How to understand what to build for a gaming pc without getting bottleneck or overkill

[Evil Leprechaun]

Hello, a newbie here. currently having a old pc that is running for game that feel that medium setting on the game isn't gonna make me happy. thus, i would like to seek advice here to understand how do i build a pc that to play some intensive games like battlefield with high settings. also not to mentioned that not possible for me to get latest product as my budget won't allow me to do that. objectively to understand how not to bottle neck my system too! LTT have video clips on pc build but he did not teach us how not to (1)Bottleneck the system (2)Overkill the system[Example RAM Super high end but CPU not very ideal for it]

[Moonzy]

it would help us more if you provided more info

try making a new thread here: https://linustechtips.com/forum/18-new-builds-and-planning/

and fill out the form when creating a thread

[bellabichon]

People make a much bigger deal out of bottlenecking than I feel is warranted. Even in a well-thought-out system, chances are that either your CPU or GPU is going to be slightly faster, and that's fine. The only times real issues arise are when your budget is so poorly allocated that you're losing performance in the work you plan to do. My recommendation to you would be to determine your budget, read some guides and put together a PCPartpicker list, and then post it here on the forum for advice in the New Builds and Planning section. That way, people can help you re-adjust your choices if they think you could get more for your money.

[Evil Leprechaun]

@Moonzy @bellabichon Thank you both for the input. i will work out my budget and ask in the correct section.

[kitnoman]

Most of the time, it all comes down to budget and what will you use it for. For example when I built my pc, since I would only be using it for gaming and the most demanding task I would probably need it for is excel(with hundred thousands of rows lol), I was shopping for the most affordable ryzen 5 / intel I5 and mobo available. If you are doing more than gaming, then feel free to check ryzen 7/ I7.

 

While on GPU, I normally choose one base on may current monitor resolution. If I have 1080p monitor at whatever hz, I feel like the highest that I "should" get are the "70" variants(rtx 2070, rtx 3070, amd 5700, amd 6700 xt), while the "60" variants are the sound choose.  While if you have 1440p monitor, then the lowest you should get in my opinion are the "70" variants.

 

When it comes to ram, I'm on 16gb and I leave multiple chrome tabs open when I game and so far it's ok. So I feel 32gb is the maximum you should get, anymore than that is just for you to feel good lol. For the latency and speed, it would depend on the processor you choose(amd or intel) and your budget. But I normally buy the lowest latency with the fastest speed(mhz) my budget can allow(cl16 3200mhz and cl18 3600mhz) then I just try to overclock it. Don't be afraid to get a faster speed than what your mobo can support like if you go to an intel route and got b365/b360 that can only support up to 2666. The price of 2666mhz and 3200/3600 are almost negligible.

 

Then for ssd, I'm quite content with a nvme Gen3 that runs between 3,000 to 3,300mb(even if it's rated at 3,500mb read speed, it never go that high). For the price and brand, it would be up to you and your budget(again).

 

Then the cooler, It should match your cpu (read more on what is the best cooler on the processor that you would end up getting). I've only used air coolers so I can't talk about water.

 

Then lastly, are you more inclined to rainbow puke?  If yes, which do you prioritized, your hardware puking rainbows or higher performance? Because it would cost you more. But who am I kidding, everybody knows that the more blinding your tower is, the more fps it adds to your game!

[Evil Leprechaun]

@kitnoman thank you i have a slightly better overview now. actually i build "gaming" pc is not just for gaming as i really really hardly game. it will be more like usage for virtualisation. Thus, i think gaming pc might be good for it. i surely will game if my pc is providing good performance... end of the day, i think i will be having 2 monitors to run 1 virtual machine as im learning pen-testing and another for netflix/youtube/full screen video games like battlefield etc. im just curious which component should i get so i don't get them limiting each other and no need to say i do not have budget over SGD $4,000k build. I will be quite comfortable around SGD 3,000

 

Also about the monitor, for some reason i have "Freesync" monitor. Should my build all in AMD or just the graphic card will do?

 

 

[kitnoman]

Nvidia already support Freesync so you don't have to worry about that. As for your budget, a year and a half ago, I would tell you that it is more than enough to get you the best hardware. I'm not familiar with the gpu and cpu recommended requirements for your applications, so you might need another person to help you with that or read more about the application that you are going to use.

 

If in any case you need more cpu cores, don't hesitate to go for amd ryzen 7 3000 gen or i7 10th gen to get more cores cheaper. As for your gpu.... I don't know what to say hahahaha. I think you are in Singapore right? I live in asia too and I found that gpu in our part of the world are relatively lower compare with US( atleast in my country) note: not cheap but lower. Then, as all tech youtubers suggested, don't go too crazy with your mobo, if you went with amd, B550 is just fine.  Then pick other parts from there.  I believe that there are Asian power supply/case brands that are significantly cheaper but just as reliable with popular brands. Any amount that you can save, can be allocated to your gpu.