New Build - $2500, considering pre-built to actually get a GPU...

silentpat · October 25, 2021

Budget (including currency): $2500 CND

Country: Canada

Games, programs or workloads that it will be used for: MS Office, Lightroom, Photoshop, Indesign, Gaming (Nothing competitive - VR, Cities: Skylines, FFXIV, Forza 4 and hopefully 5, Age of Empires IV), some light Premiere use

Other details

I have a 2017 13" Razer Stealth (i78550u, 16gb) - its battery swelled and so I took it out and used it as my desktop with a 1070 aorus eGPU, and got a crappy used lenovo as my travel/media consumption laptop. The lenovo died a couple weeks ago, so I got a new battery for the Stealth and I'll use that as my regular laptop, but I don't like the idea of having it plugged into the eGPU all the time as my desktop with what happened to the last battery. So now there's going to be an empty space on my desk requiring a desktop (or macbook pro if I sell a kidney).

I have two 27" dell monitors (SE2717H and S2716DG), the 1070 aorus eGPU (that I think I should probably sell to recoup some $ for the desktop), a Logitech 513 carbon keyboard, and G305 mouse.

I've been keeping an eye on prices and availability - and I've not seen any GPUs available in my area except in pre-builts. There's a Canada Computers not far from here and they have this in my price range : https://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=1446_1448&item_id=194305, no info on the motherboard, power supply or ram (that I can see).

Otherwise, do I just pop open the eGPU, use the 1070 and build around that?

Thoughts would be appreciated.

Jonathan Lee · October 25, 2021

I would say it's alright for the price. It might need a better cooler though. At 2000 CAD, I tend to expect an 8 core cpu, but I'm a bit of an 8 core snob.

You can check out ABS in newegg. They have pretty good deals on prebuilds normally.

11700f and 3060ti:

https://www.newegg.ca/abs-ali560/p/N82E16883360190?Item=N82E16883360190

This one is not too much slower gpu wise. 3060ti and 3070 are relatively the same in performance. You get 8 cores for multitasking fun, which is helpful if you run other programs on your second monitor while you game. I would also recommend getting a better CPU cooler with this. The one in it looks pretty bad.

11700kf and 3070:

https://www.newegg.ca/abs-ali494/p/N82E16883360089?Item=N82E16883360089

This one is more of a plug in and play system. Everything in it looks more premium. Has a 240mm AIO, faster ram and nicer PSU (hopefully). I think it will have very similar performance to the previous pc though.

11700f and 3070:

https://www.newegg.ca/abs-ali581/p/N82E16883360216?Item=N82E16883360216

This one is not too bad, but might need a cooler upgrade. Case has better airflow than other two.

I would recommend throwing another 16 GB kit in all of them as well. If you tend to multi task a lot, it will help out.

brob · October 26, 2021

I think you can do better with a diy.

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600X 3.7 GHz 6-Core Processor ($357.75 @ shopRBC)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S 55 CFM CPU Cooler ($79.95 @ Amazon Canada)
Motherboard: MSI B550-A PRO ATX AM4 Motherboard ($169.99 @ Canada Computers)
Memory: Crucial Ballistix RGB 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($115.19 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Mushkin Enhanced Helix-L 1 TB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($111.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon RX 6700 XT 12 GB NITRO+ Video Card ($1229.98 @ Newegg Canada)
Case: Phanteks Eclipse P400A Digital ATX Mid Tower Case ($109.99 @ Canada Computers)
Power Supply: Antec High Current Gamer Gold 750 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($99.75 @ Vuugo)
Total: $2274.59
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2021-10-25 21:15 EDT-0400

GeorgeMKane · October 26, 2021

Keep the MSI psu, that comes with the Newegg bundle, as a spare. Get the 850W 80+ Gold PSU to better support your system.

https://ca.pcpartpicker.com/list/WWrWW3

CPU: Intel Core i7-10700KF 3.8 GHz 8-Core Processor ($0.00)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U12S redux 70.75 CFM CPU Cooler ($62.95 @ Amazon Canada)
Motherboard: MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS ATX LGA1200 Motherboard ($0.00)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory ($144.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Storage: Crucial P2 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($55.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Storage: Western Digital Blue 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($119.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Video Card: MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8 GB VENTUS 2X OC Video Card ($0.00)
Case: Corsair iCUE 4000X RGB ATX Mid Tower Case ($149.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Power Supply: Corsair RMx (2021) 850 W 80+ Gold Certified Fully Modular ATX Power Supply ($179.99 @ Newegg Canada)
Case Fan: Corsair iCUE SP120 RGB ELITE 47.7 CFM 120 mm Fan ($24.99 @ Amazon Canada)
Custom: i7-10700KF, MSI RTX 3060Ti Ventus 2X, MSI Z490 Gaming Plus, MSI 650W 80+ Gold PSU ($1561.97)
$2300.86