Need advice: custom build vs pre-built

[Prolix]

Budget (including currency): around 2K Euro

Country: Belgium

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: Currenly only Warzone and Valheim

Other details (existing parts lists, whether any peripherals are needed, what you're upgrading from, when you're going to buy, what resolution and refresh rate you want to play at, etc): Currently I have an i7 4790K paired with 32GB and a 980TI, for the games I play it does the job on my LG 4K 60hz monitor (ofcourse not ultra but rather low settings).

 

I'm currenly looking at 3 options: 

Custom pc:

• Ryzen 5 5600X
• Corsair Hydro H115i
• 16GB 3200 (2 sticks)
• RTX 3060
• Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500 GB
• 650W 80+ gold PSU
• Corsair 5000D

==> Price: € 1813

If I were to change the 3060 to a 3070 then the price would be € 2313

 

Zotac Magnus One:

• I7 10700
• Small air cooler (SFF case)
• 16GB 2666 (1 stick) --> PC only has 2 So-Dimm slots so I would prefer 1 stick and later upgrade to another 16GB
• RTX 3070
• Samsung 970 Evo Plus 500GB
• 500W PSU (enough for this system)
• Zotac case

==> Price: € 1973,8

Cooling should be OK, upgradability is limited but I would have a 3070 in there for a reasonable good price. 

 

HP Omen 25L GT12-0485nd:

• i7 10700
• Probably stock cooler
• 16GB 2933 (2 sticks)
• RTX 3070
• Unknown brand 512GB SSD
• Unknown brand 1TB HDD
• 500W PSU
• HP Omen 25L case

==> € 1899

For me this looks as well to be good deal, however in general I don't like the fact that it comes with limited cooling and if you modify anything inside of the case you will lose your warranty + upgradability might be on the lower side due to only a 500W PSU and probably proprietary motherboard etc.

 

Normally I would always prefer a custom pc but looking at the price difference for a 3070 between the pre-builts and the custom one I'm thinking of going for the Zotac Magnus One.

If you were in my shoes which build would you go for? 

 

[SorryBella]

44 minutes ago, Prolix said:

If you were in my shoes which build would you go for?

The Custom route, but grab that 980Ti and wait for 3070 prices to go down. In GPU Shortage right now that 3070 sounds like its coming at a bad price.

[Vishera]

41 minutes ago, Prolix said:

Normally I would always prefer a custom pc but looking at the price difference for a 3070 between the pre-builts and the custom one I'm thinking of going for the Zotac Magnus One.

If you were in my shoes which build would you go for? 

The custom one is the cheapest,and the components are of higher quality.

Pre-builts have a lot of compromizes such as locked CPU,low quality motherboards,high latency RAM,low quality SSDs from unknown brands,and much more.

 

I would go custom,but would optimize the configuration more.

[SorryBella]

Just now, Vishera said:

I would go custom,but would optimize the configuration more.

The only thing i would optimize out of that build would be switch to a bang for the buck air cooler like Scythe Fuma 2/Mugen 5, CM Hyper 212 Evo, or Gammaxx 400 by Deepcool and use said savings to get a faster 2x8 kit.

[Prolix]

8 minutes ago, Vishera said:

The custom one is the cheapest,and the components are of higher quality.

Pre-builts have a lot of compromizes such as locked CPU,low quality motherboards,high latency RAM,low quality SSDs from unknown brands,and much more.

 

I would go custom,but would optimize the configuration more.

Well it is the cheapest but it does have a 3060 instead of a 3070, what would you optimize in that build?

 

6 minutes ago, SorryClaire said:

The only thing i would optimize out of that build would be switch to a bang for the buck air cooler like Scythe Fuma 2/Mugen 5, CM Hyper 212 Evo, or Gammaxx 400 by Deepcool and use said savings to get a faster 2x8 kit.

Yeah I was looking at different air coolers but the 5600X tends to get warmer than the 3000 series, since my gaming setup is under a roof, in summer it tends to get hot here that's why I went with a AIO water cooler. 

 

Why would you go for faster RAM? I will just be using it for gaming so afaik there is no real life improvement between 3200mhz and 3600 mhz? maybe a couple of frames

[SorryBella]

Just now, Prolix said:

Why would you go for faster RAM? I will just be using it for gaming so afaik there is no real life improvement between 3200mhz and 3600 mhz? maybe a couple of frames

The cap benefit for Zen 3 is improving from 3200 to around 3600-3800. But another thing to consider for RAM kits change would also be a 4*4 kit instead of a 2*8 (i didnt mention it because its kinda hard to find a good cheap 4*4 kit beyond just buying 2 2*4 kit from a brand that only use 1 DRAM chip supplier like Crucial), as Zen 3 benefits HEAVILY on 4 sticks. Hence why i said that. And besides, the thermal output bump is only 1-2 degrees.

 

[Prolix]

8 minutes ago, SorryClaire said:

The cap benefit for Zen 3 is improving from 3200 to around 3600-3800. But another thing to consider for RAM kits change would also be a 4*4 kit instead of a 2*8 (i didnt mention it because its kinda hard to find a good cheap 4*4 kit beyond just buying 2 2*4 kit from a brand that only use 1 DRAM chip supplier like Crucial), as Zen 3 benefits HEAVILY on 4 sticks. Hence why i said that. And besides, the thermal output bump is only 1-2 degrees.

 

Hmm didn't knew that Zen 3 benefits from 4 sticks, thanks for that information!

So then you would advice a 3060 but with a 4x4 3600mhz RAM and a tower cooler?

[SorryBella]

Just now, Prolix said:

So then you would advice a 3060 but with a 4x4 3600mhz RAM and a tower cooler?

Im suggesting you to go for the CPU upgrades (with those optimization in mind), plop that 980Ti in and get a 3060Ti at a reasonable price. Or even better, if you do have monthly income, a 3070 or 3080.

[Prolix]

3 minutes ago, SorryClaire said:

Im suggesting you to go for the CPU upgrades (with those optimization in mind), plop that 980Ti in and get a 3060Ti at a reasonable price. Or even better, if you do have monthly income, a 3070 or 3080.

hmm ok, yeah I do have a monthly income however as it will probably be my last pc and I only play 2-4 evenings a week a limited set of games I think a 3070 or higher would be overkill. But since those pre-builts are cheaper with a 3070 that's why I included them

 

The ideal situation would be my custom build with the 3060 TI but since they are nowhere in stock I picked the 3060. 

But isn't a bit ridiculous to get all new components and then stick with a 980 TI for prolly a year due to chip shortages and scalpers driving up the price? 

I feel it's like getting a lambo but putting the engine of a renault clio in it, it will work but the 980 TI will be the bottleneck