A quiet future-proof gaming PC for college?

[needadvice]

Hi all, I would like some help planning for a new gaming PC that fulfills my specific needs.

 

Existing Parts:

• I already have the following parts/peripherals:
  • Case: Lian Li TU150 Mini-ITX case
  • Mouse: Logitech G502
  • Keyboard: Logitech G Pro
  • Monitors:
    • Acer GN246HL 24.0" 1920x1080 144 Hz (main)
    • Samsung S24D390HL 23.6" 1920x1080 60 Hz (secondary)
  • Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 2 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive

Aim:

• I will mainly (99%) use this PC for gaming. I want to be able to play competitive shooters (like Valorant, Overwatch, CSGO) comfortably at >200 FPS, medium to low settings, 1080p resolution and 144 Hz refresh rate.
  • I also play a bit of GTA V, so >= 60 fps for GTA V would be great.
• While gaming, however, I want to also have multiple chrome tabs open (like Twitch, Youtube, Reddit, Twitter), as well as Spotify and Discord, on my secondary 60 Hz monitor.

Location:

• United States, currency USD, no access to a Microcenter so will order all parts from Amazon and/or Newegg.

Budget:

• Here is the part I am kind of stuck on. I want a system that fulfills my base needs and not an overkill expensive build.
• I'm willing to spend the amount that will get the best result but I am unsure of what CPU & GPU I need. Like is a Ryzen 5 2600 good or do I need something like an Intel i7 9700k? Or a Ryzen 9 3900x?
• I would like to future-proof this build so I won't have to upgrade anything in a while. That might drive up the price.

Parts I need help with picking out:

• CPU: A good processor that can handle all of the games I play. I won't be doing any video editing, photoshopping, or 3D modeling.
• GPU: Same as CPU^
• RAM: 16GB DDR4 is probably good for what I need, not sure which brand I should get.
• MOBO: Need one that has built in WiFi, I won't be doing any overclocking.
• Boot Drive(?): Do I need a M.2 NVMe? Is my current SSD good enough? I see a lot of new builds on Youtube all using M.2 NVMe SSDs.
• PSU
• CPU coolers and case fans: This is another one of my head-scratching dilemma. I will be taking this PC to college so I want it to be quiet but also adequate cooling for the components inside. But I'm not sure how many fans I will need and what sizes.
  • For example: This CPU cooler, is it good enough for this build? Or is it too good, too expensive and overkill?

Why I am upgrading:

• My current system, which I built 4~5 years ago, is struggling to stay above 144 FPS in Valorant and Overwatch, and can't break above 35 FPS for GTA V.
• I've looked up a lot of videos on graphics settings, windows settings, and games settings to optimize performance, but FPS across games has not improve that much. I figure it is just time for a new build while I'm in quarantine and heading to college soon.

Additional notes:

• I don't need/want RGB or any lighting, just plain black is good for me.
• I realize what I'm asking for in this build might end up costly, so any components where I can cut cost and keep performance, let me know please.

 

Any help, comments, suggestions, would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[dizmo]

You gave us so much information and left out probably the most important piece: your budget.

[needadvice]

1 minute ago, dizmo said:

You gave us so much information and left out probably the most important piece: your budget.

I am very sorry about that. But honestly I just don't know how much or how little should I spend on this system. I fear that setting a limit (like $1k or $1.5k) might compromise performance. Would you be willing to give suggestions for components that will fulfill what I need? Or give me some advice of what processor might be overkill or which processor is not enough?

[aDoomGuy]

6 minutes ago, needadvice said:

I am very sorry about that. But honestly I just don't know how much or how little should I spend on this system. I fear that setting a limit (like $1k or $1.5k) might compromise performance. Would you be willing to give suggestions for components that will fulfill what I need? Or give me some advice of what processor might be overkill or which processor is not enough?

 

WELL.....

 

I tried with my PC to run GTA V with graphics set to normal and I got 100-140 fps... So for >200 fps I suspect you will need a 2080 Ti or Super..? Along with some insane CPU? But a 2080 Ti will eat your entire budget lol so maybe 140 is enough? Can buy 2070 Super and have money for entire PC perhaps?

[dizmo]

I'd wait a bit and go with:

• AMD Ryzen R5 4600 or Intel i5 10600k
• 16GB of RAM
• 1TB+ NVME storage
• NVidia 3070

If you don't want to wait, something like:

• AMD Ryzen R5 3600
• 16GB of RAM
• 1TB+ NVME storage
• NVidia 2070 Super or AMD 5700XT if you feel like risking messy drivers

You're playing at 1080p, so you don't really need a powerful card to get high frame rates. Most games will get the high 130's with the 2070 Super, however once you get into some AAA titles and newer ones it drops. Want to try and get 144hz on all titles? You'd need to get the flagship card. However simply lowering settings will often net the same result.

[needadvice]

4 minutes ago, aDoomGuy said:

 

WELL.....

 

I tried with my PC to run GTA V with graphics set to normal and I got 100-140 fps... So for >200 fps I suspect you will need a 2080 Ti or Super..? Along with some insane CPU? But a 2080 Ti will eat your entire budget lol so maybe 140 is enough? Can buy 2070 Super and have money for entire PC perhaps?

Good point. I mostly play competitive shooters so that is my main focus (>200 fps). For GTA V, I can definitely settle for 60 FPS. I've edited original post to reflect that change. I certainly wouldn't want to buy a super GPU just for one game haha.

[gouca]

1 hour ago, dizmo said:

I'd wait a bit and go with:

• AMD Ryzen R5 4600 or Intel i5 10600k
• 16GB of RAM
• 1TB+ NVME storage
• NVidia 3070

 

Why exactly an NVME drive for purely a gaming machine? There's absolutely no difference in PCIE/SATA drive performance for games.

[dizmo]

On 5/6/2020 at 2:02 PM, gouca said:

 

Why exactly an NVME drive for purely a gaming machine? There's absolutely no difference in PCIE/SATA drive performance for games.

They're basically the same price, some games do benefit from them slightly, and that will only become more true as time goes on.