I want a gaming PC but don't know what I'm doing (2024)

Hey Everyone!

I wan't to purchase a gaming PC was looking at the overclockers website, but I don't know what I'm doing.

The main games I play currently are;
Stellaris
Crusader Kings 3
Total War

With Mods Stellaris/CK3 can crash quite easily with my current set up. I would like to be able to play more games like Fallout etc that require abit more power

Can someone give me some suggestions?

Thanks

What's your budget and chosen resolution?

Do you need peripherals/monitor, etc?

What is the specs of your current PC?

Tetras said:

What's your budget and chosen resolution?

Do you need peripherals/monitor, etc?

What is the specs of your current PC?

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Thanks for the reply.

Probably around the £1k mark, not sure what you mean by resolution?

I have monitors currently but they are standard monitors, may look to replace at a later date.

Current: HP Victus 16-e1502na Gaming Laptop - AMD Ryzen 5, RTX 3050, 512 GB SSD

Jorjor said:

not sure what you mean by resolution?

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Likely to be: 1080p (1920 x 1080), 1440p (2560 x 1440) or 4K (3840 x 2160).

Tetras said:

Likely to be: 1080p (1920 x 1080), 1440p (2560 x 1440) or 4K (3840 x 2160).

Click to expand...

Thanks, at the minute not sure I have a desired resolution

Jorjor said:

Thanks, at the minute not sure I have a desired resolution

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In that case, can you just tell us what the resolution of your current monitor(s) is?

Paradox games like Stellaris and CK2 are heavily X3D biased, and I mean it makes a massive difference.

I don't know how much a powerful GPU helps with either of them, but I'm guessing that they're one of the outliers that heavily lean toward the processor as the deciding factor in performance.

I'd try to expand your budget a little to fit in a 7800X3D CPU somehow as it'll make a huge difference in your experience with Stellaris and CK2.

Something along the lines of this:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £329.99
• 1 x = £0.00
• 1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Black CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02724) = £29.99
• 1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £59.98
• 1 x Asrock B650M PG Riptide (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-18Y-AK) = £159.99
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRS-00996) = £89.99
• 1 x Antec CX500M RGB M-ATX Mini Tower - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-02734) = £59.98
• 1 x Phanteks AMP GH 750W 80PLUS Gold ATX Power Supply Modular - Black (SKU: POW-PHK-02517) = £84.95

Total: £814.87 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

You can get an XFX 6750XT for £300 (not sold by OCUK) which would take you to £1100, although a 7800XT or 4070 GPU would be a better match but would set you back around the £450 mark.

There's potential savings with a cheaper motherboard and PSU, but I'd still try to stretch, example here:

My basket at OcUK:

• 1 x AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D Eight Core 5.00GHz (Socket AM5) Processor - Retail (SKU: CP-3DT-AM) = £329.99
• 1 x = £0.00
• 1 x Thermalright Peerless Assassin 120 SE ARGB Black CPU Cooler - 120mm (SKU: COO-TLR-02724) = £29.99
• 1 x WD Black SN770 1TB SSD M.2 2280 NVME PCI-E Gen4 Solid State Drive (WDS100T3X0E) (SKU: HD-58F-WD) = £59.98
• 1 x Corsair Vengeance EXPO 32GB (2X16GB) DDR5 PC5-48000C36 6000MHz Dual Channel Kit (SKU: MEM-CRS-00996) = £89.99
• 1 x Antec CX500M RGB M-ATX Mini Tower - Black (SKU: CAS-ATC-02734) = £59.99
• 1 x Asus Prime B650M-A WIFI II (Socket AM5) DDR5 Micro-ATX Motherboard (SKU: MB-6K6-AS) = £130.00
• 1 x be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 10 650W 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply (SKU: CA-14V-BQ) = £64.99

Total: £764.93 (includes delivery: £0.00)​

​

You can get cheaper cases too, but the saving isn't worth it given the drop in quality imo.​

If you weren't aware, the recommendations above, and any others, can be built by Overclockers for a fee. I've no idea how much these days.

I'd personally factor in a new monitor if your others aren't that good. A monitor is just as responsible for providing a good image and experience as a graphics card.

Subzero85 said:

New AMD ryzen cpus are due for release very soon

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See this thread, they're a flop it seems.

The_Arbiter said:

See this thread, they're a flop it seems.

OcUK Ryzen 5 9600X and Ryzen 7 9700X review thread

Ryzen 5 9600X https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-ryzen-5-9600x/ https://www.kitguru.net/components/cpu/leo-waldock/amd-ryzen-5-9600x-review/ Ryzen 7 9700X https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-ryzen-7-9700x/ https://www.techspot.com/review/2877-amd-ryzen-7-9700x/ Group Test...

forums.overclockers.co.uk

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I'm not sure what the ETA is on the 9800X3D either tbh, but I'm confident it'll cost closer to (if not exceed) £400 than £300.

For purely gaming I'd just hop on the 7800X3D, especially if my focus was CPU biased titles.