only a R150 price difference between the Corsair PSU's in that range.

The stock situation there doesn't look too good for LGA 1700 motherboards, and then one has to be sure to select compatible memory (w.r.t. the qualified vendor list). I may just rather source everything from somewhere else.

Is 32GB DDR4 RAM overkill for gaming or should 16GB be plenty? I suppose I could even get 2 x 8GB initially and add another 2 x 8GB later on.

 

[Gtx Gaming]

16gb is getting her the limit with games like warzone up you have chrome open it background

 

[Barbarian Conan]

Only dying light 2 is dropping below 60 FPS.

I have 3 monitors I can use with my gaming PC but only #2 and #3 are with me right now:
#1 is an LG 1080p IPS 27" 144hz monitor
#2 is a Samsung 1440p VA 27" 144hz monitor
#3 is an older Samsung 24" 1080p 60hz display

I could go and get #1 but I am running out of space to put all the computer equipment I have here (am doing WFH at my old man's place to keep an eye on him due to health issues he is facing).

Oh yeah, for 144hz it's definitely upgrade time. The 12400 is a great choice then.
As for RAM, I think I was traumatized during my childhood with stutters and that flashing red HDD light, so I like RAM overkill. I got 32GB back in 2019, but unless I have photoshop and lightroom and chrome open in the background while I game, I doubt I use more than half.
RAM is one of the things which will need upgrading first, so I like getting a bit too much in 2 sticks configuration, so that I can upgrade later.
My previous PC, i7 2600K, went all the way from 4gb, then 12GB, then 20GB over the years.

Edit: PSU - after running into issues with my R9 290 on a 650W, I like overspeccing that too. Especially if you later want to get a 3080Ti or 4080Ti.
It is also one of the components you can keep with you for a long time. 10+ years.

 

[Neoprod]

Thanks, looking at Wootware pricing, it seems one might as well go for an 850W PSU if going for 750W, only a R150 price difference between the Corsair PSU's in that range.

The stock situation there doesn't look too good for LGA 1700 motherboards, and then one has to be sure to select compatible memory (w.r.t. the qualified vendor list). I may just rather source everything from somewhere else.

Is 32GB DDR4 RAM overkill for gaming or should 16GB be plenty? I suppose I could even get 2 x 8GB initially and add another 2 x 8GB later on.

16Gb of RAM is fine for a gaming machine.

For some reason the 12400F (no integrated graphics) costs a bit more at Wootware than the 12400 (which has integrated graphics) - it's obviously meant to be the other way around. Wherever you end up buying from, check if that happens there as well - it's good to have the integrated graphics if a spare graphics card isn't lying around.

With Corsair, I used an RMX model for my main PC way back - they are very good units. But Superflower came along and deliver solid quality at lower prices so I switched over in my last build. No ragrets.

 

[StrontiumDog]

Thanks guys, yeah adding the extra 16GB RAM and possibly going for a 12600 pushes the costs up, easily looking at 16 grand plus now.

Wootware's motherboard LGA 1700 range is not the greatest, the only LGA 1700 DDR4 motherboard in stock is the ASUS PRIME B660M-A D4 Intel B660 LGA 1700 Alder Lake Socket Micro-ATX Desktop Motherboard
priced at R2999 but is micro-ATX a bad idea? Does one then need a micro-ATX case? Getting a more expensive mobo is going to push the cost up to over 17 grand, eish...

 

[Nike7]

Thanks guys, yeah adding the extra 16GB RAM and possibly going for a 12600 pushes the costs up, easily looking at 16 grand plus now.

Wootware's motherboard LGA 1700 range is not the greatest, the only LGA 1700 DDR4 motherboard in stock is the ASUS PRIME B660M-A D4 Intel B660 LGA 1700 Alder Lake Socket Micro-ATX Desktop Motherboard
priced at R2999 but is micro-ATX a bad idea? Does one then need a micro-ATX case? Getting a more expensive mobo is going to push the cost up to over 17 grand, eish...

Micro-ATX motherboard is still ATX so it will fit, you just can’t put a larger board in a smaller case. Don’t get the extra ram, 16gb is plenty and it’s going to be a while before it isn’t.

 

[Nike7]

Personally, 4k at 27" looks too small at about 60cm away. I prefer to sit at a reasonable distance and not use scaling - OP might not have the same issue though.

Scaling can cause issues with some older game menus so I don’t use it either.

4k is great on larger displays but on a 27” monitor it seems really meh, I’d rather have a higher frame rate.

 

[Gtx Gaming]

1440 144hz 27 inch is sweet spot

 

[StrontiumDog]

This is what MSI Afterburner shows (more or less) when keeping busy in-game.

View attachment 1240902

I changed my in-game res to 1440p today (native res) and set the scaling to favour performance, I'm getting between mid fifties to mid sixties for FPS.

Perhaps I need a clean installation of windows 10. It was an upgrade of windows 7 so it's been years since I did a clean OS install I'm embarrassed to say
I also tend not to restart my PC, usually just put it into sleep mode. I did restart it a few days ago and since playing DL2 I try to close all my browser windows. Regarding other apps I just have a couple instances of media player classic open.

edit: The other game I would not mind a performance boost in is Red Dead Redemption 2. I must just double check what MSI Afterburner reports there but I have to put the details down quite a bit if I want to maintain over 70 FPS.

Yup, RDR2 struggles just as much and this is in 1080p.

 

[Intox]

Thanks guys, yeah adding the extra 16GB RAM and possibly going for a 12600 pushes the costs up, easily looking at 16 grand plus now.

Wootware's motherboard LGA 1700 range is not the greatest, the only LGA 1700 DDR4 motherboard in stock is the ASUS PRIME B660M-A D4 Intel B660 LGA 1700 Alder Lake Socket Micro-ATX Desktop Motherboard
priced at R2999 but is micro-ATX a bad idea? Does one then need a micro-ATX case? Getting a more expensive mobo is going to push the cost up to over 17 grand, eish...

Micro-ATX will fit just fine.
The gigabyte doesn't look too bad.

Gigabyte GA-B660M-DS3H-DDR4 B660M DS3H DDR4 Intel B660 Alder Lake LGA1700 Micro-ATX Desktop Motherboard - Wootware

Buy Gigabyte GA-B660M-DS3H-DDR4 B660M DS3H DDR4 Intel B660 Alder Lake LGA1700 Micro-ATX Desktop Motherboard at Wootware with fast shipping & superb service.

www.wootware.co.za

M.2 heatsink, 4 RAM slots
Decent IO as well

Also Woot says the 12400 is on special that's why it's cheaper than the 12400F at the moment

 

[Neoprod]

Thanks guys, yeah adding the extra 16GB RAM and possibly going for a 12600 pushes the costs up, easily looking at 16 grand plus now.

Wootware's motherboard LGA 1700 range is not the greatest, the only LGA 1700 DDR4 motherboard in stock is the ASUS PRIME B660M-A D4 Intel B660 LGA 1700 Alder Lake Socket Micro-ATX Desktop Motherboard
priced at R2999 but is micro-ATX a bad idea? Does one then need a micro-ATX case? Getting a more expensive mobo is going to push the cost up to over 17 grand, eish...

The 12600 isn't worth the price bump over the 12400 - Intel are asking for ~30% more money for 9% higher boost clock. That's a poor proposition - you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the 2 CPUs with the naked eye (they would benchmark a few percentage points apart).

I think 10 grand should be enough to get you going - I'd consider this a good budget build.

 

[Neoprod]

Micro-ATX will fit just fine.
The gigabyte doesn't look too bad.

Gigabyte GA-B660M-DS3H-DDR4 B660M DS3H DDR4 Intel B660 Alder Lake LGA1700 Micro-ATX Desktop Motherboard - Wootware

Buy Gigabyte GA-B660M-DS3H-DDR4 B660M DS3H DDR4 Intel B660 Alder Lake LGA1700 Micro-ATX Desktop Motherboard at Wootware with fast shipping & superb service.

www.wootware.co.za

M.2 heatsink, 4 RAM slots
Decent IO as well

Also Woot says the 12400 is on special that's why it's cheaper than the 12400F at the moment

I don't even look at the "Save X Rands" anymore

 

[_kabal_]

The 12600 isn't worth the price bump over the 12400 - Intel are asking for ~30% more money for 9% higher boost clock. That's a poor proposition - you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between the 2 CPUs with the naked eye (they would benchmark a few percentage points apart).

I think 10 grand should be enough to get you going - I'd consider this a good budget build.

View attachment 1241460

Nice build

Personally I would go with the FD Meshify C. I’ve owned both and I think it is better quality. But cases are obviously subjective.

 

[Neoprod]

Nice build

Personally I would go with the FD Meshify C. I’ve owned both and I think it is better quality. But cases are obviously subjective.

Yep, that's also a good case. I just look at performance when comparing stuff and the P400A stock is a few degrees better at cooling than the Meshify stock (as it should be having the extra fan).

You could get an extra fan for the Meshify and then the performance gap would be gone - that would make it a completely subjective thing.

I miss the days when I didn't know any better and just bought a R500 steel box and shoved everything into it