Why did you build a PC?

[okkee]

I think it's been debated to death already but just wanted to guage your temp on this question. PC mag regularly bills a budget build at about a thousand pounds. And so, for that type of money, what's the reasoning behind it? As an aside, would you recommend building a pc over just getting a console? 

[jaslion]

You can do better than this for a complete really. Also keep in mind 200£+ is spent on peripherals which is either not needed or for a starter can be done very cheaply (use the tv nothing is stopping your from doing that, budget key and mouse)

 

As for getting a pc? For me it makes sense because I use my computer for a lot more than just games. So I need a pc anyway might as well just consolidate all into one device.

 

Pc or console? Thats a question for you. What makes the most sense.

 

Say you bought a 800£ pc around last year that would be a i5 12400f + 6700xt rig (this card is a good bit better than the 4060 same price/less) vs a ps5.

 

This thing will last you the entire console generation whilst costing a bit more. HOWEVER you dont pay the 60£ yearly for ps plus online. You dont get a free game a month HOWEVER what does happen on pc is the extreme sales. Like every other month a steam sale happens and games are SERIOUSLY cheaper. Also at launch typically they are 10£ less for some reason.

 

You alsp have access to the entire pc library and most are pretty much just install and play. The older you go the more difficuly it can get but thats like early 2000s and before bit of a coinflip there however most games have a community patch to make them work just fine or fix known issues that all versions pc or console had.

 

So it all comes down to weighing your options really.

 

Also if you want a build advice ask here. The one here is not bad just can do better as prices change a lot and sales happen often enough to knock down 5 or 10 on a part here or there which DOES matter when you combine it all. Usually in more storage, ram,... the cheaper rhings

[RONOTHAN##]

4 minutes ago, jaslion said:

You dont get a free game a month

Epic does their free games a week promos, so honestly you get more free games a month with PC, you just have to deal with the Epic Games store. 

[Birblover12]

1 hour ago, okkee said:

would you recommend building a pc over just getting a console? 

Yes, because a PC can literally do everything a console can, plus a million others. 

 

For example, many console games nowadays get ported to PC anyways, and with huge performance, graphical, and gameplay upgrades. Not to mention you can do regular day to day work with a PC when not gaming, and also games seem to be significantly cheaper on PC anyways (if you use things like Epic Games you can very quickly get a library of AAA+ titles if you're patient enough). Really the only reason to get a console (in my eyes anyways) is to play console "exclusives" before they get ported to PC eventually, and to play said games on a TV and not have a massive PC next to your TV.

 

Not to mention, you can literally get a career with it (learning coding/game development/video editing/etc.), having the ability to be able to learn those things is a huge investment, even if most people don't think about it at the time. Heck, just building the PC allows you to troubleshoot problems better.

[jaslion]

14 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Epic does their free games a week promos, so honestly you get more free games a month with PC, you just have to deal with the Epic Games store. 

I frogo :D.

 

I dont use the epic store but true 1+ games free

[Eigenvektor]

Finding a pre-built that contains exactly what I want will take a ton of time.

 

Outside of headline features like what type of CPU or GPU they contain they also tend to skimp out on other parts.

 

Easier to just build my own with the parts I want. This was I get to decide where the money goes and where I might be fine cheaping out.

 

Besides, it's really not that hard, and if you don't want to assemble you could always use the build service most retailers offer.

 

Quote

As an aside, would you recommend building a pc over just getting a console? 

Depends. If all you do is play games, then a console might be a better choice.

 

If you need a computer for other tasks anyway, it's no longer a choice between PC and console, but rather PC vs cheap PC + console

[podkall]

53 minutes ago, Eigenvektor said:

Finding a pre-built that contains exactly what I want will take a ton of time.

or won't be available in the first place,

 

I doubt I'd find a prebuilt around my time that contained DDR4 2133Mhz 8GB single stick ram, Pentium G4500, cheapest Motherboard, 1TB HDD, and Gigabyte GTX 1050 Windforce, but more expensive one with 2 fans instead of one, and a random 450W PSU,

 

I'd probably find something with iGPU but 2hyper/4 cores, or something that's more expensive

[filpo]

1 hour ago, okkee said:

I think it's been debated to death already but just wanted to guage your temp on this question. PC mag regularly bills a budget build at about a thousand pounds. And so, for that type of money, what's the reasoning behind it? As an aside, would you recommend building a pc over just getting a console? 

Prebuilts are rarely a good option, DIY is more fulfilling imo and you get much better value 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU Cooler: Thermalright Phantom Spirit 120 SE 66.17 CFM CPU Cooler  (£35.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Motherboard: ASRock B650M-HDV/M.2 Micro ATX AM5 Motherboard  (£105.67 @ CCL Computers) 
Memory: TEAMGROUP T-Create Expert 32 GB (2 x 16 GB) DDR5-6000 CL30 Memory  (£106.39 @ Amazon UK) 
Storage: *Western Digital Green SN350 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 3.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£53.95 @ AWD-IT) 
Case: Deepcool CC560 V2 ATX Mid Tower Case  (£49.99 @ Scan.co.uk) 
Power Supply: *MSI MAG A650BN 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£55.00 @ Computer Orbit) 
Monitor: KOORUI 24E3 24.0" 1920 x 1080 165 Hz Monitor  (£134.99 @ Amazon UK) 
Keyboard: Redragon K552 Wired Gaming Keyboard  (£42.35 @ Amazon UK) 
Mouse: Logitech G305 LIGHTSPEED Wireless/Wired Optical Mouse  (£45.98 @ Currys PC World) 
Headphones: Turtle Beach EAR FORCE Recon 50X  Headset  (£14.98 @ BT Shop) 
Custom: 7500F with stock cooler (£108.00)
Custom: Used RX 6800 (£325.00)
Total: £1077.30
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-04-06 10:04 BST+0100

2 hours ago, okkee said:

And so, for that type of money, what's the reasoning behind it?

you can get better value for money if you know where to look

 

2 hours ago, okkee said:

PC mag regularly bills a budget build at about a thousand pounds

it's not a good one though . I know they're going for new parts but even so a 7500F + 6700 XT will perform better for about the same

 

2 hours ago, okkee said:

As an aside, would you recommend building a pc over just getting a console? 

yes, you can do a lot with a pc, that said you can also do a lot with a console nowadays. I've got both and I've experienced that with a pc you can definitely download more, anything you want really and you can get free games via the epic games store (though lets not talk about optimization for fortnite )

you also can't do much to the console except maybe add a fan or two to it to improve cooling or add some storage (though if you're going to do it with a seagate SSD like the one for the xbox it'll be quite expensive) but with a pc you'll be able to upgrade it with basically anything that's compatible. You're also locked at 60fps in most games for the best quality and consistency. If you want 240 (at least on my xbox series s) the game looks much worse and it's actually quite bad in terms of consistency (I only tried fortnite but at 60fps the consistency isn't bad)

 

Are you more suited to a controller or m&k? if the latter then getting a mouse, keyboard, Series X, 1080p monitor and headset will be around £700. Definitely not a bad price, but LTT have shown that something around a GTX 1070 can match that in some games and even look better at better fps (rocket league comes to mind)

[podkall]

1 hour ago, RONOTHAN## said:

Epic does their free games a week promos, so honestly you get more free games a month with PC, you just have to deal with the Epic Games store.

yeah

1 hour ago, jaslion said:

I dont use the epic store but true 1+ games free

you should, sometimes the games they give are extra spicy, in fact at this moment, there's a few some might find interesting:

[Vonrottes]

I built my rig because I'm picky on parts used, same way with cars won't buy a modified one even if I myself am going to modify it.

I did spend close to $2,000 on it but it's EXACTLY what I wanted. I always like to go way overkill on board features and VRM setups...something 99% of prebuilts skimp on because they use whatever the cheapest boards available to them are or they use "Gaming" boards that are just the bare minimum but with RGB.

Why didn't I buy a console? because I like to turn the graphics up AS HIGH AS THEY WILL GO,  Just to appreciate the work put into the visuals of the game.
But also a Console can't Edit 8k RAWs, Can't use CAD software or the tuning software I use for my cars.
I have a laptop that is reasonably capable of doing all that, that I use mostly just when I'm not home or want to sit outside but still have tasks that need to get done.

Plus building a PC you get to pick the parts AND the aesthetic of it, My PC to me is very visually pleasing, components get picked for their visuals and performance unlike a lot of prebuilts that just use all one brand of parts, or uses parts that don't exactly match the aesthetics of the other components.

[Somerandomtechyboi]

that build is garbage even for a 745£ build (- 255£ worth of peripherals peripherals)

 

rtx 4060 vs everything else

 

https://uk.pcpartpicker.com/list/F3vKVW

12600kf + 6700xt + 32gb 3600c18

 

50£ cheaper whilst having all around better specs with a better cpu, better gpu, better cooler, doubled the ram capacity, doubled ssd storage, and a better case, though cut down on some uneccesary stuff like the board and the psu (though its now a 750w)

 

yes used gpu but its better than a new 6600xt/6650xt and you just have to check that it works, highly reccomended that you buy a used psu as an 850w rm(x) or equivalent is 40-60£ used and alot better quality and efficiency wise so slightly lower power bills and you domt havr to upgrade the psu too soon even if you get a 90 class card where this psu probably gonna falter above an 80 class card

 

for a 1000£ build just go for @filpo reccomendations though id add the psu and ssd from my list since 3£ extra gets you a much better and faster dram ssd and 9£ extra gets you a 750w, kind of a no brainer upgrade imo. btw 3080 outperforms the 6800 and those are ~350£ dunno why amd cards are pricey over there (checked uk fb marketplace just now and the 6800xt is more expensive than a 3080), also where the hell are you finding a 7500f with a stock cooler for that cheap? even here in indo i can only find the tray ones without the stock cooler for the equivalent of 120-125£

 

 

as for why console vs pc, pc can do alot more than just game and there are also games that just arent accesible on console usually smaller indie titles or something like that

 

and yes you can definitely build a ps5 killer with used am4 (3600 or 5600) based around a 6700xt for <400£ as i can do the same here in indo so should be somewhat easier in the uk where used b3/450 boards are alot cheaper and used 5600(x) are cheaper than new 5600

[podkall]

2 hours ago, Somerandomtechyboi said:

for a 1000£ build just go for @filpo reccomendations though id add the psu and ssd from my list since 3£ extra gets you a much better and faster dram ssd and 9£ extra gets you a 750w, kind of a no brainer upgrade imo.

@filpo's really good at fitting AM5 into 1000 pound build, I managed to do AM4, but with overall quality parts,

 

PCPartPicker Part List

CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 5600 3.5 GHz 6-Core Processor  (£115.00 @ Computer Orbit)
CPU Cooler: Deepcool AG400 75.89 CFM CPU Cooler  (£22.99 @ AWD-IT)
Motherboard: MSI B450M-A PRO MAX Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard  (£59.99 @ Amazon UK)
Memory: *Silicon Power GAMING 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3200 CL16 Memory  (£34.99 @ Amazon UK)
Storage: Western Digital Black SN770 1 TB M.2-2280 PCIe 4.0 X4 NVME Solid State Drive  (£66.37 @ Amazon UK)
Video Card: Sapphire PULSE Radeon RX 7600 XT 16 GB Video Card  (£319.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Case: Thermaltake S100 Snow Edition MicroATX Mini Tower Case  (£39.98 @ Scan.co.uk)
Power Supply: MSI MAG A650BN 650 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  (£55.00 @ Computer Orbit)
Monitor: AOC 27G4X 27.0" 1920 x 1080 180 Hz Monitor  (£154.99 @ Currys PC World)
Keyboard: MSI VIGOR RGB Wired Gaming Keyboard  (£53.98 @ Amazon UK)
Mouse: Logitech G402 Wired Optical Mouse  (£27.97 @ Amazon UK)
Headphones: Razer Kraken X 7.1 Channel  Headset  (£46.75 @ Amazon UK)
Total: £997.99
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
*Lowest price parts chosen from parametric criteria
Generated by PCPartPicker 2024-04-06 13:57 BST+0100

[Erioch]

Because it's fun.

Because it's cheaper than a prebuilt.

Because I don't play console games.

Because it's fun.

[DeerDK]

9 hours ago, okkee said:

I think it's been debated to death already but just wanted to guage your temp on this question. PC mag regularly bills a budget build at about a thousand pounds. And so, for that type of money, what's the reasoning behind it? As an aside, would you recommend building a pc over just getting a console? 

The types of games I enjoy are just not ideal for console. My whole suite of Paradox games comes to mind. And my Total War games. 

I once tried Red Alert on a Playstation back in the late 90s, and that solidly convinced me that mouse+keyboard was the way for me. 

 

Apart from that, I enjoy older games, and having my original Morrowind game box knowing and it will still work in my modern pc. I know some systems have backwards compatability, but it's not for sure. 

 

And finally, I also use my pc for other stuff, including work and such.

[Caroline]

Someone please tell the editors you don't need a ₤50 keyboard or a ₤350 monitor with an edgy stand to enjoy gaming.

If you're doing a budget build then you can go for normal peripherals and they'll still work to play vidyagaems.

 

9 hours ago, podkall said:

yeah

you should, sometimes the games they give are extra spicy, in fact at this moment, there's a few some might find interesting:

I had "The Outer Worlds" available too but I think it's a DLC and you have to purchase the game. But hey, if it says free I click on it.

[Poinkachu]

11 hours ago, okkee said:

I think it's been debated to death already but just wanted to guage your temp on this question. PC mag regularly bills a budget build at about a thousand pounds. And so, for that type of money, what's the reasoning behind it? As an aside, would you recommend building a pc over just getting a console? 

To me, if the purpose is just to play game, play it as is, and don't want to bother with any other thing, console probably the better option.

Especially so if you are one of those people who wants to play something as soon as it gets released, since with PC for some titles you need to wait until they port it to PC, and hopefully they port it well enough.

 

Me, I need to do other stuffs than just game, so I went PC

 

And for me it is actually better on the gaming side too.

Even with an old PC there is still a lot of new games that I can still run. Sometimes even AAA games, albeit might be with perf enhancing tweaks.

Not to mention I often use mods to enhance either the performance, gameplay, or the visual of the game I'm playing.

 

And as @RONOTHAN## and @jaslion said, freebies, extreme sales, and bundle sales are nice.

[podkall]

42 minutes ago, Caroline said:

Someone please tell the editors you don't need a ₤50 keyboard or a ₤350 monitor with an edgy stand to enjoy gaming.

If you're doing a budget build then you can go for normal peripherals and they'll still work to play vidyagaems.

I've rocked cheap peripherals before, I'm still on quite cheap headphones, but from my experience any decent peripheral that isn't the cheapest on the list and has some advertising features might be good enough, I rocked a quite cheap mouse for years and the only thing that broke on them was the scrollwheel, which still worked fine it just skipped and jittered and possibly was fixable if I wanted to take time to take apart the mouse

[TetraSky]

Because I don't just play games and I wanted the best bang for my buck.

A pre-built PC would've been fine, but for the same price or slightly bit more, I could have a much better custom PC.

A console is fine if all you do if play games... But I spent the majority of my time on the internet or on some other application. Not in games.

[Uttamattamakin]

At this time if someone is going to have just one computer they should get a well balanced convertible laptop and be done with it.    A laptop that is good and portable but can dock to an EGPU enclosure and peripherials using Thunderbolt for desktop use.   

IF however one really truly needs a desktop computer then building VS buying makes a lot of sense.  Especially if you need anything out of the ordinary.  Want to do virtualization or run Linux build your own.  Want more than 1-2 expansion slots build your own.  OEM's tend to charge way too much for these things.  

I built my system because I wanted to use Linux based scientific applications and also run Windows apps for productivity and gaming at the same time.  With this set up I can do that.  This is possible using Windows Subsystem for Linux 2 though but I wanted Linux to be the host OS and not sacrifice performance in those applications. 

[minervx]

Consoles are good if you want raw performance to price, and you don't have a high budget.   Convenience, plug and play.

 

PC for customization/mods, high framerate, access to thousands of indie titles, game engines, creative applications, etc.

[emothxughts]

Built my PC because I settled down and no longer move around a lot, so I no longer have to consider getting laptops exclusively and I'm able to build a rig that more or less stays in one place.

 

And as for why PC over console, I would like to play PC exclusive games and play PC exclusive mods for games that are also available on console (eg Skyrim). And also use my PC for non-gaming tasks which consoles are incapable of, such as word processing, image editing, and most recently generative AI.

 

And why self-built over prebuilt? Because for one, prebuilts from established brands are almost extinct in my country, closest thing would be shops offering their respective preset custom builds. And I would like to mix and match parts to suit my liking.

[8tg]

What I do only works on PC, or works best on PC, and the primary uses of my PC aren’t games.

And then why I did it myself, it’s fun, I would just build cool looking PCs indefinitely if I had infinite money, I wouldn’t even use them.

I have no objections to consoles, prebuilts, gaming laptops, whatever. They’re all different tools for different use cases. You can’t really compare a custom built gaming pc to a games console, as they accomplish different goals despite both being used primarily for games.

[Godlygamer23]

The original reason for building a PC for me was simply to get into PC gaming, and PCs as a whole. Newegg actually inspired me to build my own PC, with their Newegg TV series, back when Paul still worked there. This was also back when Sandy Bridge and Fermi were the latest CPU and GPU architectures from Intel and NVIDIA, respectively.

 

My build had a Phenom II x4 840 and a GTX 560 Ti originally - those were the days.

[rikitikitavi]

Custom v prebuilt : proper allocation of the budget with the quality components, cause I want that specific Noctua heatsink and that specific sexy Fractal case without the RGB crazy fest or a random PSU.

 

PC v console : a variety of games and the game collection that spans decades all available on a single platform. I want to replay my fav Fallout 2 (1998) for the n-th time and also play God of War Ragnorok (whenever it comes out), without dusting off the specific generation of the console that clutters a shelf.

 

imho Steam Deck is probably the closest to the 'no-nonsense prebuilt'-console hybrid

[Mark Kaine]

why i built a pc?

 

https://www.nexusmods.com/